I am writing this letter feeling part agitated, part ashamed and part angry. You see, I am an Iowa State alumnus and an avid basketball fan. I attend, on average, six to seven men’s basketball games per year. I am a season ticket holder for football and make it to the Big 12 basketball tourney each year. So why am I agitated, angry and ashamed? I am agitated with students for the lack of fan support for the football and men’s basketball programs at Iowa State. The number of students holding season tickets must be minimal at best. Where have the days gone when there had to be a lottery for student season tickets? Back in 1990, students who wanted season tickets were not even guaranteed they would get them, (and that was for teams that were not ranked in the top 25). There was that large of a demand for them. And when the students went to the game, they were loud, boisterous fans. I have been to three home games this year, none were sold out, the place was so quiet, and the student support was horrible. I plead with the students to come out and watch and support your team. They deserve it. I am angry at the ISU athletic office. There seems to be no effort to keep “Hilton Magic” alive. Now, I agree that it still ranks in the top 10 toughest places to play, but not because of an organized effort on your part. You should be focusing your attention on making Hilton Coliseum the toughest place for visiting teams to play. Take a look at Michigan State, Kansas, Duke, even Missouri. They have worked with the students to make it an organized chaos, and pure hell for visiting teams to come in and play. I beg you to try to work with the students (perhaps lower student ticket prices or increase arena and parquet seating for students) and make it fun for students to come to the games, and at the same time, make it difficult for visiting teams to play. And finally, I am ashamed because of the big reversal in this state. In my college days, we as students, bragged about the home court advantage we brought to Hilton Coliseum, compared to Carver-Hawkeye arena in Iowa City. In the 80s and 90s, Carver Hawkeye arena was known as a quiet, calm place to witness a ball game. Ames was the rocking basketball arena that got national exposure in newspapers and television stories. Now Iowa has an organized effort with the athletic department, students and community. People are talking about how fun it is to go to the games. Whereas at Iowa State, the talk is of the lack of fan support and the empty seats. I challenge you to reverse this trend. Athletic department and students together, make the changes. The teams are winning, we have the second longest home court winning streak for men’s basketball. Get organized. Just think of how much more difficult you could make it for visiting teams. And you may even have fun doing it.Brian Weber

Alumnus

Des Moines