OT: GopherJim's Animated GIF Spawns a Fark

GopherJim created this animated gif:


Needless to say, it needed an improvement.

I took the liberty of cleaning up that animation.



Thanks to bucketochicken's suggestion to change the animation. Although he wanted to see the Illini get puked up, as a resident of Minnesota it had to be done this way.

MEN'S BB: Iowa's Chances For the 6th Seed in the BTT Are Very Slim

Minnesota needs to lose out (7-11).
Iowa needs to win out (8-10).

Iowa has the tiebreaker (as of right now) over Michigan.
Minnesota has the tiebreaker over Iowa.

Also, if tOSU loses out, it could change some things, but that's not going to happen.

FOOTBALL: Apparently Getting a Full-Ride Scholarship Means Nothing Anymore...

KCJJ broke the news early Saturday morning that Arvell Nelson and James Cleveland were in trouble with the law. The Gazette later on confirmed the story. Weed and prescription drugs.

Eric Page talks today about the whereabouts of Dominique Douglass, Cedric Everson, and Abe Satterfield. In the process, revealing more Facebook pics of Douglas (if you missed the first run, they are here).



I guess Domo has a lot of cash lying around, but not enough ($30.02) to pay for a couple DVDs.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF ALL THE OFF-FIELD INCIDENTS FOR THIS IOWA TEAM

So the Iowa Football program continues to take hit after hit (no pun intended, ok maybe a little one) in regards to off-the-field events. I am all about having fun in college; I'll be honest, I probably had a bit too much fun in my time there. However, at some point these guys have to realize they are getting a free-ride to a Big Ten institution. If they succeed on the court/field, they have a shot at something even bigger. If not, they still have a pretty special degree to fall back on.

I don't think some of these guys understand what they have going for them. It's a shame.

OT: Jimmy Kimmel is F*cking Ben Affleck

Jimmy Kimmel is a comedic genius. I thought Silverman's video was awesome, but Jimmy trumps her in this one. Kimmel got a ton of people to help him out and it's just absolutely brilliant.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lcmNaXmjvs

BHGP: Kirk Ferentz's Twitter Feed

Below is pure genius:



http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/story/2008/2/25/7493/13046

OT: Oscars 2008 - The Academy Can Suck My Nuts

Transformers lost in all three categories it was nominated for Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects.

Boo Academy. Boo.







I might boycott you next year, Oscars. I just might.

On a side note, here's how my ballot turned out:

MEN'S BB: MSU Smacks Down Iowa, but Cyrus Tate Throws One Down Over Drew Naymick

Great game from Cy... an even better dunk.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuNmgpqIM_s

Men's BB: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Michigan State Spartans (Take Two)

VS.

GAME INFO: Sat., Feb. 23, 2008 - 1:00 CST - Breslin Center; East Lansing, MI
IOWA: 12-15 (5-9); RPI: 169 / #17 Michigan State: 21-5 (9-4); RPI: 13

TV COVERAGE: ESPN; Dave O'Brien and Doris Burke will call the action.
OFFICIAL GAME NOTES - View HERE
LINE - Michigan State is a 15.5 point favorite at home.

The last time Iowa beat Michigan State up in East Lansing, River Phoenix was alive and Unforgiven won the Oscar for best picture... (hint, that's over 15 years ago). Twelve consecutive losses for the Hawks up at the Breslin Center. This year doesn't look to be a change from the norm. Massacres ensued in the Alford Years... 20+ point losses were the standard.

1/29/94 L 84-87 East Lansing, MI
1/7/95 L 68-69 East Lansing, MI
1/20/96 L 60-62 East Lansing, MI
2/12/97 L 67-69 East Lansing, MI
2/7/98 L 64-75 East Lansing, MI
1/21/99 L 65-80 East Lansing, MI
2/18/01 L 70-94 East Lansing, MI
3/2/02 L 79-93 East Lansing, MI
3/5/03 L 54-82 East Lansing, MI
2/4/04 L 72-89 East Lansing, MI
1/21/04 L 55-85 East Lansing, MI
2/17/07 L 49-81 East Lansing, MI

Ouch.

Iowa has looked pretty poor the last three ballgames, losing to Minnesota and Michigan while squeaking one out against the winless in conference Wildcats of Northwestern. Michigan St has also had a lull in their season. Before annihilating Penn State at home on Wednesday, MSU had lost 3 of it last 4 (albeit all were road games against some tough competition).

Drew Neitzel has been very inconsisent this year. Most pundits had him pegged as the Big Ten POY. It doesn't look like that is going to be the case. Look for Tony Freeman to be in his jock all game once again in this game (just he did in the win in Iowa City).

Iowa has a tough, tough challenge ahead of them. They are clearly the smaller dog in this fight and will have to execute brilliantly to stay in the ballgame. The defense is going to be the deciding factor. I have a feeling this game is going to look a lot more like the Iowa/Ohio State game in Columbus than the Iowa/MSU game in Iowa City. Iowa has only won 2 road games this year - Michigan and UNI.

KEYS TO THE GAME
1.) Limit turnovers. Iowa has had single digits turnovers twice this season. They'll need one of those in this game.
2.) Get Jeff Peterson back on the court. If he is healthy, Iowa needs his gap slashing ability on the court. Even if he has his small share of turnovers (expected when you are a frosh and handling the ball as much as he does), what he can do on the offensive side of the ball will go a long way in helping Iowa.
3.) Freeman needs to be all up in Drew Neitzel's face. If he can play close to the level he did in the first meeting, Drew will be a non-factor.
4.) Get on the boards. Iowa has done a poor job on the boards as of late and they need to control them if they want to keep it close.
5.) Play within the offense. That means getting it inside when Tate is posted up. That means having Freeman take "good" three point attempts. That means Peterson being smart with the basketball. That means not heaving up a bad shot with 1.5 seconds left on the shot clock.

PREDICTION:
Iowa - 56
Michigan State - 78

OT: Lunar Eclipse Pictures from Byron, MN

-10 degrees F here in Byron, but that didn't stop me from heading outside to take a look at the Lunar Eclipse. I think my camera froze and the pictures didn't turn out very well, but it was an extremely spectacular sight tonight.

Here are a few pictures:






















Here's some video that I shot:



http://youtube.com/watch?v=Velo0_LC20Y

OT: Menjing from the IT Dept Talks to Intecomp About Printers

Intecomp called me today. I didn't feel like talking printing solutions with a wholesaler. So I transferred the call to the IT department. I am not sure what's more impressive... their website or their hours. They probably need to hit the beach.

Below is the call...




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WcT2r_YZLo