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Hope everyone out there had a good weekend, and is getting their week off to a good start! I've been a little slow with writing here the past few weeks, mostly because I was moving. Even though I'm resting my head in Urbandale these days, not too far away from Ames, it feels kind of weird not living in Ames anymore. To be honest, I didn't expect to have much emotional feelings about it, but when I dropped off the keys to my apartment, I was a bit overwhelmed with different emotions.

Ames is where I've spent my entire adult life. I'm 26 now, and spent the last 8 years going to Iowa State, and then working in Des Moines after graduation. Big reason why we stayed in Ames was because my wife was in grad school, and also because it's close to Hilton and Jack Trice. Ames is a great place to live, and it will be missed. The good news is that I'm not too far away, and will be able to make Cyclone games and things like that.

Moving onto the Cyclones, there are a few things on my mind:

1. Is it just me, or does it feel weird that so many Cyclone fans will say that Northern Illinois is going to be a tough game, but at the same time exude confidence in beating Nebraska?

2. As older players leave the program, it's funny to hear about the new internet/radio legends being built up. Specifically I'm talking about Shontrelle Johnson,Rony Nelson, etc., etc., etc.. Who could forget last year with Bo Williams: the greatest 44 yard run in Cyclone history! Every sensation we've had has disappointed, and since I'm going able to go to the practices and be there from day-to-day, I have to continue the wait and see approach. It's hard to be great at college football and most aren't going to be.

3. David "I Be Loving Some Footlocker" Sims. $400+ on some shoes? For real? I'd sympathize a little bit of he actually bought stuff he needed with the card. That way this could jump into the ongoing debate about athletes getting paid, and how it's difficult to pay the bills, food, etc., but for shoes? One pair, OK. Maybe two if they have one of those 2 for $89.99, but with $400, that's gotta be at least 3 pairs of shoes, right? I get that you gotta stay up on the fashion and you gotta have shoes with varying colors to match your outfits* but I wouldn't jeopardize my future over it.

4.  ISU Men's Basketball Schedule Was Released. Non-conference is pretty terrible, as expected. We've obviously got the in-state schools + Creighton+ Cal for the Pac10/Big 12 Series. We do play at Virginia at least there's an out of state BCS conference school we weren't contractually obligated to play. I get you want to stack the wins, and we're going to stink, but some of these games I'm easily overpaying for. I can't wait until we get to a point where we can schedule some solid teams in the non-conference. We did that last year, but it's mostly because McDermott was smoking something, or Jamie Pollard believed too much in his abilities, or both.

* Really I don't get it, as I have better ways to spend my money, but I know this is a prority in life for some people.

We are 30 days away from opening kick off, and this site will be a lot more interesting to check out very soon!