I, for one, look forward to a healthy Lipsey putting that twerp Smith in hell while Jefferson facilitates down low. Bring it on.
Cluff is really good, it would’ve been nice if he’d committed. But may I suggest all you doomers organize a group therapy session—at a park, perhaps, so you can literally touch grass. Remember when Iowa State had one of the best back courts in the country on paper, too, and Jackson was scoring in double figures against Auburn? Good times… Unfortunately, by March 4 that meant jack. Why exactly should I care how good Purdue’s roster looks and declare a sixth-place finish (oddly, ridiculously specific) the best case for Iowa State in fr****** March? Gracious, the way some people talk it’s as if Otz’s teams have never beaten opponents that have players who have more raw athleticism or better stats, or were big fish in the portal. Pray tell, who was the number one team in the country preseason? And their NIL budget? Ah, well, surely they’re in the Final Four?…
Hammering people over the head about how it’s really really hard to win a national championship if you don’t have gobs of NIL money is literally just a Debbie Downer sketch—it’s true, but serves no purpose and just makes everyone else annoyed. Following sports is a hobby, sometimes it’s just about getting caught up in the moment and having fun. And hoping for a lucky break. It’s not supposed to be a sober intellectual exercise whose purpose is to continually take account of deficiencies and tally the reasons fans can’t reasonably expect even moderate success. Though I only speak for myself. I don’t watch sports because I think one of the least successful P5 athletics programs in history is going to wake up one day and be Duke basketball or Ohio State football. But delusion and hopelessness aren’t the only paths. Every season, every game, every half something can happen that was previously unexpected and statistically improbable. Maybe Iowa State will make yet another "Iowa State play." Maybe they won’t. We watch to find out. I know I’d be miserable—and therefore wouldn’t watch—if I couldn’t help but fixate on Iowa State’s NIL budget and continually remind myself that on paper they have no realistic chance of success, forever and always