My two-day old rant didn't lend any credence to your "point" whatsoever! I'd love the crowd to be involved from beginning to end and I hate when people leave early to beat the rush. Even so, I take issue with the judgemental tone of your admonishments.
Many of the alumni in the west stands make great effort to be in attendence at these games. I'll open a window into my day last Thursday. I was out the door by 6AM for a consulting job in east-central Iowa. I was back in Iowa City by 3:30PM to pick up the kids after school and went by the hospital to pick up my wife from work. We drove two plus hours to attend the game and were still in our seats when the final whistle blew. We got home just before 1AM; the kids had school Friday and I had work appointments.
I'm not complaining; if I didn't love ISU and cherish the family time we derive from attending these games together, I wouldn't buy season tickets. Even so, you might want to "walk a mile in the stranger's shoes" before you start (or continue) criticizing the alum on the west side!
I'm pretty sure thats a general statement - not refering just to Thursday nights, because I've seen plent of 4th quarters on saturday games where fans are exodusing en mass
An analogy, if I might. Almost two years ago, I was in NYC on business and obtained FREE tickets for the Monday night taping of the Friday night David Letterman show. At multiple points during the "seating process", they reminded us that we were REQUIRED to laugh at the appropriate times. Failure to laugh and / or any inappropriate verbal responses were grounds for removal from the audience. Al Franken and the Rev. Al Green were the guests; it was absolutely the least funny Letterman show I've ever seen. Upon leaving, my friends and I discussed how difficult it was to "laugh" when the material wasn't funny and how it sucked we were "warned" to laugh or else...
I'm reminded of this event with the chiding that's being doled out regarding booing, failure to cheer, failure to stand, etc. If the team plays with energy and enthusiasm, the crowd will get charged up and carry them thru down times. That never happened and frankly, reading this thread leaves me feeling eerily similar to the night I left the Letterman taping...
Lastly, as an early 40's aged alum, I don't need this chiding from the student contingent. I was supporting ISU well before you were born! I've purchased five season tickets for a number of years, contribute to the NCC and drive 2+ hours each way to attend every game. I'm not critical of the students, cheerleaders or band; shouldn't "my generation" of fans be lauded for our long-term support rather than bashed for your possibly ill-conceived perceptions of how we conduct ourselves?
I'm not trying to bash your long term support at all, nor am I targeting the 40ish aged alum. In fact if anything, I start my critism with the student section... particuarly those who are underaged, boozed up, trying to steal seats from those of us who were at the gates 2-1/2 hours before kick off. We then move to the students who stand there talking with their friends, and then move out to other sections...
In fact one of my favorite parts of the game Thursday was that the west side sections across from the student section were doing an excellent job of standing and twirling their towels on 3rd downs, or atleast they were for the first 3 quarters (by the way, I did mention that in a thread somewhere, kinda hard to tell where)
The point 15 and I are trying to make is that there is more to supporting your team than donating money. Yes, your 5 season tickets a year since since before I was born has made a much more real contribution than my 5 student season tickets that I've purchased in my time at ISU, as well as all my cheering on game day. However part of having a great program is having a great home field advantage which we really don't have right now (We do on rare occasion, like when we're stomping the Hawkeyes flat or a tornado tears through north of Ames but not very often)
I don't know about you guys, but I personally have a lot of fun when the stadium is loud and rowdy, and I also find it depressing when the opposing team's small contingent of 4000-5000 is cheering louder than our 40,000-45,000 fans
