Friday October 28, 2011 - The View From Section EE

Last week saw an ISU quarterback throw an interception on the very first play of the game. Not long after, he was pulled, and a new quarterback is now in place. Barnett looked pretty good, but some crucial dropped passes stalled a few drives and Texas A&M was able to do just enough to maintain a solid lead. Even though A&M won easy, it seemed ISU had some new life with a new quarterback into place.

Last Wednesday, my sister Teresa and her husband Juan Luis, and my brother Paddy flew in from Seattle. It was a real good time filled with way too much food, as usual. We got to watch a couple World Series games, showed Paddy what keeps people returning to casinos (A $50 plus winnings on the strangest slot machine I have ever seen).

Bri and Emma had an outstanding time! Teresa and Juan Luis spoiled Brianna with another awesome pair of shoes, her Sketcher Twinkle Toes. Last summer Bri got a Twinkle Toes toy from a happy meal somewhere. She had been asking us for them, and we just blew her off hoping she would forget. To all of our surprise, Teresa came to the rescue for Bri's new fancy shoes! Emma got a pair of cowboy boots and she look hilarious trying to walk. It was a good relaxing few days with them. It was unfortunate that their trip was not very long, since Kristy and I went to Ames for some football a day before they had to leave.

Tomorrow Iowa State travels to beautiful Lubbock, TX to take on Texas Tech. Before the season started, Texas Tech looked like a winnable road game. Then Texas Tech won at Oklahoma last week. With a new quarterback starting for the Cyclones, its hard to tell what is going to happen. Last year ISU beat Texas Tech 52-38 in a wild game in Ames that included an onside kick that ISU returned for a touchdown. The second time that happened to Texas Tech last year. Vegas has Texas Tech somewhere near a two touchdown favorite. My guess is that is pretty accurate and Tech wins easily.

My Prediction: (4-2 This Season)

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Thursday October 20, 2011 - The View From Section EE

Last week ISU's game at Missouri was a disaster. I believe Iowa State either forgot to get on the bus to Columbia or just gave up. Halfway through the season and they sit at 3 wins and 3 losses. Most did not think 3 wins were possible and now they are 3 wins away from a bowl game. With 6 games to go, 3 more wins are looking like a huge obstacle the way they are playing.

If this blog seems a little disorganized, its because I am writing on my phone. I do have to say, the mobile blogspot is a lot better than a year ago.

We are currently sitting at my parents because my brother Paddy and my sister Teresa and her husband Juan Luis flew in from Seattle. Last night we moved the basement couch so we could make some room for a bed. What do we find that is pictured below, some blonde locks of hair. Today when we got to my parents I asked Brianna about it. She immediately asked "how did you find that?" Turns out, she cut her hair on purpose because I would not let her play on the computer or watch her shows on TV.

We also just got back from Bri's first parent/teacher conference. We had to reaffirm with her teacher that we are talking about the same girl. They said how good she is and how she is the girl who likes to answer questions in class. She even told her teacher how she was going to make it a point to talk to Bo in school. The teachers said he is the really shy kid in class and it was really nice that Bri was going to make it a point to talk to him. Makes us proud, but I still think they had the notes of another girl.

The second picture is one of Emily at the airport. She game a warm Omaha welcome to everyone on 3 different planes as exited their plane and walked through the terminal. She had a lot of people wave and smile!

This Saturday is Homecoming in Ames and Texas A&M comes into town. My gut feeling says it will be a lot smaller crowd than the three almost sellouts the first 3 games, and that will reflect on the score too. The Cyclone Defense has disappeared and the Offense, well, is this same offense that has looked awful for 3 straight games. There could be an upset special brewing for the Cyclones, but I don't see it this Saturday.

Texas A&M: 42

Iowa State: 17

Thursday October 13, 2011 - The View From Section EE

I take no comfort in having a pretty close score in last weeks Iowa State at Baylor game. ISU kept it close early, but a horrible fumble call, reversed for Baylor was the game changer and the game was over at that point in the second quarter.

This week has been pretty uneventful. It is getting comical watching Bri in the bus line. She definitely has no issues sticking up for herself. Today she was third in line. Then as the other girls lined up, she left the line for some reason and the next girl in line took her spot. She did not like that! She basically forced her way back to her spot. When I talked to her about it, she believes that once you leave your spot in line, it cant be taken away. I told her she shouldn't have left or she should place her backpack in her spot. She doesn't like those rules.

Em has taken up hitting as a hobby recently. Both Kristy and I, and I imagine her Grandpa too, have been the victims of this. Oh yeah, cant forget Reagan, more on him later. Today we were getting her ready to leave and she loses her patience after her first shoe is put on. After she rolls over, we turn her back around, and she hits us. This will be interesting to see how long this trend will go.

Now back to Reagan. He continues to eat socks. On Monday I found a pair of Emily's socks. They were still rolled up! He has made our house a disaster. It took him a couple days to clear whatever else he had in his system, but he is very fortunate he was not kicked to the curb.

My Prediction (Season: 3-2):

Something has to give. Both Iowa State and Missouri are 0-2 in Big 12 play. If ISU is going to get the three more needed wins to qualify for a bowl game, this one seems to be a road win they must have, along with the one at Texas Tech. If the last two years trend is going to continue with a solid road win, this may be the last chance. (Missouri's record does not show it, but I believe they are a better team than Texas Tech.) I say something gives, and ISU finally plays a near complete game, minus the kicking game, and pulls off the win and reclaims the Telephone Trophy for quite possibly the last time.

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Wednesday October 5, 2011 - The View From Section EE

Thankfully, last weekends game is over. Leave it up to Iowa State to come into a big game, undefeated at home, on national television, and lay an egg as bad as they did. First half turnovers and unexcused penalties did them in against a slightly above average Texas team. Nothing is more frustrating then seeing ISU players taunting and yelling after a play. That has been a common theme the past three years, especially for the Defensive Backs. Football is suppose to be a team game with a lot of discipline. The prime example was at the beginning of the second quarter. ISU was already down 13-0 but had a huge stop to force a Texas punt. Instead of getting off the ground and running back to the sideline, Leonard Johnson decides to headbutt the Texas receiver. Subsequently, Johnson is pulled and on the very next play, his replacement was burned for a 50 some yard touchdown pass. That was the ball game right there. The first three games they flirted with disaster with penalties and turnovers, but now that conference play has begun, they will not win another game again if they continue to walk that tight rope all year.

Its a good thing ISU football fans have adapted to this tailgating thing that happens before, during, and after Cyclone football games. There is no better way to get over a football game then good food and cold beverages! This weekend was Family Weekend and the Lil' Cyclone Members could go onto the field before the game, so I decided to take Bri. Kristy's sister, Morgan also went to the game, but did not go on the field with us. To my surprise, they were really good. That probably had to do with the game being so bad we left early. While tailgating, Bri got to take another picture with Cy! She continues to be over her fear of mascots. Here is the picture of Bri and Morgan with Cy while the adults were at the Lottery tent.

The first two games of the year it took us forever to get into the Stadium. Those crowds were just as large, so we decided to leave a little earlier to get lined up. We walked in with absolutely no issue and were were about 50 minutes early. So after that lengthy wait, Bri and I walked onto the field. Here is a picture of Bri and I on the midfield log and the view of the massive video board.

Here is a picture of Bri and Morgan as they wait, very patiently, as we sat before they would let us onto the field.

And finally, one of the big highlights for Brianna, a dog that walked by our tailgate. A huge Saint Bernard walked by that was available for adoption. He was a very good looking dog. The conversation the ensued after this was about the difference between adopting and buying. Bri kept associating how you can adopt toys from a store and buy a dog. I still have a headache from trying to explain that.

My Prediction: (2-2 This Season)

Whatever happened to the Baylor Bears of the past where it was a shoe-in for win every year? This is not quite the case anymore, especially with one of the best quarterbacks in college football this year, Robert Griffin III. Baylor was also undefeated until they lost at Kansas State last week. I am sure they are looking for a huge win, and with a banged up Iowa State team coming to Waco, it very well could happen. In each of the last two years, ISU has had a huge road win, at Texas in 2010 and at Nebraska in 2009. Between Baylor, Missouri, and Oklahoma, the three biggest conference road games this season, I find it hard to believe this is the one they win. I say Baylor wins this one easy by going ahead early and ISU scores some late garbage points. I would not put it past Paul Rhoads to get this team ready to play and ISU pulls off a shocker, but I am not going to predict it.

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