Soil Compilation

Sports
Around the Big Ten – Week Four

Week three of college football was the final tune-up for the Big Ten before the conference schedule began. This week, we’ll talk about Iowa’s 55-0 victory over Northern Iowa, Northwestern’s final game before moving into Ryan Field, and the Southern California showdown between USC and Oregon.

Music
Gin Blossoms Live at Hy-Vee Ampitheater

On a cool night, somewhere in between the last days of summer and first days of fall, the finale to the Hy-Vee Ampitheater’s inaugural season took place. Starring Arizona’s Gin Blossoms, hundreds turned out on their feet for the band in North Liberty’s newest venue.

Sports
Around the Big Ten – Week Three

Week two of college football gave us a pair of early Game of the Year candidates. Unfortunately for the Big Ten, those games came at their expense. This week, we’ll take a look at Iowa’s cathartic win over Iowa State, Oregon’s early-season struggles, and Ohio State’s meltdown against Texas.

If someone was asked to sum up the career of former Denver Bronco and Chicago Bear Jay Cutler in one word, that someone would be wise to describe him as polarizing. As a resident in the Chicagoland area throughout the duration of Cutler’s 8 year career, I can assure you that very few talking heads had an opinion of him that wasn’t on the extreme end of the spectrum. Cutler has been the poster boy for the “you either love him or you hate him” cliche. What bothers so many people in the Cutler fan camp is how he has … Continued

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Video games in the recent age have had a very small number of companies control the entire sports market. EA Sports and 2K Sports are juggernauts in their own rights. But there was once a company that made games that were simple, fun and uber-competitive: Humongous Entertainment. They made “Pajama Sam” and “Putt-Putt” as well as many other franchises. However, the one franchise HE is widely known for is their “Backyard” sports editions. Baseball, Football, Basketball. All sorts of sports full of kids that are short and from port to port. A particular game that I grew fond of over … Continued

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Coming off a disappointing 3-13 record, John Fox has now led two straight losing seasons in Chicago. There will be no time for mourning in Halas Hall, though, as the 2017 season began after the final game in Minnesota on January 1st. Taking a quick look at the Bears’ injury report during the 2016 season, names like Kyle Long, Zach Miller, Danny Trevathan, Kevin White and Jeremy Langford are among the many that could have made a profound impact on the season. Pile on Alshon Jeffery’s four-game suspension, and Chicago never stood a chance. Barring more devastating injuries in 2017, … Continued

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I was wrong. And that’s okay. Tom Brady was named MVP yet again of a Super Bowl. And that’s okay. The underdog was just that, the underdog. And that’s okay. In the spectacle of sport, the one cardinal rule that overcomes all others: Win. And that is exactly what the New England Patriots did Sunday night. Atlanta, however, had a collapse unbeknown to be possible in sports. In a Golden State-Cleveland Indians fashion of doing things, The Atlanta Falcons blew the largest lead in super bowl history. What a feat of destruction. What went wrong? The answers are never quite … Continued

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The difference between one season and the next is usually defined by what happens in the offseason. Whether it’s personal moves made a general manager, schematic adjustments made by a coach, or on-field improvements made by the players, the offseason is the time when season defining changes are made. That makes it fitting that we start a season preview with the man who dominated the offseason, Philadelphia Eagles’ football overlord Chip Kelly. Kelly started the offseason with a bang when he won a power struggle with now former-Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. While Roseman remains with the team in an … Continued

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Since the turn of the millennium sports have taken on a whole new look. Rules have changed, superstars have become larger than ever, our favorite players are now owners and fantasy sports are nearly trumping the importance of reality. Although the landscape of professional athletics continues to evolve, one aspect has maintained familiarity; teams still win. Some much more than others. “Dynasty” is term loosely tossed around to describe successful teams after championship runs. In most modern sports, the talent pool has proven too deep to have a classic, 20th-century, dynasty such as the 50s Yankees, 60s Celtics or 90s … Continued

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