Logan Melia: Hi. How are you doing?  

Jaret Reddick: I’m doing great. How are you?  

Logan: I’m doing well. How’s the tour been? You’re out with Simple Plan, Lolo, and 3OH!3 right now, how’s that been?  

Jaret: Man, it’s, you know, in one way it’s like a family reunion because Simple Plan have been our little brothers since 2002, you know, when we first brought them to Texas and then took them to the UK and now they’re taking us all over the USA and so, yeah, it’s great. And then 3OH!3, we just love those guys so much and Lolo as well and so it’s just, it’s been a lot of fun and the crowds have been absolutely amazing, you know, kudos to Simple Plan for putting this thing together and taking us out and really, really bringing it.  

Logan: Yeah, they are, to you guys too, but incredible live bands. I mean, they are jumping all over the place, they’re a joy to see.  

Jaret: It’s a really, really energetic and fun night. I mean, and that’s, you know, that’s, again, kudos to them for picking the right bands because it’s, man, everybody is leaving with a big smile on their face and that’s what it’s all about.  

Logan: Yeah. Do you have any tours that you remember where you’re just like, God, this lineup was just, you know, if we could do that tour again, you know, is there anything that sticks out in your mind?  

Jaret: Yeah, I mean, there’s so many of them. You know, we’re pretty lucky in that for the most part, our entire career, we’ve hand selected who it is we tour with and, you know, we really haven’t supported many bands. It’s usually been our thing and, but the two co-headlines we did, one with Less Than Jake and one with Real Big Fish are definitely up there with this one as far as the best tours we’ve ever done.  

Logan: Are you a big ska guy? I mean, I wouldn’t say that I’m a big ska guy, but I mean, I love those bands as their music and people. I mean, you know, it’s really to me, it sort of fits in.  

Jaret: I don’t even think about it as ska, I think about those guys as being warped tour bands, you know, because that’s where we all grew up, you know, and seeing each other every summer and that’s where we got to be close and stuff. So it’s funny. It’s really until that I read it every once in a while, I’ll just be like, yeah, Less Than Jake just played our hometown of Dallas and I saw a bunch of posts about it and was like, the ska came to, I forget that they’re a ska band, you know, but yeah, they’re a rock band to me, you know, and, and they’re my buddies and they’re, I can’t think of any band that I like watching more than I do Less Than Jake. Maybe Bad Religion, but, but Less Than Jake being definitely one of my favorite live bands ever.  

Logan: Yeah. Now you mentioned Warped. You have an insanely busy year, you’re touring with Simple Plain, you’re doing a Warped or Bus Tour, you’re hitting Warped, Four Chords, Aftershock, you got a million things and then on top of it all, Wembley. 

Logan: It’s a huge year for you guys. 

Jaret: Huge year for us. I mean, and coming off of our biggest touring year ever and now, you know, doing some of these rock festivals for the first time and just really loving it and, and as I said, as you said, Warped Tour is back. So we have those three weekends and then, yeah, our biggest headlining show ever, Wembley Arena, December 13th and, you know, it’s looking like we’re going to sell it out. And that’s just one of those achievements that, you know, it’s, it’s much like, you know, I guess, you know, we’re sort of stacking those up, you know, we’re Grammy nominated, we just crossed a billion streams and now we’re going to headline Wembley Arena, you know, so it’s like, those are, those are like doctorates, you know, it’s, we’ll always have those things.  

Logan: You mentioned Grammys and the blue tuxes. I did some research that you guys won an award that didn’t win the Grammy, but you won the worst dressed that night from a fashion reporter. 

Jaret: We did, yep. From two actually we won it. We were named Joan Rivers “Worst Dressed” and People Magazines actually.  

Logan: Now in retrospect, would you wear the same, going back in time, would you wear the same blue tuxes? Because I personally think that they’re probably one of the best of the night, but would you have taken it up or would you have kept with the blue tuxes?  

Jaret: No, we would have done it again. I mean, we got so much press out of that, you know, I mean, Jimmy Kimmel even pointed us out on his show before we would ever, we’ve done him three times now, but you know, before we were ever even on there and he pointed out to our tuxes and so yeah, we got a, we got a lot of miles out of that. And also we looked so fun that Brad Paisley was there, he was at his first Grammys and he was, he was walking through and he was like, he was like, hey, I’m here by myself and you guys look fun. Can I just walk through this red carpet with you? And I’m like, yes, Brad Paisley, you sure can, you know, it’s super fun. Yeah, it’s super fun.  

Logan: Now you mentioned Warped earlier and you said like, you know, your bands come up together and stuff like that and I mean, this is the first Warped in, what is it, seven years at this point? Is it a lot of familiar faces?  

Jaret: Yeah, it’s definitely, as I said, it’s like a, you know, like a high school reunion or summer camp reunion or, you know, family reunion or whatever, but it’s, yeah, it’s, I mean, it’s, you know, it’s not quite the same in that, you know, originally your Warped tour for however many years we did it, we were on it for about 15 years, I think. And you know, you’re on it the whole summer and so, you know, you’re, all the buses are parked together and you’re, you know, that’s where you, you’re all hanging out and stuff like that. It’s a little bit different since most of us have to fly in for the shows, you know, and so you see as many people as you can. It’s a little bit overwhelming, but it’s, you know, it’s great to see everybody.  

Logan: I saw Dan Povenmire made an appearance and like, you know, many kids my age, my introduction to Bowling for Soup was, you know, through Phineas and Ferb and everything. So how did bringing Dan out come to be?  

Jaret: That was cool. You know, he’s done that a few times. I can’t really remember the first time we did it. We did it at the Anaheim house. Oh no, I do remember.  

Logan: Is that When We Were Young? 

Jaret: When We Were Young.   

Logan: That’s right. 

Jaret: We did that the first time and he loved it, had so much fun. So then he and Swampy both came, oh, and Vincent, who plays Phineas, all came to our Anaheim House of Blues show last year and we did a little thing and then, but yeah, this one was really cool because Phineas and Ferb, it was the week of the day of the debut of the new episodes.  

Logan: The re-premiere. Yeah. 

Jaret: And so they did a whole exhibit, but like put together a whole installation at Warped Tour and people could walk through it and stuff. And so it just added to the show that Dan was able to come up in the jacket and do the voice and we shot love handle shirts out of the t-shirt cannon and my son was there who’s 19. He was able to do that. So it’s just a great day.  

Logan: That’s awesome. Yeah. I was about, I remember my older sister telling me, I was watching Phineas and Ferb with her and she’s like, they’re like an actual rock band, Love Handle. That’s how I fell down this rabbit hole and fell in love with you guys playing and it’s been very cool seeing that come to be with Dan on stage.  

Jaret: Yeah. And just generations and generations of people who love that show so much. And it’s certainly been a pleasure to be a part of it all this time.  

Logan: Now you’ve been still producing great music, like “Pop Drunk Snot Bread”, I love, you guys are still out cooking, “Don’t Mind If We Do” came out a few years ago. You had the release of “Fishing for Woo’s”. Those creative juices are still flowing, which you can’t say for a lot of bands that came up in the same era. What’s the secret to you guys still putting out good quality stuff?  

Jaret: Yeah, it’s just because we still enjoy ourselves and we never really tried to mess with the formula. We just do what we do and we didn’t try to change with the times or anything like that or evolve or copy any styles or trends or anything like that. We just stayed who we were. I think Bowling for Soup fans would agree that every once in a while you just need a little dose of Bowling for Soup to brighten your day. And we figured that out pretty early, that that was our thing and we really just stuck to that. And we still enjoy what we’re doing. We still love being around each other. So it’s been a blessing for sure.  

Logan: And you added “Turbulence” to the setlist I saw for this tour right now. How do you pick, because you play your hits, but how do you swap in those more deep cut type songs?  

Jaret: Yeah “Turbulence” was an interesting conversation actually. It’s really interesting that you would bring that up because we do that during our full set. It’s usually after I do a whole discussion, a quick two, three minutes about mental health because mental health is really something that is important to me and it’s something that I’ve had issues with in the past and I just really like to communicate that out into the world so that people know that A. it can really happen to anybody. But “Turbulence”, it was really just knowing the Simple Plan audience and knowing that they have those songs like “Perfect” and the “Unnamed Song” and those songs that are just really, really heartfelt. And it was like, you know what, this audience, even though we’re only up there 40 minutes, I think they’re really going to be able to take something away from, with the song Turbulence. And so, actually, it was Rob’s idea, I think, and then we just talked about it as a band and we were like, yeah, let’s just try it and see. And it’s really working. It’s a nice, nice little, we’re really, really in your face for like 30 minutes and then it’s a little breath of fresh air, then we’re in your face for another 10 and then we’re done.  

Logan: Yeah. Well, you mentioned a 40 minute set. Do you remember the longest set you’ve ever played?  

Jaret: Oh, yeah, sure. I mean, you know, yeah, we’ve played three hour shows, I mean, plenty of times and we were one of those bands, you know, when we were back in the bar days, like they would have to pull us off the stage. And our 20th anniversary show, I think, was two and a half hours. And they were literally like, it was a union crew, and our tour manager literally had to walk up on stage and be like, they are going to turn on the lights, you need to get off the stage. So, we don’t, I don’t really see us doing that anymore. We’ve gotten a little older and it gets hot up there, but yeah, I mean, we’ve played some long shows. 

Logan: Yeah. Getting old sucks, but you know, everybody’s doing it as you are.  
Jaret: It’s better than the alternative, right? 
 
Logan: Yeah. Okay. Final one. You got, you know, just a big anniversary tour, you’re opening up. What’s next on that? Are you guys writing, do you write on the road a lot, what’s coming up for Bowling for Soup?  

Jaret: Yeah, as you said, you know, we have this tour, we still got another three weeks left and then we’ll be home for a little bit and then we’re touring some dates in the south to get to Orlando Warped Tour. And we’re playing Epcot as well for two days. And then we got the Wembley Arena show and then in February we’ll be in the studio recording a new album. So, and between now and then we’re releasing “Hangover You Don’t Deserve Live” that we recorded in Manchester last year.  

Logan: I love live records, such a fan.  

Jaret: Thank you. Yeah, well, we’re excited about it. You know, it’s our, I think it’s our third or fourth live record. And so this one, it’s really, really cool because it’s the whole “Hangover You Don’t Deserve” album front to back and then some fun stuff at the end, but yeah, it’s just an exciting time for us. And then there’ll be more, we’ll be in Australia some next year, back to the UK again some next year and then a full US tour late in the summer and fall.  

Logan: That’s exciting stuff. Well, you can catch Bowling for Soup in Council Bluffs, Iowa on August 20th. I’m in Chicago right now, you guys are playing the 24th at Northerly, I’m very excited for that. It’s awesome. You got a good stretch. Well, thank you so much for spending time with me. 

Jaret: Thanks for having me. 

Logan: I really appreciate it. It means a lot.  

Jaret: Thanks brother.

To quote my interview with Brendan Brown of Wheatus, “if you went to a Bowling for Soup show and the PA caught on fire and all of the microphones failed and somebody stole all the guitars, Jared Reddick could stand there without a microphone and entertain 2,000 people by himself for three hours. He could do it”. I couldn’t agree more. The energy Bowling for Soup brings to the stage is contagious, making even tho most stagnant viewers give a little toe tap or head bounce. Bowling for Soup will play their biggest headlining gig at Wembley Arena on December 13th with support from Wheatus and Punk Rock Factory. A handful of US dates, including Innings Festival, have been announced as we await the new album and tour dates for later in 2026. You can keep up with the latest Bowling for Soup news here.

The post Interview: Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup appeared first on KRUI Radio.

A winner of four Pushcart Prizes, she is currently an associate professor at the University of Texas, also actively involved in the education program she started at a local prison.

Unferth is a rebel. She ventured to Central America after dropping out of college at 18 years old to “join the revolution,” as she says in an interview on Stop Smiling Online. After hopping from El Salvador to Nicaragua to Panama to El Salvador to Costa Rica, she finally came

back to the states to begin her writing career.

She is known for her unapologetic fiction and nonfiction—vinegary, dark, and humorous. For instance, Voltaire Night, which appeared in the Paris Review, narrates a tradition of a teacher and her adult-ed class has, in which they share their terrible experiences, starting as a “recent bad experiences” to “worst ever.” One can imagine the strange places to which this narrative would lead.

In these stories, one might notice Unferth’s omission of names. In The Rumpus interview, she ascribes this choice to the feeling that names make a story sound synthetic.

I always felt that putting names in a story is artificial. It feels like, Oh, now I’m writing a story when I include a name. It feels phony. If I use a name, I have to feel like it’s almost in quotes. Any name that I use has to be doing other work. The work cannot be that it’s just a name for my character. It’s never that easy. –from “It’s Never That Easy: Talking with Deb Olin Unferth”, The Rumpus, 24 Jan 2018. 

Though not many would describe their writing or reading experience as auditory, Unferth does. In an interview with Nate Martin on Stop Smiling Online, she describes remembers how reading biographies of Frank Lloyd Wright involved sound—”the hum of the words on the pages were coming up at me and making almost a song.” –-“The Contestant: Deb Olin Unferth,” Stop Smiling Online, 17 August 2007. She further depicts her writing experience as not a result of one sound, but “It is more like I hear the story before I start writing it. Sometimes I hear the entire story before I write it down.”

Also reading at Prairie Lights that evening is Andrea Lawlor from Massachusetts, who teaches creative writing and edits fiction for Fence.

Lawlor has published a chapbook, Position Papers, and the recent Paul takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Rescue Press. According to an interview in the Vesto P.R. and Books, Lawlor mentions that this debut novel is a “thinly veiled memoir” –“A Q & A with Andrea Lawlor,” Vesto P.R. and Books, Claudia Acevedo, Jan 2018.

Written by a devoted professor and enthusiastic human being, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is the product of personal experience, meticulous research, and years of rich stop-and-go writing.

The major part of this book and Lawlor’s efforts are the LGBTQ experience, and Lawlor has often spoken about how the writing scene can become more accessible and friendly to up and coming LGBTQ writers, voicing the hope that

“Once people are writing and getting support to write, maybe the biggest challenge is to make something good, to be an artist rather than a content producer? That’s a good problem to have.”

I advise you not to miss seeing these thrilling authors read at Prairie Lights—mark your planners! Calendars! Put up a sticky note!

Check out this and more events the Mission Creek Lineup Page.

The post Mission Creek Festival: Deb Olin Unferth and Andrea Lawlor @ Prairie Lights appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“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, 20^th-century, dynasty such as the 50s Yankees, 60s Celtics or 90s Cowboys. Those squads dominated and left little question as to which team was the best in their respective eras. While that same scenario may not exist in all major United States sports, we can garner at least a debate.

In this piece we will dive into the top dynasties since the first season post-2000 started of each major sport between the college and professional levels and decide which recent squad has had dominated its respective sport the most. There are rules that will be followed.

1. There will be a qualified team picked out of each individual sport before jumping to a final debate on who is the king of kings.
2. One team must be chosen out of each major sport – college football, men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, wrestling, volleyball, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
3. Seasons that are currently in progress (2014-15 college hoops, NBA, NHL) are not included. For example, Kentucky’s current undefeated record in college hoops cannot be applied to their opportunity to be considered college basketball’s top dynasty on the men’s side.
4. Dynasty is a term used far too often. Are the Seahawks a dynasty because of how great their defense is in the past two years? No, because Seattle struggled through a lot of down seasons beforehand. In this piece, a dynasty will be defined as “Dominating a respective sport, while simultaneously competing for championships to the tune of being the greatest team in the discussed era.”
5. A team must consistently be in championship contention, but in order to be a dynasty in this span – a team must have won at least a single title.
6. I cannot compare teams between sports, as that will happen in the follow up article, where I will rank the selections from each league.

Let the games begin.

NBA

The NBA has always had a lack of parity.  We may no longer be limited to just the Lakers and Celtics, but the situation is still heavily lopsided.

Starting in the 2000-01 season, just three out of 14 Western Conference champions haven’t been named either the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks made two Finals appearances, and the Oklahoma City Thunder briefly showed up before being ousted in five by the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.

The Eastern Conference has been more diverse, but less successful. Seven teams (Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando) have won the conference, but just three (Detroit, Miami, Boston) have managed to end the postseason with a victory.

The Heat have an impressive five title appearances and three championships to make a case for a potential top-NBA dynasty in the last 14 seasons. However, they fall well short of the Western Conference rivals from California and Texas.

The Spurs have a cumulative regular season record of 804-328 (.710), a postseason tally of 129-80 (.617), and four championships in five appearances since 2000. Their worst record in that span is 50-32 in 2009, and yet they still made it to the Western Conference Semifinals. Gregg Popovich has led this team to being easily the most consistent of all NBA squads in this era.

Los Angeles, albeit currently in its lowest moment in franchise history, also has an argument to be the representative for professional hoops. While their 690-442 (.610) overall regular season mark is well below San Antonio’s, their post season record of 108-66 trumps the Spurs. In six Finals appearances, the Lakers have taken home four titles – equal to the Spurs. If the 1999-2000 season and the first third of the Shaq-Kobe three-peat were included, my final decision may not have been…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, led by a long-time coach and familiar players, have (somehow quietly) been one of the most consistent teams in all of American athletics. Their YMCA-style of play may not captivate casual audiences with oohs and awes, but their record says all that is needed. The Lakers have missed the playoffs as many times (two) as the Spurs have missed the second round. The ability to avoid down years is what makes the difference. San Antonio and Los Angeles have the same highs, but the Spurs have yet to hit a low this century.

Honorable mention: Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat

NFL

Baltimore, New England, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants have all won multiple titles since Super Bowl XXXV, thus obviously deserving of recognition in this analysis. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Green Bay and Seattle will also be included as to compare all Super Bowl victors.

Looking based simply off of this, the answer is penciled in. Let’s engrave it in stone with this next chart. I gave every team a point total for each category – the top team receiving nine points and the bottom receiving one – (regular season win percentage, total postseason wins, postseason win percentage, division titles and Super Bowls). The point total depended on where a team finished in each respective section.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: New England Patriots. New England swept the board in each measurable category. It’s hard to tell if they’re farther ahead of the pack than Tampa Bay is behind. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have created a dynasty and are two absurd catches from having six Super Bowls in this span, including the Brady-Randy Moss 2007 combination that was the best team in NFL history to not win it all.

NHL

The NHL has experienced more parity than its professional counterparts this century. Ten teams have won a Stanley Cup in the last 13 occurrences (plus the 2005 lockout season). The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche have all taken home one championship, while the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings all have a pair of titles. To avoid confusion in the following chart, the NHL did away with ties during this span and therefore the records will be Win-Loss-Overtime Losses-Ties.

  We have seven categories (Stanley Cups, playoff appearances, playoff series victories, postseason wins, postseason win percentage and regular season win percentage and points). The best team in each category will receive 10 points and the worst will pick up just one. In order to put a stronger emphasis on advancing in the postseason, playoff series victories will count as a point for each accumulated. This should counteract disciplining teams for advancing on to tougher rounds just to be swept.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Detroit Red Wings. Outside of postseason win percentage, Detroit swept the board since 2000. Its 17 postseason series victories is even more impressive when factoring in the lockout season and the fact that no other franchise has more than a dozen. Despite parity among Stanley Cup victors, Detroit has easily been the most consistently dominant in all of professional hockey. Not much of an argument can be made for any other squad from this chart, and therefore none are honorable mention worthy.

Men’s college basketball:

After a relatively easy start, we reach what might be the most complicated of all sports we list. College basketball is about as random as they come (see odds of making a perfect bracket). Of course, Kentucky seems like an obvious choice after winning a national title in 2013-14 and going undefeated so far in 2014-15 (void). Don’t let fresh tastes discount distant memories.

Recent impressions can’t influence this decision, but the Wildcats have enough beyond that to make a pretty decisive statement. A 369-124 overall record is tough to argue with. What’s even harder? Twelve NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet Sixteens, three Final Fours and a 1-1 record in the championship. Take away the two seasons Billy Gillispie coached Kentucky to a 40-27 overall record with zero NCAA Tournament victories and an NIT berth, and the Wildcats may blow the competition out of the water.

One team has been so remarkably consistent in its conference that it’s impossible to leave off this list: The Kansas Jayhawks.

After transitioning from a Hall of Fame coach, Kansas found a fate much simpler than Kentucky. Bill Self took over Roy Williams’ squad and didn’t miss a beat.

Williams’ last three seasons resulted in a 42-6 conference record that was overshadowed by a Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and a championship appearance. Since? Self has given the Jayhawks a 325-69 mark with a 151-31 stretch in the Big 12.

Self’s initial tournament resume left much to be desired with two first round exits sandwiched between a pair of Elite Eight showings. That turned around quickly with Kansas’ lone national title during this span in 2008.

Kansas boasts similar marks to Kentucky, with one extra championship loss thrown in, and its down years were first round exits over being completely left out.

So how about ex-Jayhawk coach Williams’ new squad – North Carolina? The Tar Heels have two national titles and another Final Four on their record and they may not even be the best dynasty in their own state.

Recent 1,000 game winner Mike Kryzewski’s Duke Blue Devils are.

Duke has a pair of national titles, has appeared in the tournament in each covered year, and has lost in their opening matchup just three times. Their conference dominance may not be as high as a team such as Kansas, but the competition is relatively stellar each season.

The Blue Devils hold an absurd 412-87 (.826) record in this span. So it has to be them, right?111

Let’s head over to Big Ten country where Tom Izzo is standing by for a quick lecture on postseason play. Michigan State, although missing its 1999-2000 national championship by just one season, has made nine Sweet Sixteens, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours, and has won one title. They haven’t missed the tournament a single time, and have been eliminated before the Round of 32 just four times.

What about UConn’s three title runs? Florida’s star-studded squads? Kentucky’s heated-rival Louisville? We need a way to rank these teams accordingly as to put all bias aside and assign an overall score. Postseason play in college basketball has always taken precedence over any other measurement of success. Here is the scoring chart to decide the top NCAA Tournament team since 2001’s tournament when solely considering those whom have a title to their name in this span:

Round of 64 loss: 0 points
Round of 32 loss: 1 point
Sweet 16 loss: 2 points
Elite Eight loss: 4 points
Final Four Loss: 8 points
Championship loss: 12 points
Championship: 16 points

NCAA Tournament champions results since 2000-01 March Madness: Kansas 68, UConn 67, Duke 59, North Carolina 56, Florida 55, Kentucky 55, Michigan State 51, Louisville 44, Syracuse 37, Maryland 30.

Shockingly, outside of its three titles runs, UConn only scored 19 points on this scale. The Huskies fell just a point shy of claiming this all important statistic in pushing forward to choosing men’s college hoops’ most dominant dynasty of the 21^st century. Despite just one title, consistency overcame roller coaster levels of postseason success and your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Kansas Jayhawks. Not only has Kansas (almost surprisingly) performed as the top overall team in March Madness, but it also has the most eye-popping accomplishment. I’m going to type this out to make it even more drastic: Kansas has won at least a share of (ahem) back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back regular season Big 12 championships. That’s 10. Read that out loud and you’re likely to need to catch your breath. This isn’t Kansas playing in the Summit League or intramural athletics – this is a major conference with a tough road to the top every season. Ten?! In a row? And just for the record, it’s also 12 of 13, but who’s counting? The Huskies have a legitimate argument when it comes to this discussion due to three incredible runs to the championship, but Kansas has been a more consistently feared team. Welcome to a new postseason tournament, Jayhawks. Let’s see who else is joining you.

Honorable mention: Duke, UConn

Women’s College Basketball

I went from one of the more difficult sports to choose to what might be the easiest. UConn women’s hoops is out of this world. Seven championships since the turn of the century. Average margin of victory in those title-winning contests? 15.4 points. That’s 15 points better than the second best team in the country. Talk about a talent gap. I can’t put into words how unbelievably incredible the Huskies’ overall record has been, so I’ll leave two simple numbers on its own.

486-38.

That’s a .927 winning percentage.

I could play myself in checkers and not win 93 percent of the time.

Connecticut has missed out on the Sweet Sixteen in this span only…well, they haven’t. And just once were they limited to that. On top of the Sweet Sixteen and seven titles, the Huskies have made two Elite Eight appearances along with four Final Fours. Therefore, your clear cut winner without any hesitation is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Connecticut Huskies.

College Wrestling

If the 70s, 80s and 90s were included, this wouldn’t even be a competition. The Iowa Hawkeyes took home 20 titles from 1975-2000. Despite those all being out of the picture, Iowa is still in contention for the 21^st century title post-Dan Gable. The Hawkeyes have three titles to their name, which comes shy of Penn State and Oklahoma State, who put together four each. With the overall team title competition so close, our answer comes from individual championships. The Nittany Lions have nine, Hawkeyes 13 and Cowboys 18.

Oklahoma State’s 2005 season was the best of the era, fielding five individual champions in 10 weight classes, and scoring 153 points – best since the 1997 Hawkeyes scored 170. Therefore the winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys are tied for the lead in titles, have the best overall team of the era and can claim having the most individual titles. They may be fortunate to wrestle outside the Big Ten, but national titles don’t lie.

Honorable Mention: Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions

MLB

Four teams have won multiple titles since 2000 – the Red Sox (three), Giants (three), Yankees (two) and Cardinals (two) – to give a clear starting point when trying to declare the top 21^st century dynasty of professional baseball.

It’s clearly visible that this is a dead heat. You know the drill. In order to decide, I assigned a point total to each stat category. The top finisher in each category – World Series victories, division titles, regular season winning percentage, playoff appearances, total playoff wins and postseason playoff winning percentage – receives four points, followed by three for second place and so on. I also gave teams an extra point for each playoff series they won. The final tally came out as followed:

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: St. Louis Cardinals. Any fan of one the final four teams can state a statistic on how their team deserved to be the one represented. New York dominated the AL East. Boston and San Francisco won a third World Series and were more efficient in the postseason when they did make it. None of that jumped out the way this did:

The Cardinals took the cake with 16 postseason series victories.

That’s out of this world consistent. The Yankees came close, carried by consistently owning the division crown, whereas the two teams that take advantage of playoff appearances the most, Boston and San Francisco, found themselves looking up.

Honorable Mention: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants

College Volleyball

Some of these don’t take much time. Penn State has six championships, including two 38-0 seasons. USC, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas and UCLA have had strong programs, but none have approached the dominance by the Nittany Lions. Let’s just get to the point. Without a hint of doubt, your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Penn State Nittany Lions.

College Baseball

Unlike most of the other sports in the discussion, the full 2000 season is included since it began post-millennium. Texas, South Carolina and Oregon State all have a pair of titles, with nobody else claiming more than one. Naturally, only those three are in consideration. However, the Beavers have only made four CWS appearances compared to six for South Carolina and eight for Texas. Typically that would lead one to believe that the answer is obviously the Longhorns.

Take a look at overall winning percentage: Texas is 661-294 (.664) in this millennium, lagging considerably behind the Gamecocks at 713-289 (.712). So what do we value? Winning more regular season games against what is typically stronger competition, or taking overall postseason play? The latter carries more weight. Here is how each team fared in NCAA Tournament play with its overall statistics tallied at the bottom.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Texas Longhorns. In what ended up being the closest contest of any sport so far, Texas prevailed because of one statistic: CWS appearances. South Carolina may hold a relatively significant advantage in regular season record and have a slim lead in postseason record, but they couldn’t get the job done in enough Super Regionals. One could argue that Texas’ lows were below South Carolina’s, but they consistently made the trip to Omaha and that familiarity with getting to the final eight put them over the edge.

College Football

Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, and Florida all have multiple FBS championships to their names, while Appalachian State and North Dakota State have dominated the FCS level well enough to be included in the discussion. USC vacated one of its two national championships and will not be considered. As we’ve come to find out, tables can be really useful when measuring statistics of multiple teams. Unfortunately, college football has more variables than most so let’s compare like it is 2000 (and we’re using WordPad).

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are the only team in this span with three FBS national title victories. Their overall record takes a hit because of 21 vacated wins, but stands at 116-57, including a 6-5 bowl mark – which is also hindered by one vacated victory and two seasons in which ‘Bama was ineligible for the postseason. They have garnered three SEC titles and five SEC West crowns – most of which have come under Nick Saban. The pre-Saban era was somewhat dark for Alabama, which had a (now shocking) 3-8 season in 2000. The loss of 21 victories could really come back to bite the team that is likely the first one on everybody’s college football power shortlist.

Florida: Florida boasts two national titles (thanks, Tebow) complemented by a 137-56 overall record. If Alabama had kept its wins, Florida would be one game ahead in the loss column and tied with the Tide for overall victories. In bowl play, Florida has a lackadaisical 7-6 mark. They have picked up three SEC Titles and have headed the SEC East four times.

LSU: Consistency in a more than tough conference is what could separate LSU from the group. Like every team on this list besides Alabama, the Tigers have a pair of national championships. Their overall record of 151-45 is only topped by Ohio State. They’ve won nine bowl games compared to six losses and have not missed out on the postseason. They’ve picked up four conference titles and five SEC West titles along the way to top both Florida and Alabama in those areas.

Ohio State: Surprised to see a Big Ten team here? You shouldn’t be. Despite a negative stigma built around the conference in recent years, Ohio State has been among the most dominant teams lately. The Buckeyes’ 157-36 overall record is hard to argue with. An 8-7 bowl record with a few postseason embarrassments could be improved on. What really couldn’t be is a sensational seven conference titles – which reasonably would be eight if not for a postseason ban on a 12-0 squad in 2012. The Buckeyes may not have the numbers to claim best of this century now, but with Urban Meyer pulling the strings, it might not be too long until they do.

North Dakota State: If we were only talking about the last four years, the Bison would breeze through the competition. Their 63-3 record with four national titles is, well, absurd. Before that? North Dakota State swiftly comes back to Earth with a more reasonable, but still strong, 74-40 mark. Did you already do the math? That’s an overall record of 137-43

…and I should probably mention they have a 20-2 postseason record.

20 wins. Two losses.

The Bison made the move from Division II to FCS in this time period and were ineligible for postseason play in multiple 10-1 seasons, otherwise they very well could have added to that title total. Which, quite frankly, is a little scary. One thing that isn’t as scary is this game. And this one in the same season. Sometimes you find things while researching that you wish you never did. Those qualify.

Appalachian State: While the Bison were fiddling around with moving up from Division II, another squad was busy winning national championships and knocking off the winningest-program in FBS history. That was the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Their record of 131-52 is a modest amount below North Dakota State’s. It isn’t the regular season that separates these two FCS programs. The Mountaineers postseason mark, despite a three-peat from 2005-2007, is 19-8, considerably worse than the Bison’s…let me say it again…20-2.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: North Dakota State Bison. I get it. Strength of schedule for the Bison isn’t anywhere near what Ohio State, let alone Alabama, Florida and LSU, face on a week-to-week basis. Their national titles are much less publicized and viewed. They don’t have NFL prospects filling up the first round. They weren’t even in the FCS for part of this era. There are a lot of reasons not to pick them.

Go ahead, write an article on why LSU’s consistency in the SEC makes them the best dynasty of this century, or why Alabama’s three titles set it apart, or how Ohio State’s conference dominance make them the frontrunner. They all have strong cases to disprove my choice.

To me, these issues have to be made relative, not directly compared. Of course North Dakota State doesn’t have to play the LSU defense, the Tim Tebow offense or Nick Saban’s game plan on an annual basis, but they ought to be held to the standards of their competition, not of a league above them. North Dakota State has simply dominated about as much as a modern college football team can in this span. 137-43 in the regular season? Incredible – just as incredible as the others on this list, especially considering transition seasons. That doesn’t set them apart.

A .909 winning percentage in the postseason will. When the Bison play the best competition, they don’t just compete – they absolutely own everyone. Alabama doesn’t. Florida doesn’t. LSU and Ohio State don’t. They’re all tremendous teams, but have not set themselves apart at any part this century the way the Bison have.

Conclusion

The aforementioned follow-up article will now include the St. Louis Cardinals, San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas Jayhawks men’s hoops, UConn Huskies women’s basketball, Oklahoma State wrestling, Penn State volleyball, Texas baseball and North Dakota State football. Those ten dominant teams will be ranked to determine an ultimate “dynasty of the 21^st century.”

Be sure to check out Night Stuff on KRUI at the stroke of midnight Wednesday mornings as we discuss topics such as this, other sporting news and a few outrageous topics mixed in with a phone always ready to hear your takes. Did you like the article or happen to disagree with some of the choices? Tweet @TheMainStevent or @KRUISports to share your opinion.

The post The 21st Century’s Best Dynasty appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This group is incredibly down to earth and just wants to share their music with the world. Prior to releasing their EP, the band wrote a heartfelt post on their Tumblr.

In the post, the band states “We have had a lot of bad things happen to us, and we have decided that with whatever happens in this life to us, we want music to be at the front of our passions and our attention. Bringing music to our fans is so terribly important to us, that we would drag ourselves through hell and back to keep making songs for you all.” You can read the entire post here.

Since beginning back in May 2009, these guys have successfully put out three EPs, including the one that was just released under Third String Records (along with plenty of singles), played at Houston’s 2011 Warped Tour stop, even gained and lost a member, all the while growing their dedicated fan base and creating tons of great music.

The group only has 424 Spotify subscribers, and just over 1,100 subscribers on YouTube. Their most popular track, “This is How You Rewrote Yourself,” is so close to having 3,000 views. Why not help bump that up and give it a look? It’s filled with tons of great jump cuts, and conveys a message with a simple whiteboard. You can check it out below:

If you would like to stay connected with Dear You, feel free to check out their Twitter or Facebook. You can also check out their merchandise here.

The post Up and Coming: Dear You appeared first on KRUI Radio.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – After the typical 8-8 season from the Dallas Cowboys in 2013, America’s Team is 5-1 in 2014.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Dallas Cowboys are 5-1, after defeating the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 30-23 in Seattle.

How ‘bout them Cowboys?

This marks a five-game winning streak for the Cowboys who, after going 0-4 in preseason, dropped their regular season opener to the San Francisco 49ers.

Things didn’t look good for Dallas week one against San Francisco. DeMarco Murray fumbled on the opening drive, which was recovered and taken back for a touchdown by 49ers cornerback, Chris Culliver.

With three Tony Romo interceptions, the Cowboys had four total turnovers that against the 49ers and were unable to comeback 28-3 halftime deficit, losing 28-17.

Since then, Dallas has powered its way to a 5-1 record with wins over Tennessee, St. Louis, New Orleans, Houston, and Seattle.

What’s with the turnaround you ask?

Defense.

The Cowboys entered this season with many questions after displaying what was supposed to be an NFL defense in 2013.

How bad was it? Bad. The Cowboys ranked dead last in defense in 2013 and had no answer when it came to halting the passing game. In 2013, NFL teams combined for 4,800 yards through the air, sending the Cowboys to a third straight 8-8 record. (Not to mention allowing a franchise record 6,645 yards in 2013).

Well America: Not this year.

The Cowboys defense currently sits 12^th in the league in passing yards allowed and 17^th in rushing yards allowed this season. The Cowboys haven’t allowed a single wide receiver to gain over 100 yards and have only allowed one running back, Arian Foster, to gain over 100 yards in a week five overtime-win against the Texans.

A lot of the success on defense is accredited to the promotion of Rod Marinelli to defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Prior to Marinelli, Monte Kiffin looked to rejuvenate the Cowboys defense by switching from a 3-4, to a 4-3, with little to no avail (please see Cowboys/Broncos 2013 box score).

The biggest difference for the Cowboys defense is the play of their linebackers and in the secondary. Many wondered if Dallas could bounce back after middle-linebacker, Sean Lee, suffered a torn ACL prior to the 2014 season. The play from guys like Barry Church, Justin Durant, Rolando McClain, J.J. Wilcox, and Bruce Carter have made the Dallas defense a much more respectable group. Dallas now boasts the 15^th ranked defense in the league, a far cry from the 2013 ranking of last.

The defense allows for Dallas to open up the playbook offensively too. In 2013, there were too many times where opposing teams new that the Cowboys would abandon the run game early, because they had so much ground to make up.

How about that Cowboys offense?

It’s hard to believe that I have gone this long about the Cowboys 5-1 record without mentioning the dominance DeMarco Murray has displayed. The offensive game plan for the Cowboys this season has been simple:

Run the ball. A lot.

Murray, in his fourth season with the Cowboys, has rushed for league-leading 785 yards and is averaging 26.5 carries through six game. That average is  ten yards more than in his 14-game average in 2013. Murray is tied with Jim Brown at six for most consecutive games with 100+ yards to start a season.

The fact that Murray leads the league in rushing gives Tony Romo plenty to be happy about.

Romo underwent surgery last December to repair a herniated disc in his back. He’s coming off a great 2013 campaign where he chucked 31 touchdowns and threw only ten interceptions. He’s off to a fast start in 2014 with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions and just outside the top ten in passing yards.

The running game for the Cowboys gives Romo the ability to not screw things up. While I’m a firm believe that Romo isn’t always to blame for the unfortunate fourth quarter interception, it’s hard to take the blame away from someone holding the smoking gun. Am I right?

Romo has been a beneficiary to the dominant ground game due to the fact he isn’t dropping back to pass all the time, which is keeping him out of dangerous situations with potential for injury.

Holding steady

While it’s all high-fives and happy times in Arlington, Texas; the Cowboys still have a lot of hard work ahead of them.

Dallas has a week 11 bye, but prior to that they face the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While the NFC East has a left a lot to be desired (who really knows what the New York Giants are going to do this year?), the Cowboys will look to capitalize on the next four games.

While winning four more in a row could be tough, there is a strong possibility Dallas goes 3-1 over the next four weeks. That means the Dallas Cowboys could be sitting at 8-2. If the Cowboys could go 8-2, they would just need one more win to avoid another 8-8 season.

This team has higher aspirations thought.

The Dallas Cowboys have a legitimate shot to win the NFC East and make the playoffs this year. America’s Team has a chance for something special this year, let’s just hope they can continue what they’ve been doing so far in 2014.

And let’s face it, a Cowboys team in the playoffs provides for better television than a Cowboys team not in the playoffs.

The post Why are the Dallas Cowboys 5-1? Let’s find out! appeared first on KRUI Radio.