He alluded several times that as the opposing team in Ames, you have to be ready for Iowa State getting favorable calls in Hilton. While it may have been true at times last night (I thought the refs were awful last night fwiw), historically speaking that is not the case, and implying that Hilton Magic is similar to playing 5 vs 8 at AFH like the halftime booth guy did is completely asinine.
This is why I personally think he wasn't great last night. In all though, I do think he has improved over the years.
Spatola would be great if it weren't for the silly little noises he makes as they go to break. Hope he'll drop that as he realizes that he's pretty good without developing a schtick.
Tony Romo is really, really good. He knows football like no other analyst on the air.
Well, actually it is the case or it was the case. It is several years old but there was a study that showed Iowa State had one of the most favorable home court advantages in terms of fouls called. I think the foul difference for iowa state, home vs away, was even bigger for ISU than Kansas. Of course there is a difference for all teams home v. away. That isn't showing a bias for KSU.
Spatola could add his wisdom without coming off as a know-it-all jerk like he does. He knows everything and he damned well is going to tell you.
I tend to wear cardinal and rose colored glasses when watching Iowa State play, but I can take them off long enough to acknowledge that we got some good calls last night. I do not feel, though, that this is always the case. Probably not even normally the case. I'd be interested to see this study. Hilton Magic is the passionate fan base. Not refs bailing Iowa State out. My humble opinion anyway.
Those old Big 12/8 sponsored by Phillips 66 analysts on Saturday afternoons were really good.
He also said something like, "you could get whatever you wanted"
I think in terms of volume of calls, it actually is similar to AFH.
I actually enjoy Manzer. He does a good job of explaining the show, not trying to be the show.
The refs were awful last night. They wrecked the pace of the game with a lot of ticky-tack calls and going to the monitor like 50 times. I think the game lasted longer than 2½ hours. There were bad calls that went both ways.
fully agree. Spatola is awful. King at least knows the Big 12, and has some good insight.
I've said it before, but I really like how he brings his personal experience in the league into the broadcast. The guy knows the Big 12 intimately and he made a lot of accurate points about playing at ISU in the broadcast Wednesday night.
