Here is an article written by ISU-Brew in 2006. Pretty interesting stuff to look back on. This is worth a read. I highlighted a few areas that I think pertain to the current situation. Thoughts??
How did ISU lose the 2000 era momentum?
ISU-Brew
5/3/2006
A little backstory:
I attended and graduated from Cedar Rapids Washington High School in 2002. An idol of mine who graduated in 1998 attended Iowa State, and I always kind of thought I would too, even though I knew nothing about Iowa State.
Going into my senior year of high school, I couldn't pick out Ames on a map of the state of Iowa. I had never been to Ames. I knew the team name was the Cyclones, I knew Seneca Wallace, and that's about it. I couldn't even tell you what Iowa State was really known for as a college other than George Washington Carver and Vet Med.
I was a Hawkeye fan, but that's because pretty much everyone was in Cedar Rapids. I never went to Kinnick or Carver, and I never really made a special point of catching them on TV (other than the BCS game), but I had a general idea of what the Hawks were doing.
There wasn't a huge distaste for Iowa State around us, people just generally followed Iowa more. I remember watching ISU's games in the NCAA Tournament and cheering for them.
During my senior year, I toured Iowa State and Nebraska as they were the only two colleges I was serious about attending. Despite having a $1000 scholarship waiting for me at Iowa, I didn't want to go there. Everyone from my high school went there, and it was just too close to home. I loved Iowa State and Nebraska, but ISU won out, of course.
I did a year at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids before applying to ISU.
After I received my letter of acceptance, I immediately started amassing Iowa State gear and following the Cyclones. I renounced any and all allegiance to the dark and yellow side.
In case you're confused about the time frame, I entered ISU in the Fall of 2003. The 2-10 football campaign, and the start of the Wayne Morgan era.
I had to learn the Big 12 cities and teams. I had to learn how the football and basketball scheduling worked. After being exposed to nothing but Big Ten for years and years, it took a little while.
Despite the struggles of the football team, I attended every game. I was an active member of Cyclone Alley during a basketball campaign that saw ISU knock off a few teams in true Hilton Magic style.
Through this all, I was left shaking my head. How had we fallen so far and so fast? Wasn't ISU a national name on the basketball landscape? Was this not a football team ranked ELEVENTH in the country during the 2002 season?
For a school that was never really known for athletics (other than basketball), how could we allow this success to escape us?
I'm blown away when I realize that THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY won Big 12 championshipS, PLURAL, in Men's Basketball. They won them in Women's Basketball too. I can't even COMPREHEND that. I can't wrap my head around it. We went to an Elite Eight in Basketball. ELITE EIGHT... one of the EIGHT best teams in the country?
I see highlights of Seneca Wallace in front of a national cable audience on TBS, which intones on their corner scoreboard that THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY is the ELEVENTH RANKED TEAM IN THE NATION... IN FOOTBALL!
I can't comprehend what it must've been like to be on campus in the early 2000s, and to experience success on that level. I wish I had been a fan then so I could have appreciated all of it more.
But how, how did we let this slip away? How do you get that kind of momentum behind your school -- first bowl win in school HISTORY, Big 12 championship, Elite Eight appearance, and not use it to slingshot this school forward in athletic standings?
If this is really the handiwork of Bruce Van De Velde, my respect for that man declines more by the day.
Another question is this -- how can our fans be this negative and apathetic toward our own programs? Some have likened our fans to Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox fans.
Well guess what? I was born and raised a Red Sox fan -- they were my dad's team, and as he taught me the game of baseball, I learned through the Red Sox. Every year we were so close, but not quite good enough. Each year April rolled around, I smiled and said, "This is our year." Why not be optimistic?
Cubs fans do the same thing -- just 4 months after the Bartman debacle, the Chicago Tribune printed up a summary before the 2004 campaign telling how the Cubs would win the NL Central and go to the World Series. Eternal optimism -- every year, despite starting with Wood and Prior on the DL -- it is THEIR YEAR.
Do Iowa State fans do this? Of course not. They find things to ***** about, and when they're addressed, they find new things to ***** about.
Take McDermott for example -- there were PAGES, and I mean PAGES of posts about how the man won't recruit outside of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa. The moment he gets recruits from states all over the US, then they say, "Oh, well, the recruits haven't proven anything yet."
Our fans are predicting a LOSING SEASON in football... after coming off a campaign where our largest margin of defeat was TEN POINTS. Ten stinkin' points. Show me another ISU campaign in the HISTORY OF THIS SCHOOL WHERE THERE IS NOT ONE LOSS LARGER THAN TEN POINTS. It cannot be done, because it's never happened. Not ONE blowout loss.
This may well be the best offense ever to wear Cardinal and Gold, but you wouldn't know it by reading posts around here.
There's a well-documented effect in Psychology called the "self-fulfilling prophecy". If you think you will do bad, you will. This has invaded Cyclone athletics and their fans for far too long.
Maybe that's why there are still some here that would criticize Jamie Pollard, because he challenges this pervasive mind set throughout Cyclone athletics and fandom. Jamie Pollard has demonstrated an attitude from day one toward people who say, "You can't do that at Iowa State." You know what he says -- "Why not?"
I honestly think that bugs some people. Misery enjoys company. They would prefer to ***** about Bruce Van de Velde than listen to someone who says ISU athletics can be so much more than it is.
I may have only been a Cyclone fan for three years now, but I've attended 19 straight games at Jack Trice Stadium, regardless of wind, snow, tornados, cold, or whatever else Mother Nature throws at us. I've been at Hilton for some awful losses and some amazing victories.
When I first came to Iowa State, I couldn't name all the Big 12 schools, let alone their cities. Ames, Lawrence, Manhattan, Boulder, Lincoln, Columbia, Norman, Stillwater, Lubbock, College Station, Waco, Austin.
Now I eat, breathe, and sleep it. I may only have been a fan for three years, but the negativity must stop, and I sure am glad we have a guy like Jamie Pollard leading our program. He's the kind of guy that thinks every year is our year... and you know what?
We're playing in fourteen football games this year.
Tailgate hard, cheer even harder. Pack the Jack early before the National Anthem, cheer the band at halftime, and stay late after the final gun singing the fight song. Yell until your voice gives out. Clap until your hands are numb. Then go tailgate some more.
THIS.
IS.
OUR.
YEAR.
GO CYCLONES! See you on August 31st!
How did ISU lose the 2000 era momentum?
ISU-Brew
5/3/2006
A little backstory:
I attended and graduated from Cedar Rapids Washington High School in 2002. An idol of mine who graduated in 1998 attended Iowa State, and I always kind of thought I would too, even though I knew nothing about Iowa State.
Going into my senior year of high school, I couldn't pick out Ames on a map of the state of Iowa. I had never been to Ames. I knew the team name was the Cyclones, I knew Seneca Wallace, and that's about it. I couldn't even tell you what Iowa State was really known for as a college other than George Washington Carver and Vet Med.
I was a Hawkeye fan, but that's because pretty much everyone was in Cedar Rapids. I never went to Kinnick or Carver, and I never really made a special point of catching them on TV (other than the BCS game), but I had a general idea of what the Hawks were doing.
There wasn't a huge distaste for Iowa State around us, people just generally followed Iowa more. I remember watching ISU's games in the NCAA Tournament and cheering for them.
During my senior year, I toured Iowa State and Nebraska as they were the only two colleges I was serious about attending. Despite having a $1000 scholarship waiting for me at Iowa, I didn't want to go there. Everyone from my high school went there, and it was just too close to home. I loved Iowa State and Nebraska, but ISU won out, of course.
I did a year at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids before applying to ISU.
After I received my letter of acceptance, I immediately started amassing Iowa State gear and following the Cyclones. I renounced any and all allegiance to the dark and yellow side.
In case you're confused about the time frame, I entered ISU in the Fall of 2003. The 2-10 football campaign, and the start of the Wayne Morgan era.
I had to learn the Big 12 cities and teams. I had to learn how the football and basketball scheduling worked. After being exposed to nothing but Big Ten for years and years, it took a little while.
Despite the struggles of the football team, I attended every game. I was an active member of Cyclone Alley during a basketball campaign that saw ISU knock off a few teams in true Hilton Magic style.
Through this all, I was left shaking my head. How had we fallen so far and so fast? Wasn't ISU a national name on the basketball landscape? Was this not a football team ranked ELEVENTH in the country during the 2002 season?
For a school that was never really known for athletics (other than basketball), how could we allow this success to escape us?
I'm blown away when I realize that THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY won Big 12 championshipS, PLURAL, in Men's Basketball. They won them in Women's Basketball too. I can't even COMPREHEND that. I can't wrap my head around it. We went to an Elite Eight in Basketball. ELITE EIGHT... one of the EIGHT best teams in the country?
I see highlights of Seneca Wallace in front of a national cable audience on TBS, which intones on their corner scoreboard that THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY is the ELEVENTH RANKED TEAM IN THE NATION... IN FOOTBALL!
I can't comprehend what it must've been like to be on campus in the early 2000s, and to experience success on that level. I wish I had been a fan then so I could have appreciated all of it more.
But how, how did we let this slip away? How do you get that kind of momentum behind your school -- first bowl win in school HISTORY, Big 12 championship, Elite Eight appearance, and not use it to slingshot this school forward in athletic standings?
If this is really the handiwork of Bruce Van De Velde, my respect for that man declines more by the day.
Another question is this -- how can our fans be this negative and apathetic toward our own programs? Some have likened our fans to Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox fans.
Well guess what? I was born and raised a Red Sox fan -- they were my dad's team, and as he taught me the game of baseball, I learned through the Red Sox. Every year we were so close, but not quite good enough. Each year April rolled around, I smiled and said, "This is our year." Why not be optimistic?
Cubs fans do the same thing -- just 4 months after the Bartman debacle, the Chicago Tribune printed up a summary before the 2004 campaign telling how the Cubs would win the NL Central and go to the World Series. Eternal optimism -- every year, despite starting with Wood and Prior on the DL -- it is THEIR YEAR.
Do Iowa State fans do this? Of course not. They find things to ***** about, and when they're addressed, they find new things to ***** about.
Take McDermott for example -- there were PAGES, and I mean PAGES of posts about how the man won't recruit outside of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa. The moment he gets recruits from states all over the US, then they say, "Oh, well, the recruits haven't proven anything yet."
Our fans are predicting a LOSING SEASON in football... after coming off a campaign where our largest margin of defeat was TEN POINTS. Ten stinkin' points. Show me another ISU campaign in the HISTORY OF THIS SCHOOL WHERE THERE IS NOT ONE LOSS LARGER THAN TEN POINTS. It cannot be done, because it's never happened. Not ONE blowout loss.
This may well be the best offense ever to wear Cardinal and Gold, but you wouldn't know it by reading posts around here.
There's a well-documented effect in Psychology called the "self-fulfilling prophecy". If you think you will do bad, you will. This has invaded Cyclone athletics and their fans for far too long.
Maybe that's why there are still some here that would criticize Jamie Pollard, because he challenges this pervasive mind set throughout Cyclone athletics and fandom. Jamie Pollard has demonstrated an attitude from day one toward people who say, "You can't do that at Iowa State." You know what he says -- "Why not?"
I honestly think that bugs some people. Misery enjoys company. They would prefer to ***** about Bruce Van de Velde than listen to someone who says ISU athletics can be so much more than it is.
I may have only been a Cyclone fan for three years now, but I've attended 19 straight games at Jack Trice Stadium, regardless of wind, snow, tornados, cold, or whatever else Mother Nature throws at us. I've been at Hilton for some awful losses and some amazing victories.
When I first came to Iowa State, I couldn't name all the Big 12 schools, let alone their cities. Ames, Lawrence, Manhattan, Boulder, Lincoln, Columbia, Norman, Stillwater, Lubbock, College Station, Waco, Austin.
Now I eat, breathe, and sleep it. I may only have been a fan for three years, but the negativity must stop, and I sure am glad we have a guy like Jamie Pollard leading our program. He's the kind of guy that thinks every year is our year... and you know what?
We're playing in fourteen football games this year.
Tailgate hard, cheer even harder. Pack the Jack early before the National Anthem, cheer the band at halftime, and stay late after the final gun singing the fight song. Yell until your voice gives out. Clap until your hands are numb. Then go tailgate some more.
THIS.
IS.
OUR.
YEAR.
GO CYCLONES! See you on August 31st!
