Monday, February 25th, 2019

Well, I'm happy to say that Iowa State is back in the win column after having a rough week or two recently.  Tonight Jeremy Seago went with me to witness Iowa State's convincing win over Oklahoma, 78-61. 

It's not just the Cyclones who've had a rough month of February.  It's been awfully cold and snowy this month, and there have been quite a few snow days for Nolan's kindergarten class (today being one of them).  Earlier this month, Nolan missed a week of class due to Influenza A.  Then this past weekend Maxwell broke our 50-inch TV by smashing it with a long Lincoln Log.  To top it off, he pulled the chandelier down from above our dining room table this weekend as well.  So yeah, I'm READY FOR MARCH.

As for the game, it was close all of the first half, but the Cyclones ended up pulling away in the second thanks to a good defensive effort.  Iowa State was led by Marial Shayok, who dropped in 21 points.  The only other Cyclone in double figures scoring was Talen Horton-Tucker, who had 18 points. 

Tonight marks the sixth time that I have attended an ISU-Oklahoma basketball game.  The Cyclones have won five of those six meetings (tonight, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013), while the Sooners won back in 2003.  That 2016 game against Oklahoma was quite the memorable one, as the Sooners came into the game being ranked #1 in the country.

Iowa State won the opening tip.

Iowa State 78, Oklahoma 61.

Saturday, February 9th, 2019

This afternoon I took Nolan with me to Hilton Coliseum to watch the ISU basketball game vs TCU. Other than the game itself, we had a good time.  Nolan enjoyed the atmosphere and seemed to actually pay attention to the game itself.  He would ask me what the score was often, and was actually cheering on the Cyclones.  Unfortunately, there was not much to cheer for today.  The #17 ranked Cyclones played like garbage for most of the game and ended up falling to TCU 83-92.  Michael Jacobson was about the only player for Iowa State that I thought played well.  He scored 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting.  Nolan and myself split a clone cone though, so we had that going for us, which was nice...

I believe that this was Nolan's 16th basketball game that I have taken him to.  The last time I took him to a game was vs the Missouri Tigers earlier this season.  Today's game was Nolan's 6th conference game.  He's also seen games vs Baylor in 2018, Texas in 2018, Texas Tech in 2017, Kansas State in 2016, and TCU in 2014.  That 2014 game vs TCU was much more entertaining than today's. 

As for myself, this was the 5th time that I have seen ISU play TCU (and the first time that the Cyclones have lost).  The previous games were 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2013. 

Nolan insists that the red ice cream tastes better than the yellow...

Wednesday, January 30th, 2019

BBRRRR... Today was a frigid winter day in Iowa.  There was some damn thing called a polar vortex, which as I understand it is a low pressure system of cold air that normally sits over the North Pole, and it somehow moved this far south to give us some extreme cold temperatures.  In Ames, we had a new record low for January 30th, as it reached 22 degrees below zero.  For a while this morning it was actually colder in Ames than it was in Antarctica (it was only -11 degrees there this AM). 

So that terribly cold air made for an especially brisk walk to and from Hilton Coliseum tonight.  I did manage to brave the elements to watch the 20th-ranked Cyclones dispose of West Virginia, 93-68.  Iowa State dominated for the majority of the game, as they led by 17 points at halftime.  Lindell Wigginton was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he led all scorers with 28 points.  He was joined in double figures by teammates Marial Shayok (18) and Nick Weiler-Babb (14).  One memorable moment from this game was late in the second half when West Virginia's coach Bob Huggins was given two technical fouls in a row and ejected for arguing with the referees.  He was so mad and just screaming at the refs, and it was enjoyable to watch him get thrown out.

Tonight marks the 4th time that I have attended an ISU-WVU basketball game.  The Cyclones won in 2018 and 2013, while West Virginia won the 2017 match-up. 

Tip-off between the Cyclones and Mountaineers.

Saturday, January 19th, 2019

What a difference a week can make.  Last Saturday, Iowa State had just lost it's second conference game in a row by falling at home to Kansas State, 57-58.  It seemed that any hopes of challenging for the Big 12 conference title were gone.  However, after a big win on the road at #8 Texas Tech on Wednesday, the Cyclones were able to come back home tonight and defeat Oklahoma State, 72-59.  All of a sudden, the Cyclones find themselves tied for 1st place in the conference and squarely "in contention" again. 

I would say that the player of the game for Iowa State was Marial Shayok.  He led the team in scoring with 20 points, and he connected on 4 of 8 from three point range.  He was joined in double figures scoring by Lindell Wigginton (14), Cameron Lard (12), and Nick Weiler-Babb (10).  It feels nice to be mentioning Lard, who had missed the previous couple of games due to an ankle sprain.

Tonight was the 6th time that I have seen Iowa State and Oklahoma State play.  The Cowboys won last year, while the Cyclones were victorious in all of the other contests (2017, 2015, 2014, 2013). 

GO STATE!

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!