Your Evolution As A Fan

[mrflynn03]

One of my fondest memories.  After the 93 tournament most of the IU team went on a barnstorming tour. They can to the Hatchet House in April and my dad was one of the referees.  I cant remember if the game was played on my actual birthday but they played a WHS silver anniversary team they put together.  The place was filled to the rafters. 

As a birthday present me and a friend got to be towel boys.  We each got floor seats under the basket.  And at halftime the IU guys let us spend that time in the locker room.

My dad knew Alan Henderson was my favorite, and told him it was my birthday so after AH got his millionth rebound he wished me happy birthday.  Calbert was drilling 3's from half court all game long. 

Still have that towel. 

My dad gave Henderson a hard time because his shorts kept falling down so he would send him over so I could pull them up for him. 

[IU Scott]

7 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

One of my fondest memories.  After the 93 tournament most of the IU team went on a barnstorming tour. They can to the Hatchet House in April and my dad was one of the referees.  I cant remember if the game was played on my actual birthday but they played a WHS silver anniversary team they put together.  The place was filled to the rafters. 

As a birthday present me and a friend got to be towel boys.  We each got floor seats under the basket.  And at halftime the IU guys let us spend that time in the locker room.

My dad knew Alan Henderson was my favorite, and told him it was my birthday so after AH got his millionth rebound he wished me happy birthday.  Calbert was drilling 3's from half court all game long. 

Still have that towel. 

My dad gave Henderson a hard time because his shorts kept falling down so he would send him over so I could pull them up for him. 

I wouldn't have thought Henderson could play in a game like that.  Since he still had eligibility left I wouldn't be allowed to play in it.

I know after the 87 season the big ten all stars played at New Castle and they were all seniors.

[mrflynn03]

Just now, IU Scott said:

I wouldn't have thought Henderson could play in a game like that.  Since he still had eligibility left I wouldn't be allowed to play in it.

I know after the 87 season the big ten all stars played at New Castle and they were all seniors.

I've scoured the internet for an article about the time. I wondered the same thing. 

I remember Cheaney, Bailey, Leary, Nover, Henderson, Greg Graham and Chris Reynolds.  

This is the only thing I could find.  It was 1994.

The summer after he graduated, and with his eligibility used up, Leary says he and his fellow seniors each raked in $56,000 cash for a 19-game, 21-day barnstorming tour that filled gyms across the state.

All the guys I mentioned were there. I specifically remember Henderson even though he had a year left of eligibility.

 

[AxnJxn]

Growing up, I didn't pay much attention to college basketball, and didn't start following IU until 85 when I started school there. Was a huge Reds fan growing up - used to listen to Marty and Joe on my scratchy AM radio and had a scorebook that I would fill out as I followed along. Got into the NBA and NFL in my teens (Pacers/76ers and Steelers). As for IU, immediately latched onto all sports once I was on campus, and was fortunate enough to be there for the natty in '87 (spent the night climbing Showalter fountain and running around Kirkwood). My first football game at IU, we tore down the goalposts, so that was a pretty exciting way to start my college experience, and then we tore them down against in the win at the end of the year against Purdue. Good stuff.

My IU fan claim to fame is I have a buddy who coaches AAU who got me into the locker room, where I met ... ah, Kelvin Sampson. It was kind of odd, because it was after the huge win against MSU, but the shady things going on were starting to come out, and it was clear that he wasn't going to last. The locker room was somewhat energetic, but there was also a kind of ominous feeling to it - hard to describe. He was a really nice guy - asked me where I was from, and when I said Baltimore, we ended up chatting about Ryan Minor, who played for the Orioles and was at OK with Sampson. I also met Pete Rose when I was a kid, so my experience with famous athletes is a little sketchy. 

I'm still a huge IU fan, watch every game, I try to come back to Assembly Hall for a game every year, my wife and I catch the IU/Maryland games out here, and I've even rolled up to Penn State a couple of times to see us play there, but I'm not as emotionally invested, which is probably more from age than anything else - I don't get overly upset about anything outside of people who don't use turn signals. I remember being ridiculously angry after the Hightower jobbing in the 92 finals against Duke, being pretty upset about losing to Maryland in 02 (that one was more personal, as I had moved to Maryland and was surrounded by obnoxious Terps fans), and then just being kind of numb with the Syracuse loss in 13 (unfortunately, saw that one in person). As for now, I still get excited about IU basketball, and will plan around games if possible (DVR makes that easier, too). My expectations have certainly been lowered. While I would love to see another natty, I'd be happy with just consistently good basketball, and I see glimpses of that with this current team at times, so I'm still hopeful that CAM will work things out. It feels like we're soooooo close, but I also feel like Lucy/Charlie Brown with the football sometimes, too. Guess we'll see.

[tdhoosier]

I've always been a fan of the Bears, Bulls and Cubs. Although my degree of fandom wanes. These days, I follow the teams but really don't watch many games....except for the Bears because it's Sunday and fantasy football has me invested in the rest of the NFL. That said, I'm not going to rearrange my schedule to catch a Bears game like I would for IU. I also enjoy watching golf majors. 

College basketball and IU are my #1's. Growing up in the 80-90s I was a die hard Bulls fan (who wasn't?) and didn't really watch CBB, but I always loved the tournaments. I'd pay for my own bracket in my dad's work pool...strangely I gravitated towards UNC for some reason. I really liked Eric Montross. I didn't become an IU fan until I got to college in 1998 and have been heavily invested ever since. 

[5fouls]

I used to be a college basketball junkie.  Would buy 5-6 pre-season magazines (before the internet) and read them cover to cover.  Since I lived in the Louisville TV market, Saturday afternoons were spent watching SEC or the old Metro Conference (which Louisville was in).  I literally knew the rosters for all those teams like I knew the back of my hand.  Today, I can barely name 2 players on UK or UL, let alone the other teams in their conference.  Would I seriously watch a Southern Miss-Tulane game now?  Uh........no.   After I got cable, and ultimately satellite TV, it seems like I would watch at least one game every night.  

Over time, I began to burn out on the sport.  The style of play may have had something to do with it, as well as the one and done. But, part of it may have been IU's decline as well.  Why watch a national game if there was no possibility I would see that team play IU down the road?   , Over the last3-4 years, I can't recall watching a single game all the way through that did not involve Indiana.  I still like to tune in and catch pieces of Big Ten games.  But, a big national game like Texas and Baylor played earlier this week.  I just had no interest in it.  My son was all gung ho, but I was like ehhhh...  I may have watched about 2-3 minutes with him and then found something else to do.

 

 

[IU Scott]

44 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

I used to be a college basketball junkie.  Would buy 5-6 pre-season magazines (before the internet) and read them cover to cover.  Since I lived in the Louisville TV market, Saturday afternoons were spent watching SEC or the old Metro Conference (which Louisville was in).  I literally knew the rosters for all those teams like I knew the back of my hand.  Today, I can barely name 2 players on UK or UL, let alone the other teams in their conference.  Would I seriously watch a Southern Miss-Tulane game now?  Uh........no.   After I got cable, and ultimately satellite TV, it seems like I would watch at least one game every night.  

Over time, I began to burn out on the sport.  The style of play may have had something to do with it, as well as the one and done. But, part of it may have been IU's decline as well.  Why watch a national game if there was no possibility I would see that team play IU down the road?   , Over the last3-4 years, I can't recall watching a single game all the way through that did not involve Indiana.  I still like to tune in and catch pieces of Big Ten games.  But, a big national game like Texas and Baylor played earlier this week.  I just had no interest in it.  My son was all gung ho, but I was like ehhhh...  I may have watched about 2-3 minutes with him and then found something else to do.

 

 

I would buy at least 2 or 3 magazines and like you read it cover to cover.  I stopped when the price got to $10 for a magazine so I only bought one a year.  I also think they have over saturated sports on TV so it makes watching a game not as special.  When growing up here near Indy we got IU and PU game son local channel 4.  Also they showed 2 big ten games on Saturday.  Also had 1 or 2 national games on NBC on Saturday and Sunday.  So you were only able to watch maybe 8 games a week so each game was something special to watch.  Today you can watch more than 8 games in one night so they all just lump together.  You can say that about any sport today because there are so many games on.

As for college basketball today I watch all the IU games and most of the big ten but not as much of the national games.  I more just flip through the channels and watch parts of each game.  For me the style of offense that a lot of teams run is just not very entertaining to me.

[IUFLA]

I'll say one other thing about fandom... @IU Scott has touched on this before...

When I was a kid of course, I didn't think too much of this...But I think reading books like "Ball Four" and "Season on the Brink" brought it a lot more too my consciousness...

As much as a like rooting for my teams, it really is but a small part of my life. It's entertainment. And while winning is fun, as I've said before, I always like the journey a season brings as well...

But for players and coaches, this is their lives on full display. We don't get to see a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes on beside a media clip once in a while. But think about the hours they invest in this. In our entertainment. I know there's a payoff via a college education, and pro opportunities for some...But think about the investment these kids and coaches make for this. I know CAM is well compensated, but in my eyes, he's totally invested in it too. I see the passion on the sideline, and the weariness during the post game. He's all in.

So I guess that's why I never get too wrapped around the axle when we lose. It's also why I kinda avoid negative posting from others. Just doesn't seem fair to me for the little investment I'm making to crap on someone's livelihood and sacrifice. I know they're not doing it for me per se, but that doesn't make the workload they carry, school, practice, workouts, ect any easier, I'm sure.

Just another 2 cents worth...

 

[IU Scott]

2 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I'll say one other thing about fandom... @IU Scott has touched on this before...

When I was a kid of course, I didn't think too much of this...But I think reading books like "Ball Four" and "Season on the Brink" brought it a lot more too my consciousness...

As much as a like rooting for my teams, it really is but a small part of my life. It's entertainment. And while winning is fun, as I've said before, I always like the journey a season brings as well...

But for players and coaches, this is their lives on full display. We don't get to see a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes on beside a media clip once in a while. But think about the hours they invest in this. In our entertainment. I know there's a payoff via a college education, and pro opportunities for some...But think about the investment these kids and coaches make for this. I know CAM is well compensated, but in my eyes, he's totally invested in it too. I see the passion on the sideline, and the weariness during the post game. He's all in.

So I guess that's why I never get too wrapped around the axle when we lose. It's also why I kinda avoid negative posting from others. Just doesn't seem fair to me for the little investment I'm making to crap on someone's livelihood and sacrifice. I know they're not doing it for me per se, but that doesn't make the workload they carry, school, practice, workouts, ect any easier, I'm sure.

Just another 2 cents worth...

 

Totally agree

[Muddy River]

I became an IU fan around the time of Season On the Brink.  I remember watching the unlikely run to the championship in 87.  In the fall of 88 I was a freshman n Bloomington.  Some of the best years of my life.  I met my wife of 27 years there, I was friends with Calbert Cheaney, it was a great time.  I was a fan of the Braves because I could watch them on TBS.  I hated the Reds due in large part to a very bad encounter with Pete Rose.  In my late teens and early 20's sports were a huge deal to me.  Almost everything I did was connected to sports.  Then, I graduated and things started changing.  Jobs took me to far away places, and we started our family.  All of my kids played sports, but none were particularly good or interested.  They had other passions, that I would often pursue with them at the cost of my fandom,  As other things took up my time, I became much less passionate about sports.  As others have said, it has become a leisure.  As I look back at life, I've had some tremendous highs and some terrible lows, but none have really involved a team winning or losing a game.  This past year has been a persistent reminder of that.  December was always tough for me, because I lost my dad in December 23 years ago.  Losing Ken this past year opened up a lot of old wounds for me.  Then, I was looking forward to putting 2020 in the rearview, and was excited to kick it off with a great IU bowl game.  It was the first time I'd treated any IU game as appointment TV in a long long time.  1st play of the 2nd quarter, my oldest son came into the room upset.  His best friends younger brother had killed himself earlier that morning.  I was heartsick.  This was a family we have known since we moved back to Indiana 15 years ago.  I immediately turned the TV off and never went back to the game.  I didn't watch, and I really didn't care.  I've often wondered if I became apathetic because the bloom had fallen off of IU's rose, but I really think it has more to do with life happening, and prioritizing things differently.  No two stories are the same, and I'm the last person who should be telling anyone how to live, but to me this has become just a game, it doesn't define me or even affect me, too may other things in life that are more important to me.  Maybe I'm apathetc, or maybe I've matured...I guess it depends on who you ask.