Big news today for Clone Chronicles and the SB Nation family, as our ever growing community of bloggers and readers is announcing a new partnership with Yahoo! Sports. Jim Bankoff made the announcement.

 

As members of our communities or readers of our sites, you already know that SB Nation takes a different approach to online sports. Our focus has always been on empowering fans to participate in conversations that are specific to their particular teams, leagues or sports. We’ve watched over the years as the popularity of this unique approach has rapidly accelerated.

Today we want to welcome some new members to our flourishing communities. SB Nation and our friends at Yahoo are partnering to give Yahoo Sports audiences one click access to our sites and content. In addition to being the largest sport property on the web, Yahoo Sports is known for some of the best general sports blogs including: Ball Don’t Lie, Puck Daddy, Dr. Saturday, Big League Stew and others.

Relevant pages of Yahoo Sports will now feature contextual links to specific SB Nation communities. Many other pages of Yahoo Sports will feature SB Nation content and links. The great news is that more sports fans will be introduced to SB Nation sites.

...

If you are new to one of our communities, we welcome you. On our websites, you’ll find unique perspectives, insightful analysis and passion for sports topics that are unrivaled. We encourage you to read through posts and get acclimated to the tone, norms and quirks of the site you are visiting.

When you are ready, feel free to join the conversation or start one up. Whether you create a new profile or use your Yahoo or OpenID credentials to register, one username and password will give you access to all our communities. Each SB Nation site offers the same mechanisms for participating in the action via comments, FanPosts (a blog entry of your very own) or FanShots (a quick micro-post of a thought, link or photo.) Before you post though, please remember, you are entering an established and ongoing community. Your voice and opinions are encouraged (that’s what being a fan is all about after all), but as in any productive conversation, they should be presented in a manner that is courteous, civil and respectful of the culture that you are entering.

If you are an old-timer here, we encourage you to welcome and assist the newcomers. It can sometimes be challenging to join a new environment, so a helping hand is usually appreciated. Cut the rookies some slack and spread the word about what they have been missing all of this time. This is your chance to welcome new folks in a manner that is consistent with the type of place in which you want to participate. You have the power to shape the type of community you want.

As always if anyone has any questions or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact us here.

Fans First!

 

This is obviously big news. Most pro blogs are already being linked to by Yahoo! Sports, and Clone Chronicles is not far behind. This will likely (and hopefully) lead to an influx of new readers and commenters, not just for me, but the whole network.

 Iowa State Basketball

• The good folks at Rock Chalk Talk look at stats. I think they think it was a sleepwalk game.
• The Kansas team also thought it was a sleepwalk game.
• Craig Brackins describes his 20-point effort as "terrible."
• The defense was "good enough," but the offense wasn't. Again.

A smorgasbord of information all crammed into one post.

• For those still looking for signs of the Apocalypse, the Oklahoma State game will be at 2:30 PM on ABC. I can only imagine Gameday will be there as well.
• The Cyclone football team is trying to ward off negativity. It's probably pretty difficult at this point, but are they more down than they were after the 53-point loss to the Longhorns last year?
• Guess where we are in Tim Griffin's Big 12 Power Poll? I'll give you a hint - there's a 1 in there.
• Four star basketball recruit Chris Colvin was impressed by his ISU visit. The guard from Illinois would try to fit into a team that might now apparently play 5 guards at once when Brackins leaves the floor.
• We now signal "hope" for other teams. Move over, Obama.
• Iowa State is one of the few teams around the nation starting two true freshmen at corner. Leonard Johnson and Ter'ran Benton both show sparks, with Johnson being one of the most electric freshmen in the conference.
• The men's basketball team has started practice. With a bunch of new faces, not knowing what to expect might be a good thing.

• Returners Devin McDowell and Leonard Johnson want to make fans forget about past return problems, and instead make them trust in special teams once again.

"Right when the ball is kicked, I always say, 'Let's go, baby,' " said Johnson, one of 11 true freshmen who played last week in Iowa State's season opener. "That's just to kind of get my mind right."

• Both teams will totally be using multiple QBs on Saturday.

• Cyclone Sports Report goes one-on-one with Kent State coach Doug Martin.

Q: Talk about coming into Jack Trice Stadium and having success last year. Do you feel this gives you an advantage this year?

A: I don't know if there is any advantage. I'll tell you what, coming in last year I was really impressed with the whole atmosphere of that game. I had never been to Iowa State before and I thought the fans were outstanding. It's a tough place to play and I don't think it's an advantage for us. In fact I think Iowa State will be more focused and I'll also tell you that they are a much, much better team than last year. To be honest with you, we caught them at the perfect time. It was the first game and their staff's first game together. Had we played them later in the year I don't think we would have been even close.

• Cyclone football, now advertising in Florida.

• Expect a lot more of Northern Iowa in the future.

No, it's not more bad news for Iowa State's athletics programs...

If you have taken a jaunt around the SBNation blogosphere, whatsoever, you'll have noticed that most of the blogs have upgraded to a newer, shinier platform. A couple of my favorites, SouthSideSox and StampedeBlue are already on the new platform.

So, a week from today, CloneChronicles will get a whole new look, as well as a whole lot of new features. I encourage all of you to take a look at some other blogs and check out the features. It'll provide a much cleaner setup from my end, as well as many more resources at our fingertips. Moreover, it will provide for greater fan interaction. You guys will dig it. For now, a sneak peek at what we've got prepared right now:

I've gotten to play around with SBN 2.0. If you visit some other blogs, you can too. It's pretty freakin' awesome.

The Ames Tribune focuses on assistant coach Scott Fountain and his view of the new H-Back position. According to Fountain, only Derrick Catlett and Taylor Mansfield are natural fits for the position, so chances are we'll see Collin Franklin only lining up at tight end for the time being.

The ISU football program will be picking up two walkons from the northeast corner of the state. OL Drew Davis of Dubuque Wahlert and WR Patrick Mulcahy both accepted offers to walk on in the fall. Davis is already huge at 6-8, 310 pounds, and is a lifelong Cyclone fan to boot. Mulcahy led 2A in receptions last year, and, at 6-6, is another large addition to the roster.

The men's basketball team is hosting something called the World Vision Basketball Classic on November 14-16. The Cyclones will host UC Davis, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Loyola Marymount.

The football team's tenth spring practice was full of offense. Let's hope that isn't a bad sign for our defense....

The stock of 2010 hometown recruit Harrison Barnes just keeps rising. He lives in Ames - he's a must get.

Cael Sanderson loses JUCO recruit Colby Covington to the Hawks.

So, here's a target for Cael - Byron Tate of Bettendorf.

Toccara Ross will get an extra year to play, meaning that the ISU women's basketball team will return their entire roster. Bad news for the Big 12.

Have an enjoyable VEISHEA weekend - if you like snow, that is. Try to refrain from rioting as well.

Cyclones.com released rough renderings of how Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum will look like post-logo switch this summer.

The football field and court will both look much cleaner and simpler with the new logo. My favorite of the new adjustments, however, is a rendering of a possible new mascot by wolverine68 at CycloneFanatic.

Dramatic improvment? I think so.

Just got an alert thru ISUAlert of an armed gunman at Willow Hall, where I used to live. I know there's not that many people on campus with Spring Break, but please take care.

EDIT: All clear sounded, suspect found in Willow. Great news.