Cykron

Come on. Make it happen. Fly to wherever you are going and leave your car for someone else to bring. I'll be making a trip to Akron at some point this fall.

Do you guys have an official depth chart? All I can find on the website is a roster. I don't want to rely on the Ourlads depth chart. Here is a link to ours (which hasn't yet been updated since the Oklahoma game). https://cyclones.com/documents/2018/7/16/18depth.pdf

Wow. Kato was making some perfect throws. I don't remember that from him last year. Hopefully, he has gotten that out of his system now. I liked his last throw the best! Seriously, why stop the clock with time remaining? He could have run around (or even taken a safety) to let time run out. Decisions like that are what cost our former coach his job (Google Iowa State's meltdown at Kansas State a few years ago if you want to see the absolute worst). We should have seen the Zips victory coming. Even the logo on the field looks more like the Akron Z than a Northwestern N! Way to stick it to the Big 10. But don't even think about bringing that non-conference victory flag to Ames!

Don't worry about TV. Make the trip to the rolling hills and bountiful fields of central Iowa.

Unfortunately, you are going to get another week of the Big 12/10 arrogance, even from us a perennial cellar dweller. I apologize in advance.

Since I see that the Jack Trice post is getting a few "likes," I thought I would post links to some more info about him and his legacy. Best history and best writing about Jack Trice. http://www.kagavi.com/the-jack-trice-story/ http://www.kagavi.com/the-heritage-of-jack-trice-and-johnny-orr/ http://www.kagavi.com/jack-trices-jersey-number-mystery-solved/ Historical treatment by an Iowa State professor. https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1474&context=annals-of-iowa A football martyr (because of his race). https://www.sbnation.com/longform/2014/11/25/7275681/jack-trice-iowa-state-football-profile At last year's Liberty Bowl in Memphis, there was a temporary display about Jack Trice at the entrance to the National Civil Rights Museum.

Helpful tip. If you go to the cyclonefanatic.com site, don't waste your time on the thread titled "akron." As of this moment, it is 125 posts, mostly interaction with Hawkroach tolls. I'll give you links to articles and threads worth reading. Seriously, there may be a half dozen posts worth reading in that thread. Ugh. Embarrassing. We will get better as the week goes on.

We now have something in common. We have both beaten Northwestern in Evanston. We even got our nickname as a result. From Wikipedia: The "Cyclones" name dates back to 1895. That year, Iowa suffered an unusually high number of devastating cyclones (as tornadoes were called at the time). In September, the football team from what was then Iowa Agricultural College traveled to Northwestern University and defeated that team by a score of 36-0. The next day, the Chicago Tribune's headline read "Struck by a Cyclone: It Comes from Iowa and Devastates Evanston Town." The article began, "Northwestern might as well have tried to play football with an Iowa cyclone as with the Iowa team it met yesterday." The nickname stuck.

Good night. See you tomorrow.

Here is some trivia in ascending order of importance: Two former head coaches of Iowa State have left to go to Ohio State: Sam Willaman and Earl Bruce. Two former head football coaches leave and win national championships elsewhere: Johnny Majors (Pitt) and Gene Chizik (Auburn). Our band director, Michael Golemo, came from Akron!

Fun fact. Our stadium is named after someone from Ohio. Jack Trice was our first African-American player. He is from Hiram, Ohio and came to us via East Tech High School in Cleveland with Sam Willaman who returned to coach Ohio State. It is the only stadium named after an African-American. Jack Trice played only a few games (in 1923 after having to sit out his freshman year because freshmen couldn't play) and was projected to be an All-American. He only played two games (both on the road) and suffered an injury at Minnesota that proved to be fatal. His story is fascinating in many ways, but the highlight is a note he wrote to himself on the night before the Minnesota game (he wrote it in a different hotel because the KKK was having a national convention and it wasn't safe at the team hotel). "My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family & self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will! My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part. On all defensive plays I must break through the opponents' line and stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference. Fight low, with your eyes open and toward the play. Watch out for crossbucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good. Jack." We have a statue of Jack Trice outside the stadium and our letterman's club in the stadium is named after him. He has become a great source of pride for our fans.

Keep an eye on #23 Mike Rose from Brecksville. True freshman starting at MLB. He had at least 12 tackles during his first game. Most of us had only heard his name as he didn't have many offers and was one of three competing for the position. He beat out a senior and a redshirt freshman from Iowa (most of us thought he would start). We joked that Campbell just prefers the guys from Ohio, but so far, Rose has proven that he deserves to be on the field. He is playing like a veteran.

There are two visitor's sections at Iowa State's Jack Trice Stadium. One on the lower level Sections 26-27 (southeast end of the sideline lower level) and one in the upper level Sections J and H (southwest end of the sideline upper deck). The lower level ones are decent compared to the way most schools with packed stadiums are now putting the visitors in back rows or scattering them. Last week, Iowa State fans didn't fill the front half of Section H, so Oklahoma fans were able to move down toward the middle rows of the upper deck. The stadium will be nearly full. We sense that we let two big wins get away. We are the best 0-2 team in the country. Our fans are hungry for this team to live up to its preseason billing. Your game is sandwiched in-between Oklahoma and TCU!

Did anybody try any of these places? Or find anything else you liked in Evanston or Chicago? I'd love to hear about your experience around the game, as you set the stage before and celebrated after the victory.

Matt Campbell seems to be your kind of coach. He ran a lot of guys off the team when he came because he demanded they take practice seriously. "Win in the dark" was his motto (what you do in the early mornings of the off-seaon, late nights, and when no one else is watching is what will make the difference).

Much thanks to Balsy for his frequent pleas to Jesus through the tough early parts of the game!

I would also recommend you go to cyclonefanatic.com. It is a great fan site with all the content of a premier fan site, but all free. There will be some good podcasts. Some are good because of their football analysis (Jared Stansbury, Jeff Woody, Jay Jordan) and others because they are just fun (FAWcast for Friday After Work). There are already threads started over the weekend with 100 posts. Our fan forum is actually a community that has Iowa State sports at the center, but just about everything else as well. I've never seen anything quite like it for any other school in terms of volume of activity and range of topics while keeping quality analysis of our teams at the core. The mantra of the site is stated by Chris Williams, the publisher. "We aren't Iowa State fans because it is easy. We are Iowa State fans because it is awesome." The site is free and they are pretty quick about approving new members. Be open about being an Akron fan. You will be welcomed by most (and use the Ignore tool for the idiots). Most of the posters will enjoy the level of insight that many of you bring to the game. Another good site is Wide Right and Natty Light. It is a mix of actual sports analysis and very clever sarcasm (see the spoof article about Brian Ferentz and the flooding of the Hokeye's Kinnick Stadium).

Zips fans, it is game week here in Ames, Iowa. Whoever is coming to the game, please see my other posts about parking, tailgating, etc. I will be glad to try to help in whatever way I can for Zips fans coming to town. If nothing else, we have learned how to be hospitable during football season. Just ask Oklahoma. We could win 70 years in a row and still just have the series lead by one game. The average score during my lifetime is 33-10. Seriously, I've made some friends on this site and at the game in Akron last year (in addition to friends and family in the area). I even sold some nice seats at a very fair price to someone I met here. If anyone wants to tailgate with us, we usually get a great spot (we had 100+ on grass last week without being crowded). We will even fly an Akron flag (my favorite is the one with angry kangeroo eyes). Send me a private message or post here and I will give you the details about our tailgate or anything else with which I can help as you come to town.

Just looked at the point spread for our game with you. We are 19-1/2 point favorites! What? We are not the recipients of Vegas favor in football very often, but this seems very high. Maybe they think we still have your number from last year. If I bet, I would be tempted to take the Zips and the points. I fear the Roo. You guys are better than you were last year at this time. And so are we, but not that much better.

Last week was Cardinal mimosas (champagne, OJ, and UV Cherry vodka) and Cyclone OJ (with vodka and a grenadine swirl, get it?). Still working on the menu for this week. I'm thinking it will include Cyclone (tequila) Sunrises. I've never been a big Bloody Mary guy, but if you are coming, we'll make whatever you want.

I will be flipping between your game and Northern Iowa/Eastern Iowa (Iowa State is "the" state university of Iowa). Northern Iowa is my second favorite team. Eastern Iowa Hokeyes is my second least favorite team. Go Zips. Go Panthers.

Iowa State has made an agreement to play Sisters of the Poor, I mean, Incarnate Word (of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio) on December 1st, subject to us not being in the Big 12 championship (check) and them not being in the FCS playoffs (check). Our AD is a shrewd guy who is great at working in the shadows and making deals. I think it is fantastic, if for no other reason than we get an 8th, count them 8 home tailgates this year. At worst, we aren't bowl eligible and our 3rd and 4th string players get actual game experience (without wasting their redshirts thanks to the new rule) rather than emptying their lockers a week earlier. At best, we become bowl eligible or improve our bowl eligibility practice (that is if we don't make the Big 12 championship game). They are reissuing tickets for the cancelled game (which has all sorts of complications, but it should work fine for our group). What do you guys have in the works? I'm still torqued that you weren't able to beat the Bugeaters.

Walker Bros. Pancake House. Historic and oh-so-delicious. How did I forget them? I'll edit my post above.

Loyola's main campus is about a mile south of the Chicago/Evanston border right on Sheridan Road.