Yes, I am old. I graduated from IU in 1969 and enjoyed my time there rooting on the sports teams and especially enjoyed our one and only Rose Bowl Team. After graduation, I taught and coached in Cleveland, Ohio but never forgot my Hoosier roots. I tried to attend at least one home game a year, usually homecoming, and even brought many friends with me to soak in the atmosphere. When it came to football, we rarely saw a win. As time went on, we heard complaints about coaches, complaints about facilities, complaints about recruiting and plenty of blame as to why IU can't win. Then in 2000 I moved to Florida and still tried to attend one game a year. Yet, victories were still very very rare. It has finally hit me that things will never change regardless of the coach, the facilities or the attempts to get better players. Yes, I always loved the atmosphere, especially at homecoming. The red steppers, alumni breakfasts and the alumni bands were things my friends and I looked forward to. But the games were almost always very disappointing. Last year, my group and I actually left in the second quarter of the OSU game because of the monsoon and because IU was already down by a million points. It is just no fun to be beat to death for over 50 years. Rarely are the Hoosiers competitive. Rarely do they pull an upset. Rarely do they finish in the top half of the league and they haven't won the league since 1967, a year where we didn't play Ohio State. When I worked in Cleveland, I became a loyal Browns fan. I was at the first ever Monday night football game. I saw the Kardiac Kids. I saw the Drive. I saw playoff wins and almost saw my team make the Super Bow. It was a blast to be a season ticket holder for all of those years because of the atmosphere and because in the NFL, every team has a chance to win every game. It happens every Sunday in the fall. Rarely is there a blow out. Rarely is a point spread more than 10 and rarely does a team think that it has no chance to win. College football is broken and broken badly as more and more folks see what I am seeing. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer and the system cannot be fixed. So yes, the atmosphere at IU is still wonderful but you are probably better off in believing in something else if you expect us to ever be a winner on the field.
Why I am now leaning to the NFL if I want to enjoy competition and root for a given team.
- Thread starter Rotonda Jim
- Start date
The Browns? Ugh.
Lived in Brecksville early in my career. There for the “Elway games.” Told people we named The Kid Down the Hall after John Elway and he was then the only baby ever booed at his christening.
Were you also an Indians fan? Did you go to Municipal Stadium for games when the wags would say it would take less time to announce the names of the fans in the stands as opposed to the starting line-ups?
The only good thing about Browns fans is that they’re not Steelers fans . . . .
Yes, I am a total Tribe fan. We were actually there last July when the name change was officially announced. I booed and will always call them the Tribe. My son and I sat in Municipal Stadium for many games where we could pick and choose our seats and talk directly to the players. But then 1995 and 1997 happened and baseball was rejuvenated in Cleveland. Those were fun days. What has happened with the team this year is tremendous. I watched the whole game yesterday and basically ignored the second half of our IU game. I lived mainly in Lakewood for 31 years and coached track and basketball and Cleveland John Marshall. We had a lot of encounters with Brecksville and I have many friends who live there. Go Bees
Left the area in 1988. Was amazed to see the attendance numbers at Jacobs after it was built. Never thought anything like that was possible.
IU is at the point where it merely exists in the Big Ten. It’s simply collecting a paycheck to boost its coffers. The coaches change. The players change. The results are the same. In this conference, we are way in over our head.
I never bought into that crap that it will never change. Anything can change. Kentucky and Kansas were in the top 25 this week. Plus, no one was saying this when we were ranked in the top 10 two years ago. But this season seems lost because we won't give other players a chance. I just don't get it. What do we have to lose?
I believe in evidence to support an idea. I think what has happened since 1967 is proof enough to say that things will never change. Right now, we have fewer wins in our history than any school trying to play big boy football. I rest my case.
Fitz gets more leeway than just about any other coach in college football not names Smart or Saban, but NU has fallen pretty far, pretty fast. They’re privately funding an $800M new construction stadium as the new Ryan Field and he would be the face of that new place, but they have to be much better.
Fitz deserves more leeway because of what he’s done since 2007. He’s a very good coach.
I still contend that with a Fitzgerald or Brohm here with our same personnel, we’d be better than we are.
I remember back in the day in New York they would air Notre Dame highlights with Lindsey Nelson announcing, and Northwestern often was losing 55-0 or so.
As horrific as Kansas has been, they went 12-1 in 2007 and won the Orange Bowl.
That's a level that I doubt that IU will ever reach in my life, as they're in a division with OSU, UM, PSU.
Kansas was able to achieve that record because they dodged OU and Texas that season.
One bright spot is our current divisional alignment will likely end soon. Not sure if what’s next will help us any, but it would be tough to create something worse for us.
The BIG East isn’t that great especially with MSU as bad as they are. There’s 4 very weak P5 teams in it. Michigan and PSU very overrated. OSU is the only real threat ever. Either side of the SEC would be far far worse.
I had Super Bowl tickets and once the Browns took the lead, I was thinking that I was actually going. I still think the field goal in overtime was wide. It is something that haunts me but it was a heck of a ride. I also saw red right 88 where Mike Davis picked off Brian Sipe in the End Zone. Gut wretching stuff but a thrill to go through all of it. I just wish I had some memories of days like that while rooting for IU football.
I've said this many times, but I was at IU from '89-'93 -- Still can't believe those almost qualified as "glory days"
I was at the Browns game Sunday. I’ve never seen a team that can find a way to lose a game like the Browns do. Looking for tickets at Progessive Saturday. I love this baseball team. I saw a stat that there are 10 AAA teams that are older than Cleveland. I’ve been a Cleveland sports fan my entire life.
It is sad that our bar is so low. And I lived in Ohio for 31 years and saw IU win once in all that time against OSU and I am going to the horseshoe again in three weeks for another beating. Maybe I am insane!!!!
