My Cyclone Family

                Let me start off by saying I’m so proud to be a Cyclone. I was born and raised a Cyclone. I graduated from the greatest university in the world. I will always be ONE.

                That being said, it hurts a lot. I’ve had my heart broken by this school so many times. Most recently was Sunday’s NCAA tournament game where an obvious botched call happens on one side, and then a bad 3 point shooter drains a shot from beyond the arc at the last second to win. It hurts to type this right now. It is still so fresh in my mind and weighs heavy on my heart.

                So why do it? Why stick with this team after all this heartbreak? Why get excited just to be kicked in the stomach another time? It’s because this school and its fanbase are truly one big family. CyclONEnation as we call it. If we were not a family, would people stick around the same? Probably not is the answer. Usually to develop such a good fanbase you would have to win a lot and with more consistency. Yes, our family would love to see more wins (we have been getting them lately), but we do not require it. Our fans do not jump off of the bandwagon. Hell, there probably is not even a bandwagon built for us (yet). Our fans are die-hards who will be there through everything. I’m sure there are plenty of schools who would love to have the kind of fans we have.

                I have seen this school achieve its highs and lows. I remember watching the amazing runs with Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy coaching the men’s basketball team. I remember Dan McCarney turning a nothing football program into a team that competes. But then I had to watch Wayne Morgan stand on the court and pretend to coach. I watched Greg McDermott seem to just almost be good, but never get there, for 3 years. On the football side, after separating from McCarney we went the hot coach of the year in Gene Chizik. The fan base was pumped! We brought in top level talent that would take our program to the top! Then the season started. He spent 2 years here and went 5-19. Following that garbage, Auburn offered him a job (for unknown reasons) and he won a national championship. Punch in the stomach as usual.

                So only a few years ago, the big two sports at ISU were left for dead. The fanbase was depressed. Trust me, it was obvious everywhere. We had nothing! Enter Paul Rhoads. Although I could not have told you who he was a month before he was hired, as soon as I heard him talk once I was all in. He just had a way about him. He was a local (Ankeny, IA) boy. He knew who we were as a school. He knew who the fans were. He knew CyclONEnation. He inherits an awful football team and then has the stones to say he expected a bowl win in his first year. We win the first game against North Dakota St. to generate some excitement. Then we played Iowa and came back down. No way were we getting bowl eligible. Then it happened. We went to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers. We had not won a game there since 1977 and we had not won a road game in conference play in 15 games. But we won. It was definitely not the prettiest thing to watch, but it was perfect. It was something I never expected. I cried. I cried some more. I do not know how he did it. We went on to become bowl eligible and then beat Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. He came through on his expectations. And the entire time he reminded us that entire time he was proud to be here and he was all in with Iowa State. He was OUR coach. He has then gone on to beat Texas in Austin for the first time ever in ISU history, beat Iowa twice and upset #2 and national championship hopefuls Oklahoma State, in what may have been the greatest game in Iowa State football history.

                With the football program receiving the perfect coach, our men’s basketball team needed someone to help carry the torch. We just lost our coach to Creighton. Yes, someone left a Big XII team, which has competed at the top level before, for a MVC team. That one hurt, even if he was stagnant as a coach here. Enter Fred Hoiberg, or as he is known around CyclONEnation, “The Mayor.” The hire was a risky one. Here is a guy who grew up in Ames, IA. He was a star for Iowa State. He played in the NBA until his heart gave out on him. He then worked in the Minnesota Timberwolves front office. BUT, he never coached. Not even as an assistant. Athletic Director Jamie Pollard just handed the keys over to a guy who had zero coaching experience. Hoiberg knew that he did not have the experience, so he surrounded himself with assistants that did. And he had a plan. He had a very extensive plan. He told this to Pollard, and then went out an executed. He knew the team he inherited was a bare cupboard. So, he went out and grabbed what he could, which was mainly transfers. Another huge risk. He was heavily criticized for it. Season one was hard. These transfers had to sit out a year and there was not much talent on the team. However, they did alright for themselves. They fought in almost every game. They were not a gimme win for the other team by any standards. Year two was the year of Royce White. The star with a questionable background was never a question while at Iowa State. The combo of Royce and Fred was perfect. We dominated UConn in round one of the tournament and then fought to the end against eventual champions Kentucky. Year three (this year) was truly one of the best I have ever seen. This team was the best chemistry team I have ever seen at ISU. They loved this school and it showed. They had some heartbreakers, but they always fought back. Round one we destroyed favored Notre Dame. Then lost the heartbreaker to Ohio State. But, the positive is we are poised for continued success.

                Right now is a great time to be a Cyclone. It’s so refreshing to know that this school is set up for long term success right now. We have the coaches that we want, and more importantly, ones that want to be here. Sometimes, we all need to remind ourselves how great this feeling is when we get punched in the stomach like all of us Cyclones have been so many times. I would not trade this school and the people in my CyclONEnation family for anything. I am SO PROUD to be a Cyclone.

MLS Kit Rankings 2013

A new uniform ranking is out! Trust me; this will be a regular feature on this blog. As stated during the NHL one, I have a borderline obsession with uniforms and logos.

This edition will focus on MLS. For all you soccer haters, you suck, but feel free to continue reading and enjoying my mediocre writing. This one is a little different from the others due to the nature of soccer kits. Unless colors clash, teams will usually wear their home jersey (always pictured first on the left) both at home and on the road. Also, I do deduct points in my mind when kits do not have a sponsor or have a collar. I think the lack of sponsor can be fine, but usually leaves the shirt way too open. I should not have to explain the collars, but I will. They just look out of place. This is a sport, not a bar in a college town. Anyways, on to the rankings:

19. Houston Dynamo

Houston sucks. It’s plain and simple.

Now to discuss their kits: Orange is a bad color. I still feel like there should be an application process to wear the color orange. 90% of applications would be denied. The lack of sponsor on here leaves the jersey completely plain and boring. They look like jerseys some rec team ordered out of a catalog. The only good thing about any of these is the little Texas flag patch. The problem is that part is tucked in. Way to ruin the only good thing you had Houston…

18. Colorado Rapids

Maroon is the only color worse than orange. Add to that the weird barely visible stripes that are actually all of their season ticket holder’s names. Just a gross looking home kit. The second kit is interesting. I like the color scheme better, as well as the shout out to the state flag. But, I still don’t like them. I really cannot place it. Perhaps it is the barely visible C on the front. I’m not sure, but ultimately it doesn’t matter since the home kit is so bad.

17. Columbus Crew

Ladies and gentleman, we hit a jersey with a sponsor!!! Take the collar off of the home kit here and I like it. If they had the exact same jersey in all white as their second kit, they would be much higher. However, they decided to go with awkward quarter length stripes. Just weird! Can you get high off of sniffing fumes of Barbasol? If you can, then I imagine whoever created this second kit was doing that before coming up with this design.

16. San Jose Earthquakes

For not having a sponsor, these are good. Good color scheme. Simple lines. A lot to like in these kits, except that they are so wide open in the chest. There is just nothing there. I hope they can find a new sponsor soon, but they better not mess with the design!

15. Toronto FC

In case you cannot see it, there is a maple leaf and other designs going on in a slightly darker red on the home kit. Keep it simple Toronto! You have a good color scheme, so try not to ruin it so much next time. The second kit does not help the situation due to the collar. People can argue tradition and all that until they are blue in the face, but I will never fully support the collar. Maybe we should start an application process for collars as well.

14. Sporting Kansas City

Why would you do this SKC? You have a color scheme I like a lot. Your away kit is solid (picture doesn’t include sponsor because their store hasn’t updated that), but that weird left side of the home kit is inexcusable! I even tried to reserve judgment until I saw it on TV. Then, I got to see it on TV and it looked even worse. How dare you do this to your fans! They already had to have things like the jersey below for years!!!

13. Real Salt Lake

Different colored sleeves do not work. Whoever thought they did at adidas needs to be fired. If both sleeves were blue, I would not mind these kits. I would prefer a collar and symmetry over this one sleeve garbage. And that is saying a lot!

12. New England Revolution

These kits can best be described as “meh.” They would rank higher if they did not have one of the worst logos in MLS. The sponsor name is about to be wrapped around to the back it is so long. Can they just find a way to shorten that logo? Maybe just UHC?

11. Chicago Fire

By now, we all know how I feel about collars, so I will go past that on this one. I’m not a fan of the one stripe around the sponsor. Either go stripes or don’t. Pick one! I’m undecided on this away kit. I like it and I don’t. I think if they used white or maybe red on those stripes I would like it more. Bringing in a second blue that is not part of your color scheme confuses me.

10. Seattle Sounders

That home kit is nothing but quality and should be much higher up this list. However, the other two kits are dragging it down with all their might! I like the away kit being black, but absolutely hate that off-center stripe. Especially since it is multi-colored! Seattle hates the words “simple” and “subtle.” Finally, I need to discuss their third kit. It is horrible. It looks bad in this picture, and looks even worse on TV. You need sunglasses just to look at these monsters. It is a shame that Seattle’s home kit is ruined by these other kits.

9. LA Galaxy

Probably the most recognizable kit to the non-fan or even the casual fan. I just cannot stand the diagonal stripe. If you win the Miss America pageant, wear the sash. If you are playing a sport, leave the sash at home. Outside of that, I have nothing to complain about. Quality away kit and a sash-removal away from a top 5 home kit.

8. FC Dallas

It is hard to hate on your own club. Who doesn’t want to say their team has the best uniforms? After I originally did not like the small stripes being added to the home kit, I have learned to actually like them. I think the addition of the Advocare logo helped that out a lot. The away kit hurts their ranking. I do not like the red Advocare logo at all. It just does not mesh with the kit. I also do not like the addition of gray into the kit. I would love to see FCD go with a solid color (blue or white) away kit. Think it could be really cool.

7. Chivas USA

Yes, I know they have a collar. Yes, I hate the collar. However, I do like the vertical stripes and really love the Corona sponsorship. The away kit is one of the best. I have zero complaints about the away kit. If Chivas got rid of that collar, they could be competing for top 3. Maybe next year…

6. New York Red Bulls

Same kits as every year. They can mess around with the piping all they want, but being a Red Bull team will make their kits always look the same. That being said, I like the look and it is recognizable to almost anyone. I would probably rank them higher, but I’m honestly bored of the same thing every year.

5. Philadelphia Union

Let’s be honest, their home kits suck. They suck pretty hard. Use more of the blue and less of the gold. That gold just does not mesh with the jersey when used that much. It is an accent color that is being thrown into a major role. Now to the good stuff. That second kit is great. Love the use of the light blue that is just an accent in the first kit. It looks great. They use the gold like it should be used. Should switch that one to being the home kit! The alternate kit they just released before the season is just cool. Simple throwback looks go a long way with me. Even taking the retro Bimbo logo. Nothing but respect for this kit.

4. Montreal Impact

Simple color scheme with a simple kit. Good enough to get Montreal into the middle of the pack. Then comes that third kit. I know it has a collar, but the vertical stripes of black and blue are too good for me to not love. Since it is their third kit, I will allow a collar, but if they lost it I would not complain.

3. Vancouver Whitecaps

I am a little ashamed in both myself and America that I have 2 Canadian teams in the top 5. However, they do warrant this placement. At first, I was not sure about the diagonal stripes, but I think they are thin enough for me to not be bothered by them. Same color scheme as SKC, just done properly. Maybe we can learn some stuff from our northern neighbors. And they can learn from us how to not suck. Good trade, eh?

2. Portland Timbers

Almost perfection here. Portland is definitely winning the Cascadia Cup of Kits. Yes, I just made that up. Getting really nitpicky on the first two kits, the only thing I do not like is the V-neck thing they have. Again, super nitpicky since you cannot distinguish that on TV at all. Now to their third kit. Just a beautiful throwback kit. The color scheme works perfectly, the retro logo for both the team and sponsor is beautiful, and I don’t even hate the collar on it (retro enough to trump my hatred). Portland just does the things right that Seattle does wrong. They have similar color schemes, but only Portland has figured out how to use the bright colors in a subtle way.

1. DC United

Easiest part of deciding these rankings was putting DC at the top. Perfect in so many ways (minus the new addition of a collar on second kit). The color scheme is great, their logo is classy, the sponsor logo just works, and they kept it simple. DC has been the kit leader in MLS pretty much the entire time the league has been around.

There it is. My rankings for the MLS. I know I have some weird things that I like and do not like about jerseys, but it’s my blog so I do what I want. Feel free to comment and argue all you want. All in all, I think we can all agree that as long as no one uses the jersey below, we should all be happy: