Murphy's Law

• It's a Panther state. At least it is in men's basketball. I thought red hot Drake would keep it close, but the Cats threw a bucket of water on the bulldogs and left no doubt about Iowa's best team. UNI is 18 and 2. Impressive... an easy team to like too.
• The Hawkeyes have figured something out. Suddenly they're in every game, and winning a couple. Iowa didn't have the depth to keep #20 Ohio State on the canvas, but the Hawks had them on the ropes all night long.
• Oklahoma played without two key starters, which seemed like a perfect recipe for a much needed Cyclone upset. If ISU had shown up for the first half, the Clones would have won. Nice rally, but too late. Chris Colvin had his coming out party in State's loss.
• Props to the Cyclone women. Another win over a top 20 team for Bill Fennelly and co. ISU should build a statue of this guy.
• It appears Kurt Warner will retire Friday. I'd like to see him keep playing, but he's one NFL player who has a fulfilling life beyond football. He's also had too many concussions. Might be time. When he's go into the Hall of Fame, I hope we see some Barnstormer jerseys in the crowd.
• ESPN fired former Cyclone Paul Shirley for his cold-hearted comments about Haiti. http://www.flipcollective.com/2010/01/26/if-you-rebuild-it-they-will-come-by-paul-shirley/  Ryan in Clive sent in the best of the many emails to soundoff@whotv.com and murphandandy@kxno.com :

Shirley's attempting to apply logic where it doesn't exist. In the initial hours and days after a disaster such as the Haiti earthquake, the only priorities are to save lives, treat the injured, feed the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless and restore order where there is chaos. Period.


Then, and only then, should discussions about rebuilding begin. That's when conventional wisdom should be challenged. There is a time and place for that debate. And it's not now.