So close to being a solid team.

[jsb]

It isn't that complicated.

Yes, records are all that matters as far as bowl games go. And yes, you have to play the schedule you have.

But you can realize that and acknowledge that some schedules are far more difficult than others.

There is nothing wrong with saying that an Iowa team that might play 2 ranked teams this season has a hell of a lot easier time getting to 8 wins than an Iowa State team that will play 5. Not to mention that the unranked teams each play are quite different.

 

[CycloneErik]

The point is that some of you will dismiss our win against Iowa because they are a bad team, but by your logic we actually beat a good team that day.

How does anyone gain by arguing that we beat a bad Iowa team?
That's the opposite of arguing that good things are happening, the day after we watched some good things happening.

 

[GWad]

I wouldn't call it anything, because simply looking at record tells you very little.

It tells you everything you need to know when it comes to making bowl plans.

Texas and ISU had the same record before yesterday's game. Two bad teams fighting it out for their bowls lives. We lost.

We play in the Big XII and that will not change anytime soon. Our record in the conference is critical to anyone's objective evaluation of our team. We will likely only beat Kansas in our remaining games. That tells me more than a very little.

 

[Cyclonic1]

I think we are all just tire of losing. Year after year after year after year. Can Fred recruit for the FB team?

Of course we are tired of not winning and so are the players & staff. I am not an x's & O's football mind but even I can see that this young team has improved every week so far so I am going to focus on that. I agree that there are no real "moral victories" but considering that our team probably gives up one & 1/2 rival's stars per man compared to the cow's team I am proud of the growth/improvement so far after a complete staffing change from last season.

 

[FanatiClone]

How does anyone gain by arguing that we beat a bad Iowa team?
That's the opposite of arguing that good things are happening, the day after we watched some good things happening.

Read post 212. That's what the guy was responding to. Makes perfect sense. His point was to emphasize that record alone hardly indicates how good a team is or isn't. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Cyrocks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXysRO11Xi8

Here are some of you reacting to this loss.

Yes I am upset ISU lost the game, but good grief very few people thought ISU would come close in this one let alone have a chance to win it. After last week's OU-Texas game, I read posts that ISU would be lucky to score -- and many of those posts were from those complaining about this loss.

 

[Daserop]

They may not be good but they'll make a bowl which is what matters.

this.

 

[GWad]

this.

Yep, a bowl is what every team is playing for.

 

[Tornado man]

That's not even close to true, here's the Sagarin rankings for McCarney's teams from 2000 on: 28, 40, 35, 106, 52, 30, 90. McCarney had four teams which were ranked in the top 40 in his final seven years, Rhoads has had one in six years. If you have to make up facts to make your argument sound better, it's probably not a real good argument.

You got it. The CPR apologists have trashed and minimized the Mac era as much as they could, so now they have to make stuff up.

 

[isucy86]

The primary goal of sport competition is winning! So the fact that ISU is 2-5 is unacceptable. Does our schedule start to get a tad easier, sure but at best we will be favored in two of our final 5 games. I don't feel a 4-8 record is acceptable. My guess is the coaching staff and players won't feel it is OK either.

There is reason to be optimistic. We are a young team. I feel CPR has upgraded his assistant coaching hires this past season. I feel our recruiting is getting better- this year's class has more 3 stars than 2 stars. For a school like ISU, I like the staff's decision to recruit JUCO players to fill immediate needs or gaps at positions that are hard to recruit like DL.

However, winning is a learned behavior and a winning culture is hard to create. "Moral victories" are nice and being competitve will keep fans engaged to a point for the short term. To fill the future JT and enable ISU to sell

 

[scyclonekid]

So close, but no cigar.

 

[spelhome]

I agree, that's a pipe dream. This 2-5 team has three almost certain losses still left on the schedule. Texas Tech and Kansas are the only games that we will likely be competitive in.

I believe we will be competitive in all of them. I think it is a reasonably good guess that we win just two of them.

 

[spelhome]

Mark Farley makes 300,000. Could do just as good of a job.

UGG Please GOD NO!!!!!!

 

[AWOL2000]

Is there a tread where I can just talk to curt about actual football? Instead of the 1000 th thread with the same people arguing the same point and getting no where...

 

[spelhome]

It's starting to become obvious that wins and losses don't matter to the CPR 4 life drumbeaters. Cold, hard numbers get spun with excuses. We've already gone over the laundry list of them. I like CPR and think he's good for ISU and want him to succeed, he's just not doing it right now and keeping your head in the sand and buying all in on the fairy tale isn't going to change that

Really, this post is unfair to those who see things differently from all the negative nancys. Characterizing those who (right now) still think CPR is the right coach as CPR 4 lifers is just standing up a straw man to knock it down. Saying that those who want to evaluate CPR and the program based on more than just the wins and losses are just spinning excuses is grossly misstating their posts, and I've not seen a post anywhere on this site that suggest we are "getting it done". I don't see how fans are sticking their heads in the sand or living in a fairy tale just because they aren't quite ready to push the current program and coach into the dumpster. I feel cautious optimism after last nite's game right along with real disappointment because we could have won. You can live in the real world and hold both of these thoughts in your head at the same time.

 

[CycloneErik]

Really, this post is unfair to those who see things differently from all the negative nancys. Characterizing those who (right now) still think CPR is the right coach as CPR 4 lifers is just standing up a straw man to knock it down. Saying that those who want to evaluate CPR and the program based on more than just the wins and losses are just spinning excuses is grossly misstating their posts, and I've not seen a post anywhere on this site that suggest we are "getting it done". I don't see how fans are sticking their heads in the sand or living in a fairy tale just because they aren't quite ready to push the current program and coach into the dumpster. I feel cautious optimism after last nite's game right along with real disappointment because we could have won. You can live in the real world and hold both of these thoughts in your head at the same time.

I agree, but that goes both ways, which is why football discussions have been so toxic this season.

If you support CPR, you're a lifer.
If you think he can't get it done, you expect to be Alabama.

It's intellectually dishonest and lazy all the way around. That makes for some bad threads.

 

[FanatiClone]

I agree, but that goes both ways, which is why football discussions have been so toxic this season.

If you support CPR, you're a lifer.
If you think he can't get it done, you expect to be Alabama.

It's intellectually dishonest and lazy all the way around. That makes for some bad threads.

That is the truth. CF fits right in with politics and religion. Everybody has all the answers.

Ok, so "everybody" is a stretch because I do run across a fair amount of rational posts that don't embody the extremes in perspective and seem to know that a point of view is just that...one point of view.

 

[Daserop]

I agree, but that goes both ways, which is why football discussions have been so toxic this season.

If you support CPR, you're a lifer.
If you think he can't get it done, you expect to be Alabama.

It's intellectually dishonest and lazy all the way around. That makes for some bad threads.

I think you were lazy in grouping CF posters into only two different and extreme viewpoints. What you posted doesn't align with my thinking at all.

 

[acody]

We just need to win one of these games. No one outside of this fanbase realizes how good this team is or how good our record easily could be. We have some legitimate studs (Bibbs, Montgomery, Lazard, Mutcherson) and some kids that are becoming true gamers (S. Richardson, Wimberly, Tribune, and Farni). These guys deserve to win one of these games, and it might just happen two weeks from today.

Solid team? To quote former tennis great John McEnroe after being upset by a line call at Wimbledon:

"You cannot be serious!"

 

[CoKane]

A Hawkeye fan who hoped to sabotage our program...would be saying precisely the kinds of things the Rhoad's haters on here are saying.

A Hawkeye fan would ignore the obvious signs of progress we're seeing in this team, ignore the historical difficulty of winning at ISU as well as the extreme tougness of our schedule, and they would disregard the fact that Rhoad's has taken us to bowls in more than half his seasons (a big deal given where we were at when Chizik left). In doing so, he'd hope to untrack a program that is struggling mightily to make very incremental steps towards improvement in the face of strong institutional and historical headwinds...and he would proclaim that signs of improvement that occur during a loss is nothing more than "loser's mentality" and "acceptance of mediocrity".

The truth is, underneath the facade of our record, improvement IS occurring in talent, coaching and toughness. Its going to have ups and downs but the trendline is still positive. After next year, things may look different, but for now being negative does nothing but hurt the overall program.

Only a Hawkeye fan has doubts?