Brats & Beer » Cyclones

I came across a link on Every Day Should be Saturday to an analysis of school mascots at Golden Tornado. Running down the Big 12, Nathan reaches the spot-on conclusion that ISU’s mascot sucks. Speaking as an alumnus and faithful supporter of the Cyclones, I’ll be the first to admit that Cy isn’t the best mascot in the world, and I doubt you’ll find many Iowa Staters who disagree. I will say, though, that this latest incarnation of Cy is a far sight better that the Cy I knew when going to ISU. The previous Cy was, I’m pretty sure, made out of wood, moved like the Frankenstein monster and could scare small children from 500 yards away. This new version is more like Clone, the short-lived co-mascot that served as our San Diego Chicken of the plains, except that New Cy is a little creepy with that big, toothy smile. (Since when do cardinals have teeth?) It is Our Cy, though, so we have to love him on a certain level, kind of like that embarrassing uncle you’d rather not invite to your wedding but have to.

In his Big 10 rundown, Nathan gets kudos for his top rating for Bucky Badger. “One of our favorite mascots in the country, the badger is [the] epitome of what a college mascot should be.” It’s all in the sweater, I tell you. He is also spot on in giving the thumbs down to both Goldie Hawn Gopher and Herky Jerky the Hawk.

Spotted a poll on NFL.com today about backup quarterbacks, which seems to suggest that even the league’s own Web minders are tired of slicing and dicing the draft and free agency and are ready for some real action already. Anyway, the question asked how certain free agent backups would fare on their new teams if they were nominated to the starting role. Among the choices was Iowa State alum Sage Rosenfels; he got all of 2% of the vote. (Doesn’t say much about how eager ISU fans are to answer polls on NFL.com, does it?) Now, I’m not here to suggest that Sage is on par with the Brett Favres and the Tom Bradys of the world, I’m not even suggesting he’s on par with the Trent Dilfers, but I think he should be able to get a little more respect than that. Last year in Miami he almost managed to pull out a couple wins for the Dolphins. How much did Craig Nall ever accomplish for Green Bay? Todd Collins didn’t even complete a pass for the Chiefs last year. I’m just saying let’s give Sage a little more credit than that.

By the way, the top pick in the poll with 42% of the votes was Brian Griese, who signed with the Chicago Bears this Spring. Let’s remember this is a guy who got injured after tripping over his own dog and falling down a flight of stairs. (Hey, that’s what he claimed.) Even a lot of Bears fans weren’t thrilled with the deal, though the sad state of the Midway Monsters passing game was evidenced by the fact that most Chicago fans were happy just to get any quarterback.

The Packers didn’t pick a single Badger in the Draft this weekend, but a small group of Wisconsin players were picked up by other teams and now begin their pro careers. Running back Brian Calhoun was taken in the third round (74th overall) by Detroit, which both saddens and frightens me. He had just one season at UW, but what a season it was, and now he’ll be facing the Green Bay defense twice a year. (Note to Brian: Save your best games for Minnesota.) Wide reciever Brandon Williams, who totaled 59 catches for 1,095 yards and six touchdowns for the Badgers, also went in the third round on a pick by San Francisco.

Tight end Owen Daniels was chosen by Houston at the beginning of the fourth round. He racked up 391 yards and two scores on 25 catches last year as Badger. Fellow tight end Jason Pociask, who was used mostly as a blocker, went in the fifth round (150th overall) to the Jets. Finally, wide receiver Jonathan Orr was picked up by Tennessee in the sixth round (172 overall). He had 40 catches last year for 688 yards and eight touchdowns.

Not chosen in the Draft, though, was fullback Matt Bernstein. I thought earlier today that it would be pretty great if the Packers picked him up in the later rounds because I think he would be a natural fit for the team, and I see that Craig at the Oracle of Cheese was thinking the same thing. Take heart, though, he’s still available to be signed as an undrafted free agent.

As for my own alma mater, linebacker Tim Dobbins was the only Cyclone to be taken in the draft, getting selected by San Diego in the fifth round.

Well, the conference tournaments were pretty disappointing but now the NCAA tourney is set to begin. Wisconsin, which got booted in the quarterfinals after losing to Indiana 61-56, made the #9 seed in the Minneapolis bracket. They play on Friday against #8 seed Arizona and would advance to play Villanova, the top seed in that bracket. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which beat Butler to win the Horizon League title, is the #11 seed and plays Oklahoma on Wednesday. Marquette, meanwhile, earned the #7 seed in the Oakland bracket and plays #10 seed Alabama on Wednesday. A win would probably send the Golden Eagles against UCLA, the #2 seed in that bracket. Sadly, though not unexpectedly, my Cyclones were shut out on the post-season invites, not even the NIT wanted them around. On the bright side, though, they are a pretty young team and should be returning a lot of starters from this year.

Enough fooling around with regular season conference games, it’s time to get serious. The Big 12 and Big 10 tournaments get started this week and I’m looking for good things from both my Cyclones and my Badgers. Okay, neither team was looking real sharp coming down the stretch, but a guy can still have hope. Iowa State comes into their tournament as the #10 seed after losing to Colorado 82-84 this past Saturday to close out their season with a 16-13 overall mark and a 6-10 conference record. They play Oklahoma State (16-14, 6-10 Big 12) in the first round, a team they beat 68-52 just a couple weeks ago, so I’m hopeful the Clones will get into the second round on Friday. If they do advance, the Cyclones will have to play #2 seed Kansas.

Over in the Big 10, Wisconsin gets a pass on the first round as the #4 seed, despite closing out the season with a two game loosing streak. The Badgers (19-10, 9-7 Big 10) play #5 seed Indiana (17-10, 9-7 Big 10), who was ranked #24 when the Badgers beat them 72-54 at the end of January. A win against the Hoosiers will most likely send UW against #1 seed Ohio State.

To be honest, Marquette probably has the best chance to go deep in their tournament, being the #4 seed in the Big East. The Golden Eagles get a bye on first round action and will play the winner of the Georgetown (a ranked team they beat) vs. Notre Dame matchup on Thursday, which will probably send them up against UConn (another ranked team they beat) on Friday.

Like with the Badgers, I turn my head for a minute to watch the Olympics and my Cyclones have some tough luck thrown their way on the ice. ISU went into the CSCHL tournament last weekend as the #3 seed and knocked off host Western Michigan 4-3 in the first round. Then in the second round, the Cyclones battled #2 Illinois to a 1-1 draw in regulation, but Illini goal tender Mike DeGeorge stopped 12 shots in overtime before the Illini managed to get one into the net for the win. The disappointing loss carried over into Sunday when Iowa State fell to Robert Morris 4-3 in a shootout. Illinois eventually won the tourney, beating Ohio 2-1.

The Cyclones need to rebound and get their confidence back quickly though, because the ACHA tournament in West Chester, PA, starts in just four days. ISU comes in as the #5 seed and opens the tourney Thursday against #12 Oklahoma.

Sometimes I’m glad I’ve been preoccupied with all this Olympics business, like yesterday when I would have otherwise been yelling at the TV during the Iowa State game. Playing #19 Oklahoma on the road, the Cyclones held the lead through most of the second half, but the Sooners finally made a late charge to win the game 83-82. I think it is incredibly courageous that the Clones, with all their troubles this season, managed to control the game for as long as they did, so even though it goes down as their fourth straight loss, I salute the mighty Cardinal & Gold. Curtis Stinson led the team with 24 points, while Will Blalock scored 22. ISU falls to 4-8 in the Big 12 and 14-11 overall with just four games remaining before the conference tournament. They host a troubled Oklahoma State (13-12, 3-8 Big 12) on Wednesday.

While I was busy watching the Olympics last night, my poor Cyclones were busy losing their third game in a row, falling to Nebraska 73-63. Iowa State managed to pull even in the second half and later got within one point of the Huskers on a three-pointer by Will Blalock, but the Huskers pulled away and never looked back. ISU shot a pitiful 34% from the field and never found a way to stop Aleks Maric, who scored a career-high 37 points. Blalock led the team with 23 points, while Curtis Stinson scored 15. Hilton Magic, it seems, has gone the way of the Lambeau Mystique, as the Clones have now lost six games at home. The loss drops Iowa State to 4-7 on Big 12 action and 14-10 overall, so a berth in the NCAA tourney is probably out of reach barring a big upset in the conference tournament next month. The Cyclones travel to #19 Oklahoma (16-6, 7-4 Big 12) this Saturday.

ISU dropped their second in a row yesterday, getting handled by Kansas 88-75. The Cyclones shot 46% from the field, which is pretty good for them, with Will Blalock leading the team with 21 points. Curtis Stinson had 19. Unfortunately, Rahshon Clark was cold and no one from the bench stepped up to the challenge as Iowa State’s guns went dead during a stretch after closing the gap to four points in the second half. The loss drops ISU to 4-6 in the Big 12 and 14-9 overall. It’ll take a miracle run for the Cyclones to get into the big dance now with just six regular season games remaining. They host Nebraska (15-8, 5-5 Big 12) on Wednesday night.

As if the opening of the Winter Olympics wasn’t enough to get cold-weather sports fans going, there’s plenty of college hockey action this weekend as well. ISU opens a series against the University of Illinois tonight with an eye on extending their streak of eight games without a loss. This will be their final two games before heading into the CSCHL tourney next week at Western Michigan. Illinois has a 23-5-0 overall record and is just two points ahead of the Cyclones in the CSCHL standings. More importantly, a good showing could edge Iowa State ahead of the Illini in the ACHA rankings in their bid for a good seed in the national tournament.

The UW Badgers, meanwhile, are playing their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday against Ohio State in the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Lambeau Field. That should be a sight to behold, hockey on the hallowed ground of the Frozen Tundra. You can check out the rink preparations on the Lambeau Field Web cam.

Speaking of the Olympics, Wisconsin’s Chris Witty will be carrying the flag for the US team during the opening ceremonies in Torino tonight. The 30-year-old native of West Allis is trying for another gold medal in speed skating after winning the 1,000 meters in Salt Lake in 2002. She also won silver and bronze medals at Nagano in 1998. Looks like she was keeping a blog, but you can get the whole rundown on her career at the NBC Olympics site.

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