Thursday, December 11th, 2025

 IT'S A CYCLONE STATE!!

As a matter of fact, this year is about the most dominant that ISU has ever been over Iowa. The Cyclones have already defeated the Hawkeyes in football, wrestling, volleyball, men's and women's cross country, women's basketball, and as of tonight... men's basketball!  

Tonight I took Maxwell with me to Hilton, where we watched #4 Iowa State win a hard fought battle with the Hawkeyes, 66-62.  Iowa seemed to play very well in the first half, and they led the Cyclones at halftime, 33-25.  Thankfully, Iowa State was able to rally in the second half, as they were led by Joshua Jefferson's 24 points.  Jefferson made some clutch plays down the stretch to help seal the win.  He drained a 3-pointer with about 3 minutes left to give the Cyclones a 5-point advantage, and he made the last 2 free throws to ice the game.  Jefferson was joined in double figures scoring by Tamin Lipsey (14) and Milan Momcilovic (10). 

Tonight was Maxwell's first Cy-Hawk basketball game, and it was the 39th ISU basketball game that he has attended. As for myself, this was the seventh men's basketball game that I have seen between ISU and Iowa.  That includes six victories for the Cyclones (today, 2023, 2021, 2017, 2015, and in 2013). 

Another thing to note was that Maxwell caught a t-shirt all by himself!  That makes 5 sporting events in a row where we have came home with a free shirt!  

GO CYCLONES!

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025

#10 Iowa State Cyclones 132, Alcorn State Braves 68.

Tonight Nolan and I enjoyed watching a record-setting win for the Cyclones.  The 132 points that Iowa State scored today are a school record.  They also set the school record for most 3-pointers in a game, as they made 22 of 30 from long range!

It's a little hard to choose, but I will say that Joshua Jefferson was the player of the game for Iowa State.  He scored 24 points (including 20 points in the first half), and he dished out 10 assists.  Milan Momcilovic had a great game as well, as he led the team with 27 points and connected on 8 of 9 threes. Other double-digit scorers for Iowa State included Jamarion Batemon (26), Killyan Toure (13), Nate Heise (13), and Dominykas Pleta (12). 

I was able to snag a t-shirt at the game, which is now the 4th sporting event in a row where we have gotten a shirt!  This one I am planning to bring out to Omaha over the weekend and give to Amy & Brandon.

Tonight's game was the 47th ISU men's basketball game that Nolan has attended, and it was the second time each of us has seen the Cyclones play against Alcorn State (2017 was the first). In case you are wondering, Alcorn State is located in Lorman, Mississippi, and the Braves are members of the SWAC.  This is the same conference that Grambling State is in, who we saw play earlier this year. 

GO CYCLONES!

Saturday, November 22nd, 2025

Today turned out to be a great day for a football game, as today's weather was sunny and about 60 degrees, which is about the best you can hope for during the last home football game of the season.  As for the game, Nolan and I watched the Cyclones knock off the Kansas Jayhawks, 38-14.

The Cyclones were in control for pretty much the whole game, as they led 17-0 at halftime.  Rocco Becht threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Brett Eskildsen and one to Benjamin Brahmer. Carson Hansen rushed for 120 yard and one score.  Kyle Konrardy made a 55 yard field goal, which had plenty of leg.  So yeah, it was nice to enjoy a well-played game from the Cyclones and a stress-free win against a conference opponent.

Another fun thing that happened during the game is that I caught a t-shirt!  They actually had some people come into the upper deck to throw out shirts, which was fun.  If you are keeping track, my family has now collected 3 shirts this month from ISU sporting events!  

Today's game was the 15th Cyclone football game that Nolan has attended, and it was his 5th win against a Big 12 team.  The other conference games he has seen Iowa State win were Cincinnati last year, UCF last year, at Kansas State in 2021, and vs Texas Tech in 2020. 

As for myself, this was the 9th time that I have attended a football game between the Cyclones and the Jayhawks.  That includes Iowa State wins in 2021, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2011, and 2002.  The only Kansas win was in 2023. 

Nolan with the shirt we caught at the game.

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.