Iowa Basketball (3-0) in Big Ten

     Hawkeyes won again! Iowa improved to 3 and 0 in Big Ten play this season. Mike Gessel and Jarrod Uthoff have been phenomenal during their current win streak. Gessel has been a solid playmaker and has knocked down the open shot whenever he is called upon. Now Jarrod Uthoff has just been insane. He dropped 30 points in the first half vs a number 4 ranked Iowa State team. In the first half!!! It was unbelievable. With Gessel and Uthoff hitting on all cylinders, it's easy for the rest of the team to just fill in and hit shots when they need to. If they can keep it up, the Hawks might be a team to look for in March. I know I'm looking forward to watching them. Go Hawks!

NBA All Star Break: MVP Predictions

    The NBA All Star weekend is coming up soon and you know what that means. It's time for MVP predictions!
     Last year's MVP was Stephen Curry, the point guard for the Golden State Warriors. I see no let down from Curry's previous season and on into the first half of this season. Curry is a very impressive player. He is just an all around play maker. He makes things happen for his team. Some things that almost seem impossible. If don't believe me watch this.

    Curry is very good. LeBron James is also a very good player. Personally, I think that Curry is better than LeBron, but many, many people believe that LeBron is the best player on the planet. LeBron is a fantastic passer, dribbler, finisher, and defender.

     While Curry is the better dribbler and shooter, LeBron is by far and away the better defender and overall physical being. They both matchup fairly well when it comes to passing and finishing close to the rim. 

     When it comes to the clutch factor, you would have to say LeBron right? His hit more game winners than Curry has. However, LeBron recently has not been too successful on last possession shots. He decides that with 15 seconds left in the game, he is going to wait till 5 seconds are left, take two dribbles, and then pull up for a jump shot. Instead he could just attack the rim considering that he is the most athletic player in the entire league. Because he decides against this, I have to go with Curry for my clutch player. He is a fantastic one on one player who can take, and make, a shot from just about anywhere on his offensive side of the court. I really think that Curry's ability to get to the rim and finish, or shoot a pull up jumper gives him the advantage over LeBron, If I really need a basket at the end of the game, I'm going to Curry.

     In the end, if I had a vote for MVP, I never will, but if I did, I would vote for Chef Curry. He is just too good of a player on too good of a team. In fact maybe he should take his talents to South Beach too so he can waste everybody's time.

Upcoming Finals

     Final exams, like always, are going to be a b****. This year is going to be even worse because we lost a lot of information that we had learned by going on an over two week long break. Information that will be key to know on our finals. Even more important, is the fact that the finals are cumulative, meaning that they include information from the entire school year. This means that all of us procrastinators out there are screwed. Sure you can study, but I guarantee that you won't succeed on your finals. If you were smart enough and had enough time to study the entire year, then congrats you are in a good place right now. Unfortunately people like that, without meaning to, make the rest of the class look bad and make their grades worse as a result. I guess the non-studiers deserve it. Whichever person you are, good luck.

Acaballers Win Again

     The Cougar women's basketball team posted another impressive win vs a highly ranked Linn-Mar team. The Cougars beat the Lions 60-47 at home Tuesday night. Lela Sellers lead the way for Kennedy with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Both teams played hard and were shooting the threes well, however it was Sellers and the Cougars that fought for, and held onto a lead in the fourth quarter.
     This is Kennedy's 11th straight win. There only loss this year was there very first game at Waukee, the then number one team in the state. Kennedy has built their success this year by playing solid defense, making their free throws, and shooting the three ball extremely well. The Cougars will look for win number 12 in a row as they have a tough road test vs Dubuque Wahlert. Let's Go Cougs!

First Day Back

    Well as if school wasn't already pointless, it was even more so on the first day back from break. Every single one of my classes were review periods of what we learned before break. Don't get me wrong, I think that the review was necessary. However, I am just disappointed that I have to be back at school today and we aren't even learning anything new.
     Additionally, I don't like it when I get back to school and my teachers ask me if I got their assignment done. Then, when I say that I haven't finished it yet, they say, "Well umm, ehhh, (clears throat) you had the ehhhhh entire break to do it?" "Well maybe I was too busy enjoying my break you old geaser! Sorry that I am actually able to have fun without making young kids' lives a living hell."
     My point in that whole rant is that Christmas vacation is a BREAK for the students, and actually for the teachers too. Neither should have to spend large amounts of time on SCHOOL WORK unless they are behind for some reason. Hopefully there wasn't as much school work to do for other people as there was for me. I hope that everyone got to enjoy their long BREAK before coming back to darkness.

Alabama vs. Clemson Preview

 
     It's a battle between two powerhouses. Clemson and their high powered offense versus Alabama and their stout defense. It poses an interesting match up because many think that Clemson and Alabama have the best offense and defense respectively in the nation. Following each of their wins in the college football playoffs semifinal, the Crimson Tide and Tigers will look to keep their momentum going.
     Both teams ended the season on long winning streaks, Clemson having not even lost a game this season. However, Clemson plays in a joke of a conference, the ACC. That being said, they have won every single one of their games by large margins. Alabama on the other hand played in a more difficult conference but, also lost a game to Ole Miss. The debate goes on about which season was more impressive, but I think that Alabama had the better resume at the end of the year. They played tougher competition on a regular basis and also posted impressive wins versus LSU, Florida, and Tennessee.
     I would be shocked if Clemson can end up winning. I think that Alabama outmatches them almost ever facet of the game. Not to mention that Alabama has a Heisman running back in Derrick Henry. Clemson have gotten lucky thusfar. I think their luck is going to run out. Crimson Tide are coming out on top!

School...Tomorrow

     It's been a great break, it really has. But, I wish that I could spend my last couple of hours before break reflecting on how much fun I had instead of doing homework. Break is a break! There isn't supposed to be homework. And I know there are people saying to themselves right now, "well you knew you had homework, if you didn't want it to be like this you should've done it sooner". All I have to say to those people is, I was actually enjoying my BREAK, having fun, what were you doing? Probably talking to yourself while a fully charged cell phone and an empty box of chocolates with someone else's name on it lie on the ground.
     Anyways, my point is I should be able to fully enjoy these last few hours before I head back to hell. Even writing this is work that yeah I probably could've finished earlier, but why do that when you can procrastinate all the way to January 3rd? Happy Holidays to all the students out there doing exactly what I'm doing. Have fun and don't fall asleep without finishing that four page essay that you put off for three weeks.

I hate Stanford

     Sorry, hate is such a poor choice of word. How about I despise Stanford. I mean they are a very good team, they deserved to win the game, but at least they could win with some class. They force fed Christian McCaffery the ball the whole game, and he was very impressive. But then after claiming a huge lead (around 25 points but I don't remember for sure), Stanford decided to throw a 60 yards bomb for a touchdown. That type of running up the score stuff just pisses me off. Both teams weren't really competing anymore and many had stopped watching the game. But then, Stanford decided to be dicks and call a bullshit play.
     Well that was my rant on the Rose Bowl. Comment below what you thought of the Rose Bowl. Sure I probably won't read it but if it helps you feel better, go for it!

Hawks get revenge on the Spartans

     The Hawkeyes picked up a huge home win vs. the number 1 team in the nation, the Michigan State Spartans. Sure the Spartans were without their best player, but that is still one hell of a team. I was actually at the game and I watched on as the Hawks controlled the game for almost all 40 minutes.
     All I'm gonna say is that I went to the Iowa vs Michigan State basketball game and my brother went to the football game. I guess that means that I am the good luck charm and not my brother. Maybe I should've been the one to go to the Rose Bowl instead. Unfortunately, my brother lost that one too. This is all besides the point however.
     It was a great game for the Hawks and especially for Mike Gessel, the Iowa point guard. Mike put in more than a few clutch buckets down the stretch and also held Michigan State point guard Bryn Forbes to only three points. It was a good sign for the Hawks and they hope to carry that upset mentality into Indiana as they take on the Purdue Boilermakers next.

Christmas: A Time for Joy, A Time for Food

     Tis the season! Tis the season for lots and lots of...food? Food is my favorite part of the holidays to be honest. It's like I am deprived of good tasting food for 360ish days. Thus having days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, a couple of birthdays maybe, allow for extravagant arrangements of food.
     In my family, Christmas time means brunch. And Christmas brunch means eggs with bacon. My uncle's eggs with bacon is legendary. Tales have been told, songs have been sung about my uncle's eggs with bacon. Try to imagine riding a rainbow while riding a golden unicorn with each ends of the rainbow ending in pools of that blue kool-aid stuff that comes in plastic bottles. (if you dont know what I'm talking about, here's a picture)

Take that experience, times by about a factor of a billion, and you would end up with what it feels like eating those beautiful eggs and bacon.
     As if that weren't good enough, I get to open different presents and see my extended family on Christmas day. But still, the eggs and bacon reign supreme.

Hawkeyes Fall Short

The Iowa Hawkeyes lost their first game of the year to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game. It was a very disappointing game for all Hawkeye fans. Iowa had a very good chance of winning the game during the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, that's when the Spartans pulled off one of the best drives in college football history.
      "The Drive" lasted around 7 minutes, covered more than 80 yards, and pretty much single-handedly won Michigan State the game. The final play of the never ending drive was a final touchdown reach by the Spartan running back.

     The loss to Michigan State sealed a spot for the Spartans in the college football playoff, kicking the Hawkeyes backwards towards the Rose Bowl. Iowa hopes to recover from their heartbreaking loss to Michigan State by conquering the Stanford Cardinals on New Years Day.