Soil Compilation

Music
Gin Blossoms Live at Hy-Vee Ampitheater

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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

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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.

Sports
Around the Big Ten – Week Two

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Week one of college football is in the rearview, but it feels like we’ve somehow already experienced a full season’s worth of drama. This week, we’ll dive into the (lack of) updates about Iowa’s quarterback battle, the “Bail Mary” in Ann Arbor, and the stakes of this weekend’s Ohio State-Texas game.

Sports
ohio state

Around the Big Ten – Week Three

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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.

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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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OPS+, wOBA, FIP-, and ERA- leaders in the Big Ten Conference

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For the first part of this article, to learn about Park Factors, OPS+, and FIP-, click here. Digging into the park factors, other than Penn State, there were no large changes that caused a park to go from a pitcher’s park to a hitter’s park and vice versa. They went from a 97 park factor(slight pitcher’s park) to a 116 park factor(hitter-friendly). Nebraska is no longer the most hitter-friendly park and Purdue remains as an extreme pitcher’s park with a 63 park factor rating. There are seven teams who have a pitcher-friendly park and six teams who have a hitter-friendly … Continued

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Comparing the 2017 NFL Draft Class to 2002 Backyard Football Players

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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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Hawkeye Wrestling Back on Track

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There was lots of excitement for the Iowa wrestling team last week when they beat Ohio State 21-13 on Jan. 27 after losing two meets in a row to Oklahoma State (11-24) and Penn State (11-26).This recent win brings the Hawkeye record up to 8-2 with a 4-1 record at home and a 4-1 away record and pulls Iowa up to tie with Ohio State for the third-ranked team in the Big Ten behind Penn State and Nebraska. Senior Thomas Gilman succeeded in all three meets opening the Penn State and Ohio State meets with wins. Gilman is currently ranked … Continued

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The 21st Century’s Best Dynasty

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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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