Dan McCarney became the darling of ABC-TV and ESPN over the weekend.

Today, the Iowa State football coach got rave reviews from Mack Brown.

Can Beano Cook be far away?

Ames, Ia. – A guy who sometimes thinks he’s seen it all while watching college games for well over a half-century knows it’s a colossal day in the history of Iowa State and Iowa football when:

There’s a bigger crowd flooding the field to celebrate an Iowa State victory over Nebraska at Jack Trice Stadium after a game than used to show up to watch some games a few years ago.

After you observe Cyclone fans celebrate, you hear that Joe Paterno, a 75-year-old man who has more victories than any other major-college coach, is so upset that he races across the field after the Penn State-Iowa game to grab one of the officials by the shoulder – complaining that his team got "a couple of lousy calls.’’...

It didn’t take long for Saturday’s Iowa State-Nebraska football game to reach a new level.

I said new level. I didn’t say high level.

Instead of wondering about whether Nebraska’s defense can stop Iowa State’s Seneca Wallace or if the Cornhuskers can move the ball on the Cyclones, we’re now playing "The Newspaper Headline Game," "The Bulletin Board Game" and "The I-Wish-My-Senior-Center-Had-Kept-His-Big-Mouth-Shut Game."

I called Johnny Lujack on the cell phone for two reasons today.

First, I wanted to get his thoughts on the death earlier this week of Leon Hart, who won the 1949 Heisman Trophy as a Notre Dame player.

I also wanted Lujack, the Heisman winner in 1947, to talk about himself.

Iowa City, Ia. – I can tell you for a fact that legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno does not get every football player he wants.

I know because Ed Hinkel said so today.

When Hinkel was a student at Cathedral Prep High School in Erie, Pa., Paterno said he had a scholarship for him.

Hinkel didn’t accept it.

He’s playing for Iowa instead.

Dan McCarney, you heard that right.

Your Iowa State football really is favored to beat Nebraska.

Well, not exactly by a lopsided margin.

Just by one point.

By looking at the betting line, you’d never know McCarney’s Cyclones lost at Lincoln, 48-14, last season.

First, let’s do the addition.

Lute Olson has coached Arizona’s basketball team for 19 seasons.

He has won 471 games and lost 143.

That means he’s coached the Wildcats in 614 games since his nine seasons at Iowa produced a 167-91 record.

So, I’m sitting here wondering why – after 19 seasons and 614 games at Arizona – a guy from the Tucson paper is calling me to ask for my thoughts about Olson.

The sports-talk radio picture in central Iowa has changed again.

I hear that the entire local lineup on the afternoon show at KJJC has been fired. Gone are Dave Bingham, Todd Roland and Chuck Shockley.

The word is that Bob Dyer, the boss, informed Bingham, Roland and Shockley that it was the bank’s decision to cut back. However, others are saying that’s not the case. Instead, they say the new owners of the station made the decision.

Things can get better.

A lot better.

Despite accomplishing something that hadn’t been done since Grover Cleveland was president, Coach Dan McCarney said today that his Iowa State football team "isn’t close to where we can be or should be.’’

McCarney, whose team stormed back to whip Iowa, 36-31, for the fifth consecutive time Saturday night, said, "We have so much room to improve and we made so many mistakes in that game.

"We’ve got to do a better job of coaching. It’s easy to find a long list of things we’ve got to do a better job of, yet I’m really proud of the courage of this team and the refuse-to-lose attitude in the second half.

Iowa City, Ia. – Bruce Van De Velde, who has been Iowa State’s athletic director since Nov. 1, 2000, paced the sideline Saturday night in the final minutes of the Cyclones’ 36-31 victory over Iowa.

Even though it was evident Dan McCarney’s team—which today was rewarded with a No. 21 ranking in the Associated Press poll and a No. 24 ranking in the coaches’ poll--was going to win for an incredible fifth consecutive time in this series, it was obvious Van De Velde couldn’t relax.

Iowa City, Ia. – "It’s been hard. Really hard.’’

Running back Aaron Greving was standing in today’s afternoon sunshine outside the Hayden Fry Football Complex, talking about Iowa’s recent football frustration against Iowa State.

The thing that makes it even more difficult for Greving to accept than perhaps some of the other Hawkeyes is that he’s from Ames, where Iowa State is located.

Let’s see, Iowa State has won four consecutive football games from Iowa.

Two of those victories have been in front of capacity crowds at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

Earlier this season, Iowa State threw a huge late-game scare into mighty Florida State before losing, 38-31, in the Eddie Robinson Classic at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

With a 2-1 record and a quarterback, Seneca Wallace, who is putting up Heisman Trophy-type passing numbers, Iowa State is a victory or two away from jumping into the top-25 rankings.

So who’s favored by four points Saturday at Iowa City – the Cyclones or the Hawkeyes?

The Hawkeyes.

Billy Cundiff says he usually sleeps pretty well.

Even before big football games.

And he’s hoping that’s still the case Saturday—the night before his first National Football League regular-season game.

Cundiff, a rookie free agent from Drake, is making final preparations for his placekicking assignment with the Dallas Cowboys.

He’ll tee ‘em up Sunday night when the Cowboys open their NFL season on ESPN against the Houston Texans.

Suddenly, Iowa doesn’t have enough players on its basketball team to hold a scrimmage.

The Hawkeyes’ roster was reduced to nine players today when freshman forward Josh Rhodes returned to his home in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Rhodes’ departure followed the exit of forward Marcellus Sommerville by less than a month.

Although other ex-Hawkeyes have blamed Coach Steve Alford for their decision to leave, Rhodes didn’t.

He said he’s quitting Iowa "because I have lost interest in playing college basketball.’’

Iowa City, Ia. – Not bad for openers.

Hayden Fry, Ed Podolak, Ray Jauch and Bernie Wyatt were among those who marveled at a 593-yard offensive barrage produced by Fred Russell, Jermelle Lewis, Brad Banks and a number of other Iowa football players today on Varsity Club Day.

The Hawkeyes, of whom much is expected in Kirk Ferentz’s fourth season as coach, made some mistakes but still ran all over hopelessly-outclassed Akron, 57-21, before a sun-splashed audience of 51,495 at Kinnick Stadium.

Cleaning off the top of my desk:

An e-mailer from northeast Iowa—a high-profile guy who definitely knows the difference between good electronic journalism and shabby electronic journalism--writes:

Ronnie M:

Always enjoy your scribings, as usual, but you were way soft on that moron from TV 7....

Iowa City, Ia. – Life has changed in a big-time way for Clinton Solomon.

A year ago, he was preparing to play football for Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas, which drew about 150 fans for its home games.

Now – even though he admits to being nervous – Solomon is ready to be Iowa’s second-team split end behind Ed Hinkel in Saturday’s 11:10 a.m. season opener against Akron. The game is expected to draw about 60,000 fans in 70,397-seat Kinnick Stadium.

Kansas City, Mo. – My telephone rang early this morning.

"So which team made a statement?’’ the guy asked.

Without hesitation, I said, "Iowa State made the statement. Dan McCarney and his players showed that they’re capable of playing with the big boys.’’

After the Cyclones’ near-miss Saturday night against a Florida State team that was ranked third in the Associated Press preseason rankings and fourth in the coaches’ poll, I say they deserve to be at least in the top 25.

Rob Ash interrupted my question.

"You’ve been here.....’’ I started saying..

"A long time,’’ Ash said, starting to laugh.

Then I continued.

I mentioned that Ash is in his 14^th season as Drake’s football coach, which matches Vee Green in longevity at the school.

Zach Butler is feeling it.

Iowa State and Iowa don’t play each other in football for more than three weeks, but Butler’s emotions are boiling now just like they do in the week of This State’s Big Game.

And Florida State, not Iowa (not yet anyway), is the opponent he’s getting emotional about.

Iowa State’s football team has no need to issue apologies for being in Saturday night’s game against third-ranked Florida State in the Eddie Robinson Classic.

"My kids have earned the right to play in this game,’’ Cyclone Coach Dan McCarney said Monday. "We know we’ll be major underdogs, but we’ve been in a lot of situations like that before.

"We’re honored to be going down there to Kansas City and representing Iowa State University, the state of Iowa and the Big 12 Conference.

In the event anyone still has a question, Bob Stoops has the answer.

I told him that some people are still a bit puzzled about what happened when Iowa was looking for a new football coach following Hayden Fry’s final season in 1998.

Naturally, a large number of Hawkeye fans got excited when athletic director Bob Bowlsby and Iowa’s search committee interviewed Stoops, who had been Steve Spurrier’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Florida since 1996.

Floor leadership and double-figure scoring from more players are goals of Coach Steve Alford as he looks forward to his 2002-2003 Iowa basketball team.

"Last year, we were a team with two players scoring in double figures,’’ Alford said. "I would hope that this year we can get three or four scoring in double figures consistently, and be a little bit harder to play against.

"I like our athleticism, and we have good size at every position. Even though we will be young, there are some dimensions that we have improved on.’’

Iowa City, Ia.--When Brad Banks was playing Little League football in Florida, his coach suddenly told him, "Go in there and play quarterback.’’

He did, and he’s been doing it most of the time since.

And he’s been doing it pretty well, too.

Suddenly, there’s yet another look to the always-changing Des Moines sports talk radio picture.

A day after the plug was pulled on talented announcers Steve Deace and Larry Morgan, plus others, at KXTK, Jim Walden said he was leaving his co-anchor spot on the afternoon show at KXNO.

Strange timing?

Some might think so.

But don’t jump to any conclusions, Larry Cotlar insisted Thursday.

Iowa State won’t go into its Aug. 24 football opener against traditional power Florida State with the idea of holding down the score.

There’s much more to the Eddie Robinson Classic than his school collecting its $1.2 million paycheck, Cyclone Coach Dan McCarney said Friday.

I occasionally get into some spirited sports conversations with a guy named LeRoy, not his real name, from Lake City, not his real hometown.

LeRoy mentioned that Big Ten football coaches are saying it might be time to add another team to the conference.

"Any particular reason why?’’ I asked. "They already have 11 teams in that league, and still call it the Big Ten. If they add a 12^th team, they sure can’t call it the Big 12. There already is a Big 12, and Iowa isn’t in it. I guess I’m wondering which of the 11 teams in the Big Ten isn’t big.’’

It’s a good thing Harry Kalas listened to his blind professor at Cornell College nearly a half-century ago.

If he had ignored Dr. Walter Stroemer’s advice, Kalas might not be going into baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday.

More than 16 years after Ronnie Harmon’s final football game for Iowa, people are still saying he threw the 1986 Rose Bowl.

Harmon, a standout running back and pass receiver who lettered as a Hawkeye from 1982-85, is featured on the Real Sports show on HBO.

Michael Franzese, a thug who was associated with sports agent Norby Walters, said on the show that evidence points to the belief that Harmon threw the Rose Bowl game against UCLA.

Ann Landers is no longer with us, even though her advice columns for some reason keep showing up in print.

Actually, some of her stuff makes more sense now that she’s dead than when she was alive.

But this column isn’t about Ann Landers. It’s about Aunt Slanders, her real name. And, no, she is not in any way related to Ann Landers.

Luke Recker and Reggie Evans surely have heard all the jokes.

They’ve listened to the basketball know-it-alls who’ve been saying they hope the former Iowa players took plenty of foreign-language courses in school because they’ll be needing them when they play in their next league overseas.

Neither, of course, was chosen in the recent NBA draft.

In my column in the July issue of The Local Sports Connection, I mentioned that famous chair-thrower and basketball coach Bobby Knight once saved me a day of work.

Knight was winning national championships and doing his ranting and raving at Indiana when he offered to write a guest column for me. After bringing it up in the recent column on Johnny Orr, several people have asked how I got to know Knight so well.

It went this way...

It was time to chat with Seneca Wallace.

Chat as in ESPN chat.

The ESPN.com website conducts regular Internet chats with athletes, coaches, people who used to be athletes and coaches and people like Beano Cook who just like to chat.

Monday’s chat was with Wallace, the quarterback whom Iowa State is promoting for the Heisman Trophy, the No. 1 individual award in college football.

As the news was pouring in over the weekend on the terrible death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile, a question kept creeping into the minds of all of us.

How could a seemingly-healthy, seemingly-strong 6-foot 5-inch, 212-pound baseball player die in his sleep in a Chicago hotel room?

It turned out that Kile was not healthy at all.

Paul Anger isn’t doing it. Rob Borsellino and Rekha Basu aren’t doing it.

When those and others can’t stop the bleeding, that means it’s all but impossible for publisher Mary Stier to halt the Des Moines Register’s circulation slide.

For the 18^th consecutive year since the Gannett Co. bought the newspaper, the daily and Sunday circulation figures have fallen.

That’s when Hartlieb was playing for Iowa in a pass-happy time, and the Hawkeye football record book still reflects how brilliant he was.

More on that later.

Big changes in the Big Ten.

And I’m not talking about basketball coaches being fired or Joe Paterno finally retiring as Penn State’s football coach.

I’m talking about presidents.

Big Ten university presidents, that is.

Let me make the point right away that golf is not my favorite game, probably because I am terrible at it.

I am the ultimate hacker. I might play two or three times a year, and dig up dirt in the fairway with my 2-iron the way a gardener digs up the soil while planting radishes.

I often tell people that I like to play either nine holes or one shot. If my drive off the No. 1 tee goes into the road or the soybean field bordering the course, I know it’s not going to be good day.

If you’re in that group, I’m going to tell you something that may make you mad.

Some of your neighbors may be getting the paper free. And they’ll probably get it free next week, too.

That’s right, free.

"I ran into a guy on my way to the ballpark the other night,’’ he explained. "The guy said, ‘Hey, Deace, when are you going to get back on the air?’’’

Obviously, the man who asked that question must either have spent the last few months digging out of the snow in Siberia or the power company has shut off his electricity.

Deace has been a definite force in the Central Iowa sports talk radio market since being fired by KJJC and hired by KXTK.

A story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, headlined, "FSU Dynasty ‘Is Not Over Yet,’’’ says the 72-year-old Bowden figures he’s going to have a pretty good 2002 team.

The reason people in these parts have a special interest in what Bowden is saying about his team is that Iowa State plays Florida State in the Eddie Robinson Classic on Aug. 24 at Kansas City.

Naturally, Cyclone fans were hoping the Seminoles, who had an 8-4 record last season, wouldn’t be thinking in terms of national championships anytime soon.

"Bruce Kimm would seem to be a great choice,’’ the man said.

Kimm, of course, is the Iowa Cubs’ manager.

He also is Whitey Herzog’s favorite Triple-A manager.

Turn back the clock to when Herzog shocked people in Des Moines last January by saying Kimm was a victim of reverse racism because he’s white.

Herzog, who was a longtime major league manager, said Kimm was among those "really getting it stuck to them’’ because he’s not a minority.

If I were interested in betting a buck or two--and I’m sure not going to bet a buck or two on any basketball players—I’d say Evans will be drafted late in the second round and Recker won’t be drafted at all.

Let’s hope Recker, who already has his degree from Iowa, had the good sense to take some foreign language courses along the way. He’ll likely need them where he’s headed for his next basketball league.

Shane Power, the only Iowa State basketball player to start all 31 games this past season, said today he has quit the Cyclones’ program and is transferring to an unnamed school.

"I want to thank Coach (Larry) Eustachy for the two years I had at Iowa State,’’ Power said in a statement. "I felt it was in my best interest to leave ISU and pursue other opportunities.

"I want to thank my teammates and wish them luck and thank the coaching staff for all of their support.’’

"I’m guessing that rainbow means you’re going to have good luck next fall,’’ a guy told McCarney.

"Hey, I hope you’re right,’’ the coach said. "Some people are ready to bury us, so it’s great to see the rainbow!’’

He’s seen some very strong Hawkeye teams and some not-so-strong Hawkeye teams.

He has watched Iowa play in Rose Bowls, he has watched Iowa go 0-11.

The important thing is that, although the guy is a fan, he is a sensible fan. He can be a critic, and often is. He calls things the way he sees them. If there’s something he doesn’t think is so good, he says so.

The necklace with a cross was given to Iowa State football player Lane Danielsen nearly a year ago on the day before his mother’s funeral, and he wore it constantly until last Nov. 24.

Now the newspaper does have that glut of columnists, and we’ve all been watching.

And evidently so has the new editor.

Well, actually, it looks like he’s tired of watching.

The buzz around the newsroom is that Paul Anger, the editor, told Shirley Ragsdale that the Register has too many columnists and that he’d like her to move to another job.

"Why was that gray-haired man crying on TV?’’ she asked.

"Because he’s Kansas’ basketball coach and his team lost,’’ I answered. "If I were him, I’d be crying, too.’’

"Why?’’ Mom asked.

"Because he was supposed to have the best team in all of college basketball.’’

"He takes losing kind of hard, doesn’t he?’’ Mom asked. "I feel sorry for him.’’

Rev. David Mumm, pastor of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Des Moines and a frequent contributor to this column, e-mailed me after returning from a trip to Texas.

"On the way home from our vacation in Texas, I was listening to a sports channel (ESPN, I think), and one of the guests proposed an interesting idea relative to the college basketball season,’’ he wrote.

"The concept is based on two premises: That no one really likes the postseason conference tournaments, and that there needs to be a more equitable way of including the fringe teams in the tournament.

Lisa Stone dished out the words Tuesday that Drake’s women’s basketball fans wanted to hear.

"I like our chances,’’ the Bulldogs’ coach said of Saturday’s NCAA Sweet 16 matchup against South Carolina in the East Regional at Raleigh, N.C.

"It’s great to be working this week—that’s all I’ve got to say. It’s terrific.’’

"Competition makes me better,’’ Cotlar said. "It makes me work harder.’’

Cotlar, who just turned 50, is a central player in the hot radio sports-talk struggle for listeners in the Des Moines market. Since Dec. 3, he’s teamed with Jim Walden on the 4-to-7 p.m. show on KXNO.

The Ohio State game was one the Hawkeyes could have won. But, as happened so often in the regular season, they couldn’t play defense, committed too many turnovers (19) and got outcoached.

So they lost, 81-64, to abruptly halt a dream some fans were having that they would—for the second consecutive year—sweep four consecutive games in the tournament and go into the NCAA tournament on a high.

The date: Oct. 17, 2001

The occasion: Drake’s preseason basketball press day, featuring Coach Kurt Kanaskie, standout sophomore Luke McDonald and the other Bulldogs.

Before reporters had a chance to interview McDonald and the other players, Kanaskie startled some people when he made this comment:

The Iowa basketball fans who have lost faith in Steve Alford should listen to Bill Rowe.

"Steve is going to do a good job at Iowa,’’ Rowe said. "He’s too thorough a coach. He doesn’t overlook anything.’’

Rowe is in his 20^th year as the athletic director at Southwest Missouri State. He took a chance on Alford in 1995, hiring him from a Division III coaching job at Manchester College, and never doubted he did the right thing.

"I’d love to have a son of mine playing for Steve,’’ Rowe said. "I know his values. I know what he cares for. I know Iowa isn’t winning all of its games this season, but I have every confidence in the world that he’ll do well.’’

They had to use a sad reason to call off the last day of the Big Ten Conference Indoor track and field championships last weekend at Minneapolis.

It took a death to do it.

Kevin Dare, a 19-year-old Penn State sophomore, died Saturday after falling head-first into the 8-inch deep metal pole vault box...

The last thing Denise Seomin thought when she was riding in a bus filled with men—all of them Iowa State baseball players and coaches--was that she’d someday be cruising the world’s oceans in massive, sleek ships.

The last thing Seomin thought when she was assisting a TV crew while fighting the effects of a blizzard and brutal cold during a November football game at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames was that she’d someday be stopping at all sorts of warm, exotic ports of call.

Yes, life has changed considerably for Denise Seomin.

Maybe you’ve spent the winter visiting relatives in Upper Central Siberia.

Maybe you’ve been basking in the sun on the Canary Islands or cruising the Nile.

Maybe you’ve been without Internet access while in Costa del Sol.

Maybe—and, hey, let’s hope this certainly isn’t the case—you’ve been without access to this website while traveling anywhere in the world.

But if any, or all, of the above has been going on, you may not realize that this has been a collegiate basketball season that is very forgettable.

In other words, Iowa is a team without hope.

It is a team with no heart.

It is a team of underachievers.

It is a team that is giving every indication, in mid-February, that it’s ready to call it a season.

White kept calling Drew Gooden, a talented Kansas forward, by the name Dwight Gooden. Dwight Gooden was a well-known major league baseball pitcher.

White felt so badly about calling Gooden—the Kansas version--by the wrong name that he apologized to him the next day.

Under normal circumstances, I’d be the last guy in the world to say a collegiate basketball team should make the National Invitation Tournament—from now on in this essay to be known as the NIT—its goal.

But these are not normal circumstances and this is not a normal season.

I have learned that there are 17 things wrong with Iowa’s underachieving basketball team. However, I can print only 15 of them because the other two were laced with so much profanity that I don’t want to drive the pastor of my church away from this column. He has been a loyal reader and contributor.

The publisher has done her talking.

The new editor is on board.

It’s time for the Des Moines Register—once a wonderful newspaper, but now a wounded, fairly ordinary newspaper—to prove there’s still something left in the tank.

Mary P. Stier, the publisher, is hoping that Paul Anger, the new editor, can provide some much-needed hope for the future.

Larry Cotlar, who has been around the block a few times as a sports talk radio host, called me at home one day. But I wasn’t there to answer the phone. So I later saw him at an Iowa State basketball game, and got an update on his wanderings.

It turns out he’s back in Des Moines, working the 4-to-7 p.m. weekday shift at KXNO.

Cotlar said he’s been in talk radio in such places as Las Vegas, Chicago and St. Louis, in addition to Des Moines. So I figured he’d be the ideal guy to answer my question: Is Des Moines too small to support the three sports talk stations it now has?

One of my sons has a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Nebraska.

His wife has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Nebraska.

I have lots of friends from Lincoln and Omaha.

I have lots of friends who live in Iowa, and are Cornhusker fans.

Some of them even fly Nebraska flags on game-day.