Cyclones v Hawkeyes? (Des Moines, Iowa City, Buckeye: school, college, versus)

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Anothing thing I realized was that in Chicago, Iowa City has a good view as a fun party city to visit over a weekend. I've talked to tons of people who take yearly trips to Madison and Iowa City to have fun.

It kinda props Iowa City up in the larger media more than others. For instance I say I went to Iowa for school and if anyone knows anything about it they tend to say "Ohh! I love Iowa City!". I really would never hear anything about ISU. Ames is much less known because Iowa City has the drunk party reputation.

If you love college town road trips, you gotta love Iowa City, Madison, Ann Arbor, and Bloomington.

[Dport7674]

Originally Posted by edsg25

If you love college town road trips, you gotta love Iowa City, Madison, Ann Arbor, and Bloomington.

Love to follow the Hawks up to Madison.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Just wait till they get that Amtrak rail line going between Chicago and Iowa City.

i didn't hear anything about Iowa City and Amtrak. Is this supposed to be a regular Amtrak service? I checked the map and none of the Chgo hub lines for the new high speed systems goes through Iowa City since neither the Chgo/Mil/Mpls line or the Chgo/StL/KC one will pass through.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by edsg25

i didn't hear anything about Iowa City and Amtrak. Is this supposed to be a regular Amtrak service? I checked the map and none of the Chgo hub lines for the new high speed systems goes through Iowa City since neither the Chgo/Mil/Mpls line or the Chgo/StL/KC one will pass through.

This has actually been talked about a LOT in Iowa the past 18 months or so, and I've read up on it in Chicago as well.

As of right now, Amtrak is planning on extending service to Dubuque, the Quad Cities and then on to Iowa City within 2 years.

It started with Dubuque, then the Quad Cities said they wanted service (obviously a different line), at which points Iowa City, then Des Moines, and then Omaha said they wanted the line pushed through as well.

The Governor of Iowa has taken a few special train trips to promote the service, including last week when he took the train to Chicago for the big meeting about midwest trains.

The fast-track right now is to at least get it pushed to Iowa City ASAP, at which point Iowa will work to get the line to Des Moines.

Lawmakers and Governors in both states back the move, and Iowa City has announced they are going to start planning on a rail depot location to try and get things moving as quick as they can.

[SD83]

I've lived near Des Moines from '83-'86, '90-'04, '07-Present. Personally, I see a lot more Hawkeye gear around town. Flags, decals, stickers, and especially license plate frames/custom plates.

[IABoy82]

While both are good universities, Iowa has slightly more highly regarded academic programs. Iowa has highly ranked medical, dental, pharmacy, law, and business schools. It also has much more highly regarded fine arts programs. In addition, Iowa has one of the very best graduate writing programs in the world, the "Writer's Workshop". The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as one of the top academic medical centers in the US. Iowa City is a more liberal city and has better restaurants, shopping, and especially better nightlife and livelier downtown. Iowa City is definitely a party town and Iowa is consistently ranked as a top "party school" due to its large bar scene. Iowa has more out of state students (about 40%) than Iowa State, and a large portion of them are from Chicagoland.

In comparison, Iowa State's strengths are its agriculture related programs, veterinary medicine, and engineering. The student body at ISU seems to have a larger number of rural Iowa students. The bar scene is not as good in Ames and they tend to have more frat parties/house parties. Ames is referred to as "Lames" by Iowa students. The girls at ISU are definitely, overall, not as good looking.

Concerning sports, ISU will always be "little brother". They have had their successes against Iowa in the big sports from time to time, but overall they play second fiddle. Basically, if you want to relegate yourself to a life of misery cheering for a losing team then choose the Cyclones. I do agree with the assessment that there are a lot of Hawkeye fans who didn't go to college at Iowa. Iowa is the trendier team to cheer for.

So overall I think I have told you why you should be a Hawkeye. However, if you like going against the crowd and cheering for the underdog then be a Cyclone.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by IABoy82

While both are good universities, Iowa has slightly more highly regarded academic programs. Iowa has highly ranked medical, dental, pharmacy, law, and business schools. It also has much more highly regarded fine arts programs. In addition, Iowa has one of the very best graduate writing programs in the world, the "Writer's Workshop". The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as one of the top academic medical centers in the US. Iowa City is a more liberal city and has better restaurants, shopping, and especially better nightlife and livelier downtown. Iowa City is definitely a party town and Iowa is consistently ranked as a top "party school" due to its large bar scene. Iowa has more out of state students (about 40%) than Iowa State, and a large portion of them are from Chicagoland.

In comparison, Iowa State's strengths are its agriculture related programs, veterinary medicine, and engineering. The student body at ISU seems to have a larger number of rural Iowa students. The bar scene is not as good in Ames and they tend to have more frat parties/house parties. Ames is referred to as "Lames" by Iowa students. The girls at ISU are definitely, overall, not as good looking.

Concerning sports, ISU will always be "little brother". They have had their successes against Iowa in the big sports from time to time, but overall they play second fiddle. Basically, if you want to relegate yourself to a life of misery cheering for a losing team then choose the Cyclones. I do agree with the assessment that there are a lot of Hawkeye fans who didn't go to college at Iowa. Iowa is the trendier team to cheer for.

So overall I think I have told you why you should be a Hawkeye. However, if you like going against the crowd and cheering for the underdog then be a Cyclone.

There are so many factors that play as to why these two schools are different. Geography is one that is overlooked. Iowa is not only the one that is Big Ten because it was the traditional state university, not the landgrant institution. It is also Big Ten due to geography. Iowa City and its university are very much products of eastern Iowa. They are both part of the fringes of the Great Lakes region, a highly urbanized part of the nation and, despite its rust belt woes, an area of great population, great diversity, great economic energy, and great research based universities and other think tanks.

Travel west to Ames and ISU, you are in a different world, one far more tied to Great Plains areas with smaller, less diverse populations, and less influence on the national scene.

Iowa, the university, has never been seen as anything but a good fit in the Big Ten, yet Iowa, the state, doesn't feel like the other six midwestern states in the conference with their more urbanized population. The region, as noted (IMHO) crosses the Mississippi as far as that hour of so drive to Iowa City, but really doesn't reach past there.

[Dport7674]

Black and Gold is more attention getting. Makes 'em look tough. It's why the Pittsburgh Steelers have a much larger following than almost any small/medium sized NFL market.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Dport7674

Black and Gold is more attention getting. Makes 'em look tough. It's why the Pittsburgh Steelers have a much larger following than almost any small/medium sized NFL market.

fine, but does give Wake Forest an edge over ISU?????????

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by Dport7674

Black and Gold is more attention getting. Makes 'em look tough. It's why the Pittsburgh Steelers have a much larger following than almost any small/medium sized NFL market.

Iowa does have one the coolest uniforms in all of college football, IMHO. However, ISU could have decent unis too, but they wear from time to time really atrocious uni color outfits; they are all that red/crimson color. Looks like they are wearing pajamas. Too bad too as the uniforms could be made pretty cool.