Saturday, January 12th, 2019

This morning I took Maxwell over to Hilton Coliseum for an 11:00 tip-off to watch the Cyclones play Kansas State.  Unfortunately, the Wildcats ended up making more plays down the stretch and beat Iowa State, 58-57.  Iowa State came into the game ranked #20 in the country, thanks in part to their big win last weekend over Kansas.  The game in general was a low-scoring defensive battle, which seemed to favor Kansas State.  They are known as one of the better defensive teams in the country this year.  But really, this was a game that Iowa State should have won.  Iowa State was leading 55-48 with 5 minutes remaining, but they just couldn't take advantage of opportunities in the end.  In the final minute, Weiler-Babb missed a wide open 3 from the corner.  Lindell Wigginton missed on the front end of a one-and-one when Kansas State was forced to foul.  Then Barry Brown made a driving layup with 6 seconds left to give KSU the lead for good.  Ugh.  Nick Weiler-Babb was the only Cyclone that scored in double figures today (he had 11 points). 

I believe that this was Maxwell's 10th basketball game that he has attended.  This was also the 6th Big 12 conference game that he has been to.  That includes wins vs West Virginia in 2018, TCU in 2017, and Baylor in 2017.  He has also seen losses to Oklahoma State in 2018, Texas in 2018, and then vs Kansas State today.  One funny thing about Maxwell today is that he slept through almost all of the game.  I bought a popcorn to share with him, which he ended up eating 90% of.  He must have felt sleepy with a full tummy, because around 11:30 he crawled onto my lap and passed out, and he didn't wake up until we got up to leave when the game finished at 1:00. 

As for myself, today was the sixth time that I have been to an ISU-KSU basketball game.  The Cyclones are 5-1 in those contests (I witnessed ISU win in 2017, 2016, 2013, 2012, and back in 2003). 

Saturday, January 5th, 2019

WAY TO GO CYCLONES!!!

This afternoon I had an awesome time with my dad, as we attended Iowa State's huge win over 5th-ranked Kansas, 77-60.  One thing worth mentioning that made this day even better was the unusually warm weather that we've had recently.  It was 55 degrees outside when we walked from my car to Hilton for the 4:00 tip-off.  This time of year, that walk is usually super cold, like 5 degrees. 

Anyways, the game itself was awesome to watch.  Throughout the first half the game was really close, but the Cyclones managed to take a 36-32 lead after Tyrese Haliburton swished a deep 3 right before halftime.  Midway through the second half, Iowa State took over.  They led by as many as 20 points!  Against a "Top 5 team"!  I had to use quotation marks there, because KU looked very over-rated.  I believe that Kansas had 24 turnovers for the game. 

Marial Shayok was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led all scorers with 24 points (including a 5-5 effort from 3 point range).  He was joined in double figures for ISU by Tyrese Haliburton (14) and Nick Weiler-Babb (12).  Haliburton played very well on both ends of the court, as he made some big steals when Kansas was in transition, and his long arms interrupted passing lanes all night. 

Tonight marks the 5th time that I have attended an ISU-KU basketball game.  I also watched ISU win back in 2015, while the Jayhawks have won in 2018, 2017, and in 2013.  So now I have witnessed at least 2 wins against every Big 12 team.

The #5 ranking that Kansas entered the game with marks the 2nd highest ranking of a team that I have seen ISU defeat in basketball.  Overall, I believe that this is the 6th time that I have seen ISU defeat a top-10 team in the country.  The previous times were vs #8 Texas Tech last year,  #9 Baylor in 2017, #1 Oklahoma in 2016, #9 Kansas in 2015, and #7 Michigan in 2013.  I'm guessing that Iowa State will probably jump into the top-25 rankings soon after their dominant win today.

Go State!

Tuesday, December 25th, 2018

Merry X-mas 2018!

Yesterday Grandma Becky came down to Ames so that she could spend Christmas with us.  Elizabeth made a bunch of cookies, so the kids could leave some for Santa.

This morning Nolan and Maxwell woke up around 6:30, eager to open presents.  Some of the gifts they opened included a small foosball game, Guess Who, Pop the Pig, coloring books, Roblox figurines, some slime, and some candy.  We did not have a white Christmas here in Ames, in fact, the temperature got up to around 43 degrees in the middle of the day.  It was nice enough to take the boys to Daley park wearing only light jackets.  Nolan did have quite the spill while running back home.  He was running downhill at the park near the edge of the sidewalk when he slipped, and his face hit the sidewalk.  He was scraped up and sad, but when we got home we found that Santa had came back and left an extra present that he had forgotten!  That was the Roblox figurines, and that made Nolan's pain dissapear :)

Elizabeth gave me a bottle of "Gentleman Jack", which is basically a twice filtered Jack Daniels.  I made a scavenger hunt for Elizabeth, which ended with a Starbucks gift card.  I also gave her "12 days of Hogwarts" socks, which she had requested.

Tonight we all watched the movie "The King's Speech", which was pretty good.  After putting the kiddos to bed, we played the card game "Golf".  Elizabeth ended up matching four 4's, and we declared her the winner after that.

Merry Christmas from the Saltons!

Friday, December 21st, 2018

Tonight I attended the Iowa State men's decisive 101-53 victory over the Panthers from Eastern Illinois.  Before today, I was not very familiar with Eastern Illinois, but they are a small college located in Charleston, Illinois.  Their enrollment is about 7,500 students, and the Panthers participate in the Ohio Valley conference.

Anyhow, the main highlight of this game was the fact that Lindell Wigginton and Solomon Young both returned to the lineup after missing much of the year with injuries.  The player of the game for the Cyclones would have to be Marial Shayok, who led the team with 23 points. Shayok was joined in double figures scoring by Michael Jacobson (15) and Wigginton (15).  It was impressive to note that a total of 13 players scored in the game for the Cyclones.  It's not very often that ISU scores over 100 points with only 3 players scoring in double figures.  I guess that when this team is healthy they have a lot of quality depth.

Tip-off between the Cyclones and the Panthers.

Monday, December 3rd, 2018

Iowa State 81, North Dakota State 59.

Tonight I took Maxwell with me to watch the Cyclones defeat the Bison of NDSU.  He was a good boy for the game, even though it was late for him (a 7:00 tip-off).  Maxwell did a good job cheering and clapping for the Cyclones, and it seemed like he had a lot of fun.  I gave him the choice to have either a clone cone, soda, or popcorn... and surprisingly he wanted popcorn instead of something sweet.  I believe that today was the 9th basketball game that Maxwell has attended.

As for the game, I would say that Michael Jacobson was the player of the game for Iowa State.  He tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  He was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Marial Shayok (20), Talen Horton-Tucker (12), and Nick Weiler-Babb (11).  It is worth noting that both Cameron Lard and Zoran Talley rejoined the team today after being suspended for the month of November.  Both players came off the bench and will need to earn their playing time back.

Tonight was the second time that I have seen ISU play the Bison of NDSU.  The Cyclones also won back in 2015, 84-64.

Maxwell posing with the scoreboard :)

He was happy to have some popcorn to start off the game!

I also wanted to talk a little Cyclone football tonight.  This past weekend I was lucky enough to score box seats for the last football game of the year, where Iowa State defeated Drake, 27-24.  My brother in law Brian Gleason has a friend, Keith, who was generous enough to invite us along to his box seats (as well as Brian's wife Sarah).  Even though the game was quite ugly and the weather was terrible, I enjoyed myself about as much as I ever have at an ISU football game.  Our seats were almost on the 50 yard line, there was a full bar we could order from, and there was a buffet of good food.  There were breaded pork tenderloins, hamburgers, hot dogs, lots of fried appetizers, soup, scalloped potatoes, and assorted desserts.

My view from the Jack Trice Club.

Then on Sunday the Cyclones were selected to participate in the Alamo Bowl vs. Washington State!  This will probably be the highest profile bowl game that the Cyclones have ever been in.

To recap the season, I attended 7 home games (8 if you count the South Dakota State game that ended up being cancelled).
I saw wins against:

• Akron, 26-13
• West Virginia, 30-14.
• Texas Tech, 40-31.
• Baylor, 28-14.
• Kansas State, 42-38.
• Drake, 27-24.

Then I also saw the loss to Oklahoma, 27-37.

Monday, November 26th, 2018

Tonight I went by myself to watch the Iowa State Cyclones defeat Omaha, 82-55.  The Cyclones scored the first 11 points of the game, and basically put it on "cruise control" the rest of the way.  They led by as many as 32 points in the second half.  I would say that Tyrese Haliburton was the player of the game for the Cyclones.  He scored 16 points (all in the first half), he played solid defense, and he ran the point guard spot for most of the second half without committing a turnover.  I would say that Tyrese is quickly becoming one of my favorite Cyclones on this team to watch.  He was joined in double figures scoring by Marial Shayok (18), Terrence Lewis (15), Talen Horton-Tucker (14), and Michael Jacobson (13). 

Tonight was the third time that I have watched he Cyclones defeat Omaha.  The previous times were a 91-47 victory in 2016 and a 93-65 win back in 2012. 

Saturday, November 24th 2018

Well I'm still a little stunned at what took place inside of Jack Trice Stadium tonight.  My only regret it that I was unable to stay until the very end to witness the Iowa State Cyclones' stunning defeat of the Kansas State Wildcats, 42-38. 

I ended up leaving early in the 4th quarter when the Cyclones were trailing by 17 points, 21-38.  It wasn't exactly my idea to leave the game, but a lot of the guys I was watching it with (cough, Dan Becker) wanted to start heading back to Des Moines.  Plus, it was getting pretty cold sitting in the stands...

Anyways, the Cyclones ended up matching the largest fourth-quarter comeback in school history tonight on their way to their 7th victory of the season.  The key play happened with about eight and a half minutes left in the game when Mike Rose returned a fumble for a 21-yard touchdown to pull the Cyclones within 3, 35-38.  After forcing a Kansas State 3 and out, David Montgomery capped off the next Cyclone possession with an 18 yard TD run to take the lead. 

Today was the first time that I have been in attendance for an ISU win over Kansas State in football.  The previous games I had witnessed were in 2016 and 2014.  As of today, the only Big 12 schools that I have not seen ISU defeat in person are Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

I was able to take a video of ISU's first TD of the game, a 1 yard pas from Brock Purdy to Hakeem Butler.