Why is Hilton losing it's Magic.

[Knownothing]

I am taking some stuff from the sports guy column and using for college basketball to prove my points.


I really think at Iowa State we are losing the fun of the game. There are to many forced cheer's and to many people telling us when to cheer, what to cheer and how to cheer. It sucks. It used to be that you could go to a game and everyone got the feeling that we were going to get blown away if you did not stand up and do something. Now before the football games we have guys like Jeff Johnson (great guy) yelling cheers into a microphone. Back in the day you just went nuts when the boys were comming out. Back in the day when we were getting ready to kick off we would put a number 1 in the air and swirl it like a tornado and make the OHHHHH sound. It had a great feeling. Now we have the mascot walking around jingleing keys and now we have to do that. Here are a few excerpts from Simmons article that I thought applied to us.

Once upon a time, the Celtics had the most significant home-court advantage thanks to 15,000 savvy hoop lunatics crammed into an overheated lunchbox. Since I was blessed with the chance to attend most of their pivotal games during the Bird Era, you have to believe me on this one -- we swung the outcome of six series ('81 Sixers, '84 Lakers, '87 Bucks, '87 Pistons, '88 Hawks and '91 Pacers) in which superior opponents failed to handle the mythical combination of Bird and the Garden. Off the top of my head, I can remember 20-25 games in which we carried the team to a higher place.

Substitute Bird with Hoiberg and Garden with Hilton.

the fate of a basketball game hinges on the connection between players and fans. Last year, you could have dressed in white, headed to a big Miami game, stood and cheered at all the predictable spots and convinced yourself that you impacted the game ... but you really didn't. You did exactly what you were expected to do, nothing more. You obeyed the giant video screen, followed the musical cues and served your purpose. In other words, you were just like every other NBA crowd.

Here is a link to the full article if you care.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Bill Simmons Blog

 

[nickwc]

cause we just haven't been good. that is it. When we return to the promise land fans will come and fans will be loud. I don't blame alot of the fans for not showing up last winter for some of those bball games. Take the K state game for example, that was the most boring basketball i have ever seen. It was like 20-18 at halftime.

 

[dbronco7sc]

I can see where you're coming from... unfortunately, I myself, wasn't here to witness what it was like pre 2003... but according to Cy, he didn't start the keys... he just does it now and then because the student section does.

 

[mj4cy]

I really don't care what was or what will be. I do my thing and this is cheer my @$$ when I want and as loud as I want the whole dang game.

 

[BooneCy]

I have often wondered what can be done to get Hilton Magic back. I happened to think Cyclone Alley is good step in that direction. I liked that they are organized and loud, at times. What we are missing is more whole crowd involvement.

Take for an example the halftime show. A huge crowd stayed the first five minutes of halftime to watch the Benson Motors Five for Five. The crowd was there to watch and participate. Another example, the "Hester" chant at the end of blowouts. If anyone here remembers Hester. He was a big walk-on who sat at the end of the bench. The moment we knew we had the game won, the whole crowd, I mean all of Hilton started chanting Hester's name (aka, the end of Rudy). Orr would just get a big smile on his face, shake his head, and let the big guy play. The place went crazy! That is crowd participation.

With that in mind, I ask yourself how many games in the last few years have we been able to feel confident chanting a walk-ons name because we knew we had the game won.

I think the Magic is still there. You can see it in the crowd when we are making a surge back from a deficit. When are people are standing up and cheering our defense and not a dunk. The team has to show us the effort. The crowd wasn't the reason we had a home winning streak that spanned three years. The team won those games. We just helped them along. We need a team that can show they can win all their home games. That's when you will see Hilton Magic come back for the fans.

 

[khaal53]

When people decided that getting out of the parking lot as fast as possible was more important. Whenever I see some one running up the steps, coat in hands, with time left on the clock in a close game I want to trip them (granted sometimes you HAVE to leave early, but I wouldnt for much of anything). Another contributing factor comes from those that cheer through timeouts but stop once the game starts again.

 

[CYdTracked]

I don't give a damn if we are good or bad that is no excuse for not coming to games and not cheering. Sure it helps when we we are winning and the games are more exciting but I've been to Hilton during worse seasons than the past few (Tim Floyd's 12-18 team rings a bell as an example with a bunch of no-names and I believe Fizer in his freshman year) where Hilton Magic was still rocking. I think people have either lost interest or are not as dedicated as they used to be. If you were a true fan you shouldn't need a good team to show up often and cheer loud, you should do it all the time regardless.

This is what pisses me off the most is everyone that uses the "oh we're not that good so why bother?" attitude. You do realize that home court advantage is a big deal and even some of our worst teams have knocked off some good opponents when Hilton was rocking with magic. We're only hurting our home court advantage by expecting that the only thing that will bring Hilton Magic back is to always have a good team. Yes that is the goal to win but only a few schools are ever able to put a great team on the floor nearly every season and maintain it.

 

[BooneCy]

Ok, calm down. You are talking to someone who has a been a season ticket holder for years. I have been through the good and bad seasons. The Tim Floyd's season you are referring to was just coming off of a solid year and people still remembered who Johnny Orr really was.

I realize that you don't give a damn if the team stinks or not, but that wasn't the question. You and I are going to the games anyway and there is still a problem. So, obviouslly we don't have enough fans like you and I. So, what do you do to solve the problem. I think after being on this site through a few seasons, we all realize that calling people bad fans if they don't go to losing teams games doesn't really work.

I have always respected the fans at Hilton for being smart and passionate about basketball. They want to will a team to win. So many times in the recent seasons, that hasn't happened. The team has to win, the crowd can't do it for them. Hilton Magic is still there, the team has to tap into it.

 

[pulse]

The keys thing has been going on for a long time. Maybe it just comes and goes.

As far as Hilton Magic, since this topic gets regurgitated every few months I'll just regurgitate the same thing: Hilton Magic started to fade when they started moving the students out of the midcourt parquet and arena circle. The people who now pay good money for those seats don't care, but the atmosphere at Hilton has completely changed. The most vocal and enthusiastic fans are now relegated to behind the basket.

 

[goldmember]

Cyclone Alley has many positives, but when the students were scattered all throughout Hilton it forced the whole crowd to get involved. Now that the students are only on the ends, fans are tending to sit more and leave early for the parking lot.

 

[Cyclonepride]

It's the flood of '93. I have a piece of the lane hanging above my desk at work. It says right on it that it's a piece of Hilton magic. I think I need to bring it back!

 

[jbhtexas]

As far as Hilton Magic, since this topic gets regurgitated every few months I'll just regurgitate the same thing: Hilton Magic started to fade when they started moving the students out of the midcourt parquet and arena circle. The people who now pay good money for those seats don't care, but the atmosphere at Hilton has completely changed. The most vocal and enthusiastic fans are now relegated to behind the basket.

I think that is one good reason. Another reason, that I have previously posted and will regurgitate, is that more and more people nowdays go to games for the social aspect and to be entertained, and not to really watch basketball...more interest in gabbing than watching the game. Somebody awhile back on a local sports show was griping about this same thing happening at Mavs games.

 

[nfrine]

As far as Hilton Magic, since this topic gets regurgitated every few months I'll just regurgitate the same thing: Hilton Magic started to fade when they started moving the students out of the midcourt parquet and arena circle. The people who now pay good money for those seats don't care, but the atmosphere at Hilton has completely changed. The most vocal and enthusiastic fans are now relegated to behind the basket.[/quote]

I think the students being spread throughout the crowd was a big plus for Hilton Magic.

As the level of donation required for prime BB seating continues to rise, we get fans that are (much) older and (much) less inclined to make a bunch of noise. I have seen this happen with other schools. If we are not careful may need to pipe in crowd noise in the future....

Get the students closer to the action and mix them in with the high-rollers.

 

[AirWalke]

Are the suites still planned in the Hilton expansion? Maybe these will someday be considered the top seats in the house, and JP will move the students back to the side court seating.

 

[Knownothing]

Cyclone Alley has many positives, but when the students were scattered all throughout Hilton it forced the whole crowd to get involved.

True. Also someone said they were liked Cyclone Alley because they are organized. That is one of the problems. Organized is bad. Going crazy just to go crazy is good. We need crazy not organized. It's almost like it's to corporate. It's like O.K. folks it's time to do this now. It used to be do whatever you want just will the guys to a win.

 

[BooneCy]

The suites are still planned. To be honest, I can't see those things actually being a benefit. I don't think it will improve Hilton at all.

 

[cyclonenum1]

Frankly, I think the loss of the "magic" started in 89 or 90 when someone decided to give it the name Hilton Magic. I was at ISU from 83-87 and I remember very few losses (and it sure wasn't because we had a top 10 team). I don't ever remember people leaving early. No matter who the opponent, we went with the thought that we were going to win (Danny Manning's KU teams were 0-4 in Hilton). We didn't wait for the team to do something to get us going...we got up and got them going (if they needed it)! Go look at the attendance numbers and you will see that Johnny knew how to fill the arena like no other Cyclone coach before or since. Back then winning was new to us and the magic was something you knew was there but you just couldn't put your finger on it. Today, winning is no longer new (it is more expected) and Hilton Magic has become a contrived marketing gimmick.

 

[cyclonenum1]

The suites are still planned. To be honest, I can't see those things actually being a benefit. I don't think it will improve Hilton at all.

FYI...suites are all about fundraising!!!!

 

[BooneCy]

I will agree that Johnny knew how to fill an arena. However, I think the magic lasted a little longer than 1990. We had a 39 game winning streak that ended in the 01-02 season.

 

[BooneCy]

I know why the suites are there. I still don't think it adds anything to Hilton.