The Cyclones are better than the Hawkeyes

The following post was written by my friend, Matt LaCasse. We have been friends since college, and sit on opposite sides of the bitter interstate rivalry.  I contacted him last week to see if he wanted to revive our bet from last year. The bet? The loser has to write a blog post complimenting the winning team.  I think Matt agrees with me that he'd rather hand over money than write nice things about the enemy.  He seemed surprised that I would want to bring the bet back, since I lost last year and had to write a glowing report on the Hawkeyes.  But, I'm a loyal fan to a fault, and I believed this year's game would be better than last year's.  Now, I didn't expect the Cyclones to win -- that was just a very pleasant surprise.  Let me tell you, after that first quarter, I started thinking about what I might write about the Hawkeyes.  It made me a bit nauseous. Fortunately, I didn't have to write anything nice about them this year. I can continue the vitriol.  It's time for Matt to praise the Cyclones.  Take your time reading this, as I'm sure it was torturous for him to write.

I absolutely despise the Iowa State Cyclones. People that haven't gone to Iowa State or Iowa or didn't grow up in the great state of Iowa will never understand just how bitter this rivalry really is. Most of the time, it's relatively friendly. On game day though, there is absolutely zero love lost between both sides. That's how it has to be. This is brothers against brothers, neighbor against neighbor. I have absolutely nothing kind to say about Iowa State. I hate them, you see. I don't hate Micah as a person. She's one of the best people I've ever had the opportunity to know in my life, and I genuinely mean that. But I loathe the university she cheers for. 

Iowa State beat Iowa on Saturday. I'm not sure you understand how difficult it is to type that. I'd love to say that Iowa gave it away, that we outplayed them all day long and they just got lucky, but that's not the truth. The truth is that Steele Jantz is a great player and put his team on his shoulders when they needed him most. The vaunted Iowa defense, that hadn't allowed a touchdown of any consequence to Iowa State since 2006 imploded on itself; mostly due to the pressure Jantz put on them all day long. I despise Paul Rhoads because unlike his predecessor, he understands what this rivalry is all about. And that does not bode well for my beloved Hawkeyes. I think Iowa fans severely underestimated Iowa State this year; and I'm taking solace in my belief that the team did as well. Because if they didn't, if they knew what was coming and were still unable to prepare...I'm absolutely terrified of what the rest of the season has in store for the Hawkeyes. 

Best of luck to the Cyclones the rest of the way. I don't think the rest of the Big 12 (9?) knows what's coming its way. That's a mascot that has no idea if it's a bird or a weather event. (Sorry Micah. I couldn't resist. Go Hawks.)

Thanks for playing nice, Matt (for most of it anyway).  See you next year?