This was a nail biter from start to finish. Just when you thought all was lost, we'd get a big turnover or a play went our way and we're right back in it. Conversely, just when you thought we had it in the bag, OSU comes up with a big play and it looks like all is lost again. I mean, we scored the final TD with 18 seconds left, but OSU drove right down the field after that and we had to bat down a hail Mary in the end zone to preserve the win. I got real tired of hearing the OSU PA announcer saying, "Heeeere comes Raaaaanger," as they trotted that damned horse out on the field after yet another score. OSU only scored 26 points, but they scored 6 times, 4 FGs and 2 TDs, so he was trotted out onto the field a lot.

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Excerpt from the KC Star...


“Former Kansas basketball star and Toronto Raptor guard Gradey Dick has signed an NBA marketing contract with Adidas Basketball, Dick announced via social media on Monday.

Along with fellow Adidas signee Jalen Hood-Schifino of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dick will star in a marketing campaign for the company’s “2023 Collection: Chapter 03” of premium lifestyle offerings, according to an Adidas news release.

Both rookies were previously part of Adidas’ first class of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) program for college athletes during the 2022-23 college basketball season.“

AAC got me thinking of big game wins and this is one that‘s most shocking to me. This is high quality video with the plays only, so it takes 30 minutes to watch. Love this game. Notice our favorite ref, Reggie, did a great job in this game.
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What types do we need in our 3 man front?

It seems to me we need a lot of flexible types. We need traditional run-stopping, blocker eating Nose play like Lee and Orange. Smith is likely in that mode as well.

We also need pressure nose play, big bodies that can rush from the inside. Oneyedim and Okoli seem to fit this type, although Orange is being discussed as a pressure guy as well from the inside.

Power Defensive Ends in the Ewazurike and Anderson mode to provide run-stopping first and pressure second. Singletary, Oneyedim, Okoli seem to fit this mode. And it feels like nose and power end are well stocked, at least on paper.

Rush End is that. A pass rusher first, but must be able to defend the rush. Joey Peterson is the sole experience and was a very solid backup. Is he ready for the next step up? Like Ezeogu (sp), Samuel Same, and Jefferson Adam are newcomers. Lots of bodies but limited experience. Not to mention huge shoes to fill.

My ace is, outside of Heacock himself, Rasheed is the coach I have the most confidence in.

“Go Your Own Way came on our Echo this morning. Always loved the guitar and stomp beat to this song and always though Mick Fleetwood on drums and Lindsay Buckingham on guitar were underrated as tte whole group musucalky. Read once where Fleetwood’s drum beat was “against tge grain” on this song but is the best part imo. I can name any 70’s song and who sang it instantly but have no musical talent whatsoever. So I looked for an explanation to Fleetwwod’s non-tradition drumming and found this article along with the song video:

I had forgotten or never knew that our football team was the 4th youngest in Power 5 football last year. I know it sounds like an excuse but experience matters a lot. Throw in some key injuries that make you even younger on game day and the 4-8 record shouldn’t have been all that surprising. That said, I get that we had other issues too.

I've been getting these weird phone calls. They're weird in two ways. First way is my phone never rings. I just find out I've had a phone call by looking at my "recents," then discovering I have a voicemail. I've gotten 5 of these calls so far in the last three or four weeks and the only time my phone ever rang, it was just a short blip, less than half a second.

Second way they are weird is the topic of the call. They say I can get up to $26,000 on payroll tax returns for employees I had on the payroll between 2020 and 2022. First of all, I never worked those years. I retired in 2019. Second of all, even when I worked, I never owned a business and never had to pay a payroll tax.

These voicemails all come from different phone numbers with different area codes and different voices. The first four times, it was a female voice and, I don't know, it could have been the same voice every time, I'm just not sure. This last time, it was a male voice. They all want me to call them back at a number they provide and I have no clue if it's the same number every time or not because I delete the voicemail as soon as I've listened to it.

If this is a scam, what's the end game? Are they just phishing, trying to get me to reveal some private information? Are they going to tell me that in order to claim the $26,000, I have to send them a finder's fee or processing fee? What does everyone think is going on here? Has anyone else received similar phone calls?

I was judging the dairy cattle show at the Franklin County Fair today (Hampton) and wore an Iowa State shirt and the ringman helping line up cattle for me was a fella that grew up in the area, but had attended Nebraska in Animal Science and was now a beef farmer. I asked him his impression of Nebraska being in the Big 10. He thought it was a mess, and that college athletics in general had all bowed to the almighty dollar. He also thought the portal was out of control and NIL was bad as well.

I told him I liked the old Big 8 and early Big 12 better. He agreed. He was in his early 50’s, I think, and we compared notes on our favorite football matchups over the years. I told him mine was the 23-23 tie my freshman year in 1972. Surprisingly, his was the Marv Seiler game where the Cornhuskers came in number 1 and should never have lost.

He gave Matt Campbell high praise.

Our discussion went to basketball and we both agreed Iowa State was on a much higher trajectory. He wasn’t sure Fred was going to get it done.

After I finished my judging chores he wished me well and left me with a “Go Huskers”.

I'm too lazy

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To start getting fired up?!

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Newly-offered 3-star WR talks Cyclones

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Tampa ascends to new heights at position he almost didn't play

Steph Curry drains eagle putt on 18 to win it over Mardy Fish who had the lead going into the hole. Some yahoo yelled during Fish's swing on his tee shot, which ended in the trees. He made par but could have easily made birdie with a normal tee shot. Birdie would have forced a playoff.

freakishly long arms.

Look at this!

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Or this one - compare GV's to JN's. Jeesh...

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I'm the last one to criticize poor grammar but this one made me laugh today. Got my email to buy women's tickets today. The editor missed one space but it makes a difference. Instead of being a part of Hilton Magic you can buy tickets to stay apart from it. Just thought it was funny.

Reigning Big 12 Tournament Champions, Iowa State Women's Basketball needs YOU this season! Be apart of the magic and help continue to make Hilton Coliseum one of the toughest places to play in the Big 12. The Cyclones host the Cy-Hawk series game vs Iowa and new members of the Big 12 Conference.

Pretty nice company we are in.

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We have NO ONE on the bench or in the minors who can DH higher than Josh Donaldson at .147 in the #5 or #6 spot in the line-up??

This team is the same weak-hitting mess we've been the past couple of years. Too many .220 hitters...or less.

Where have you gone, Joe Dimagio....and all the other great Yankee hitters of the past?

Joey Brackets has done an "off-season" bracketology that came out this morning.

I was more than a little surprised to see us not only in there, but in fairly comfortably as a 9 seed (in the Midwest by the way).

We lost Holmes (top scorer), Gabe (second leading scorer), and Jazz (leading rebounder and key component) as of course Grill as well. We got dumped out of the dance in the first round while scoring 41 points. Not a lot to make the average hoops fan think we are headed back to the dance.

All I can think is Joey says "TJ can bring in transfers, he has a system, he can coach them up and he can get a team to gel. He'll get back to the dance."

…..travel advisory. Stay the heck off of the roads on Wednesday, July 26th because RAGBRAI is coming through. 50000+ riders that day!😬 I will have to follow a severe detour to and from work that day. They are going through Ankeny and Polk City on their way from Ames to DesMoines. This been a pubic service announcement.😬

Tee F'ing Hee

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For those interested, this week's Cyclone Sunday at the Cap City League will feature Curtis Jones, Demarian Watson, Milam Momcilovic and Omaha Beliew.

Games start at 4:30 at the Wolves Practice Facility (corner of Fleur and Bell).

Stop out for autographs and photos with the ISU guys and watch some games featuring good local talent.

I have always carried a hatred for that fat bastard Marvin Pomerantz. may he rot in hell. He somehow found himself at the top of the Iowa Board of Regents when I was in college. He fought like hell to make ISU a DII or DIII school arguing that the state couldn't finance two State Universities. He even once publicly referenced ISU as the Womens School of something or the other. Found this in the archives:

The following month the committee questioned Jimmy Hoffa in Washington about Fratto. Hoffa admitted that he knew Fratto and that he had negotiated a few union contracts with him, but denied they were friends. The committee questioned Hoffa extensively about the Teamsters' efforts to move in on the Midwest Burlap Bag Co. of Des Moines to take members away from the Textile Workers Union. The committee had earlier accused Fratto of serving as an advisor to Marvin Pomerantz in the case. While Fratto took the Fifth to the questions put before him then, records provided by the government showed telephone calls made between Fratto, Richard Kavner, an organizer for the Teamsters, Teamster officials, and to the Midwest Burlap Bag firm.

So those who don't know The Syndicate out of Chicago placed this Fratto punk in DSM as a hub. Straight up gangster. BTW... They hid their mafia roots by changing their name to Farrell. I think you may have heard that name.