Are we witnessing the fruits of a spoiled generation of Hawkeye fan? Am I a part of that generation? Are you? Does it exist?
As I discussed this topic with a friend of mine as it relates to Iowa somehow pulling out of the nuclear winter it’s involved with right now related to Men’s Basketball attendance, we wondered how herculean the rebuilding efforts on that front will be.
It may be fairly significant, given that ‘m-m-m-m-my generation’ is now the target demographic as it relates to season ticket marketing campaigns.
I will be 39 next month. I have young children, who are the next generation of season ticket holders I have a little disposable income to direct towards entertainment. My father took me to Iowa games at the same age my children are right now, and those treks to Kinnick, The Fieldhouse and Carver Hawkeye Arena helped to solidify my passion for the Hawkeyes.
I was born in 1971, so here is what I knew Iowa athletics to be when I grew up:
BASKETBALL: My first memories of Iowa basketball are Ronnie Lester and the 1980 Final Four team. I was nine years old and thought those guys were the biggest stars in the world. The Hawks were on local TV as much as any basketball program in the nation thanks to Tommy Thompson and the Iowa Basketball Television Network. An Iowa basketball game was appointment television, and on the occasions where we could afford it, we’d make the 15 minute trip from West Branch to Iowa City to watch the action in the Fieldhouse and then Carver Hawkeye.
Iowa made it to the NCAA tournament far more often than not, and when it didn’t, we wondered what was the matter. As I got older, Iowa kept making it to NCAA tournaments, it started 18-0 in 1986-1987, it made it to the Elite Eight that season. It began seasons ranked #1 in the nation. It never lost a first round NCAA tournament game and over a 21 year span before Steve Alford was hired, Iowa made it to the Big Dance 16 out of 21 years. The years they did not make it, March felt absolutely hollow, as if a piece of you had somehow died.
My generation is not a collection of ‘good losers’, if there is such a thing. Our expectations are high because for much of our lives that was the reality. Until we began champing at the bit for the next level…well, we go it, didn’t we?
One NCAA tournament win in the first decade of the 2000’s is what we have now, and waning attendance in most of the last six or seven seasons is what we have now.
FOOTBALL: My first memories of Iowa football are Gordy Bohannon, Andre Tippett and the 1981 Rose Bowl season. I have no recollection of any of the 19 years that preceded that season, which did not produce one winning record. Not because I have blocked them out, but because I was 10.
I recall Iowa going to eight bowl games in the 1980’s, and winning three Big Ten titles in the span of 11 seasons. I recall Iowa being ranked #1 in the nation in 1985 and beating #2 ranked Michigan on a last second field goal. I recall Hayden Fry being a larger than life figure. The years Iowa didn’t make it to a bowl game were uncommon, and again, if felt like a little piece of you died when that did not happen.
Which made 1998-2000 nearly unbearable. Thank goodness Kirk Ferentz was able to turn things back around and put together a decade that nearly matched the magic of the 1980’s. In some ways it did, in some ways it exceeded that.
So it’s no surprise that Kinnick Stadium is sold out more often than not; people support a winner. It’s easier.
It’s no surprise that Carver Hawkeye Arena has seen attendance drop off, because it’s harder to support a team that doesn’t give you enough regular reminders of why you fell in love with it.
Who is still there? People older than I. The people that went to Kinnick during the 1960’s and 1970’s when there were fewer reasons to do so. People that were going to the Fieldhouse during the Dick Schultz era. Those are the people that are still going to Carver Hawkeye.
They must have made that generation a little more sturdy, or perhaps that generation cut its teeth with struggles on the football field and the basketball court, albeit the late 1960’s success on the court with Ralph Miller’s six pack, so they have more tolerance.
Winning cures all, I don’t doubt that one bit. If the Iowa Men’s basketball team starts winning again with regularity, the fans will come back, including a lot of fans from my generation.
So I pose this question to you; did my generation get ‘spoiled’ with the era of unparalleled success (or at least dating back to the 1950’s) we grew up with, and is that affecting attendance at Iowa Men’s basketball games? If so, is there anything short of consistently winning that is going to bring that generation back? Are we even spoiled to begin with? Shouldn’t we expect for Iowa to be at least an upper division finisher in the league?
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