Williams and I chat about I-State's ugly loss to K-State, Hilton Magic "vanishing," Baylor's struggles and Craig Brackins starring in the Matrix. Click to listen.

Williams and I discuss I-State's guard problem, Dom Buckley's PT and the Brackins to the NBA chatter.

As you all know...Williams and I are both broadcasters for our day job. But...needless to say neither of us are anywhere near the talent level of Florida Panther's broadcaster Randy Moller. Just listen to this awesomeness. 
I am anxiously awaiting Williams to break one of these out for the girls regional final in Southwest Iowa this week. Make it happen CW.

This speech by Robert Montgomery Knight always makes me feel better after an Iowa State loss. Just insert the team Iowa State lost to in for Purdue and you're set. In this case it's K-State. 

What a start to the week. I still can't get over the fact that the last play in the Super Bowl wasn't reviewed. All of my referee friends agree (Yes, I have lots of referee friends)...I received about a dozen text messages within seconds of the end of the game, saying to some extent, "How the eff was that not reviewed!?!?!"


I had the same feeling after the 2001 Independence Bowl, where I still maintain Tony Yelk's kick was good. That still pisses me off to this day.

Onto other Iowa State matters....not looking forward to the result tonight in Manhattan. Very little good has happened there for the good guys. They haven't won there in eight years!! And back in the early part of the decade, K-State was rolling players out there like Pervis Pasco and Gilson DeJesus. (K-State always has some of the Major League (the movie), "Who are these effing guys?")

I don't have fond memories of Bramlage Coliseum either. Last year, while broadcasting with the women's basketball team I got lost in the bowels of that god-forsaken place while trying to leave. The signage is very poor in the Bramlage basement. I ended up taking a wrong exit, got locked out, circled the outside of the place while carrying all of the radio equipment in sub zero temperatures, before finally locating the only entrance to the media parking lot. It was disastrous.

Let's hope the men can break the Bramlage hex tonight and John Walters and Eric Heft escape the place in an efficient manner.
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This may deserve it's own post at some point, but I stumbled across some interesting info in regards to Iowa State's ability to get to the free-throw line. As my fifth grade AAU coach told me, "Blum, since you can't make a shot ....at least try to get fouled." That coach was more than likely being sarcastic, but he had a point. The Cyclones I'm sure have been told similar things, yet they don't seem to be reacting to said information. Check this out:


In 96-97 ISU was 86th in the nation in FT's attempted
97-98: 90th
98-99: 187th
99-00: 10th
00-01: 123rd
01-02: 228th
02-03: 213th
03-04: 13th
04-05: 76th
05-06: 24th
06-07: 196th
07-08: 244th
This year: 326th!!!

Brackins and DG have combined for 207 of the 322 FT's this season. Only Justin Hamilton is averaging any more than 1 FT a game (23 attempts in 21 games).

I relate free throws in basketball to a Johan Santana in baseball. They can stop the bleeding and end draughts. Most great teams get to the line regularly. (UCONN is #2 in the nation in FT's attempted, Oklahoma is #4, Xavier is #9 Marquette is #10, North Carolina #13.)

That's where Colvin and Gilstrap will greatly help next season.
******************************************
Now for your Craig Brackins draft update. Brackins helped himself quite a bit Saturday in his matchup with Blake Griffin and OU. Although, Blake only guarded CB about a dozen times, Brackins showed he could score on a taller, athletic defender. CB took it at him, had a couple and1's and also hit a turnaround on Blake in the post. But, perhaps just as importantly Craig battled on the glass with OU, grabbing a dozen rebounds.

Draft Express (who I think is the most reputable NBA draft site) continued their meteoric rise of Brackins, moving him up to the #8 overall pick in the 2010 Draft. He was in the low 30's 12 days ago. Again, that's the 2010 draft, but needless to say people are starting to notice Craigers.
***************************************
-Final thought....With signing day tomorrow, ISU has a chance to sign a guy nicknamed Pooh Bear and another guy named Money. Meanwhile, current Cyclone "Bo" Williams has changed his name on Cyclones.com to Johnny. Henceforth, I want to be known as the Bullet.

And now for the YouTube clip of the day.

So the General is talking about making a return to coaching. Yesterday, Knight was quoted saying that if the "right situation" came open; he'd love to coach again. I'd love to see him coach another time. Bob Knight is one of my favorite sports personalities of all-time. Luckily for Knight, he works at ESPN. Yesterday, the worldwide leader reported information about Knight's possible return from an anonymous source. I guarantee you that Knight was the guy feeding this story information. This happens all the time in sports. If a sports figure, usually a big-name, wants/needs something to happen, they call their best friend in the media to file one of these reports. So yesterday, Knight went on the ESPN gauntlet of interviews throwing his name out into the mix for not only the Georgia job, but also any other soon-to-be opening throughout the country.

Though I love the General, I wouldn't hire him if I were a modern day athletic director. Not only is he old, he hasn't been a consistent winner for quite some time. The one thing that Knight can bring to a program right now is a big name. If a program was having problem selling some tickets, bring him on. After all, that's what Tech did when the hired him.

Other than that, I say away from the greatest college basketball coach of all-time.

The Clones are taking on 5th ranked Oklahoma later on today and to be brutally honest with all of you, I don't have a good feeling about this one. Actually, I have mixed emotions. Hear me out.

I'm positive because there is absolutely no way that ISU's offensive production can be as bad as it has been the past two games again. The starting back court has combined for 12 points in two games. Lucca has been terrible. Things have to improve. It's inevitable. I think that Lucca will hit some shots today and start to break out of his slump.

I'm negative because other than Craig Brackins and Lucca, there really is nobody on this team who has proven that they can step up and score points consistently. Justin Hamilton has flirted with being consistent but the match-up today certainly doesn't favor the freshman. DG has been horrible lately and has no confidence. Peterson is a role player. Off the bench, I don't see anybody capable of scoring 15 points. In order to pull an upset today, the Clones have to have three players produce offensively. Brackins will do it. I have a feeling Lucca will hit some shots.

Who is that third guy? Does he exist?

I hope so.

I consider myself a YouTube veteran. I have watched a number of flash videos in the past several years (no...not talking about THAT kind), but I must say the clip I watched today has to be, if not the best video of all time, in my top three. Here it is if you haven't seen it already.

Let's break this down Ron Jaworski style.

The video starts off in the sparsely populated Rice gymnasium in what is obviously a fantasticly generic Conference USA game. The Owls are apparently nursing a five point lead with just under eight minutes remaining.

:10 in...The Green Wave player goes Dancing with the Stars and takes a few extra steps. A travel is correctly called.

:21 The camera switches and we notice Curtis Shaw is in a conversation with a mascot. Which is hilarious to begin with because mascots aren't supposed to talk when in mascot form.

:22 Great job by the play-by-play guy Carter Blackburn (a young up-and-comer) to quickly identify not only the official, but also to know the Rice Owl mascot is named Sammy. Trust me, this is admirable. And why is the Owl named Sammy? This seems to be quite random. I expected a Riley or a Ollie, but Sammy???

:25 Sammy puts his right wing out in a WTF man gesture. Curtis Shaw responds with the disgusted get outta here finger point. I was hoping for the over-extended arm motion a la a home plate umpire, but beggers can't be choosers.

:26 Shaw points not once or twice, but FOUR times that Sammy is ejected and is clearly motioning for some back-up, while Sammy looks disappointedly at said back-up.

:27 THIS IS THE BEST PART. Sammy, who is satisfied he has put up the good fight takes a step toward Shaw and gives him the "Well, see ya later" salute. This kills me every time. Do yourself a favor and re-watch that several times.

:29 Sammy shakes the hand of the suit administrator, as if to say, "Sir, my job here is done." Meanwhile, pxp guy Carter Blackburn continues to do a great job with his high pitched, "Sammy the owl has been EJECTED from the game!" Former UVA coach and color guy Pete Gillen with a well timed, "Poor Sammy."

:31 Sammy poses to the crowd with the classic two palm up gesture.

Play then continues as usual, Shaw seemingly have no effect from the dramatic ejection. The man has cold blood my friends, ice cold blood.

:43 Luckily, Carter Blackburn won't let it go. He gives a solid :20 second recap of the traumatic events. "Yes, there is an interesting basketball game going on, but that has to be the most memorable moment of the night." (And this is why we televise Rice-Tulane basketball.)

1:05 Pete Gillen, "Curtis is right, I'm proud of him. You can't let the mascot muscle you. That's my philosophy" Is this an ongoing problem you see Pete? Did the Cavalier in Virginia try to gun you down?

1:38 Yes! Replay of the altercation. Everything looks normal until Sammy goes Urlacher on us and lowers the boom on Shaw for no particular reason!!! What is he doing??

1:44 Shaw responds with a "You better step off me Owl" jab step at Sammy.

1:46 Sammy points down like a coach, "Hey man I'm in my box, I'm in my box."

1:58 Reverse Angle! Camera from the baseline shows the disgusted Shaw. Great production work.

2:03 Sammy walks off in slow motion. Look at all the Rice Owl fans in attendance. And just in case Sammy has bad intentions, two suits follow him out of the arena as if they're secret service. Gillen: "No owl food for you tonight."

2:10 Close up of Shaw with the, "That's even a new one for me" look.

2:11 Excellent graphic under Shaw, "SAMMY THE OWL-EJECTED." Purely hilarious.

2:12 Blackburn: "The Owl wasn't so wise." Ahh...awful puns. Broadcasters can't help it.

2:21 Gillen wraps it up, "He doesn't take any baloney from mascots or cheerleaders," while Shaw is glancing around thinking, "Who's Next...you shut your mouth when you're talking to me."

Just a tour-de-force of awesomeness. I'd like to thank Carter Blackburn, Pete Gillen, the CBS College Sports Production Crew, the suits who escorted Sammy out of the arena, Curtis Shaw and most importantly Sammy for the clip of the year. Good night now.

Williams and I discuss Iowa State's ugly loss in Boulder. And what is going wrong with the men's basketball team.


Visit this link to download the .mp3 file.

I had a high school double-header to call last night and when I got home, I tuned into the second half of the Iowa State-Colorado game on ESPN360.com. I wish that I didn't. I was so frustrated with Iowa State's 55-49 loss to Colorado that I couldn't fall asleep until close to 2 AM Iowa time. The problem is that I do morning drive for my radio station meaning I'm at work by 5 AM.

This season is becoming frustrating on so many levels. First of all, what in the world has happened to Lucca? Ever since that six trey outburst against Nebraska, he's been terrible. That's beside the point.

My main problem with what's going on this season is how I feel the Clones are wasting what could be Craig Brackins' last year in college. Maybe, maybe not. If he'll go pro is still up for debate but I'd hate to throw a player like that's final year down the tube with three conference victories.

All it takes is one other guy to step up and play well. Lucca, DG, Brian Peterson. I don't really care. SOMEBODY else has to step up to help this guy out. The last four minutes of that game last night pushed me to my limit.

Meanwhile, the Clones get Oklahoma on Saturday in Hilton. Two of the best players in the conference (Brackins and Blake Griffin) will match-up and that should be a treat for everyone in attendance.

We'll have more up on the site later today including our picks for tonight and possibly a new podcast. I need to talk to Blum to see if he's going to be able to record. Have a good day!

With today's virtuoso performance by Craig Brackins, the inevitable Brackins to the NBA chatter picked up some steam.

I hate to break it to you Clones but I have to write this. The fan in me wants Craig Brackins (42 points, 14 rebounds) to come back next season. Every other part of me thinks that he should go pro. That’s the nature of the beast anymore with the NBA. He needs to make his money while he can. Remember Reggie Evans at Iowa? Dude was a lottery pick. Didn’t go after his junior year and then didn’t get drafted after the next season. This year’s freshman class is about the weakest you’ll ever see and if Brackins keeps putting up double-doubles, his stock will continue to rise.

It’s safe to say that today was far and away the worst game in Diante Garret’s basketball career in Ames. In every phase of the game, DG was terrible. Just awful. That says a lot too coming from me. I’ve always been a DG guy. Honestly, I don’t think that I’ve ever written a bad thing about him until right now. That performance today was dreadful. Having said that, DG does have some intangibles that simply make him way too valuable to just write off for the next two years. He couldn’t finish if his life was depending on it but his ability to get to the basket has continued to impress me. Again though, that means nothing if he can’t score.

I have no idea why Dominique Buckley isn’t playing. Especially on DG’s days like today. I know that the staff still likes Buckley. They’ve always high on him.

I think that the KU defense did a phenomenal job of shutting down Lucca today. He simply couldn’t get open. That killed us today.

I’m tired of reading message board threads where some old guy writes “back when I was at Iowa State, the student section was so much better.”

Who cares? Why rip the students for bad play on the floor? That’s ridiculous.

We’ll have another podcast up for your sometime on Sunday probably.

Williams and Blum discuss Iowa State's Saturday game against Kansas. Listen to find out which one thinks ISU can pull the "upset." And also, what Iowa basketball player looks like a member of the WWE's Cryme Time.

As I sit here on my couch on a lazy Wednesday night, I have discovered Seth Greenburg's Virginia Tech Hokies and their flashy, yet stellar point guard Malcolm Delaney.

For those venturing to Vegas tonight (or perhaps navigating the interwebs to an offshore account)...here are my first ever dead pipe locks of the night "DPLOTN". Yes, who doesn't love a ridiculously inconsequential acronmym.

OKLAHOMA -13 vs. Nebraska- Predicted score OU 71 Nebraska 52
OKLAHOMA STATE -1 vs. Mizzou- Predicted score OSU 87 Missouri 79
BAYLOR +3.5 @ Kansas State- Predicted Score Baylor 71 K-State 68

Other Picks
WISCONSIN -3.5 @ Iowa-Predicted Score Wisky 61 Iowa 53
BRADLEY +7 @ Northern Iowa- Predicted Score Bradley 63 UNI 61
DRAKE +1 @ Mizzou State- Predicted Score Drake 64 Mizzou State 59
NORTH CAROLINA -12.5 vs. Clemson- Predicted Score UNC 98 Clemson 76

Lock and load my good friends or.... check back here tonight and laugh at me hysterically.

Season record: 0-0.

Before you read my analysis, click on THIS LINK to read a recent story about Kansas coach Bill Self and a 2009 prospect.

Does anybody else think that this is insane?

He said hello to a high school kid.

Hello.

He didn't buy him a car. He didn't give his father a job. He didn't even slip him a Benji.

He said hello.

If Kansas gets in trouble for this it will be an absolute tragedy. That's all I've got.

Now that we are through three games in the Big 12 season, it seemed like an appropriate time to do some power rankings.

This year in the Big 12 will undoubtedly be as bizarre as Amy Winehouse. In those situations, it's best to sit-back and enjoy the carnage (but preferably in Winehouse's case...the carnage remains fully clothed. Quick word of advice, don't google Amy Winehouse if feeling queasy at all. Thank you) 

It's currently around 9:30 on Monday morning and I'm still in shock that the Arizona flippin Cardinals are going to be playing in the Super Bowl. Are you kidding me? My Vikings dismantled that same team 35-14 in week 15.

As a Vikings fan, you wanna know what really gets me spitting mad? The fact that in the past 10 years, three former Viking coordinators have led other teams to Super Bowls, those being Tony Dungy, Brian Billick and now Mike Tomlin. While those guys are winning rings, us Vikings fans are stuck with guys like Mike Tice and Brad Childress. Unbelievable.

Now that I've blown off some steam, we'll get to some links for today.

There was an interesting article in Saturday's Ames Tribune featuring Iowa State junior Charles Boozer. This is one guy who I constantly root for. It was so neat when Iowa State offered him a scholarship back in the day. Obviously, he's the younger brother of NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer and frankly has been hidden in his shadows for some time. The entire family was so proud with Charles signed with the Clones. It was a huge deal and the Boozers are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I wish Charles nothing but the best.

There's been a lot of talk latley about the horrible attendance at both Iowa and Iowa State home basketball games this year. On the Hawkeye side of things, Athletic Director Gary Barta is not blaming head coach Todd Lickliter. Iowa State should have a strong showing on Saturday afternoon against Kansas. The defending national champs are in town and the 1PM start time is fan-friendly. I know this might read a bit crazy after a nasty 31-point loss, but I really think that Iowa State has a legitimate shot to pull off an upset on Saturday. Just a feeling.

GTG...have a good Monday.

Well, our dreams of the Clones starting off the Big 12 season 2-1 were shattered quickly today. That game was flat out nasty. There is one obvious standout statistic.

13-25 --- That was Mizzou from behind the arch. Six different Tigers hit threes in the game including freshman Marcus Denmon, who went 4-6 and dropped 16 points on Iowa State.

It's really kind of tough to break this down considering Missouri would have realistically had a chance to beat anybody in the conference today with that type of shooting.

Iowa State just could not score today. The Clones were 2-17 from 3-point range and shot 33% from the field otherwise. Brackins ended with 10. Garrett scored 10 and Justin Hamilton of all people scored 13.

I thought that Garrett actually played pretty well considering the pressure that Mizzou put on him all day long. Only one turnover and five assists. That is a positive (I guess).

In the end, I can't sit here and be optimistic about a 31 point loss. I'm just not going to do it.

Blum and I were poking fun at Colorado earlier this week after the Tigers beat them by 45. State just lost in Columbia by 31.

Is Missouri really that good, or is Iowa State really in Colorado's company?

Enough of comparing scores though. This same Missouri team just lost to Nebraska (who ISU beat) one week ago.

Sorry for the rambling. I don't really have my thoughts together yet. I'm going to go sulk for a while.

Chris Williams takes a look at Saturday's afternoon match-up in Columbia.

In light of the new rule allowing seventh graders in basketball to be considered prospects, here is a FICTIONAL story.

Top Ranked Recruit Commits to Iowa State

Waukee, IA (AP) - Basketball phenom Joseph Jacobs has created a cult-like following at Waukee Middle School. Not a day goes by when he isn’t surrounded by adoring classmates. The reason- he’s got mad game.

“The fifth graders that visit the Middle School are the worst,” Jacobs said. “I try to tell them that I need my space, but they act like I’m a Wii console or something, they won’t leave me alone.”

“It gets old giving out autographs every day. You know, sometimes I just want to concentrate on my long division.”

Well, one hassle Jacobs won’t have to deal with for a while is the pressure of who to play for in college.

“I had enough of the constant text messages from coaches. (Kentucky Coach) Billy Gillespie wouldn’t leave me alone. He would say really random things and most of the time they weren’t about basketball. It was kind of creepy. At one point, I had to tell him to stop texting me,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs opens up his I-phone and shows the conversation:

From Gillespie “JJ…this is Billy…just checkin in on ya…have u seen Mall Cop movie yet? We should go next time I’m in town. I heard its lol!”

The stories didn’t end there.

“We ran into Coach Self (Kansas head coach Bill Self) this summer,” Jacobs said. “I was just getting off the Tornado at Adventureland and there he was in a Kansas sweat-suit. Some guy named Danny Manning was there too. He kept bragging how he won something like a realllly long time ago. They kept asking me if I wanted a piece of their funnel cake. It was weird. Then they pulled my dad aside and I could hear them saying something about how he’d be a perfect part of their staff.”

Joseph’s father Tom was confused. “Yea, Coach Self told me it looked like there would be an opening on the Kansas staff in 2013 if I was interested. I told him thanks, but that’s a long ways away and I like my job at Principal.”

Jacobs said he also received scholarship offers from several other programs, including all the in-state schools as well as Steve Alford at New Mexico.

“Coach Alford always started our chats by telling me that he wasn’t interested in the Indiana job and that he’d be there for a long time. He was kind of a goof ball,” Jacobs said.

But the 5-9 combo guard, who is averaging 37 points per game while playing for the Waukee Wramblin’ Wreck in the rugged Central Iowa Youth Basketball League, said he has settled on Iowa State. And the reason is unique.

“Well don’t tell my parents this, but this girl I’m kind of going out with-she wants to be a vet at Iowa State. And I told her at the last school dance while we were dancing to a Rihanna song, that I want to go there too.”

Quick nugget here on a Thursday night. There are four players in NCAA Division 1 Basketball averaging more than 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds they are:

I remarked in the podcast last night that Craig Brackins is currently in the midst of one of the most productive stretches in the last 15 years of Iowa State basketball. 

2-19-2000 Colorado 30 points  

2-22-2000 Texas 35 points

2-26-2000 Oklahoma State 29 points 

3-1-2000 Texas Tech 35 points 

So I was surfing the net this morning when I stumbled upon a great column written by ESPN's Rick Reilly. To be honest, I'm not the biggest Reilly fan int he world. I'll admit that he's hilarious, but I prefer commentary that's more "to the moment" than what he normally does. Do you know what I mean? He does a lot of touching human interest stuff, which is great, if you're in the mood. But I guess I'm all about the hard hitting up-to-date stuff. That's really not the point of this. The point is, I read one of the sweetest columns of all-time today, written by Reilly about beer pong.

I am a beer pong enthusiast. This column excites me. I wanted to share it with all of our college readers whom I assume frequent Chasers for FAC traditionally.

If you listened to last night's podcast, you heard Blum and I talk about Missouri's point guard Miguel Paul. Paul recently claimed that he's the NBA's Chris Paul's first-cousin. He's not.

While a lot of Cyclone fans have been enjoying the Ed Podolak saga over the past few days, it kind of makes me sad. I've always had a ton of respect for him and Jim Zabel. To be honest, Jim Zabel is the man who made me want to get into this business. The Des Moines Register's Marc Hansen gives us some perspective on the Podalak situation.

In today's podcast, Williams and I discuss the big win over Nebraska, if Craig Brackins is NBA ready or not, the ISU Women's tough loss in Waco and a little American Idol discussion as well. Trust me, it's good stuff. As always, let us know what you think by commenting below!

As some of you know, I'm living in Orlando working in the radio department for the Magic. I'm not one who is usually starstruck and talking to NBA players isn't any different than interviewing one of your local HS kids. It may sound crazy to say but NBA players are actually quite normal (minus Eddy Curry and his limo driving escapades, or Stephon Marbury, Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest, Ok...there are some quacks, but most are normal.)

Anyway, our office is literally twenty steps from the practice court. The team is away on a week long road trip, so they open up the court for the staff to play as a mini perk for working for the team. Occasionally, I will go over there, if for any other reason to avoid doing anything work related. Normally, it's your classic pick up games and depending on who's around the competition can be pretty decent...think high level ISU intramurals.

But, today was an exception. We're warming up on the court when a long, lanky Senegalese man walks in. I'm struck by his height...at least seven feet tall. I got to thinking, I know this guy. So, I rack my brain trying to come up with his name. And it hits me.

This guy played against Iowa State. I've seen him before. The large man was none other than Mamadou N'Diaye, former NBA player and Auburn Tiger.

He played the Cyclones in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament in 2000 at the Metrodome. A game ISU won 79-60. Look at the box score here.

I got the nerve to ask him if he indeed was Mamadou N'Diaye and he nodded politely. I mustered back, "Cool, I remember when you played at Auburn." He nodded again. Not a real talkative fellow.

Long story short, he hopped around the NBA for a while after being drafted in Fizer's draft class (#26 by the Nuggets), went overseas and blew out his knee and is now rehabbing in Orlando and is friends with one of the guys that works for the Magic.

He played in the pick up game and it was rather uneventful, he didn't move as quickly as he used to- 33 years old and a reconstructed knee will do that. But, I said to myself, "I at least have to get a shot rejected by Mamadou." And so trailing by a few points I attacked the rim, tried my patented Steve Nash floater and Mamadou's big right hand sent it off the wall. I felt, if only for a moment, like Jamaal Tinsley, taking it in on Mamadou.

A quick audio preview of the Iowa State game tonight against Nebraska. As Williams mentioned below, be sure to check back here tonight for a Williams and Blum recap podcast.

Just wanted to remind everybody to check out the site tonight sometime after the Iowa State - Nebraska game. Blum and I will be on with some analysis plus some thoughts on other stuff going on around the world.

I'm sure that we'll hit on Drake, UNI, Eddy P over at Iowa and I'd really like to chat about last night's episode of American Idol.

Did anybody else see that girl in the bikini?

Holler.

The Iowa State basketball program is very fortunate to be getting a brand new, state of the art practice facility here in the near future. Iowa State is fortunate because at some schools, like Nebraska, such projects are getting put on hold. The Omaha World Herald's Tom Shatel points out the problems in the Husker Nation.

Casual college basketball fans have no idea how big of a deal a problem like this is. Let's take Iowa State's situation for instance. North Carolina's Tyler Zeller is a good example. He was highly recruited by just about everybody in the country, including to Iowa State. Put yourself in Zeller's shoes. You could go to a place like Carolina with phenomenal facilities, or you could practice every day in State Gym in Ames. Hmmm. I played pick-up games in State Gym throughout college. The building is like 400 years old. Those two pieces of information should speak for themselves.

More on the Cyclones

Iowa State will host Nebraska tonight and according to Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register, the Huskers fear Craig Brackins.

Tonight's game is an absolute must win for Iowa State. At this point in the McDermott era, there is no excuse for losing games like this. Nebraska is 1-0 in the conference after limping past Missouri on Saturday, but as I wrote on Sunday, that might have been the single ugliest game in the history of college basketball. Tonight, all the Clones have to do is show up. I predict that Brackins will go off for 30 and Iowa State will win by 12.

Having said that, the crowd needs to show up in Hilton tonight. The students will have to step it up big time. With more blizzard like conditions being predicted for central Iowa, a few less people will be in the house and the Cyclone Alley needs to be rockin. Who wouldn't want to skip studying on a Wednesday night to taunt Doc Sadler?

MORE LINKS

Even though he turned out to be a total loser at Nebraska, I'm not ashamed to admit that I really like Bill Callahan. He's a funny guy. Yes, some might label him a bit on the pompous side but he's mildly entertaining. Unfortunately, according to the Omaha World Herald, it doesn't appear as if Wild Bill will be getting the head coaching job for the New York Jets.

Speaking of the NFL, folks in Kansas City are giddy today. Yesterday, the Cheifs snagged a new GM in former New England hot shot Scott Pioli. Now that Pioli is taking over, let the Kirk Ferentz to Kansas City rumors begin. Personally, I'd keep Herm Edwards for another season. Yes, the Chiefs were 2-14 last year but what did you honestly expect? Half of their team like like 24-years old. Edwards explained that this would be a process at the beginning of the season. Again, give him one more year. This team will be .500 or better next season, write it down. (For the record, I am not a Chiefs fan. In fact, I really can't stand that franchise.)

Just got home from calling a high school double-header and took a look at the college scoreboard from tonight. The first thing that stood out to me was UNI's 58-47 win on the road at Evansville.

Are you kidding me Cedar Falls?

That's a phenomenal win. It's hard to believe that Jacobson was actually on the hot seat earlier this season. Anyways, Iowa State's road win over UNI all of the sudden looks pretty darn good considering the Panthers are 5-1 in the Missouri Valley.

Really, there was only one other score of note for Clone fans tonight. That's KU's 87-71 win over Kansas State. No top 25 teams were in action.

For whatever reason I have always enjoyed picking up a newspaper from another city and reading about Iowa State. Whether it's at the Big 12 tournament or randomly on vacation, seeing a story on the Cyclones from a place other than the Register or the Ames Tribune is a different experience. I even consider Cedar Rapids and Iowa City foreign territory because once you get past Grinnell on I-80, it's a whole new world. (Half of you now have that damn Alladin song in your head. Click on the link for the Ichiro version, it will make the song bearable. Trust me.)

It made the Cyclones feel bigger in that fourth grade, "Hey that girl in gym class noticed me because I dominated in kick ball" type of way. Now, with everything online (tip of the cap to Mr. Gore) you can check other papers relatively quickly. And today was no different.

Eric Petersen from the CR Gazette has a good look at the acquaintance of Craig Brackins and Nebraska's slasher Ade Dagunduro. This type of story happens at least once a year and we all do it. The convo is always something like this:

Reporter A: "Talk about Nebraska's quick forwards like Dagunduro."
CB: "Well, he's a good player and good friend of mine. I know it'll be fun."
Reporter B: "Do you ever chat with him during the season?"
CB: "Every once in a while, we text a couple times a week."
Reporter B (Now thinking he's got a deep throat like scoop) : "What did he say in the text?"

Of course, the reporter is hoping for some Mike Tyson, "I'm going to eat your children" quote, but it always came across to me like teenage girls talking about the slow dance with Billy at the mixer to an R Kelly song. Craig is a good guy to interview and EP from the Gazette is a cool dude. I probably would have done the same story, we just can't help ourselves. "What did you say" is always a goto question no matter the circumstance.

- Profile on Diante "Goofy" Garrett from the Omaha World Herald, via the Ames Tribune. Not sure who wrote it though...usually this information is useful to put underneath the headline. Good profile, nonetheless.

-Good piece from Blair Kerkhoff of the KC Star on the Big 12's non-conference success: "This year, only Iowa State in the Big 12 played four road games on enemy floors. The Cyclones split those games, and that experience had to help Iowa State hang with seventh-ranked Texas in Austin on Saturday."

-More from Kerkhoff on Dan McCarney : "There’s one major-college football coaching job available. Boston College is still looking, and it appears there’s a Florida coach on the Eagles’ radar screen, offensive coordinator Steve Addazio. But there’s another on the Gators staff who should be at the top of any list: Dan McCarney."

-Rick Brown from the Register on the new 3 point line: "Iowa State was the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big 12 Conference last season at 31.3 percent This season, the Cyclones are fifth at 36.5 percent. Iowa State is making an average of 7.9 3-pointers a game, ahead of the school record 6.7 set in 2005-06."

- And one, extremely unrelated Iowa State story about the Knicks Eddy "I'm not touching that towel" Curry.

I went to Florida to visit Blum last week. Unfortunatley, we had to watch the BCS Championship Game with a bunch of Gator fans. I'd rather have one of my two-front teeth ripped out with rusty tweezers than ever have experience such a thing again.

Anyways, I write another blog at KMAland.com. I get a lot of mail from it. Yesterday, one man wrote this to me.

Hey Chris, who's worse Nebraska fans of Gators Fans? Those Huskers fan are still talking about there Bowl win! It makes me sick. Go K-state. Glad your back.

Now, here is how I responded.That's a tough one but I'd have to say Gator fans are worse. I think that in 1997, Nebraska fans would have won the battle. The thing is, with there down years, I have to hand it to Nebraska fans. They seem a lot more realistic to me now. For the most part, they don't expect a national title every year and frankly, I appreciate their enthusiasm for the sport.

The big difference between Nebraska and Florida fans is pretty simple to me. Nebraska fans are always going to be there. The Huskers have pretty much hit rock bottom (for their standards) with the Bill Callahan saga and they continually filled Memorial Stadium. Florida fans are there because their dominance. I have a feeling if they went 6-6 for a couple of years in a row, the enthusiasm would drop.

In fact, our waiter while watching the game the other night told me "they only reason these people are here is because they're good. I hate Florida fans."It is noteworthy that this guy was a Florida State graduate. No bias there right?

I did have another experience that proved this theory. Our tour guide while kayaking thought it was cool that I am a sportscaster. We started talking sports while dodging manatees and I asked him if he was a Florida fan."Go Seminoles," he replied.I asked him why."I can't stand Florida fans.

That's pretty much the only reason," he said.If a guy who kayaks for a living tells you something, you listen.In the end, as the headline indicates, both fan bases suck to have to be around on a consistent basis.

Period.

Now, for this morning's links. Things are bound to get a little bit nutty in the state of Kansas tonight.

Who is a bigger screw up than Pac Man Jones? Okay, nobody is a bigger screw up than Pac Man but Missouri basketball player Leo Lyons is attempting to give him a run for his money.

Florida State defensive back Myron Rolle is the total opposite.

That's it for now. Have a great day!

While perusing the collection of blogs I visit regularly, I came across this article by the Kansas City Star's Sam Mellinger.  It's an interesting concept, as Mellinger examines if it's easier to cheer for a miserable baseball team or a miserable football team. Obviously, Kansas City is not short at all on the miserable lately. Royals fans are actually talking themselves into thinking acquiring Mike Jacobs to play first base may be the missing piece. I can't blame them really after the horrendous fall at Arrowhead. 

As an Iowa State fan, I too know the pain felt when a kicker misses wide right.

A tragic note from the ever exciting world of officiating. As discussed earlier, and to be discussed often, I have an unhealthy obsession with officiating at all levels in all sports. Well, sad news over the weekend as one of the best, Steve Welmer, was injured during the Kansas-Michigan State game. We all know Welmer as the large, bald, pants-adjusting, simply awesome official. Saturday was not his finest moment.



That's Tom Izzo and Bill Self discussing the injury. Let's hope the result of this broken bone is not the same fate of my last trip to Prairie Meadows, where a horse..ummm, lost a wheel. For those playing KYDOO- "Know your division one officials," the other officials were the venerable, Ed "The Show" Hightower, and the quiet up-and-comer, Dan Dorian.

This afternoon, the Baseball Hall of Fame will announce it's induction class of 2009. It's very likely to include "Pretty Ricky" Henderson and there is an outside chance Bert Blyleven gets in. Bert should get in just for this TV preformance from 2006, which still rates as one of the best moments in TV history.



Rickey's induction speech may rival that moment. The potential here is LeBron like. Razzball has a brilliant idea for the gem that will be Rickey's speech.

Sadly though, there will be no Mark McGwire. Yes, the man probably took enough andro to kill a small forest animal, but he belongs in the HOF. He was still one of the best players of the era( which should be called the NA era-short for "needle-ass".)

And we will never know for sure, but outside of David Eckstein and Otis Nixon, can we really know who exactly wasn't on the juice during this time. You can't exclude an entire generation of baseball players, and pretend it will just go away.

I give McGwire credit for finding the best "medicine" and using it to his advantage. For the same reason, Clemens and Bonds deserve votes eventually. But, McGwire has very little chance today or in the next several years. Perhaps he, and the rest of us, should live by the Blyleven motto, "We need to do that over again, I just f***** it up."

Just a quick note to you recruiting gurus out there, it's going to be a busy week on the Iowa State front as Brent noted below. In fact, it should be a pretty busy day over on CycloneReport.com.

A lot of college wresting took place yesterday at the National Duals. Cyclone fans are probably disappointed today with a third place finish. Iowa State lost to Cornell (evidently they are a wrestling power) early in the day and beat Nebraska by one later on. Iowa won the event. I really don't care much for wrestling but the whole Iowa-Iowa State thing does get me going just a bit. Tom Brands and Cael Sanderson both scare the hell out of me. I always ask people if they had to fight one of those me in a cage, who they would choose? It doesn't matter for me. I'd just curl up in a ball and hope for the best.

Did you hear that Bob Knight's reign as the NCAA's most victorious basketball coach has come to an end? I'll bet you that you've never heard of the guy who broke the record too.

Don Meyer. Read more about that HERE.

Do you remember when everybody used to think that Colts wide-receiver Marvin Harrison was a good guy?

One more thing. Last week, I traveled down to Florida to visit Blum. You can read about my trip HERE.

Active day on the Cyclone Recruiting Front. Paul Clark at CycloneRepot.com once again has things covered on that end. It is worth noting the verbal of Jake Knott (link from DSM Register here,) who comes from the powerhouse Waukee program that produced yours truly as well (and Paul Clark for that matter). Although, my skills were not deemed necessary and I opted to play golf instead. Plus, I'm sure Waukee football coach Scott Carlson prefers guys with 6'3 225 pound frames like Knott's and not my frame which is not quite as conducive to football success.  

Speaking of NBA, I'm obligated to point out my Orlando Magic won again tonight, defeating the Spurs 105-98. The boys in blue are 30-8. My goal is to get one more fan from the midwest to follow the Magic. It will happen.

In Episode one, Williams and Blum discuss Iowa State's loss to Texas, Frank Martin, the BCS, and a little bit more.

To download the mp3 of the audio visit this link.

And please let us know what you think by commenting below!

A lot has been made about the development of Craig Brackins. Brackins is having an outstanding sophomore season and is putting up very impressive numbers.