Soil Compilation

Music
Interview: Iona Zajac on The Pogues, “Bang”, and the Lash

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Iona Zajac made her way across the pond from Glasgow with The Pogues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their record “Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash”. We discussed touring with this historic band, the best music coming out of Ireland, and her debut album “Bang” releasing this November.

Music
ICSF Friday- September 5th

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It is crucial to preface this article with a warning. Without fail, every single set that I saw during ICSF left me in tears. Both Sunny War and Courtney Andrews’ ability to be completely and wholly open in their art showed in every single second of their performances.

Music
Infinite Dream Festival Preview

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Hancher Auditorium will be hosting the 3rd annual Infinite Dream Festival this week from September 17 through September 20th. From the heart of the festival at Hancher, it branches all across Iowa City to The James Theater, The Old Capitol Museum, and many more locations. Here is your guide to the festival. 

Sports
Sports

Hawkeyes Strong Second Half Will Them Past Illini, Pick Up First Big Ten Win

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IOWA CITY – The desperation was there for the Hawkeyes and they needed to deliver. Spoiler alert, they did. Iowa was 0-2 in Big Ten play entering Saturday and had something to prove against an Illini team that had struggled just as much, if not more than the Hawkeyes. Iowa pulled out an impressive 45-16 win thanks to a strong second half along with a good showing from the defense. The game looked to start off well for the Hawkeyes who forced a turnover on the first play of the game, but then quickly turned the ball over themselves. On … Continued

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Big Ten Football in Full Swing

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In the realm of college football, the Big Ten is often considered one of the best top-to-bottom conferences in the nation. It is home to 13 Heisman trophy winners, 22 national titles, six NFL starting quarterbacks and currently holds four of the top 11 teams in the AP Poll.   This storied conference is rich in past glory, but the teams continue to make history every year. All fourteen teams are in a constant battle for supremacy in the conference and the 2017 Big Ten season is just getting underway.   Rutgers – 0 AP Votes – Notable Wins: N/A … Continued

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High Strikeout Batters Can Still Provide Value

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A hitter striking out a lot means the hitter is not a good hitter right? Well, it depends on what one is evaluating on a given hitter. I used to think that strikeouts greatly affected my judgement on a player. I would generally look at walk-to-strikeout ratios as a basis of determining how effective the player was at hitting. Not putting the ball in play does nothing to help a team win. My thinking differed slightly when MLB.com’s Mike Petriello mentioned on Friday’s show of “MLB Now” on MLB Network that strikeouts are not that important anymore. There may be something … Continued

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Time’s Up. Blake Bortles Is Past Expiration Date

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On the Right Path In 2015 Blake Bortles was coming off his rookie campaign in the NFL, which was sub-par to say the least. The first year is always rough for a rookie Quarterback in the league, so the optimism was still there for Bortles after year one. Sure enough, Bortles made the stride that everyone had hoped for his second year and all the sudden the team from Jacksonville was a threat to compete in the AFC South. During his 2015 season Bortles put up statistics some of the best QB’s in the league. He ranked top five in … Continued

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Premier League: Matchweek 6 Preview

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Jamie Vardy is enthusiastic after winning a penalty versus Huddersfield (Daily Mirror)   First team to beat Manchester City wins. Go!   Matchweek 5 Review: Sep. 15, 2:00 PM CST / Vitality Stadium Bournemouth 2 1 Brighton & Hove Surman (67′) Defoe (73′) (55′) March   Bournemouth secured its first win on the year after a disappointing first four. These three points are all thanks to the heroics of 21-year-old Jordan Ibe. After being subbed on in the 65th minute, he assisted goals in the 67th and 73rd minutes to give his squad the lead for good.   Brighton played … Continued

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Hawkeyes Heartbroken by Penn State Walk-off Touchdown

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IOWA CITY – Putting a game like this into words is often much easier said than done, but here goes nothing. Penn State, with no time left on the clock, beat Iowa 21-19 on a seven-yard reception from Juwan Johnson. “That game is illustrative of what it takes to win in the conference,” said Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz. “We’re disappointed with the loss; its going to hurt for a while, but we’ll move on.” As the game neared its close, flashes of the Michigan game from 2016 began to swirl in the heads of Hawkeye fans. Instead, the heartbreaking … Continued

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Football Team Freshmen

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I sat down with three players on the football team, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Geno Stone, and Brandon Smith, to ask them questions about what it’s like to be a freshman on a Big Ten football team. To view their football statistics from high school, click the links below. http://www.hudl.com/profile/2974838/brandon-smith http://www.hudl.com/profile/4489961/ihmir-smith-marsette http://www.hudl.com/profile/4219748/geno-stone Decision When asked why they chose to play football at University of Iowa, they each had a unique reason. Ihmir was most comfortable with the school and coaches. He loved the atmosphere. Geno thought that being a Hawkeye was the best opportunity for him. Brandon admitted that it was one … Continued

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Column: Aiding Student-Athletes with Learning Disabilities

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Iowa City – We all hear the stories. Another Division I athletic program under fire for allegations involving academic fraud. They’ve become all too common place recently. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, as of recent, is the most notorious offender. They were investigated over the last three years after an ongoing string of fake courses kept student-athletes eligible. It’s going to cost them big time. Here’s a hypothetical for you, what if these cheating operations aren’t solely to allow athletes the luxury of no added class pressure? Could they be designed, in part, to aid student-athletes with learning disabilities … Continued

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Schaumburg Boomers: Frontier League Champions

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The longest running independent baseball league is the Frontier League, and its 25th season concluded Saturday. The Schaumburg Boomers(66-30) became the first team in the Frontier League to garner its third title(2013,2014). They defeated the opposing Florence Freedom(61-35) in four games in a best-of-five series that began Tuesday. Many in the industry had expected Schaumburg to win it all with excellent hitting and pitching. In fact, Schaumburg was second in the Frontier League in Weighted On-Base Average(wOBA) with a .345 clip, 21 points above league average. Also, Schaumburg was first in the league in Opponent’s wOBA allowing only a .300 … Continued

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An Unconventional Victory for the Hawkeyes

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Akrum Wadley high-steps his way to a negated touchdown (HawkCentral)   IOWA CITY, Iowa – This was not your typical Iowa football game.   Iowa received the ball to begin the game and Nate Stanley led an initially impressive opening drive, capped off by a disappointing fumble into the back of the end zone by Nick Easley. This resulted in the Mean Green of North Texas getting the ball, leaving Iowa stunned with nothing to show for its 12-play, 77-yard effort.   On the sixth play of the ensuing drive, Jeffery Wilson of North Texas scampered for a 41-yard score with … Continued

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