Cyclone fans, the sky is not falling. It is a little less blue.

We should have known better, but the hype machine at Iowa State has been so relentless that it was easy to ignore logic and start believing Gene Chizik could work miracles. He can't. Even if he does have his own coin.

I think time will prove Chizik a good coach, and a good hire. I know as a defensive coordinator, Chizik hardly ever lost at Texas or Auburn, but those players didn't come with him to Ames. It still comes down to talent, and Iowa State needs more. We also must give these guys more time to learn a new system. As Chizik said, this season will be a roller coaster. However, a Big 12 team, even one in transition, should never lose at home to a MAC team. Ever.

Iowa State better sack up and get ready for Northern Iowa. If ISU wants to see disappointment turn to despondence 2 games into a guy's head coaching career, then lose to UNI.

Other thoughts from ISU's first game:

-I was wrong, the gold pants did not help the uniforms. The Cyclones still look like Happy Meals on legs.
-Brett Culbertson is a good guy, but what a shaky start to his Senior season. I hope he bounces back. He always does.
-Quarterback Bret Meyer never looked comfortable in the new offense. That's not good. Kent State is not Kansas State.

-J.J. Bass won't give the job back. He's real.

-The defense has potential. The offensive line looked better.

-The opening game crowd was the largest and most energetic I've ever seen at Iowa State. The fans did their part.
-I still maintain you must run a creative offense to win important Big 12 games at ISU. The Cyclones will never have the talent of Texas, Oklahoma or Nebraska. Iowa State needs to get creative. It was only game one, but it was vanilla vs. the Golden Flashes.
-Ben Bruns is a pleasure to listen to on the Cyclone radio broadcasts because he's not the usual cheerleader. He calls them like he sees them, an increasingly rare trait these days as more and more announcers fear they'll lose their jobs if they don't keep everything positive, and they're probably right. That's a shame. Listeners and viewers deserve better...

Before I check out, a standing ovation for Steve Loney. Drake goes to #7 Illinois State and the non-scholarship Bulldogs stun the Redbirds and all their free ride players. Wow. One of the biggest upsets in our state's history. Drake may want more than year out of Loney...

Has Kirk Ferentz lost control of the Hawkeye football program? I don't think so. Ferentz is the kind of guy who expects the best from his players, and sometimes they let him down. He's not one to assign an assistant to check Facebook on a daily basis, though that may change now...

Dominique Douglas, Anthony Bowman, Arvell Nelson and James Cleveland used bad judgment when posing for, and posting, pictures lifted straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless. (underage teens holding expensive liquor bottles, showing off gaudy gold watches, fanning wads of cash --- you can see it all by clicking "As Seen on 13" at whotv.com.)...

None of this would be news if Police hadn't arrested Douglas, Bowman, and Nelson. The first two for allegedly stealing two credit cards and charging more than two thousand dollars; the latter for failing to show up for a traffic ticket court appearance. (Cleveland, he of the Dale Junior jacket, is not accused of any wrongdoing) The pictures without the charges amount to nothing more than foolish posturing, but add in guys accused of stealing to buy accessories that go with the images projected in the Facebook pictures, and you have context, even though there's no proof the credit cards were used to buy anything in the photos. Heck, there's not even proof anything illegal is being done in any of the pictures. But how could these guys be that stupid?...

It's way too early to give up on Ferentz, or this Iowa football season. Both will be fine. It's true, 13-12 the past two seasons proves Ferentz isn't perfect, but who would you rather have? I think Ferentz is a good man, and I know he can coach. He does need to tighten the reigns of discipline, and the guess here is he will...

Dumb jock quote of the week from Stephon Marbury on Michael Vick: "He is a good human being, and I think he just fell into a bad situation." Wrong, Stephon. Vick didn't "fall into a bad situation"; he made one. The man is about to plead guilty to funding and staging the cruelest kind of dogfighting, and he's accused of brutally killing under-performing dogs. This is not a good human being, but let's hope he can become one...

I have a bunch of lighthearted stuff I want to write about my recent trips to Arrowhead and Wrigley, but all the above has drained my joy. I'll be back soon to catch up...

Thank you for your time.
Keith

I've seen a lot of crazy things at weddings, including my best friend with "HELP ME" written on the soles of his shoes as he kneeled before taking his vows, but a giant black & gold bird? That was a first.

As the wedding party was being introduced this past Saturday at the Des Moines Marriott, we all waited for the lovely bride and somewhat handsome groom. Just as we expected their triumphant entrance, the Iowa fight song blared out and Herky burst into the room to a huge ovation (and a few scattered boos). Andy Garman always did know how to work the crowd...

My mother has turned into a Cubs fan (send your sympathy letters to: Patricia Murphy, c/o of Keith Murphy, 1801 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50309). It happened naturally, as this saint of a woman moved to Iowa to help me with the kids, and allow me to work nights. We started going to a lot of Iowa Cubs games, and next thing you know, she's buying the gear, wearing the shirts, and following Felix Pie's progress in Chicago. Therefore, she must go to the Cathedral of Baseball, Wrigley Field. Although, if I had known what it was going to cost, I might have paused. Our $32 seats for Sunday's game against the Cardinals? $135. And that's after shopping around. I'm only out $90 for a pair of Monday day game bleacher seats, but that's only because our SoundOFF producer, JT the Nutt, sold them to me. Throw in a $170 hotel room, that becomes $200 just because the easiest way to raise money in any city is tax the out of town guests, and we're at $500 before buying gas, food or beer---not necessarily in that order. Ah, who am I kidding. It's my mom. If you have a chance to make your mother happy, you do it. She leads me in the sacrifice department 1,134,456 to 11...

Speaking of the Cubs beating the Cardinals, before the second mortgage and the trip to Chicago, Jenny and I are going down to Kansas City to watch the Chiefs and Dolphins, and visit some guy we used to know who made the mistake of leaving this great state and all it has to offer. What was he thinking?

Speaking of KC, I respect and appreciate the opinions of Jason Whitlock. He often zigs when I think he'll zag. We need more journalists like Jason...

One of my favorite stories of perseverance this year is Rick Ankiel. Bravo Rick...

Am I alone? I love the State Fair, and I'm not afraid to admit it...

Topics not covered in this week's blog: Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, Tim Donaghy. You're welcome...

I didn't think we could see a movie preview that looks sillier than Blades of Glory (which I loved, by the way), but it's here: Balls of Fury. It's a "huge comedy with tiny balls", in other words, Ping-Pong. Did I say Ping-Pong? I mean "table tennis". It's only Ping-Pong if you play it in the basement. When I said "Balls of Fury" on the air tonight, Erin and John looked at me like I lost my mind. John's eyes filled up with tears he was laughing so hard. They had not heard of the movie. I've since made them watch the incredibly silly trailer (www.ballsoffury.com). They didn't thank me, but I love them anyway. I really do...

Took the older kids to Hot Rod. This is the kind of silly movie you either think is really funny or really stupid---like Adam Sandler's early work. Put me down for "funny", and the kids for "can we see it again right now?" (the last time I exited a movie, and got right back in line was Smokey and the Bandit. Yes, I know that dates me). Hot Rod reminds me of Happy Gilmore, though not quite that good. I'll give it a B. Cool beans...

I'm not sure who can send out more meaningless press releases on a daily basis, Iowa or Iowa State. Both occasionally work in something with merit, but Iowa recently sent an entire page quoting Kirk Ferentz as being "pleased with how practice is going". Lot of substance there. ISU seems to blow a bugle every time the Cyclones sell a football season ticket. It's getting more like politics all the time...

I don't really understand the President's Cup, but I'm proud of Zach Johnson anyway...

I just watched the Astronaut Farmer on DVD. I know I was supposed to be rooting for Billy Bob to go up in his homemade rocket, but what I really wanted to do was yell, "Wake up you selfish idiot. You're losing your farm, family, and mind!" I've heard it compared to Field of Dreams. I don't think so. Not even close. The grade is C...

John Bachman just reminded me of an underrated movie for those of us who love baseball, "For Love of the Game". Kevin Costner is at his best in sports films, and Vin Scully delivers play-by-play poetry as Billy Chapel pursues a perfect game. The backstory slips into chick flick territory, but it's worth checking out...

We keep getting e-mails like this one on my friend and partner, Heather Burnside:

Heather- It took me a while but I just had to write in and tell you how great you are. I thought I would miss Andy, but I was wrong. You are intelligent, well informed, and NICE looking. By the way, is that other guy still there? I think his name was Keith? Candyman from Newton

Yeah Candyman, it is Keith. SoundOFF had to evolve in a different direction when Andy left, and I appreciate that so many of you gave Heather a chance. She's not Andy; she's her own person, and we're working hard to keep you interested and involved...

Please pray for no rain between 7 and 10 p.m. Sunday and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday. My mom deserves it...

Talk to you soon...

Broadcasting can be a cruel business, but some people earned the right to go out on their own terms. KIOA's Dic Youngs is one of the those people. What were they thinking?...

I'm still watching ESPN's The Bronx is Burning, but it could have been better with two easy decisions. 1) Take those ridiculous Dumbo ears off actor John Turturro. Yes, Billy Martin had prominent ears, but he didn't look like a Slug Bug with both doors wide open. 2) Drop the jarring Son of Sam detective scenes. It feels like you just accidentally hit the clicker and ended up on a bad episode of CSI-The Bronx. As Shawn Terrell suggests, they should have just used news reel footage to capture the community panic feeling...

The Bourne Ultimatum is awesome. If you loved the first two Bournes, and I did, you'll love this one too. It is a hold your breath, dig your nails into the arms of your chair, thrill ride from start to finish. I nearly had motion sickness from the "you are there" camera work. A-
In 40 Year Old Virgin one of the characters (Paul Rudd) says ''You know, I always thought that Matt Damon was, like, a Streisand, but I think that he's rockin' the s--- in this one.'' I never thought Damon was a "Streisand", but he is rockin' the s--- in this entire trilogy. Come back for more, Matt...

For you parents with small kids, Underdog is tolerable, although they made the mad scientist a little too scary for my 3 year old, Colin. He said three times, "I no like that guy". I no like the movie much, but as these predictable outings go, it was okay. C

I still can't believe that ridiculous erectile dysfunction ad, Viva Viagra. 30 years since we lost the King, and he has to put up with this!? I can hear him rolling. As I said on SoundOFF, what's next... Burning Love for Chlamydia?

ISU and Iowa football media day shows both teams feeling confident about their upcoming seasons. This makes them exactly like every other college football team in America...

Props to Iowa State for upgrading its look considerably. The gold pants keep the Clones from looking like, as Heather said, "McDonald's french fry boxes with legs". I like that description of the awful red-on-red look better than my bloodclots...

I don't see how Iowa can win fewer than seven games...

Barry Bonds did it. It was hard to watch, and hard not to watch...

Here's a discussion I recently had with one of this blog's readers. I always appreciate civil discourse:

Anonymous said...
Well, Keith, Urbandale just won a state baseball title not too long ago. I don't think they should get to have it though, or at least, there should be an asterisk by their name in the book. I'm sure most of the kids have been taking creatine and other performance enhancing supplements. They are cheaters too!
August 3, 2007 2:40:00 PM CDT
Keith Murphy said...
Bonds didn't peak in his late thirties by using creatine and flintstone chewables, but I'm sure you already knew that. Hank Aaron sure knows it.
August 4, 2007 11:17:00 AM CDT
Anonymous said...
That's not the point. The point is, creatine is a performance enhancing supplement. We just as well level out the playing field if we are going to be calling people cheaters right? If Bonds did steroids, they were not illegal to use in baseball at the time he did use them. What if creatine became illegal? There's no difference. It doens't matter anyways, Bonds will have the record anyways and it will be in the record book without an asterisk. Have a nice day.
August 6, 2007 10:15:00 AM CDT
Keith Murphy said...
Steroids and HGH, among others, were illegal and dangerous at the time Bonds, and many others, used them. Creatine, as we debate, is safe and legal. To say there's no difference is like saying beer is the same as heroine. Creatine doesn't cause your feed and head to grow, your emotions to rage, and your heart to potentially explode. As noted, Bonds was always a great player, he just wouldn't be where he is without widespread and relentless cheating, but neither would many others. He's just the most talented of the abusers.Unfortunately, the whole era needs an asterisk.
August 6, 2007 10:40:00 AM CDT
Keith Murphy said...
p.s. Just to follow up your point about steroids not being illegal at the times Bonds used them. Yes, in fact, they were illegal. They weren't "banned" by baseball yet, but they were still against the law. Let's hope baseball assumed it didn't need to ban substances and acts that are against the law. Do we need crack listed as a banned substance? Should armed robbery be against baseball rules? Or can we safely assume if it's against the law or illegal, you don't do it?
August 6, 2007 10:44:00 AM CDT

I enjoyed the discussion with "anonymous", though I wish he or she would sign in next time. It's nice to put a name with a viewpoint...

Thanks for all the feedback.

Keith