While we all anxiously await Game 2 between the Nuggets and Heat, why don’t we kill some time with a little SSM?
Big hockey blog, talk about it all the time First game of the Stanley Cup, simply was sublime Vegas dominated Florida in a bad game one Hope the Panthers win tomorrow, keep the series fun
Speaking of Sin City, Raiders in the news Tom Brady’s a part owner now, guy just cannot lose The question’s always there, makes defenses perspire Will TB12 come back again, or will he stay retired?
Remember Caitlin Clark? Legend is still growing Playing in a PGA Pro-Am, yeah she’s going In the age of NIL, hope she got the bag She’ll go from hunting buckets, to hunting pin flags
Caitlin Clark’s run is done, Opening Day came and went, and more in this week’s SSM.
Women’s hoops got all the shine, and it was well deserved Caitlin Clark’s a superstar, her ending threw a curve LSU just could not miss, rolled on the Hawkeyes Bayou Bengals are the champs, to the top they rise
In the other bracket, the men were playing too Aztecs beat the Owls, and UCONN beat the U The final is tomorrow, Huskies looking strong If SDSU end up champs, wouldn’t it feel wrong?
Baseball’s back and holy shit, are the rule changes great The pitch clock makes the pitchers hurry up to the plate Other changes too have sped the game up big time If they keep this up the sport will be back to sublime
In the NBA, rough look for Minnesota If their goal was being bad, Sunday they met their quota The biggest loss in history, an L to the Trailblazers Might as well just sell the team, someone call the appraiser
We’re writing about anything other than another dumbass Jake Paul fight in this week’s SSM.
Manny Machado, got himself the bag Eleven for 350, waive all those green flags Staying with the Padres, not going anywhere Sending him a DM now to ask if he will share
Crazy week in basketball, college and the pros Sixers and the Celtics is the first place that we’ll go Jayson Tatum hit a dagger with 1.3 left Embiid’s shot went in, but late, 70 foot heft
Earlier this week, Kings and Clippers scored a bunch Went to two OTs, almost played ’til brunch Three hundred fifty-one points were scored between the two Kings won in a thriller, Clippers were subdued
In the college game, Iowa just did it all Huge comeback for both teams, hero basketball The men came back from 13 with 1:34 left Caitlin Clark a buzzer beater, Indiana effed
It’s a special Labor Day edition of SSM! Take a break from the unofficial end of summer and look back at the week that was in sports.
The biggest story of the week, college football is back Full slate of games during week one, games we did not lack We’ll dive in more below, but are just glad to see Tailgates, school bands and football all over our TVs
Weirdest and most on brand game, the Iowa Hawkeyes Worst offense of the week, they surely won the prize A final score of 7-3, a close game with no ease Even stranger, no touchdowns, one field goal two safeties
Biggest matchup of the week, Irish and the Buckeyes Game was closer than we thought, ND a nice surprise Ohio State overwhelmed, finally pulled away Won 21-10, but both teams came to play
Poor Virginia Tech, upset city in week one Old Dominion hosted them and got the job done The Hokies may have overlooked and thought it’d be a breeze The Monarchs took advantage, brought them to their knees
Our final note this week, we saved the best for last Serena Williams is now done, her career in the past She lost the US Open, made it to the third round Even without a tourney win, she still deserves a crown
We made it, folks. Not just to another Sunday State of Mind, but to March Madness. We dedicate the latest edition of SSM to college basketball’s annual tournament.
Only place to start, the St. Peter’s Peacocks Fifteen seed came to play, major rising stock Beat second seed Kentucky, and then Murray State A classic Cinderella, what makes March Madness great
A big name eleven seed making a little noise Juwan Howard and Michigan, showing some Madness poise A bad regular season, turning it on at the right time Seems like only yesterday, the open hand slap crime
It happens every year, dreaded 12-5 upset This time around Iowa and UConn won’t forget New Mexico ended UConn, Richmond nipped the Hawks That’s why when doing your bracket you just can’t go chalk
Hate it or love it, The Dukies still alive Coach K beat Coach Izzo, the Blue Devils survive This retirement tour does just not seem to end With every win Coach K’s career extends
Some wild news dropped late Monday from the NFL; the league released a memo in which they announced a minimum yearlong suspension for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for betting on games last season.
Ridley had been on leave from the team while the alleged betting took place, so there’s not a whole lot in terms of him receiving inside information or having any distinct advantage. Even still, this is a huge no no for an active player to bet on a game in any league. We all know how Pete Rose has been blackballed from the baseball Hall of Fame for his wagering history. Ridley, of course, is not exactly at the level Rose was, but still a major infraction.
If anyone payed an ounce of attention to Ridley’s Twitter account, we could have seen this coming. The guy tweets like all of us regular schmucks who love gambling but have no idea what we’re doing.
Everyday gamblers can feel the highs and lows of Ridley’s betslip with each tweet:
We’ve all felt this. When you’re in such a bad slump, all you can do is laugh. Show me a bettor who’s gone 0 for his last 6 and I’ll show you the human embodiment of the laughing crying emoji, usually paired with an “I mean, all you can do is laugh at this point” as a cherry on top.
If you’ve gambled for any amount of time or been around those that have, you know that everyone has their own rules. I, for example, “never” bet on my favorite teams. Additionally, if you’ve gambled for any amount of time or been around those that have, you know these rules are always broken. We all say we learn from our Ls, Calvin; but how am I supposed stay away when Iowa’s getting 5.5 at home against Michigan State?!
Gambling responsibly is key. If you choose to dabble, please do so within your means. When you’re not seeing the board as well as you’d like, walk away. You’ll feel better and your account will remain fuller. But you’ve got to have the confidence to know you’re going to be a better gambler when you decide to jump back into the pool.
According to his Twitter account, Ridley claims he only bet $1,500. Plenty of money for a lot of us, but when your career earnings are a shade over $11 million, maybe not the biggest concern. Adam Schefter reported that Ridley “placed multi-legged parlay bets involving 3, 5 and 8 games that included the Falcons to win.”
If that’s indeed the case and he walked away after doing so, vaya con dios…and never bet on the Falcons again.
Why isn’t the weekend five days, and the work week two days? Who knows, but we know this week’s SSM is now live.
Conference championship weekend in college football Some teams show up, and others just fall Utah, Bama, and Michigan were among the winners The amount of football left keeps getting thinner and thinner
Our long national nightmare has ended, my friends The Detroit Lions losing streak ends A squeak out win over Minnesota The Lions have now met their season win quota
Minshew mania, back and better than ever Taking over Philly, Gardner’s new endeavor A good start for him, but maybe hedge your bets His first start and win was against the Jets
We’ve got a lockout in the MLB Owners and players could not agree On a new CBA, no baseball for now Between the two sides, who will kowtow?
Best game of the season, in our opinion OKC versus Memphis, and the Grizz went in A record setting blowout, 73 point win When you watch that game tape, where to even begin?
A spooky, after dark edition of SSM this week. We take a scary hayrack ride through the week that was in the sports world. Those scrappy bad guy Astros, just keep hangin’ ’round The Braves could have been World Series champs, no king yet has been crowned Atlanta still up 3-2, one more win on the way? They’ll get a chance to become champs this coming Tuesday
The Jets have won a game! What a New Jersey dream Even more impressive, they beat a first place team Tough loss for the Bengals, hopefully a minor stop In what would be a great season while rising to the top
Sticking in the AFC East, but opposite result Dolphins lose their seventh straight, total football insult The Bills bounce back for a win, after a Monday loss Come playoff time, Bills Mafia will not be crossed
The NBA is in full swing, the sports world has no lulls The Eastern Conference has been surprising: Knicks, Hornets, and Bulls Out in the Western Conference, Clippers are 1-4 Hope it will get better, a start the Clips ignore
Got an in state battle, down in East Lansing Sparty came out, beat big brother, totally did their thing A tough loss for Michigan, but they’re still top 10 Another ranked opponent beating Jim Harbaugh again
A really tough two weeks for Iowa football Number two two weeks ago, since then been all fall After losing to Wisconsin, another unranked foe Hawkeyes fall to number 19, there their playoff dreams go
Caleb Williams and the Sooners, rolled up Texas Tech Six touchdowns through the air, Red Raiders saying “what the heck?” Incredible start to a career, the young man is a battler Continues to be special and play over Spencer Rattler
We saw anything and everything this week in sports. We look back fondly in the latest edition of Sunday State of Mind.
A rarely seen building raid, in the NFL Washington Football Team, what in the actual hell? Head trainer got busted, DEA involved Wonder what the charges are, once this all gets solved
Another rarity in sports, a big time title fight Fury/Wilder III, a boxing fan’s delight Fury did his job, retained the title belt A crushing blow to Wilder, to whom defeat was dealt
Number three vs. number four, in college football Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes, big defensive brawl Iowa losing early, came back from down 14 Huge win over PSU, a storming the field scene
Another storming happened, down in College Station Texas A&M pulled the upset for Aggie Nation Such a rarity to see Alabama lose Anytime it happens it’s legit breaking news
Playoff time in baseball, division series round Most series are tight, good matchups can be found At the time of writing, only the White Sox down 2-0 Getting swept after their year would be a major blow
The biggest sporting event in the great state of Iowa is this week. That’s right, it’s Cy-Hawk football week. While the Cy-Hawk, as noted in the picture above, is technically a series, the biggest event between The University of Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones is the annual football game. So much so, that the football game itself is worth three points, while the rest of the sports are worth two.
This year’s game is just a bit bigger, though. Both teams are ranked in the top 10, surprisingly the first time both teams have been ranked at all before kickoff. Additionally, ESPN’s College GameDay will be in Ames. Any college football fan knows when Corso and the squad are Comin’ To Your Citaaay, it just hits different.
On Wednesday, the Cyclone Equipment Staff announced their uniform selections for the big game:
Now, for the uninformed, it must be noted that these are typically Iowa State’s uniforms. In the interest of fairness, these are typically Iowa’s uniforms.
Before we dig any deeper here, transparency is key. I am a graduate of The University of Iowa. Hand up, I have some skin in this game. OK, now I feel better.
This is an ultimate troll by ISU, and I love it. As you can imagine, the troll worked perfectly and the Twitter mentions were an absolute dumpster fire. If you don’t have the time or the heart to look, here’s the generic back and forth:
Every Hawkeye Fan: LOLZ! Why does little brother have to dress like us?!?!
Every Cyclone Fan: I wasn’t aware Iowa owns the color black, dumbass!
This is what sports are all about. Rivalries are always fun, especially ones like this, where there isn’t a whole lot else to get up for sports-wise in my home state. So, let the corn on the cob boil, the Busch Light flow, and all Iowans come together for the most important game in a series that dates back to 1894.
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