Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

Normally I try to blog about basketball games that I went to on the same night as the actual game to fit with the theme of my blog "note-o-the day".  I am making an exception now for yesterday's game between the Iowa State Cyclones and Chicago State Cougars.  I ended up taking Nolan to the game with me, along with Eben.  It was fun having three generations of Saltons in attendance for the same basketball game.  The game didn't start until 7:00, and we ended up staying for the whole thing.  By the time we got back home, I brushed Nolan's teeth, changed him, and read him a book, it was 10:00 (two hours past his normal bedtime).  The little man did pretty well considering I kept him up so late.  This marks the fifth men's basketball game that Nolan has witnessed at Hilton Coliseum, and it was the second consecutive game.

As for the game itself, it was a blowout win for the seventh-ranked Cyclones.  Jameel McKay was the player of the game for Iowa State as he scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.  Included in his 25 points were a total of 10 dunks, mostly on alley-oops.  He was joined in double figures by teammates Abdel Nader (17), Monte Morris (14), Naz Long (14), Georges Niang (11), and Hallice Cooke (10).  This was the home opener for the Cyclones, and it was coach Steve Prohm's first regular season game in Ames.

One thing that I will remember about this game was the two technical fouls that Chicago State had.  Both happened immediately after they had made a three point basket... apparently for taunting or swearing at Iowa State.  I would have thought that they would learn their lesson after it happened once, but apparently not.

Three generations of Saltons with the scoreboard :)

It's nice to see dad smiling.

Go STATE!

Friday, November 6th, 2015

A little while ago Nolan and I just went to watch the Iowa State exhibition game vs. Grand Valley State at Hilton Coliseum.  We ended up leaving part way through the second half because it was getting past Nolan's bed time, but the game wasn't exactly close anyways... the Cyclones ended up winning by a score of 106-60.  Nolan was able to behave himself pretty well in the stadium.  Every time the ISU fight song came on he would clap along with everyone else.  He mainly just sat on my lap and looked at the crowd and all of the stimulating things to see.  He would point out Cy the mascot to me every once in a while.

I believe that this is the fourth ISU men's basketball game that Nolan has seen in person.  The first was vs. UMKC in 2013, his second game was the Melvin Ejim game vs. TCU, and his third game was the UMKC game in 2014.

Naz Long scored 20 points for Iowa State which included 6 for 7 from three point range.  He led a group of seven Cyclones that each scored in double figures.  I've been looking forward to Cyclone basketball all year as they should be a good team this season with seniors Georges Niang, Abdel Nader, Jameel McKay, and Naz Long to lead the way.  Iowa State enters the year ranked #7 by the AP and the USA today coache's polls.

Nolan sitting like a good boy in his seat waiting for the game to start,

Our view from section 216.

Saturday, October 31st, 2015

Happy Halloween, and HAPPY VICTORY VS TEXAS!! 

Tonight I witnessed a huge homecoming victory for the Iowa State football team as they shutout the Longhorns, 24-0.  This was the first time ever that the Cyclones have beaten Texas in Ames, and it was also the first career start for Iowa State's quarterback, Joel Lanning.  

I watched the game from the sideline since I was part of the ISU alumni band that played on the field at halftime.  I pushed my aunt, Lavonne, in a wheelchair as she played her clarinet.  It was actually quite a bit of work pushing her up and down the hills around the stadium and then onto the field.  We also spent quite a bit of time before the game practicing our formations that we would go through for the halftime show.  It was all worth it though to be able to see this great game from the Cyclones tonight!  Maybe I am a good luck charm as part of the alumni band.  I also pushed Lavonne for the homecoming game last year when ISU defeated Toledo.  

This was the first time that Texas has been shutout by an unranked team since 1961.  

Friday, October 30th, 2015

Today was beggar's night in Ames, so it was also the first time that Nolan has actually gone trick or treating!  Elizabeth took him to do daytime trick or treating on main street, and then tonight they went around to a few of the neighborhood houses to collect candy.  I stayed at the house and handed out candy (M&Ms, Reese's peanut butter cups, and Hershey's cookies & cream bars) to about 34 kids.

Here is Nolan trick or treating in his Buzz costume on main street.

Elizabeth and Nolan getting ready to head out to the houses on our street.

Buzz Lightyear!!

Wednesday, October 21st, 2015

Happy back to the future day!  Yeah, it's kind of funny that in the 1989 film, Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly and the Doc travel in their time machine to October 21st, 2015... today.  When I was a kid growing up, I always wanted one of the hover boards from that film.  Alas, they are not something that people use today :(

What I really wanted to blog about tonight was the volleyball game that we went to see.  The Iowa State women defeated West Virginia in straight sets, (25-20, 25-11, 25-16).  Elizabeth and I took Nolan to the game, and we stayed for the first two sets before it was time to come home and put the little guy to bed.  He still has a hard time sitting still to watch a game.  He mainly wants to run around the concourse of the stadium or climb over seats.  The best part of the game for us tonight was having Nolan meet Cy before the game.  Nolan gave Cy a big high five and posed for a picture.

It's CY!!!

Nolan was so happy getting to meet Cy, and he wasn't super shy or scared like some other times when he has met him.

We watched the match from the end of the stadium where there was plenty of empty seating for Nolan to run around and not get in people's way.  It's not as good of a view, but it's better to have some free space with Nolan.

Saturday, October 3rd, 2015

This morning I got up bright and early (at 4:00) to get ready and be at the tailgate lots by 5:00 so that I could have a full day of fun with our tailgating group before the football game kicked off vs Kansas at 11:00.  I met up with Dan Becker, Tim Nevins, Kyle Perkins, and everyone at the WRNL tailgate.  Dan made everyone omelettes which was pretty cool of him.  Elizabeth and Nolan stayed home today and got some extra sleep.

Today was the fourth time that I have seen Iowa State play Kansas in football, and I'm happy to say that all four of the games have been Cyclone victories (today, 2013, 2011, and 2002).  Today's final score was 38-13.  Iowa State looked alright, and our freshman running back, Mike Warren, ran for whopping 175 yards and two touchdowns.  On one play in the third quarter, he ran up the middle for a 62-yard touchdown.  However, it seemed that Kansas was just a bad football team in every phase of the game.  Hopefully this game can give the team a little confidence heading into the rest of the conference schedule.

The view of the game from our seats

Sunday, September 6th, 2015

Yesterday we took Nolan to his first ever football game at Jack Trice Stadium.  Maybe he was a good luck charm, because the Cyclones defeated the UNI Panthers 31-7.  It was also the first game after the new south end-zone renovations were complete.  The stadium itself looked very nice, and it was a record crowd (61,500) attendance.  The game itself did not start until 7:00, and we were only able to stay until halftime because it was well past Nolan's bedtime.  We sat on the Northeast hillside which was not the most comfortable.  The two north hillsides are where all of the "Junior Cyclone Club" kids and parents sit.   Nolan wasn't so much interested with the actual game, but he did have fun watching the crowd of people.  Elizabeth also played a movie on her phone for a while just to keep him happy.  We bought him a corn dog, which he ended up eating about half of.  Oh, and Nolan used a port-a-potty for the first time as well (it was pretty gross, and I basically just had to hold him above the seat).  

The first half of the game was pretty close.  UNI scored the first points of the game in the second quarter via a 19 yard touchdown pass from Aaron Bailey to Savon Huggins.  That combined with ISU's two missed field goals early in the game had me frustrated.  However, the Panthers would not score for the rest of the game.  It seemed like Iowa State's defense really played well, and they finished with six sacks for the game.  The only scoring for the Cyclones that we witnessed in person was a 1-yard TD run by Joshua Thomas and a 24-yard field goal for Cole Netten which made the halftime score 10-7 in favor of the Cyclones.  

The view of Jack Trice Stadium from our tailgate lot, G7.

Here I am trying to explain the football game to Nolan.

...but he just wanted to play with my hat!