It would be easier if I could sit here today and say that I am a man that needs no introduction, but we all know that is far from the case. Perhaps some of you are aware of my existence and a handful of you may have read some of the mindless tripe I have produced in the past (quantity depending upon your level of masochism). So, an intro is more or less required…prepare to be letdown for the first of many times while reading my ramblings.
I am a lifelong Iowa State fan. My first basketball memories involve Terry Woods, Justus Thigpen, and one Fred Hoiberg. The band played “Here’s Johnny” at the start of the game and everyone yelled “HI ED!” in unison at halftime. I went to football games when there was a hot tub under a tent in the south endzone beneath the shadow of the small Atari looking “Jumbotron.” There was Astro Turf on the ground, no Jacobsen building to the north, and nobody in the stands.
I’m a 30-year old father of three girls and husband of one. I was born and raised in Nevada, Iowa before graduating in 2002 and moving on to Iowa State. I graduated in 2006 in Industrial Technology (started off in Electrical Engineering but Differential Equations got the better of me, as it often does) and have since stayed in central Iowa as I’ve hopped around in my career as a Manufacturing Engineer. While at Iowa State, I spent three years coaching varying ages of high school basketball in my hometown; from 7th grade assistant, to JV assistant, to head freshman coach.
Sometime around my sophomore year at Iowa State I became a message board hound and have been at least lurking ever since. In the fall of 2009 I jumped into the blogosphere to cover Iowa State for isportsweb.com. That lasted a few months until our main man Chris Williams was appointed King to the land of Cyclone Fanatic.
I jumped blogging ships and wrote a weekly all-encompassing to Iowa State Athletics column titled “Outside the Men’s Room”. There was a reason for that name but you’ve likely forgotten any memories that those columns sparked so let’s not go dredging things up now.
In January of 2011 I launched my own site, encyclonepedia.com, and have resided there ever since —head over there to get a feel for my normal types of content. I have contributed elsewhere in that time, namely Cyclone Fanatic and Wide Right Natty Lite, but let’s just say I’ve been around the block once or twice. My work on my site has been noticed by some and even landed me a few segments on Murph & Andy on KXnO and once with the esteemed Miller & Brinson.
My focus on my site was originally to do historical research projects on Iowa State football and basketball based on the numbers. The goal was to look at stats in a different light without suffocating any readers that I should happen to garner.
That gradually morphed into calculating current day advanced stats. In the past I have handled all of FBS football with metrics that aren’t often used elsewhere and in some cases aren’t used at all. But it is an “advanced” look at things. Though I actually think is more of a simple look, a way to level the playing field by using possession based football stats.
In the winter months I stayed busy doing similar things as Ken Pomeroy but on a much narrower scope but broader depth with just the Big 12. Of course, there are some things that I do slightly differently and he is obviously better with all of that. I’m kind of the regional and less intelligent version of him that you have been saddled with. Sorry!
That is my rough background of applicable experience. Of course, the most noteworthy item on my blogging resume is a retweet from the Mayor Himself with my column recapping this past basketball season. I’m far from a journalist but I do try to be fair, honest, and transparent with the topics I broach. A lot of times I don’t know the answer, I just have a question and some data to maybe, kinda, sorta, point me in a direction I believe to be right. You likely have questions and even answers so please share them. One sided commentary is far from fun and interesting; it is intelligent discussion and discourse that we should all be after here.
And, that’s about it. I’m very excited to permanently be here at CF and to interact even more with all of you and the fine people of Cyclone Fanatic Enterprises. Here, you will be able to find convenient databases to help with many statistical questions you may have with football and men’s basketball and hopefully some other good wholesome fun too.
