In June I ran a prediction of the possible Big 10 divisions if Nebraska were to join the conference, which did happen. Turns out I was off a little bit. I had Michigan and Michigan St in the same division but with Ohio St and Penn St rather than with Iowa and Nebraska, which they are. I really don't like how Michigan and Ohio St were separated but will still get to play each other to end the regular season. I don't think Michigan will be a sure-thing to enter the conference championship out of the "west" division (Iowa and Nebraska will prove to be good competition) but I also don't see why they should potentially play Ohio St in back-to-back games. To me the final game should be against a division rival (such as Iowa and Nebraska will be). I also am not too happy that Wisconsin and Iowa won't be playing every year. I'm not a Wisconsin fan at all but the game is always competitive and is usually a fun time. The "west" division should have included Wisconsin rather than Michigan or Michigan St. I'm also not too thrilled about the new "rivalry game" with Purdue. Seriously? They're not even close to being a rival of Iowa. Too bad that Nebraska got Penn St because PSU is the closest thing to a rival Iowa has from the other division. Maybe the Big 10 powers don't want Iowa to ruin another great PSU season.
Ok, I'm done with my "I don't like" rants. On to the stuff I'm looking forward to. Iowa won't play Illinois for a few more years. Will Ron Zook be coaching the next time we play? I doubt it. I'm also very thrilled that Iowa will close the season against Nebraska in 2011 and 2012. I'm bummed that we have to go to Lincoln in 2011 but that only means a possible road trip for me. I do like the conference championship game that will be in place. No more 2002 scenarios (I'm still convinced that Iowa would have beat Ohio St that year). The championship game adds a little more drama to the season. Last year's final week didn't mean much as far as the conference championship race since it was decided after Ohio St squeaked past Iowa the week before.
Of course the one thing I'm looking forward to more than anything else is THIS SATURDAY! College football finally returns to Iowa City! Looking ahead to 2011 is fun but we still have to get through 2010 first. I'm looking forward to the 2+ hour drive to Iowa City early Saturday morning. I'm ready to break out the tail gaiting supplies and have a good time before heading to Kinnick and watching some football. Hopefully this year's opener won't be as nerve racking as last year's. I don't want to see the starters after halftime (if you know what I mean).
Maybe the teams in the "east" division, other than Purdue, are thankful they won't be playing Iowa every year....
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Fantasy Time
Yesterday I had a conversation on Twitter regarding fantasy football. It spawned a blog entry that I follow pretty closely (dsmsportsfreaks.com). Today's entry was how men have become obsessed with fantasy football.
It's true that men are obsessive creatures. Most of us love our sports. We love sports so much that we fantasize that we can still play them. One of the intriguing aspects of sports is also running the team and getting the best players on your team. That is the basis for fantasy football. As a teenager I liked basketball more than football (which has since changed). I would spend hours playing NBA Live 96 on my SNES. It was during this time that I realized I could make some trades and end up with a roster full of the best players. A few years later I started playing Madden NFL on my computer and did the same thing. Then I found out that you could create your own team of real-life players and get points based on how well they do.
I started out my fantasy sports career by playing in an NBA league on ESPN.com. I then ventured into fantasy baseball and NASCAR, but I sucked horribly at both (I still do NASCAR and still suck). Once there was an opening in the fantasy football league at work I jumped all over it. The difference between my NFL league and all of the others was that the NFL league was a group of co-workers who saw each other every day, where the others were online and I didn't know who I was competing with. The best part was the trash-talking that was going on. It wasn't mean-spirited at all. We had a lot of fun with it until the league got too big (24 teams total, 3-8 team leagues) and people started to bicker. At that point I had left that particular Hy-Vee and was working at a different store. I decided to start my own league, based on the same rules and points system, at the new store and had tons of fun with it.
At the height of my career I was in 3 leagues. One season (I believe it was 2006) I brought home the championship in 2 of the 3 leagues. That was a great feeling. A few years later I decided that I wasn't having any fun with it and was going to give it up. By then I still had 3 teams but all of them were in online leagues where I only knew a few of the other guys and none of us worked together anymore so the fun was gone. I called it quits and wasn't going to look back. That's when my former favorite players took over my body; I pulled a Favre.
About a year ago a co-worker decided to set up a 12-team league with other co-workers. I had only done 8 and 10 team leagues so I was up for the challenge. I decided to start up again and enjoyed it. My team started out terrible and finished fairly strong. It was a good first got at a 12-team league. We have the league again this year and I know better what to do. I was content with only having 1 team until the talk on Twitter yesterday got me revved up even more. One of the people I follow threw out an open invitation to join a league and I jumped at it. I think 2 is a good number of leagues right now, much better than the 7 (maybe more his year) that a friend of mine is in.
I'm back in the game at full-strength. Some of the strategy has changed over the past few years and I was afraid that the game had passed me by. I have been able to make the necessary adjustments this year and am ready to get The Corporation back to the top. After all, The Corporation has been building fantasy sports dynasties since 2000.
It's true that men are obsessive creatures. Most of us love our sports. We love sports so much that we fantasize that we can still play them. One of the intriguing aspects of sports is also running the team and getting the best players on your team. That is the basis for fantasy football. As a teenager I liked basketball more than football (which has since changed). I would spend hours playing NBA Live 96 on my SNES. It was during this time that I realized I could make some trades and end up with a roster full of the best players. A few years later I started playing Madden NFL on my computer and did the same thing. Then I found out that you could create your own team of real-life players and get points based on how well they do.
I started out my fantasy sports career by playing in an NBA league on ESPN.com. I then ventured into fantasy baseball and NASCAR, but I sucked horribly at both (I still do NASCAR and still suck). Once there was an opening in the fantasy football league at work I jumped all over it. The difference between my NFL league and all of the others was that the NFL league was a group of co-workers who saw each other every day, where the others were online and I didn't know who I was competing with. The best part was the trash-talking that was going on. It wasn't mean-spirited at all. We had a lot of fun with it until the league got too big (24 teams total, 3-8 team leagues) and people started to bicker. At that point I had left that particular Hy-Vee and was working at a different store. I decided to start my own league, based on the same rules and points system, at the new store and had tons of fun with it.
At the height of my career I was in 3 leagues. One season (I believe it was 2006) I brought home the championship in 2 of the 3 leagues. That was a great feeling. A few years later I decided that I wasn't having any fun with it and was going to give it up. By then I still had 3 teams but all of them were in online leagues where I only knew a few of the other guys and none of us worked together anymore so the fun was gone. I called it quits and wasn't going to look back. That's when my former favorite players took over my body; I pulled a Favre.
About a year ago a co-worker decided to set up a 12-team league with other co-workers. I had only done 8 and 10 team leagues so I was up for the challenge. I decided to start up again and enjoyed it. My team started out terrible and finished fairly strong. It was a good first got at a 12-team league. We have the league again this year and I know better what to do. I was content with only having 1 team until the talk on Twitter yesterday got me revved up even more. One of the people I follow threw out an open invitation to join a league and I jumped at it. I think 2 is a good number of leagues right now, much better than the 7 (maybe more his year) that a friend of mine is in.
I'm back in the game at full-strength. Some of the strategy has changed over the past few years and I was afraid that the game had passed me by. I have been able to make the necessary adjustments this year and am ready to get The Corporation back to the top. After all, The Corporation has been building fantasy sports dynasties since 2000.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Some Odds-n-ends
The end of summer vacation is coming up very quickly. My oldest daughter will be starting kindergarten while my youngest is still a year away from pre-school. The beginning of the school year also signals cooler temps (in theory of course) and football season (we know how much I enjoy that). This summer has flown by for us as we have had something going on pretty much every weekend. Let's tie up some loose ends before getting down to business in a few weeks.
I've seen enough precipitation in the last 12 months to last me a lifetime. Here's hoping we dry out so that I don't have to mow the yard as often.
I can't believe that football season is only a few weeks away.
Even though Iowa struggled with UNI last year you had to know something special was going to happen when there are 2 blocked field goals to win the game.
It was nice to have our first family vacation to Colorado and spend some time at Rocky Mountain National Park, and to visit my sister-in-law and niece in Kansas City and go to Oceans of Fun while there (though a thunderstorm cut our time at the park short). I don't think we've done that much traveling in one year.
I really wish I could play golf more often. On second thought it may also give me a heart attack with the way I play sometimes.
The state fair started this week. I don't have any desire to go other that to get the new Hawkeye football poster, which I have people get for me anyway. Maybe we'll take the kids in a few years.
A few years ago I was in 3 fantasy football leagues. I then decided not to play any more. This year marks the 2nd year in a league at work. Tonight is our draft and I have no strategy in place, again.
Today is also my mom's birthday. Happy 5#th birthday Mom!
I don't get too excited about the NBA anymore and the whole LeBron fiasco lowered that excitement even more.
I am getting more excited about Iowa's men's basketball team that will take the floor in 2011-2012.
We are doing a garden for the first time. So far we have 5 developed pumpkins and some cucumbers. Not bad for only having those two vegetables sprout.
The plan for next year is to have a pumpkin patch, strawberry patch, and swimming pool in the back yard.
My sister is getting married in less than 2 weeks and I'm doing the ceremony. Time to get cracking!
I will have another (3rd) niece or a first nephew near the end of January.
My daughters are acting 10 years older than they are (and they are 5 and 3).
I've seen enough precipitation in the last 12 months to last me a lifetime. Here's hoping we dry out so that I don't have to mow the yard as often.
I can't believe that football season is only a few weeks away.
Even though Iowa struggled with UNI last year you had to know something special was going to happen when there are 2 blocked field goals to win the game.
It was nice to have our first family vacation to Colorado and spend some time at Rocky Mountain National Park, and to visit my sister-in-law and niece in Kansas City and go to Oceans of Fun while there (though a thunderstorm cut our time at the park short). I don't think we've done that much traveling in one year.
I really wish I could play golf more often. On second thought it may also give me a heart attack with the way I play sometimes.
The state fair started this week. I don't have any desire to go other that to get the new Hawkeye football poster, which I have people get for me anyway. Maybe we'll take the kids in a few years.
A few years ago I was in 3 fantasy football leagues. I then decided not to play any more. This year marks the 2nd year in a league at work. Tonight is our draft and I have no strategy in place, again.
Today is also my mom's birthday. Happy 5#th birthday Mom!
I don't get too excited about the NBA anymore and the whole LeBron fiasco lowered that excitement even more.
I am getting more excited about Iowa's men's basketball team that will take the floor in 2011-2012.
We are doing a garden for the first time. So far we have 5 developed pumpkins and some cucumbers. Not bad for only having those two vegetables sprout.
The plan for next year is to have a pumpkin patch, strawberry patch, and swimming pool in the back yard.
My sister is getting married in less than 2 weeks and I'm doing the ceremony. Time to get cracking!
I will have another (3rd) niece or a first nephew near the end of January.
My daughters are acting 10 years older than they are (and they are 5 and 3).
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
My Expansion Thoughts
I know some people are pretty burned out about the subject but it's time I let my opinion be known. The Big 10 has revealed that they are looking to expand within the next 4 or 5 years, mainly affecting football, which is what I will be touching on. This timeline has seemed to have been moved up with the reports that the Pac 10 was going to take 4-6, if not all 12, teams from the Big 12. Rumors have swirled about Nebraska joining the Big 10 for a while and now it seems more like a fact. There have been reports today that the Nebraska regents have agreed to join the Big 10. This would put the Big 10 at 12 teams (Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Northwestern). That would be enough teams to form two six team divisions and open the door for a conference football championship game. This championship game is what the expansion is all about. It will provide additional revenue for the conference (and the schools) and it will give the Big 10 more media exposure later into the year. The lack of exposure has hurt the Big 10's perception over the years and their bowl record hasn't been the greatest either. Let's say the Big 10 stops at 12 teams, the breakdown could look like this:
Eastern Division: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue
Western Division: Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern
The schedule would still follow the current guideline of four non-conference games and seven conference games. Each team would play the other teams from its division and two teams from the other division every year. This should provide ample opportunities to avoid ties within the division. The two division winners would then meet in the championship game with the winner getting the conference championship.
Now let's say the conference decides to expand to 16 teams (I don't see how 14 teams would work very well). The Big 10 has been going after Notre Dame for years and may finally land them if they want to expand past Nebraska (again assuming Nebraska is joining the conference). This will put the conference at 13 teams, needing three more to get to 16. Getting to 13 teams is the easy part, getting the next three may be difficult. No one knows for sure who else the Big 10 is looking at. Rutgers, Missouri, Georgia Tech, and Pitt all seem to be mentioned. Iowa State is making a push to be included so that they aren't left out of a BCS conference if the Big 12 implodes. The Big 10 seems to want to push more to the east and a little bit south east, explaining Rutgers (New York City area) and Georgia Tech (Atlanta). Missouri and Iowa State fit geographically but they wouldn't be great at generating additional revenue. For now I'm going to predict that Missouri, Rutgers, and Pitt are the final three schools added. My prediction for a 16 team conference breakdown would be 2 divisions, each with 2 subdivisions.
East Division:
East: Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Indiana
North: Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana
West Division:
South: Illinois, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Missouri
West: Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota
I know the North subdivision is loaded but I lined these up to help preserve rivalries. The schedule would still be four non-conference and seven conference games. The teams would still play the other teams in its subdivision and then one team from each other subdivision, putting them at six conference games. The seventh game would be between a team from the other subdivision in your division, based on record. For example, East #1 would play North #1 and South #4 would play West #4. The top teams in each subdivision would be playing for their division's spot in the conference championship. In essence this would give Big 10 schools a playoff into bowl season. Yes this could lead to multiple meetings between teams but that could still happen with only a championship game and it wouldn't be very likely.
Of course the actual expansion won't happen for a couple more years since the schedules are already out. It will give some time for build up between the schools that will become new rivals and the first season will be explosive. Now we need September 4 to get here soon so that we can once again see some football.
Eastern Division: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue
Western Division: Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern
The schedule would still follow the current guideline of four non-conference games and seven conference games. Each team would play the other teams from its division and two teams from the other division every year. This should provide ample opportunities to avoid ties within the division. The two division winners would then meet in the championship game with the winner getting the conference championship.
Now let's say the conference decides to expand to 16 teams (I don't see how 14 teams would work very well). The Big 10 has been going after Notre Dame for years and may finally land them if they want to expand past Nebraska (again assuming Nebraska is joining the conference). This will put the conference at 13 teams, needing three more to get to 16. Getting to 13 teams is the easy part, getting the next three may be difficult. No one knows for sure who else the Big 10 is looking at. Rutgers, Missouri, Georgia Tech, and Pitt all seem to be mentioned. Iowa State is making a push to be included so that they aren't left out of a BCS conference if the Big 12 implodes. The Big 10 seems to want to push more to the east and a little bit south east, explaining Rutgers (New York City area) and Georgia Tech (Atlanta). Missouri and Iowa State fit geographically but they wouldn't be great at generating additional revenue. For now I'm going to predict that Missouri, Rutgers, and Pitt are the final three schools added. My prediction for a 16 team conference breakdown would be 2 divisions, each with 2 subdivisions.
East Division:
East: Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Indiana
North: Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana
West Division:
South: Illinois, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Missouri
West: Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota
I know the North subdivision is loaded but I lined these up to help preserve rivalries. The schedule would still be four non-conference and seven conference games. The teams would still play the other teams in its subdivision and then one team from each other subdivision, putting them at six conference games. The seventh game would be between a team from the other subdivision in your division, based on record. For example, East #1 would play North #1 and South #4 would play West #4. The top teams in each subdivision would be playing for their division's spot in the conference championship. In essence this would give Big 10 schools a playoff into bowl season. Yes this could lead to multiple meetings between teams but that could still happen with only a championship game and it wouldn't be very likely.
Of course the actual expansion won't happen for a couple more years since the schedules are already out. It will give some time for build up between the schools that will become new rivals and the first season will be explosive. Now we need September 4 to get here soon so that we can once again see some football.
Friday, April 2, 2010
A New Beginning
On Sunday my Twitter feed was full of tweets that Iowa had found its new men's basketball coach: Fran McCaffery. Yes, I was one of the many who had to look him up to find out who exactly he was. It seems like the Iowa athletic department is trying to find another Kirk Ferentz type coach, someone not well known by the fan base but will come in and do the job. Coach McCaffery has the background of turning college basketball programs around, but he hasn't coached at the level that Iowa plays in. The Big Ten is a little (fine, a lot) different than the MAAC, where Sienna plays. As you can see I was a little skeptical when I found out who he was.
Monday morning was the traditional introduction news conference. As I watched and listened the more I liked. Coach McCaffery had some former players in attendance and he wants them to be part of the program in some way, even as an assistant coach perhaps. The program has been missing this greatly in the past decade. There was a disconnect between the Dr Tom years to the current situation. Another thing that really impressed me was Coach McCaffery's desire to adapt to the situation. He isn't planning on implementing one system and sticking with it. Instead he wants to inventory what he has for players and build around that. Even in games he will adapt, something not seen at Iowa in decades (even Dr Tom would stick with the press when it wasn't working). Coach McCaffery wants to play different offenses and defenses to keep the opponents off-balance. He wants to run the floor and make good decisions. Most of all he wants the players to play with passion, as he will coach with passion, and to have fun. Best way to have fun is to win, of course, but he also needs to make it fun in a loss.
What I am most impressed about is his relationships with the players. He opens his home to the players and connects with them, and their families, on a personal level. Anyone who has gone away to college knows that homesickness does come into play and it's nice to have someone who wants to be a family away from your family. I also think that this is why he has become to be known as an excellent recruiter. He will be able to sell the program to the recruits. I am also impressed with his desire to contact the current class of recruits and keep them on board.
This is an exciting time for Iowa Basketball. The last three (losing) seasons have been rough; to an extent the Alford years were rough too. Coach McCaffery provides us with some summer optimism as we prepare to see the team hit the court. Hopefully next winter I won't be thinking "how long until football starts?"
Edit: Right after I posted this I received a tweet for http://www.letsbemadagain.com/ from well known Hawkeye basketball blogger Storminspank. This is an example of the renewed commitment in the Iowa Basketball program. Check it out (requires Flash 10).
Monday morning was the traditional introduction news conference. As I watched and listened the more I liked. Coach McCaffery had some former players in attendance and he wants them to be part of the program in some way, even as an assistant coach perhaps. The program has been missing this greatly in the past decade. There was a disconnect between the Dr Tom years to the current situation. Another thing that really impressed me was Coach McCaffery's desire to adapt to the situation. He isn't planning on implementing one system and sticking with it. Instead he wants to inventory what he has for players and build around that. Even in games he will adapt, something not seen at Iowa in decades (even Dr Tom would stick with the press when it wasn't working). Coach McCaffery wants to play different offenses and defenses to keep the opponents off-balance. He wants to run the floor and make good decisions. Most of all he wants the players to play with passion, as he will coach with passion, and to have fun. Best way to have fun is to win, of course, but he also needs to make it fun in a loss.
What I am most impressed about is his relationships with the players. He opens his home to the players and connects with them, and their families, on a personal level. Anyone who has gone away to college knows that homesickness does come into play and it's nice to have someone who wants to be a family away from your family. I also think that this is why he has become to be known as an excellent recruiter. He will be able to sell the program to the recruits. I am also impressed with his desire to contact the current class of recruits and keep them on board.
This is an exciting time for Iowa Basketball. The last three (losing) seasons have been rough; to an extent the Alford years were rough too. Coach McCaffery provides us with some summer optimism as we prepare to see the team hit the court. Hopefully next winter I won't be thinking "how long until football starts?"
Edit: Right after I posted this I received a tweet for http://www.letsbemadagain.com/ from well known Hawkeye basketball blogger Storminspank. This is an example of the renewed commitment in the Iowa Basketball program. Check it out (requires Flash 10).
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I Caught The Bug
10 years ago at this time I was wondering if I made the right decision to not graduate from high school early so that I could run track. After cross country finished up I was really burned out from running and I was thinking strongly about graduating after the second trimester. My track coach caught wind of this (actually I think I told him) and he strongly encouraged me to stay in school and run track. This was supposed to be the year I dominated in my events and he was banking on that. When practice began in late February I felt a problem in my foot. Turns out I had developed tendinitis along the arch in my left foot. I was out of action for the first three weeks of March. Then, right before I was going to start practicing, I developed tendinitis in my right foot, also along the arch, and I hurt my hamstring; this kept me out for another week. I probably should have been out longer but our first meet was coming up and I wanted some practice time, even if it was 3 days, before I ran. It took me almost the entire season to get into "meet shape". My normal work load was two 800 meter races, usually the 4x800 and then the 800 in the medley relay or the open 800. I was fine running the 4x800 (time was around 2:12 which wasn't bad for being hurt) but the second 800 of the meet was way worse (one was 2:30, which was equally painful to watch and to run); it got to the point that I was only running one even per meet. The 4x800 qualified for state on the time of four runners that weren't normally on the relay. In the closing meets of the year we had a run-off to see who would be on the team to run at state. Luckily I was finally coming around and was able to run a 2:07 three times in the last two meets (my 4th time was 2:08). I then ran a 2:06 at state and began to wonder what would have happened if I was healthy at the start of the season.
After the state meet I said that was the last time I was going to run. I was done with it. My knees had been injured, my feet had tendinitis, my hips had issues, and there were various muscle strains and pulls through the years. My body was spent, and so too was my mind. I was content without running long distances as I never wanted to be a distance runner, it all happened by chance (I still blame my sister).
Now, 10 years later, I have caught the bug. Two years ago I started running at lunch time with a group of my co-workers. The first time I ran we went 4 miles, and I couldn't walk for a couple of days. The knee pains were back. I decided, after a couple of months of off-and-on running, that I should slide back into retirement. I didn't think my knees would take any more running. Then, after playing broom ball for a few hours in January pain free, I decided to give it another go. This time was going to be a lot different that two years ago. This time I have a plan, and a goal. I want to compete in at least two 5k road races this year: the first will be May 1 in Perry (Run Like A Fox, named for my late high school cross country coach) and the second is still to be determined. I have thought about doing the 5k Dam to Dam, but there is usually a 5k in Perry on July 4 that is an option; if things go well I may do all three, and run in Race for the Cure in Des Moines next October.
I know that sounds ambitious for someone who hasn't competed in 10 years but that is where my plan comes in. The first month and a half has been used for strength training. I work my arms 3 days a week and my legs the other 2 (weekends off). In my younger days I never thought of the strength training being very important. Now that I've been away from any sort of workout I know I need to get physically stronger. On top of that I need to get my mind back into the game. One of my best weapons during my races was my mind. I never let myself give up mentally. I knew I could catch the guy in front of me no matter how far ahead he was (especially in track). Part of my strength routine is getting my competition mindset back. That means I cannot give up on what I'm doing, I need to be focused, and I have to ignore the pain. My leg strength is where I want it to be, I don't have a gauge on my upper body strength, and my mind has a some work left.
The next step of the plan involves getting my cardiovascular endurance back. I already have the foundation in place but I need to put the main floor and walls up and then I can start working toward the ceiling. I want to do as much to get the endurance back without putting much stress on my knees and feet this early. My solution: roller blading. Getting the blades on will enable me to work my legs without the stress of running, and help build my endurance. Once I feel comfortable enough with my cardio endurance I will put the blades away and lace up the running shoes again.
I don't think I will ever live the days of a 17:15 5k or a 2:06 800 but I am hoping to be under 21:00 for my first 5k and, maybe, around 18:00 for the others. There is no doubt in my mind that those goals cannot be met. Maybe next year I will be talking about a 17:00 5k again.
After the state meet I said that was the last time I was going to run. I was done with it. My knees had been injured, my feet had tendinitis, my hips had issues, and there were various muscle strains and pulls through the years. My body was spent, and so too was my mind. I was content without running long distances as I never wanted to be a distance runner, it all happened by chance (I still blame my sister).
Now, 10 years later, I have caught the bug. Two years ago I started running at lunch time with a group of my co-workers. The first time I ran we went 4 miles, and I couldn't walk for a couple of days. The knee pains were back. I decided, after a couple of months of off-and-on running, that I should slide back into retirement. I didn't think my knees would take any more running. Then, after playing broom ball for a few hours in January pain free, I decided to give it another go. This time was going to be a lot different that two years ago. This time I have a plan, and a goal. I want to compete in at least two 5k road races this year: the first will be May 1 in Perry (Run Like A Fox, named for my late high school cross country coach) and the second is still to be determined. I have thought about doing the 5k Dam to Dam, but there is usually a 5k in Perry on July 4 that is an option; if things go well I may do all three, and run in Race for the Cure in Des Moines next October.
I know that sounds ambitious for someone who hasn't competed in 10 years but that is where my plan comes in. The first month and a half has been used for strength training. I work my arms 3 days a week and my legs the other 2 (weekends off). In my younger days I never thought of the strength training being very important. Now that I've been away from any sort of workout I know I need to get physically stronger. On top of that I need to get my mind back into the game. One of my best weapons during my races was my mind. I never let myself give up mentally. I knew I could catch the guy in front of me no matter how far ahead he was (especially in track). Part of my strength routine is getting my competition mindset back. That means I cannot give up on what I'm doing, I need to be focused, and I have to ignore the pain. My leg strength is where I want it to be, I don't have a gauge on my upper body strength, and my mind has a some work left.
The next step of the plan involves getting my cardiovascular endurance back. I already have the foundation in place but I need to put the main floor and walls up and then I can start working toward the ceiling. I want to do as much to get the endurance back without putting much stress on my knees and feet this early. My solution: roller blading. Getting the blades on will enable me to work my legs without the stress of running, and help build my endurance. Once I feel comfortable enough with my cardio endurance I will put the blades away and lace up the running shoes again.
I don't think I will ever live the days of a 17:15 5k or a 2:06 800 but I am hoping to be under 21:00 for my first 5k and, maybe, around 18:00 for the others. There is no doubt in my mind that those goals cannot be met. Maybe next year I will be talking about a 17:00 5k again.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Roses May Look Nice But Oranges Taste Better
The 2009 Iowa football season is officially in the books. The end of the season is always a little depressing due to the length of the off season. The nice thing is that the 2010 off season is a few days shorter with Iowa playing in the Orange Bowl. The main goal for the team is always the Rose Bowl since that also means a Big 10 championship but the Orange Bowl is nothing to be sad about. A BCS bowl, a national stage, and the chance to shut the 'experts' up is an ideal situation. Heading into 2009 the Big 10 was being called overrated, slow, behind the times, and anything else they could dig up to bash the conference. This bowl season may have changed that. In 2009 the Big 10 only won 1 bowl game (Iowa in the Outback). Going into the Orange Bowl the Big 10 had 3 wins (Wisconsin in the Champs Sports, Penn St in the Capital One, and Ohio St in the Rose) and 3 losses. The ACC also had a 3-3 bowl record going into the Orange Bowl. Iowa winning the Orange Bowl would have given the Big 10 a winning bowl record with 2 of the wins being BCS games (only one other conference has a chance at that feat, the SEC). Each of the Big 10 wins came against higher ranked teams: #25 Wisconsin beat #15 Miami, #13 Penn St beat #12 LSU, #8 Ohio St beat #7 Oregon. Iowa was ranked #10 and Georgia Tech was ranked #9 going into the Orange Bowl. Would the trend continue?
The big thing heading into the Orange Bowl was Georgia Tech's 'explosive' offense, which averaged over 300 rushing yards and 35 points per game. How could Iowa's defense stop it? Anyone outside of the Big 10, and University of Arizona, didn't think Iowa could stop it. This game was a classic match up of strength (GT rushing offense) vs strength (Iowa defense). Most football purists know that a gimmick offense, such as the triple option, doesn't usually match up with a strong disciplined defense, such as Iowa's.
During the regular season Georgia Tech was very effective running the football since the opposing defense only had a few days to prepare for it. Unfortunately for Georgia Tech Iowa had a month to prepare, and Iowa's defensive coordinator (Norm Parker) has been around the game long enough to remember when the triple option was en vogue. The man knows how to stop it; give him a month and his players will be ready to stop it as well. It quickly became evident that the strong defense was going to have its way with the gimmick offense.
The Iowa defense showed early that they were going to be a force and Georgia Tech looked as if they knew it early on. GT was flagged for a false start on their first offensive snap. 4 plays later they launched their first punt in 22 possessions. GT could only manage 32 yards of total offense in the first half, and finished with 155 yards on the game (143 of those were on the ground). That was mainly due to the way Iowa's defensive line was playing. The tackles, Christian Ballard and Karl Klug, were very active with clogging the middle and the ends, Adrian Clayborn and Broderick Binns, did a good job of jumping to the dive play and then being able to get back outside if the play went there. The line also gave the linebackers a lot of opportunities to make plays, which they did. A good way to tell that the front seven did their job in stopping the run is to look at the tackle count for the defensive backs. Brett Greenwood and Shaun Prater led the way with 2 tackles each, Tyler Sash had 1 tackle, and Amari Spievey had none. That shows that the offense wasn't able to get to the next level as they hope to. As a former safety I know that it's usually a bad thing if a safety has to make a tackle. More often than not it means the play has gained some decent yardage, however that's not always the case. The big player was definitely Clayborn, who finished with 9 tackles and 2 sacks. It seemed that GT was running at him all game. The only reason I can think of to do that is to wear him down, but they must not realize how good of a conditioning program Iowa has in place. There is a reason that Clayborn was named the game MVP. I'm very happy he has already decided to come back to Iowa for his senior season.
The match up that wasn't being talked about as much was the Iowa rushing offense against the GT rushing defense. GT had given up over 300 rushing yards in their last two games. It looks like the month of preparation helped GT in this area as they held Iowa to 172 yards on 40 carries (4.3 yards per carry). The big impact was in the Iowa passing game. Ricky Stanzi returned from a sprained ankle and went 17-29 for 231 yards, 2 TDs, and the normal pick-6. Stanzi ended up throwing a pick-6 in 4 games this year but Iowa went 4-0 in those games. Before the game I predicted that Brandon Wegher would break a big TD run and win MVP honors. I got half of that one right; Wegher finished with 113 yards on 16 carries (7.1 ypc) and a 32 yard TD run that sealed the deal. The offensive stars were the offensive linemen. Through bowl practice it was reported that Reilly Reiff had been moved to right tackle and Kyle Calloway was being moved to right guard. The move did happen and worked perfectly. Stanzi got sacked twice but those were on overload blitzes (2 or 3 extra defenders were sent). Bryan Bulaga and Reiff had their way with GT's All-American defensive end Derrick Morgan all night long. Morgan (who came in with 12.5 sacks) ended with 3 tackles (including .5 for loss) and 0 sacks. He was taken out of the play multiple times by both Bulaga and Reiff. This was a classic Iowa offensive showing: bully the defense with the line, control the ball and clock, and score just enough to win. Stanzi did take some deep shots but he didn't look as sharp on the deep balls as earlier in the season. Trey Stross deserves some special recognition for playing with a torn MCL in his right knee. He had 1 catch for 9 yards but that came on a 3rd and 8 late in the game. I've been a fan of Stross and was glad to see he got some game time in his final college game.
Now Iowa will get into reload mode. Key players will be graduating: AJ Edds, Pat Angerer, Tony Moeaki, Stross, Rafael Eubanks, Calloway, and Dace Richardson. In addition Bulaga and Spievey may enter the NFL draft and play on Sundays next fall. The position breakdown for those losses are 2 LB, 4 OL, WR, TE, and CB. Luckily all of those positions are fairly deep and the replacements will be more than capable of taking over. Next year's schedule should be very favorable. The tough road games in 2009 are now at home (Iowa St, Wisconsin, Penn St, Michigan St, and Ohio St). The tough home game is at a home-away-from-home (Northwestern). Another double-digit win season is easily reachable and should be expected. If I were to give a prediction right now I would say that Iowa is easily a Big 10 championship contender, if not the favorite.
Another prediction I have been floating around is where Iowa will play their bowl game after next season: it will be either the Fiesta Bowl or the BCS Title Game. My prediction is based off of the returning players and some of the past few seasons. In 2009 Iowa played in Tampa, FL on the same field as the 2009 Super Bowl. In 2010 Iowa played in Miami, FL on the same field as the 2010 Super Bowl. The 2011 Super Bowl will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, site of the Fiesta Bowl and the 2011 BCS Title Game.
I'm proud to be part of the Hawkeye Nation! Now if Iowa could only figure out how to play men's basketball.....
The big thing heading into the Orange Bowl was Georgia Tech's 'explosive' offense, which averaged over 300 rushing yards and 35 points per game. How could Iowa's defense stop it? Anyone outside of the Big 10, and University of Arizona, didn't think Iowa could stop it. This game was a classic match up of strength (GT rushing offense) vs strength (Iowa defense). Most football purists know that a gimmick offense, such as the triple option, doesn't usually match up with a strong disciplined defense, such as Iowa's.
During the regular season Georgia Tech was very effective running the football since the opposing defense only had a few days to prepare for it. Unfortunately for Georgia Tech Iowa had a month to prepare, and Iowa's defensive coordinator (Norm Parker) has been around the game long enough to remember when the triple option was en vogue. The man knows how to stop it; give him a month and his players will be ready to stop it as well. It quickly became evident that the strong defense was going to have its way with the gimmick offense.
The Iowa defense showed early that they were going to be a force and Georgia Tech looked as if they knew it early on. GT was flagged for a false start on their first offensive snap. 4 plays later they launched their first punt in 22 possessions. GT could only manage 32 yards of total offense in the first half, and finished with 155 yards on the game (143 of those were on the ground). That was mainly due to the way Iowa's defensive line was playing. The tackles, Christian Ballard and Karl Klug, were very active with clogging the middle and the ends, Adrian Clayborn and Broderick Binns, did a good job of jumping to the dive play and then being able to get back outside if the play went there. The line also gave the linebackers a lot of opportunities to make plays, which they did. A good way to tell that the front seven did their job in stopping the run is to look at the tackle count for the defensive backs. Brett Greenwood and Shaun Prater led the way with 2 tackles each, Tyler Sash had 1 tackle, and Amari Spievey had none. That shows that the offense wasn't able to get to the next level as they hope to. As a former safety I know that it's usually a bad thing if a safety has to make a tackle. More often than not it means the play has gained some decent yardage, however that's not always the case. The big player was definitely Clayborn, who finished with 9 tackles and 2 sacks. It seemed that GT was running at him all game. The only reason I can think of to do that is to wear him down, but they must not realize how good of a conditioning program Iowa has in place. There is a reason that Clayborn was named the game MVP. I'm very happy he has already decided to come back to Iowa for his senior season.
The match up that wasn't being talked about as much was the Iowa rushing offense against the GT rushing defense. GT had given up over 300 rushing yards in their last two games. It looks like the month of preparation helped GT in this area as they held Iowa to 172 yards on 40 carries (4.3 yards per carry). The big impact was in the Iowa passing game. Ricky Stanzi returned from a sprained ankle and went 17-29 for 231 yards, 2 TDs, and the normal pick-6. Stanzi ended up throwing a pick-6 in 4 games this year but Iowa went 4-0 in those games. Before the game I predicted that Brandon Wegher would break a big TD run and win MVP honors. I got half of that one right; Wegher finished with 113 yards on 16 carries (7.1 ypc) and a 32 yard TD run that sealed the deal. The offensive stars were the offensive linemen. Through bowl practice it was reported that Reilly Reiff had been moved to right tackle and Kyle Calloway was being moved to right guard. The move did happen and worked perfectly. Stanzi got sacked twice but those were on overload blitzes (2 or 3 extra defenders were sent). Bryan Bulaga and Reiff had their way with GT's All-American defensive end Derrick Morgan all night long. Morgan (who came in with 12.5 sacks) ended with 3 tackles (including .5 for loss) and 0 sacks. He was taken out of the play multiple times by both Bulaga and Reiff. This was a classic Iowa offensive showing: bully the defense with the line, control the ball and clock, and score just enough to win. Stanzi did take some deep shots but he didn't look as sharp on the deep balls as earlier in the season. Trey Stross deserves some special recognition for playing with a torn MCL in his right knee. He had 1 catch for 9 yards but that came on a 3rd and 8 late in the game. I've been a fan of Stross and was glad to see he got some game time in his final college game.
Now Iowa will get into reload mode. Key players will be graduating: AJ Edds, Pat Angerer, Tony Moeaki, Stross, Rafael Eubanks, Calloway, and Dace Richardson. In addition Bulaga and Spievey may enter the NFL draft and play on Sundays next fall. The position breakdown for those losses are 2 LB, 4 OL, WR, TE, and CB. Luckily all of those positions are fairly deep and the replacements will be more than capable of taking over. Next year's schedule should be very favorable. The tough road games in 2009 are now at home (Iowa St, Wisconsin, Penn St, Michigan St, and Ohio St). The tough home game is at a home-away-from-home (Northwestern). Another double-digit win season is easily reachable and should be expected. If I were to give a prediction right now I would say that Iowa is easily a Big 10 championship contender, if not the favorite.
Another prediction I have been floating around is where Iowa will play their bowl game after next season: it will be either the Fiesta Bowl or the BCS Title Game. My prediction is based off of the returning players and some of the past few seasons. In 2009 Iowa played in Tampa, FL on the same field as the 2009 Super Bowl. In 2010 Iowa played in Miami, FL on the same field as the 2010 Super Bowl. The 2011 Super Bowl will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ, site of the Fiesta Bowl and the 2011 BCS Title Game.
I'm proud to be part of the Hawkeye Nation! Now if Iowa could only figure out how to play men's basketball.....
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