I'm scared if there are too many fans like you. This "the few, the proud" mindset you display is what gets teams demoted to the Missouri Valley.
Bowl or Bust
- Thread starter Haverhill
- Start date
I'm scared if there are too many fans like you. This "the few, the proud" mindset you display is what gets teams demoted to the Missouri Valley.
Just so you understand. Donations to the ISU Foundation does not support the ISU Athletic Department. And neither do donations to the Alumni Association.
I do not understand the desire of any true Cyclone fan to want to squash any optimism for our football program. WHY the continual negativity?
Chris Williams and Rob Gray have posted many articles on the positive things going forward into this coming season. It is a GOOD things for fans to be optimistic about our prospects. It is a GOOD thing to focus on the positive things going on.
Actually it is fans like me that have been the reason we have gone from Clyde Williams Field to the newly expanded Jack Trice Stadium.
Making donations and promoting our teams and buying season tickets. I guess I could take your approach and be constantly negative and try to discourage people from supporting our football program and buying tickets and making donations. Do you think that would be more helpful?
We have had people like you forever...and look where we are. As I've said before, you represent a fan base that I hold largely responsible for our situation. You are our Snowball...just blindly pushing an agenda that hasn't worked and never will.
With all due respect, you're donation (if there is one) isn't worth it because you're unable to be pragmatic about our situation, year after year. Your money works in the opposite fashion...because when combined with your whimsical hope, it becomes the chain that ties us to losing.
Fans like you and Haverhill who you for some reason continue to ignore that he's a season ticket holder and donor. I suppose it's just easier for you if you continue to believe that the "negative" people aren't donating and buying tickets, but it's far from the truth.
Criticism when something isn't working, like our football program for basically every year since the beginning of time, is a good thing. Blind optimism when things aren't working isn't helpful for anyone except the people who choose to believe everything is going ok.
Clearly. You might as well say "I don't understand anyone who has a different opinion than mine" because that's what you're doing. You're grasping at straws trying to find ways to get people to see the way you do. It's not working. If anything it's going to do the opposite because it's annoying.
Chris Williams and Rob Gray don't post in a bunch of different threads telling people how they SHOULD feel if they are a TRUE Cyclone fan. There's nothing wrong with being positive. If that's your outlook on things then great. Back up your opinion with an argument. Have a debate. That's what the site is for. There's no reason to stoop to the level of questioning someone else's fandom simply because they feel differently than you.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
HA! Obviously you're not a real fan! Probably don't even donate, do you?!?
Do you donate enough to ask that question? Do you buy enough tickets to ask that question? Or are you part of the problem?
I've said this before, and I'll say it again, the positive people in this argument are the ones who believe the status quo isn't the ceiling for what Iowa State is capable of accomplishing.
Now, all that being said, donors and ticket sales are still a vital piece of the college athletics puzzle, and always will be to an extent. However, the increasing role of television revenue in college athletics has changed the landscape, and this revenue is quickly becoming the main source of funding. Right now, $27mil goes into Iowa State's athletic budget from the Big 12, and after the next contractual cycle, it could rise as high as $40-50mil for Power 5 conference members. All of this money is coming from television dollars from Tier 1 and Tier 2 FOX and ESPN contracts. These dollars don't come from football teams being okay with 2,3,4 or even 5 wins, it comes from teams grasping potential and new resources, rising to new heights, and gaining viewers. Ratings drive college athletic funding more than ever, and this trend will not change. Iowa State has been a ratings disaster the last two seasons, and will continue to be unless Paul turns it around. Making a bowl game, and being competitive in all games, is a must for this football program to be a contributing asset to the Big 12 conference, and its media partners.
We have equal revenue sharing in the Big 12 Conference. You are delusional if you think Iowa State is going to be kicked out of the Big 12 Conference.
I think we should absolutely demand it, the program sees fit to increase ticket prices after years of losing football seasons, we should demand that not be the case going forward. If we just continue to buy tickets and send them money without the demand for a better product what incentive is there for them to provide us with it?
Right. Because we all know that the Athletic Department and our coaching staffs, especially football, are not trying their best to give us the best teams possible.
If we demand that they be great, then they will be great, dammit. It is just that simple.
I never said kicked out. Once again, words in my mouth. That being said, finding a new league would be difficult if the Big 12 ever did collapse. Conferences want brand names and good tv ratings. ISU has neither, given the lack of wins and small geographic footprint. That wasn't the point of my post though.
Depends what you mean by demanding, but the culture of complacency in Ames can be felt far away. There eventually has to be a point where my donation money gets put into a product that yields something remotely positive, and can yield positive exposure (via tv, media ,etc) for my Alma Mater. Records such as 3-9 and 2-10, plus a few proud speeches don't classify as positive for 95% of society. There is a point where Paul Rhoads' football program will be viewed as a bad investment for alums and fans, and for some it already has, and I can't blame them. Athletic directors only see dollars and cents, because college athletics is a business, and the W/L record of this football program is becoming a bad business proposition. Eventually fans will demand success by no longer ponying up money for a lackluster and inferior product. Neither of us want that to happen, so the wins need to happen, or Paul needs to go.
Right. Because we all know that the Athletic Department and our coaching staffs, especially football, are not trying their best to give us the best teams possible.
If we demand that they be great, then they will be great, dammit. It is just that simple.
People who try and fail still lose their jobs at the end of the day.
What were you saying then with your post that revenue was dependent on the football team being successful? What did you mean in that post?
FTR, we have no history and no geographic footprint. Having some successful teams in football does not change that fact at all.
The Big 12 is dependent on 2 teams mainly. Texas and Oklahoma. Everyone else is just along for the ride. Texas and Oklahoma know that it is beneficial to keep teams like the Iowa States around because it is nice to have Conference teams that you have advantages over. If you have a whole conference full of Alabama's then someone is going to lose and some rise to the top.
Have you ever looked at the landscape of the football world when the Big 12 was formed?
No one is happy with the last 2 seasons. No one. That includes the coaching staff and CPR. Not sure whether you have noticed, but significant changes have taken place. We have almost a whole new staff from 2 years ago. This is just the second year with Mangino as OC and the Offensive staff.
If you are looking for "investments" then you should look at the stock market, not college athletics. Iowa State football is about passion for the University and the desire for the University we love to have successful athletic programs. There is NO OTHER COLLEGE that I will make donations to or buy season tickets for. Period.
I think we can all agree that we all want successful teams. But this idiotic talk of "return on investment" is just a bunch of baloney. CPR is coaching this fall at Iowa State. Whether you like it or not, the BEST thing you can do for Iowa State Football is to accept that decision and cheer on the team. IF the team is not successful, then I trust Jamie Pollard to make the correct decisions going forward that will be the best thing for our football program. IF you do not trust Jamie Pollard to make that decision, then you obviously think that he should be fired as well.
Woody had a lot of positive things to say. Sounds like Tucker and Mike Warren could be special players. And our receivers are very good. And Jordan Harris is the real deal.
And we now know why Brackens was in the doghouse.
Please explain how this is different than any other offseason though....
Chris and Jeff aren't going to spend their offseason telling the fan base that everything looks terrible. They are going to find the silver lining and any positives that they can and they are going to sell it. That's what they've been doing for quite some time now because they are good at what they do. Just go back and look at the predictions they made prior to the first game last season... http://cyclonefanatic.com/football/news/cf-expert-pick-em/
16 "experts" picked the Cyclones to beat NDSU and only 1 picked NDSU to cover the 3.5 point spread (ESPN's Chris Hassel).
In my opinion it would be wise to just take a wait and see approach instead of gulping down every ounce of positive news that you hear. I've said this many times, but ISU isn't the only team trying to improve in the offseason.
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