STORMINSPANK'S HAWKEYE RAMBLINGS

Iowa Hawkeyes Men’s Basketball 2013-14 Preview / Prediction: Huge Excitement Tempered with a Splash of Realism

2013-11-08T16:01:00.001-06:00

Iowa Hawkeyes Men’s Basketball 2013-14 Preview / Prediction

Huge Excitement Tempered with a Splash of Realism

By Justin VanLaere, @storminspank

Coming off a season that ended in New York City, playing for the N.I.T. Championship, Iowa Basketball now owns some of its highest expectations in over a decade.
I’ve always been an optimistic guy when it comes to Iowa Hawkeye sports (perhaps by definition, a homer, if you will). Yes, I’m that guy who thought Todd Lickliter, in his third year as head coach of Iowa, might be able to get his team to finish in the top half of the Big Ten. Yes, I’m that guy who thought maybe, just maybe, Iowa fans were being too hard on Steve Alford back in 2005. And now I’m saying that while I think Iowa is going to be better than last year, fans and media might want to step back on their enthusiasm just a bit. Wait.. What?! It’s true. Iowa has been labeled a “dark horse” so many times in the preseason, Black Beauty is jealous. Rip Van Winkle thinks calling the Hawkeyes a “sleeper pick” has been overplayed. Iowa being tabbed as this year’s “sexy pick” has Kate Upton… ok, you get the point, I’ll stop already. Sorry.
But why not get excited? Why not eat up all the publicity and high preseason praises and go with the flow? Be a man and pick Iowa to win the Big Ten! No. Why? The short version – Iowa is basically the same team it was last season when it failed to win the essential resume-building games (Indiana and MSU), while losing a few resume-destroying games (Virginia Tech, Purdue, Nebraska). The long version – keep reading....

CLICKY CLICK:
http://www.hawkeyenation.com/basketball/2013-14-preview-prediction-huge-excitement-tempered-with-a-splash-of-realism

Iowa Hawkeyes' Cheatsheat on Who to Pull For Today - (3/15/13 edition)

2013-03-15T09:22:00.005-05:00

With Iowa being officially on The Bubble (and currently about 4 or 5 teams away from the NCAA Tourney depending on which "expert" you believe), here are the teams you should be rooting for today.

Teams You Should be Pulling For Today if You're an Iowa Fan

For Bubble implications:

NC State over Virginia
Duke over Maryland
UTEP over Southern Miss
St Louis over Charlotte
Temple over UMASS
Vanderbilt over Kentucky
Butler over LaSalle
Tennessee over Alabama*
Missouri over Ole Miss
* - some debate to this as it could be a knock-out game regardless of who wins.

For Potential Bid Stealers :

Memphis over Tulsa
Miami over BC
Florida over LSU
VCU over St Joes
Oregon over Utah

Iowa has to win tonight's game from MSU to get serious consideration for an at-large bid... they would need to win at least one more after that to feel really good about their chances. However, one more might be enough depending on how the rest of the bubble goes. So far this postseason, things have pretty much gone the best anyone could hope for in regards to helping out Iowa's chances. The Hawks just need to keep winning, simple as that.

Once Again Hawkeyes Can’t Close, Lose to the Gophers

2013-02-03T22:30:00.000-06:00

Once Again Hawkeyes Can’t Close, Lose to the Gophers

Article is up on Hawkeyenation.com:
http://bigten.xofan.com/Iowa/once-again-hawkeyes-cant-close-lose-to-the-gophers/

Listen to me on the latest BHGPodcast

2012-11-09T08:56:00.002-06:00

Black Heart Gold Podcast 94: Jumping Through Hoops

You Thought Jordan vs Bird Was Awesome?

2012-08-10T09:22:00.001-05:00

This summer's session of the PTL gave the Hawkeye Basketball faithful a shot of adrenaline. A lot of fans came away from the summer league excited about this year's team. In fact, someone even made mixtapes of both Devyn Marble and Aaron White from their PTL highlights.

In fact, one Hawkeyenation poster went so far as to dub Aaron White the new Larry Bird.

I say we roll with it.
College athletic endorsements be damned.
Pull out the old NES and pop in this brand-new game.
It's time to ball..

Nebraska Football Has New Alternate Uniforms... and they are hilarious

2012-07-27T09:45:00.001-05:00

No, seriously. Here they are. No joke.

Remind you of anything?

Jamie Pollard Puts Up Another Billboard

2012-07-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

OK, fine, Jamie. You put up "It's a Cyclone State" billboards when ISU beat Iowa in football. Fine, whatever. It was a jab at Iowa. And while petty and trite, it at least made sense in its efforts to get under the skin of Hawkeye fans.

The ISU athletic department's latest advertising move is just... well... stupid.
They even had a jigsaw puzzle on Facebook that added new pieces while excited ISU fans guessed what it was going to be...

Here's the billboard:

Yes, that's former Iowa and UNI AD, Bob Bowlsby on a billboard in Iowa markets. The ISU marketing department Pollardized this advertisement by making it seem as if Bob Bowlsby is coming home to Iowa State. And by doing that, getting under the skin of Iowa and UNI fans. But here's the thing. It doesn't make any sense. Both fanbases are completely apathetic when it comes to Bowlsby. No one gives a shit. Really. No one. He works in Texas, where the Big XII offices are located. He has 9 other schools besides ISU under his wing. Yet ISU Marketing thinks this makes sense. I just do not get it. I can't even put into words how silly this billboard is, I'm not even upset, I'm dumbfounded at why a program would put something like this up. Seriously, you made a billboard about your conference commissioner.

Needless to say, even Iowa State fans weren't pleased with this billboard.

Since I can't put it into words, I'll have to draw an analogy. I guess it only makes sense that Iowa would put a billboard (a Pollardized one, of course) to "get back" at those rascals down there in Ames. Oh, Iowa is gonna troll you guys from Ames.

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!?!?!
Cael coaches for Penn State and because of that, he coaches in the Big Ten. Well, guys, IOWA IS IN THE B1G CONFERENCE, you know. So Cael is TOTALLY coming home to Iowa when he left the state to become the head wrestling coach at Penn State. NOW I GET IT. I UNDERSTAND POLLARD AND ISU MARKETING 101.

trolololololol

MBB: Jarrod Uthoff is a Secret Agent

2012-06-04T21:48:00.000-05:00

SUPER AWESOME EDITORIALIZATION ENGAGED....

Back in July of 2010, Jarrod Uthoff chose to accept a scholarship to play basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers. To the outside world, he had pledged his allegiance to Bo Ryan and Badger Nation. Oh you silly people in the sports world and general sports fandom, you. Don't you see what happened? Haven't you watched enough Archer to figure this out by now? Jarrod Uthoff and Fran McCaffery just pulled off the greatest con in the last decade of B1G Basketball. Don't believe me? Here you go...

McCaffery was hired by Iowa and he immediately dug in and tried to retain the current players that had signed an NLI. Wisconsin got in the ear of one of the signed players (Ben Brust) and after a bunch of hoopla, Brust was allowed to go play for Bo Ryan penalty free. That pissed off McCaffery. A lot. East coast, Philly-type White Magic fury. Grrrr, I'm-really-mad type of stuff.

Pretty confident McCaffery is giving a chocolate-covered pretzel stink palm here

There is no love lost between Fran and Bo. Hate isn't a strong enough word.

So, how to retaliate? Easy. Go find a diehard Hawkeye fan who just so happened to be a Top 150 player with a Wisconsin scholarship offer. Couldn't be that hard to find, right? Oh, there you are Jarrod Uthoff (who just so happened to reside a half an hour from Carver-Hawkeye Arena). I see how this will pan out. Be sure to have Uthoff mention Bohannon (one of the first Eastern Iowa preps to spurn Iowa for Wisconsin) in his commitment to Wisconsin too, so he sounds honest. Have him say all the right things. It worked. For all intents and purposes, everyone thought Jarrod was a Badger. Except he was double-agenting all over Bo Ryan's face. Still don't believe me?

Iowa hadn't beaten Wisconsin on the road since 2000 (nine straight losses). In the last five games in the Kohl Center - Iowa had lost by an AVERAGE of 17 points. Iowa went to Madison and whooped up on the Badgers, they put up 72 points against Bo Ryan's defense (that's like the infinity sign against most defenses). How? How did they do it? Wisconsin was a Top 15 team, Iowa had lost to Campbell at home just over a month previous. I'll tell you how Iowa won. Jarrod Uthoff. I'm sure he got a bunch of film and paperwork on all of Wisconsin complicated offensive sets to the Iowa staff. I'm mean that Wisconsin offense is nearly impossible to scout against - how are you supposed to play defense for 30 seconds while the offense just dribbles around aimlessly (hint - you can't, it's reaaaaallly tough). Not to mention Uthoff must have added something to the Gatorade on the Badger bench, how else does Wisconsin shoot 3-28 from behind the arc? Thanks, Agent Uthoff.

And then Wisconsin comes to Iowa to rectify the situation, to get one back on Iowa. They forgot they were on Uthoff's turf, though. He already had the entire state on his side. Remember the stuff he added to Wisconsin's Gatorade up in Madison? He added the exact opposite serum to Iowa's drink of choice in one bottle, the bottle that belonged to Matt Gatens. That's why Matty Fresh went BANANAS on Wisconsin in February. Because of Jarrod Uthoff. Sneaky, sneaky Uthoff.

Alright, so you don't really buy into this conspiracy, huh? No? Don't forget this tidbit. Bo Ryan wanted Jarrod Uthoff to play last year, but Uthoff himself chose to redshirt. No way could he log minutes as a Badger. Look, giving information to your hometown team is one thing, but actually playing on the bad guys' team is a whole 'nuther level.

So when Jarrod Uthoff officially decides to come to play for Iowa, don't be fooled. He was always playing for the Hawkeyes, he just lived in a different state.

TanTara Transport Hauls Hawkeye Gear for Free

2012-04-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

TRANSPORT TOPICS has a great article on fleet customers hauling gear for free, Iowa Football is one of the benefactors of such a deal.

CLICK TO MAKE BIGGER
(FULL SIZE HERE)

Here is the online text:
From: Fleets Move College Football Gear for Pride

Michael Riggan, president of TanTara Transportation Corp., has been transporting football equipment for the University of Iowa since 1985. He became involved with the university when a friend — Ed Huff, who ran Hawkeye Moving and Storage — asked for his help. Huff began hauling Iowa football gear in 1983.
“He asked me to go on a trip with him to haul the equipment, and I was hooked. It was just an awesome feeling,” Riggan said.

“In 1987, I bought a tractor to use with [Huff’s] trailer, and [we shared] expenses until Ed retired around 2008,” Riggan said.

Now Riggan, who drives the “Hawk Hauler” with his son, Jeff, picks up the entire tab.
“I’ve been fortunate where I can afford to do this,” the elder Riggan said.
Riggan, whose oldest daughter earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa, said he has always felt welcomed by the Iowa staff.

“Former [head football] coach Hayden Fry made us feel like part of the team,” said Riggan, who was, and still is, struck by a feeling of camaraderie. “We had sideline passes and, since that day, I’ve been on the sidelines of every away game that I’ve gone to.”

After Fry retired in 1998, Kirk Ferentz took over the reins of the football program.
“He, likewise, has treated us like we’re part of the staff,” Riggan said. “He’s just good people.”
“Mike is a big part of our team,” Coach Ferentz said. “The thing that has always jumped out at me is that the truck is symbolic of the way Mike treats us. . . . It’s just absolutely spectacular. I tease Mike [that] you could perform surgery on it. Mike takes great pride in keeping that thing spotless.”
The coach said the truck helps spread the university’s name and football program through the areas in which it travels.

“It’s great advertising for us,” Ferentz said. “The detail of the graphics and the artwork on the truck is splendid.” He also said that it’s always a kick to see the truck waiting for the team. “We’ll get off the plane, and the truck is sitting out there on the tarmac,” the coach said. And he heaped praise on Riggan’s dedication to the university and the team.

“Mike’s truck is very representative of the type of person he is,” Ferentz said. “He’s so well-grounded, so committed, so supportive. He’s all about supporting the Hawkeyes. . . . I wish all our players were as committed as he is. We could all learn from him.”

Riggan said the movement of the football gear can be an arduous one.
“We haul everything from the jock straps to the gym shorts. We arrive on Thursday afternoon and start loading the stuff that we can while the team practices — the trainer stuff, communications equipment, video equipment. After practice, their shoulder pads, helmets [and other personal gear] go into the players’ bags, which are the last things to go on truck.

“We drive to the hotel where the team is staying and unload stuff there,” he said. “Then, we go to the stadium and help unload gear in the locker room and set up all of the lockers . . . for them,” he said, adding that this is done so the players have the gear that is needed for a practice walk-through on Friday.
“It’s almost a military operation at that point,” Riggan said. “That’s something that Hayden [a former marine] brought with him.”

Riggan also said, “At each home game, we park our truck outside the stadium and have a tailgate out of it. A lot of the old players stop by and say, ‘Hi.’ ” Although the vehicle usually isn’t completely filled for away games, “for bowl games, we have a full load,” he said.

Iowa, which finished the regular season with a 7-5 record, lost to Oklahoma, 31-14, at the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.

The hand-painted Hawk Hauler has been updated several times.
“We’re on our fourth trailer and our fifth tractor,” Riggan said. “The truck is all Hawk. It has close to 300 chicken lights — that’s an industry term. It really glows: I’m guessing a satellite could see it from space. It does look good.”
Riggan said the truck is used for carrying only football gear — with three charitable exceptions.

“We use the truck to support Freezing for Food and Toy Time,” he said, adding that the vehicle is parked at a Hy-Vee Food Stores facility to collect donated food for the Salvation Army pantry and at a Krieger Automotive center for Toy Time, another Salvation army charity. “They make sure that families in need get the food baskets and toys,” Riggan said.

The truck is also used to support a football camp for children from 7 years old through high school, he said, adding that 2011 was the program’s inaugural year.
The idea for the Davenport, Iowa, camp came from Matt Hughes, a linebacker for Iowa back in the 1990s. Riggan said that about 60 former Iowa players tutored the kids in football skills.

He also said that the Iowa alumni solicited donations from area businesses for the camp. And although there is a fee for the kids, those who couldn’t afford it were allowed to attend for free.

Riggan said the donations and fees go to football-related programs in the area — and in one special case, to help pay for a kidney transplant needed by a former Iowa player.

I Talked with BGHP on Their Latest Podcast

2012-03-07T09:27:00.000-06:00

Give it a listen here:

BLACK HEART GOLD PODCAST 77: STORMY WEATHER EQUALS DOUBLE RAINBOW

http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2012/3/7/2851274/black-heart-gold-podcast-77-stormy-weather-equals-double-rainbow

Get Yer Vintage Iowa Basketball Posters Here!

2012-03-02T12:54:00.002-06:00

Well you can't get them, but you can look at them. My awesome aunt and uncle bestowed upon me some of their old school Iowa Basketball posters. Here are some notable ones. Enjoy, Hawkeye fans.

"Superman 15" poster from 88-89 feat Marble, Jepsen, BJ, Earl and more.

The Iowa Hawkeye Monopoly poster feat Kingsbury, Bowen, Settles, etc...

"Jurbassicball Parquet" I'm convinced this poster got Dr. Tom fired for its awful puns. Gotta love it, though.

"Smooth Operators" poster from 91-92.

Simple, but awesome. BJ, Horton, and Marble.

The remake of the 80-81 poster by the 90-91 team.

The 60 Minutes spoof poster.

89-90 poster w Jepsen throwing it down and Bullard with the pull up. Wade Lookingbill is in the poster, but he pump faked me out of the shot.

Steve Alford "Game Boys" poster from 01-02. Steve got 5 wins in conference w/ that talent.

Recker and Evans' 01-02 poster. Anybody. Anywhere. Anytime.

93 Iowa Hawkeye Basketball

That is a whole lot of Mon'ter Glasper right there. 93-94 poster.

90-91 "Team Iowa". Yes, Paul Lusk, Dale Reed, Brig Tubbs, and Philip Chime were on that team.

MBB: Iowa Basketball and the Postseason

2012-02-29T10:36:00.000-06:00

Iowa Basketball. Postseason Play.

The juxtaposition of those two phrases above used to be something not out of the ordinary. In fact, on an annual basis in March, “postseason” and “Iowa” used to be synonymous with each other. Dating back to Lute’s first run in the NCAA Tournament in 1979 (and up to Alford’s last season), Iowa went to the postseason 22 times in a 25 year span. 17 of those postseason berths were in the NCAA Tournament and the other 5 were NIT invites (2 by Dr. Tom in a 13 year span and 3 by Alford in an 8 year span). Steve Alford’s last year as coach at Iowa would be the beginning of a five year postseason drought for a Hawkeye Basketball program that rarely missed a bid.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE ON HAWKEYENATION.COM

MBB - Pure Mattness: Iowa MBB at Illinois Preview/Prediction

2012-02-26T15:53:00.001-06:00

The big buzz this past month in the sports world has been Jeremy Lin. It’s time to retire Linsanity and bring out the Mattness. Matt Gatens just put together back-to-back historic performances against two Top 25 teams. I don’t need to go into details on what he’s done, anyone following Iowa Basketball is well aware of the roll Gatens is currently on. He’s a guy that is not ready to quit on the season or his career as a college basketball player. The Hawkeyes head to Champaign to face an Illini team that has lost six in a row and nine out of their last ten. However, Illinois has won the last six games against Iowa.

Read more on Hawkeyenation.com

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/basketball/pure-mattness-iowa-mbb-at-illinois-previewprediction

Honor Chris Street - Let's Get #CS40 to Trend on Twitter

2012-01-19T12:12:00.002-06:00

This morning I asked people on Twitter to help get #CS40 to trend in honor of the Chris Street death 19 years ago this day.

CMS Forever.

If you are on Twitter, please spread the word. Let's get #CS40 to trend!

In just a few hours, hundreds of people have gotten involved:

On Iowa! Go Hawks!

MBB: Hawkeye Basketball Bench Tebows After Big Three Pointer

2012-01-14T15:05:00.002-06:00

Following a huge three pointer by senior, Matt Gatens, a few members of the Iowa Hawkeye Basketball team thought they need to pay homage to the Lord above. Here's a screencap of the bench Tebowing... I believe the two are Darius Stokes and Kyle Denning.

Here's a link to the video, FFWD to the :30 mark to see it live.

MBB: Iowa vs. Michigan Preview/Prediction (1/14/2012)

2012-01-14T11:06:00.001-06:00

Iowa vs. Michigan Preview/Prediction is up on Hawkeyenation.com

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/basketball/mbb-iowa-vs-michigan-previewprediction

MBB: Iowa vs. Ohio State Preview/Prediction

2012-01-07T13:07:00.001-06:00

Preview and prediction is up on Hawkeyenation.com

Read it HERE

MBB: Iowa at Wisconsin

2011-12-31T11:30:00.003-06:00

Preview - Prediction for the Iowa Men's Basketball vs. Wisconsin Badger is up on Hawkeyenation.

READ IT HERE

MBB: Iowa vs. IPFW Preview / Prediction

2011-11-26T11:35:00.001-06:00

The Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team looks to rebound after back-to-back losses today inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This will be the sixth game for the Hawks in the past two weeks, as Iowa has had a game every third day to open the season.

READ THE REST OVER ON HAWKEYENATION.COM

MBB: Iowa vs. Northern Illinois Preview/Prediction

2011-11-17T16:23:00.001-06:00

It's up on Hawkeyenation.com

http://www.hawkeyenation.com/basketball/mbb-iowa-vs-northern-illinois-previewprediction

MBB: Iowa vs. North Carolina A&T Preview/Prediction

2011-11-14T15:38:00.001-06:00

It's up on Hawkeyenation.com

http://bit.ly/t2C7cn

MBB: 2011-12 Season Preview & Predictions

2011-11-11T00:12:00.001-06:00

My 2011-12 Season Preview and Prediction is up on Hawkeyenation.com

Give it a read.

My Thoughts on the Exhibtion Win over NWMS

2011-11-08T00:03:00.003-06:00

Now up on Hawkeyenation.com is my article on the Iowa Hawkeyes recent win over Northwest Missouri State.

READ IT HERE.

-Spank

MBB: CBS and ESPN Conference Schedule Announced

2011-09-06T15:51:00.000-05:00

Sept. 6, 2011

BIG TEN RELEASES CBS SPORTS AND ESPN MEN’S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A total of 44 Big Ten men’s basketball conference games will be televised on CBS Sports or an ESPN network, the conference office announced Tuesday. CBS Sports will carry eight weekend games this season, while 36 contests will appear on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The Hawkeyes will appear on an ESPN network seven times (six during league play), the most since the 2006-07 season. Iowa also is one of three games that CBS Sports could select for one of its “Wildcard” selections.

Iowa’s first conference game against Nebraska (Thurs., Jan. 26) will tip-off at 6 p.m. on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and will be televised on ESPNU. Two weeks later, Iowa’s home contest versus Penn State (Sat., Feb. 4) will be carried on ESPNU at 2 p.m.

Iowa road games at Northwestern (Thurs, Feb. 9), Penn State (Thurs., Feb. 16) and Nebraska (Wed., Feb. 29) will also be televised on ESPNU. All three games will tip at 8 p.m. (CT).

The Hawkeyes will host Wisconsin on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. That contest will be televised nationally on either ESPN or ESPN2. Iowa’s seventh game on an ESPN network was previously announced; a non-conference home game vs. Clemson on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 8:15 p.m. on ESPNU.

Iowa’s home game against Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 19 is one of three games CBS can choose from. A decision on that game’s tip time and television network will be announced at a later date.
The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 8-11 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With the expansion of the Big Ten to 12 teams, the tournament will feature 11 games for the first time in history. ESPN2 will carry the third and fourth games of the tournament, while ESPN will air Games 5 and 6. CBS Sports will once again broadcast the tournament’s semifinals and championship game.

The remainder of the Big Ten and Iowa’s men’s basketball conference schedule will be released tomorrow.

Date Opponent Time (CT) TV
Tues., Nov. 29 Clemson 8:15 p.m. ESPNU
Thurs., Jan. 26 Nebraska 6 p.m. ESPNU
Sat., Feb. 4 Penn State 2 p.m. ESPNU
Thurs., Feb. 9 at Northwestern 8 p.m. ESPNU
Thurs., Feb. 16 at Penn State 8 p.m. ESPNU
Sun., Feb. 19 Indiana TBD CBS Wildcard
Thurs., Feb. 23 Wisconsin 8 p.m. ESPN or ESPN2
Wed., Feb. 29 at Nebraska 8 p.m. ESPNU

Here's a breakdown of the # of games per school per network:

HAWKEYE FOOTBALL: Get ON or Get OUT

2011-09-01T08:49:00.002-05:00

It's been quiet on this little blog of mine with it being the off-season and all, also due to the fact that I started up a new site earlier in the year - BrewManiacs - with a couple other midwest friends.

The new Iowa Football video was awesome enough to bring me out of semi-hibernation.

Awesome.