Freddy effing Hoiberg? Child please...

Hey there, ho there, hi there QCI-ders... Long time no talk. In a post that will surely score me some hate mail... and annoy the peeps who come here for the fun loving political coverage with a side of awesome and hint of epic... I'm sorry... but I gotta chirp about the new hire at Iowa State... because... I still don't believe this is actually happening.

Where do I start? Um... let's work through this people...

Before I go any further... Let me state for the record. I grew up on Iowa State basketball. Yeah, I know... Who knew, right? I do remember the night LaFester Rhodes lit up 54... I have Julius Mikilek's autograph (yups)... I remember REAL Hilton Magic and all that stuff. Even though the blood in my veins turned black and gold the second I stepped foot in Iowa City... I still have a closet sweet spot for ISU basketball. Very small... but still there. So yeah... got that out of the way. You can believe me or not on this, I really don't care.

This is the worst and laziest coaching hire in Iowa sports history. Yeah I said it. Why? Let's touch on the lazy part first. While Cyclone fans are glowing today because the hometown boy is coming home to coach... this "good feeling" is a short term fix to please boosters, donors and fan base who equates mediocrity with success. Sure... Iowa Staters are frustrated... longing for the good ole days when visiting teams loathed playing in Hilton. And just saying the name Fred Hoiberg... gets 'em more giddy than me hearing that Metallica might come back to Des Moines. It's a lazy hire just on the mere fact that this makes everyone happy... for now. Wait until they find out... that while we loves ourselves some Freddy... a nice name and being a school icon... doesn't make you a coach. Just ask the Phoenix Coyotes... how'd that Gretzky experiment go? Sorry Cyclone fans, legends don't always make great coaches.

So why is the the worst hire? Experience and recruiting. And you Iowa State fans who think the is a "boon for recruiting"? Pshh... please. I've gotta better shot of hooking up with Elizabeth Shue than recruits flocking just because the coach's name is Fred Hoiberg. Sure you're gonna get Iowa kids... in Central Iowa. That's it. If they even know who Fred Hoiberg is... the kids he'll be recruiting were born his sophomore year at ISU.

For real, the name Fred Hoiberg will not bring them in... recruits wise. So please. Stop. Saying. This. Now.... I'm effing serious, stop saying it. On a good side... it will sell more tickets at first... then it will get stale. Especially if the winning doesn't continue. Ask the I-Cubs if they're seeing a spike in tickets because of Ryno? A little, if they could... they would rather hire good weather than having celeb manager. Just sayin'...

So what will a Hoiberg recruiting class look like? Uh... a bunch of guards. Because... that's what he did in the draft for the Timberwolves. "But G$, Jeff Grayer will bring kids from Milwaukee." Also, you can stop making the same argument for Grayer as you are for Hoiberg. The math just doesn't work out. And oh wait... no real coaching experience. Acie Earl has more coaching experience than these two. Again.... just sayin'.

"Geez G$... you're really being a little rough on this subject. You're just saying this because your a Hawkeye. And this is coming from someone who was happy to see Steve Alford leave." Hey... at least Steve Alford had coaching experience before he came to Iowa City... had success as well... it just turned out he was a douche bag.

The take I'm getting? This is what happens when you make decisions based on who writes the checks. Alumni get all... "We need to do this... and we need to do that or no dough for you." And that's fine... That's how it works in this biz... a lot. You wanna know who this hire is really recruiting? Peeps my age and older... (late 20s to early 40s) ISU fans and grads who are beginning to replace the older alumni money donations. Plus these peeps grew up watching the Mayor.

The bad thing about this whole thing? This is a set up for failure. I mean, I really like Freddy Hoiberg. I really do. If he doesn't turn it into a winner... it will tarnish the legacy. And that's what will suck. Do you think the Cyclone Nation really has any patience left for Freddy? We shall see.

Alright... let's do this Romey style... am I off? Am I dead on? Bring the pain in the comment section. Have a take and don't suck.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Events and a Blue Octobus in the Bathroom...

What was were with all of these rallies yesterday?

(smirk)

Oh… yeah… oh I get it now. Random thought. Is it me or should every one have a blue octopus in their bathroom? No? I think it's kind of epic...

Alright... let's do it.

WHEN THE STARS ARE OUT – So took in the I-Cubs again the other night (don't judge me... dollar dollar hotdogs y'alls)… it was like a Laker Game in the DeMo… for politicos. Good to see everyone out. Thanks for all the shout outs.
FUNDRAISING – Lots and lots of chirping about the Federal Candidates out there on their dineros. QCI called one race earlier… (Bill Northey, with zero precincts reporting will be our Sec of Ag) But, we may be calling a few more soon.
ALL YOUR EVENTS BRING THE CANDIDATES TO THE YARD – Alright… there’s a ton of things to hit in the next few days… Out east… the Iowa Christian Alliance is having David Barton in the state, again… Here's the deets. The big event? Iowans for Tax Relief 's Taxpayers’ Day out on the northwest side of the DeMo. All the Gov peeps and the rest of the LBC will be in the house... And Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty… hmmm, wonder what he’s up to? (raised eyebrow and smirk) This is prolly one of the bigger events of the primary until the RPI Spring Event and/or District Conventions. QCI has scored a ticket and maybe a press pass?!! (another smirk) Looking forward to seeing QCI-ders get their political on. I will tweet some updates from the cheap seats… so if you can’t make it, but believe in the power of the Tweeple… follow me up here… or if you’re too cool for school when it comes to the Twitters… follow the live feed on the right hand side of this site. All the deets on this thinger are here. Another event is Tuesday… on 4/20… (straight face) and look who's back? Former New York Governor George Pataki. He'll will be over at the Embassy Suites over the noon hour to talk about repealing Obamacare... And maybe a Paul Revere ride? See you peeps there? Here's more info from D-Price.

QCI FACEBOOK STATUS OF THE DAY

“So and so… i would like to thank Giada and her giant de laurentis head for turning me onto Nutella. I simply cant stop eating it. plus the jars make great drinking glasses. I have a set of eight.”

Well… you got that going for you…

AND FINALLY… How about a little Linkin Park? You know… because of the nice weather lately. This one… just like Louie D’s Philly Steaks… is really effing good. Stay thirsty friends…

7 Globes and 3 Land Lines... Makes sense to me.

What's up?

Been making the rounds.... Having conversations with the people. Plus... some observations since the last time we chatted.

Let's do this.

IOWA NEWZ LITER - Met up with the King of Snark a few nights ago. Dude is off the chain. If you aren't reading his stuff... and/or adding it to your reads... you probably hate freedom. No seriously. Good stuff. Great tunes. And it will sometimes make Diet Coke come out of your nose... The Liter is in the LBC on the right hand side of this joint. Hit it up.
MICHAEL STEELE AND THE RNC - I'm 50/50 on this. Part of me cares because, you know... he's a leader of the national party. But the other side... I could care less. I mean to me, all politics is local... and I'll play the whole typical Iowan thing, "We don't need no outsiders tellin us what to do" bit. I tend to care more about what's going on here... Plus this is such an inside story... oh, and the whole spending money at a freaky deeky sex club? Meh... Could be worse... at least it wasn't taxpayer dollars... Other than that can we find better or important things to chirp about?
YARD SIGNS WIN ELECTIONS - Judging by the tweets and emails... its yard sign season. I'm going to let you all in on a very super huge winning campaign strategy. If you have more yard signs up than the other guy... you will win. It's true, they win elections. Door knocking? Yeah right... way overrated. Person to person contact? Child please, why would you do that. I'm telling you... yard signs. Effing yard signs. Everywhere. And you win. You should make sure everyone... Volunteers, staff and hell even the candidate... are just putting up yard signs. You don't even need to ask for permission. Just do it. Oh... and you're welcome.

QCI FACEBOOK STATUS OF THE DAY

"So and so... would grow a Stanley Cup playoff beard but I'm pretty sure my contract requires me to not look destitute and pathetic."

Wha?! Playoff beards are epic. Check that... playoff mullets are better. Trust me I know these things.

REALLY? I'm pretty sure the folks at Westboro Baptist Church have weekly meetings with the one question... What event can we protest this week that will make us look like even bigger classless ass clowns?
THE $NACK$ - Dude. These guys are awesome. They are my new favorite local band. They are so off the chain. You try to tell me this isn't an epic band when they... Go from Sublime to the Bee Gees, from Led Zep to Brit Brit... and then the one that kills you every time... yups, Hall and Oates to Snoop Dogg. See? Told you. If you're out and about... and the $NACK$ are playing... don't leave that joint. It's alright... you can thank me later.
HECKLERS - I went to my first I-Cubs game in like 3 years. I know... by the 3rd inning I was asking myself, "How in the hell did it take me 3 years? And not go to a Cubs game?" Anyways... while all the seats are great... I'll argue the right field party deck/bleachers are where its at... just so you can listen to the hecklers. I learned a few new ways to say cuss words... without saying them. These guys are artists. I mean... what do you think these right fielders are thinking? "Hmmm... I make 36 grand a year to have some assholes from Des Moines yell insults at me for 9 innings." But... I'm pretty sure they've heard it all. If not... they will give you a thumbs up once in a while went someone belts out an original.

AND FINALLY... OK... so if you're going to cover one of the greatest songs of all time... you better do a good job with it. Enter Jimmie Inch... He effing crushes it. I mean... Dear Lord does he crush it hard. Do yourself a favor... watch this video. I know I've said crank your speakers before... but I'm serious on this one. Everyone in the listening range of this ear biscuit will thank you later. Hat tip to Tony Bohnekamp for posting this on FB. Amazing. Stay thirsty friends....

Debate, Tiger and it was an honest mistake...

Oh yeah... it's the month of April... which means things are getting... warmer and such. Well kind of.

We haven't talked about the regular stuff you all like... so lets chirp a but my fine feathered friends.

GOP GUV DEBATE - Caught a little of it... but saw most of the tweets. And here's my quick take. No changes in the game. BVP came out swinging (he had to)... but nothing much else. Other than the ugly podiums from the local station in Sioux City (those were hideous)... it was kind of oh hum. I blame the fact no one will really see this except for peeps in the Northwest... and junkies. A noon hour debate? C'mon son. Also...
DEAR KTIV- Yeah... you screwed up. You should have at least your NBC sisters carry it. You know these guys are running for Governor of Iowa... right? Not the Mayor of Sioux City or State Senator of NW Iowa. "But G$, we live streamed it!" Get bent...
TIGER TIGER WOODS Y'ALL - You all see the Nike commerical with Tiger? I think its a solid ad. At one point last night it was being tweeted 25 + times a minute via Youtube. You can say what you want about the issue... But I think its a good ad. Just how the Swoosh rolls. Also... I can't believe I just blogged about golf... SMH...

QCI FACEBOOK STATUS OF THE DAY

"So and so... For some reason i smell like a rest stop. I'm going to the Cheese Cake factory to have a drink."

Ok.

IOWA CITY IS 21 - So the ordinance has passed in the Peoples Republic of Johnson County. Will be interesting to see the results. Now a whole generation of Hawkeyes will be all like, "Yups I remember when you coul dget in when you were 19."

AND FINALLY... Haven't cranked this song in a while... so how about some Bravery? Stay thirsty friends....

A Serving of Hateraide... for Everyone.

And... the Madness is over. Hell of a game... but in the end, good prevailed. Yups, I said it. Way to go Duke. Now... a lot has changed since back in they of watching the tourney. There wasn't Twitter, blogs or message boards... back when I scored my first Duke shirt... and started to follow Grant Hill. But... it is what it is... so for today let's do a post Final Four post... very randomly...

YOU WANT TO BE CUSSED AT? Then wear a Duke jersey out in public. Holy smokes. You know it would make more sense if these people were... UNC grads or something. Its so unnecessary. I mean really. Hate Duke? Child pleeze. Which brings me to a good story from last night on the level of hatred out there for the Dukies...
JUST MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS - So... me and my buddies were out warming up for the Duke game at a fine establishment. It was an after work/out for the game crowd... full house, but comfortably full. The next table over from us was a group of ladies. After a while, one of the rather better looking ones of the bunch, approached our table...

Here's how it goes down...

Random Goodlooking Girl: Hey, what's your name?
Me: I'm Grant, nice to meet you.
Random Goodlooking Girl: Grant, that's a nice name. You know, my friends and I were talking about you. How you seem like a nice guy... and very funny.
Me: Oh yeah?
Random Goodlooking Girl: But then we saw you were wearing a Duke jersey and we decided you must be one of the biggest a$$holes out tonight. Nice to meet you.
Me: [jaw drops]
Random Goodlooking Girl: [walks off]
My Buddy: Dude, that just happened.
Other Buddy: G$, you just got cock blocked by Duke Basketball.

Wish I could make this stuff up...

QCI FACEBOOK STATUS OF THE DAY:

"So and so... Okay let's stop the cinderella crap: Cinderella is not ranked in the top 10 preseason, does not have the longest winning streak in the nation, does not go undefeated in conference play, does not get to play the championship game at home and...hits the last shot."

Amen.

CBS FAIL - OK... One Shining Moment... It's the big end of the season. Highlights... cheesy song sung by a dude with too high of a pitch... oh yeah... its a tradition. Now... I didn't mind that Jennifer Hudson was singing it this year... it was the lack of highlights.... and basically a Jen Hud video. Not cool CBS... not cool.
G$ ANSWERS YOUR TWEETS - So there was a whole lot of hateraide flowing towards my Twitter account during the game... I decided to answer some of them here....

How could you possibly be rooting for Duke? That's like rooting for the Raiders or Darth Vader or Valley High -- Cmon son, rooting for the Denver Broncos is more of an insult... and more evil like.

Duke is the Yankees of College Basketball. -- Not true... not true at all. Any school coached by John Calipari... are the Yankees of college basketball. I could really go on about other schools that are WAY more Yankees... UNC? UCLA? Any school from the Big East? Yeah...

Thanks for the RT, bro, but I've gotta yell for Butler tonite. Grew up in IN, lots of family there! -- Alright, I'll respect that... because its not the just blind hate Duke thinger.

How does it feel having watched your second favorite team go from underdogs against UNLV to the Yankees in the last 15 years? -- Again... the Yankees thing? Duke has been solid. And I guess there are people who root against being successful.

SPEAKING OF SPORTS AND TWEETS - QCI-ders and peeps of the DeMo... here me now and listen to me later. You like sports? You like local? You like to laugh your behind off? Alright... make the Des Moines Sports Freaks a part of your daily reads and follow them on Twitter... here and here. I'm telling ya. Good read... hilarious tweets... all showing why the word fan... is short for fanatic.

AND FINALLY... How about a little One Shinning Moment? Done right... Ironically... with all this Duke talk... featuring last year's champs... UNC.

LET'S GO DUKE!!

Yups I said it. And while we're at it... LET'S GO GOLIATH!! For real... been rooting for Duke for years... You can send me your hateraide... if it makes you feel better. But I'll just delete it. Why? Because I'm awesome, that's why.

On a serious note... it will be a good game. But in the end... final score Butler 53, Duke 97... Duke's big 5 will all be in double digits... and everyone will quickly turn the channel to see what else is on...

More to come... Including a post legis slow jam... Unitl then... stay thirsty... and LET'S GO DUKE!