Illinois' Orange Krush Invade Iowa's Carver Hawkeye Arena

It might be time to get all Avon Barksdale up in Iowa City.

Barksdale is a character in the HBO drama The Wire that was known for sending quick and violent warnings to the other crews in the drug game on the streets of Baltimore. If someone tried to sneak in on one of his corners, or tried to make him look like a punk, they were dealt with swiftly.

Metaphorically speaking, someone needs to get dealt with in Iowa City.

If you haven't been following Iowa basketball lately, let me fill you in. This past Wednesday night, a group of about 150 Illinois fans known as the “Orange Krush” invaded Carver Hawkeye Arena before Iowa's game against Illinois (video here). The Orange Krush is the nickname for the Illini's student section in Assembly Hall.

The Hawks Nest, Iowa's student section, got Krushed.

That didn't seem to bother Coach Lickliter much. "Did they pay? OK, good."

It bothered athletic director Gary Barta, though. "When they showed themselves in their orange gear, the fan in me got riled up. I didn't like it," Barta said. "We've got to take offense to it as fans, and I'm including myself, we've got to fill up the house so there aren’t tickets available."

Opponents tickets are usually spread out, a standard practice in the Big Ten. Barta was quick to explain that the group used Iowa addresses to purchase the tickets together.

If this were Iowa football, heads would roll.

If this were Baltimore, Avon Barksdale would get even.

How did Iowa basketball get to this point? How did fans become so lethargic that something like this could happen?

It started when the University of Iowa opted not to renew Dr. Tom Davis' contract. Davis, a proven and consistent winner, took his act elsewhere and Iowa welcomed the Steve Alford Era.

It didn't take long before Captain Hair Gel's charm started to rub everyone the wrong way. Hawkeye fans let him know it, and he took his mildly successful, yet highly annoying act elsewhere, too. Iowa then welcomed the Todd Lickliter Era, an era known more for it's record-setting losing than anything else.

Because I am a nerd, let me put all of that into mathematical terms...

Iowa Basketball - Dr. Tom - (Steve Alford * [Player Arrests/Big Ten Tourney Championship] - Captain Hair Gel Attitude) - (Todd Lickliter * (Player Transfers + Three Losing Seasons))

The equation simply means that fans are tired of the steady decline of the basketball program. Patience has finally worn thin and many fans have given up hope. Actual attendance now hovers below 5,000.

The lack of support leads to complacency. It opens the opportunity to get Punk'd by an opposing team's student section. It also leads to contempt.

Not only are other schools invading our turf, now local news broadcasts in the state are starting to poke fun at players.

WHO-TV in Des Moines has a Sunday sports show called SoundOFF, and recently aired a video titled "Little Lick, Lotta Bite ." The video ridiculed a player, John Lickliter. Lickliter is the son of coach Todd Lickliter and walked onto the team this year after the team suffered several injuries and transfers.

Labeling it a cheap shot is an understatement. Sure, he is the son of a coach on a losing team, but when a basketball team needed someone to step up and help out like Iowa did, Little Lick did just that. 

He isn't on an athletic scholarship. He isn't playing for a chance at the NBA. He is helping his school, his team, and his dad.

John Lickliter might not be "pro" material, but he has done nothing deserving of ridicule by a television station; in fact, the opposite.

If this were Baltimore, Avon Barksdale would declare all-out war.

Someone would get dealt with.