4-7 Chris Williams Blog

[ChrisMWilliams]

Taggart Playing for a Championship<o:p></o:p>
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It is amazing what a difference two years can make for a guy. Does anybody else remember the ineffective, lazy Shawn Taggart that we used to watch in Hilton Coliseum not too long ago? Now the guy is striving down south playing for a national championship on Monday night. <o:p></o:p>
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Good for him. <o:p></o:p>
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I was watching the Final Four with a bunch of buddies in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ames</st1:place></st1:City> on Saturday night and the same question kept popping up. Do we root for Taggart or not? The vast majority of the room chose not to.<o:p></o:p>
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What did I do? I was a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Memphis</st1:City></st1:place> fan baby! I actually really feel bad about what happened when Taggart was at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Iowa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. Here he was, a Rivals four-star prospect who had everything in the world going for him. He got to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Iowa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, had a funky stomach illness that kept him playing at around 70% all season long and his coach got fired. <o:p></o:p>
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I recently read that Taggart was going to transfer even if Morgan didn’t get fired and that doesn’t surprise me at all. He was miserable in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ames</st1:place></st1:City>. You could just tell while interviewing him. Even after a win, Shawn didn’t smile. He constantly looked depressed and most importantly sick because he was very ill. <o:p></o:p>
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Cyclone fans can be upset that they lost a quality player who just might play in the Association someday, but they cannot have bad feelings towards this guy. He didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, on the surface Taggart appeared to be lazy, cocky and just flat out overrated. I get that. But I challenge you to think back to when you were his age. <o:p></o:p>
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Going to a new place is hard, especially when you are as sick as Taggart was. Everything that could have gone wrong during Taggart’s freshman year did. <o:p></o:p>
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He transferred and Monday he’ll be competing for a national championship. It’s hard to call the guy an idiot. <o:p></o:p>
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For the record, I’m rooting for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Kansas</st1:State></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p>
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Bizzaro World<o:p></o:p>
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I graduated from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Iowa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> less than a year ago. <o:p></o:p>
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What has happened to Campustown?<o:p></o:p>
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Peoples is gone. <o:p></o:p>
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Fuel has a new name (thank God). <o:p></o:p>
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Es Tas has a new location and Sips is essentially the new Club Element. <o:p></o:p>
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By the way, who is the genius who came up with this VEISHEA wristband policy? That might be the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life. If it’s about the money, students and all VEISHEA goers would have paid up to see concerts this weekend. Five bucks is nothing. But only allowing 7,000 people is the brainless part. I’m sure that Eve 6 will love singing in front of 3,000 people this weekend when normally the crowd would be pushing 10 grand. <o:p></o:p>

MORE ON THIS TOPIC LATER THIS WEEK…I AM ANNOYED. <o:p></o:p>
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Nature Boy<o:p></o:p>
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I have a confession to make. Please don’t make fun of me for this. Oh, okay nevermind. Go ahead. I know I will get blasted for this. It truly is inevitable. Here we go. <o:p></o:p>
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I am a big WWE fan. Yes it’s fake, I know that. It’s actually very fake and often times extremely corny and over the top. But, it entertains me. For those who care, did anybody realize that Ric Flair retired last week?<o:p></o:p>
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I did some research on the Nature Boy and actually was quite surprised that he is only 59 years old. Is it me or does he look more like 70? <o:p></o:p>
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The biggest thing I will miss about the king is his passion for chopping an opponent in the chest with the back of his hand and screaming WHOOOO! Good stuff. It doesn’t matter who Flair is wrestling or what the scenario is, he’ll always get a good 15-20 chops in per match. <o:p></o:p>
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Here’s a clip I found of the Nature Boy in rare form. <o:p></o:p>
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YouTube - Ric Flair WOOOOOOO!

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[ajk4st8]

I think a lot of people forgot how ill Taggart really was. He really is a solid player and plays great in the Memphis system as a 6 man.

[isuno1fan]

Was just discussing Taggart with my father and both of us agreed that were Shawn still at ISU he would be an "average" player on an "average" team. He is not an impact player and never will be IMO. He has a solid game, but nothing that's ridiculously impressive.

That said, I hope he's found what he was looking for.

[every_yard]

Don't know if you knew this or not, but Ric Flair announced the starting line ups for the New Orleans Hornets today and he made sure to throw in a few WHOOOOOs!

[ChrisMWilliams]

Ya I saw that on Sports Center last night. Good Stuff.

[cyismydog]

Chris, any MBB recruiting scoop, or is that only going to show up on CR?

[247cy]

So long you limousine ridin', jet flyin', kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', son of a gun!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[erikbj]

I don't think Taggart would have ever done much as ISU. He is not very aggressive and if he was on team without 5 NBA prospects he would not be able to get a shot off. It sounds like I am blasting him pretty good , but he doesn't have the strength or quickness to create his own shot. WHen he was signed I thought he was going to be a Marcus Fizer or even Craig Brackins - not he really fell short of what I was expecting.