Iona hate-fest; Why?

[JoltinJoe]

The Iona library, class is in session

While we're on the subject, does Iona actually have a library?  

(Doing my part here to uphold the perception ...)

[Tau]

While we're on the subject, does Iona actually have a library?  

went to Iona for 6 years and I only have 69 credits. Still looking for that place

[B2Bomber]

You see a girl with a beerbelly at 2 AM in a bar, IONA grad

Funny....but to tell the truth, I am never in a bar at 200am (anymore....left that scene more than 30 years ago).    

But if you want a real dose of arrogance and condescension, trek on down to Duke's campus.....it permeates the place something fierce.  Seriously.    

[B2Bomber]

While we're on the subject, does Iona actually have a library?  

(Doing my part here to uphold the perception ...)

Touche! 

[Tau]

You preppy bastards going to make the A10 tourny or what? 

[JoltinJoe]

You preppy bastards going to make the A10 tourny or what? 

Hah!  Who cares?  We're No. 53!

[B2Bomber]

Once flew from Chicago to LA on a plane filled with Notre Dame students and USC alumni heading to the schools' annual football game. It was such a smuggarama that by halfway through the flight, I was searching the cabin for a parachute or a gun, didn't care which.

As for Fordham students having a "holier than thou" attitude, yeah, it's true. Part of it, I think is that the school probably blows smoke up their tails telling them how "special" they are, having been chosen from 35,000 applicants.  But a good part of it, I bet, is just a defense mechanism. Pretty hard to hold your head up when your athletic teams get consistently walloped, but sticking your nose in the air achieves the same effect.

Could it be those Chaminade boys, you think?  LOL.  

[B2Bomber]

You preppy bastards going to make the A10 tourny or what? 

No.   Its beneath our dignity!   

[Tau]

Could it be those Chaminade boys, you think?  LOL.  

In your Penny loafers and turtlenecks?

[B2Bomber]

In your Penny loafers and turtlenecks?

whats that "your?" business?   I am not a Chaminade-ster.     LOL

But while you are asking, they wear PF Fliers.

[Tau]

whats that "your?" business?   I am not a Chaminade-ster.     LOL

But while you are asking, they wear PF Fliers.

Tell Joe Franco to go get his shinebox 

[xtey92a]

Holier than thou?    I have to laugh at that.   Not compared to what I see/hear from Georgetown, Notre Dame and Dukies.    Duke is particularly offensive.    And they carry that obnoxious notion throughout their lives.  Seen it a million times.  All I can do is roll my eyes and carry on.....

+100 B2, those Dukies really thought their crap did not stink.

[ConnGael]

This thread is great. Since we don't play eachother anymore, our rivalry is over.  This is like Cold-War nostalgia.  Don't you guys miss the Soviet Union?  I do.

[ConnGael]

While both Catholic and near each other, they're very different schools, and you can get a good education at either. Maybe I'm just a product of my generation, but the Fordham-Iona rivalry seemed to be a pale imitation of Fordham-Manhattan, without the longstanding tradition and flashes of wit.  

 

I guess its perspective formed early on.  You consider Fordham-Manhattan to be the rivalry.  Later during my era Fordham-Iona in the MAAC were rivals, and Manhattan was a doormat.  Now ESPN considers Iona-Manhattan to be a great rivalry, but I don't feel that it is.  Some younger fans might, though.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7549847/mid-major-report-best-rivalries-mid-majors-college-basketball

[NYRam07]

Football? 70 years ago.

C'mon man - They won the patriot league in 07 and in 02. Show some respect to the guys who have won titles.

[NYRam07]

Really do not have much to say about Iona... but I can speak about Iona Prep - they were the biggest dirt bags in the Catholic High School Hockey League. I mean complete dirt bags. Little skill and plenty of dirt. I am proud to say that I left the bench to knock one of em out after he took a stick to my teammates head. Definitely worth the two game suspension.

[NYRam07]

Could it be those Chaminade boys, you think?  LOL.  

Don't be jealous. Chaminade MEN have plenty of class and there is a reason why 25-35 Chaminade MEN attend Fordham year to year. 

[J-Sal]

Isn't it obvious? They hate us for our freedoms!

Seriously tho, they hate us for a bunch of reasons.
1) Many Fordham fans are smug a-holes.  Whether it be here or on previous boards (I go back about 10 years to the Voy days) it doesn't take too much to find one of our alums talking about our academic rankings.  It shouldn't be too hard finding a FU grad throwing out terms like Idiots On North Avenue, or putting down other local rivals like Manhattan and St. John's as well.  Ironically, those are usually the same dudes who jump on the football forum to complain about Patriot League schools looking down on us.

2) They have a little brother complex.  As "John" pointed out earlier, they didn't come of age until beating us during the Jimmy V era.  That later intensified into one heckuva battle during the Tom Penders/Pat Kennedy years.

3) They spent the better part of the '80s trying to get into the A-10. Obviously that never happened for them.  Then, after years in the PL wilderness, we land a spot in the very conference they had spent so long chasing.

4) Smaller factors over the years include TBC hinting that we were too good to play our smaller neighbors.  At around the same time I also know that they wanted to schedule us in football and we instead asked Marist to be out patsy.

We have our reasons to hate them too but I do appreciate the good natured back and forth of this thread.  I used to hate Iona but now I miss them as a rival and wish them and Manhattan the best.  To echo "ConnGael" it kinda is a Soviet Union thing

[DamnRam]

I came in to Fordham in 87, tail end of the MAAC years, start of the PL experiment.  I can totally see why the Idiots on North Avenue hate us.  We went to the PL based on some academic pretensions and lack of commitment to improve facilities, then jumped up to the A10 based on some athletic pretensions and still with lack of commitment to improve facilities.  We burned through coaches and some good players, got spanked consistently by teams we regarded as being below us based strictly on relative conference standing.  I get it, and all I can say is I don't make those assumptions anymore.  We really have to earn back the respect.  I think we're heading in that direction though we've been here before.

[John]

Could it be those Chaminade boys, you think?  LOL.  

From the school with no stairs? No, I think not. They don't need airplanes, either, for the same reason.

[NYRam07]

From the school with no stairs? No, I think not. They don't need airplanes, either, for the same reason.

Still signing grade school songs sung by those who either couldn't get in or couldn't beat us in whatever sport you played?   

[ramrayII]

I remember the Voy board days: PL fans would routinely bash us as "Not quite as good" as they and playing "Thugs from the Bronx".  One Holy Cross fan was particularly obnoxious and arrogant.  So I can see how some of us (at times myself included) have been the same when we have spoken of other schools: the whole pecking order thing.  I work with some Columbia grads who are so dismissive of FU yet we regularly clean their clocks (as bad as we are), they quickly point out so what: they are Ivy and we are not.  Perhaps we do the same: it is true that we brandish our rising academic standing to compensate for poor BBall and FBall, but if we are becoming snobs like supporters of Columbia, Gtown, Duke and others, not cool.  As stated here on another thread:  This is basketball, not a spelling bee, so academics is not the competition.  We need to walk the talk and have winning programs and then we can earn (and totally ignore) hate mail from other schools.  It is not about sports (no winning tradition)  that some hate us so, it is about our 'tude.

But I love this lighthearted banter here.  I only wish other Iona folks would have that lightheartedness.

[FU85]

85,
     I was behind the FU bench when that fight broke out and the craziest thing I remember was bobby coleman, all 6'9   275 pounds of him coming from behind and taking a big shot at james robinson. The place was nuts that day and iona beat us every game of our 4 years except when murph hit that shot at the meadowlands. Great games but lousy results between 81-85.

[ConnGael]

Yeah some of you guys seem to be smug A-holes, but you're our smug A-holes.  I wouldn't want to be looked down upon by any other group of fans.

[JoltinJoe]

Yeah some of you guys seem to be smug A-holes, but you're our smug A-holes.  I wouldn't want to be looked down upon by any other group of fans.

Every college rivalry has this element to it.  A few years ago, I read in the Post (I think) that during a game at Draddy, Manhattan fans started chanting, "Safety School!" at the Iona section.  Well, the Iona section started chanting, "Safety School!" right back at the Manhattan students.  Hilarious stuff.  The MAAC really has some great rivalries, but hopefully everyone keeps it all in perspective. 

A few years ago, I found out that an accountant that I frequently retain as an accountant for bankruptcy estates went to Iona.  So I told him that I did not know whether I could certify any longer to the court that was competent to provide the requested services.     So he responded, "Ok, you went to Fordham, didn't you?"   

[PhillyNY]

C'mon man - They won the patriot league in 07 and in 02. Show some respect to the guys who have won titles.

You are correct, sir. The 2002 team was especially noteworthy. The 2007 title was hard earned. Congratulations to those teams.

[DCRam]

85,
     I was behind the FU bench when that fight broke out and the craziest thing I remember was bobby coleman, all 6'9   275 pounds of him coming from behind and taking a big shot at james robinson. The place was nuts that day and iona beat us every game of our 4 years except when murph hit that shot at the meadowlands. Great games but lousy results between 81-85.

Still one of the best brawls ever. Made all the local news shows. I recall Goran Skoko picking Iona guys up and tossing them, although the years may have embellished my memories. Did any of the Gaels dare take on Frank Williams, who was built like a panzer? Ironic that Tony McIntosh took threw the first punch. Of all people. He was more of a scholar who just happened to also be a really good basketball player.

Even though they pretty much owned us, I miss the Fordham-Iona rivalry. It really meant something in the early to mid 80s. I perceived them as arrogant jerks, but players like Steve Burtt, Rory Grimes, Troy Truesdale, and John Kionek (sp?) had real talent. Even Bob "The Twinkie Man" Coleman, despite his comical appearance, got the job done.

We finally beat them my senior year in one of RHG's greatest games. Pure frenzy and the only time I have ever run out on the court.

If it makes Iona feel better, I do root for them when the reach the NCAAs. Manhattan as well. And being from Washington, I have always been a big Jeff Ruland fan.

Still, Eat Me Iona.

[85]

True story.

2 weeks ago, I'm wearing a Fordham jersey at a rink out here ( nameless to protect his identity ) and the maintenance guy/Zamboni guy/cleans the bathrooms guy asks me , what years were you there?   So I cautiously told him, and he says, I went to IONA during the same years! 

I think the Rooskies even chuckled...

[NYRam07]

You are correct, sir. The 2002 team was especially noteworthy. The 2007 title was hard earned. Congratulations to those teams.

Hopefully we can develop into a program with sustainable success.

[ConnGael]

True story.

2 weeks ago, I'm wearing a Fordham jersey at a rink out here ( nameless to protect his identity ) and the maintenance guy/Zamboni guy/cleans the bathrooms guy asks me , what years were you there?   So I cautiously told him, and he says, I went to IONA during the same years! 

I think the Rooskies even chuckled...

You mean to say that Fordham doesn't have a Zamboni program?  Yet another reason Iona is superior.