Lofty Goals

As I continue my journey of recovering from an ankle sprained twice within two months (January and February), I have worked my way back onto the basketball court at the campus rec center. Rest assured, I am only shooting free throws and practicing my 180-degree turnaround fall-away jumper, and I am consistently turning down all requests to even out odd-numbered groups of Chinese graduate students who want to get a pickup game going.

Tonight I had to resist the extra special incentive for trying to get in a pickup game when I saw various members of the Iowa State men's basketball team taking on all challengers. While standing on the sideline I got this picture of Calvin Godfrey putting up a jumper while fellow freshmen Jordan Railey and a partially-obscured Melvin Ejim look on.

There is something oddly intriguing about wanting to get in a game like this just so I could someday tell my future children, "Hey, see that guy with the name Godfrey playing professional basketball on TV? He dunked on me once at the Rec! Awesome, right!?!?"

The sky's the limit, baby. The sky's the limit.

Hangover in Hilton

A few weeks ago, I asked Adam one of the most important questions I have ever asked him: if the Cyclone men made the post-season, how far would he be willing to travel to see them play? Before I even finished the question, he answered: "Anywhere." We were lucky enough to see the women play in the NCAA tournament here in Ames last spring and we'd love to be able to see the men play in the post-season as well.

Unfortunately, that's probably not going to happen after last night's pathetic attempt against Texas Tech. Our guys looked hungover and were never able to dig themselves out from an early deficit. Texas Tech was clearly the team who wanted to win the most. I've never seen Hoiberg as upset as he was during last night's game, and based on some of his post-game statements, I think the guys can look forward to some punishing practices this week!

There were a couple of bright spots last night, though:

• The student section chanting "Throw a chair!" at Texas Tech's coach, Pat Knight, son of the legendary basketball personality Bobby Knight
• This license plate, which we saw on our way out of the parking lot--Boone from Boone:
  

After a game like that, I'll take my amusement wherever I can get it!

EDITED TO ADD: If you're interested in seeing an extremely annoyed Fred Hoiberg, here's his post-game press conference.

Pick Me Up, Bring Me Down

Last weekend we made a trip to Des Moines to check out a couple of places we had been hearing about for awhile. Up first was a stop at the Mars Cafe in the Drake University neighborhood.

I have frequently seen Mars Cafe mentioned in various Des Moines publications and Twitter posts by Central Iowans I follow, and it seemed like a happening place. We popped in for a few afternoon hours and enjoyed a late lunch with caffeinated beverages of our choices (Amy: Diet Coke; Me: coffee) followed by recreational activities of our choices (Amy: reading a novel; Me: surfing the Internet). The sandwiches were great, and the cafe had a nice modern atmosphere. They also host various interesting events, such as the upcoming Pour-Over Poster Show featuring coffee-themed artwork accompanied by free beer from my favorite Ames-based brewpub, Olde Main. Perhaps we'll have to make a return visit!

After wrapping up at the cafe, we then passed a little time at Barnes & Noble before moving on to The Keg Stand, a bar in West Des Moines that we had heard about from promotions on local sports radio station KXNO as a host for Iowa State University game-watch events. Saturday night's main event was Iowa State's border-war showdown with the Missouri Tigers in men's basketball, and after a should-have-won-but-didn't game on the road at Oklahoma State earlier in the week, we were hoping that this game would be Iowa State's chance to erase bad memories of a couple of close road-losses this season with an away game win over a ranked team. And what better way to celebrate such a significant win than with a large group of fellow Cyclone fans in a bar?

We should have known it was not going to be a good night when we arrived and saw a large section of the bar roped off as reserved space for someone's 40th birthday party, and the congratulatory signs hanging on the wall were done up in Iowa Hawkeye black and gold. As it turned out, the Cyclones kept the game close for about the first ten minutes, until Missouri started playing more like a 14th ranked team at home and Iowa State started playing more like this year's Iowa team (ZING!). As the game went on it only got worse and ended up as a 33 point loss.

At least we were in a location well suited for sorrow-drowning. Even the bar stools are made out of beer kegs!

Despite the disappointing loss to end the night, it was still an enjoyable day exploring some new locations in the capital city just south of Ames. The Iowa State men have what are probably the easiest games of their remaining schedule this week, with Texas Tech in Ames tomorrow night, followed by a visit from Oklahoma on Saturday. Hopefully the team can bounce back and rebuild some confidence. We'll be there cheering them on!

Heeeeeeere's Johnny (with a little Hilton Magic)

Any Iowa State basketball fan knows about Hilton Magic and knows that it started with a coach by the name of Johnny Orr who left Michigan in 1980 to lead the program at Iowa State University for the rest of that decade and part of the next. That was also the year I was born, so my knowledge of the original Hilton Magic, the thunderous shouting and clapping support from the fans that would cause the rafters to vibrate, the floor to shake, and opposing players to miss free throws, is based on second-hand stories from an earlier generation.

I was fortunate, however, to attend ISU from 1998 through 2005 (thanks for a few extra years graduate school). Larry Eustachy was head coach, the torch having been passed on to him from Orr's successor, Tim Floyd, who had enough success to carry on the Hilton Magic tradition, including winning the final Big 8 Tournament over Kansas in 1996. During Eustachy's coaching stint, and my time as a student, Iowa State had some of it's best seasons ever, including two Big 12 championships and a memorable NCAA tournament run to the Elite 8, where they suffered a heartbreaking loss to eventual champion Michigan State. While the old timers may say that nothing compared to the Hilton Magic of the 80's, I can say that I had blast experiencing the late 90's and early 00's version.

Which brings me to tonight's game at Hilton against #3 ranked Kansas. Fred Hoiberg (a star player under Orr) has had more success in his first as coach of the Cyclones than most expected, but a win against Kansas still seemed fairly unlikely. As he said in pre-game interviews, Iowa State would need to play near perfectly to win. A big, loud home crowd wouldn't hurt either, and thankfully there was a noticeable increase in attendance tonight, thanks to Iowa State's decision to honor Johnny Orr with a special presentation before the game for the dedication of a new statue and donor's area. At age 83 he came bounding out of the tunnel to the Johnny Carson theme song, just like when he was coach, and gave the crowd all the first pumps it could handle.

The statue now on display captures the action quite well.

It was all almost enough to help the Cyclones get their most impressive win of the season (and really, of the last five years), but in the end Kansas had too many talented bodies and held off a couple of scrappy streaks by Iowa State to win, 84-79. Iowa State never led, but they came close multiple times, and during those pushes it was clear that Hilton Magic was starting to make a comeback. The crowd was into it, I was yelling my throat off during some key Kansas possessions, and if a three-pointer here or a put-back there had gone in for an Iowa State tie or lead, Hilton would have exploded. It was fun feeling, and we look forward to more in the future. This year's team may not have a lot of talent compared to the rest of the Big 12, but they have a lot of heart and know how to play together. I think we will see some upset wins in Ames yet this season.

In the meantime, here's a hilarious YouTube video of Johnny Orr giving ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale an earful from back in the day.

Project 365 Day 355: Mascot Moves

The fun thing about basketball season, if you're a basketball fan, is the number of games to watch and go to. We have been very happy with our season ticket purchase for ISU Men's Basketball this year, and even though we are up in the nose bleed section of one of the corners, during the early pre-Big 12 conference games it's pretty easy to move around to better seats. I'm hoping that once we get into more competitive games that will be more difficult because of larger crowds. I love being at Hilton with a packed house going nuts.

Tonight we saw the good guys mop the floor with Chicago State and improve to 11-2 on the season. Iowa State won by over 40 points, which might get old after a while, but knowing that the Big 12 schedule will be much tougher I certainly don't mind watching these types of games now. Building the confidence of a young team and first year coach who are all figuring things out can't be a bad thing at this point either.

One of the highlights of tonights game was the halftime antics of our mascot Cy (a giant red cardinal-like bird). Here's a picture of Cy for reference:

The halftime entertainment consisted of a couple of dance numbers by the Southeast Polk high school dance squad, but the most entertaining aspect for us was watching Cy off to the side imitating some of their dance moves as well as coming up with some of his own. Then at one point while he was watching the dance team, they performed a sort of spinning flying leap in his direction, at which point he jumped back and struck a defensive karate pose with arms outstretched, ready to fight.

Thanks Cy, for everything you do!

Project 365 Day 353: Free Beast

Today will go down in history as the day I finally got one of those free t-shirts they occasionally toss out at college sporting events. My parents were in town for a visit and we all went to the ISU vs. Dartmouth men's basketball game. At one point some cheerleader-types came up to the upper deck where we were sitting while the PA announcer said it was time to see who can cheer the loudest. After realizing that this might finally be my chance, I stood up and waved my arms while yelling crazily like the other fans in our section. To my surprise I saw a cheerleader with a wadded-up shirt rear back and toss it in our direction, though I was sure the gentleman a few rows ahead would catch it.

Instead, the shirt somehow sailed through his outstretched hands, continuing towards me, at which point it also sailed past my uncoordinated hands, landing a glancing blow off my cheek and falling into my dad's seat. I snatched it up and held it in the air, victorious! Dad was kind enough to let me keep the shirt, though I would have argued that it was rightfully mine anyway on the basis of my cheek-deflection recovery; kind of like getting a fumble back in football.

After unraveling the shirt we found that it had the current I-State logo with the word "BEAST" printed below in large letters. Some might be confused by this, but we had been to enough basketball games to know it was a reference to the Beauty and the Beast gymnastics/wrestling combination meet coming up in the spring, which has been heavily advertised during basketball games.

Looks like I can check one more item off my bucket list!

Project 365 Day 339: Hoiberg on a Stick

While we did not attend an ISU men's basketball game today, we did run into men's coach Fred Hoiberg again at today's women's game against Michigan. Saturday, there was a promotion at the men's game in which all members of the Cyclone Alley student section received #32 jersey's (the number Fred wore as a player), and HyVee sponsored a giveaway of the pictured Fred Head-on-a-stick. Today leftover Fred Heads were still available on the way out of the women's game, so we picked up a few extras.

Of course December in Iowa means it's not warm enough to need to fan ourselves very often, but they do make a good addition to our Cyclone Corner in the basement!

Project 365 Day 328: I-State Crew

With our Thanksgiving preparations mostly finished we took a break for dinner and then went to the Iowa State men's basketball game against Kennesaw State from Georgia. After Iowa State's nail biter of a win over Creighton (and former ISU coach Greg McDermott) on Sunday, this game had the potential to be a bit of letdown for the team, but they came out strong and finished strong, winning 91-51. I noted an interesting statistic while reading my tweets after the game from Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register. Freshman Melvin Ejim has scored 10 or more points in the first five games of his collegiate career at Iowa State. Another former player who did the same: current coach Fred Hoiberg.

Janice snapped this photo of three Iowa State alumni who happened to be in attendance after we got back home from the game. We're looking forward to a crowded house for Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Project 365 Day 321: Hoiberg Still Undefeated

Fred Hoiberg still has the magic touch. After three contests his ISU Men's Basketball team is 3-0. Now maybe it's still a little early to judge, after all the team isn't exactly playing the likes of Duke or Kansas, (or Baylor even), but tonight was his first in-state rivalry game against the Drake Bulldogs, a team that has had success against the Cyclones in recent years. We blew them out completely, 91-43, thanks to our high scoring run-and-gun offense and some salty defense throughout the game. While Drake may be having a down year anyway, these games are still showing us some good stuff with regard to style of play, hustle, and the potential of this team. Things are looking bright! Once we get into the tougher part of our non-conference schedule, including a game with California and an away game at Virginia, we'll learn a little bit more.

The player of the night was Scott Christopherson. He literally brought his A+ game, as the following statistics show:

	Attempted	Made
Field Goals	11	11
Three Pointers	5	5
Free Throws	2	2
Total Points	29

When Scotty left the game, he had one more point than the entire Drake team had scored!

Win or lose, we're looking forward to more entertaining basketball games this year.

Up next: Creighton at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines this Sunday, led by none other than the previous ISU coach, Greg McDermott. We won't be able to make this one, but I'm hoping for a similar outcome as tonight's game.

Project 365 Day 318: Pep Band Gets Peppy

Today was our second Iowa State Men's Basketball game of the regular season. It was a fairly sparse crowd, student section included, but that's not too surprising given that it was a Sunday afternoon and the game was not expected to be close. It wasn't, as Iowa State won without any real challenge, 74-47. We continue to be excited about the up-tempo style of play, and hopefully the numerous newcomers to the team this year will continue to gel and play well together.

The pep band was there in full force, as they are for every men's and women's game, and they added their usual spiciness to the mix. Along with the music, they also bring out some trademarked chants when the opposing team is shooting free throws, like yelling "the ball is bigger than the basket", or singing "You're not gonna make it" to the tune of Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It." And finally, perhaps most off the wall, they occasionally chant "Block that kick! Block that kick!"

I love ISU basketball!

Project 365 Day 316: Coach Hoiberg's Official Debut

Fred Hoiberg made his first official appearance as Iowa State's head coach of Men's Basketball tonight against Northern Arizona, and Amy's mom joined us at the game while her dad is away on a hunting trip. We got a preview of Hoiberg and his team in last Friday's exhibition match against University of Dubuque, but this was the first game that counts, and I'm happy to say that Fred Hoiberg is still undefeated in his very young coaching career. Amazingly, two Iowa State players scored all of the team's points in the first half, Diante Garrett and Jamie Vanderbeken, many of them on three pointers.

Most people aren't expecting much from this year's team due to the loss of players after the coaching change and having a lot of young players on the team now, but hopefully they'll grow together quickly and give us some exciting basketball to watch for the remainder of the season.

Project 365 Day 310: Football Bonanza

My boss visited us again from the East Coast by way of his Beechcraft Bonanza private plane. This picture shows the plane having just landed as he is coming in to find a parking spot. Work, along with a little football, brought him in for a visit. Today marked the last time Iowa State plays Nebraska in a conference football game, as next year Nebraska is defecting to the Big 10 due to the enticement of the lucrative equal revenue sharing contract from the Big 10 Network.

It turned out to be a great game which went to overtime tied 24-24. Nebraska was ranked coming into the game and Iowa State was a fairly heavy underdog according to the oddsmakers. The Cyclones were ready for the game however, and ended up battling back from a 24-10 deficit going into the fourth quarter. The team showed resilience, a trait that has been lacking in the past under previous coaching staffs. After Nebraska scored a touchdown with the kick for the point after on the first possession of overtime, Iowa State had their chance to tie or win. Iowa State put the ball in the end zone for six points and then lined up for the point after.

Except instead of kicking the point to tie, they went for the kill and tried a fake kick that was really a pass. The receiver was wide open, but the ball holder who needed to loft the 5 yard pass for the win under threw it (or maybe the wind caught it), and it fell short and incomplete near a Nebraska defender. Iowa State lost a nail biter, 30-31.

It was a game for the ages, and while it was disappointing to be on the losing side, it was also awesome to see Paul Rhoads and his staff have the team ready for a tough, ranked opponent and keep everything together to have the opportunity to win it on the last play in overtime. Many people though the Cyclones would get blown out.

This close of a game against Nebraska is another good sign for the future of Iowa State football. Hopefully the Cyclones (and tailgating) will give my boss many reasons to come back to Ames in the future!

Project 365 Day 303: Homecoming

Another win for the Iowa State Cyclones football team! Today was ISU's homecoming game, and my parents made it over to join us at the game. Kansas was the opponent, and though they are widely considered one of the worst teams in the Big 12, we weren't much different a few years ago, and we haven't beaten them in the previous five years. It was a game that we should win, and a loss would have been a depressing event for the fans, especially after we pulled the amazing upset over Texas last Saturday in Austin.

So we were a little tense when halftime arrived and Kansas was up 9 to 7, their three field goals over our one punt return for a touchdown. It seemed like our defense was pretty successful and confident overall in the first half, which was a good sign, but a few too many bad throws and dropped passes left the offense sputtering. Thankfully, Iowa State opened the second half with a quick drive down the field for their second touchdown, all while my parents were still in line for food, and never looked back.

We won the game we were supposed to win, which Paul Rhoads seems to be good at doing in his first two years as coach, and now we're one win away from a bowl game.

Perhaps our winter vacation this year will involve a bowl game! I hope we can start planning on it with a win over Nebraska in Ames next weekend...

Project 365 Day 296: Proud To Be One

Since Paul Rhoads took over the Iowa State football program starting with the 2009 season, there have been some ups and some downs, but the ups have been pretty fantastic. Last year it was a win against Nebraska in Lincoln. This year it turned out to be Iowa State's first ever win against the University of Texas, and it also happened on the road!

We were on our way out the door this morning when I decided to check the kick-off time for the game, and saw that it had already started and Iowa State was up 7-3. I then remembered that we had been subscribing to an obscure sports package on DirecTV since last fall when I ordered it so we could catch the Iowa State - Iowa game in Iowa City. Turned out this game was being televised as well, so we stayed put and watched one for the ages.

The keychain schedule has this year's slogan printed on the backside, and it definitely rings true.

Proud to be one.

Project 365 Day 282: Walking Tacos and Stampeding Utes

After the ISU football team's big win last Saturday in a high-scoring game with Texas Tech, the Iowa State fan base started getting pretty excited about the prospects of a chance to take on the #10 ranked Utah Utes (yes, that really is their name) today. If we could score over 50 points against a Texas team, the logic went, then why couldn't we keep up with an allegedly good team from Utah that hadn't really played anyone of note on their schedule so far this season? Maybe this could be the biggest win in Paul Rhoads' short career at Iowa State!

As it turned out, it was the biggest something, but that something turned out to be the biggest amount of points scored by the opposing team in Ames at Jack Trice Stadium. ISU went down 68-27! Though Iowa State actually had the lead, 14-10, at the end of the first quarter, those points had as much to do with Utah giving us the ball and a short field on turnovers as it had to do with our offense scoring. Still, we had some hope as the second quarter began, but that was soon dashed when it became clear that Utah could move the ball at will, and we could not convert a third down all game long.

On the bright side, as the photo shows, we took in some Walking Tacos for dinner at the game, and they were delicious! Start with a single-serving bag of Doritos, cut off one long edge, fill with seasoned ground beef, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, taco sauce, and sour cream, and you have a party in your hand that you can eat with a fork!