Lots of little nuggets, including a larger number than usual of injured guys “participating but limited”.

And Tyler Miller is HUGE.

Just lost a griptylian that I had for a few years that fell out of my pocket somewhere in the last month replaced it with a bugout. Got the stainless steel 20cv blade with some cool limited edition scales. So far I love the size and weight. Considering upgrading the scales to titanium at some point as the only complaint I have with the current scales is the VERY slight flex. Overall I'm in love with it.

What are some knives everyone else really likes for everyday carry, work, survival, etc? I'm a knife nerd and love to talk about blacksmithing as well.

Coming up soon on NFL Network (may have already aired earlier this morning). Anyways he's going to be on if you're interested.

SIAP
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ND AD

IMO schools are starting to see the reality of athletes being treated as employees.
They should reap what they have allowed to happen. No protection from government.
It's my understanding that schools rely on individuals insurance to cover competitive injuries. Am I wrong?

Good luck at your next spot Eli.

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The Future
Things look bright in Cyclone country. Unlike previous years, the sisters don't have a singular player returning that the team will focus around. When Carleton was set to graduate we had a young Joens on the team as heir apparent. This year we don't. That doesn't mean the cupboard is bare, but quite the opposite. We have three all conference players in Fritz, Ryan and Donarski returning. The later two I'm sure determined to show better than they did this year. The former is a light just beginning to show her brightness. We have gained experience for players like Zingaro and Diew. So, we have a solid core to build around. Losing Vick is a small dent as we really didn't know what she brought to the table.

The recruits are another top ten class that includes:
Jalynn Bristow – Forward, 6-2 from Texas. She was the Miss Texas player of the year, averaged 25.8 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game and led her team to a state title.

Addy Brown – Point Guard, 6-3 from Kansas. She is a high school All American and the Kansas Gatorade POY. She averaged 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game and was a two time 1st team Class 6A All State player. Very cerebral and an on floor leader/coach.

Audi Crooks – Center, 6-3 from Iowa. Many of us had the chance to watch her perform in the State tournament this year. She dominated in 1A and had 49 points and 16 boards in the final. But its what she did in AAU that caught the coaches' eyes. She is a big body with great hands. Prior to the state tourney she had scored 2659 points and had 1313 rebounds.

Arianna Jackson – Guard, 5-9 from Iowa. Averaged nearly 20 ppg, shot 46% overall and 43% from three. 84% free throw shooter as a senior. Scored over 1000 career points. Quick!

Kelsey Joens – Guard, 5-10 from Iowa. The next Joens. Like each of her sisters before her she is her own style of player. Finished with 1,647 career points. Two time first team 5A pick. She and Crooks are both IPSWA first-team picks. This year she averaged 24.6 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.0 steals playing for her sister.

Folks...there is a reason this class is ranked so highly. There is some serious talent entering the women's program that will both support and add to the existing talent. It's hard to say who will fill in the roles of departing players, but the added depth will be welcome. I expect Brown and Bristow to be immediate impact players, i.e. getting significant play time. Crooks has some development to do, but we will see her on the court as well. Jackson and Joens are wild cards. Both obviously have skills. We can hope that in year one they provide some rotation time for the guard court. The one I'm most excited about? Again a toss up between Bristow and Brown. Brown is a BIG point guard. Even if she moves to forward, it means she can move with and without the ball. Bristow is just a pure talent.

It's a good time to be a Twister Sister fan. There is a changing of the guard, but what I feel is most promising for next year is NOT having the one player everything rotates around. I much more like to think of the possibility of next year's team being a multi-headed beast that can strike inside and out and from multiple spots. The team is taking a Europe trip this summer that I'm sure will help gain some experience and sort things out. Personally, I'm just as excited for next year as I was this year...especially since there won't be any lofty expectations. Hang on....

I've had a few days to digest the quick end to the season, read through way too many negative messages on these boards, and finally see the news that Stephanie Soares won't be back. We've also seen two players (one expected) decide to enter the portal. Let's take a look back and forward.

The Beginnings of a Season of Hope
Back in October everyone was abuzz thinking about having three 1st team All Big 12 players, a promising redshirt freshman and a 6'6" post as part of this team. The only damper was wondering how Jordao's injuries would heal and what condition M&M would be in. Otherwise this team seemed loaded for bear.

As the season started that hope grew as we saw Soares not only adapt to D1 play, but thrive in it. We also found out she was a very good shooter from the three point line. Watching the "new" offense do its thing, it was apparent that things were different in Cy-Town. Rather than being a Joens-centric team this team worked through Soares first. Passes into her had two great options - either she scored or she passed out assists. She excelled at both. Joens was transitioning to being an outside player first (like she will be in the WNBA). The pressure was decreased on other players as well. The only early problem was Fritz deferring to everyone else on the offensive end.

The First Cracks
The first real hitch in the team's giddy up was shown in the North Carolina game. Here we saw the best and the worst of what was to come. Domination in the first half where everything was clicking. In the second was when we saw the first signs that our guard court wasn't quite the same as last year. The second game in which uncomfortable things showed up was the Iowa game. Yes, we know Iowa has turned out to be a darned good team...but those shooting woes by our guards were a red flag. On the plus side the team seemed to spring back nicely after the blowout loss and beat a very good Villanova team (in the Sweet 16 as I write this) and start the Big 12 2-0. Mixed into this was the news that Jordao was medically retiring from basketball. Our post presence took a bit of a hit to its depth.

Then tragedy struck. Part way through the early part of the OU game Soares crumpled to the ground. Her season was over almost as quickly as it had started. The team tried to rally, but lost that game to OU. But the team found a way to start the conference season strong with only a loss to Texas sandwiched in between 5 wins. Even without Soares the team seemed to be getting the job done and stood at the top of the conference. Then in an example of how weird the season would get, the Sisters found themselves on the losing end in three straight games. In all of them two abnormal tendencies appeared - excessive fouls putting the opponent on the line and defensive breakdowns. There were very real concerns by most everyone at this point. Those losses and a couple more essentially ended any hope of challenging for the conference crown.

The team bounced back avenging two earlier losses by beating both Texas and Baylor. But sandwiched into all of that goodness was some honest to goodness head scratching material including a loss to KU where the Sisters gave up 98 points! The defense was quite simply a Jeckyl/Hyde performance. One game the ladies would be switching and moving fantastic in efforts to shut the opponent down...and the next they looked lethargic and befuddled as lesser teams tore them up. There again were concerns about what the last part of the season would bring. The ladies found a way to close out with a win over Texas Tech on senior night and end the regular season with a 19-9 record.

A Tourney Title
Fans flocked to KC for the last dual conference tournaments. The Iowa State faithful far outnumbered every opposing crowd at Municipal and the ladies gave them something to cheer about. In the first game, a scary rematch with Baylor loomed. This was the rubber match (as would the next two games) and the ladies played with a sense of purpose. The defense was excellent and the offense did what it needed to win by double digits and send Baylor packing in the first round. In the semis, OU awaited. I felt this was a good matchup as ISU could easily have won both regular season matchups. Again, the defense was excellent and Diew had one of her "on" games as she torched OU for 19 points and was joined by Joens and Donarski scoring over 20 each. In the final Texas awaited. This game was particularly fun to watch as it went back and forth. Very physical. But in the end it was ISU who was the more physical team. Texas was clearly frustrated as ISU took them behind the wood shed and won the tourney title with their third straight double digit tourney win. Joens was the MVP and Donarski made the all-tourney team. People were feeling pretty good about their team once again as the dance awaited.

The Dance (a short one)
The biggest question on everyone's mind is if the Big 12 Tourney title would push ISU over the top and into a fourth seed and being a host site. It didn't. The dance is supposed to recognize the entire season's work and unfortunately the up and down nature of this season and some very bad losses relegated ISU to a five seed and going to Knoxville. The only positive about this was a couple of our players (Vick and Fritz) would be going home. That was the only positive. Sadly, the team that didn't play good defense and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the three point line appeared. Toledo slashed the defense for multiple inside points. The ladies, after falling behind big, battled back but just didn't have the shooting touch to get it done. Just that quickly the season was over at 22-10.

The Aftermath
Following the season we all know there is juggling taking place. The portal allows players to move freely with no wait time. It didn't take long for two players to makes those decisions - Maggie Vick and M&M. On top of that we finally received the unwanted news that the NCAA had denied Soares' petition for another year. So what now?

Reflections
The mysterious part of the entire season was the degree to which some of our guards' ability to hit the three decreased. Ryan and Donarski were both first team all conference last year and were consistent three point shooters (41 and 37 percent respectively). This year those numbers dropped to 36 and 32 percent AND their attempts also dropped (two fewer games impacted this slightly). Joens stats were very consistent year to year. The other big changes were increased expectations for Diew and Zingaro. Both had their moments. Diew, when she was hot, was unstoppable. When she wasn't...it was bad. On the other hand, she was a firecracker for energy to this team. Zingaro took full advantage of the increased playing time and made some major improvements to her game. I think there is a positive future for her down low. M&M was a mystery. Supposedly healthy, she really struggled with her shooting. She played nearly the same minutes per game as a year ago, but saw her offensive production drop from 4.7 ppg to 1.7 and her three point shooting drop from 46% on 61 attempts to 19% on 48 attempts. Something was clearly off.

In the end it was inconsistency that cost this team during the entire season. The inability to consistently score and/or defend was the theme of the season. When the team was on they were nearly unstoppable. When they were off...anyone could beat them and usually did.

We saw the end of a storied career for Ashley Joens. We all know all the records she set and those don't need to be rehashed. What does need to be said again is the quality of person she is. You couldn't ask for a better representative of Iowa State than Ashley Joens. M&M ended her four years, well loved, but having struggled through a plethora of painful injuries. Jordao also succumbed to injuries after a fine junior season. Morgan Kane played a yeoman's part in the success of this team. She was solid as a rock last year and after Soares went down this year she stepped in and played an integral role. I've had several chances to talk with her and she's a wonderful young woman! Stephanie Soares...we barely knew you! But wow...what we saw was impressive and tantalizing. We will always have lot's of "what if's" pertaining to what might have been. Those 13 games were sure fun though!

Didn't get the extra season:

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Self feeling (it's) ‘tons better!’

As expected Kansas Coach Bill Self is on the mend and no it wasn't a vasectomy gone wrong (a reference to the timely thread "V"), or Gastric Bypass complications: The KU coach had a heart catheterization...

Old news as KU was upset, and this is a few days old article, but the first I read of the prognosis and procedure.

​

In your mind, is this a sport? Do you have any examples of what you do or do not consider a sport?

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Welcome to another edition of “On That Note,” CF’s weekly music series, co-hosted by @MeanDean, @cyclones500 and myself.

or this week's topic, we are going with a cousin of last week’s theme. We are looking for titles or lyrics with wish in all forms, i.e. wished, wishing, etc.


Last Week: Winning/Get Lucky

Not a surprise given her playing time here. She seemed like a really good teammate, and I hope she finds a place where she can get regular PT.

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Figured we needed one of these to get all the updates consolidated in one place, 32 NFL teams in attendance

Recent "Ref stare down" depiction I saw...

Iowa State Cyclones basketball managers need your vote.

They are in a Sweet Sixteen Twitter voting battle with Notre Dame.
The winners of this rounds will advance to the Elite 8 and be invited to play for a shot at the
National Championship at the Final Four Fan Fest in Houston!
Once in Houston, the teams accually play basketball games against the other manager teams to advance.
Voting ends today and Notre Dame is closing the gap.

If you have a Twitter account, please vote for the Cyclones.
Help send our hard working managers to Houston.

Manager Games (@ManagerGames_) / Twitter​

im tired of everyone calling for a change. i love coach bill. he loves ISU and this is where he wants to be. before bill came here who would have ever thought of average 6000 people in the stands. mulitple sell outs. we just completed another big 12 tournament title ( that makes 3 under his tenure). he represents our school like i want a head coach to act. not like a certain former baylor coach. we are always in the conversation for upper half of the big 12 conference. consistantly always near 20 wins

we have maintained consistency under bill and his coaching staff. you can tell by the reaction of ashley in the interview on saturday that she didnt want her experience to end. he brings in quality players and players that are respectful. ( welle, freese,taylor , poppins , prins ,christopherson , oniel, carlton, ashley the list goes on)

yes this year ended like we did not want but they still get to hold a big 12 tourney title.

feel free to roast me but i would not want anyone else to lead our program

OU and BU still playing, but terminal. Texas lost - conference not the power it used to be. It seem the committee wisely discounted our KC wins. Do we miss Kim yet?

I have not seen much discussion on this topic, understanding it’s a long ways away. What is the possible picture for next year with both playing a similar role on the team? Is there a scenario that exists where Williams starts next year and Lipsey is forced to the bench?

SIAP - never seen this before: https://www.ncaa.com/webview/news:b...:longest-ncaa-bracket-has-ever-stayed-perfect

"In 2022, all brackets busted on the first Friday of the tournament when No. 11 Iowa State upset No. 6 LSU, 59-54. That’s when this bracket created by ESPN user "Bekins24" — busted."

I saw the vintage basketball Cy logo on the new team gear - it's so easy to modernize, so I threw this together in 15 minutes.

DESIGN NOTES:

1.) Cy doesn't need ruffled shorts. Maybe Queen Victoria, but not our avian friend.

2.) Generic block logo changed to current logo shape.

3.) All whites. It's not 1940.

4.) I've never understood the socks. Is this puffy dough or what. Fixed!

5.) Cy is now a sneakerhead.

Done. Watch the Mickey D players line up at Hilton. Drop the banners. Collect the chips.

We've got a 13 y.o. beagle. 2-3 years ago she developed a cough and our vet at that time diagnosed a collapsed trachea. Tried a few different meds but the only thing that worked was hydrocodone, 1ml liquid, twice a day. That worked for quite a while but recently her cough returned. We have since moved and saw her new vet this week. They did some x-rays and determined she does not have a collapsed trachea, but she does have an enlarged heart. They stated that hydrocodone dose was very low and wanted to quadruple it to 4ml twice a day in pill form. Just thought I'd ask if anyone had other input. She is seeing a cardiologist in two weeks.

I know some people might say she's 13, it may be time to just put her down. But she is otherwise in good health. Still very happy, energetic and walks over a mile every day. Blood work is perfect. We just don't feel it's her time yet.

I currently have (2) 23" monitors set-up side-by-side and always use the monitors independently. Only used for email, spreadsheets, Word etc. (no gaming).

I have recently learned of the curved monitor design and am seeking thoughts from those of you that have experience or opinions of this new design.
* Can this single monitor serve as a dual monitor set-up?
* Any thoughts/opinions on the benefit of a curved monitor?
* Should I just continue to use the dual monitor set-up as opposed to the curved monitor?

Hadn't started up a thread for this season yet. Am enjoying this season so far, the cast has some fun personalities and are already playing the game hard it feels like. Crazy they had the medical issues from the start too.

I like the new twists from the start too with the risking up to 2 votes for the possibility of an advantage then the advantages were not identical either. The bag in the cage with the idol and fake idol was a great new way of creating chaos. Already have 1 fake idol successfully planted with Danny planting the key again and Matt finding it.

Wish I had started this from episode 1 to keep better track of what has gone on so far and been more fresh in my mind plus I'm watching it a day or so later now that my 3rd grade daughter wants to watch it with us now too. Some random thoughts I have:

- My favorite player right now is Danny. He's playing a sneaky game strategically while not overplaying it so far.
- Carolyn is a bit nutty but I think she would be a good person to align with if you can keep her calm enough as I think her only move at the moment is to find a few people to stay loyal with and be part of some votes
- Yam Yam is quite the character, such a happy personality and playing a good social game so far
- The "love connection" going on with Matt and Frannie while entertaining we all know how that winds up eventually as they just put bigger targets on them to be voted out.
- So far there isn't a player that I just loathe but maybe give it a couple more weeks and someone might start to annoy me. Overall really think they put together a good cast this season compared to some of the more recent ones.