Happy Thursday Fanatics! I apologize for the mailbag showing up a day late here at CycloneFanatic.com. If you hadn’t noticed, we had a few things going on over the last 24 hours. That’s where I am going to start today, before I jump into your questions.
It is amazing how three days can change the feel around a program. The Nebraska win was awesome. People were positive. NCAA Tournament talk was in the air. Then, a guy goes back to Germany and the world has officially come to the end.
Luckily, I posted for mailbag questions before Lucca’s announcement so good news Fanatics. You will not have to read about that story in this column. Enjoy!
GeronimusClone writes: In today’s Sioux City Journal, columnist Terry Hersom calls on Iowa fans to get to Hawkeyereport.com to defend Sioux City-native Brennan Cougill against the angry posters. I find it funny, because I think it’s going to have an opposite effect for the kid. Is it really smart for journalists to delve so deeply into message boards like ours for their story/column? How many stories would you guess originate from message boards? Where do you see the message board/news relationship heading into the future as it pertains to CF?
CW: First of all, thank you sooooo much for bringing this up. I have never met Terry Hersom. But here are my thoughts. I just read the piece by the way. Obviously, Hersom seems like one of those anti-message board guys. But by bringing up HawkeyeReport.com in a column, he just gave the poster exactly what he or she wanted. That is some sort of credibility. The journalism world has changed so much in the last 10 years. Maybe more than any other industry in the world. Some guys just cannot escape the 80’s style of the business. That’s why I have so much respect for Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register. Here’s a guy who is old enough to be my grandpa, (that is a joke Randy) who continues to change with the times and be the best in the business. Ask anybody around. Peterson has that reputation for a reason. Hersom’s column was meant to defend a local kid. It came off as a desperate ploy to be read by the message board community. You’re right GC. I’m sure that column did Cougill no favors at all. And you’re also right about your other point. I know for a fact that pretty much every writer who covers Iowa State frequents CycloneFanatic.com on a daily basis, usually multiple times. Some don’t like the message board world. I see their points and reasons for that. But not liking something doesn’t mean that you have to disrespect it. You absolutely have to respect sites like this. With the amount of traffic we get, it is impossible to ignore. In this business, you have to stay ahead. A lot of news breaks on sites like these. It is the world the we live in. I just don’t feel like some people understand the point of these sites. It is here so fans can sound off. Fans are not held to the same standards as journalists. They shouldn’t be. It’s not their job. So by calling a random poster a “nitwit,” that seems pretty unfair to me. That “nitwit” could be a doctor who saves lives for a living. How do you know? You don’t. Having said that, people need to realize that what they write can be awfully hateful sometimes. That’s what we’re trying to clean up here at CF. If you write something in very poor taste, it is a matter of time before we delete it. If you keep doing it, nananana, hey hey hey, goodbye.
I don’t see the relationship of the message board/news industries changing much in the future. The journalism industry isn’t done changing. This will continue to happen over the next 10 years. My brief thoughts on that are: Newspapers will not die. Neither will radio. They’ll have to change the way they do business, but they still serve a very serious purpose. Free sites like CF are going to start to dominate the Internet world. Internet advertising is growing by the day. People don’t want to spend a bunch of money for information if they don’t have to. Etc. I could write about this forever. Thanks for giving me the opportunity today.
Do you think Bobby Knight is morphing into the John Madden of the NCAA? I can’t stand to watch him call a game and point out the obvious. “Well, they are up by two and if he makes both free throws that’s a two possession game and then they have to score twice to be in this thing.”
CW: I don’t know about the John Madden comparison but I did get annoyed the other night watching him do the KSU-Texas game. Knight went off about the KSU students chanting “overrated.” I agree. It is a stupid chant. But then Knight said that the students need to start chanting “great effort” and “thank you.” Now I love the General. But that is just stupid and unrealistic. Sure, it would be classy but that’s not what student sections are all about. When you sign up to be a division one college athlete, you should know that dumb chants like that are going to come your way. Deal with it.
CycloneYoda writes: If you had to compare Coach McDermott with any other D-1 coach in the history, who would it be and why?
CW: Great question. I’m not going to get too creative here, simply because I don’t need to. Mac and Ben Jacobson of Northern Iowa are like brothers. They act the same. They have the same values. Both are great men. Honestly, that is the best comparison out there.
Cycopath25 writes: Name your top 10 ISU athletes of all-time across all sports.
CW: That’s an awfully big request for a mailbag question isn’t it? That’s more like an entire column. Don’t worry about it though. I am about to attempt this off the top of my head. I’m even going to go above and beyond and list why these people are on my list. Deal? Here’s a quick warning. These names will be totally biased based off of the fact that I have a lot of friends who are former athletes. This list goes in no particular order.
10 – Hiawatha Rutland – Ever hear his rap album entitled “Bigger and Wetter Thangs?” Priceless. That alone puts him on this list.
9 – Anna Florzak – Anna is a senior on the WBB team right now. I’ve gotten to know her very well over the past few years. She’s a sweet gal who has a nice future outside of basketball ahead of her. Good friend. Gotta give her some love today.
8 – Scott Stephenson –I once attempted to wrestle him back in the day. Needless to say, I spent the next three days in the hospital.
7 – Jared Homan – My favorite player in Iowa State men’s basketball history. He was mean. He was intense. He is exactly what this year’s team needs.
6 – Lyndsey Medders – I credit Lyndsey for making me a women’s basketball fan. The first game I ever went to was during her freshman year, where the Cyclones beat Iowa in what I think was a triple-OT win. Outside of hoops, she’s just a great person. She’s one of Iowa State’s great ambassadors.
5 – Austin Flynn – “Flynn to win.” How can I not put this guy on the list? Austin Flynn is the true meaning of a Cyclone. He always put the team before himself. One classy dude.
4 – Bret Meyer – I rank Bret right up there with Austin as far as representation of the program goes.
3 – Jack Whitver – Of course there was the catch. In addition to that, Whitver has continued to represent Iowa State with his work in the local media over the past few years. I’ve gotten to know him very well and I’ve always been very impressed with his work.
2 – Mike Brandtner – A punter? Yes, a punter. Mike is the man. I wish him well over the next few months. I have a good feeling that the NFL awaits him.
1 – Adam Carper – I live with him. I have to put him at number one right? Carps will be the best man in my May 15 wedding, so I guess he has earned a spot on the list.
If you were a superhero, which one would you be?
CW: Batman. No question.
Mizouse87 writes: How do you feel CylentButDeadly did on the call in show last Saturday after the Nebraska game? Does he have a future of being your co-host?
CW: CylentButDeadly has some real talent. Does he have a future of being my co-host? Hmmm….he’ll have to have a few less beers if that is the case!
What kind of “pajamas” do you wear to bed?
CW: This is the weirdest question that anybody has ever asked me on this board. Seriously? I’ll give you all a hint. I go shirtless. I end this conversation here.
Alarson writes: Chris, what is your take on the current NBC Late Night drama? Are you on team CoCo?
CW: I cannot stand Jay Leno and Conan is my favorite late night guy…so I am CoCo all the way. Conan has been awesome all week long, just spitting in the face of NBC. Priceless. I hope that Leno falls on his face when he returns to 10:35. What a joke.
Clones85’ writes: If you spilled a full beer on a girl in front of you at a football game, what is the most amount of money you would give that girl as an apology?
CW: Wow. Well played. Here’s a story for everybody who is out of the loop. So I’m with Clones85’ at the Vikes/Cowboys game last Sunday. This man walks buy who is very drunk. He literally spills an entire beer on the woman sitting in front of us. As expected, she got very angry. He then proceeded to hand her a 100-dollar bill for her troubles. Amazing. I wish he would have spilled on me…three or four times.
DRCHIRO writes: How many conference wins do we need to get in the tourney? 8-8, 9-7. Include what we would have to do in the conference tourney.
CW: If Iowa State can beat Kansas on Saturday, 9-7 will do it I believe. With a loss to Kansas, I think that 10 wins might be that magic number. With a 9-7 record and no Kansas win, one conference tournament win COULD get the Cyclones in. Two definitely would.
Ketlemeister writes: Football question. Trying to assess James Capello. How tall is he, and what do you hear on his arm strength?
CW: Here’s a reliable scouting report that I recently obtained about Capello as a quarterback.
“Great accuracy. Quick feet. All around a tough kid. His high school system was similar to what Iowa State runs.”
D4nim4l writes: Brackins vs Fizer. 1 on 1. First to 10 wins. 3s are worth 2. Who wins and why?
CW: In a gym, with an official, I say Brackins wins. Better shooter. Street ball? No question. Fizer.
Melvin writes: Is CJL safe from going to UCLA, what’s the latest? Someone reported that Nebraska and Wisconsin would be the only (2) positions that might interest her. I believe the longer she remains a Cyclone and continues to build the program, the greater the probability that she remains a Cyclone.
CW: Thanks for the question Melvin. But honestly, I don’t have the qualifications to answer this because I really don’t know. I do know that Christy loves Ames and Iowa State’s fan support. She built this program from the ground up. I find it hard to believe that it will be easy for her to up and leave for just any random opportunity.
MNCyGuy writes: How many more times would it take beating Nebraska at their own games (FB and VB) and sending our basketball students to Lincoln to irritate them will it take to truly establish it as a rivalry?
CW: This is no disrespect to Iowa State. But given the fact that I have lived in the heart of the Husker Nation, I find it hard to believe that they’ll ever consider Iowa State a real rival in the near future. Those Husker fans all live in the past. Historically, Iowa State has never been much of a threat to them. Win in Lincoln again in football? Then it would be on.
