Last we’d heard, our protagonists, the Stonebrook Ronald Reagans basketball team, were preparing for their final match of the regular season against First Assembly of God… though the 2-3 zone was a step slow in getting to outside shooters in the first half, the Reagans went on to handily defeat First Assembly. Having mastered the run-and-gun transition offense, the Reagans finished the regular season with a 5-2 record, winning their final three games by significant margins.
The strong finish was enough to earn the Reagans a #5 seed in the post-season tournament, where they will meet 12th seeded Bethesda Lutheran… It will be the third match for the teams this year… Stonebrook is 2-0 in the series… the game is MONDAY NIGHT (not Tuesday) at Ames Middle School – GYM #2 at 6:15pm. The Reagans are very proud of their great fans, who have turned out in droves to support them this season, and very thankful for all of the encouragement… please come out and support us again on Monday, then you can go home and watch the final game of that other, far less important tournament…
Archive for March, 2006
“Stonebrook Ronald Reagans” – The Postseason
Friday, March 31st, 2006“Stonebrook Ronald Reagans” Basketball Update IV
Tuesday, March 28th, 2006Tonight is the final game of the regular season! The tournament-bound Stonebrook Ronald Reagans (4-2) enter tonight’s game as the favorite in their rematch against First Assembly of God (unknown), having won their last two games by significant margins (possibly due to the great fan turnout)… Last week marked the first appearance of star guard Mike Biang, who played significant minutes after returning from the disabled list (engagement, pending marriage). Biang played well for his first game of the season (except for the one time when he got passed the ball and he ducked), contributing heavily to the Reagans’ new zone-defense and improved run-like-heck offense. His status for tonight’s game is unknown… The Reagans will be without injured forward Richard Cardona (stress-fracture in his foot – really) for the third straight week. Forwards Pat Blair, Dan Lennander, and Zach Griebahn will see increased minutes, and kindly request that you not laugh at them as they wheeze up and down the court.
Tonights game:
Ames Middle School
Tipoff - 8:15pm
Lone Strangers Update
Sunday, March 26th, 2006Howdy Strangers! There’s lots of big news from band base camp. For those that haven’t heard yet, we’re recording a full length album of our favorite Praise N’ Worships tunes (the band was never the same after Slash left). There will be about 10.5 of the greatest songs we didn’t write, but frequently play.
Over coffee this morning, we brainstormed a title, and, after lots of really bad ideas (Shut Up, Rocks!), we reached a quick consensus – the album will be called (r)evolve – unless we change our minds. We’ve already got great some great art concepts floating around for (r)evolve, and the plan is to have it finalized in the next week.
We’ll also get the top-secret track list online in time for pre-ordering, which will start this Friday at The Rock, and also take place Sunday at Stonebrook. I suggest you (r)esolve to (r)eserve your copy (r)ight away!
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The “Live Show” department has gotten pretty busy in the last couple of days, too…
As you’ve probably forgotten already, we’ll be playing at the Bali Satay House on Saturday, April 8 with jam-band Otter, and the Jive Management Trio, a blues quartet featuring our always-friend and sometimes-roommate Adam Vos. We plan on playing for quite a long time, and maybe even pulling out some new stuff. There’s even (r)umors of (r)eprises of our (r)ecent covers of Matisyahu and Metallica. You never know, but I suggest you go.
NEW SHOW – M-Shop, Wednesday, April 19th – 7pm. This is a ‘audition’ or sorts for this year’s VEISHEA Battle of the Bands. It’s a free show, we go first, we have a short set, and we are judged, in part, by the crowd we bring (at least that’s how I’m reading the emails – having a crowd definitely has something to do with the process). Since we had such a great time two years ago before the riots started, we’d like to do this again. We’ll be playing with Sigma, The F-Words, Torkaitos Diablos, and Vow of Silence. YES, THIS SHOW IS AT 7, AND WE WILL START PROMPTLY AT 7 – PLEASE BE THERE AND SUPPORT ***GOOD*** LOCAL MUSIC!!!
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If you’d like to be on the World Famous Lone Strangers Mailing List, please leave a comment here requesting that you be added, or shoot us a message on MySpace.
Thanks for being the best fans in the world!
A Purpose Driven Life…
Friday, March 24th, 2006…the part that didn’t make the book.
Media Bias
Tuesday, March 21st, 2006Sorry I have been blog-less recently… I’ve been working like mad to record a new Lone Strangers album. I’ll point out that there is no way, based on human effort alone, that we’re going to get it done on time. Just for the record.***
Also for the record, Ames is under about a foot of snow right now. Nebraska and Iowa were clobbered last night. This, of course, is not at all surprising. In fact, it is pretty typical for the first day of Spring in these parts. A month ago, it was 60 and I was riding my motorcycle. Sigh… I hate this state. But I digress.
Take a good look at this snapshot of foxnews.com. See anything? Other than Chef? Of course not. However, I will GUARANTEE you that in the next day or two, assuming this storm doesn’t peter out, the headlines will scream about a massive blizzard shutting down the East Coast. I know this will happen for two reasons.
The first is that those guys are a bunch of weenies that wouldn’t know what to do with an inch of snow if it shoveled itself. The second reason that I know this will happen is that it happens EVERY TIME. New York City and Washington DC are the centers of the Earth for these people (I realize that is two centers – they’re not very bright), and when stuff happens there, it is important. It affects the lives of these journalists, therefore, it gets covered. The perception is that there is a huge story. However, when two feet of snow hit Nebraska, they say, “Huh, that’s a whole crapload of snow,” and then start talking about Dick Cheney. Nebraska has no significance to these people, so it is not news. Unless there are insurgents or war protesters.
The lack of snow-coverage in the Midwest (news coverage, not physical snow – there’s PLENTY of that) really isn’t a big deal, but it shining example that highlights the very real disconnect between the talking heads and the rest of the country.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to saddle up the horses, drive my covered wagon to the store, and pick up some ice-melt.
Unchallenged, Unmitigated Hogwash
Friday, March 17th, 2006Well, we all knew it was coming, we just figured it would take another year - Wayne Morgan has been fired as head coach of Iowa State Men’s Basketball. The best explanation I’ve heard, courtesy of WHO’s Keith Murphy is as follows: ISU was a pre-season Top 25 team that didn’t even make the post-season, ISU’s name has been dragged through the mud, probably unfairly, by the D1 Scheduling scandal, and our two top stars have announced that they aren’t coming back next year. All of a sudden, it appears that ISU is not going to be very good next year. If you’re planning on replacing your coach anyway, why have the school suffer through a bad season when you can, with a new coach, provide hope for the future?
It just makes sense. Wayne Morgan was, I believe, the 5th (yes, FIFTH!) choice for the ISU coaching job when he was hired. In the post-Eustachy era, no high-caliber coach was excited about coming here (can’t really blame ‘em), and, by hiring Morgan, ISU helped ensure that their start recruits would stay. What everyone understood when he was hired, though, was that he was a safe choice that would be out the door in three years once some stability had returned to Ames. Then he got lucky and had a great run last year, and out-going atheletic director Bruce Van de Velde gave ISU a great going-away present: a contract-extension and pay-raise for Wayne. Thanks a lot, Bruce.
The 2005-2006 Cyclones will be remembered as an incredibly talented, and incredibly underperforming team that severely lacked both consistency and discipline. Guess who gets the blame for that? Sorry, Wayne. Put that in the mix with a scandal, two surprise early departures, and a new Athletic Director, and the results aren’t hard to anticipate.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll miss Coach Morgan. He was a very nice guy, a guitar player and collector, and he was exactly what ISU needed after the Larry train-wreck. He had the opportunity of a lifetime here, and, as a consolation prize, will get $1.5 million over the next two years. But it’s time to move on, and time for Ames to become a key player in NCAA basketball. Does anyone have Dana Altman’s cel number?
One final thing that I can’t ignore is the award-winner for BS Quote of the Month (don’t worry, I’m sure it will soon be surpased by some idiot TV basketball commentator who only works one week a year). Morgan was quoted on epsn.com as saying, “The only person who had a better first three years here was Tim Floyd.” This assertion went unchallenged, and, to my knowledge, no one else has said anything about it. So let’s review:
Wayne Morgan, 2003-2006
55-39 (58%)
1 Trip to NIT (Final Four)
1 Trip to NCAA (second round)
Larry Eustachy, 1998-2001 (first 3 years)
72-26 (73%)
2 Trips to NCAA (first round, fourth round (Elite 8))
2 Big 12 Conference championships
1 Big 12 Tournament championship
2000’s National Coach of the Year
Make a judgement call – who had a better 3 years? Maybe someone should check their facts before spouting off. The facts that, a) Morgan said this, b) ESPN blindly printed it, and c) no one has called anyone on it… pretty weak.
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Update!!! Iowa just lost in the first round on a buzzer-beater 3-point shot. I really, REALLY hope Indiana (who, by the way, won THEIR 1st round game) decides not to hire Steve Alford. Wouldn’t THAT be awkward?
Lamp? Feet? What?
Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
“Stonebrook Ronald Reagans” Basketball Update III
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006Wow, last week was bad. The Reagans were smoked by, oh, seems like about 50 points. A short-handed E-Free played with 5 guys and absolutely dominated. The Reagans blame the fact that a) they were recovering from a bye-week, and b) they suck. Missed layups, abundant turnovers… the Reagans looked more lost and undisciplined than Iowa State. At least Stonebrook will play in the post-season.
This week is the much anticipated rematch of Stonebrook vs. Stonebrook. At the teams’ first meeting, the Reagans mounted a 20+ point comeback in the second half, only to lose the game by 2 points… the Reagans will be short-handed this week, losing forwards Richard Cardona and Zach Griebahn due to spring break… forwards Pat Blair and Dan Lennander, anticipating increased playing time, are actively searching for oxygen tanks and EMTs…
IMPORTANT NOTE: This weeks game will be played at Ames HIGH School, NOT the Middle School. Tipoff is 7:15. Please come to cheer on Stonebrook. And Stonebrook. Our church is destined to win tonight.
“Stonebrook Ronald Reagans” Basketball Update II
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006Following a much-needed bye, the Stonebrook Ronald Reagans (2-1) return this week to face E-Free (unknown). The Reagans look to capitalize on their exciting, run-n-gun style by substituting frequently and defending ferociously. The undersized Reagans will also attempt to improve on their thus-far abysmal rebounding.
Tipoff is 7:15pm at the NEW Ames Middle School.
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New X-Men 3 Trailer. I could try to downplay my geekiness a bit, but I am honestly getting more and more excited about this movie all the time.
Show at the Bali TONIGHT
Thursday, March 2nd, 2006Reminder… tonight, Thursday, March 2nd, will be the first (final?) performance of Groovikleez, a feel-good, danceable, jam-type band made up of me, Dan Shea, and Scott Chidester. There will be much groove, many solos, and possibly an instrument exchange. We start at 9.30 sharp (Dan is now working nights, so we have to finish on time) – hope to see you there!
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Update: thank you to the three people that came to see us (Matt, who joined us on stage for several numbers, Lorraine, aka Scott’s wife, and Tiffany Dirks). The band had fun. The employees of the Bali claim to have really enjoyed us. Allegedly the other bands and their few fans liked it as well.
All in all, I would have to say that it was a great second rehearsal for Groovikleez.