We’re back with Monday Musings after an electric weekend all over.
Let’s muse.
Iowa State softball
Iowa State Softball has officially earned its third 30-win season in program history.
It’s remarkable what coach Jamie Pinkerton and his squad did this season in Big 12 play.
When I was younger, and wanted my fix for Iowa State sports after the end of the college hoops season, I often turned to softball to see the Cyclones could capture lightning in a bottle.
Self admittedly, I was just a nerd looking at game notes. I thought the aspect of how the non-conference schedule, and the entire sport, was set up (and it’s only gotten weirder with conference realignment).
But nothing ever came of it. It wasn’t a fun thing to follow.
The Cycloneers thing reached its peak – and I think many are still following that slant of things – but nothing has been able to top this year since a decade before I was alive.
The Cyclones came back to beat Baylor twice after dropping the first game to the Bears 10-0 in the series.
They will now turn to the Big 12 Tournament, where they will face the winner of No. 11 Houston and No. 6 BYU on Thursday.
As far as the big dance goes, I feel good about Iowa State’s odds of making the national tournament – or regional as they call it.
This is all from what I can tell, but there’s a bracketology under the College Sports Madness banner that has had the Cyclones moving up in recent weeks.
They first appeared a month ago as a team in the No. 1 overall seed’s region, but have since moved. I’ll have more later this week on where they’re slated.
Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese is doing the thing again.
It seems that all this guy does is talk shit, back it up, and gets people talking about him. He’s a total hockey player on a basketball court, and it’s made me appreciate him even more than I ever thought I could.
The former Cyclone tallied 22 points,
in Indiana’s game 1 win over the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers Monday, making a statement that his Indiana team is here to play.
Here’s the remaining schedule for Haliburton and the Pacers in round 2:
Game 2, Tues. May 6 – 6 p.m., TNT
Game 3, Fri. May 9 – 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 4, Sun. May 11 – 7 p.m. TNT
Game 5, Tues. May 13 – TBD, TNT
Game 6, Thurs. May 15 – TBD, ESPN
Game 7, Sun. May 18 – TBD
Jett Thomalla to Elite 11
Iowa State quarterback commit Jett Thomalla received his invitation to the Elite 11 camp, extended to the top quarterback prospects in the country.
Thomalla, and four-star prospect out of Millard South High School in Omaha committed to Iowa State just nine days ago.
He’ll become the sixth Cyclone quarterback to participate in the event.
Cyclones in the Elite 11.
Cyclones to compete in Elite 11
Grant Rohach, 2012
Re-al Mitchell, 2017
Hunter Dekkers, 2019
JJ Kohl, 2022
Alex Manske, 2024
Jett Thomalla, 2025
Quick Hits
I wanted to do a normal quick hits from the week – but when I saw how much of a dud WWE Smackdown was in Des Moines, and how much I loathe having to have another thought on Deion Sanders’ kid, I’m just going to spotlight one thing.
The NHL Playoffs
They deliver every year, but this one has been exceptional.
In the 106-year history of the league, what happened this weekend twice has only happened three other times.
2 goal comebacks in the 3rd period to win a game 7 in NHL history:
First 106 years: 3
Last 2 days: 2 #StanleyCupPlayoffs— Dominic Moore (@mooredom) May 5, 2025
It started with my Stars on Saturday, and it felt near impossible to switch the energy in that game, but that’s what makes this sport special.
The sexiest goal ever scored in the history of hockey. pic.twitter.com/hznvAv0AjG
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) May 4, 2025
Then, it happened again. The Winnipeg Jets looked dead in the water, but scored two goals to tie the game, with the latter coming in the final two seconds.
That’s a buzzer beater the NBA fans haven’t seen this playoffs, unless you tune in to Haliburton.
The Jets went on to win and we’ll have another war in the second round between them and Dallas.
THE JETS TIE IT WITH 1.6 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME 🤯
PANDEMONIUM IN WINNIPEG, WE GOT GAME 7 OVERTIME 😱 pic.twitter.com/iIWCyUeq2p
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 5, 2025
Watching professionals play this sport while they are walking on egg shells is one of the coolest things to see in sports. Everything changes when one mistake *will* ruin your season.
I hope you and your friends park it next to the TV this week and watch the second round.
