Saturday, February 10th, 2024

 LET'S GO STATE!

Today I took Nolan over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the #14 ranked Iowa State Cyclones take down the TCU Horned Frogs, 71-59.

The Cyclones played really well on defense in the first half, allowing them to build an early lead which they never gave up.  I would say that Keshon Gilbert was the player of the game for Iowa State, as he scored 13 points to go along with 7 assists.  Joining him in double figures for Iowa State was Tre King (15) and Curtis Jones (13).  

The highlight of the game for me was the fact that I won a t-shirt!  There was a trivia contest where the top 10 people win shirts, and I came in 8th place!  I was able to pick out what shirt I wanted, so I got a large gold "Juicy" t-shirt.  Today's game was "Gold Rules", where everyone was encouraged to wear gold clothing.  

Today was the third time that Nolan has been in attendance for an Iowa State basketball game vs TCU. We took him to a memorable game way back in 2014 when he was less than 1 year old.  In that game, Melvin Ejim scored a whopping 48 points!  I also took Nolan to the game in 2019, where TCU ended up winning.   Today's game was the 35th ISU men's basketball game that Nolan has been in attendance for. 

As for myself, this was the seventh time that I have attended an ISU / TCU basketball game.  The Cyclones have won 6 of those games (today, 2020, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2013).  

I like how excited Nolan was for this picture!

Thursday, February 1st, 2024

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAXWELL!!

It's not every day your little dude turns 8!  According to Maxwell, today was (one of) his favorite days ever!  He decided that all of his birthdays are tied for best days ever.  

Anyways, for lunch today Elizabeth brought him a McDonald's happy meal at school.  Then after school today we gave him the option to go out for supper anywhere that he wanted.  I was really hoping that he would pick somewhere else (like last year when we went to Red Lobster for his birthday), but he wanted to go to McDonalds.  Ugh.  The heart wants what the heart wants I guess.  So he had another happy meal for supper.

After supper we all went out to Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt.  Then we took the kids to Perfect Games for some arcade fun.  One fun moment there happened when Nolan and I were playing on the harpoon fishing game.  The special jellyfish came out, and Nolan shot it on his first attempt!  He won 750 tickets for this!  At basically the same time I shot the big shark, so that was fun.  Nolan had saved up enough tickets that he was able to get a big Spongebob Squarepants plushy.

Maxwell with a big slice of his birthday cake.

Nolan and I celebrating our arcade win.

Saturday, January 27th, 2024

 Wow.  I've got a lot on my mind after today's thrilling basketball game, where the #23 Cyclones defeated #7 Kansas, 79-75.  I just hope that I can remember it all here...

For starters, the atmosphere inside Hilton and the game itself were both top notch.  It was a sold-out crowd, and today's game was a "white out", where fans were encouraged to all wear white.  The crowd actually did a very good job of this.  Students had camped outside for DAYS just to be in line for the game.  It was loud.  We danced to Juicy Wiggle.  Tons of fun.  After the win, the crowd stormed the court to celebrate.

Tre King was the player of the game for Iowa State.  He scored a game-high 21 points and collected 9 rebounds.  King was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Keshon Gilbert (16), Curtis Jones (15), and Tamin Lipsey (10).  Gilbert made a dagger 3-pointer with less than a minute to play that turned a 2-point Cyclone advantage into a 5-point lead that really helped put the game away.  As a team, Iowa State connected on 14 three pointers!

Maxwell was able to come along with me for today's game, which was the first time that he has witnessed the Cyclones play (and defeat) the Jayhawks.  Of course, one of my goals is to take both kids to see Iowa State wins against every team in the Big 12 conference.  For Maxwell, he has now seen them defeat Kansas, Texas in 2023, Kansas State in 2020, West Virginia in 2018, TCU in 2017, and Baylor in 2017. So, with regards to the "Old Big 12", Maxwell still needs to see wins vs Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech.  Of course the conference did expand this year to include BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.  Next year the conference will add Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.  So... there is plenty of work left to do!

With today's big win, it got me wondering what top-25 teams the kids have seen Iowa State play in basketball.  For Maxwell, the Cyclones have gone 4-0 in games against top-25 teams when he has been in attendance.  That includes today's game vs #7 Kansas, #7 Texas in 2023, #15 West Virginia in 2018, and #9 Baylor in 2017.  He's been a good luck charm for the Cyclones!

Nolan has only attended two games against top-25 competition.  That includes a win vs #8 Kansas last year and a loss to #1 Baylor in 2022.  

For myself, today marks the 8th time that I have attended a men's basketball game between Iowa State and Kansas.  The Cyclones have won four of those (today, 2023, 2019, and 2015).  The Jayhawks have won in 2020, 2018, 2017, and in 2013.

I also got to wondering how many times I have seen Iowa State defeat teams ranked in the top-10.  Well, the answer is NINE times so far.  That includes:

• Today's win vs #7 Kansas
• #7 Texas in 2023
• #8 Kansas in 2023
• #5 Kansas in 2019
• #8 Texas Tech in 2018
• #9 Baylor in 2017
• #1 Oklahoma in 2016
• #9 Kansas in 2015
• #7 Michigan in 2013

Saturday, January 13th, 2024

 Well, despite the terribly cold weather outside (as I'm typing this it's 16 degrees BELOW zero), it was a pretty good day.  What I'm happy about is that Nolan and I really had fun tonight watching the Cyclones defeat the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 66-42.

Tonight's game marks the 34th men's basketball game that Nolan has attended.  With today's win, Nolan has now seen Iowa State defeat all of the "old Big 12" teams.  That includes wins against Kansas (2023), West Virginia (2022), Oklahoma (2022), Texas (2020), Baylor (2018), Texas Tech (2017), Kansas State (2016), and TCU (2014).   Of course, the Big 12 Conference expanded this year to include BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF... so he still has a few more left to collect.  

The highlight of today's game was that Nolan was able to catch a t-shirt that they shoot out of a t-shirt cannon!  He was so excited about getting a shirt!

As for the game, Tamin Lipsey was the player of the game for the Cyclones.  He scored a game high 17 points.  He added 5 steals, 4 assists, and had 0 turnovers.  Lipsey was joined in double figures scoring by Milan Momcilovic (12), Hason Ward (12), and Tre King (11).  

For myself, this was the 10th time that I have attended an ISU / OSU basketball game.  The Cyclones have won 7 of those contests, including 2020, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2013.  

Iowa State 66, Oklahoma State 42.

Nolan with the t-shirt that he caught!

Sunday, December 31st, 2023

 Happy New Year's Eve!

There are two things that I wanted to blog about today... the first of which was today's ISU basketball game that I took Maxwell to, in which the Cyclones defeated the New Hampshire Wildcats, 85-70. The Wildcats play in the America East Conference, and they are from Durham, New Hampshire.  

The memorable thing about today's game was that Keshon Gilbert recorded a triple double, which was only the eighth time that a Cyclone has ever accomplished the feat.  Gilbert had 10 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.  Watching the game, I had no idea that he was close to a triple double.  Gilbert was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Tamin Lipsey (16), Milan Momcilovic (15), Tre King (13), Hason Ward (10), and Curtis Jones (10).  It was nice to see Hason Ward playing again, as he had missed the last 9 games after being injured against Idaho State. 

Today was Maxwell's 28th ISU men's basketball game.  

Iowa State 85, New Hampshire 70.

The second thing that I wanted to blog about is that I went down to Memphis to watch the Cyclones play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.  Unfortunately, the Cyclones lost to the Memphis Tigers by a score of 36-26.  It was a quick trip down and back to Memphis for me.  Kickoff for the game was at 2:30 on Friday the 29th.  I had to work on Thursday, and after work I drove down to St. Louis where I stayed with the Gleasons.  My brother-in-law Brian came down to the game with me, and we left St. Louis around 6 AM on Friday.  We had enough time to tailgate for a while before heading into the game.  The weather was not great.  It was snowing for most of my drive down to St. Louis.  In Memphis it sprinkled lightly and was cold (40 degrees).  Iowa State's offence was completely one-dimensional, as they had ZERO rushing yards.  Rocco Becht threw for a school record 446 passing yards, which was fun at least.  

After the game, Brian and I went over to Beale street for some food and entertainment.  We tried to get into King Jerry Lawler's Hall of Fame Bar & Grille, but it was packed.  We grabbed supper at The Pig on Beale, where we each had pulled pork sandwiches.  They were tasty.  Afterwards, we headed over to Silky O'Sullivan's.  It was a dueling piano bar, and it was a lot of fun!  They also had 32 oz beers for only $8, which I though was great.  I had a couple of Yuengling beers, which I had never tried before.  

This was my third trip down to Memphis to watch ISU in the Liberty Bowl.  I had also attended the 2017 game (a win against Memphis) and the 2012 game (a loss against Tulsa).  

One of Brian's friends has a daughter in the marching band, who we were able to see.

The stadium did fill in better after this, but it was no where close to a sell-out like it was in 2017.  Memphis fans outnumbered Cyclones.

Thursday, December 21st, 2023

 Tonight Nolan and I attended the Iowa State men's basketball game against Eastern Illinois.  The Cyclones ran past the Panthers by a score of 80-48.  Eastern Illinois plays in the Ohio Valley Conference, and they are from Charleston, Illinois.  

The Cyclones had a balanced scoring attack today, as one player scored 18 and three others scored 16 points apiece.  I would say that Tamin Lipsey was the player of the game for the Cyclones, as he filled up the stat sheet the most (16 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals).  Curtis Jones led the team with 18 points, Robert Jones had 16, and Milan Momcilovic had 16 (all in the second half).  

This was Nolan's 33rd men's basketball game, and it was my second time watching ISU play against Eastern Illinois.  The Cyclones had defeated the Panthers by a score of 101-53 back in 2018.

GO CYCLONES!

Sunday, December 17th, 2023

 We had a fun weekend in Ames hosting the GLEKS Christmas party.  The Gleasons, Lacinas, and grandma Becky all came over for the weekend (although most had to stay at a nearby hotel since we don't have a lot of sleeping space at the house).

During our get-together we had a gift exchange, played lots of games (pig it and hog it, Secret Hitler, Hues and Cues, spoons), and we had lots of good food.  Yesterday we went out to Hickory Park, and today we ordered Pizza Pit.  We also had a foreign exchange student (Thomas) stop by for most of it.  

This afternoon most of us went over to Hilton for the ISU men's basketball game against the Florida A&M Rattlers.  The Saltons, Gleasons, and Thomas all went to the game.  This was Nolan's 32nd men's basketball game, and it was Maxwell's 27th game.  This was actually the second time that Maxwell and I have seen Iowa State play the Rattlers, as Florida A&M had upset the Cyclones back in 2019.

As for today's game, I would say that Tamin Lipsey was the player of the game, although it was a close call between him and Tre King.  Lipsey led the team with 19 points (including going 5-7 from three) and added 5 assists.  Tre King had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  They were joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Milan Momcilovic (14), Jackson Paveletzke (13), and Keshon Gilbert (10).  

Nolan and Maxwell posing with today's scoreboard.

Nolan got to enjoy a Clone Cone.  Maxwell had a soda and popcorn.

GLEKS cousins!