It’s Wednesday. That means it’s time to open up my weekly CycloneFanatic.com mailbag. We’ve got some great questions to get to today ranging from bowl talk, to the men’s basketball team to John Cena.
Enjoy.
LindenCy writes: I know it is still a little early, but what is the real scoop on what bowl game we are going to?
CW: I had to come here and edit my original entry. I woke up this morning thinking Houston. After reading all of the rumors coming out of Columbia today, I now have no idea. It may be the Insight.
I would welcome a trip to Houston. Great story here. I was at a local honky tonk on New Year’s Eve the last time we went down there. That was when I turned to my friend at the time, now fiancée) while dancing to George Strait and asked her to “be my girlfriend.” Good times. I think that half of the 2005 Iowa State football team was out two-stepping at 11 bells that evening at the same honky tonk.
Clones21 writes: Clones are going up against another monster in body size for UNI(Elgeseder sp?) I notice Brackins gets pushed around quite a bit with big bodies. What do you expect from this match up? Brackins vs The big 7 foot monster?
CW: Judging from Craig’s tone on Monday, I am anticipating his most aggressive game to date this evening on the offensive end. Craig was pretty disappointed with this play over the weekend and he’ll be ready to roll tonight. As far as the match-up goes, he’ll be fine. The dude went off on UNI last year and he’s actually got some help in the lineup tonight. I wouldn’t worry about Craig Brackins at all heading into tonight’s game. FYI, I just head Gary Rima (voice of UNI) on KXNO discussing that Adam Koch will more than likely guard Craig tonight.
St8 writes: MBB – over the weekend in Chicago we saw our shot percentages from the field down considerably from the first 5 games, is this a result of playing against tougher defenses or are guys just getting in a funk?
CW: I think that it is a little bit of both. Obviously, Saint Louis and Northwestern are much better teams that Tennessee State and Black Hills State. But the Clones were missing shots from point blank range against the Wildcats. That tells me that they are in a bit of a funk. Hopefully a little bit of Hilton Magic is the perfect medicine.
After last week and your ascension to Des Moines radio mega-stardom, are you still able to go buy groceries or fill up at the gas station without being forced to sign autographs and take photos for hours with adoring fans?
CW: This might be the most ridiculous question I have ever answered in CF Mailbag history. I realize that you are being sarcastic. That is good. The one thing that I learned last week is that no matter what a guy says, there is always going to be a segment of people who think he is an idiot. Luckily for me, this has been the case my entire life. last week, I had Hawkeye fans calling me a Cyclone homer. I had Cyclone fans calling me a Hawkeye homer. It was a fun time. I’m looking forward to doing it again soon.
Brentblum writes: Here’s the scenario…you are at the Mall of America killing time before you ride the Paul Bunyan log ride. There are 4 celebrities in the house signing autographs. At one store is the Purple Gunslinger Brett Favre, in the 2nd is WWE Superstar John Cena, in the third is country sensation, yet borderline illegal Taylor Swift and in the 4th is WHO-TV weekend meteorologist Brett McIntyre, showing off his tornado funnel that he made with two empty liters of Coke.
But you really want to get on that Bunyan log-ride to see Babe the blue ox and you can other freak out and talk to one celebrity. Who is CW chasing down? And don’t lie to the people.
CW: Interesting thoughts Mr. Blum. But this one is a no-brainer to me. I’m going to meet Taylor Swift. As a diehard Vikings fan, I spent the first 24 years of my life despising everything that Brett Favre stands for. As far as John Cena goes, I’m more of a Randy Orton guy. And Brett McIntyre…well, that one is tempting but I can call him on my cell phone any day of the week. I’m actually hitting the town of Ames with him tomorrow night.
Taylor Swift is the obvious choice. Quick question for everybody. If I cruise down Grand Avenue with the windows rolled down in my Jeep listening to and singing “Our Song” by T-Swift, does that make me less of a man?
I LOVE T-Swift baby. Love her. T-Swift all the way.
Isufan writes: 1. What is your favorite NFL team?
CW: As mentioned above, I bleed purple. I seriously do. It’s kind of gross. When I was three, the doctors tried to figure it out but didn’t have much luck.
2. Dominique Buckley has been established as the 11th man in the rotation. Do you think he is unhappy with this or is he taking it in stride and working to get playing time?
CW: I am glad that somebody mentioned this. I was starting to feel like I am the only huge Buckley fan in the Cyclone Nation. I love this guy. He may very well be the best third-string point guard in the Big 12. I don’t know if Buckley is unhappy but I can’t imagine that he his thrilled with the amount of minutes he is getting. Having said that, I had the opportunity to get to know Dominique and his father Sterling very well during his recruitment. The Buckley’s are quality people. Dominique has an outstanding work ethic and an awesome attitude. I bet he is using his lack of mintues as fuel in practice. Also, come Big 12 time, if Chris Colvin hasn’t calmed down, I’d expect Buckley to see a lot more time.
LonoClone writes: Hi Chris. Two part question…
First, are you encouraging fellow CF’rs to back Team Edward or Team Jacob?
CW: Okay, I had to Google this. You’re talking about that ridiculous Twilight series aren’t you? My answer? Neither. Watch a man’s movie will you LonoClone? I’ve got some Rocky IV dialed up on my TV right now. A-Creed just died. Every time I see that Russian knock Creed out, a part of me dies. How about a little Days of Thunder? Cole Trickle be da man. How’s Top Gun sound for you? Turn that vampire crap off.
Second, I have this really sweet t-shirt that Coach Fennelly signed. How much do you think I could get for it?
CW: I have no idea. What do you want for it? I may be in the market for a Fennelly signed shirt.
Cyfan964 writes: How nervous are you about our “bigs” situation next season in basketball. A big seems like a must get IMO.
CW: Not very at this point. Here is why. I’m concentrating on enjoying this season. There’s no point in worrying about the bigs situation next year right now because SO MUCH can change. Gilstrap could get another year. Heck, maybe Craig stays. Plus, I know that the coaches are actively recruiting a couple of JUCO “bigs” who would be very capable of stepping in and playing some quality minutes. So no, I am not freaking about that topic just yet.
Ripvdub writes: Would it be weird for LaRon Dendy to start wearing volleyball knee pads?!?
CW: Yes, very weird actually. That would make it extremely hard for him to run wouldn’t it? I’ve never run in kneepads. Kind of an odd question. At least you didn’t ask about bun-huggers.
Chrishull14 writes: How much interaction is there between the coaches at Iowa State? New buildings and remodeling seems to have the coaches more spread away from each other on a daily basis. I recall hearing that McCarney had so big “get togethers”. A lot of our coaches are also new. Fennelly seems maybe the one (other than the AD office) to reach out to other coaches and build a friendship.
CW: Good question. I don’t know any specifics but I know that they all are friends. For instance, I saw Coach Rhoads and Coach Mac joking around with each other a couple of Mondays ago between pressers. I’m sure that there is a lot more of that going on behind the scenes that I have no idea about.
JUKEBOX writes: Can ISU get the Nike Pro Combat Jerseys for the bowl game or next season? I heard Nike was paying $100,000+ to the schools using them, and they look really sweet.
CW: I’m not sure about Iowa State’s situation but I agree that the Combat jerseys are sweet. Those black helmets that Florida State rocked a few weeks ago were amazing. I’m pretty sure that if the opportunity presented itself, Iowa State would jump all over it. In this economy, who wouldn’t take 100,000 bucks?
MNCyGuy writes: What really went wrong in Chicago this weekend? That was an ugly game to watch and it seemed like maybe everyone was amped up for a potential match-up with Notre Dame and couldn’t shift gears quick enough for Northwestern. Is this loss going to be something we look back on as a necessary evil at the end of the season, a wake-up call to get these team focused?
CW: I kind of alluded to this earlier in my VLOG today. I don’t think that this loss was a huge reason to go nuts. If the Clones lose tonight, then it may be time to get concerned. I am with you. I wanted the Norte Dame match-up. But hey, Northwestern has won three games in a row, away from home, against quality opponents. I think it is time to give credit where it is due. They’re not that bad of a team.
Were you anticipating the sheer amount of self-proclaimed “clever posters” on this message board when you decided to subject yourself to a weekly mailbag column?
CW: A little bit but not to this degree. That’s okay though. Those are the questions that I enjoy the most.
Also, what should I order at Planet Sub the next time I’m in Ames?
CW: Congrats. This question made today’s VLOG.
Isucyfan writes: We all know who the best player on the Cyclones MBB team is, but I think a case could be made that someone else entirely is the most valuable to the team. I think that person may be either Dendy or Garrett. Am I crazy?
CW: My answer is pretty simple to this question. It is Diante Garrett. This team will go as far as DG takes them. The guy has blown me away so far this season. I’m always amazed with the amount of DG pessimist there are out in cyberspace. I think that Dendy is a stretch. The guy has played one regular season game. Ask me that in a month and then we might be able to talk.
Temperflare writes: How important is it for us to have a cohesive coaching staff and is it more important at a program such as ours as opposed to a program like Texas or OU? Do you foresee any of our football coaches going elsewhere in the next year or so and what can we do to keep them?
CW: First of all, I’ll be surprised if anyone on the staff moves on after one season. I really don’t have anything to back that up. Just a feeling I guess. I think it is important but not as much as you’d think. Listen, if Iowa State’s coordinators are being hired every single year, that means that Iowa State is winning. That’s a good thing in my opinion. Winning takes care of everything. If you’re a winning program, the recruits will come. If you’re a losing program, you may have the same coaches every year but you still aren’t winning. Hope that makes sense.
Ms34ISU writes: According to a weekend Ben Gouldsmith article in the Ames Tribune, Alison Lacey’s nickname is “Oz” because she’s from Australia. I thought her nickname is “Aus” because she’s from Australia. Which is correct?
CW: I didn’t get to read Ben’s article but that is interesting. I am with you. I always thought that it was “Aus.” I’ll have to ask around about that one.
JBone84 writes: Has there been any thought or talk of implementing a chat-style feature for the gameday threads, as opposed to posting threads/replies?
CW: I have thought about it. With the format I use, it would be very difficult. For us to have game chats, I have to push every single message though on my own. There is simply no way I’d be able to keep up with that with the amount of traffic we have on this site. I can’t even keep up on Friday afternoon chats. I am exploring different avenues. I am a huge fan of our in-game threads personally.
Thanks for the great questions everybody. Have a great night!
