2024 is over and it’s time to start looking ahead. I don’t have much more to say other than I picked 7 asterisks because it’s been that many years without this franchise winning a postseason game.

I’m not a rule maker, but I’m going to try to keep this thread off-season and forward-focused. Let’s definitely keep today’s mess in the 2024 thread.

I always say we’ll have plenty of time to be mad when it’s over. Well….Are you ready? I’m ready. HERE! WE! GO!

Well duh!:
Xowner Elon Musk earlier this week killed a bipartisan deal to keep the federal government open, and even many Republicans are reportedly not happy about it.

Writing on X, Fox News reporter Liz Elkind reveals that there is "a LOT of frustration at Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy from rank-and-file House Rs this morning" after the two men publicly killed the bipartisan deal.


"I'll have nothing to do with them after watching them publicly trash the speaker," said one, while another Republican lawmaker accused them of "freelancing and shooting off the hip" to kill the bill without understanding key provisions that they had criticized.



What's more, one unnamed House Republican even expressed frustration with President-elect Donald Trump for going along with Musk.



"Trump doesn’t understand Congress," this member said. "He wants all GOP wins and no concessions to Dems. The Senate and WH are still run by Dems. He’s not living in reality."

Musk has said that the government should simply shut down for the next month until the day Trump is inaugurated for his second term on January 20th.

Trump, for his part, has said that he's willing to accept a shutdown but is trying to shift the blame for it to outgoing President Joe Biden.

??????

Bad news first- as an Iowa fan I am completely sick of Fran and his fake tough guy act. Teams take on their coaches traits and it is no wonder Iowa implodes late in games more times than not. 16 freaking years with nothing but some individual star players to show for it. Beth better be ready to push him out and get on the phone to McCullom

Good news- HAMMERED the ISU moneyline when they were down double digits. Everyone with a brain knew Iowa would blow that lead.

I just got back to IC and have today and tomorrow until xmas commitments begin. I figured a little downtown bar hop would be a great way to pass the time. Make individuals suggestions or plan a route.

Tentative plan:

- Deadwood for a warm up, and cross the street to
- Dublin Underground as it's been at least a few years, round the corner to
- Joe's Place, usually make at least one stop here every time I'm back in IC, a little popcorn before hoofing it over to
- Club Car to see who I still recognize and cap it off


Any relatively new places that are worth a stop? Looking at Google Maps, never heard of Wild Culture, looks ok. I like Arcade Bars and Double Tap is alright.

#22 Iowa at home to take on UNI tonight.

Iowa listed as 15.5 point favorites over the Panthers, per ESPN BET.

Tip-off is at 6:30 PM.

BTN+ has coverage of the game:

Oligarchs should have approval ratings too.

Are away teams allotted an even # of tickets as the home team?

I was entirely unaware that actress Anne Ramsey quit acting, changed her name to Cynthia Lumis, and is now a U.S. Senator for the state of Wyoming:

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Aliens?

Last night at a middle school basketball game the opposing coach threw a tantrum that would make Fran McCaffrey blush. This idiot not only started cussing out the officials but also started cussing at our boys while flailing his arms and turning psychotic. It got so bad they ended the game with :14 seconds left and a police officer had to escort him off the court.

Middle. School. Basketball.

I won’t mention the number of stupid parents who reeked of marijuana and knew about as much about basketball as MAGAs know about inflation.

Over the years, I have seen this type of behavior get worse and worse. I’m curious what others have seen. Any anecdotes?

I wrote up an article on some specific things Fran could try to improve the defense. Give it a read and we can discuss it here. I'm just hearing his latest comments about Traore which will bum you out even more after you read the article.

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She faces some stiff competition to get in (now or in the future), but a very cool honor for Lisa Bluder all the same.

More info on the 2025 eligible candidates for the Basketball HOF here:

America!

My B1G+ isn’t working yet after I restarted it today and was going to see if someone posted a free link

I should have taken a picture, but the Hampton Inn I stayed at last night had a fishbowl on the front desk with a sign that says, "Drop your business card with your Hilton Honors number written on it for chance to win 5,000 Honors Points".

WHY the requirement to write your account number on the card??? Anyone could go fishing in that bowl and have your name and Honors number, and possibly the email address and mobile phone number associated with that account, too!

Why can't they simply contact the winner to get the Honors number? That's the entire point of a business card. So people can contact you.

Dec 18 Update:

Last season Tory Taylor and Cooper DeJean become the 14th and 15th unanimous consensus All-Americans in Iowa history.

Today, Jay becomes the 16th.

Kirk Ferentz has coached 13 of the 16.




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Original Post (Dec 16):

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Post your favorite originals and covers HORT!!!

Interesting history for the guy leading the charge in Syria. To me it sounds like he got a lot of assurances from the west to protect them from Russia for this pipeline deal.

Attendance (tickets sold & distributed) for USC's 81-50 home win last night over Santa Clara was just 3,594.

Will JuJu threaten Caitlin's career scoring mark? It will come down to career games x career ppg.

* Caitlin averaged 35 games/year x 4 years. JuJu played 34 games in year 1.
* Right now there's quite the gap in career ppg.

Current Numbers:

Games....Career...........Career
Played.......PPG.............Points
.......38................26.47....................1,006.........JuJu Watkins
.....139...............28.42...................3,951..........Caitlin Clark

By 15 interestingly enough.

Trump's Truth Social Platform Hints at Feb. 21 Launch​

An iOS App Store listing teases a launch on President's Day.

Donald Trump’s social media platform might be gearing up to launch on Feb. 21, according to a listing on the Apple App Store.

A pre-order page for Truth Social on the iOS App Store has been quietly updated to mention an “expected Feb. 21, 2022” arrival date.


(Apple)

The developer behind the platform, Trump Media & Technology Group, didn’t respond to a request for comment. But according to Reuters, the Feb. 21 date is legit, citing an unnamed source familiar with the plans for Truth Social.

A launch on Feb. 21 would also be fitting, considering it’s the President Day’s holiday.

Trump was permanently banned from Twitter and suspended from Facebook and YouTube after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In response, Trump has been developing Truth Social, a pro-free speech social media platform that’s designed to counter the alleged censorship from “Big Tech.”

“Unlike with the Big Tech platforms, there will be no shadow-banning, throttling, demonetizing, or messing with algorithms for political manipulation,” Trump said back in October. “We will not silence our fellow citizens simply because they might be wrong—or worse, because we think that Americans ‘can’t handle the truth.’”

Very entertaining. 2 episodes available on Prime with new releases every Thursday.

Concept. 1000 contestants have to survive various rounds of challenges, bribes, team eliminations, mass eliminations based on 1 person’s decision, etc. Hard to completely explain.

Good stuff. I’m already pissed I have to wait a week for episode 3.

Oh, and the winner takes home $5M.

Glad Ty Thompson didn't end up at Iowa.

He's a really bad passer.