"Debbie Downer" Moment

[tazclone]

It hit me today that in one week's time, I will have missed a home game at Jack Trice Stadium for the first time in 5 years.

I graduated, got a job, and moved to Texas. Anyone with a similar experience have any tips on how to cope with such pain?

On a positive note, I think I will be able to attend one (or both) of the OU/TX road games and should have a pretty good chance at making an ISU home game sometime this fall (probably during Thanksgiving week).

You are very lucky because at least you can watch the game on TV. When I graduated, I moved to Wisconsin and we didn't have Dish or Driect TV at that time. On top of that ISU sucked (1996) so it wasn't like we were on TV anyway. Didn't even have a computer at the time.

[jburke]

Besides the fact that the Des moines metro area is an awesome place to live, I love that I'm only a half hour away from Ames. For those two reasons, it would be really hard for me to leave this area. A lot of people that leave, end up moving back.

Totally agree, I live in Ankeny o only 20 minutes even, but it is very hard to beat DES Moines and most don't realize that....

[cyclonenum1]

I haven't missed a home football game since the fall of 2002.

What are you on...the 8 or 9 year plan at ISU!!!!

[cyclonenum1]

Besides the fact that the Des moines metro area is an awesome place to live, I love that I'm only a half hour away from Ames. For those two reasons, it would be really hard for me to leave this area. A lot of people that leave, end up moving back.

Yeah, and a lot of people leave and don't end up moving back as well...especially if they move south and learn that the winters in Iowa absolutely suck. DM and central Iowa are fine places but there are many other fine places as well...ones where you don't freeze your hind end off for months on end.

[capitalcityguy]

Yeah, and a lot of people leave and don't end up moving back as well...especially if they move south and learn that the winters in Iowa absolutely suck. DM and central Iowa are fine places but there are many other fine places as well...ones where you don't freeze your hind end off for months on end.

No one (or should I say few) celebrate winter, but IMO it is a small price to pay for staying close to ISU to live in central Iowa. It provides one easy access to games, your main media outlets are tuned into ISU(sportstalk, TVnews, events,etc) , and IMO there is a lot to say for the people that live in the Midwest.

Heck...I get tired of winters and thus it motivates me to work hard so one day I will spend my winters down south. But in the meantime, I don't have to abandon the midwest and close proximity to ISU. That said (and I'm not pretending it is perfect), if it wasn't for Des Moines and what it offers (and seems to keep getting better), I (and probably many others) would settle down south too.

[Al_4_State]

Besides the fact that the Des moines metro area is an awesome place to live, I love that I'm only a half hour away from Ames. For those two reasons, it would be really hard for me to leave this area. A lot of people that leave, end up moving back.

This x1,000,000. I have no intentions of leaving Des Moines if I don't have to. Ever.

[Clonefan94]

I moved to Chicago after graduation in '94. Kept getting season tickets up until the 2006 season when our two kids just got to be too much to handle for that drive so many weekends a year. They just have too many sports and other activities that I don't feel right making them miss. I do what I can to get to at least 2 games a year though.

Really, what told me it was all too much was during the halftime of the 2005 Missouri game, my wife started to have complications with the pregnancy. So we had to leave at half time. Mind you, I had just arrived in town 12 hours earlier.

It's Ok watching games on TV, but seriously, nothing is like a day at Jack Trice, nothing. It's more of learning to cope than really ever getting over it. I miss it a lot still. The main thing I do is still try to do my part. Give the money and I always buy my tickets for games I come to, rather than getting them from a friend.

Good Luck. At least you are in Big XII country. It's really tough here in Big 10 hell.

[im4cy]

As I posted in the 'tailgating music' thread, this year will be the first year in 18 that my mom and dad won't be tailgating in C4:( They have had season tickets for as long as I can remember but the economy is down and they had to pass this year.

When they started I think season tickets were like $75 and the parking pass for C4 was $50. Now they charge an arm and a leg just to get into the game and to tailgate. I was talking to him and he said when they first started going the couple that sat in front of them had a little girl. Well that little girl is now attending ISU.

My dad is a die hard and he would always make a big spread and was packing for the game by thursday every week

Hoping they can get back next year but we will see. C4 won't be the same! GO CYCLONES!!!

[cyclonedave25]

As I posted in the 'tailgating music' thread, this year will be the first year in 18 that my mom and dad won't be tailgating in C4:( They have had season tickets for as long as I can remember but the economy is down and they had to pass this year.

When they started I think season tickets were like $75 and the parking pass for C4 was $50. Now they charge an arm and a leg just to get into the game and to tailgate. I was talking to him and he said when they first started going the couple that sat in front of them had a little girl. Well that little girl is now attending ISU.

My dad is a die hard and he would always make a big spread and was packing for the game by thursday every week

Hoping they can get back next year but we will see. C4 won't be the same! GO CYCLONES!!!

Sounds like a great time for the Son to step in and pay back the parents for what they did when you were a kid... Kidding.

[capitalcityguy]

As I posted in the 'tailgating music' thread, this year will be the first year in 18 that my mom and dad won't be tailgating in C4:( They have had season tickets for as long as I can remember but the economy is down and they had to pass this year.

When they started I think season tickets were like $75 and the parking pass for C4 was $50. Now they charge an arm and a leg just to get into the game and to tailgate. I was talking to him and he said when they first started going the couple that sat in front of them had a little girl. Well that little girl is now attending ISU.

My dad is a die hard and he would always make a big spread and was packing for the game by thursday every week

Hoping they can get back next year but we will see. C4 won't be the same! GO CYCLONES!!!

Kudos to your folks for being such loyal ISU supporters and I’m sorry the economic times are hitting their pocketbooks. That said, if he's a "diehard", why not go with the $99 season tix and just tailgate in the general public lots? I won't pretend to understand the difficulty of this individual situation, but is this really a case where they have to throw out the baby with the bathwater? I'm just saying…ISU need all the support we can get and there are always other options (albeit maybe not as favorable as the past) if the motivation is there.

[im4cy]

Trust me, I wish I could afford to hook them up:-D I cannot honestly tell you what they were paying but I know tickets had gone way up and that they had to donate to keep their 'spot' in C4 in addition to paying for the actual pass.

I am going to road trip back for a couple games and going to get them down there!:) I have talked to him about the cheaper tix as well as tailgating somewhere else. He could start a new tradition. He is stuck in his thinking that it won't be the same if he isn't in the same place, with the same group, etc...

I will keep working on him and trying to get him out here for the CU/ISU game at the end of the year as well. Thanks for the suggestions and GO CYCLONES!!!!

[gocubs2118]

I was in your same shoes, last year. I made every home game from 2004-2008. Missed a few games last year, after moving to Chicago. I drove back for all of them except 2. This year I will try to make it back for at least 2 or 3. Although, it's easier for me, since I don't like all the way in Texas.

And to answer your tips about coping with the pain of missing games: I went to the Alumni Gamewatches as much as possible just to be around other ISU fans. But, the pain and sadness never go away from missing the ISU games and tailgating. Come next Thursday, I will be depressed that I can't be there.
One thing that you will learn, is that you will never take a Cyclone sporting event for granted ever again. Back in school I always went to the games like it was part of my daily life, and now that I can't make it back for as many, I always go all out and take in the atmosphere as much as possible.

Which game watch do you usually go to?

[capitalcityguy]

Trust me, I wish I could afford to hook them up:-D I cannot honestly tell you what they were paying but I know tickets had gone way up and that they had to donate to keep their 'spot' in C4 in addition to paying for the actual pass.

I am going to road trip back for a couple games and going to get them down there!:) I have talked to him about the cheaper tix as well as tailgating somewhere else. He could start a new tradition. He is stuck in his thinking that it won't be the same if he isn't in the same place, with the same group, etc...

I will keep working on him and trying to get him out here for the CU/ISU game at the end of the year as well. Thanks for the suggestions and GO CYCLONES!!!!

Your father sounds like a great, proud Cyclone! Let's hope he finds a way to get back in the game ASAP. We need him!!

[cyclonedave25]

Which game watch do you usually go to?

Well, since I live out in the burbs, I go to the one in Aurora at Fox and Hound.

[gocubs2118]

Well, since I live out in the burbs, I go to the one in Aurora at Fox and Hound.

Oh, nice. I live 15 minutes away from there, may have to check it out sometime.