Wednesday, February 28th, 2024

 I'm excited right now, as Maxwell and I just got home from watching another fun win for Iowa State.

The #8 Cyclones took down the Oklahoma Sooners in the last meeting between the two schools as Big 12 opponents, 58-45.  I was nervous coming into the game, as this was Maxwell's last opportunity to watch the Cyclones knock off the Sooners before leaving to the SEC.  One of my goals was to take each kid to see a basketball win against each Big 12 school, and that could have been spoiled if Oklahoma won today... but thankfully the good guys came out on top!

As for the game, it was not pretty offensively.  None of Iowa State's starters managed to score in double figures.  The player of the game for ISU was Demarion Watson, who came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points and collect 9 rebounds.  The only other Cyclone in double figures was Curtis Jones (11).  

This was the 31st men's basketball game that I have taken Maxwell to.  He has now witnessed wins against each of the old Big 12 schools, except for Oklahoma State.  Of course he still needs to see wins against all of the new Big 12 schools.

Today's game was the tenth time that I have seen the Cyclones play the Sooners.  Iowa State has won eight of those, including today, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.  Oklahoma won in 2023 and 2003.

GO CYCLONES!

Saturday, February 24th, 2024

 LET'S GO CYCLONES!!

Today I took Nolan over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the #6 Iowa State Cyclones survive a scare from the West Virginia Mountaineers, 71-64.  Coming into the game, I was expecting this to be an easy win for Iowa State.  West Virginia was last place in the Big 12 Conference, but give them credit for keeping the game close.  The Mountaineers opened up the game on fire, as they led 11-2.  Iowa State would respond to take a 40-30 lead at halftime.  In the second half West Virginia came back to take the lead 51-50 with about 9 minutes left to play.  Then Iowa State went on a 14-0 run that ended up putting the game away.  

I would say that Tamin Lipsey was the player of the game for the Cyclones, as he led the team with 14 points and 6 assists.  The only other player for Iowa State in double figures scoring was Curtis Jones (12).  

Today's game was the 36th men's basketball game that I have taken Nolan to.  It was the second time that he has witnessed a win vs West Virginia (2022).  As for myself, this was the seventh game that I have watched between the Cyclones and Mountaineers (and the fifth win).  Iowa State also came out on top in 2022, 2019, 2018, and in 2013.  West Virginia won in 2020 and 2017.  

Saturday, February 17th, 2024

 Another day, another win for ISU basketball.

Today I took Maxwell over to Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the #10 Iowa State Cyclones defeat the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 82-74.  

This was the first time that Maxwell has attended a game vs Texas Tech, and it was nice to have him cross one more conference opponent off of the list.  Besides today, he has also witnessed Cyclone victories against: Kansas (2024), Texas (2023), Kansas State (2020), West Virginia (2018), TCU (2017), and Baylor (2017).  This was the 30th men's basketball game that I have taken Maxwell to.  

Today's win was the 20th of the season for Iowa State, and it is one more notch in their belt that will come in handy on Selection Sunday.  Expectations are that the Cyclones should be at least a 4 seed or better in the NCAA tournament.  As for today's game, Keshon Gilbert was the player of the game.  He led the Cyclones with 24 points and 8 rebounds.  Gilbert was joined in double figures scoring for the Cyclones by Curtis Jones (12), Robert Jones (10), Tamin Lipsey (10), and Milan Momcilovic (10).  There was a fun halftime show today, as the Red Panda performed.  She is an acrobat riding a tall unicycle that will flip bowls from her foot and catch them on top of her head!

For myself, this is the eighth time that I have watched Iowa State play the Red Raiders in basketball.  I am happy to say that the Cyclones have won all eight of those games!  The previous games were in 2022, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, and 2012.  

Iowa State 82, Texas Tech 74.

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!