Thursday, November 6th, 2025

 Well, tonight was another successful and fun basketball game for us.  This time I took Nolan over to Hilton, where we watched the #16 Cyclones defeat the Grambling State Tigers, 102-62. Grambling State plays in the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference), and they are from Grambling, Louisiana. 

Speaking of fun, Nolan was able to get a shirt from the t-shirt cannon!  That's two games in a row where the kids have been lucky enough to come home with a shirt!  I think that I've gotten a good idea now about when and where to have the kids go if they want a good chance at a shirt...

Nolan and I also were on the jumbotron 3 times during tonight's game!  We had a selfie that was shown, and then 2 times we were shown there during the "Cyclones Live" video feed.  So that was pretty cool.  We even ran into my cousin Kelly at the game.

As far as the game goes, Joshua Jefferson was the player of the game.  He scored 20 points and collected 8 rebounds.  Jefferson was one of six Cyclones to score in double digits... which included Milan Momcilovic (11), Killyan Toure (11), Jamarion Batemon (11), Tamin Lipsey (10), and Dominick Nelson (10). 

Tonight's game was the 46th time Nolan has watched an ISU men's basketball game, and it was the second time that I have seen the Cyclones play against Grambling State.  The previous time was back in 2021. 

Nolan and Cy!

Nolan holding the t-shirt that he caught.

Monday, November 3rd, 2025

 Tonight Maxwell and I had fun at the Iowa State men's basketball season opener, where the Cyclones defeated the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson, 88-50.  Fairleigh Dickinson University is located in Hackensack, New Jersey, and the Knights are members of the Northeast Conference. 

The highlight of tonight's game for us was probably catching a t-shirt!  Maxwell and I were walking across the walkway of the upper deck because Eben was sitting over in section 203, and we wanted to go and say hi.  About when we got to midcourt they started doing the t-shirt toss, and we were lucky enough to have a shirt come right at us.  Besides grabbing a shirt, Maxwell also got his picture with Cy, he posed with the Johnny Orr statue, and I bought him some popcorn for a snack.  

As for the game, Milan Momcilovic scored a career-high 29 points and connected on 7 three-pointers!  He was joined in double figures scoring by Tamin Lipsey (18) and Joshua Jefferson (14).  I was happy to see Tamin Lipsey play well today, because he had been out of practice for about 6 weeks due to an MCL sprain.  We also got to see a bunch of newcomers to the team, but I would say that the one who stood out the most from that group was Killyan Toure.  He is a freshman guard who was able to start the game, and he ended up with 9 points.

Today's game was the 38th Cyclone basketball game that Maxwell has attended.  

Maxwell with the Johnny Orr statue.

Maxwell and Cy!

Iowa State 88, Fairleigh Dickinson 50.

Saturday, November 1st, 2025

 Today was kind of a miserable day for a football game, but I was proud of Nolan for sticking it out with me until the end.  Not only was it frustrating to watch Iowa State lose to Arizona State, but the weather was crummy.  Most of the day it was lightly raining, and it was a cold November day (upper 30s to low 40s for temperature).  For part of the game it was even lightly hailing on us.  Even with all of that, we stuck it out until the end.  

There was a very scary moment in the game, when Iowa State's tight end Benjamin Brahmer collapsed onto the field after taking a hit.  He was carted off of the field on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.  That was probably the quietest that I have heard it inside of Jack Trice.  Thankfully, it sounds like he is going to be ok.

So, despite the cold, and the losing football, and the scary injury... we still managed to have a fun day.  I believe that this is the 14th football game that I have taken Nolan to.  The previous game I had taken him to was against Iowa this year.  

Saturday, October 25th, 2025

 Well, it's homecoming weekend at Iowa State, so of course I spent the day helping LaVonne with the alumni band.  Aaron also drove up from Oklahoma to help out.  Unfortunately, the Cyclones ended up losing to 11th-ranked BYU, 41-27.  

Iowa State started off the game with a bang, as they scored on the very first play, a 75-yard touchdown pass from Rocco Becht to Brett Eskildsen.  The Cyclones actually led at the end of the first quarter by a score of 17-7.  Sadly, it just went downhill from there, and the Cyclones made a number of costly mistakes.  

Today marks the first time that I have been in attendance for an ISU football game against BYU.  It also marks the 11th time that I have helped push LaVonne for a homecoming football game.  The other times were against Texas Tech in 2024, Kansas in 2023, West Virginia in 2022, Oklahoma State in 2021, Oklahoma State in 2019, Texas Tech in 2018, TCU in 2017, Kansas State in 2016, Texas in 2015, and Toledo in 2014.  

It was a pretty full day helping with the alumni band.  Aaron and LaVonne picked me up around 7:30 this morning.  We drove over to the Bergstrom practice facility, where the band had practice going over formations and rehearsing music for a couple of hours.  Then we went over to C.Y. Stephens Auditorium, where the alumni band had lunch and their annual meeting.  Around 1:25 the band marched into the stadium.  Finally I helped push LaVonne onto the field to perform the halftime show.  

Myself, LaVonne, and Aaron at the alumni band practice.

Thursday, October 16th, 2025

 Tonight Maxwell and I had some fun at Hilton Coliseum, where we watched the ISU volleyball team defeat West Virginia in four sets (14-25, 25-22, 25-20, and 25-21).  

I wasn't sure it was going to be Iowa State's day early on, as the Mountaineers dominated the first set.  Thankfully, the Cyclones were able to play well the rest of the way and came out on top.  It had been quite a while since I had taken Maxwell to a volleyball game, as the last time that I can remember taking him was back in 2019 against South Dakota.  This was the third time that I have seen a volleyball game against West Virginia (2017 and 2015 were the others).  

I do think Maxwell had fun tonight.  We enjoyed a Clone Cone before the game.  Then we were on the Jumbotron a number of times, as I submitted a couple of photos... and since not many other people did so they kept popping up over and over!  He was pretty happy each time. Then we were also on the live camera on the Jumbotron, and of course he was acting silly during that. At one point the score of the game was 6 to 7, and Maxwell started yelling 6-7!! The band heard him, and they even started doing the same thing!  Later we got to dance to Juicy Wiggle.  So yeah, it was a fun night.

Maxwell with a Clone cone!

Sunday, September 28th, 2025

 This weekend we had a fun family get-together with the Shostaks.  Logan & Emma did not have school on Friday, so Amy & Brandon were able to leave Omaha earlier than usual, and they were at our place by 4 PM.  That night we all went out to eat at at Wallaby's, and then the adults stayed up late having a few drinks and making "epic stories".

Saturday morning we helped the kids make their own Jack-o-lanterns, which was fun.  Then in the afternoon, Amy & I went tailgating while everyone else went down to Adventureland for a fun-filled day.  For the tailgate, the theme was a taco bar.  I brought a small crock pot with Velveeta & Rotel dip.  It was a nice day to tailgate, as temperatures were in the low 80's.  Kickoff for the game was 6 PM, and it was a "white out", where everyone was encouraged to wear white.

As for the game, I'm happy to say that Iowa State easily defeated Arizona, 39-14.  Coming into the game, Iowa State was something like a 5-point favorite, so I was expecting a close game.  Iowa State was also without their starting kicker, as Kyle Konrardy is injured... so they relied on third-string walk-on Chase Smith for kicking duties.  Smith actually did a good job, as he went 4/4 on extra points, and he even made a 34 yard field goal!  Another player that really stepped up for Iowa State was Chase Sowell, as he had 4 receptions for 146 yards.  

It had been a couple of years since Amy has gone to a football game with me, as the previous game was against TCU in 2023.  This was the first time that I have seen Iowa State play against Arizona, but it was also the first football game between Arizona and ISU as conference opponents.  The previous time these two programs played was back in 1968.  

Here the kids are all carving pumpkins!

GO CYCLONES!

Saturday, September 6th, 2025

 IT'S A CYCLONE STATE!!

Today I took Nolan with me to the CyHawk football game at Jack Trice Stadium, and I'm happy to say that the Cyclones won a hard fought game, 16-13. 

The game was an 11:00 AM kickoff, so we had to get up early to go tailgating.  Dan cooked up some waffles for everyone for the tailgate.  Nolan, Bash, and I all had fun playing catch with the football.  

As for the game, Kyle Konrardy came up clutch, as he made a 54-yard field goal with 1:52 left in the 4th quarter to give Iowa State the lead for good.  Benjamin Brahmer had the only touchdown for the Cyclones today, which was a 2-yard pass reception from Rocco Becht. 

This was the 8th football game that I have attended between Iowa State and Iowa, and it was only the 3rd win for the Cyclones (today, 2007, and 2005).  The Hawkeyes won in 2023, 2021, 2019, 2013, and 2009.  This was the first time that Nolan has been to a CyHawk football game.  He did see the Cyclones beat the Hawkeyes in basketball, back in 2023.