Cykron

Sounds like gymnastics after a routine when all the girls run down and scream even though the routine sucked.

The "N" stands for "No Ethics!"

Further proof of the accuracy of my August 13th post about Nebraska's delusional fan base.

Once again, you clearly see the difference between Iowa State values and Fusker values! Welcome to our border war.

Iowa State is paying in full the contract with South Dakota State and giving replacements tickets for our cancelled game.

Got a few minutes this afternoon to give some restaurant advice. Already gave some to folks showing up today to watch the Browns game. I recommended Wallaby's to someone else on the site. Both my son and I thought it was the best place for them to watch the Browns game on Thursday night. It is probably our best sports bar. Classy place. Great artifacts on the walls. Really good food. Local owners. Our most famous place in Hickory Park BBQ. There is always a long line, but never as long a wait as you think. The place is much bigger than it looks. Great food and ice cream. It will be packed with football fans. Again, local owners. Another place I'm hearing good things about is Jethro's BBQ (across the street from Hickory Park). It is new and claims to be the largest sports bar in town. Tons of TVs. It is the Ames restaurant of a Des Moines chain. A non-BBQ, non-sports place is Aunt Maude's. One of our best restaurants. Brick City Grill is also nice. Reminds me of a neighborhood hangout in a nice urban neighborhood. Bar La Tosca on Main Street is a great Italian restaurant. Great bartenders. Two bar scenes. One on Main Street will have more young professionals. The other is Welch Avenue in Campustown will have mostly university students. Olde Main (downtown) is probably our best known brewery (with a full restaurant). But Torrent Brewing (just off Main Street) and Alluvial (north of town) are better, but with no food. El Azteca is great Mexican food prepared by local owners. Two locations (one near I-35/US30 and one on Stange just north of campus). Stomping Grounds is a great place for coffee, crepes, but also mid-day sandwiches. Classic, tiny old school diner is The Grove on Main Street. May be open only for breakfast. Probably packed on Saturday. Tip Top Lounge. A vintage place for chili and drinks to get your day started right. Seriously, about the only time I hear about it is when someone wants to do some pre-tailgating! West Side Pub (southwest corner of Ames) is operated by a huge Cyclone fan who even sponsors a break during each game. "Say it with me, 'We Love the Cyclones!'" Jeff's Pizza on Lincoln Way is the best in town. Great, unique recipes. Great Plains Pizza on Main Street is also good. Make sure to put honey on your crust. Our local Wing Stop franchise is owned by Seneca Wallace. Browns fans know him. If you don't know who he is, Google "Seneca Wallace and The Run." Let me know what you are looking for (or like from these recommendations) and I'll try to give you more info if needed. P.S. I apologize to the local places that I forgot to mention.

If this is who I think it is (same username as on Cyclonefanatic.com), he is an expert on Iowa beers. Valuable resource!

If you are going to the game, please be in your seat by 10:45am CT for the time of honoring Celia. Interestingly, they were going to honor her this week anyway as the Iowa State athlete of the year for last year!

The Wide Right and Natty Light page is great. Ham (user on Zips Nation) told me the WRNL guys will be tailgating in the G-7 lot.

Ironically, I'm going to Evanston (actually Skokie) on Thursday. Hopefully, they have cleaned up the mess that you left there. Look forward to seeing some of you back in Ames (or on I-88, 80, or 35 along the way). My vanity plates say ISUPL8S.

Great press conference. Really enjoyed listening to him. Impressed with Bowden. He must come from good stock! Lots of coaching perspective, but very little vacuous coach-speak. Surprisingly open and honest ("I don't want to be the sixth coach to be fired.") ("I don't want to throw anyone under the bus after such a great win, but our Center missed the snap signal several times.") Loved hearing him talk about his "good group of guys," seniors graduating, and not having to worry about the guys who don't travel. Clever of him to act like he doesn't know what the point spread is ("It will be 17, 14, . . ."). Since when is it a penalty for a linebacker to give a receiver a "souffle?" I love a coach who is focused on football.

Bowden talks a lot about Butler (never by name), our 6'6" receiver and focuses only on his height. However, his big gains this year have come from Butler shedding, running over, and dragging tacklers. He is a beast! Also, Deshante Jones (#8), from Cincinnati, had 9 receptions against Oklahoma.

Here is a podcast of Matt Campbell being interviewed by Chris Williams of CycloneFanatic.com. Lots of respect given to Terry Bowden. First part of the podcast is Campbell talking about yesterday's tragedy. https://cyclonefanatic.com/podcasts/podcast-matt-campbell-talks-tragedy-loss-to-ou-and-the-akron-zips/

As Ernie Banks used to say, "Let's play two!"

Northern Alabama is available only because Iowa State bought out their contract with Incarnate Word last week. Iowa State will play Incarnate Word on December 1st as our 12th game because our cancelled game was with an FCS team. The contract with Incarnate Word includes an escape clause if we are playing in the Big 12 championship or they make the FCS playoffs.

Here is a link to some thoughts from the publisher of CycloneFanatic.com. https://cyclonefanatic.com/2018/09/williams-isu-community-mourns-football-musings-following-encouraging-outing-vs-sooners/

And the fact that the majority of our football coaching staff is from Ohio! We are feeling pretty good for an 0-2 team. I'm not hearing much chatter yet about TCU. There is more buzz about letting the EIU and OU games get away, as well as replacing the cancelled game versus a top FCS school with Incarnate Word. I suspect today our fans will really start honing in on our game with you. We don't take the big point spread too seriously, mostly because we just aren't familiar with such a phenomenon. We tend to have a "here comes the groin kick" mentality when things are looking too rosy for us (we could be great Browns fans). I hear plenty of people talking about winning this game as essential for our bowl hopes given our tough schedule.

Good analysis. Sparked a few comments. 1. We have a solid and deep defensive line. We do complete line changes during many series. In the past, we have hardly had one guy to sub in confidently. 2. The DBs played soft against OU, but not the EIU Hokeyes the week before. We had a lot of respect for the little, speedy OU receivers (and still one of them got behind us for a long pass). I expect to see us do much more jamming at the line this week. We were downright disrespectful to the EIU receivers. I expect us to dare you to try to go over the top. Our tackling hasn't been so good, but our coverage has been pretty good most of the time. 3. Butler is tall at receiver, but also a beast. He runs over guys or slips away from tackles in most games. He has dragged would-be tacklers in the endzone. Butler was raised with the Harrison twins who played MBB for Kentucky. 4. Jones (from Cincinnati) is not big and strong, but very elusive after contact. He slips away from tackles about half the time he catches the ball. 5. The offensive line is still figuring things out. We start a true freshman (Newell) at Center. Last year's Center (Good-Jones) moved to Left Tackle. If these guys give him a little help, Montgomery could be terrific.

For those of you still trying to decide where to tailgate, take note that Coldwater Golf Course is adjacent to the G-7 grass lot! Here is a local news report: https://www.kcci.com/article/victim-identified-man-charged-in-golf-course-death/23294360 For more unofficial info and discussion, check out the Cyclonefanatic.com thread: "Death Investigation Underway At Coldwater Golf Course." It is really terrible.

It is raining today and there is some possibility of rain in the forecast. However, our natural grass field will be in great shape. We have played games after torrential storms and the field barely looks torn up at all afterwards. It was built far below grade in a flood plain, but has an incredibly well-engineered drainage system and the grounds crew are notoriously protective of the field.

Nice little article about 5 things to know. Is that stuff right out of your media guide? It was published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette (or as we call it the Crapids Gazette because of their emphasis on the Hokeyes, but they are getting better). I wonder if the author even knows that we played last year. The injured linebacker (McMillan) played about 1/3 of the time so far this season. Mike Rose (true freshman from Brecksville) won the starting job (beating out McMillan and an Iowa redshirt freshman named O'Rien Vance who I don't think has even played yet this year). It is really too bad as McMillan has waited his turn and seemed to be coming into his own this year. The big question is how did you (and every other school) let Mike Rose slip through your fingers? He has been nothing short of great in his first 2 -1/8 games.

Ha ha. I think you guys made their identity pretty clear!

Here is the headline and lead to the article in the Des Moines Register this morning written by the Iowa State beat reporter: Cyclones a 3-TD fave over Akron? Say what? AMES, Ia. — Stuff I still wonder after a couple Iowa State games in which the Cyclones played mostly well, yet are 0-2 entering a Saturday engagement in which they’re favored against an Akron team that’s coming off an historic road victory against a Big Ten opponent ... Why is Iowa State a three-touchdown favorite? I did a double-take when looking at the Las Vegas Odds Monday morning, too. Cyclones over Terry Bowden’s Akron team by 18 1⁄ 2 points? That incomprehensible betting line is — again, incomprehensible. The Zips trailed by 18 points at half against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., which isn’t exactly a place where opponents fear playing. They won 39-34 for their first success against a Big Ten team since 1987. Akron’s only other victory against a team now in the Big Ten was against Ohio State in 1894. So, in other words, a while ago. “ The cards are stacked against Mid-American Conference schools,” Bowden said on the MAC teleconference Monday morning, primarily referring to bigger football budgets. “You have to make your kids believe they can win — and then you’re down 21-3, and you want them to go out there and still believe.” They believed — and about that betting line? It’ll change by week’s end. Randy Peterson Columnist Des Moines Register USA TODAY NETWORK Surprisingly level-headed.

Now we are getting the discussions started in the cyclonefanatic.com forums: "Cyclones Open As 19 Point Favorites Over Akron." Most of us think it is too high. "Depth Chart Vs Akron." And the always popular "***Official Zips Look-A-Like Thread***"

The G7 lot is a grass lot for the poor people who don't donate enough to be on pavement! Seriously, G7 is a great lot with a wonderful view of the east side of the stadium. And it is easy access by walking across the intramural field. No snootiness in G-7. Just diehard Iowa State football fans. However, the big sales pitch for G7 is the Wide Right and Natty Light guys. They are terrific and get more clever as they drink. Yet, nobody serves better food than us. We are planning to serve a few hundred breakfast burritos cooked on a discada (think Mexican wok) before your eyes. The cooking itself is a spectacular display. You will find us on the grass just east of the D-1 RV lot. We will probably be there after the game too.