Thoughts

[nhwdmcy]

- It's fairly obvious to me that the divisiveness of this country has leaked into Cyclone Fandom.
- The ISU MBB program has attracted more talent than EVER the last decade. Think it through. The problem is not players, it's roster make up and severe turnover (which leads to an identity crisis.) The situation isn't near as bad as some make it out to be. I had season tickets when we rolled put Bryan Peterson and Sean Haluska at gaurd.
- People hire people they like. They also have to hire people who at some point must perform, or they get fired. Especially in P5 college sports where "what have you done for me lately" is as apparent as any industry you could think of. JP is not God. But he has earned the right to get some level of trust with a major hire at this point.
-We're not a "have" in the world of college sports. It's a blue collar/hard hat place. Matt Campbell would echo this. He's found a way to embrace it and find the niche.
-Don't be like many hawk fools who are so sheltered that they think that University of Iowa athletics is the envy of North American sports fans.

Have a great night.

 

[Acylum]

I’m opted out of the politics forum but I’m pretty sure there are posters from both sides of the aisle on each side of the TJ debate. Not that that has anything to do with your post.

 

[cyclonehomer]

-We're not a "have" in the world of college sports. It's a blue collar/hard hat place. Matt Campbell would echo this. He's found a way to embrace it and find the niche.

I genuinely believe one of the reasons Matt Campbell is as successful here as he is is that he doesn't think Iowa State is a "have not." He came in with a plan and CONFIDENCE in that plan, and has been able to sell the advantages Iowa State has to offer, namely pretty remarkable fan support given the football history. That isn't to say he doesn't prioritize hard work or the process or culture or however you want to put it. But Matt Campbell isn't afraid of staring Texas or Oklahoma down and meeting them head on.

This idea that Iowa State can't have premier athletic programs is so weird to me. We've seen Iowa State have about as good of a 10 year run as a basketball program as it gets outside of the truest blue bloods. We've now seen Iowa State become an actual contender for conference championships in football and were in the playoff conversation in the last few weeks of the season. What I'm sure a majority of us thought impossible has been shown to be possible. But this constant need to think of Iowa State as the Little Engine That Could any time we have even marginal success is just odd.

Adding one last bit on. When Texas A&M and Alabama came in late on Brock Purdy, Matt Campbell didn't back down. He wasn't thinking or worried about how Iowa State isn't supposed to win that recruiting battle. He continued to press the advantages Iowa State has to offer, and thank goodness he did.

 

[CycloneErik]

I’m opted out of the politics forum but I’m pretty sure there are posters from both sides of the aisle on each side of the TJ debate. Not that that has anything to do with your post.

I know there are posters that I agree with about TJ that I never agree with in the Cave. It's bipartisan on both sides with this one.

 

[GetAwesome]

The best way to ease divisiveness is the age old mantra: talk less, listen more. Those that talk more, they're angry, just let 'em. Let 'em vent. Don't meet them on that hill; wait for them to come on down. And if they're on that hill a bit too long, kill 'em with kindness and a few memes.

We all have far more in common than that which divides us. Personally, that is why I'm itching like none other for the return of some in-person Cyclone events. Loyal, forever, true.

 

[Sigmapolis]

I’m opted out of the politics forum but I’m pretty sure there are posters from both sides of the aisle on each side of the TJ debate. Not that that has anything to do with your post.

I think the point is more there is a nastiness and lack of compromise to our debates that might not have been there in the past -- politics being one of the obvious places you can see that.

One version of the argument is that the noxiousness of the political environment is spilling over into other realms. Another would be there is a common cause through social media world.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Here's a thought: I'm upset. But TJ is our coach and I'll support him like I did Steve. The other options were either not much better (Smith, Moser) or unrealistic (Hoiberg, Matta, Devries, Beilein etc).

A change had to be made. It may take some stumbling around groping in the dark for TJ to find the ceiling, but he is, or at least should be, standing on a higher floor from the get go. It seems early to take the training wheels off, but Fred never even had them to begin with and did a phenomenal job. We shall see if lightning can strike twice.