Greater Des Moines Cyclone lunch today

rkheil · 11-03-2006, 03:20 PM

I attended today and JP was in good spirits and very entertaining. He opened with this comment. This is a paraphrase not a quote.

Let's have respect for the people and especially the 21 seniors graduating this year. They have 2 home games left and I hope everyone supports those players. Many of you have children and if your child was on the field you would want positive support for the kids. There are indivual lives and families at stake, so let's have a heart. This is a game and let's make it fun for the players, students and fans by having positive support for ISU.

JP did not make any specific comments about the future of ISU football. He will keep the decision very tight lipped. I think he should.

He also talked about other programs such as cross country, volleyball, swimming.

He also spoke about the facilities upgrade and how additions to suites, concourse, restrooms and concessions for football will be a priority and practice facility for basketball/volleyball will be next priority. 20 of 24 suites have been sold for Jack Trice.

Those were main points. JP wants to definitely finish the season before discussing any changes. He did it in a very positive manner.

I know this news is not new, but still thought everyone would be interested.

uthaman · 11-03-2006, 03:51 PM

Thanks for the recap! I wish I could have attended, but Jeff Johnson was at Allied today giving a talk at the same time. If you have never heard Pollard or Johnson you are missing something. We are VERY lucky at Iowa State to have two talented driven leaders!!!

clonomaniac · 11-03-2006, 04:03 PM

did anyone ask about d mac's firing or keeping him for another year, if so, how did jp respond to be very tight lipped about it.. let me know, thanks

Wesley · 11-03-2006, 04:21 PM

Did he say what a good bowl is?

iccyfan · 11-03-2006, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by uthaman

Thanks for the recap! I wish I could have attended, but Jeff Johnson was at Allied today giving a talk at the same time. If you have never heard Pollard or Johnson you are missing something. We are VERY lucky at Iowa State to have two talented driven leaders!!!

Jeff Johnson might be a dynamic speaker, but I wish he'd give up the pre-game cheerleader gig; it's lame! That, and quit sending me letters asking for more money...

travman23 · 11-03-2006, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by iccyfan

Jeff Johnson might be a dynamic speaker, but I wish he'd give up the pre-game cheerleader gig; it's lame! That, and quit sending me letters asking for more money...

Ha ha! AMEN! He's a nice guy but man some of that stuff gets on my nerves if you get too much of it all at once. Although my latest pet peeve has been Leonard Boswell calling my phone about every other night with some stupid message. Thank God the elections are over next week so those can stop!

Nedrick · 11-03-2006, 05:02 PM

From your recap, it looks like JP avoided the subject of Mac - ie talking up the seniors, players, etc. Any comment about supporting the coaches too?

rkheil · 11-03-2006, 05:51 PM

JP avoided the whole subject of Mac and basically asked the group to not focus on individuals but to support the program as a whole.

His opening remarks were basically his way of saying I'm not going to discuss individuals in the program. All he said is that everything going on right now is affecting people's families and lives and to try to have some respect for that situation.

He really is a great speaker and has a way of deflecting negativity. One thing I really liked is that he said ISU as a university and sports program has to be willing to take risks and change.

I hope he expects more risks to be taken in winning football games and be willing to change to win football games.

rkheil · 11-03-2006, 05:55 PM

Nedrick,
He did mention supporting the coaches but his primary emphasis was to say that football is very important to thestudent athlete and we should focus on supporting all athletes, but especially the seniors as they close out the season. He did mention the situation and said that if you have ever been a public employee and had everybody and talking about your job it is very difficult. He tried to shift emphasis away from that negativity and towards the positives in supporting student athletes.

Nedrick · 11-03-2006, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by rkheil

Nedrick,
He did mention supporting the coaches but his primary emphasis was to say that football is very important to thestudent athlete and we should focus on supporting all athletes, but especially the seniors as they close out the season. He did mention the situation and said that if you have ever been a public employee and had everybody and talking about your job it is very difficult. He tried to shift emphasis away from that negativity and towards the positives in supporting student athletes.

Thanks for clarifying...
(I've said it before and I'll say it again, I would NOT want to be in JP's shoes right now!)

ISUFan22 · 11-03-2006, 11:09 PM

Thanks for the recap. It really makes me think D-Mac will be let go after the season. If Jamie planned on keeping him, he would have defended D-Mac in a strong way as he's done previously.

That's disappeared since the losses to Tech and K-State.

Ironic, being that was the same time I migrated to the "fire D-Mac" side.

Clonefan94 · 11-04-2006, 02:01 PM

This leads me to believe that a big change is in order. I'd really have to think that if Dan were coming back for sure, that JP would be pumping him up and trying to get everyone to rally around him. Usually, if they aren't talking, it's because they can't. Why wouldn't JP talk about Mac's future if he were coming back? I'm not saying it's for sure he's gone, but, it definitely has to be on JP's mind if he's not willing to talk about Mac.

Unless he's waiting for everyone to re-up with money and tickets before he says Mac's back.

jdoggivjc · 11-04-2006, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by Clonefan94

This leads me to believe that a big change is in order. I'd really have to think that if Dan were coming back for sure, that JP would be pumping him up and trying to get everyone to rally around him. Usually, if they aren't talking, it's because they can't. Why wouldn't JP talk about Mac's future if he were coming back? I'm not saying it's for sure he's gone, but, it definitely has to be on JP's mind if he's not willing to talk about Mac.

Unless he's waiting for everyone to re-up with money and tickets before he says Mac's back.

not only that, but if he won't discuss it, his mind's already made up that mac's gone. they were homey's earlier this year during the b-ball season and the hiring of d-mac. now he won't even discuss "individuals in the program..."

makes me wonder if he already knows which football coach he's going after. he seemed to know which direction he was going immediately after morgan was fired (4 days)