It's official, per the Des Moines Register.

Hopefully this means we can end the ongoing Wesley Johnson saga. He's an Orange, or an Orangeman or something now. He's not a Cyclone once he decided to transfer in such a strange manner.

I'll cheer for him at Syracuse, as I have a much easier time understanding a college kid having a tough time deciding on his present and his future than a gaggle of disgruntled Cyclone fans wishing ill to a player who represented the team with class and gave his all on the court while on the team, which seemed to be more than at least a couple of guys could claim.

Jim Boeheim and the Orange faithful will get a guy who still, when healthy, was one of the top players in the Big 12 conference. Despite an itchy trigger finger, he's still oozing with athletic ability.

People will be silly to think we won't miss him, much like Mike Taylor. His lackluster year (by his standards) can be attributed to his  bum hoof.

I hope that Cyclone fans can now forget about taking every opportunity to badmouth Wes, like on the Register's comment section, or at CycloneFanatic. It just looks like sour grapes. If Brock Jacobson left in this manner, no one would have given one or two shits.

Let's close the book.

It's the dead period of summer, so The Ralphie Report decided to spice things up a bit. They've looked far and wide around the Big 12 blogosphere and picked out a representative for each Big 12 school that they could find. Each individual blogger was then asked to pick a given number of representatives at each position.

Defensive Back (3): S James Smith, CB Chris Singleton, CB Allen Bell

The position that has most of the the standout talent is the defensive backfield. Bell, Singleton and Smith are all potential gamebreakers. Both Singleton and Bell forced turnovers last year, and I still hold on to an undying belief that James Smith is gonna be big.

Defensive Line (3): DE Rashawn Parker, DE Kurtis Taylor, DT Bailey Johnson

Parker and Taylor were the two obvious choices. Parker adjusted quickly as a freshman, late hit at Texas notwithstanding, while Taylor will be the leader on the line. Johnson was the returning lineman who made the biggest impact last year.

Kicker (1): Grant Mahoney

Mahoney seems to be the more accurate of he and Guyer. I suppose I didn't have to pick someone.

Linebacker (2) Jesse Smith, Josh Raven

Jesse Smith was the obvious choice. Raven is my sleeper pick out of the linebacking corps, simple as that.

Offensive Line (3): Ben Lammak, Doug Dedrick, Kelechi Osemele

Lamaak was a revelation on a much improved offensive line last year, while Dedrick anchored the line at left tackle. K.O. is a big boy that should step into the starting lineup and could be a four year starter.

Punter (1): Mike Brandtner

One badass punter.

Quarterback (1): Austen Arnaud

I think he'll be the starter (or at least get the most playing time) this year.

Runningback (2): Alexander Robinson, JJ Bass

I expected Robinson to be the commander-in-chief of a runningback corps by committee. He came out of nowhere to become a big play threat. Bass may very well be the most talented of the group.

Tight End (1): Derrick Catlett

Will need to overcome a knee injury in the spring, but rapidly developed the blocking part of his game last year. Still room to improve.

Wide Reciever (2): RJ Sumrall, Marquis Hamilton

These two will lead the experienced and talented corps. Both have real big play ability - Marquis had my favorite play of the year, triple juking Aqib Talib for a big gain.

I don't expect any of our players to make the first team, simply put, but I suppose someone could surprise me....

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)
C: Alex Alvarez (So.)
RG: Ben Lamaak (So.)
RT: Doug Dedrick (Sr.)

WE: Rashawn Parker (Jr.)
DT: Bailey Johnson (So.)
NG: Nate Frere (Jr.)
DE: Kurtis Taylor (Sr.)

No surprise as Kurtis Taylor handily defeats Nick Frere for the final defensive line spot.

The strongside linebacker position is one that could have a fair bit of competition. Michael Bibbs racked up 19 tackles in 10 games last year as a JUCO transfer. Backup Cameron Bell received numerous early accolades as a runningback, but ended up at linebacker. Both Bibbs and Bell are roughly the same size, with Bibbs a senior, and Bell a sophomore.  The difference is that Bibbs has much more ingame action than Bell.

 

Poll

Who's Your Starter at SLB?

• Michael Bibbs (Sr.)
• Cameron Bell (So.)

  31 votes | Results

Poll

Who's Your Starter at DE?

• Kurtis Taylor (Sr.)
• Nick Frere (Sr.)

  36 votes | Results

Historical devastation and destruction is once again occurring in Iowa. Flood waters are rampaging through Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Iowa City and countless other cities in Iowa as one of the worst weather years in history continues.

These natural disasters have tied in with college athletics in the state before, as both Iowa State and Iowa football players have pitched in with the recovery of Parkersburg, as well as with flood efforts.

Well, now other schools are jumping in, and it seems only proper that we should thank them. As a couple people know (I'm sure), the NCAA Track Championships are being held in Des Moines, one city being struck by the flooding. One team, South Carolina, decided to help out this morning, sandbagging in the Des Moines area.

As the 4x100m relays departed to practice relay exchanges for the finals later tonight at Drake Stadium, three van fulls of Gamecock track coaches, athletes and staff drove to the local United Way center to be briefed as volunteers and then drove to a major sand-bagging site to fill sandbags for more than two hours. Des Moines' residents were amazed with the Gamecock teams efforts, applauding their efforts as the crew left by chanting `Game! Cocks! Game! Cocks! Game! Cocks.'

And, of course, as soon as they were done sandbagging, the Gamecocks were notified that they had to evacuate their hotel.

via gamecocksonline.com

At this point, any effort to help fight the flooding in Iowa is greatly appreciated. Those of us back in the Hawkeye State can show our appreciation for the Gamecock effort by commenting on the SC SBNation blog, Garnet And Black Attack, or by emailing a word of thanks to a Gamecock athletics administrator.

 

It's a slow time of year, and while reading through some message boards, I came across a topic discussing how to rank the Big 12 football coaches. Well, here's my crack at ranking the 9 returning coaches...because it's silly to list the other three. Rankings are off of what they've done, and how they stand right now.

1. Bobby Stoops (Oklahoma) - Although he's a bit of a douchebag, he has gotten results and managed to turn Oklahoma back into a national powerhouse. 
2. Mack Brown (Texas) - Again, one of the top-tier coaches in the country, but, with all that's available to the Horns, it's always a surprise when they don't do better.
3. Mark Mangino (Kansas) - Getting what happened at Kansas last year to happen is a hell of a job. Still want to see him do it again.
4. Gary Pinkel (Missouri) - The only reason I have him ranked below Mangino is because of past lack of expected results.
5. Mike Leach (Texas Tech) - Slightly crazy. No BCS bowls for this pirate keeps him out of the top tier, but still a good coach.
6. Dan Hawkins (Colorado) - Worked wonders at Boise State, but got a bit of a rude welcome at times to the Big 12. Lost to Iowa State for God's sakes on a boneheaded coaching move.
7. Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) - Also a bit crazy, he's going to have to keep showing progress this year. There's no compelling reason to rank him any higher.
8. Gene Chizik (Iowa State) - Skidded halfway into the season, then showed appreciable progress to end the season. 
9. Ron Prince (Kansas State) - A team that really should have finished higher in a disappointing division last year. 

I'm not going to rank Briles, Pelini or Sherman in this list, as coaching in the Big 12 is going to be a much different monster than any of their previous assistant gigs, or, in Briles' case, Conference-USA.

 

QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)
C: Alex Alvarez (So.)
RG: Ben Lamaak (So.)
RT: Doug Dedrick (Sr.)

WE: Rashawn Parker (Jr.)
DT: Bailey Johnson (So.)

Bailey Johnson edged out Chris Weir in early voting to clinch the d-tackle spot in our little experiment, so now we move on to the other interior defensive line spot. Replacing Ahtyba "Tuba" Rubin will be no small task. Ultimately, the fight for the position will come down to Nate Frere and Jerrod Black, two of Rubin's backups from last year (though Black saw no action). Frere owns just nine career tackles, but has faced injuries off-and-on throughout most of his career. Black was defensive scout team MVP this past season, and probably would have played if not for the future NFL draft pick sitting ahead on the depth chart. Undoubtedly, both players will get playing time with Bolt favoring some rotation on the defensive line.

 

Nate Frere, undoubtedly part yeti.

Seriously, I couldn't do this poll without THAT picture of Frere.

 

 

Poll

Who's Your Starter at NG?

• Nate Frere (Jr.)
• Jerrod Black (Fr.)

  47 votes | Results

I read it all over the internet. 

Maybe it's an instate rival, refusing to come to grips with what is now a true rivalry.

Maybe it's a conference team, disillusioned that a a pretty talented recruit might actually come north.

Maybe it's another conference, thinking that expansion shouldn't include some farm school.

Or, just maybe, you have no other connection to Iowa State, other than hey, look what they almost did.

As an Iowa State fan, I'm constantly bombarded with being forced to think that we're the "little brother", either, in our own conference, or in our own state. And, you know what? I could really care less.

We don't spend loads of money on athletics. We don't have loads of tradition.

You see, I kind of think being an Iowa State fan is something unique unto itself. Don't compare us to Cubs fans. First, as a White Sox fan, that makes me throw up in my mouth just a bit - but we don't have any false delusions that some sort of big glory awaits us, except maybe in wrestling.

Nearing 21 years of age, I may be a relative neophyte when it comes to the world of college athletics. But, as an Iowa State fan, I often feel that I have felt some of the worst of the worst, whether it be an 0-10-1 football season, losing a 2 vs. 15 game in the NCAA tournament, or the overall feeling of impending doom that even a lead during a football game brings (During last year's 31-20 victory over Kansas State, I couldn't help but wonder how we might blow it, up two scores with 4 minutes left.)

And, even though I often hate watching Iowa State at times, I keep getting drawn back. Maybe it's that I think that the reward will be that much greater when and if we finally make noise on the football field, or return to national relevance on the basketball court.

I don't dispute our lack of results in athletics. We're better known for a boozin' basketball coach, or for one crazy half football season in 2002. I know that I'm still going to be going to games, hell or high water. If you're a fan of an opposing team, would you be all that willing to spend money on tickets for a football team that's finished above .500 just six times since 1980? Or pony up to watch a bottom-tier Big 12 men's team struggle against Directional State in some nonconference tournament? Or for that matter, watch a women's basketball game - at all?

My grandmother actually bought one of those large-screen projection TVs some years ago - so that she wouldn't struggle with having to seen the players on the screen when watching Iowa State games. That's the only reason. For Iowa State.

We're always going to be here. While Iowa State doesn't have the biggest fanbase around, I will contend that we have some of the most passionate fans. We're consistently in the Top 25 in men's basketball attendance, consistently Top 10 in women's basketball attendance, or solidly in the middle of the Big 12 conference in football attendance, drawing more than teams that are usually better. Despite the fact that we seemingly know that we'll undoubtedly get our heart broken somehow - and it ALWAYS happens - we keep turning out for the Clones.

And yes, it does bug me a bit when fans of bigger schools dump on Iowa State, saying we're a midmajor in a major conference, or something of the like. But, really, there's no point in giving two shits what fans of other teams think. There's something kind of special about being a Cyclone fan. We love our team with an undying passion, whether listening to the games from a tractor (yes, it does happen) or watching the occasional game on the ESPNs of the world.

If you're an opposing fan, I'm not asking you to root for Iowa State. But, understand that we're nobody's inferior. Our fans and athletes are here to win. And for those of us that have been around forever, it's going to be that much sweeter for the years of disappointment. And, hopefully, those wins are going to arrive sooner rather than later.

Per Cyclones.com

Not really any huge surprise here. There was a bit of talk that came up around last season's game that led to a question as to when the last deal ran out. Jamie Pollard and Gary Barta got together, possibly around a peace pipe of some sort, and knocked out a deal that will go through 2017.

Each school will keep 20 percent of the ticket revenue for the first five years, similar to the previous contract that expired after the 2010 game. Each school will keep its own ticket revenue for the final five years.

One of the sticking points in the last deal was that with the visiting team getting a certain percentage of the receipts each year, ISU made more money when the game was at Kinnick than Iowa did when the game was at Jack Trice.

Des Moines Register has the PDF contract. 

So yeah, nothing to see here. 

One has to wonder, however, how many coaches out there have a lifetime winning percentage of .333 or less with at least nine games coached against Iowa State.

Viva la Ferentz.

Poll

Who's Your Starter at DT?

• Bailey Johnson (So.)
• Chris Weir (Sr.)
• Stephen Ruempolhamer (Fr.)

  33 votes | Results