Last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the Iowa men's basketball team came out cold and did not play 40 minutes of basketball. They were down early and only led by 1 at halftime. Alex and I sat in row 37 of 41. Early in the game, I stood up and cheered because they scored a basket after a great defensive stop. The momentum was shifting to the team and when they do well, I'm the tall guy that stands up.
That was when a lady behind me said, "Sit down."
Really? REALLY?
Iowa basketball fans are a crazy bunch. With about 3 minutes to go, there was a mass exodus to the top of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Why? Do fans at a MSU or IN or WI or MI or IL or - any fans in any conference for that matter - leave the game before the clock says zeros? I have my doubts.
And frankly, if you want to sit down and watch the game, stay home. You go to a game to cheer, to be excited when the team does something great. I paid $26 for a youth and child ticket, $17 for 2 hot dogs and 2 Cokes (only in Hawkeye souvenir cups) to sit down during the game? No. I don't think so.
Realistically, if your team is ahead by 16 with under 2 minutes, no, the other team is not going to go on a 16 point run and win the game. BUT when the deep bench players are put in with under a minute, don't they deserve to know you support the team? I think so.
If you're really concerned about traffic and getting out, stay home. The game was sold out. There's going to be over 15,000 people trying to navigate through Iowa City on streets that were never designed for 15,000 people.
I hope the game sells out tomorrow night when they play Friday against a team that beat MA - thought to be able to win the entire NIT - by 13 points. In order to do so, they need to play 40 minutes of basketball.
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