Wednesday, January 31st, 2018

Today after work I was able to bring Maxwell with me to watch the Cyclones knock-off #15 West Virginia, 93-77.  The entire team really played well today, and the victory came as quite the surprise as Iowa State was without their starting guard, Nick Weiler-Babb, due to a knee injury. 

It's pretty hard to pick a player of the game, but I suppose I'll go with Donovan Jackson who led the team with 25 points (including 6 of 10 from three) and dished out 7 assists.  Lindell Wigginton had a great game as he scored 22 points.  Cameron Lard had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, as did Solomon Young, who scored 14 points and collected 10 boards.  The Cyclones never trailed in the game today.

Another fun thing about the game today is that Maxwell got to meet Cy!  He was really excited to see Cy, but once he got close to us Maxwell became a little afraid.  I was going to set Maxwell on the ground next to Cy for a picture, but he started crying... so I ended up holding him and took a selfie :)

Let's see, I believe this is the third time I've been to an ISU-WVU basketball game.  Iowa State won on Georges Niang's last-second basket back in 2013, and the Mountaineers won last year's game.  This was the first time that I've gotten a good scoreboard photo of a win vs. West Virginia, so now I have at least one picture for every Big 12 school. 

This should be the fourth Big 12 game that Maxwell has been to.  The previous games were Texas this year, TCU in 2017, and Baylor in 2017.  Overall, I believe that this was the 7th basketball game that Maxwell has been to.  Also, MAXWELL IS TURNING 2 YEARS OLD TOMORROW!!! 

Cy!

What a nice smile Maxwell!

Saturday, January 20th, 2018

Iowa State just beat the #8 team in the nation!  Today I was able to watch the Cyclones defeat #8 Texas Tech, 70-52.  The 18-point victory for Iowa State was their largest margin of victory against any top-10 team in school history. 

Cameron Lard was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led the team with 18 points while shooting 9 of 11 from the field.  He was joined in double figures by teammates Nick Weiler-Babb (13), Donovan Jackson (13), Lindell Wigginton (13), and Zoran Talley (11).  Talley was a big boost off of the bench.  Today's performance was really great to see considering the team has not had the greatest season so far.

This was the sixth time that I have seen Iowa State play (and defeat) Texas Tech.  The previous seasons were 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, and 2012. 

Today marks the 5th time that I have seen Iowa State knock off a top-10 team.  The previous games were against #9 Baylor in 2017,  #1 Oklahoma in 2016, #9 Kansas in 2015, and #7 Michigan in 2013. 

To make today even better, it was unseasonably warm in Ames (high temps in the upper 40s). 

Iowa State won the opening tip.

ISU 70, Texas Tech 52.  

Saturday, January 13th, 2018

Today I took Nolan with me to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Baylor Bears, 75-65.  It was refreshing to see the Cyclones get back into the win column after starting conference play 0-4.  Of course I have not expected this team to reach the heights of recent years (or the NCAA tournament), given the players that graduated last year, but it is sure fun watching the young players on the roster develop.

As for the game today, it was freshman that led the way.  The player of the game was Lindell Wigginton, who scored a career high 30 points.  He shot 5-10 from three-point range.  Wigginton was joined in double figures by Nick Weiler-Babb (15), Solomon Young (11), and Cameron Lard (11).  Lard was very exciting to watch as he also had 5 blocks. 

Tonight was Nolan's 14th basketball game.  I did not blog about the Texas game earlier this month, which we took the whole family to.  It's just more fun to blog about the victories!  This was also Nolan's 5th conference game (he's also seen wins vs. Texas Tech last season, vs. Kansas State in 2016,  vs. TCU in 2014, and the loss against Texas this year).  Eventually, I would like to bring both of the boys to see wins against every Big 12 team... which I would expect to take a while.  As for the conference games that Maxwell has been to, that would be Baylor last year, TCU last year, and the Texas game this year. 

This was the 4th time that I have seen Iowa State play Baylor.  The Cyclones have won three times (tonight, in 2017, and in 2013), while the Bears ended up winning in 2015. 

The Cyclones won the opening tip.

Way to go Cyclones!!

Tuesday, January 9th, 2018

Happy 34th birthday Elizabeth!!  Tonight we lined up a babysitter for the boys and had a little date night for her birthday.  Elizabeth really wanted sushi, so we went out to Fuji to eat. 

Elizabeth's order... a super crunchy roll and a pretty Alaska roll.  

I ordered some sashimi along with a California roll.  The tuna and the salmon sashimi were both really yummy!

Sunday December 31st, 2017

Today I got back to Ames after a fun trip down to Memphis to watch the Cyclones win the Liberty Bowl, 21-20 over the #19 ranked Memphis Tigers.  I drove down to O'Fallon, Missouri on Friday after work to meet up with my brother-in-law, Brian Gleason.  We left early the next morning and had a couple hours to tailgate prior to the 11:30 kickoff. 

The atmosphere for the bowl game was one of the best that I have been to for a live sporting event.  The game was a sell-out, and it was basically 50% Cyclone fans and 50% Memphis Tiger fans.  With every play there was one side of the stadium that cheered and one that booed.  Much different than the last time I was at the Liberty Bowl 5 years ago. 

The game was an exciting back-and-forth battle.  Iowa State scored on their opening drive via a 52-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Kempt to Hakeem Butler.  Later in the first quarter the Cyclones punter would bobble a snap and set the Tigers up with a short field, leading to their first score of the game.  In the second quarter, do-it-all player Joel Lanning came in to play QB and ran for a 2-yard touchdown.  Memphis would kick a field goal as time expired to make the score 14-10 in favor of Iowa State at halftime. 

In the second half, Memphis would take the lead on a 36-yard TD pass from Riley Ferguson to Phil Mayhue.  Iowa State would re-take the lead for good later in the third quarter when Allen Lazard made an amazing catch in the endzone after the ball was tipped by another ISU receiver.  Memphis tacked on a field goal late in the third quarter for the final score of the game, making it 21-20. 

There was plenty of stress in the fourth quarter.  Iowa State appeared to score another touchdown when David Montgomery clearly broke the plane of the goal line before fumbling the ball.  Somehow, the refs and replay officials managed to blow the call and ruled it a fumble and touchback for Memphis.  The Cyclones were able to overcome this adversity by stopping the Tiger's last chance drive.  After taking over on downs, Joel Lanning came in and ran the ball twice to get a first down, which was enough to then run out the clock. 

Lazard ended up with 10 catches for 142 yards and the one TD catch.  It was a heck of a performance in his last game as a Cyclone. 

After the game, we drove back up to St. Louis where Brian took me to a great BBQ place called Sugar Fire.  I ordered a combo of ribs and beef brisket, which came with two sides.  The brisket was probably the best I've ever had. 

The ISU band 

Panoramic picture from our seats in section 108

ISU 21, Memphis 20!

Our meal at Sugar Fire 

Wednesday, December 20th, 2017

Tonight I took Maxwell with me to Hilton Coliseum to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Maryland Eastern-Shore Hawks, 55-49.  In case you've never heard of UMES, it is an historically black university located in Princess Anne, Maryland.  The Hawks play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). 

The game itself was not the most exciting one that I've ever seen, but I suppose a win is a win.  The Cyclones led 34-17 at half time, but then it seemed like they sleep-walked through the second half.  The outcome of the game was never in doubt, as the Cyclones led by double-figures almost all the way.  A couple of last-minute, garbage-time baskets by UMES made the final score look closer than the game really was.  Only two Cyclones scored in double figures... Cameron Lard scored 15 points and Donovan Jackson added 12. 

Maxwell was very well behaved for the entire game, and the people sitting behind us even congratulated him for being such a good boy at the end of the game.  As we left, Maxwell was loudly saying in his cute little voice "goodbye everybody" over and over to the crowd of people. 

 I believe that this was Maxwell's 6th men's basketball game at Hilton Coliseum.

Maxwell was all smiles at the start of the game.

Tip-off between ISU and UMES.

Saturday, December 16th, 2017

Today we had a fun little family trip down to Des Moines, where we visited the Blank Park Zoo.  We were able to get into the Christmas spirit by seeing real reindeer there!  Nolan also was able to write a letter to Santa Claus and mail it to him.  Nolan wished for a race car and a PJ Mask coloring book.  Santa was actually at the zoo, but because of a 45-minute line we decided to skip seeing him at the zoo and check out the animals instead.  There were X-mas decorations up around the zoo, and Nolan enjoyed looking for all of the hidden giant candy canes around the place.  

After the zoo, we headed over to Zombie Burger for lunch.  I had "The Walking Ched", which is a double bacon cheeseburger with deep-fried mac & cheese patties for "buns".  It also had extra mac & cheese and onions on the sandwich.  Wow... it was good but very messy.  

After getting back to Ames and "taking naps"... they really didn't nap... we went to the mall to have the kids sit on Santa's lap.  Of course Maxwell fell asleep during the drive to the mall, so the pictures of him with Santa were taken just seconds after he woke up.  

Reindeer!  I believe that this is the first time that I have seen reindeer in person before.

Elizabeth and Nolan pose with the reindeer.

Nolan with his wish list for Santa.

Nolan getting ready to mail his letter.

Maxwell with the sea lions at the zoo.

The boys pose in the Jeep next to the lion exhibit.

Santa!