Monday Morning Quarterbacking - Dec 4th, 2006
CycloneFanatic.com
Jeremy Lind
This is my once-weekly column that can be about anything or everything. I don't hold back in this article so be warned:)
It was a crazy day last Monday with Gene Chizik being announced as the new
FB Head Coach so I wasn't able to continue my new Monday Morning Quarterbacking series I started the week before. I'll try to make up for it this week...
1. What an odd week in Iowa State Athletics. It started on a extremely high note with Chizik being announced Monday night and it continued to be a roller coaster of emotions; the
ISU Women's teams pulled out a couple of good victories in Volleyball and Basketball, the
ISU Men's Basketball team played at UNI and lost a somewhat close battle, Sunday the
ISU Men's team fell at the buzzer to Drake after being down by 16 in the second half and the Wrestling team lost at Iowa in the first meeting of the new coaches at both schools.
2. The week ahead looks to be a little more tranquil by all accounts. The two main events being the
ISU Men's Basketball team traveling to Iowa City to take on the Hawks on Friday night and the Cyclone FanAddict outing in Urbandale for a game watch starting around 6:00pm. Iowa State enters the game on Friday with a record of 6-2 and will look to rebound after losses to the other two in-state programs. Meanwhile, the Cyclone FanAddict outing will be at Victor's in Urbandale to root on the good-guys. Please read the post before this for all the details on the outing.
3. As far as those being hard on the
MBB team for losing to both UNI and Drake, remember that we have a thrown-together team of sorts and a brand new coaching staff and style. To those that think things are instantly going to be great in Hilton, please snap back to reality sometime soon. We're playing above what most had expected after what the program went through over the past 12 months. They're a young team with a lot of passion and effort but all the effort in the world can't make up for a lack of size or experience. The guys tried hard but just played a little too sloppy to get things done down the stretch.
Drake played outstanding ball for a lot of the game this afternoon and the ball just wasn't falling for the good-guys for lengthy stretches at a time. We fought back hard and made it a great final five minutes for the Hilton faithful, but .01 seconds separated the 'L' from the 'W' in the end. It was the best crowd of the year so far and the final few minutes brought back a lot of memories of what Hilton used to be like and will be like again shortly. To those that expected to be in the Top 25, you really need to understand what the coaching staff is doing. We have one of the youngest and least recruited group of players right now and they're already playing together more than last year’s "all-star" cast. With the next couple of recruiting classes already being up there among the best in the country, the future is bright and looking strong. We'll be cutting down the nets again soon, just not for two to three years. Long-term success doesn't sprout overnight; it's grown and groomed to get the optimal results.
4. Speaking of the future of
ISU MBB; is anybody else as excited about the future players we've recruited as I am? With Brackins, Garrett, Boozer and Eikmeier all having incredible performances already this year, I can't imagine what these guys will be capable after they've played together for a year or two in the Big XII. Throw in a couple of the other recruits and this looks like a very powerful Big XII Championship type team if they continue to progress like they have, not to mention what kind of noise they could make in the Big Dance (think Elite Eight or better). The Johnson brothers and Dunson will probably be seniors by the time things really get going and to have their experience mixed in with the explosiveness and raw talent of the new guys sends shivers down the spine. And to think that level of talent is being recruited with no resume for the coaching staff yet at
ISU, think of what the future wins and success will bring:) Note: Nobody has to agree with me at all, I'm just extremely excited for what lies ahead in the greatest of all of the Cyclone programs.
5. One thing that I find interesting that has gone untalked about a lot is the terrible job that's been done at Iowa in regards to the Men's Basketball program. While
ISU should be picked to be second to last in the Big XII for everything that's happened, there really is no excuse for Iowa to be picked to be tenth in the Big Ten with a coach that's been there long-enough to have several recruiting classes of "his guys". A new staff brings in a new style and has to recruit their players but Alford is long past that point and excuse. Iowa really only has one "exciting" recruit this year in Tyler Smith and only has one returning "star" in Huluska. I know that Iowa is a football school but all of the excuses by the fans about the
MBB program could be a bestselling comedy. I know two co-workers that are die-hard Iowa fans and have season tickets to Iowa Football and Wresting but won't go to a
MBB game unless it's against Iowa State, Ohio State, Michigan or Illinois because they say it "just doesn't matter". I guess that's one way to be ahead of the disappointment. Maybe Iowa really will be the "other school" sooner than we thought with the changing of expectations in Ames and the lack of realistic or honest fans in Iowa City (meaning they don't see or admit the reality of their shortcomings).
6. Here's to hoping the Longhorns slaughter the Hawks in the Alamo Bowl that Iowa never should have been in consideration for. What a political mess the bowl selection process has become. If there isn't going to be a playoff system, can we at least get back to having only quality teams play in bowl games? I know it's a business but it really makes a joke out of the whole process when a team goes 2-6 in their conference, and loses to crappy teams, and still goes to a bowl, let alone to one at the level that the Alamo "used" to be at. I love watching a bunch of bowl games like anybody else but when do you say enough? It's only a matter of time before a team with a losing record goes to a bowl game because there's money in it for somebody.
7. Finally, I wanted to remind everybody that the new CycloneFanatic t-shirts will be arriving and going on sale this week. The shirts, available in Red, Gold or White, will be available both online and at the outing on Friday night. We're not taking orders yet since the shirts aren't in our hands but we'll make sure to post an announcement the second they're available.
Monday Morning Quarterbacking - Dec 4th, 2006 
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