I was offered Angie’s ticket to the Oregon State game on Saturday. I then forgot it at work. I was then offered Kelly’s ticket. I took it.
I took a few photos of Hilton. As you can tell, the tickets aren’t quite as good as the football tickets.
The next picture is kind of an optical illusion. Don’t stare at it. It might make you sick.
The Cyclone did win on this day, defeating Barack Obama’s brother-in-law.
About a year ago I posted a comment on Shannon’s MySpace page where I was apologizing in advance for what Iowa State was going to do to her UNI Panthers IF Wesley Johnson played in the game.
Wesley Johnson did indeed play in the game and he played well, but UNI came into what was once the toughest building in the nation to play in and beat Iowa State rather soundly. Most disappointing about the game was the fact that ISU seemed to quit in the second half.
It was McDermott’s second team and for the second straight season he had to completely rebuild the roster in the offseason. It was a disappointment, but in retrospect it was to be expected.
Then in early January I was at the Jaycees Year End Banquet. I believe on that same night Michael Beasley was personally destroying the Cyclones.
I believe that it was at this point that Shannon made a rather snide remark about the Cyclones. I had to stand up for the Cyclones and we agreed to attend next season’s game with a friendly wager to boot.
It is a little known fact that I rarely lose wagers. In fact it has been about 5 years since I last lost a wager. I knew that I had, 11 months in advance, secured a victory for the Iowa State Cyclones. Don’t believe me?
Check the archives: I guarantee an ISU victory over UNI! (You will have to scroll past the pictures)
Or I can repost the pertinent part of the blog:
The first event occurred while I was talking to Shannon. Somebody came back from the bar side of the American Legion to announce that my beloved Cyclones were losing by 25 to Kansas State. Although it was sad news, it was to be expected. The simple fact of the matter is that they have Beasley and we do not. That fact alone will decide quite a number of games in Kansas State’s favor this season.
At this point Peggy (the 2008 Jaycees President with questionable taste in college sports teams) came over to point out that her Kansas Jayhawks also thumped Iowa State earlier in the week.
I responded that I wasn’t so sure that wasn’t to be expected. Right now Iowa State is held together by spit, baling wire and a walk-on point guard.
Shannon added that “He will defend Iowa State under any circumstances.”
What she said is undeniably true, but the way she said it indicated that she thinks that there was another way that it is acceptable to be.
Then she took it too far. She wandered down a road that is going to end poorly for her. Even though that road won’t officially end for several months.
She brought up that UNI had beaten ISU this season.
It is a fact. I can’t deny it, but I can make bold proclamations.
I made this bold proclamation:
“I guarantee that we beat UNI next year.”
There I said it. I got it out there. I might have went into some details about how next year’s Cyclone team would be essentially the first team in 3 years that wasn’t going to be built from scratch that offseason.
Then she made the mistake.
“That sounds like a wager.” Those words escaped her lips. I think she knew that she had a mistake as soon as the words had finished reverberating around the American Legion. Yet she gamely continued on and did not back down.
The terms of the wager have not been set, but I can hint at what I’m leaning towards. Let me just say that I think Shannon is going to look good in Cardinal and Gold.
Wednesday was indeed the night that we made our way up to Cedar Falls to witness the game.
I don’t think I need to go into details about the game. UNI fought their hearts out. They were able to force overtime, before the Cyclones were able to finally secure the victory by 5 points.
My impressions of the night are that McLeod Center is an impressive building. It gets surprisingly loud in there. UNI’s program is way better than Iowa State’s program, for the same price. It has pages. Iowa State’s program is a page. Their scoreboard is a little strange. It is split into two separate scoreboards, so it is a little difficult to find the score of the game. It was quite an experience.
I don’t want to go into the details of the wager, because I am not somebody that needs to gloat… but I would like to share that one of the outcomes of the wager was my acquisition of this sweet beanie that Shannon made.
On a related but unrelated note (that might have been the equivalent of using the nonword irregardless)a fellow miner by the name of Schmidt (I have too many friends with the first name Cory) has designed the ISU Basketball equivalent of an Advent Calendar. We figure that Iowa State needs 20 wins to make it to a tournament this year.
He has placed 20 post-it notes next to his desk in the Mine. Every time ISU wins we take down a post-it note and celebrate with some candy.
Shannon probably won’t be happy that I share this fact, but when we were looking around the UNI Book Store for a food item that would be Panther related for the Cyclone Advent Calendar we failed. Then she noticed that there was a purple package of M&Ms (dark chocolate) and a gold package of M&Ms (peanut) she suggested we use those. In fairness she also said it would be a moot point.
Well, it was not a moot point…
… it was an excellent idea. Panther candy was tasty!
We are planning on celebrating our victory Saturday over the Oregon State Beavers with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Mmmmm…. I wonder what Jayhawk is going to taste like.
I have to admit that I’m kind of phoning this one in. I’m going to copy and paste and email I wrote about the Living History Farms Run on Saturday.
You just need to know that there was some confusion about whether or not we would be able to watch Willy and his friend Kristy participate in this race.
Turkey Trot
The LHF Run ended up being a piece of cake from a spectator perspective. Jay and I left Boone about 7:45. We got down to Des Moines at about 8:30. A line of traffic began to form on Hickman (correct me if I’m wrong) underneath the interstate bridge. This gave me some cause for concern, but it was wasted energy. We pulled into the LHF parking lot and they had people directing traffic. We got a choice parking spot right next to the road.
In the morning it wasn’t that cold. In fact, Des Moines didn’t get nearly as much snow as Ames or Boone. We hung around the starting point for awhile, but could not find Willy in the middle of the mass of humanity of 7500 runners and maybe another 500 or so spectators.
We walked maybe a quarter of a mile down the course and set up. The hope was that when the crowd started to move we could pick out Willy and Kristy. When the racers did reach our point it was fairly impressive to see 7500 people running next to you. It took in the neighborhood of 6-8 minutes for all of them to run by us.
We were unable to pick them out. It was like looking for a needle in a stack of needles, plus we didn’t know what they were wearing.
After the runners passed we cut up through the town to watch the runners go by again. By the time we got there, the group had spread out, but I still didn’t think that we would see Willy. As luck would have it Kristy and Willy saw us and waved to us. I’m not sure how they saw us, because we were standing behind another group of people and Willy just isn’t that observant of a person.
After they passed we followed a group of spectators to a part of the stream where the racers would have to cross it and then climb up a hill using ropes. We set up near there. I was at a spot in between the ropes and the creek. Down in the little valley it was actually pretty warm because there was no wind.
What I did not count on was that the ground I was standing next to was going to turn into mud after a few hundred runners came out of the stream.
While I was standing there. Annie Buchmiller came running by. She stopped briefly and said, “Hi.” Then she ascended the hill.
As runners ran by me I got covered in mud. At least my jeans and winter jacket did. Some groups of people started picking up mud and throwing it at each other. One girl threw some at the guy she was running with and he ducked and it hit me.
She looked horrified and she came over and apologized.
I said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal. It’s my fault for standing this close to the action.” I do believe that.
Eventually Willy and Kristy came through the stream, but they didn’t cut the way the course was supposed to cut. They didn’t go up the ropes. They went over the side, so I didn’t really get a very good picture of either of them. Actually I didn’t get a picture of Kristy at all.
After they passed we walked out of the stream valley and made our way towards the finish line.
Here is an example of focus.
The runners began to get backed up pretty far from the stream. We had to work our way up the pack to find a place to cross the course and head back to the town. While we were walking alongside the race course a bunch of girls that were kind of stopped because runners were backed up at the stream that we were walking by asked, “Aren’t we cute enough?”
At first I didn’t realize they were talking to me, because I was 100% focused on getting to the finish line before Willy.
So, I kind of responded off hand, “You’re cute enough.” And kept walking.
Jay said, “You get that a lot don’t you?”
It was then that it dawned on me that they thought I should take their picture because they were “so cute”.
“I guess it has happened twice this year.”
While we were walking back to the town it started to snow and the wind picked up. The temperature must have dropped about 10 degrees.
We watched them cross the finish line and I got a picture of Willy and Kristy.
At this point, Sara called and asked if we were still on for lunch. I told her that I was covered in mud, but we were still on for lunch.
Jay and I stopped by Christian Photo to pick up folders for December 1 and the Roland Christmas thing.
When we got to Sara’s she loaned me a pair of pants that didn’t really fit, but as long as I held them up while I walked it was okay. At least better than being covered in mud.
We ate at Los Laureles. It was excellent. They serve their meals with 3 different types of salsa. I’d say their only drawback was that they serve their soda out of cans, therefore there are no refills. Maybe the best refried beans I’ve ever had.
Then we hit the Juice Company. I had the Orange-Carrot-Banana. It was very good. I think in the future I might go with the smoothie so it is cold. I can’t remember what Sara had, but the name might have had Aloha in the title. Jay didn’t have anything and he seemed confused as to why anybody would pay 5 bucks for 24 ounces of juice. Sara liked it and is going to go back to try their wheat grass at some point. She also like the atmosphere because it was a lot less “snooty” than Fresh.
Kristy and Willy
Jay
Mud
Annie Buchmiller
One of my favorite runners.
Climbing the Rope
The Brides
Willy
Willy
Kristy and Willy
After the Finish Line
The squirrels in Sara’s neighborhood have been eating her pumpkin.
Sara with her drink from The Juice Company
Styling in my loaner paints.
All in all, it was not a half bad day.
Saturday was the final home game for the Cyclones. I don’t have many pictures because low light and cold temperatures do not make for ideal photographic conditions.
Jesse and his reversible hat.
Faust and his beverage.
Ames Party Bus
Senior Day
Joe
Cheerleader
ISUCFVMB Senior Tradition
Moon
Arnaud
Jack Trice Stadium
There are more pictures in the ISU vs. Missouri album in the Snapshots Gallery:
In case any of you have been wondering why the Cardinal in the football uniforms…
does not match the color of Cardinal that the cheerleaders or basketball teams wear…
the Athletic Department sent out a letter explaining the reason.
Dear fellow Cyclones:
This past year the athletics department made the decision to return to Iowa State University’s traditional school colors of cardinal and gold (as adopted by the institution in 1899). Although we are very excited about returning to these colors, we also recognize this decision is not something that can be fully implemented overnight.
It is our goal to have all of our athletics teams in the same shade of cardinal and gold, that represents our proud history and tradition, as soon as possible.
The purpose of this letter is to share several updates on the transition. Nike, our equipment provider, has designated the football and men’s and women’s track programs in their “elite” uniform division which means those sport’s uniforms are custom made in the colors we want (for example, what is being worn by the football team this season).Unfortunately, Nike has not designated our other teams in that same category at this point, mainly due to our institution’s overall lack of retail merchandise sales. We are continuing to work with Nike on this issue and are optimistic that we can resolve it in the future.
In the interim, our other athletics teams, including men’s and women’s basketball, must select their uniforms and warm-ups from Nike’s stock colors. Nike’s stock cardinal color is darker than our football uniforms, and in some cases appears burgundy or maroon. In addition, Nike does not provide uniforms for spirit squads, dance teams or bands. Each of those programs has to order their uniforms from separate companies, which makes obtaining the proper shade of cardinal even more difficult for our department.
In closing, we simply ask you to have patience and understanding as we complete the transition.
Go Cyclones!
Sincerely,Jamie Pollard
Monday night was the debut of my new bowling shirt. It isn’t much to look at. I freely admit this fact. But it is mine and it was free.
This is the first year as a team we have had bowling shirts. Now Patio Pros LLC, might not be the most stylish team in the world, but I guarantee you that we are the most stylish 8th Place team in any league.
I wish I could say that the debut was successful, but Corey’s Uncle Daryl took me behind the woodshed. That was to be expected, I am about the worst bowler in the league. Although I seem to bowl much better when Nate shows up. I’m going to have to see to it that he shows up more often.
On Thursday Jesse and I moved some furniture around. Later in the afternoon we went to check out the frisbee golf course in McHose.
I had heard rumors about this course for quite some time. But I had only seen 1 or 2 holes. Jesse and I decided to find every last hole on Thursday. It came as somewhat of a surprise when it took us almost 3 hours to find all 18.
It was a pleasant surprise to find out how dangerous some of them were to get to.
Note the perfect frisbee form.
Jesse
I believe that multitasking is just a fancy way of saying: “Look at me. I’m not doing anything well.” However, I did make a fantastic throw and schedule a pickup of my broken kitchen cabinet for repair at the same time. However, I somehow feel like I could have done both better.
A good looking throw.
The best throw of the day.
Look at the concentration on Jesse’s face.
I thought disc golf was a stoner’s game?
Jesse making crossing the stream look much tougher than it really is, but still I’m impressed that you have to cross the stream via a bunch of broken up concrete blocks. Not a course for the faint of heart.
I managed to find a nice patch of mud hidden underneath some leaves.
A dangerous bridge. Most of the railing is missing. The bridge shakes like crazy. I love every bit of it.
Another dubious bridge. Awesome.
You fall. You get wet.
I admit that I’ve always dismissed disc golf as a stoner sports meant to occupy the time of stoners in between discussing the best Dave Matthews album and waiting for the munchies, but this course may have changed my mind. At least holes 3-11 are pretty intense. You have to cross the stream multiple times in ways that your safety is in question. I love that. The Boone park system has slowly been taking away fun things since my youth because they have been deemed dangerous. Tornado slides. The cable bridge. The tire climb. Merry-go-rounds. This course definitely has some aspects of danger that are missing from most of McHose Park.
I still miss the tornado slides though.
Iowa State’s entrance video is pretty cool. It shows intersplices action from this season with footage of many of the greatest Cyclones in history. The song that plays over the action is Saliva’s Ladies and Gentlemen. The opening lyrics of the song describe the Cyclone season, but not in the way that was intended:
Ladies and gentlemen please
Would you bring your attention to me?
For a feast for your eyes to see
An explosion of catastrophe
The song goes on…
Ladies and gentlemen good evening
You’ve seen that seeing is believing
Your ears and your eyes will be bleeding
At least I can say that my eyes have yet to bleed, but there is still the Missouri game left.
Faust
Photo by Brandon Kahler
Sumrall
Weather Lady
ISUCFVMB
Arnaud
Right before this picture, #44 puked on the sidelines about 5 or 6 times.
Scales
Robinson
There are about 50 more pictures in the Snapshots Gallery.
I guess the important thing to remember is that the team is really young and the experience that they gain now will undoubtedly lead to a conference championship in the next couple of years.
Last Friday was Brandon’s final home game. It was the first time that I’ve been to a Boone High football game since I graduated high school.
It was an interesting experience. Some things have changed. Some surprising things happened. I took some pictures.
Dan
Behind the bleachers fenced off.
Brandon is #78.
I was very surprised to see that the underside of the bleachers are now fenced off. That is where all the good stuff at a high school football game is supposed to happen.
I ran into Dan and had a nice conversation with him. Dan has shaved his head since the last time I’ve seen him. Not a bad look for him.
I ran into Dan’s wife Kim. She thanked me for forwarding on news of her work on attempting to block the strip club/juice bar from coming into town. She was very happy that the news had made it all the way to Illinois. She also revealed the real reason why she wants to stop the strip club/juice bar from coming to town. I’m not sure it is a legitimate reason.
It was also exciting that Sara made it all the way from Des Moines to the game. This was also the first high school football game that Sara has been to since she graduated from Ogden. I honestly can’t believe that she came.
Earlier this year I started a group blog known as The Sports Proletariat. Little has actually transpired there since I started the blog, but every now and again, somebody lets slip something brilliant over there.
What lies below was written by Russell Kennerly. I liked it so much that I’m copying it over here so more people will get a chance to appreciate his genius.
Decaying State of Sports Journalism, Part 1
As I write this, a small fiasco has been made of Lou Holtz’s diatribe on the state of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez. His comment was “Ya know, Hitler was a great leader, too” when it was brought up that Michigan lacks leadership. I believe the point Lou was trying to make was that there are leaders who may be successful but go about it the wrong way.
Now, similar comments were made by ESPN’s own Jemelle Hill in July, when she commented that cheering “for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim…” As a Celtic fan, I take umbrage with the comment (but we did win a record 17th championship) but not Hill’s use of Hitler in context, only to say that references to him should probably not be used in a humorous setting.
ESPN suspended Hill for her comments and rightly they should, if that is their standing network policy. But they have done nothing to Lou Holtz. Say what you want about the racial overtones of that decision, but the hypocrisy is apparent. You don’t fine someone for saying the wrong thing, and then three months later shrug your shoulders for saying the wrong thing. If anything, it reinforces Lou’s impression of himself as a wise football commentator, and means the rest of us will be forced to listen to him while waiting for the highlights, at least until he screws up again. It is widely known that Lou had a long friendship with Jesse Helms, who filibustered Martin Luther King’s birthday for 16 days and argued against desegregation of schools (and social security, which is just plain weird). In fact, you can go online and read Jesse Helm’s praise of Lou’s book. You can’t call Lou a racist, I’m simply saying it’s not too long for the old guy says something dumb. I think half the motivation for keeping him on TV is the executives are afraid he will go back to coaching again, maybe at their alma maters.
The problem with the Hilter incidents, the Imus comments, and several other on-air incidents is that this is a track that we have laid ourselves. I mean, think about the sports talk radio shows or those little fan comments at the end of online sports articles.
(A small aside about the fan comments, wow. From a report on the Broncos-Pats Monday night in no particular order: sexual comments, comments about the Red Sox, drugs, and a comment by a Broncos fan that his team could have come back if the Pats stopped getting first downs all the time, for a total of 572 comments. This is the reason mankind is doomed to fail.)
The host conversations themselves are generally filled with vitriol and demented comments, only for the sake of garnering ratings. Jim Rome has practically made acerbic commentary a work of art.
But ninety percent of the guys who phone in to these shows have little or no facts with their opinions. It mostly consists of “Yeah, I’m Russ from Iowa State, I just wanted to say our running game is pathetic and I’m tired of Coach Chizik’s silly play-calling” or “Barack from Illinois, I think it’s really just time for a change, Dan, I’m sick of the status quo.” It’s absurd! You can spend three hours listening to people across the landscape whine and mope and not hear one decent statistic supporting anything. On the other hand, what’s good enough for our President…never mind.
And the hosts of these shows indulge our rage, which in my opinion, begins boiling whenever our team has misses an open shot or incompletes a pass with criticisms and speculation and talks of the old traditions and quarterback controversies a boiling. Remember the days when Troy Aikman could go 1-15 his first and Peyton Manning went 3-13 as starters? How many fans would call for their heads by game 8 of those seasons today, all the while the hosts leading the charge?
This brings me to the crucial part of the conversation, which for me seems to be the delicate balance between being controversial and opinionated, as TV ratings demand, and crossing the line. Isn’t the point of having four to five people on a sports morning TV show to breed dialogue, arguments, and new lines of thought? But when one of these people says the wrong word, or lets loose something the public deems offensive, why then these people lose their jobs?
I’m not sure I understand it all. Allowing people to have free-formed, spirited comments was I believe part of the 1st amendment. So I disagree when a network hires them for bold dialogue and then slaps them on the wrist when the public deems a comment inappropriate. TV started this fire, the public fanned it, but what is the sense in decrying the whole thing when people start getting burned?
This is not to say people should condone the Don Imuses of the world or be startled when someone mentions Hitler or Mussolini in a monologue, but there is always that little button at the top of your remote, called the off/on switch. You don’t like it, turn off the TV, or go toa sports site and write some fan comments.
I for one can’t wait for Part 2.