Something I never understood

LifetimeHawk

Member
May 21, 2008
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I know this is a little off topic, but I have always been curious why ISU fans always blame Ferentz for the subsidized housing issue. Maybe my parents were different than nearly all of yours, but aside from knowing my address and periodically visiting they weren't involved with the apt. search, signing the lease or making the payments. Any money that my parents gave me was a check made out to me and I took care of paying the bills. Are parents really going to ask if the place is subsidized by the government? Even if they lived in the area, would they know which apartment complexes are subsidized? Maybe I'm not paying attention, but I have lived near Des Moines my whole life and couldn't name one.
 
I think it's kind of the idea that the parent's character gets passed down to their kids. Bad choices still happen, but this is one of the kids' first adult decisions, and he does something really shady, and he has to go out of his way to be shady, with whatever paperwork needs filled out and all.

KF may not know where the subsidized housing was, but it wasn't an accident on his son's part to go there. Somewhere, this call seemed OK to him. So we ask where his character got developed.
 
I can see your point to a degree. My parents knew where I lived and visited often but never really knew how much I paid because I paid for my living expenses my self.

The Ferentz case is a little different because he should have some knowledge of where all players are living and what types of housing is available to the students. I guess the perspective of a lot of people is he is the highest paid employee of the state and he is going to be held to a higher regard. Bottom line I did not feel it was right for his son to take advantage of the low rent housing but if he was eligible who am I to judge.
 
I know this is a little off topic, but I have always been curious why ISU fans always blame Ferentz for the subsidized housing issue. Maybe my parents were different than nearly all of yours, but aside from knowing my address and periodically visiting they weren't involved with the apt. search, signing the lease or making the payments. Any money that my parents gave me was a check made out to me and I took care of paying the bills. Are parents really going to ask if the place is subsidized by the government? Even if they lived in the area, would they know which apartment complexes are subsidized? Maybe I'm not paying attention, but I have lived near Des Moines my whole life and couldn't name one.


UH, doesn't he work for the University? Doesn't he live in IC? Wasn't his son a member of the team? Isn't he aware of what his son is doing? Excuse me but if he didn't know it show how out of touch he really is.
 
If that is the case then I guess every parent should be judged according to their kids' actions???

It definitely wasn't the best decision Brian has ever made, but I'm guessing that nearly everyone has done something as serious or even worse at some point in their life.

After college I lived in Sioux City for a year and moved in with a kid looking for a roommate. I found out nearly four months later that the place was subsidized. Does mean that I as well as my parents suffer from poor character?
 
Like the OP is going to listen to anything. 10 posts?

But, in case you do care, it shows character, or the lack of it, in Iowa City. The rumors were that it was a known racket. Players would be recruited and told that this housing was a perk to being a Hawk. Essentially, players got to live cheap and pocket the cash. Now I don't know how much of this is rumor and fact, but that is the story I have heard several times. And it seems Brian Ferentz seemed all to happy to take advantage of it. If KF did anything about his son living there, he would have to admit that he knew about it, which we know Kirk never does :skeptical:

Iowa fans need to swallow a bitter pill. Ferentz reflects bad upon the U of I and the State of Iowa. I would advise my kid to not play for him if I had one.

Oh and while on the story of character, is Bernstine still on the team? Surprised he has not appeared in the police blotter yet. But then we all know it would take something serious for him to make it.:wink:
 
Brian wasn't the only one doing this was he? There were more guys on the team doing the same thing. Ferentz (either directly, or through delegation) should know everything that is going on with the football program. If he felt it was necessary to put a player back in his dorm room, why is it different for other players and their housing situation.

Bottom line is: Ferentz gets paid to take the blame.
 
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Because it wasn't just Ferentz' son who was living in subsidized low-income housing, it was several football players. And they were getting into that housing ahead of qualified low-income families who, as I recall, were often on waiting lists for years before they could get in. Ferentz most certainly didn't arrange it, but if he knew about it he should have stopped it and if he didn't know about it, well, isn't he supposed to be in charge of things?
 
KF Wasn't Just Anyone's Parent

He was making $3M a year and his son was living in government subsidized housing - displacing single mothers and people living from paycheck-to-paycheck. That doesn't show much compassion on the part of son or father.

The logic that Kirk didn't know what was going is hard to believe. There were a number of FB players who were taking advantage of the loophole- not just his son.

IMO Kirk was fully aware of this practice and the extra change it put in his players pockets. IMO this is no different than a booster giving money to a player under the table.
 
okay okay okay....

Brian wanted to live near/with his teammates. Cool, I get that.

Brian shouldn't have ask for gov't assistance.

However, Brian couldn't have a roommate getting assistance and him not receiving assistance. The building# gets the assistance. If KF pays for Brian, off of assistance, AND Brian wants to have teammates as roommates... his roommates would have to pay full price.

It is really a lose/lose for Brian.

don't room with teammates or get assistance and look like a schmuck since his Dad makes millions

Personally, I think there was middle ground.

1. KF should have known... I still believe he DID know.
2. There were probably other teammates that a non-assistance room would have worked.
3. Being open about the whole thing to begin with.

-keep
 
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I wish people would be careful when they say Cyclone fans or Hawkeye fans thinks this or that. Message boards are full of some of the most crazy fans out there and there is typically only a few people within that group that can say some of the mind blowing things. That doesn't represent what the whold fan base thinks. I probably know of 5 cyclone fans off the top of my head that doesn't even know what this thread is about.
 
Who should be to blame for the housing situation then?

If you would rather us talk about another Hawk making a shady decision we can change it to that. Oh yeah. That player just happens to be fathered by KF.
 
I think most folks here have the basic idea. If the people that you're responsible for continue to make shady moral decisions, then the buck has to stop somewhere.

So far, it hasn't been one isolated case, but rather a continued pattern of behavior from year to year. This case happens to involve a member of his own family, whom he raised.

Over and over, you see people making shady moral decisions. All of these people are people that Kirk is responsible for, and has some kind of relationship with.

He can't influence all of their decisions, but he helps to shape their character.
 
People with a public job, like the Head Coach of a major uni, should be and are held to a higher standard. And, for better or worse so are their families. Brian made a huge mistake. The whole family could have tried to make things better by giving back money and time, but it has always seemed they all are above the issue.
 
I am sure the father or mother knew where he lived. Parents check up on their kids in town. He was just saving Dad some more money plus was he not on scholarship also. The boy owes Dad nothing for college.
 
Kirk Ferentz most definitely knew. I lived in IC during this whole fiasco and talked to several football players about this. Yes he knew.

He recruited the players to Iowa and this was an added bonus. Same thing happened to me when I was recruited to play baseball. I could get an apartment at 7 dollars a month. It wasn't the nicest thing in the world but who cares for that amount.

Ferentz makes millions of dollars a year and his son lives in those apartments. How does that not reflect badly on him and how can you not blame him?

Last, he says he didn't know where his son lived but yet he knows about the room in Hillcrest and tells players to move into the room. So do you handle living arrangements or don't you Kirk?
 
I don't remember the whole incident, but it seems to me there would have been some sort of application form for this kind of housing. I have never applied for this type of housing, but knowing how the government works, I would think an application was made. I would also think that there would have been some questions about income and source of income. And, depending on his age, probably some questions about his parents and at least their occupation, perhaps even their income. It is just not believable to me that KF had no knowledge of this. And the media never presses him, they just let him slide. All because he got lucky with some recruits and had like 3 good years. Amazing.

It has been a long time since I was in college, but I do remember applying for a student loan once. All kinds of questions were asked about my parents income and occupation. I didn't get the loan because my parents made too much money, even though they were not giving it to me. I don't think just anyone can walk up and get subsidized housing without some kind of application and review process. And if it was processed locally (I don't know that it was) wouldn't the people doing the processing recognize his name?

Just seems too strange that KF did not know about it. But, I guess his mind doesn't work that way, and a person would have to be morally bankrupt or ignorant to think that he, and his kid might have been in on a scam.

And yes, parents are held responsible for the actions of their kids. It is a reflection on them, and how they raised their children.

What amazes me is that Iowa fans are so willing to give KF a pass on this most recent incident, yet they ran SA out of town for his part in a cover-up. Guess KF has a better winning percentage huh? Oh wait.......
 
I know this is a little off topic, but I have always been curious why ISU fans always blame Ferentz for the subsidized housing issue. Maybe my parents were different than nearly all of yours, but aside from knowing my address and periodically visiting they weren't involved with the apt. search, signing the lease or making the payments. Any money that my parents gave me was a check made out to me and I took care of paying the bills. Are parents really going to ask if the place is subsidized by the government? Even if they lived in the area, would they know which apartment complexes are subsidized? Maybe I'm not paying attention, but I have lived near Des Moines my whole life and couldn't name one.

The blame should fall square on the shoulders of Brian. He was old enough to make decisions for himself and he made an incredibly dumb decision - especially in light of who his dad is.
 

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