Our stadium and program are so far behind modern football it just hurts to be there.
I wanna sleep until we are competitive again.
I wanna sleep until we are competitive again.
Not Sure I Can Go Back
- Thread starter MyTeamIsOnTheFloor
- Start date
It’s not just the school with that mindset, it’s the city as well.
You may have something there. I never thought much about the impact of the town but I’m starting to think it’s quite important. We might have the smallest population, yahoo town in the BigTen. This will be even more magnified with our future conference additions.
Man, Bloomington 25 years ago was awesome. It’s a different, much worse animal now.
The addition of the interstate is a huge positive. It brought Bloomington into the 20th (lol) century. The increase in the cost of housing is a real detriment though. I rented a decent apartment for $440/month back in 2010. Impossible now.
Is it? It has nicer “things,” but it also has that feel of the icky things you find in a big city, mainly the massive homeless and zombie druggies. I preferred small town pre developed Bloomington a lot more.
I kinda gotta say b.s. to the it's a town problem..
It's a fcking coach and and coaching staff problem..
💯 pct ...
It's a fcking coach and and coaching staff problem..
💯 pct ...
None of this has anything to do with the state of the football program. Indiana University and Bloomington Indiana are no less attractive than any other B1G school or community.
The atmosphere in Memorial Stadium is bad because the football team playing there sucks ( although I would like to see the hype guy shipped off to Antarctica). The band, the videoboard, the food offerings, the lack of chairback seats, even the price of tickets and parking don't matter. People will not show up to watch a shitty football team ( especially one that has been shitty for so long). People will show up to watch a good football team - even in a shithole town and shithole stadium ( see W. Lafayette, IN.)
Everything, and I mean everything about football gameday in Memorial Stadium and Bloomington, Indiana will be hunky-dorey when the home football team is a competitive program that wins more games than it loses and goes to bowl games consistently. People bitching about congested traffic or anything else regarding the gameday experience will look like infantile whiners to everyone else if the Hoosiers are winning with regularity.
The key to making this happen is to hire the right head coach, nothing more-nothing less. Right now that is 100% the problem. Someone who can recruit better players, hire quality assistant coaches, attract staff who can motivate players and improve their strength and speed and agility. I'm not about to profess that I know who that person is or how to get him to IU - just that all of the other things being brought up in these threads are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. They are simply symptoms and effects of losing football - not the cause. Get the right guy, good talent will want to come here and the players here will get better - and none of us will care about anything else that may not be perfect about IU gameday.
I gave up 8 years ago and that was 20 years too late. When our program loses the Knot Hole gang that saw 67 for $1 then good luck.
I've been a season ticket holder for the past 20 years and attended whenever I could for the twenty years prior to those. But I'm not going back for the final two home games this year, just as I did not go to the final two last year or in 2021. It makes me too miserable to waste a Saturday sitting in the stadium watching a team that is not competitive and has proven it has no chance of winning.
Next year, I'll renew my season tickets and start over unless/until I come to the same conclusion. But I freely admit that if Tom Allen remains the head coach, I will begin the season skeptical of the chances of having a decent team and I imagine I will lose the desire to show up pretty quickly. But I don't blame anyone who decides not to fill a seat or even give up season tickets. I'm glad I have the financial ability to absorb the cost without much sacrifice and that the wife and I seem to have a nice experience in the Bloomington area on game day ( even though I tend to leave when the outcome appears certain so as not to wallow in the misery of the game itself). If next year is a repeat of the past three and the coach is not replaced, I'm committed to finding other ways to enjoy fall Saturdays.
Just curious- what was it 8 years ago that did it for you? That was 2015 and Wilson had us eligible for the first of back to back bowls.
Wife and I were talking last night about if we would renew. Still undecided but if we don't then we will probably get season tickets for Butler Football. We go to a game there from time to time and always have a good time.
Then maybe pick a game or two for IU and just pick up a single game ticket. We may rotate and go to some other events as well. I've been to games at several different college stadiums and the IU experience is very much at the bottom. If they are competitive then I don't mind the lack of things offered by IU but to spend basically 10 hours on a Saturday to experience what we did on Saturday just isn't worth it.
The incompetence of getting people into the Grass lots, the annoying Hype guy, the lack of fan experience offerings, just compounds the total experience. Shouldn't take an hour to move cars 1/4 of a mile into a parking lot.
Then maybe pick a game or two for IU and just pick up a single game ticket. We may rotate and go to some other events as well. I've been to games at several different college stadiums and the IU experience is very much at the bottom. If they are competitive then I don't mind the lack of things offered by IU but to spend basically 10 hours on a Saturday to experience what we did on Saturday just isn't worth it.
The incompetence of getting people into the Grass lots, the annoying Hype guy, the lack of fan experience offerings, just compounds the total experience. Shouldn't take an hour to move cars 1/4 of a mile into a parking lot.
Had the same conversation with my friend who shares tickets with me. I'd have dropped down to 2 seats from 4 this year if he hadn't bought in on a pair. Doubtful that he'll want to do that again next year.
My son graduated and I just crew tired of waiting.
Bloomington and Monroe Co. fought the interstate all the way. The
county and city have always been backward.
I’m confused about that. I’ve been to most of the other B1G towns . Bloomington is small, but I think it compares well and better than most of the other B1Gs
I don’t agree with that. Think there have been lots of improvements.
If you only go for wins, you're bound to be disappointed.
I go for the tailgating, a crisp Fall day in Southern Indiana, a chance to meet up with old friends, driving around campus, and a chance to eat at one o f Bloomington's great bars and restaurants.
This year will pass and there will be better years - I'm confident of that. May not be next year, but maybe it will.
Hey, I did see some new concession offerings in the NEZ Saturday.
I looked up at the menu and they had a Cheesesteak, Bratwurst, and Brisket on the menu. Pretty sure those haven't been there before.
I've been to B1G towns/campuses of Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Columbus, West Lafayette, and I certainly wouldn't trade Bloomington for any of them. But Bloomington is changing rapidly.
Bloomington, to me is still top three in the B1G. Ann Arbor and Madison, to me are the best towns in the B1G. I say that as someone who's lived in Bloomington for the past seven years.
Just a few weeks back, we had to go to Urbana/Champaign for a couple days. Yuck.
The most effective strategy in Sports Marketing history is to win more games.
Maybe my memories are clouding me about Ann Arbor. I hate that death trap AKA I94, and the game I saw at the Big House was a 5-0 burner over Purdue where the wind chill had to be -20 with sleet/snow. Most people (including us) left around halftime.
Oh, they get weather for certain, but it is a very cool city. IU's campus is nicer than UM. Same applies to Madison, great city but our campus is better.
State College is the only one comparable to Bloomington as far as metro areas.
Lots of the rest are bigger cities or are in bigger metro areas (i.e. combining Lansing/East Lansing or Lafayette/W. Lafayette).
A lot of those cities also have their own network TV stations which is a big part of building hype in the community.
The new developments in Btown didn't cause the homelessness and drug problems.
AA is a good spot, but not much like Bloomington. The game day experience at the Big House is cool but more like going to the Indy 500 than tailgating in B-town. Highly recommend going when/if IU is average again.
Madison is a great trip for basketball and football. It's got a Btown vibe but right in the middle of a city with a lake. I've been to 4 or 5 IU basketball games in Madison but never saw a Hoosier victory.
East Lansing is a dump compared to other B10 campuses but great atmosphere for basketball.
Minneapolis is a great trip except for the barn, it's like a big Hinkle but without the atmosphere.
Northwestern is a weird experience. Tons of IU fans but it didn't feel like an IU crowd and not the easiest place to get to depending on the day.
Champaign is probably my least favorite. Easy trip from B-town but has zero atmosphere and the campus is completely mediocre.
I love going to Purdue. Easy to get to, always a fight, and boy do the Boilers hate IU fans.
I've been to Nebraska for football but not basketball. Game day in Lincoln is pretty cool, just so far.
Madison is a great town, but there's no places to tailgate close to the stadium.
Never been to Minnesooota - I thought it was downtown?
The campus has always been great but most people only make as far as MS, which really isn’t on campus, per se. It’s fine on the exterior, but the inside is lifeless and, when we have a big game (the Cincinnati game two years ago comes to mind), it was amateur hour. Unfortunately, we do everything possible to make standing in a parking lot a better experience than being in the stadium, and we actually encourage that. Casual fans eat it up because they really don’t care, but it’s terrible for the players, coaches, recruits, band, etc.
Plenty of places to tailgate around Camp Randall. It’s a fantastic atmosphere inside and outside of the stadium, and has been for decades.
You are right, but the bar scene is ridiculous. Never try to out drink a Wisconsin girl.
Minnesota's campus is pretty much downtown but the twin cities are split by the river. The barn is on campus.
I miss Surfboard Fred’s “red light special” hotdogs for a $1 in the 3rd quarters.
Now they promote the Heisenberg hotdogs. Wasn’t that Walter White’s drug kingpin name in Breaking Bad?
