Tonight Elizabeth & I just got back from watching Iowa State's 2012-2013 season opening victory over Southern University, 82-59. I was curious to see how our new team would gel together now that we've lost Royce White to the NBA and welcome in a pair of transfers (Will Clyburn & Korie Lucious). We've also added a couple of freshmen that look ready to see significant playing time this year in Naz Long and Georges Niang.
The game itself started out very slow and sloppy for the Cyclones, as Southern surprisingly led by as many as 11 points in the first half. It took a last-minute 3-pointer from Niang to put Iowa State on top at halftime 41-39. Iowa State woke up in the second half and cruised to the 23-point victory, but it seems like there is quite a bit we need to work on. Going 15-28 from the free throw line is a big one. Turnovers another. In the end though, I'll take the win. Hopefully our new team can learn to work together more efficiently soon.
The highlight of the game for me was propably a monster dunk that Will Clyburn had as he drove along the baseline in the second half. Also there was a very odd bounce that Naz Long got late in the second half... he tossed up a wild lay-up attempt very high... it bounced up off of the top of the backboard... and ended up landing right through the hoop. I wasn't sure that a ball was allowed to bounce off the top of the backboard, but I guess it counts. Percy Gibson led the Cyclones with 17 points.
About to tip-off the 2012-13 season!
Halftime... 41-39 Cyclones.
Final score: Iowa State 82, Southern University 59.
This weekend was another one full of entertaining Cyclone athletics. To start off on Saturday, Elizabeth and I got up early to tailgate with her sister, Rachael, and their cousins Karmin, Katie, and Alissa. We probably got into the student lot around 7:45 or so (had to get there early since kickoff was at 11:00). We set up a very nice tailgate complete with a big heater that we all huddeled around, a table for games, and a table with lots of food. Elizabeth made breakfast burritos (sausage, egg, cheese, red & green peppers), we made Velveeta & rotel cheese dip, lots of chips, and one of the cousins brought a really tasty appetizer. They were jalepeno halves which were stuffed with "little smokey" sausages, cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, skewered with a tooth pick, and then cooked. Those were awesome. I ended up going into the game with Tim Nevins while all of the ladies stayed out at the tailgate and had a fun time catching up.
Today I countinued my Cyclone sports weekend by attending the men's exhibition game against Minnesota State. While this game technically did not count, it was still fun to be at. Iowa State started out the game strong, seemed to get complacent and let the Mavericks of Minnesota State back into it, and finally got their act together to win in blowout fashion (90-57). I'm looking forward to the men's regular season games!!
The girls (from left to right: Alissa, Katie, Elizabeth, Rachael, and Karmin) were getting ready for a nice "cousin picture" when all of a sudden... PHOTO BOMB!
The band spells out CYCLONES before the game.
A shot of the action vs Oklahoma... sadly we lost the game 35-20.
Here is the view from my seats in section 216. It's way up in a corner, but there really isn't a bad seat in Hilton.
This weekend turned out to be a very fun and memorable one as we hosted a number of old ISU friends at our house who returned for the homecoming football game. This year was the 100th Cyclone homecoming, and it was great that we were able to celebrate the "Cy-tenial" with an important 35-21 victory over the Baylor Bears. Mike Kazlauskas, Sara Bauman, Erick Ude, Rachel Stork, Renee Oehlerking & quite a few more peeps joined us for tailgating fun in Ames.
"I-S-U" marching band
Sara & Mike
I know that the three videos above are poor quality & shaky, but they were taken on my phone and I was in the middle of a a bunch of roudy fans, so it was hard not to get bumped.
It was nice to finally see some consistent quarterback play for Iowa State as Steele Jantz tied school records for TD passes in a game (5) and pass completions in a game (36). Jarvis West had a career day for Iowa State as he managed to catch three TD receptions (the first three of his career by the way). Now the Cyclones only need 1 more win in their last 4 games to be bowl eligible!! GO STATE!!
Today is basically a recovery day for Elizabeth and myself after our trip to Chicago over the past few days. I spent all day Thursday, Friday, and then 4 hours Saturday morning at a continuing education class in Rosemont, Illinois. It was a very interesting class called Chain Reaction 3D which covers Applied Functional Science, and it was taught by "the father of function" Gary Gray.
While we were in town, Elizabeth had fun shopping at Ikea, we got to see Timmy & Alana for a little bit, and we were able to enjoy some quality Chicago cuisine that we don't get to have very often. This trip was actually the first time that I've been back to Chicago since we moved back to Iowa last year. I made sure that we had my favorite sushi, Sushi Para in Palatine, which we enjoyed on Thursday after my classes were done. Then on Friday we met up with Timmy & Alana for Exchequer Pizza.
Menu at Sushi Para
My first plate: Volcano roll, 4 salmon sushi, 4 tuna sushi, 2 massago, 2 eel sushi
My second plate: Under control roll (bottom), a Chicago roll (middle), and 2 salmon sushi
Myself trying a piece of the Under Control Roll
My last plate, another "Under Control Roll"... it was so good that I needed one more!
Friday night's dinner was at Exchequer's in downtown Chicago.
I've got a little time this afternoon to blog... my schedule at work is just so slow today for some reason!
Anyways one thing that I enjoy doing that I wanted to highlight here in my blog is keeping track of the previous sporting events that I have been to. This should come as no surprise if you keep track of my blog anyways... it's mostly about sports or food :)
The way I keep track of all of my past sporting event attendance is through: www.espn.go.com/travel/passport
It's a fun thing that you can sign up for through ESPN which allows you to accumulate statistics on the different teams which you have seen play. Things like their record vs each other, points allowed, points for, etc, for any given season or all time. I'll just go into a little detail here to show how some of my most often watched teams have done...
College Football:
Iowa State: 16 wins, 6 losses
599 points for, 422 points against... it also breaks it down between each season
They were 6-1 when I was at the games in 2002 (the days of Seneca Wallace)
Colorado: 0 wins, 3 losses
54 points for, 78 points against (all 3 vs ISU... 2005, 07, and 09)
Minnesota Twins are 2-1 when I've seen them... 1-1 at home and 0-1 on the road
Chicago Cubs are 2-2... 1-1 at home, 0-1 on the road, and 1-0 at neutral site (spring training)
So that is just a quick look at most the teams that I have seen play more than once. I've also seen some NBA games, but I didn't bother to list them here. I really wish that it would also keep track of women's college basketball, but for some reason it doesn't. So just for my memory I wanted to list the few ISU women's games that I have seen...
3/18/2001 - Iowa State 85, Florida State 70 (NCAA tournament game)
2/5/2005 - Iowa State 73, Texas 69
12/11/2011 - Iowa State 77, Mississippi Valley State 47
Hopefully I can make it to a women's game for this upcoming season as well.
It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be October already. Anyways, this has been a fun weekend and a busy one at that. Today Elizabeth and I met up with Robin, Jason, and the girls. We gave them a quick tour of the new house before going out to eat at Hickory Park. Yummy! I had my usual barbecue dinner which is delicious!
Me, Elizabeth, Robin, & Jason outside of Hickory Park in Ames.
After lunch today we swung Slumberland Furniture in Ankeny to pick out a few things for the house. We ended up ordering a new dining room table with 8 chairs, a sofa, and a sofa chaise. Both the sofa and the sofa chaise are a grayish color that will be perfect for our living room upstairs.
The other highlight of the weekend was another Cyclone football game, but this time the result was sadly not in our favor :( The evil Red Raiders of Texas Tech wound up victorious, 24-13. I thought our defense played very well, but our offense was terrible. Too many unforced turnovers. Steele Jantz drove me crazy. Oh well. We're still 3-1, and there is a lot of the season left to play. The only thing is that conference play will likely only get tougher from here on out. The one awesome play of the game that really got the crowd wound up was ISU's first touchdown - an 87-yard interception return for a touchdown by A.J. Klein. Any extremely long touchdown run is always very exciting.
During this play in the 2nd quarter, Seth Doege's pass was intercepted by Jaques Washington!
Well today was a fun-filled day and it's now the end of a memorable weekend. To quickly recap the weekend, yesterday I worked a couple hours in the morning (I only have to work 3 Saturdays a year at a clinic for high school kids that get hurt in football games that Friday). Then most of Saturday afternoon was spent relaxing and watching football and the new show on Netflix that we are in to, Revenge. Today I went with Seago and Jeremy to Adventureland, spent a little time at Prarie Meadows, and then out to eat with the boys and Elizabeth at Outback steak house.
The football I was watching Saturday was AWESOME because it was absolutely heartbreaking for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Maybe it's bad that I take so much pleasure in their misfortune, but oh well. I only caught the second half of the 4th quarter, but that's when all of the fun began. Central Michigan was leading 23-21 before the Hawkeyes scored 10 points and appeared to put the game away with around 2:00 minutes left. All they needed to do was stop the Chippewas from scoring. It was great then to watch CMU march down the field and score a TD with 45 seconds left in the game (which made it 29-31 Hawks). At this point the 2-point conversion looks like a must for CMU... which they fail. Hawk fans rejoice. Next comes the onside kick which almost never works. Initially this did not work as the Hawkeyes recovered, but CMU was saved by an offsides penalty which forced them to lose 5 yards and re-kick. On their second try they amazingly recover the onside kick after one Hawkeye appears to jump out of the ball's way. Then after a Hawkeye 15-yard personal foul and another Chippewa first down they are left with a 47-yard field goal attempt to win. The kick was a low, line drive which was just enough to clear the uprights and break the hearts of Hawkeye nation. Smile. Here are the ending highlights.
Today I went with Seago and Jeremy to Adventureland because they were able to get a few free tickets, and they had to be used by the end of the month.
This was only the start of the fun. We end up at Prairie Meadows casino after Adventureland, and we had quite a lucky day at the craps table. By we I mostly mean Seago and Jeremy, but it was still fun. After our winnings we decide to meet Elizabeth for supper at Outback Steakhouse in Ankeny.
My prime rib was a little on the rare side, but it was still good.
