Reading a couple threads today had this on my mind, so I wanted to hear what others have thought of too.

Something that has been on my mind since I heard the story about the Van Meter Visitor, is that how that school completely missed the mark when naming their mascot. I actually was shocked that the High School was not known as the Van Meter Visitors, and thought that would be a perfect fit and really fun name for them.


And since then I sometimes have noticed situations other places where they either have used a mascot that was perfect for the town/location, and others that have been a total miss.

We all know how Iowa State got the Cyclone name, we all know how Cy became the mascot, mostly I think it fits perfectly, at least it has a fitting story behind it.

Does anyone else have any schools or colleges that have missed the mark or have picked a perfect mascot because of a historical story.

Here are some of the ones I have thought of.... maybe not P.C. enough for today though.

Van Meter, Visitors
Villisca, Murderers
Independence, Lunatics
New Mexico State, Aliens
University of Iowa, Jackasses

Monday Musings is back with a new voice!


We’re excited to welcome Andrew Harrington to the Cyclone Fanatic team. Andrew is a 2024 Iowa State grad, former editor-in-chief of the Iowa State Daily and NOWWWW the newest CF contributor. He’ll be bringing you Monday Musings every week this season. He also happens to be Aiden's best friend from college. They were roommates! I have hung out with Andrew maybe twice but promise you all that he is HILARIOUS and such a talented writer. I am very excited to have him take over this column and staple of CF content.

His first column is live — breaking down the Dublin win, the young guys making an impact and why this opener might be one of the most important of the Campbell era.
Check it out: https://cyclonefanatic.com/2025/08/monday-musings-cyclones-take-wet-and-wild-farmageddon/

Enjoy!

Has anyone seen anything on this yet? I've searched and haven't found anything on it. Sure hope they do it again this year as it was a great option to get in as it way easier than scanning your ticket.

Maybe it just isn't posted here because it is an Iowa Everywhere podcast (or maybe I just overlooked it). At any rate, I think the Cyclone Sunday podcast with Ben Bruns and Aiden Wyatt deserves its own thread on CF. It is really good analysis. Both always see things that I miss (or just don't know enough to see). I really like being about to "hang out" on the day after a game and listen in on their intelligent reflections.

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Having moved to a small acreage last year, I have started to let my mind wander about the types of ways that I can use my land to improve 1. my fanancial security 2. My food security(i.e. large garden, small orchard, chickens, etc.) 3. what can I do to help the local evironment and maybee bring in some additional wildlife in the process.

1. We have started boarding horses with some moderate success! We are learning quickly about equine care and how to manage our pastures, water etc., and making a little bank in the process, while supporting our new hoby!
2. We are expanding our garden size and expanding our few fruit trees into a small orchard (planted pear trees this year), and we bit the bullet, converted an old shed into a chicken coop/run, and have 18 chickens. (hope to expand next year to add ducks!) In addition I would like to try and extend our growing season by buildidng a simple greenhouse.

Now that these areas have been addressed, my mind started wandering into ways that I can use the remaining parts of my acreage to make life more enjoyable.
1. I want to add a small natural swiming pool/pond right behind the house
2. Plant more large/fast growing trees.
3. some landscaping and beautication projects to spruice the place up.
4. plant some natural native prarie to bring more wildlife in!

Thinking about these, I thought perhaps growing some polinator strips, might be a great way to help the environment, support the local polinator health, and bring in a larger variety of wildlife. So then I started down a rabit hole, and started learmning about polinator/prarie strips, and its usefull aplications in larger agricultural opperations.

After doing some research, it seems like the benifits are plenty!
1. Better pollination leads to higher yeilds(allocating aprox. 10% of land can lead to a 20%-30% increase in yeild-depending on plant species).
2. improve local soil quality.
3. Reduce soil errosion.
4. Increase biodiversity.
5. Acts a buffer between chemical applications and our waterways, therby inproving water quality.
6. Attracts benifitial insects and preditors that can reduce agricultural pests.
7. Could increase Agtourism revenue.

It seems as though there are also a number of programs that farmers can participate in to help offset any financial losses that occur durring the first few years of establishing these polinator strips.

So my question to the farmers on this site, is why aren't more farmers participating in planting polinator strips?
What are the more pratical concerns/roadblocks that prevent farmers from planting polinator strips?
What would make it more appealing?

*discalamer- I ask this question in good faith! I am not trying to start debate or argue. I am genuinely interested in the farmer's point of view here.

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Weather looking good for Saturday:

Listening to all the podcasts and reading posts here….This ended up an embarrassing trip / experience for KSU.

KSU HC: we expect to win
KSU team on a top deck of a bus talking **** to ISU fans.
KSU AD calling out the color black, CMC shutting that down in postgame
KSU QB Dad and Half-brother (?) fight(?) / wrestle / cat fight outside of the stadium.


Such sweet tears to enjoy.

Jacqueline Cordova is back with Jake Remsberg, Jirehl Brock, and Colin Newell to relive Iowa State’s victory over Kansas State in Ireland. How will the game affect the season? Discussing all the new guys, Campbell’s 100th win, and more. Presented by Wyffels Hybrids.

Enjoy!

Creating a post where students can share travel plans to Chicago and find others willing to give rides.

Chris Williams & Brent Blum are both back from Ireland. The guys analyze Iowa State’s 24-21 season-opening win over Kansas State and touch on South Dakota. Plus, it’s officially game week for all of college football. Guess the point spreads is back! Presented as always by Mechdyne.

Enjoy!

Are SMV signs required all over the state of Iowa? Or just in Algona and Kossuth County? Side by sides that can do 70 mph need to have them around here. An smv sign has a speed limit of 30-35 mph. So you can get a speeding ticket quickly.

It’s my first year doing the mobile pass. What day do they usually send the tickets on game week?

My bad if I missed an update on his injury or any others.

Happy Sunday Fanatics — Holy cow what a rollercoaster that was yesterday.

If you missed anything from yesterday or just want to relive the win again, here’s your one-stop recap of everything we published from Iowa State's 24–21 Win over Kansas State in Ireland!

Written Content:​

• Randy Peterson Column: If it’s close, you can bank on Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht making the game-winning decision → Read here
• Rob Gray Notebook: ISU’s defense comes up big, Matt Campbell sounds off on the color black → Read here
• Rob Gray Post-Game Recap: No. 22 Iowa State kneels out satisfying 24–21 win over No. 17 Kansas State → Read here

Video Coverage​

• Full Postgame Press Conference: Matt Campbell, Rocco Becht, Caleb Bacon, Brett Eskildsen & Marcus Neal → Watch here
• Farmageddon Video Highlights: Jake Brend’s full game coverage → Watch here
• POSTGAME with CW: Breaking it all down after ISU’s 24–21 win → Listen/Watch here

Social Highlights​

Matt Campbell was feelin spicy:
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Trust the Process. Trust Rocco Becht.
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Unhinged: The way Remy poured this Guinness.
Also unhinged: How fast he can chug a Guinness.
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Photos from USA Today & Iowa State Football:
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Jake Brend & CW Analysis


Aaaaand LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Family Photo!


Enjoy your Sunday! More content to come.

Randy Peterson breaks down Iowa State’s 24-21 win over Kansas State in Ireland — and what it says about the Cyclones’ Big 12 title chase.
From fourth-down guts to Rocco Becht’s decision-making to a defense that delivered all night, the Cyclones made the kind of statement we’ve been talking about all offseason.

Read Randy’s full column here: https://cyclonefanatic.com/2025/08/...rocco-becht-making-the-game-winning-decision/

Feels fitting after beating KSU as we often say “our Bill Snyder”. But I also just saw again the Purdy interview on Bussin w the Boys.

Given Matt’s contract extension, you feel comfortable that he’s our guy for the long long-term? Or is there going to continue to be rumors that keep you up?

He’s turned into a really solid punter. Thought he flipped the field well and all of his punts had excellent hang time. Crazy how much a bad punt can benefit the other team.

No. 22 Iowa State started the season off with a 24-21 win over No. 17 Kansas State.

Cyclone Fanatics Jake Brend was on the ground with video highlights and a postgame report of the thrilling Farmageddon win. Check out all of the coverage at the links below.

Hear everything that head coach Matt Campbell, quarterback Rocco Becht, linebacker Caleb Bacon, safety Marcus Neal and wide receiver Brett Eskildsen had to say following a 24-21 win over No. 17 Kansas State.

Offense

• Rocco: not his best day admittedly. But when the game is on the line, he just makes huge plays. I'd love for more consistency rest of non conf. His deep balls to Brett E. and Overby were NFL level throws.
• Brett Eskildsen - he is a natural at WR. I think he's going to make a lot of plays for us this year. Runs good routes and has speed. He's going to be a good one.
• Dom Overby - his stutter step and go route was a thing of beauty. Game breaking speed and he's just scratching the surface.
• TE's: our WR room does not have to be elite when Brahmer and Burkle are making plays the way that they did.
• Run Game - I listened to the post game with Chris Williams and the one disagreement I had was he said that "the O line just started to block better in second half." I see this a totally different way. Our run game improved immediately in the second half when we went back to our best running back. Carson Hansen gets in the game and we immediately start to rip off runs of 5 plus yards consistently. Abu, while probably a great kid, just does not find creases for running lanes well. To put an accent on the note of the run game / offensive line room, we just beat Kansas State without our best O lineman (Trevor Buhr).
• James Neal and Tyler Miller were very solid. It will be nice to get Trevor Buhr back soon and we need him.
• Offense Misc. Point: I want us to find a better 2nd string RB than Abu. At a certain point if Abu continues to get stuffed I want to see Dylan Lee more or Aiden Flora.

Defense

• Marcus Neal is a game wrecker. One of the best run defending safeties we have had in ISU modern day football. His tackle for loss on a 4th down was huge
• DL - I thought they played well. Dom Orange was solid, and Ike Ezeguo had a pass tipped. Ike i'm looking for to make more plays the longer this year goes. If there is one concern I have on D, do we have a difference maker who can get sacks this year? That will go a long way in improving our D.
• Carson Van Dinter - I really like this prospect. He was (minus one play) always in position and flying around the ball.
• LB Group - our defense with the 3 / 3 stack works great when our linebackers are as good as we have right now. Kooper Ebel looks so much improved over a year ago and was great. Caleb Bacon and Carson Willich made plays, I like this group a lot. K State is a power run attack and our LB group was stellar.

ST

• Aiden Flora looks like a good kickoff return man. He had one that almost went 40 yards today. Liked him back there. (i'd like to see him get a couple touches at RB each game)