What a great event. If you're a Cyclone fan in the DSM area, I don't know how you can't go to this. Social hour. Awesome dinner by Christiani's. Silent and live auction. And talks from coaches and
JP with John Walters emceeing. I think tickets are $35 & $45, worth every penny.
Auctions were neat. Gotta say though, since the AD took over the event, I'm less than impressed with the overally quantity of items - that goes for silent and live. All the deals are high value items. Kinda leaves a large portion of the attendees out of the action, IMO. Used to have a bunch of knick-knack type things and more stuff on the whole, and not all
ISU related (getaway packages and such). Alot of "travel with the team" packages. The silent auction included a bunch of autographed items (Troy Davis, Marcus Fizer, recent teams & players). Never heard a tally from the silent auction. But there were 13 items in the live auction and I'd have to guess it topped 15K. I think the suite for the NU game went for over 4K alone.
This year they had alot of items for sale. Mostly new logo stuff. Nothing that I saw from Nike, most was off-brand and a handful of UnderArmour stuff (not nearly as nice as Nike, IMO).
Nice little 10 minutes peformance by about 30 members of the marching band.
Talks were by Christy Johnson, Cael , Fennelly,
GMac, Chizik &
JP. Alot of these items were by John Walters, the coach or
JP at the end.
CJ - Alot of talk about how far they have come in only 3 years. She talked about how much she likes her team, and expects to play well this year even though they lost some key players from last season. Mentioned accomplishments last season of finishing #17, being #20 in attendance, reaching the Sweet 16, top 25 recruiting class and starting this season ranked #18. The 17, 25, and 18 rankings are all firsts for
ISU volleyball.
Cael - mentioned that they will be very young this year. But 8 or 9 of the top 10 (??) all have NCAA experience and expects contend nationally. Lead in by John Walters mention how during a Cyclone Tour event this summer, a question was asked of all the coaches of what they would consider as a successful season. Most set moderate expections. Cael stated "national championship". BTW - Cael is pretty damn funny.
Bill - Ok, Fennelley is the funniest by far. He's a standup routine everytime he talks. Really didn't say a whole lot about his team. A few references to last season, mostly thanking the fans for sticking with them through the rough patches and still ranking very high in attendance.
GMac - The obligatory cracks to Fennelly and Cael. Talked quite a bit about Lucca and assured everyone that he IS coming back, even though he's on a their national B team now (??). Made reference to how much the fan support last December meant to him and his family that visited, and how that is mostly responsible for his not leaving. Also that Lucca won't be back until the end of the month because of this team. Said he really likes his team this year. How they really are getting along and enjoying themselves. How they all "want to be at
ISU". Pointed out how Brackins and Diante, along with Sean, Petey and Alex have really stepped up their leadership and helped the new guys adjust. Quick mention of the new practice facility and how pleased they are about it and how fast it's happened, and what a help it will be for both men's and women's programs to have a place they can go, 24/7/365 to work on their games.
Chizik - Started out with alot of talk of how he now knows what it is to be an "Iowan". Talk of the winter, the floods, their help up in Parkersburg. There was a bit of hawk bashing. (as there obviously was with all coaches). Not alot of team specifics. Did say that their key in the offseason was speed. The team had to get faster and that was a focus for strength coach Shepard. A few more random remarks about our feathered friends to the east. Likes the squad. No real predictions. Said "growing pains" a few times. Special teams will be a key. That our two kickers and long snapper and both "barely 18". I'll tell ya, you're blood just starts pumping listening to Chizik. Finished off with the very direct "It's football time - Go Cyclones".
JP - Alot of
JP was just thanking fans and talking about what's been accomplished. Made a thankful reference or two to Marty & Miller (in attendance the whole night). How they're benchmarking themselves and making the dept accountable to the fans. Really pumped the CyHawk victory. A little bit about the practice facilty and stadium renovations - and how key they are. Talked a bit about the KC games, mainly how great of an opportunity and memorable event it will be for the players. How KC is pumped to have
ISU come to town again. The most memorable part, and the last, was his talking about finances. How they don't raise prices or donation requirements just to do it. Stated that his job is to put the coaches in a position to succeed. That by raising prices or donations, he can't guarantee more wins. But by not doing, he can guarantee that the coaches "don't have a chance".
That's all I can remember. I'll post more if it comes to mind.
If you didn't go - make a point to be there next year.
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