Iowa fans can be a soft bunch

Kinnick Stadium is in the middle of a (well-deserved) $100 million dollar renovation. Part of that renovation will increasing the width of the seats- or rather, repainting the numbers on the bleachers from 16 1/4 inches to a whole 18.

As a result, every single ticket holder in the stadium is being reseated, according to the Paper Iowa Used To Depend On:

"Fans earn the right to select earlier based on a system that factors in longevity of season-ticket purchases, every $100 of giving from records dating back to 1973, membership in groups such as the Kinnick Society, being a U of I graduate and being a male or female letterwinner."

A high score will be a bad reward, because when you visit the "select my seats" area of the special Kinnick Renovation website, you learn that to earn the right to a seat along the sideline- known among fans as "A Seat That Doesn't Suck" you must contribute anywhere from $50 to $600 per seat, per year.

Per Seat, Per Year. That will pay off a $100 million dollar debt in a hurry. They are officially Big Time.

Thanks for all the years of support and cash. Your reward? The privilege of writing an even bigger check.

There is one big downside of fans throwing that kind of cash at a football program: When things start to turn south, the crowd will turn ugly in a big, big hurry. If fans thought the grousing about Kirk was loud after losses to Michigan and Iowa State, imagine the roar when the bottom falls out of a season and 4-8 is the result. $600 per seat will generate a pile of indignation.

My favorite quote was this:

Ross, a student season-ticket holder the past six years, said those who were attending games when Iowa's team was struggling in the late 1990s should be rewarded.

"I know it's a big deal for the athletic department to make money, but it kind of stings when you're put in the cheap seats," Ross said. "You feel your loyalty is not rewarded."

Yeah, those three non-bowl season you had to endure were just brutal: 3-8, 1-10, 3-9. If you get points for suffering through that "drought", the then ticket holders who endured the 20 Consecutive Losing Seasons get seven fold the points the recent "sufferers" get. It's only fair, isn't it?

I can just imagine the requests for extra considerations for ticket holders who have to sit through the next losing season, whenever it happens. Call them Suffering Rewards.

Peterclone