They Care! They Really Care!

Has the SUI football program really fallen so far they have to break out the gimmicks when our lowly CyClowns come to town?

Things have changed a bit in 10 years, no?

Peterclone

Kicking

It's good to hear we have a punter that knows what he's doing.

I was wondering if we were going to see him before we got to Kinnick.

Peterclone

NeuWeasal

Anyone who knows me knows how much I despise "Slick Rick" Neuheisel.

Ricky made his mark with me in his rookie season at CU by going for 2 with two minutes left in a 50-28 win in Ames. What's the big deal?

CU was a 21 point favorite.

I was shocked- shocked- when Ricky lost his job at Washington over recreational betting. I was equally shocked that both CU and uDub went on probation after he departed.

With UCLA's upset win over Tennessee giving Rick's tenure momentum, there are only two questions:

1. Has Rick committed the rule violation that will ultimately put UCLA on probation yet?

2. What date will UCLA go on probation?

Cats don't change their stripes.

It's funny the things you'll do to keep up with the neighbors: Trophy wives, sub-prime mortgages, hiring crooked coaches.

Peterclone

#72

The first Sagarin ranking of the season puts ISU at #72, which I can't argue with one game in.

The
Sag is skewed towards last year the first few weeks, so we'll see how
this evolves as more current data gets added to the formulas. Winning a few will help, too.

Upcoming opponents:

Kent State #134 (ISU -16 at home)
UNLV #121 (ISU -7 on the road)
Baylor #120 (ISU -6 on the road)
a$m #70 (ISU -2 at home)
KSU #44 (ISU +10 on the road)
Colorado #43 (ISU +10 on the road)
Kansas #36 (ISU +6 at home)
SUI #34 (ISU +12 on the road)
Nebraska #32 (ISU +6 at home)
Mizzou #24 (ISU +10 at home)
OSU #16 (ISU +17 on the road)

Since my football bar is low, all I ask for is to beat the teams that finish with a losing record, and then try to "upset" someone who thinks ISU is a sure win (that doesn't narrow it down much.)

If we can complete step one, step two and 6 wins doesn't seem too crazy.

Peterclone

Upgrade

Just for fun, let's move a$m into the "Toss Up" category from the "Probable Loss" group.

Peterclone

Positive Sign

If I'm reading the drive charts correctly, Kent State only passed the BC 40 once, on their last possesion of the game, and were picked off.

While the ISU defense is a long way from BC's, I'll take tonight's result as a positive sign for next week.

Peterclone

Easy

From what I've seen this weekend, there's no excuse for SUI to not be 5-0 when they head to East Lansing.

Quality teams don't lose home games to MAC opponents, right? Right?

Peterclone

Same Old

Granted, Wake Forest is a wee bit better than SDSU, but Baylor didn't have the opener they hoped for.

Baylor is still eyeing ISU as their best chance for a B12 win. Until ISU shows me it can play competitive football on the road, I concur.

The Bears are also going to dumb down their schedule beginning in 2010. Unless you can get huge guarrentees to play on the road, load up on cream puffs. Just make sure they are cream puffs you can beat.


Peterclone

It's Been A While

October '05 was the last time ISU stuck it to someone like that.

a$m 42-14
ksu 45-17

Granted, they were conference wins against Big Time Football schools, but after getting pushed around by a very good UNI team in last year's opener, taking the wood to someone is a good start.

I'm glad I was able to listen to John and Eric, as I haven't memorized the depth chart and I need to be told if a guy is first, second or third team. Lots of #2's and #3's got to play, and that's the point.

A big yardstick game next week, boys. No shortage of motivation.

Peterclone

Is He or Isn't He?

Put him in coach!

Schaub has overcome offseason surgery to his non-throwing shoulder to return to his starting role at quarterback. The Texans are hopeful with a healthy Andre Johnson in the mix, Schaub can play at the level they hoped when they traded two second-round picks to Atlanta for his services. If Schaub struggles early, there could be trouble in the fan base. Sage Rosenfels went 3-1 in the final stretch of last season, and there was a growing concern in Houston that he should have at least been able to compete for the starting job this year. Coach Gary Kubiak refers to Rosenfels as a starter and says the team is lucky to have him and Schaub. But Schaub is the Texans’ No. 1 guy, and he has proven when he is on that he can make good decisions and get rid of the ball with ease. The main problem is simply keeping him healthy and keeping him on the field.

Sage won games in a tough spot, and he's cheap by NFL standards. He will never wow you in drills, and doesn't have "upside", but he knows how to manage a dang game. The point isn't to show potential, but to win.

Sometimes the best guy doesn't get to play. It's good to know there are politics in every job.

Peterclone

Arrowhead

I may have read the news reports incorrectly, and ISU's deal with Arrowhead is for $1.8M + gate for two games.

That's less of a deal than I first wrote, and if ISU goes 0-2, not worth doing, IMHO.

Peterclone

SDSU

In light of how '07 started, it would be foolhardy to get greedy with projection for this year. We should really try to walk before we run.

That said, I would really like a nice, boring, workmanlike win over SDSU Thursday. No flash, no blitzes, no double-reverse baloney. Basic schemes. The same 10 plays run 7 times each. Lots of reps for the second team. An unispiring but white-knuckle free 24-10 win.

My over/under for the season is 5 wins. 6-6 and I'm probably giddy. There will be a crazy "upset" in Ames. We'll find a way to lose in Waco. It will be that kind of year.

Peterclone

Odds and Ends

Ron Maly reminices about hoops in the Armory.

Rick Brown plays golf with LE. (Sorry about the delay on posting that.)

If Men's Hoops can't hit .500 this year, we can't blame the schedule.

CU has a problem with their neutral site game with CSU.

Bret Bielema is a chicken after all.

A fun diversion: Bring back the SWC. Cheating optional.

ISU appears on the list of Best and Worst B12 hires and fires. I'm again reminded how low the our bar is in the eyes of the league.

Major Hat Tip to the Wizard.

It's good to have full-time football back.

Peterclone

When The Bandwagon Empties...

...get out of the way, or you might get hurt.

It appears that one of the most insufferable SUI fans may have jumped ship.

Oh the humanity. Who will we make fun of now?

Peterclone

Dollars

So the Newspaper Kohl's Depends On is reporting that Iowa State has agreed to play KSU twice in KC for $1.8 M plus 40% of what should be a sold-out gate.

From a financial standpoint, ISU cleans up. My back-of-the-napkin figures are that ISU grosses $2M or so per home game, so even a lousy KC crowd breaks even. I'm sure the cash from what would have been a trip to KSU is ten fold what they normally get for a B12 roadie, so its as if ISU picked up an extra home game in 2010 from a financial standpoint.

Too bad the game is in a town that ISU fan hates driving to, and ISU fan refuses to drink a touch of the fire water in that city, either. It might be tough to turn out both ISU alumni who live there, too.

Really, if a promoter can get that kind of money for a B12 game, ISU should move all of their games against KU, KSU and Mizzou to Arrowhead. It would be like the Packer's schedule back in the day when they played a couple "home" games in Milwaukee each year.

Then again, if ISU loses the 2009 game in what could have been a win in Ames, the cash might not be such a good idea.

It's all about the Benjamins.

Peterclone

ed note- I fixed an incorrect year above.

Bad Math

There has to be a mountain of jokes about this promotion, along the lines of "lottery players and Iowa State fans both have a poor grasp of how long their odds of winning are."

If you can't make fun of your own....

Peterclone

Near Miss

Not a good recruiting start for Minny's Brewster.

Then again, he didn't want the ISU job.

ISU wearing a similar gold/gold monstrosity would have been worse than his hiring.

Peterclone

Inverse Correlation

There's a logic to winning football teams having an easier time http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifattracting kids to play in their band.

But ISU has been marching 300 kids in their band for most of this decade, without the winning football to back it up.

You could say the band is holding up their end of the equation. Now it's the football team's turn.

Peterclone

Next In Line?

Has it really gotten so bad in IC that articles like this actually seem rational? And a sidebar titled "Next In Line" has quality names in it?

I don't think it's that bad on Melrose Ave., but then I haven't had any dreams of a national championship lately, either. For what the black and gold folks are spending on football, they have a right to expect at least nine wins each year, and especially no losses to a half-assed football program like our beloved Silo Tech.

SUI fan expects a National Championship, and they should start cycling through coaches until they find the one who can bring them the title they so richly deserve. They should get what they're paying for.

KF, you're on the clock.

Peterclone

More of the Same

Hey- I'm back on the grid only to find that Nebraska fan thinks that only one year removed from The Great Callahan Meltdown things will return to their version of normal.

No chance your team will neeed a year or two to adjust, eh?

Peterclone

Going Offline

I will be off the grid, literally, for the next couple of weeks.

Some of my time will be spent feeding my Cyclone agnst by watching my video collection of all of our most painful moments- Sam Hill's phantom travel, Mizzou '04, Hampton, the Missed FG against 'Bama, Michigan State '00, etc, etc, etc.

Wallowing in the suffering helps me appreciate every tiny success. More fans should do it. Humility is in short supply.

Chat amongst yourselves. See you on the other side.

Peterclone

Random Bits

They like us! They really like us! Or at least they don't hate us. Our low ratio of idiots to the fanbase as a whole certainly helps.

Sage Rosenfels has a shot at starting in Houston. Nice backgrounder here.

Barney Cotton lands on his feet. I'm sure his experience working with 2-star talent in Ames will help him appreciate the 4-star talent he is working with now.

Alvin Bowen gets hurt at Bills camp. He may be out for the season. Great shot of Alvin here.

Peterclone

Stick to The Basics

Keeler trots out a number of football chestnuts, but he does go to the trouble of having a few stats to back things up.

The interesting one is turnover differential. The last five years ISU has been on the plus side of turnovers, they've gone bowling. 8 of 9 B12 schools did the same last year.

I've always suspected turnover margin was a sign of good or bad football, but those numbers really back it up.

Walk before running, boys.

Peterclone

Best. Unis. Ever.

No white. No blue. Old School shoulder stripes. A nod to the Earle Bruce years in color and design.

Now if we can win enough games to keep this look around.

Peterclone

Clever

It looks like the only way to make Iowa fan (and, presumably, the football team) care about "ISU's Super Bowl" is to play the gimmick card.

At least ISU saves its gimmick games for B12 opponents that might have more talent than ISU.

I guess ISU should be flattered. "We're worthy of a gimmick! We're worthy! We're worthy!"

h/t Clone Chronicles et al.

Peterclone

Game Rankings

Every game on the Big 12 composite schedule is ranked by the Daily Oklahoman.

The good news? ISU is not involved in either the worst NonCon game (that distinction is reserved for Chattanoga at OU) or B12 game (Baylor at Tech).

The Bad News? ISU's highest ranked game is #35 at Baylor. (Huh?) Four more games are ranked in the 40's.

Perception is reality.

Hat tip: Wizard of Odds

Peterclone

Gur-Run-Teed

This new rule will somehow screw ISU this season.

Somehow it will magically help keep a Have from losing to a Have Not.

BTW- In the lineup of helmets on the top of the page, ISU's helmet is the toughest to read. Not enough contrast. But I'm just some blogger in his pajamas, right?

Peterclone

Dream Matchups

ESPN has a fun article of Dream Football Matchups for every school in the Big 12. Most of them are spot-on. While I don't think our Clonies are ready to take on Florida, the Gophers would be a great home-home to renew.

I love the digs that Griffen gets in, too: Dogging KSU for canceling a game against Fresno and Mizzou for dodging Iowa (in hindsight, Iowa may have gotten the better of that deal).

An annual Texas-USC game would be epic. It's a good read.

Peterclone

Exception

It has been noted that the ISU-OU "rivalry" is one of the most lopsided in college football.

I bring this up only to gloat for a moment.

I was in Norman in '90 for the one ISU win over OU since '61. I have witnesses too. I may still be carrying a touch of the hangover from the night after.

Here's hoping we can bring an end to that streak the next time we meet OU.

Peterclone

Madness

We have officially entered the End Times.

While Vegas has the ISU win total Over/Under at 3, our own Ron Maly, the man who never misses a chance to take a cheap shot at ISU, sees ISU finishing with 4 wins.

Something ain't right. I think I'm going to go lie down with a stiff drink until the world rights itself.

Peterclone

Make Or Break?

Is this year really Make Or Break for KF? Are you kidding me?

The Black and Gold crowd must have gotten more spoiled by that crazy 31-7 run they put together a few years back than I thought. KF has earned the right to go Joe Paterno on them if he wants.

Sure, a string of .500 season is no fun, but ISU fan has a few 2, 3 and 4 win seasons they would happily trade.

No deal? Didn't think so.

Peterclone

Money Talks

The Wizard has an interesting chart of SEC ticket prices with all the extra donation costs figured in.

All I can say is that skyboxes and seats between the 30s must require a HUGE donation at Florida.

Perhaps someoone with better knowledge of the ISU ticket policies can estimate the ISU average. I suspect it is pretty cheap in the global perspective, which is both a reflection of ISU football's lousy track record, and an indicator that it might not get much better soon.

Peterclone

Preview Overload

Everything you ever wanted to know about everybody.

Hat tip to the Wizard of Odds.

Peterclone

Turning Points

It's funny how a win here or a loss there can have a huge impact on a program long tern.

I shake my head at a program that would consider firing a coach after losing a bowl game, win or lose.

Then again, I don't know what it's like to cheer for a winner, so I guess I just don't understand.

peterclone

You Get What You Pay For

Should we really be surprised with what happens on the field when this is the competition?

We're a stepping stone at best. But the only way to fix that is to win consistently, which will bring in more money, but winning is hard without lots of money.

Peterclone

Marketing Opportunity

There's gotta be a way to tap into this.

It's better to look good than be good, I suppose.

Peterclone

Make The Facts Fit The Narrative

The Register pulled off a Reverse one and a half somersaults with three and a half twists in a pair of stories over the weekend. (Sorry, no link; anything more than 36 minutes old gets scrubbed from their website it appears.)

In a big front section story they blame high gas prices on a slight decline in football season ticket sales in both Ames and Iowa City, but then list gas as the primary reason for an increase of ticket sales in Cedar Falls.

Here's the interesting bit of gymnastics: while last season's success at UNI is listed as a possible reason for an increase, nowhere in a loooong article is lousy football listed as a reason for declining sales for the big schools. Nope, not a chance. Move along- nothing to see here.

Never mind that ISU is 14-22 over the last three years, and KF's crew a slightly better 19-18 over the same span. Dropping $50 to watch lousy football is becoming a tougher and tougher sell every day.

But it's easier to blame the cost of gas.

Peterclone

Generous

I often forget how generous the Hawkeye fans around us are.

I see that two games on their home schedule sold out before single game tickets even went on sale: Wisconsin and Iowa State.

Since no serious SUI fan puts the ISU game ahead of any Big 1011 game, and there are tickets available for the Purdue, Northwestern and Penn State games, this can mean only one thing:

SUI fans purchased all of the single game tickets for the ISU game so that ISU fans can use them.

Wow.

That is unbelievably generous. No ISU fan would ever return that favor.

It is appropriate that SUI fans would gladly provide tickets to Cyclones fans since Iowa State builds it's season around the game with the Hawkeyes (or so Hawkeye fan tells us). How big of them. It's downright giant.

So- where's mine? Something between the 30's would be nice.

Peterclone

Once JV, Always JV

So Billy Packer was let go. That call was only 20-odd years too late.

Packer was always a shill for the power teams from power conferences, and unlike most of the sports press seemed to hate the underdog.

Somewhere I have a VHS of the '86 ISU upset of Meeeshigan where Billy dropped his infamous "It's the Varsity vs. the JV" when ISU fell behind in the first half. He sounds downright mad when ISU wins in the end.

I'm sure Billy won't stay out of work for long, there's a lot of hoops on the Telly each winter. He would be a nice hire for ESPN or Fox Sports.

I hope the next game I witness him call he acts as if that job is in a tiny way fun. It should be.

Peterclone

Memories

A UK fan remembers a win over a scrappy ISU team in the '92 tourney.

It's always interesting to get the outsider's perspective.

I was there, and Jamal Mashburn was clearly a man among boys. The crazy part of that all-offense game was that I walked out feeling that Orr's boys did a nice job holding Mash to "only" 27 points.

I now feel very old seeing Mash doing studio analysis for ESPN.

Peterclone

Larceny? Ouch.

Love or hate Danny Mac, nobody ever accused him of grand larceny.

I've read complaints of KF's salary, but putting it in that context is really startling. More than Tressel? Tressel need KF's agent.

Don't get me wrong, KF is a solid coach, but paying a guy $500K per win each year is pretty steep, especially when few of those wins come against Silo Tech.

Here's hoping Gene goes 31-7 so we can then have the honor of overpaying him, too. It looks like fun.

Peterclone

Stepping Up

This will be cool once built, but I find it a bit odd that it's way the heck out on the edge of town.

The cynic in me says it is a perfect location. Plenty of cheap apartments around for the players to live in, as part of a "mixed use" plan they will will have shopping and food options close by, and an easy trip to Hilton for games.

And given that they facility is closer to Ankeny than campus, it will be that much easier for players to ignore their studies. Just what a hoops program with a perfect 0% graduation rate needs- further academic isolation.

If your program is going to be an academic embarrassment, at least win some dang games.

There is study hall space in this new gym, I hope. A couple hundred square feet should do, especially if it lacks windows.

Peterclone

Streaks

Wow- Does ISU really have an 11 game road losing streak? Feels like 30. Anyway, even playing ISU at home and a road game at Pitt, SUI gets the schedule punked by ESPN. I heard some on the radio state that SUI has the easiest B1011 schedule overall, and anything less than 8 wins would be a disappointment. Here's hoping for disappointment.

Really, though, ISU will have plenty of chances to end that oh-fur: in Iowa City (you know the drill- ISU's Super Bowl, SUI doesn't care), at UNLV, at Baylor (won the last trip to Waco), at CU (which Buffalo team will show up?), at KSU (Prince is on the hot seat already? Patience, folks, patience).

The crazy thing is that you can make a decent case for ISU winning more games in their white jersey's than their red ones this year. How very odd.

Peterclone

No Surprise

So the big ISU-SUI clash will be on the Big 1011 Network. It is a big drag that most people will have to scramble to see it on TV, since Mediacom still doesn't carry the thing, but I'm not surprised.

Check out the Big 1011's composite schedule for that week, and let's eliminate the TV optionis for ISU-SUI:

OSU at USC- that has ABC Prime Time written all over it. One of the best games of the year from here.
Michigan at Notre Dame- NBC, of course.
Oregon at Purdue- nice game, probably an ESPN
Wisconsin at Fresno State- ditto

I'm assuming that ABC/ESPN gets first pick most weeks, so ISU-SUI is the only decent game left of the remaining choices. The BTN probably had to make lemonade out of what they had to choose from.

The one positive- the game will be produced in full HD for those who have BTN in their HD package. A picture so clear you'll be able to smell the Hawkeye indifference!

Peterclone

Early Bad News

This probably isn't coming as a shock, but according to Keeler the
football mags are
a little down on our Cyclones.

Everybody pictures ISU in some flavor of 6th in the North. Big shock.

Then
there's the ESPN
2008 Bowl Projection:

Short version:

*Nebraska: Insight
*Mizzou: Holiday
*CU: Texas
*KU: Alamo

OU: Fiesta
Tech: Sugar
Texas: Cotton
*a$m: Sun
*OSU: Indy


*Kent State: Congressional
*SUI: Motor City

That's 8 projected bowl teams on the schedule. At least we miss the best three in the league.

My
baseline is beating all of the non-bowl teams and building from there.
(I prefer to beat every team that finishes below .500, which in the
present bowl universe is the same thing.)

SDSU, at UNLV, at Baylor and at KSU become must wins. Pick off one or two of the others and we've moved forward.

Is it August yet?

Peterclone

Early Good News

ISU is +8 against SDSU.

It's a start.

Peterclone

Big Shock

Jason just couldn't keep his nose clean.

And now he's done.

Big shock, and what a waste. Who in his life failed to instill the importance of just following the rules?

Peterclone

You're Always Hardest On Those You Love

Ron drops a good one.

Scroll past the Hawkeye Marching Band photo at the top of the page.

Nice one, Ron. That's why I read you.

Peterclone

Doldrums

What does a college football fan do during the summer? Besides loading in the actual names of every player on every team into your copy of NCAA '09 (get a life- really) you can look ahead to the great potential matchups- and the those that look like dogs in June.

ISU has a couple in the dog category, unfortunately.

We begin with The Sporting News, which puts ISU ninth in the B12 in difficulty of noncon schedule. Given ISU's football struggles, anything above middle of the pack would be stupid. I consider two BCS road games equals out the home game against SD State. I'll be pleased if we leave September at 3-1, which will be a big step up from '07 in itself.

On the flip side, SUI's noncon is ranked #8 in the 1011. I wonder if our trip to Iowa City or SUI's trip to Pitt is considered the tougher test?

Finally, a random shot from a Georgia fan. While the ISU-SUI tilt is the 8th best noncon game on the B12 slate, the rest of our early games are derided as cupcakes, especially the SDSU game.

My only reply would be that you gotta walk before you can run, especially in football.

I would have to agree with the writer's guess that the 12th game has resulted in more cupcake games than interesting inter-regional matchups. Nice paydays for the mid-majors and D-AA teams, and some nice memories too. Right UNI? Right Appilachian State?

Peterclone

Not A Fan? Hardly

There are two constants in Ron Maly's blog: Digs at Iowa State, especially football (written from a condescending "Football was invented in Iowa City" altitude), and claiming not to be a fan of SUI.

But
when you read a nugget
like this:

"I was more than excited when I packed up my ‘67 Chevy and headed to Iowa City in August of 1974 to be a Hawkeye football manager.

I started following Iowa football since 1963 when I was in fourth grade, and from that time on wanted to be a Hawkeye."

Hard to claim journalistic integrity after an upbringing like that. Considering how many game Ron watches for free from the pressbox as a kind of Lifetime Achievement Award, his "I was impartial towards ISU" shtick has all the validity of Barry Bonds' "Doesn't every one's shoe size jump four sizes in their 30's?" act.

The whole post wallows in classic "Valient Hawks Fight The Good Fight" dreck. Grab a stiff drink before wading in.

Peterclone

Gotta Fix This

Only two games this year between href="http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/football/2008/05/big_12_summer_countdown_redux.html">the
B12 and the Big1011:

Mizzou-Illinois
ISU-SUI

I thought the 12 game schedule was going to increase the number of games between Big Time Football Schools, not decrease it.

Peterclone

Agreement

This writer agrees with us: CU bothced the end of the game.

Video to prove it, and a nice shout of to John and Eric's play calling.

Cheaters.

Peterclone

#86

That's where the NY Times thinks
we start the year at.

I can't argue with that. Lots to prove, like being worthy of uni's that mimic USC.

Those are big black shoes to fill.

Peterclone

Damned If They Do...

You know SUI didn't want to renew the series with ISU, but the fallout of not renewing would be worse than the fallout from each of their upset losses to Silo Tech.

Damn Legislators sticking their nose into football! They should stick to things they know, like declaring Official Bellevue Fried Carp Day and things like that.

See you in September, boys. I know you won't take ISU seriously this year, either, but a bowl trip could be riding on it.

Peterclone

Odd Coaching Poll

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I can't rank Gene very high after one year, just because it's too early. Behind Sherman at a$m is fine, too- Sherm's got about 90 or so more games under his belt than Gene, and they were in the NFL.

He does come in ahead of Price at KSU, though. Ouch!

A grade of C- isn't too out of line considering how the year started, either. The wisdom of crowds.

The real slap? Whoever is coach at Michigan State, at 24-22 in his career, came in ahead of Ferentz. Double Ouch!

I guess those 6-6 finishes are taking some of the shine off his rep.

Peterclone

Advice

This comes straight from the "Hypocritical Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Did Pieces Of Advice" File, but Lucca should stay out of the bars for a few years.

This coming from someone who wasted too much of his college carrer at Cy's Roost, both before and after his 21st birthday (I think the statute of limitatioins ran out a while ago on that crime), but then again I wasn't on a D1 basketball scholarship, and thousands of my fellow students weren't chanting my name at games, either.

I know it's a drag, and it makes hooking up a bit more of a challenge, but drink at home until you are legal. It will be worth it in the long run.

Peterclone

Hoop Talk

I went and heard Paul Shirley talk at the Des Moines library last week, and what you read on the printed page is exactly what you get in person: dark, sarcastic, self-depricating, and slightly offensive in a too-honest-kind-of-way. Paul noted at the start that looking out at the room he could tell half the crowd of 200 were avid readers, and the other half were avid sports fans. Each group got something worth coming for.

Paul certainly knows which of his bits will get the big laughs, and he sets those lines up like a seasoned pro, but he is humorous throughout his talks. He just points out the absurdity that seems to permeate his basketball life.

The most surprising thing is his dissolutionment with what most of us civlians build up: Sports, Fame, Money, Success. He has been behind the cutain too much, has seen too many of the inner workings of professional basketball, and it has turned hoops into a job. A very lucrative job, Paul admits, but he has no interest in returning to the NBA, for instance. I suppose he is the type who prefers to play every day in Europe than ride the bench for a bigger paycheck in the NBA.

Buy the book. It is an entertaining an illuminating read.

End of commercial.

Peterclone

A Great Cheap Shot

Marty Tirell:

"The University of Iowa is having trouble finding a TV network willing to air the Iowa/Iowa State game. Given their legal troubles, perhaps Court TV would be interested."

Ka-Zow.

If you are going to make a cheap shot, go all the way, baby.

Peterclone

The Smell Of A Winner

Cyclone Football will never be taken seriously until it mixes in a little of this.

The cause and effect is direct, isn't it? OU wins, it gets in trouble, it wins some more, it gets in trouble again, lather, rinse, repeat.

I mean, the only school I can recall losing AND getting in trouble for cheating is, uhm, well, never mind.

Peterclone

Coach Hornacek?

Does Jeff Hornacek have a future as an NBA coach?

His resume suggests potential. He admits that he didn't spend 12 years in the NBA because of atheltic prowess, but by understanding the game. That is exactly the kind of player who makes a good coach- someone who had to think his way to success, not just be the best guy on the floor.

Longer article here.

Not bad for a walk-on.

Peterclone

Thoughts On Wes

-Keith Murphy has many thoughts on the situation, all of them valid.

-Rick Brown has two different posts with similar themes: Shooting holes in Wes' story. One here, the other here.

-Ron Maly thinks Wes' AAU coach is involved.

Me? I hope Wes doesn't regret this six months from now. The greener grass is often just an optical illusion.

Peterclone

Quad Countdown-Kent

I had no idea how historically bad Kent State is- even worse than our beloved Cyclones.

The NY Times countdown has them at #99.

The most painful nugget: KSU's win in Ames was their first over a BCS team since '87. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

On the plus side, we'll be able to use the Golden Flashes return to Ames as a yardstick to see if our team has improved at all over the last 12 months.

Peterclone

Clarification

Note to Greg and staff:

The goal of running players off is to
rid yourself of players you don't think can contribute to your team.

Just checking.

Peterclone

FB forecast Pt. 2

A looong writeup at the KSU rivals site.

Big suprise: it's downbeat.

Peterclone

FB forecast Pt. 1

The NY Times Sports Blog "The Quad" is counting up (?) their ranking of every BCS team from bottom to top.

Baylor is #112.

Here's hoping, despite being listed as Baylor's best shot at a B12 win this year, we don't see ISU in this poll for several weeks.

Peterclone

Dreams

Somebody thinks we're going to have a spike in interest in football tickets one of these days.

Of course, only Nebraska and SUI fans will be buying them, right?

Peterclone

Front Page

How this wasn't front page, above the fold of the Sunday DSM Rag, I'll never know:

A member of the Iowa State University football coaching staff was arrested after allegedly breaking into a car impound lot and trying to drive his car out through the steel gate.

Floyd Howard White, 30, of 3709 Tripp St., was arrested Friday morning and charged with OWI first offense and criminal trespassing causing damage of over $200, both serious misdemeanors.

I sometimes joke that if football players were smart, they wouldn't be football players. I see the joke can also apply to football coaches.

I expect a full-blown media circus to spin up any moment now. It beats doing hard journalism, especially on a Sunday.

Peterclone

SMQ thoughts

SMQ wraps things up nicely in the very first, admittedly premature
preseason forecast of the fall.

Given the unknowns, I can't
argue with with 5-7 to 2-10 outlook. If the offense gels at all, and
stops getting hives in the red zone, 5-7 isn't crazy. Improved line
play will make whoever ends up under center look better than Meyer did
last year.

More previews as the appear.

PT

Grading the Ungradable

I always chuckle at those who grade how an NFL team has drafted, just as I chuckle at recruiting rankings. With all the variables that go into player development, how can you accuratly grade?

Looking back 3 years in the NFL and 5 years in NCAA makes sense- you can really see how a team improved or declined based on how draftees/recruits panned out. Get a few surprises and your team got a lot better. Miss a few in key places and you are out of a job. I'm glad I'n just a fan.

As I recall, Virginia Tech's recruiting classes won a bunch games in the mid-90's with recruiting classes that wwere ranked as nothing special. Coach Beemer had the audacity to ignore rankings and stats and times and just watch tape and talk to kids and their coaches. He looked for football players- guys who just liked to play football, were the first to come and the last to leave practice, who just worked their asses off because they liked getting better. You get a bunch of those kids as the core of your team and you will win on Saturdays.

Drafting and recruiting is on some level just a crapshoot. Don't place any money of whoever "graded well" this weekend.

Peterclone

Sober

LE's been sober for five years today.

Keep it up. We're proud of you.

Peterclone

Validated

This
is a funny read.

It essentially reiterates what I've
been saying since the start of the Cy-Hawk series:ISU should never win the thing.

The funny part is that the writer tries really, really hard not to come right out and say "ISU should never win this thing". But reading between the lines, he's saying exactly that.

The SUI quote trots out the old "We want to win TenEleven Championships" chestnut. Yeah, and I want a pony.

The impressive numbers appear late in the column: ISU leads 47-39 overall, and if you remove the results of football and men's basketball, ISU would lead the series 3-0-1. Ouch. When you consider the money spent on "Olympic" sports in IC versus Ames, Double Ouch.

I'll tell you what SUI and its fans really want: to somehow return ISU to its "College" days when it could justify treating it with second-class, little brother, back-of-the-bus arrogance. They would drop the football series in a heartbeat if they could. They would drop the Cy-Hawk if they could. But they can't without looking like they are running from a fight.

So we might as well continue tormenting them by winning the dang thing.

Peterclone

KU and Winning

I'm not going to harp on the fact that KU should have lost to a team with one stud and a bunch of DII players (which would have been appropriate 20 years after Danny and the Miracles) or that they benefitted from perhaps the biggest choke job in a title game ever. That would be petty and low class.

But could a stat geek out there find for me a team that has won more games and conference titles in the last 20 years that hadn't won an NCAA title? (Thanks for suggesting Princeton, smart guy.) Has any school done less with more? Are they the equivelent to Texas football?

Discuss.

Will KU losing two studs to the NBA make a difference to the rest of the B12 next year?

No.

As long as KU is handing out schollies for hoops, the league is theirs to lose each year. Any season they don't win the league title should be considered a wasted year, and grounds for firing the coach.


Peterclone

Spring Afternoons

I'm the first to admit that I don't memorize the two-deeps for my team, but I really don't see the attraction of the Spring Game at my school, other than the excuse to tailgate on a (hopefully) decent spring day.

When I see 70K+ showing up in Happy Vally and Columbus and Lincoln, I can only conclude that those folks are daft.

Perhaps someday I'll attend and catch whatever it is that makes the expeience so pleasing. Or not.

Peterclone

Crete Watching

This is one of the best rivalry stories of late. If I'm that RedSox
fan, I leave 3 or four bits in the concrete, and only admit one. After
digging out the easy item, the place is still cursed, but everyone
thinks it is fine.

This has ramifications here in Cyclone land.
As Athletics undertakes its planned capital projects, like the current
work at Trice, they should consider hiring one person with construction
experience to monitor the work, especially the pouring on concrete, to
prevent any shenanigans by an SUI fan in a hard hat.

Not that SUI fans care enough about ISU to even bother trying to jinx us. The obvious joke is that Cyclone football is already jinxed.

Still, if something black and gold isn't already in the foundations around ISU athletics, it will be soon.

How well do you know the guy in the hard hat?

Peerclone

Psychic Insight

Black Heart Gold Pants stumbled on ISU's new logo images, and opinionates about them.

Funny
thing, he can't use the same yardstick even in
his own analysis.

First, he projects forward that ISU
would use an aerial shot of an SUI game, because we all know the only
time Trice sells out is when the drunken buzzards come to town and buy
up all the tickets. That's why the artistPhotoShopped all the
black-wearing fans out and replaced them with red wearing fans. (If he
was going to all that trouble, why not replace every last one? I
digress.)

Longtime readers know my feelings on this topic. The question shouldn't be "Why doesn't ISU sell more tickets", the question should be "Why doesn't SUI sell more?" Follow the link for the full reasoning, but in short "ISU can't sell tickets" is the best local sports myth behind "SUI football is on the cusp of a National Championship".

I've personally been in Kinnick
the last 10 years when 20K Wisconsin and Penn State and Ohio State fans
have purchased all of the singles, and were usually the only ones in
the house at the final gun. Get off that horse, my friend. How are
sales for '08 going?

Besides, if ISU is going to use an image of a football game, it might as well be one with a full house and probable win.

BHGP
then switches gears, acting as if the Hilton shot is past historical
record. No, you dork, like the shot of Trice it is again a future
projection. (Nice angle, BTW. I've never seen that one.) Does BHGP
really expect a marketing department to post an image like that with
the home team losing? Duh.

What is most hysterical about BHGP
is that he, like most SUI fans, claims not to care about Moo-U, and
spends dozens of blog posts showing how much he doesn't care.

Thanks for visiting. I'm sure you won't attend or watch this year's ISU-SUI game because A) It's a walkover for SUI B) You don't care if ISU loses or not C) You are too busy breaking down which bar in IC has the best drink specials 8-11 AM on Tuesdays.

Peterclone

Smart

Season ticket holders only to see the Fuskers.

It was a good idea last year, it's a good idea this year.

Maybe Gene will get us to the point that season tickets are an easier sell than singles.

Peterclone

Norms

A nice discussion at Sunday Morning QB about KU's chances of winning 10 games again this year.

Short version: they aren't good.

KU
was a good team, but they also benefited from the perfect storm of
incredible individual performances, a favorable schedule, football
cycles that worked in their favor (bad NU,KSU and CU teams) and few injuries.

It
is interesting to see SUI of '01 mentioned as being unable to replicate
a sudden 10 win season. The writer obviously hasn't talked to SUI fan
to learn that they are only a decent OC away from a national championship.

Go read. Stats are fun. The same argument also explains ISU's lack of consistent football success.

Peterclone

PhotoShop Tricks

This is worth a chuckle: The New ISU Mascot.

Nice work.

Peterclone

What Could Have Been

John Cooper really, really wanted to follow Earle Bruce as ISU football coach.

Instead he followed Bruce as Ohio State football coach.

ISU got Duncan, Criner and Walden instead. That makes me weep.

What could have been.

At least Gene has asked Coop back into the fold, even for a day or two. Cyclone football could use some of his influence.

Peterclone

Cronyism

The TeeVee tells me that Sean Sutton quit as Okie State coach recently. I'm not surprised.

Any coach who couldn't come up with a halftime response to an ISU
defensive scheme deserves to be fired. That's not a slam at Greg and
crew- when your team is just as flummoxed by an opponent in the second
half as in the first, and when that opponent is eventually going to
escape last place with a win over you- you are in over your head.

I never thought much of Sean as a player- a nice player, but getting extra
minutes because of Dad- and I thought the same of him as a coach. OSU
under Junior struck me as playing beneath their talent. He'll make
someone a nice recruiting coordinator, or perhaps he should drop down
to DII or a mid-major to learn how to coach, then come back up. As much as I despise Alford, he did pay some dues along the way.

Heck, I'd give James Dickey the promotion to Head Coach. He won a pile of games at Tech- he'd be better Day One than Sean ever was.

Pat Knight, you are on the clock.

Keno, you've earned a half dozen mulligans.

Peterclone

Ditto Ron

I have a love hate relationship with Ron "I'm not an Iowa fan" Maly.

I tire of his daily, often roundabout, digs at ISU in his blog. I have a hard time believing his "I'm a serious, professional, objective retired journalist" schtick when every single post has a shot of him in the pressbox of Kinnick or next to some former SUI great. But its his blog, so he can write what he wants, even when it often is a tired retreat of what might have been an original thought back in '82.

What I admire about Ron is how expertly he can take the knife to his own Hawkeyes and the rest of the Big TenEleven when they deserve it.

If he could dig ISU as well as he can SUI, he might be worth the daily read. At least then I could respect him.

Peterclone

Up or Down?

On one hand, Tim Floyd loves
Mac's X and O skills. He should have usedISU's game plan against K State, in light of how his plan didn't work out so well.

The other hand: Concericus in some quarters.

Both, I think, are valid views of ISU
hoops at the moment. I have no idea what turnover was like under GM in
Cedar Falls, but I can't imagine it was like this. I hope stability is
right around the corner.

Both Gene and Greg are Pollard hires,
and while Gene still has a season or two before he will really be
judged, Greg has used his Mulligans. It will be interesting to see if
JP has as quick a trigger with his own hires as he had withhis predecessor's.

Peterclone

Who Is Ahead?

Coach Mac and Doc Sadler have both (almost) finished their second seasons.

Nebraska's going to get an NIT bid. ISU isn't.

Is Doc ahead?

Discuss.

Peterclone

Sometimes Its About The O

It's a simple game: put the ball through the hoop. Many of ISU's struggles this season were from an inability to do just that.

Look at the stats from B12 conference games aren't bad from the defensive side. It's the offense that was offensive.

- Last in FG%
- Last in 3 Pt%
- 11th in offensive average
- 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio
- 10th in scoring margin (they would get blown out, but never returned the favor)
- 10th in assists
- 5th in 3's made

The high ranking in 3's made can only be attributed to making up for bad shooting in volume, hoping that the Rock & Jock rules were in effect, and getting lucky on the 10 Point Shot would erase the oppoonent's standard 12 point lead.

It is telling to flip around during the conference touneys and watch the teams that know how to score. They seem to understand what is a good shot and a bad shot, and their offenses are structured to put guys in position to shoot shots they can make. In other words, they are everything ISU's offense was not this year.

Hopefully the team locks itself into the gym in the off season and shoots the kind of shots they will get to take next winter. If they can make free throws like they do, they can shoot. Since they don't get to shoot 75 foul shots each night, they are going to have to score the hard way.

Get busy boys.

Peterclone

Percentages

In 12 seasons, BF is .592 in B12 play, regular season.

In the conference tournament, he's .689.

So naturally ISU would become the first 8 or 9 seed to beat a #1 seed in tourney history. Why would you think otherwise?

You have to wonder what ISU's
record would be if they scheduled the entire season in playoff format.
Four game sets in four different cities every two weeks. The Cyclones
would be league champs at least one third of the time.

As long as the threes keep falling, ISU could win the dang thing. WARNING: a$m has the league's best 3 point defense, only allowing 27%. Unfortunately, the players won't determine this game, the officials will. If the refs let the aggies bump, pull, grab and generally beat up ISU, it will be a long day. If they don't eat the whistle, ISU has a chance.

Peterclone

Oddsbeaters

Two noteable upsets in the afternoon session in Kansas City.

First ISU, as the #8 seed, beat CU, the #9. In the previous 11 meetings, the #9 lead 7-4.

But the big shocker was that #5 seed OU lost to #12 Mizzou. It was the first ever loss by a #5 to a #12 in 12 B12 tournaments. Ouch.

Now BF and crew will try to become the first #8 or #9 to beat a #1 seed in K State.

I didn't realize how much this tournament has followed the chalk until I saw it in print. The #1 has won 7 of 11 titles, the #2 once, the #3 twice and the lowly #6 got one title. That's a .636 batting average if you are #1. I'll take those odds every time.

ISU is now 7-1 in the first round. CU, since winning the first B12 tourney in '97, has gone 5-11 since. Perhaps the should fly instead of taking the bus.

Looking back, that '00 team was awesome. They set the tourney record with a 27 point margin of victory in 3 games. Wow.

Peterclone

Silly Predictions

Straight from the Diane Chambers school of sports betting, these fellow
predict the B12 women's bracket based on mascots.

Again,
another person from Texas who is completely befuddled by the Whirling
Cy mascot, but not curious enough to do any research.

Peterclone

Back On Track

I'd say Cael has the wrestlers headed in the direction that Jamie envisioned when he pulled a quick trigger on giving Coach Douglas the Johhny Orr treatment (You've been a good guy- go play golf and tell stories with the Big Money Folks, will ya?).

Cael is 2/2 in Conference titles in as many attempts. For perspective, Douglas went 0/14, with 4 second place finishes. The bar has been raised a touch, methinks.

Nationals in St. Lou could be very interesting if Cael's crew continues to peak at the right time.

Peterclone

Playmakers

Wednesday's loss at Mizzou and today's near miss against KSU illustrated ISU's lack of consistent playmakers down the stretch.

ISU had the game in Columbia won several times, but could never put it away. Even down three, ISU had K State on the ropes, but couldn't land the knockout punch in the final two minutes.

I've lost count of the number of games that ISU lost due to fading down the stretch, but it is fair to say that our Cyclones left a half dozen wins on the table. Win three and they are in the NIT. Win all six and they are in the NCAA. This incomplete team, thin in the middle and green at the point, was closer than we think to the tourney.

Hopefully our backcourt learns to manage the final stage of the game, and some playmakers emerge help pull the tight ones out of the fire.

Peterclone

Pop Quiz

What's missing from this list:

1. Connecticut (40) 28-1 1235
2. North Carolina (2) 27-2 1172
3. Tennessee 27-2 1120
4. Rutgers (8) 24-4 1103
5. Maryland 29-2 1073
6. Stanford 27-3 1010
7. LSU 25-4 987
8. Baylor 24-4 839
9. Notre Dame 23-6 753
10. California 24-5 720
11. Oklahoma 21-6 709
12. Duke 21-8 601
13. George Washington 24-5 595
14. West Virginia 23-5 589
15. Utah 25-3 583
16. Old Dominion 25-4 572
17. Texas A&M 22-7 539
18. UTEP 25-2 367
19. Kansas State 20-8 363
20. Oklahoma State 22-6 270
21. Vanderbilt 22-7 247
22. Ohio State 22-7 224
23. Georgia 21-8 160
24. Marist 28-2 128
25. Virginia 22-8 117
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES
Wyoming 53, Louisville 24, Pittsburgh 18, Arizona State 15, Hartford 12, Syracuse 9, DePaul 8, Liberty 8, Chattanooga 7, Iowa 7, Gonzaga 3, Michigan State 3, Boise State 2, Georgia Tech 2, Evansville 1, Illinois State 1, Montana 1,

If you guessed a Top 25 ranking for the Big 1011's Co-Champion, SUI, you would be right!

That's right, there are 5 B12 teams ahead of both of the 1011's champs, with one receiving a paltry 7 votes.

Too bad there isn't a Sagarin for WBB- the comparison would be ugly.

Heck, a healthy ISU club would have finished 12-6 in the 1011 this year, at the minimum.

Sometimes you catch all the breaks. In SUI's case, it was good health AND a weak league. Perhaps next year they will draw more than friends and family to their games.

Peterclone

Fugly

I witnessed ISU's fugly win over Kansas today. It epitomized everything that is wrong with women's basketball.

Little of the ugliness was ISU's fault. Rather, it was the result of KU's hideous style of play, and the ref's collective willingness to allow it. KU's philosophy on both ends of the floor is to imitate
as much contact as possible, whether hacking and pushing on defense or
driving to the basket on offense. When the ref's eat the whistle, it
works, the game slows to a crawl, neither team can score (KU has lousy
shooters, off the dribble or not) and fans, having paid cash expecting
something interesting, have to witness butchery instead.

When used by teams with talent (i.e. Baylor) this plan works well. When you don't have talent, it's just hard to watch.

I
am most puzzled why so many crews reward this style by eating their
whistles. It isn't subtle. Bodies flying, shots missing by three feet,
players piling up in the lane like anInterstate highway on a foggy day,
yet play goes on, or a meek travel is whistled as a pathetic "make-up".
Odd. It's almost as if they don't want to blow the whistle so they
won't be accused of coddling the ladies. Let 'em duke it out; it'll
toughen them up. It's not justKU ; it is the majority of the women's
games I stumble across on the telly. Rough play removes all the joy
from basketball, regardless of gender, but the women suffer the most.

Proper officiating would have put ISU in the bonus in the first 6 minutes of each half. Like not calling the outside fastball, until rough play is mandated out, ISU will continue to suffer at the hands of the goons.

Besides, the rough play isn't helping the Jayhawks.
The present coach has won 18 B12 games in four seasons, which isn't
very good from where I sit. One wonders if her seat is getting warm, or
if, like football ('07 excepted), as long as it isn't a completeembarrassment, the AD doesn't care.

Bring back the touch foul. Over the back would have a welcome return, too.

Peterclone

X Factors

There are two aspects of team sports that are really out of the control of coaches: chemistry and injuries.

While a coach can influence chemistry by who he does and doesn't recruit, injuries are a crap shoot. It also seems like you go relatively unhurt, or you lose someone every time you lace up the sneakers. Ask BF.

I think the difference between the WBB seasons in Ames and IC is injuries. SUI has, for the first time in forever, avoided the "Season ending torn ACL" bug, while ISU has it in spades. Throw in the lack of monsterously good teams in the 1011 (Really, could anyone in the 1011 beat Baylor?) and SUI has a shot at a conference title and a solid NCAA run.

It will be interesting if SUI fan will buy more than 50 tickets to the NCAA regiionals at Wells Fargo after SUI gets placed there. I'm betting it will be 25% of what ISU fans would have bought.

Perhaps next year BF will have better luck with the injury bug.

Peterclone

Slasher

Watching Zeno tear up ISU and Memphis and TN wreak havoc on each other yesterday with ferocious drives to the hoop vividly illustrated what ISU lacks: Guys who can create their own shot and distort the opponents D with drives.

If ISU needed two points quick with the game on the line, who would you give the ball to? I'm scratching my head.

With a win over Tech, I thought ISU had a shot at the NIT and hopefully some maturation. Now that looks very unlikely.

Work on your shot over the summer, fellas.

Peterclone

Odd Description

In the post game wrapup, the OSU student paper describes the WBB offense as "kept the pace at a crawl".

That's hardly how most of us describe Fennely's style, but what the heck. Working for the open shot must strike some people as odd.

Peterclone

Turnaround

Perhaps I had given up both basketball squads for dead too soon.

After their home collapse against Texas and a just-not-enough-of-anything loss in Norman, I wasn't surprised by the ineptitude displayed in the first half against Nebraska. More of the same, I thought. Hopefully Lucca and the other new faces next fall will make a difference and Mac won't feel his seat getting warm.

Then came the unexplainable, impossible, thrilling second half. Wow.

The men could easily lose all five of their remaining games and make us look stupid for having hope. But with what we'll call Second Half Effort, they could win 2 and with breaks 3 of their last 5, finish 7-9, and avoid having to play in that 8/9 game that leads to a crushing by KU the next day. Climbing all the way up to 6 or 7 might be too much to ask for this bunch, but it would give a shot at 2 wins in KC instead of one/none. Since they probably can't catch OU for sixth, and lose the tiebreaker anyway, seventh is the goal. Seventh will require at least two wins and some help, like Tech and Mizzou losing early and often. But its good to have a goal.

When Fennely's squad lost their two best inside players I thought NIT. After their upset in Stillwater today, they have a solid shot at finishing 8-8, which should lock them for the NCAAs if nothing else. With a seven seed, they have a puncher's chance of scrambling through the bracket in KC. Wouldn't that be fun to see, againi.

There might still be some fun left in our winter.

Peterclone

Jinx

Last year, it was Minnesota.

This year, it's Oregon State.

ISU has a new knack of winning NonCon road games against teams that eventually fire their coach during the season. To some degree the loss to ISU had to factor in to the firing, as ISU was probably scheduled as a planned home win.

Whoever does the basketball scheduling might not get their calls returned come summer.

Peterclone

Lost In A Fog

For about 35 minutes, ISU was worth of beating a Top-20 team.

The other 10 minutes cost them the game.

A tremendous overall effort was wasted against Texas: Offensive rythym, heady play on both ends of the court, a brilliant gameplan, and general hustle and moxie. UT is the classic example of a team where none of your starters would start for them, yet they let you hang around (or even look good) until the end, where they flex their supperior athleticicsm and walk off with the win, acting like they were in control the whole time. Down 10 with 10 to play is exactly where they want to be, which would be maddening to watch every night.

At some point the offensive hiccups will be relived when someone not names Juri or Wesley discovers their shot, and ISU will win the one they shouldn't.

Hurry up.

Peterclone

Offensive

ISU loses another game due to offensive impotence. Granted a$m is ranked, and plays the tough defense that causes ISU fits. But when you are defending your home court, you shouldn't lose by 18 to anyone not named Kansas.

The good news is that while ISU loses their best defender and post player, who combine for 22 a game, everyone else is young, young, young, and can only improve.

I just wish they were providing fewer "teachable moments" for the video room.

Peterclone

"Brilliant coach. Sick man."

Keeler nails it.

Genius on the court. Idiot off. If he hadn't won so many games, he never would have made it past West Point.

Perhaps Lubbock, his own personal Elba, finally got to him.

Peterclone

Sloppy

The strangest part of Saturday's meltdown in Lincoln was that ISU could have won the thing with some shots down the stretch.

While 20 turnovers killed them, allowing the B12's worst shooting team to shoot 42% did them in. It wasn't as if Maric killed them with a bunch of lay-ins; it was the long jumpers that the Huskers don't normally make that was the difference.

Until Wes returns, I expect more offensive lulls where things go stagnent, passes go off of feet, and players are either scared to take the shot, or players try to do too much.

When Freshmen are asked to carry as much of the load as they are now, we'll have days like Saturday.

I was happy to see that Cyclone Alley out-noised the Husker Red Zone. You would think after the horrible (by their standards) run in Husker football, anything that even smells of success would pack the students in. I guess not.

Peterclone