Top Model on SoundOff, Tank the Turtle, and "Official" Cheerleader.

• Is it just me, or is the "Saved by Zero" song in every commercial break? I can't get it out of my head. Just typing it put the Fixx on a loop in my noggin. I'll try to switch to "One Thing Leads to Another".


• Actual conversation in the car between my two youngest boys, Colin 4, and Cade 7.

Cade: "What girl sings 'I kissed a girl'"?

Colin: "It's not a girl singing, Cade. It's a BOY!"

Cade: "No it's not Colin. It's a girl."

Colin: "You're wrong, Cade. Why would a girl say she kissed a girl?"

Cade: "I dunno... Dad, why is that girl singing about kissing a girl?"

Dad: "Hey kids, look! An airplane!"

• Grand View University---congrats on the promotion---volleyball player Jaeda Young will join us Sunday night on SoundOff. Jaeda is good up front for the Vikings, and often leads the team in kills, but let's be honest, she's joining us in large part because she was a finalist on "America's Next Top Model". Jaeda is from Parkersburg, so we have a wide range of topics to discuss: tornadoes, volleyball, football, modeling, and Tyra Banks.

• Maybe Hawk fans can prove me wrong, but a Blackout in November seems like a bad idea. You have to hope for a unseasonably warm day, or that everyone owns a black coat. The Greenout for students, in honor of Shonn Greene, is a nice idea, but confusing on the same day as the Blackout.


• The Iowa Chops are holding a fundraiser for The Des Moines Youth Hockey Association Saturday night at Skybox Lounge (formerly Coach's Corner) on 8th Street in West Des Moines. The Chops players and coaches will be there. Admission is $5.


• I've raved about Jethro's BBQ so much, you'd think I had a stake in the place. I don't, and now I have to write about my first bad experience there. This past Saturday, we all went to watch the Cyclones and Hawkeyes. The HDTV's were fine, but the place was FREEZING. I did tell a manager we were all cold, and he said the temp was set real low because all the people would make it feel 85 degrees in no time. No time never arrived. I asked for the fan above us to be turned off, but it never was. On top of that, we had a nice young lady as a server, but she forgot my order once, brought us the wrong thing twice, and didn't notice my empty glass for more than 20 minutes. Our group finally bailed in the 3rd quarter, mostly because mild hypothermia had set it.


• It's often too cold in businesses because the people who set the thermostat are running around while the customers are sitting. I worked at a movie theater for three years and we used to set that sucker around 55 degrees. Maybe this was payback.


• When my dad has one bad experience, he's done with that restaurant. I mean he can go somewhere weekly for 10 years, and one bad night, that's it. Done. I'm not that way, and I've loved Jethro's every other time, so we'll be back. However, they've earned at least one week in the penalty box. So Heather, Jenny, Kahala, Andy and I need some suggestions where to watch Saturday's Cyclone/Hawkeye doubleheader. We'll bring parkas just in case.


• I'm hearing Bill Snyder wants back in at Kansas State. It's a short term solution, but after what the man did there, he'd be welcomed by most.


• Lucca Staiger has shown Iowa State loyalty beyond reason. I hope his faith pays off. The guy can flat out shoot.


• Is there anybody you'd rather have coaching your college football team than Mike Leach? The guy is smart, fun, and knows how to do more with less. What a gutsy call to go for the win. It helps to have a quarterback and receiver that can back up those stones. You make that call at Iowa or Iowa State, Texas stops the play.


• Kyle Orton out a month? Not with that beard. He's tough. He'll be back sooner.


• How does Dick Jacobson have millions to donate every year? I'm proud when we can give $20 to our church.


• Pete Carroll needs to stop whining about the BCS and start beating Oregon State. Besides, the BCS is going nowhere.


• If you appreciate hockey at all, don't miss your chance to see Bobby Ryan play for the Chops. One day soon, you'll be glad you did.


• Is there any doubt Drake's Josh Young is the biggest basketball star in the state of Iowa?


• No matter who you voted for Tuesday, I hope you stayed up late enough to see one of those seminal moments that will live forever. Shortly after 10 p.m., when NBC called the presidential election for Barack Obama, and started cutting to cameras all over the world, the reactions showed the depth of history being made more than any commentator ever could. As a white male, hearing I could one day be whatever I wanted always made sense, so I can't imagine how that long awaited moment felt to millions. Politics aside, it was riveting and moving.


• On my DVR series recordings right now: Law & Order, The Mentalist, The Office, 30 Rock, Saturday Night Live, HBO's Real Sports, Entourage, House, Life, Crusoe, SoundOff (record for my parents), Channel 13 News at 10 (ditto), Clone Wars (kids) and Desperate Housewives of Atlanta (wife, honest!). What am I missing?


• Dropped from series recordings: Grey's Anatomy (too soapy), My Own Worst Enemy (too silly), and Life on Mars (too much time travel).


• My wife just got one of our boys a turtle for his birthday. His name is Tank (the turtle, not the kid). Boys all love him, everybody's happy, then I read the papers from Petco. Tank's life expectancy is 50+ years! Kid goes to college, I'm stuck with Tank, but then I die of old age, and I have to give Tank back to the kid, who now has his own kids.


• The most played video of the week on whotv.com is the chain gang worker at the Dowling game who jumps up and down celebrating a Dowling touchdown. He even hugs players as they exit the field. Dowling's AD says the man in question won't work future games, and that's probably the right call---at least for a while---but I can't rough him up. He's a volunteer who loves his Maroons and he got caught up in the moment. It looks bad, and you can't allow it to happen, but let's find this guy a nice place in the stands. Sports needs that kind of passion, just, as Erin said, "not while wearing stripes".


• I think Valley wins again Friday, but this series needs a Dowling win. It's starting to feel like Iowa-Iowa State in the nineties.


• One more reminder: Where's a great place to watch football on TV with a group? We need Iowa State on one screen and Iowa on the other. HD is a must.

Thanks.

Keith

p.s. I still don't like candy corn.