Throughout his time here, Cyclone football coach Dan McCarney has emphasized playing for respect. Respect for the team as a whole, and respect that yes, there is another football school in Iowa besides the one at the south end of I-380.

If media coverage is any indicator, there is still a long, long way to go.

My house in Tama County happens to get the TV stations of both central and eastern Iowa. This has proven to be a blessing more than once, especially during thunderstorm season.

And with that blessing comes coverage by all six TV stations in the two areas: the Hawkeye-happy eastern and . the Hawkeye-happy central.

Yes, Virginia, there is a bias. It’s still the “Hawkeye State” for more reasons than one.

To be accurate, all of this has a large preface. Namely, Sept. 19, 1982, to Sept. 11, 1998 – the day after and the day before the Iowa State victories that bookend The Streak.

For those of you not around then, that span went something like this: Every Iowa State fan east of Highway 14 would be repeatedly told that the Cyclones did not belong on the same field as the Hawkeyes, and sometimes that may have been true.

Then, between the Iowa win and Thanksgiving, the loss would hang around in the background, until the Iowa fans changed to saying the Cyclones didn’t belong on the same court as the Hawkeyes, even though the basketball rivalry was a competitive one.

Throughout those dark years, Iowa State football was often second fiddle on TV and rarely had a picture near the top of the paper. Now, because of the dismal records then, it’s a bit understandable, but the second-class status was overwhelming.

Now that Iowa State has made the Iowa game competitive again, the newspapers have made a marked improvement in coverage, in part due to changing designs.

As far as the TV stations go, though, there’s still a certain lack of equal billing. Two examples stand out.

Case #1: Nov. 21, 1998. Last game of the season. Iowa State beat Kansas 23-20 for a final record of 3-8 (which was a Very Big Deal). Iowa suffered a huge loss to Minnesota, 49-7, for a final record of 3-8 (which was Utterly Devastating).

That night, only KCCI covered the Cyclones first. The other five started with the Hawks and almost made the rest a passing note: “Oh, by the way, Iowa State won today.”

Now, since that was Hayden Fry’s last game, I admit that example may not be the best one. The following one, though, has everything equal – except for the sportscasts.

Case #2: Nov. 17, 2001. The records are equal, 5-4. The Big Game is the next week. Iowa State demolished Kansas 49-7 and Iowa dispatched Minnesota 42-24.

On television, it wasn’t even close; Iowa State went oh-for-six that night. Because of UNI’s win in the I-AA playoffs, KWWL demoted Iowa State to third in the lineup. No equality here, and not much respect either.

Now, this lack of respect does not stop at the state borders. Take the Florida State game. The talk on Sporting News Radio afterward was not “Iowa State looked kind of good out there,” but “Florida State was horrible! How could this happen?”

And then the guy on SportsCenter that night called us the “Clonies.” Ick.

The Hawk-centered TV coverage does not stop with Iowa State, either. KCRG in Cedar Rapids seems to avoid showing other Big 12 teams. If the regional games are, say, Nebraska-Kansas State and Purdue-Northwestern, odds are you’ll be watching the Wildcats that aren’t from Manhattan.

To be fair, things have been improving. Last Saturday, at least the central Iowa stations did lead off with the Tennessee Tech game, although it happened late. And one ESPN commentator predicted this weekend that Iowa State would beat Nebraska on the 28th.

Now, these accusations of bias do not go without challenge. “Sound Off,” the Sunday night TV sports program, has gone out of its way to prove it’s not slanted, that WHO does not stand for World Hawkeye Organization.

Unfortunately, a hole can be found in this argument by asking one question: Where did sports anchor Keith Murphy go last December? (Hint: Not Shreveport.) Central Iowa TV stations should send their main sports people to cover the college in central Iowa . shouldn’t they?

The Iowa State football team has gained a lot of respect in the past four years.

However, it may take another 11 wins against Iowa before equality is finally reached.

Jeff

Morrison

is a junior in journalism

and mass communication and political science from Traer. He is a copy editor for the Daily.