View Point of Older Fans

[cyfan15]

If the upgrades in the athletic program are pointless to some old and young fans to compete in D1 ball, then I guess we could always go to the MAC conference!! I think NOT it is pretty simple that you have to spend money to compete in the Big Twelve or D1 ball at that. Sorry, but some people will never be happy and uncomfortabale about change that is life, I am just happy they are not the ones in the drivers seat

Exactly. I truly believe that some members of our fan base (a minority, but a good number of mostly older fans nonetheless) wouldn't care if we won 3-4 games a year as long as one of the games was against Iowa, they got to have good seats at home games (even if it means only 25,000 people attend), and the coaches came to visit their little clubs every year to talk to the same people over and over. Maybe the coaches will even offer a scholarship to the local boy that Iowa didn't want.

Any time anybody is optimistic about the future, these fans complain about the changes being made (usually praising McCarney and criticizing Pollard and Chizik) and say they've heard it all before. They remind us all of failures in the past and how hard it is to win at Iowa State. Unfortunately, they don't realize that their attitude is one of the biggest obstacles ISU has to deal with.

ISU has it's disadvantages, but you don't suck as bad as ISU has historically without really screwing something up. In the past, the academic part of ISU has done its best to marginalize athletics. That is being corrected. In the past, there wasn't a strong commitment to improving facilities and hiring good coaches (and paying them enough to stay). That is being corrected as well. There is more that needs to be done, but it will only get done if people care enough to make sure it gets done.

[KneeGusto]

• (imaginary rant by me in the future)
• I tell ya - it's all these whippersnappers with their cellar phones messin' up my pacemaker and AM radio reception that ought to be carted off to Constantinople or some other foreign land!
• I'm not even sure why we switched from leather helmets and bison fur athletic supporters, they always served us well. They provided adequate protection and we don't show any ill effects all these years later.
• Another strong point is that I'm not even sure why we switched from leather helmets and bison fur athletic supporters, they always served us well. They provided adequate protection and we don't show any ill effects all these years later.
• These last changes in uniform design are actually a throw back to the Donnie Duncan years. This is nothing new to ISU. The colors, the simplistic logo design, the whole shootin' match reach back to our proud tradition of Max Urick, Donnie, and all those Big 8 Championships and Orange Bowls they won.
• It was about time they upgraded the clubs and boxes at the stadium! The humidor in my suite *finally* is set at 71% so I can safely bring my Dominicans in instead of those Cameroons. The Salty Dogs I order at the bar are still a little weak for me but darn tastey when you've been guzzling Ensure all week.
• So I'm all for the changes! Meet the new boss - same as the old boss! I'd type more but Ma needs to use this electronic typewriter to print off some more pickle recipes.

[Cyclonick182]

They cannot alienate the older market, as they have all the money, and thus more donations.

But can they afford to not pay attention to the younger crowd? They have the money now, but the younger crowd will be the ones with the money soon enough. Obviously a middle ground is ideal, but being future minded isn't a terrible idea either.

[atlantacyclone]

I'm not that old but I think that we should have gone with the 77 throwback helmet and uniforms!

[cycloneryan]

Maybe the older fans were very comfortable being at best, middle of the pack. I could see how older people could see all these changes as overwhelming but they needed to be done sooner or later.

[tube1]

I have held tickets in my own name since late 70's, attended ISU games since 1956, yes I was around when dirt was created.....I'm an alum, a National Cyclone club member, Gridiron club member, and hold multiple season Men's and women's BB tickets


I think the new logo is great, but stop screwing around with Cardinal and Gold colors. JP will be very good for ISU as will Chizik, given the time to get his recruited people in place. The upgrades for Jack Trice are great, even if I don't get to use any of the suites, just the more spacious walkways.

I am more focused with building the program and to keep going forward....McCarney was good for ISU, but stalled out, Everybody gets replaced in life sooner or later...Chizik is the coach to follow now.

Dang - from your signature block alone I had you pegged for a high-school or college aged fella. The internet can be a well-done masquerade ball.

[bellzisu]

I hope no one thought I started this thread to bash the older fans.


I just notice a different perception and wanted to know what others thought. I appreciate the older fans helping out and giving their opinions.

I'm thinking ISU needs to cater to both while trying to stay aggressive and continue to grow the product. I know some people won't like that, but its a chance we have to take. There is a point where we go for broke and take a chance. If we fail, hello bottom of the Big 12 until they decide we are not good enough.

If somehow we succeed, I would certainly take a couple years like Missouri is having or even Kansas. Kansas State had a good run. I would love for this to happen.

[CyBobby]

It is not only older fans, I spoke to somebody that works at Iowa State today, and he told me he did not like the new logo, he also said that the McCarney staff treated them allot better then the new staff does.

So I guess it is kind of like if people like somebody you work with, but you have trouble relating with them, those people do not goes on in the inside.

That being said, I am happy with the new staff, and hope they get this turned around.

The only problem I see with this new staff is that they will all be gone by 2012....If they suceed Chizik and Co will move on to another better paying job where its a whole lot easier to win ... If Chizik and Co fail ..well Jamie Will Fire Them and Maybe Jamie will get his walking papers too...who knows!!!


Welcome to Iowa State where Winning is Hard Work ....

[aeroclone]

If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.

What have we got in the past? Losing seasons, blowout games against the better competition, half empty stadiums, a program that many consider second fiddle in the state, and a bunch of pessimistic fans who after years of losing consider losing at ISU to be a way of life.

Maybe some older fans are comfortable with a few more decades of that, but for those of us who are a bit younger and haven't been beaten down by a lifetime of losing competition, I don't really want to relive ISU's past. If what we have been doing got us those results, I would say anything we are doing that isn't a big change is probably a big mistake!

[leg4cy]

Like it or not athletic departments are no different than a for-profit business nowadays. To succeed, a university needs to have business savvy people at the top. By all accounts, Pollard is that guy. ISU landing Pollard was a coup. For too long, ISU fans have accepted mediocrity in both facilities and the product presented. Nothing ticks me off more than other Big 12 fanbases calling for ISU to be booted from the conference. Why? Because we have a tradition of mediocrity. As others in this thread have stated, the status quo will not get it done in the Big 12. Our fans are great in terms of supporting our team by being supportive and vocal. That, however, is only 2/3 of the equation. Donations are necessary and ISU fans have skated by too long.

[majorcyfan]

Dang - from your signature block alone I had you pegged for a high-school or college aged fella. The internet can be a well-done masquerade ball.

It only takes a few trips to PERVERT City to hate the Hackeyes as much as loving the Cyclones....

[majorcyfan]

We haven't adopted new colors. We've gone back to the correct colors.

Excuse me but that is what I INTENDED TO WRITE...quit screwing with the Cyclone colors with every new coach

[ISU4ME]

I can speak about one situation that makes some fans a little upset. A member of my family gave a rather large sum of money to the fundraising to help build Jack Trice. He was told that he could have his seats for life (in what is now a $500 donor section). Apparently 'life' has a new meaning in this day and age...

I can tell you as a "younger" donor who has donated way above the level of seats I have been sitting in, I appreciate Pollard having the cahonas to shake things up with the revamping of the seats.

Which ever athletic director made the promise for seats for life made a huge mistake. Clearly it was never in writing or you family member would have a legal case to still be in those seats.

My perspective only, but if I am every lucky enough to be in a position to donate a "large chunk of money" to ISU, there will be no strings attached on my part. I will still expect to pay the same donor level everyone else is for the seats I have.

[twojman]

If I can somehow win the powerball tomorrow, ISU will receive a healthy donation from me. Now all of you hold your breath and wait for that to happen.

I guess my season tickets and alumni association membership will have to do for awhile.

[DaddyMac]

Late to the discussion. And I don't know what older versus younger has been defined as (I'm 37, season tickets for 10 years or so)

But I can appreciate the bad feelings of any fan who was displaced. I know a few of them. Now I don't understand the demonizing of JP - they have to at least acknowledge the "why's" of what he's doing. But I can understand their resentment. Especially ones who had those seats through the dark, dark years. Let's at least give them their due - they kept ISU football ALIVE when plenty of other Johnny-come-lately fans didn't do a dang thing. So if they held tickets though some of the most horrid football this planet has ever seen, just to get booted by somebody with a few more bucks, well I don't begrudge them that.

Otherwise, I have issues with a handful of the things JP is doing, although I approve on the whole. It's necessary if not convienient by those of us who will never really enjoy the real perks of the renovations. Even are somewhat suffering to the benefit of others (being an eastside ticketholder is not exactly a great thing right now)

But what are you going to do? It's the nature of college athletics today. I only wish that he could spread out the (financial) pain a little more.