Weekend Sports Watch

This weekend we will find out:

1. Which Hawkeye will make the biggest difference? Will it be Nate Kaeding for the Chargers, or Shonn Greene for the Jets? Both former Hawkeyes could be difference makers for their respective teams as they face each other for the right to advance to the AFC title game. Prediction: This one will be all Nate Kaeding and the San Diego Chargers. Kaeding won't have to worry about his post-season jinx as the Chargers roll.


2. If the Colts management are genius' or idiots--The decision to bench starters the last couple weeks of the regular season with an undefeated season on the line has drawn the criticism of just about everyone. We'll find out this weekend if it was the right decision. Prediction: Peyton Manning is one of the greatest QB's of all time. But even the best parts get rusty if you don't keep them well oiled. The Colts starters haven't played meaningfull minutes in nearly a month. Rusty Colts vs. Runnin' Ravens equals Baltimore victory.

3. What's better? "Home Field Advantage" or "Hottest Team in The League"? I can't wait for this one. The Minnesota Vikings--with the advantage of one of the noisiest stadiums in the league, Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre at the healm, the leagues best RB in Adrian Peterson, and the leagues most exciting defensive player in Jared Allen--take on the hottest team in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys have won three straight, including a win over then-unbeaten New Orleans. The defense has posted two straight shutouts, and Tony Romo looks like he's finally figured out that there's more to life than Jessica Simpson. Prediction: The dome will be rockin, and the Brett Favre acquisition will prove to be the biggest move in pro sports this year as the Vikings advance to the NFC title game.

4. Will this be Kurt Warner's last game? Rumors abound that Warner will retire after this season. Question is, will the end of the Cardinals' season be this weekend, or later? If you enjoyed last weekends offensive explosion between Arizona and Green Bay, then just wait until this matchup between Arizona and the NFL's league-leading offense of the New Orleans Saints. Prediction: Warners career continues for another week. Just like the Colts, the Saints are rusty. The Cardinals will return to the NFC title game against the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis next weekend.

5. Will ISU's recovery continue? The Cyclone men have lost 16 straight Big 12 road games. Tonights contest at Nebraska HAS to result in the end of that streak if the Cyclones want any chance at a tournament bid. Prediction: The Huskers are 12-5, are deep, but don't have any superstars. The one common opponent the two teams have played this year is St. Louis. The Cyclones beat St. Louis 65-54. The Huskers lost to them, 69-55. Look for a solid Cyclone victory tonight as the recovery continues.

Cyclones Condition Improves From Critical to Stable

For a program that was on life support, a more than respectable performance against the nations #1 team was just what the doctor ordered. In fact, for one half, it seemed like all was well again in Cyclone Nation. A wildly entertaining first half had Hilton Coliseum rocking like the good old days as the Cyclones carried a 44-42 lead into the locker room. But we knew the Clones were probably in trouble, having played about as well as they could possibly play in the first half, and only leading by 2. Like the words of a famous Bon Jovi song, they were only half-way there, and yes, they were living on a prayer--mostly to the tune of six first half 3-pointers.

The Longhorns came out in the second half and proved why they are the #1 team in the nation, going on a 10-0 run to start the half. They did it with a trapping, full court defense that ISU couldn’t figure out, and when they did, the lethal damage had already been done. It could have gotten ugly at that point as it looked like Texas was going to run the Cyclones right out of the gym. But Iowa State showed determination, heart, and hustle and did everything they could to keep the game within striking distance. Every time it looked like they were going to cut the lead to five or less, the Longhorns had an answer. In the end, it was a 90-83 loss, but it was a loss that, in some strange way, felt better than the two-point win against North Dakota State last Saturday. Texas is just on another level, a Final-Four level. They could play this game ten times, and 7 points is probably as close as ISU would ever get. Maybe, just maybe, this team is on the road to recovery.

Sports Smorgasbord

The Critical Nature of The ISU/Texas Game
They say everything is bigger in Texas. The Cyclones are about to find out just how much bigger as 6’10”, 290 pound center Dexter Pittman (pictured) and the #1 Texas Longhorns visit Hilton Coliseum Wednesday night. Texas (15-0) is coming off a 103-point outburst against Colorado last Saturday. Rumor has it that there are serious issues going on behind the scenes in the ISU locker room. Chris Colvin (ISU’s star freshman recruit) was suspended indefinitely for walking out of a closed-door meeting after the Duke loss last week. Apparently there have been other “tweets” and conversations about dissension in the ranks. As McDermott appears dangerously close to losing this team, this game becomes critical not only for the direction of the rest of this season, but possibly his career.

Colo-Nesco
How do you know you have basketball fever? I guess when you can’t make it to a Royals game (home late from kid’s basketball practice) and pace the house like a caged lion, wondering how the game is going. That’s what happened Tuesday night as the Royals faced Bondurant-Farrar. I just found out the Royals squeaked out a close one: 40-37. Great win. Royals improve to 10-2. Wish I could tell you more.

Lane Kiffin to USC: Maybe Al Davis Was Right?
You’ll never hear those words out of my mouth again, but hear me out on this one. I think Al Davis (Owner of the Oakland Raiders) is just about the worst owner in all of sports. But after the news that Lane Kiffin (a former coach for the Raiders that Davis both hired and fired) bolted to USC after just one season at Tennessee, you have to wonder if he was right with his comments about him. According to an article by Beth Rucker of Rivals.com, Davis said that Kiffin was “a liar who brought disgrace on the Raiders.” I’m guessing there are about 6 million Volunteer fans that would echo that statement tonight. Kiffin was the flashy new-hire in Knoxville last year who brought in a great recruiting class and had seemingly restored some of the luster to the Tennessee football program. Along the way, he also incurred some NCAA violations, so he should be a PERFECT fit for USC in Southern California. Kiffin better hurry--you don't want to mess with a bunch of ticked off Smoky-Mountain men with muskets and bloodhounds chasing you after you've disgraced their football program!

Alabama/Texas BCS Title Game
It really was too bad that Texas QB Colt McCoy got hurt in this game. It would have been interesting to see what the outcome might have been with him in there for the whole thing. At the same time, Texas blew two golden opportunities early to put the Tide behind the 8-ball. Two red-zone opportunities, two field goals. Six points instead of fourteen, then Coach Mack Brown makes a BONEHEAD move to shovel-pass right before half time, and before you can blink, the Longhorns are down 18. I like Texas and Alabama so much that I shut the TV off and went to bed at half time after that. Seriously, Mack Brown’s wife could coach Texas to a National Championship game. It’s TEXAS for crying out loud! Where they give babies footballs instead of pacifiers, and half the nations five-star recruits practically beg to play for the Longhorns.

Royals Bid For 10th Straight Falls Short

Ahhh….My first blogging dilemma. Is it professional to criticize high school officiating in this new realm of blogging, tweeting, and texting? On November 10, NBA star Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic was fined $15,000 for using his personal blog to criticize officials. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is so well known for his public disaffection for referees that he now makes matching contributions to charities for his fines by the NBA. Since 2000, he’s been fined over 1.5 million dollars for criticizing officials!

Well, I don’t think there are any rules in the Iowa High School Athletic Association about publicly denouncing referees, but I don’t want to be the one to set the precedent. Let’s just say it was a tough night in Story City. The Royal boys (9-2) fell by the score of 57-45 to the Jekyll and Hyde Norsemen (5-4). The Norsemen have been up and down all year, losing to Grand View Park Baptist (a team the Royals beat by 19), but beating Nevada by 34 and Bondurant-Farrar by 2. Half of Roland-Story’s games had been decided by 2 points before tonight, winning two and losing two. Tonight, it was the inside/out combination of Skaar and Rathmacher that proved to be too much for the Royals. Roland-Story led the entire game, and the Royals couldn’t find a second scorer or buy an outside basket. After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Royals went on a 10-0 run to end the half, trailing 26-22 at the break. They pulled within two by the end of the third, 35-33, and we had a barnburner on our hands. Colo-Nesco pulled within one, 39-38, before the Norse went on another run. Trailing by 5 with 1:29 to go, a questionable foul was called on Brandon Eley fouling him out of the game. The wheels fell off after that as the Norse hit seemingly every free throw they had (and they had a lot of them).

No rest for the weary. Bondurant-Farrar comes to town Tuesday night as the Royals play their third game in four days.

Scoring: Eley (25); Neuendorf (8); Guy (4); Larsen (4); Jamison (2); Warren (2).

Basketball Saturday

I committed the better part of the day on Saturday to attending basketball games. I was able to take my daughter to the Iowa State/North Dakota State game Saturday afternoon, fully expecting to leave the game midway through the second half with no doubts about the outcome. After all, my daughter is only 4 years old, and popcorn and ice cream can only keep her attention for so long. Only problem was, the Cyclones decided they weren’t going to play defense, or rebound, or run an offense. Again. The game wasn’t decided until the final seconds, with NDSU missing a three-point basket that would have won the game. Final score, 73-71, ISU.

You can read my rant about the Duke performance in my last blog, and then you can apply the exact same principles to this game. Only problem is, North Dakota State isn’t exactly Duke. Not even close. NDSU is 5-10, with losses against teams named Utah Valley, IUPUI and Southern Utah. The Cyclones have now given up at least 18 offensive rebounds the last three games in a row. Sure, one of those was the Duke game, but the other two were Houston and NDSU. Craig Brackins may be the worst defender in the Big 12. Good thing they don’t play defense in the NBA. As for the offense, I was sitting in front of two older ladies who carried conversation as though they didn’t know a lot about basketball. At one point, they commented, “Why does everyone stand around on offense?” Enough said.

After the game was over, I drove to Colo--to see a REAL basketball team. The Colo-Nesco boys improved to 9-1 with a convincing 60-24 win over East Marshall. The Royals performance was a breath of fresh air with stifling defense, great rebounding, good movement on offense, and great teamwork. The first half was the Travis Guy show, as he hit his first 4 consecutive three-point attempts. He had 12 points in the first half. The second half was the Brandon Eley show. Eley scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half, mostly off turnovers and fast breaks. Bondurant-Farrar comes to town on Tuesday with a 5-2 record.

Royals Scoring: Eley—24; Guy—12; Neuendorf—6; Warren—4; Jamison—4; Larsen—4; Angel—2; Thompson—2; Lawson—2.

Performance Against Duke An Embarassment

Performance Against Duke An Embarrassment

Ten thoughts about the 21 point loss to Duke:

1. Craig Brackins is NOT ready for the NBA--too soft, doesn't attack basket, doesn't rebound.
2. Our offensive strategy is worse than a junior high team--I'll get to this at the end.
3. Nobody hustles
4. Nobody rebounds—It’s not for lack of size: Hamilton—6’11; Brackins—6’10; Gilstrap—6’6. Even our guards are big! Staiger—6’5; Garrett—6’4
5. There’s no discipline
6. There’s no help defense
7. There’s no heart
8. Why did Wesley Johnson leave, again? Perhaps the only thing worse than watching the Cyclones get crushed last night was watching Wesley Johnson lead #7 Syracuse to victory in the game televised right before it. The announcers were gushing over Johnson and his talent. Not to mention his 18 points and ability to score from anywhere on the court.
9. We haven’t beaten a top 25 team in McDermott’s tenure and it doesn’t look like we’re anywhere close to being able to
10. There’s no adjustments being made by the coaching staff during games

I don’t like to publicly ridicule coaches on message boards/blogs, but I’ve seen enough. I’m a season-ticket holder, and last night’s performance was just an extension of every other game I’ve seen this year. So many of those problems listed above are related to coaching: hustling, lack of heart, rebounding, discipline on offense and defense, lack of adjustments being made during games, and especially our offensive strategy. I can maybe count on one hand the number of times during a game that this team actually runs an offensive set. There’s absolutely no movement, no teamwork, very few screens, and very few cuts. It’s pathetic. When Brackins has the ball, the other four players stand and watch, literally. Maybe the answer to thought #8 lies in everything I’ve just complained about. Maybe, by the end of the season, McDermott can get this figured out? By then, it's another lost season.

Sports Smorgasbord

Too many choices to blog about this week, so I'll give you a good variety:

1. Iowa Football--As a Cyclone fan, watching last nights Orange Bowl was downright scary. I'll give the Hawks credit in this one; they dominated that game. I've been skeptical all season long with their unconvincing wins against teams like UNI, Arkansas State and Indiana. But last night, there was no doubt--this defense is as nasty as they come, and the scary part (as a 'Clone fan) is that most of that defense (and offense) will be back next year. Boy, do I hope Adrian Clayborn changes his mind and decides to go pro! On the flip side, that was a PERFECT match-up for the Hawks. Georgia Tech is too one-dimensional, and that one dimension played right into the hands of that tenacious run-stopping Iowa defense.


2. Iowa State Basketball--In the next 30 days, we'll find out if the Cyclone Men's basketball team is good enough to make the tournament. It all begins tonight with a clash against the 12-1 Duke Blue Devils, rated #5 in the nation. Next Wednesday the Cyclones face #2 Texas, and ten days later: #1 Kansas. Doesn't get much more difficult than that. The way I see it, ISU needs to get at least one win out of those 3 games in order to make the NCAA Tournament. Two wins against three of the nations top ten could be the makings of a special season.


3. Mike Leach and Texas Tech--I'm not a Texas Tech football fan, but this story is one everyone is talking about. What Mike Leach did was stupid; plain and simple. You can't lock anyone (especially someone who's suffering from a concussion AND whose dad is a national television analyst) into a "closet" or "shed" in the year 2010 and expect it to go unnoticed. 50 years ago, maybe, but not today. Whether it was a fire-able offense or not is not so plain and simple. Both the "shed" and "closet" were quite large, and the player was in no threat of any kind of danger. From all accounts, Adam James is a spoiled, rich, son of a former NFL running back, who thinks the world should serve him everything on a silver platter. After all the complaining (allegedly) his father and ESPN analyst, Craig James did to Coach Leach to try to get his son playing time, you can't blame Leach for WANTING to give James his college discipline version of a "timeout" by putting him in those places. But wanting to do something like that and actually DOING something like that is what got him in trouble. In my mind, it all comes down to money. Leach was in the first year of a huge contract that Texas Tech decided they didn't want to pay, and this was their "out." Consider this: Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers is the same AD who HIRED Bob Knight to coach the Red Raider basketball team back in 2001. Talk about a double standard.

4. Colo Nesco Basketball--There was no sluggishness to be found on this basketball team after a long holiday break. The Royals crushed Collins-Maxwell Baxter on Tuesday night, 82-34, behind a season high 27 points from Travis Guy, 20 from Brandon Eley, and 10 points/7 assists/6 rebounds/6 steals from Austin Larsen who had his best game of the season. After a busy holiday schedule, I'm excited to get back and watch the upstart Royals.