An array of Iowa State sports links, plus IWC paid subscriber perks

All of the Cyclones' most high-profile programs are ranked among the top ten nationally. It's also time for the IWC monthly Zoom — as well as info on the holiday party for paid subscribers

I both enjoy and dread what we call “crossover season” in my coverage of Iowa State athletics. Football season is chugging along, and the No. 10 Cyclones are 7-0 for the second time in program history and the first time since 1938. The men’s and women’s basketball teams rank among the top 10 nationally in the AP’s preseason poll, and the wrestling program will be highly ranked, as well.

My mother-in-law, Becky Rike, poses for a photo with Iowa State star point guard Tamin Lipsey at a recent tailgating event. Photo credit: Me.

So these are salad days for ISU, which is boldly punching way above its weight in this topsy-turvy NIL era.

With that said, please find links below to my recent stories about each of these programs:

**Cyclone quarterback Rocco Becht said he “knew he was gonna score” the game-winning touchdown in last week’s thrilling comeback win over UCF that kept his team undefeated.

**Early wake-up calls help frame success for ISU’s top-five men’s basketball team.

**ISU star Audi Crooks expects her team to hit all the high notes this season.

**”You’re gonna see a better Yonger,” standout Cyclone heavyweight Yonger Bastida said in advance of his final season in a cardinal and gold singlet.

It’s a busy time but it’s also a heady time. There’s no era in ISU history in which all of these programs have ranked among the nation’s elite, so thanks for your support — and I’ll keep grinding as fall fades into winter.

Also, for paid subscribers, please find some links to perks below (after the links to my fine colleagues in the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative).

I’m SO PROUD (nod to Paul Rhoads) to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please peruse the list below and subscribe as you’re able. Thanks!

Also, please subscribe to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Weekly Round-Up column:

Click here

Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Rekha Basu: Rekha shouts and whispers, Des Moines

Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities

Dartanyan Brown, My Integrated Life, Des Moines

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Jane Burns: The Crossover, Des Moines

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup

Rachelle Chase: Reading with Rachelle, Ottumwa

Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Taylor Deckert: Taylor's Millenial Mindset, Sioux City

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Randy Evans: Stray Thoughts, Des Moines via Bloomfield

Daniel Finney, Paragraph Stacker, Des Moines

Marianne Fons, Reporting from Quiltropolis, Winterset

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Dennis Goldford: Let's Talk Politics, Clive

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Avery Gregurich: The Five and Dime, Marengo

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Phoebe Wall Howard: Shifting Gears, Detroit area (Michigan)

Iowa Capital Dispatch, an alliance with IWC

Dana James: Black Iowa News, Iowa

Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, Iowa City

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Vicki Minor, Relatively Minor, Winterset

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Ty Rushing, Ty's Take, Iowa City

Steve Semken, The Pulse of a Heartland Publisher, North Liberty

Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Bill Tubbs: Impressions, Eldridge

Jason Walsmith, The Racontourist, Earlham

Kali White VanBaale, 988: Mental Healthcare in Iowa, Bondurant

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines