Wednesday, October 7th, 2026

 Today I took Nolan and Maxwell over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched an NBA preseason game between the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves.  It is pretty rare for an NBA game to be played at Hilton, but the reason for it was to honor Tyrese Haliburton.

As for the game, the Pacers ended up winning, 123-112.  Really the first half was the only interesting part, as the starters for either team did not play in the second half.  This was Haliburton's first basketball game in over a year, as he missed all of last season after tearing his Achilles in the NBA Finals. Haliburton did score the first points of the game today, and he ended up with 7 points and 6 assists in only 16 minutes of playing time. Aaron Nesmith led the Pacers with 19 points, while Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 19 points. 

This was the first NBA game that the boys have been to, and it was my fourth.  I know that I have been to two Chicago Bulls games (both were against San Antonio), and I went to a Pistons / Wizards game out in Washington, D.C. 

I know that one of the Bulls games I went to with Elizabeth was the season opening game in 2009, where the Bulls won 92-85.  I believe the other game was the season before that, when the Spurs won 92-87. 

Saturday, October 3rd, 2026

 HAPPY HOMECOMING

Today I helped push LaVonne in her wheelchair for the alumni band halftime performance, which is the 12th time that I have done so. I'm happy to say that Iowa State was able to defeat West Virginia today, 45-42. The previous time I helped Lavonne with homecoming was last year vs BYU.

Aaron and Lavonne picked me up early today, at 5:15 AM. We had the alumni band practice at 6 AM, and the alumni breakfast and meeting around 7:30.  One neat part about today was that we were able to meet the new president of Iowa State University, David Cook.  He was friendly and happy to talk to us.

As for the game, Aiden Flora had an outstanding performance.  He ran for 212 yards and three touchdowns, and he actually threw two passing touchdowns as well. It's not very often that you see a running back throw for two touchdowns. Today's game is the fourth football game that I have watched between the Cyclones and Mountaineers. That includes Cyclone wins today, in 2022, and in 2018.  The other time was a win for West Virginia in 2012.

Here we are with Iowa State's president, David Cook.