Grady Gallagher | Blogger

Ladies and gentlemen. What’s good??????

It’s been awhile (Staind voice). Hope everyone’s in the swing of 2nd semester. So many activities. So many topics I haven’t had the chance to talk about. So much facial hair has been grown on my face (not really, but kinda). What do I say? Where do I start? How many followers have I gained/lost? Gosh, I need a haircut. Welcome to the FIRST EVER two part edition of my blog. Exciting stuff. In order to get to everything, let’s take back the night (Cleverly included JT lyric)…..

……to the day after the SuperBowl. Yes, my preseason prediction of Seahawks vs Broncos was perfect and yes, I predicted the Seahawks to win (not by domination, but still win). That’s really all I have to say about the game, but the biggest thing I learned from the game is that the Seahawks aren’t done. I’ll make my prediction right now: they’ll win it next year too.

Next up, shout out to Coach Van Haaften on his 350th win which happened a few weeks ago. And good luck to the Beaver Men’s and Women’s teams in their games coming up this week. I’m excited to see the student section on Saturday resulting from the Stulc grind. For those of you that have no idea what I just said, just come to the game Saturday. Please.

Ah, what else. Iowa’s loss against Michigan State might end up costing them a share of the regular season title (nice). Iowa State has gotten walloped by West Va, had Ejim go offfffff, and pulled off a win at Okie State that almost eclipsed an all-time flappy bird score. Almost. Although, both teams are setting themselves up for deep tournament runs. For Iowa, I think it comes down to Aaron White actually showing up for a big game. For the Clones, if they get hot from 3, they’ll be tough, real tuff.

Speaking of hot from 3…. Wraggeeeeeeeeeeee. If you are lost, I’m speaking of Ethan Wragge and the Creighton, who remind me a lot of the Drake team of 2008. Just lights out. Anyway, back to Wragge. I’m talking about Creighton’s first meeting against Villanova (who’s really, really good) at Nova. I’ve never seen anything like it. Some of us guys were watching while eating dinner and just getting pumped up. Seriously, Creighton was CALIENTE (hot in Spanish). I think their first eight possessions they hit eight 3’s or something. And Wragge had four or five immediately and a couple were absolute bombs. And they just kept hitting. Seriously, we were watching and the game is just over. Everybody knows it. Nova knows it. And it didn’t stop in the second half. I hope they never replay that game again, ever. Those who didn’t see it live don’t get to see it, ever……

(Quick tangent)….. Speaking of seeing it live…. My roommate and I went to a Justin Timberlake concert up in St. Paul two Sunday nights ago, Feb 9th (Nick Clark’s birthday), and you know I couldn’t write a blog and not mention this at some point.

• Describe it in one word, G.
o Indescribable
• Anything surprise you?
o The population of women 35+ years old was surprising. I’m sure they probably liked him in his NYSNC days, but those are dead and gone. (See what I did there?)
• How were the roads up and back?
o Fine, thanks.
• What you wear?
o Curry Jersey
• What was the best part?
o Seeing T Kast add JT’s album to his Spotify playlist after the concert.
• Would you do it again?
o I’m torn, it was soooo good, but should I solidify it as my only concert experience of all time? It’s tough. I’d love to see him again.
• What was the best part of the concert?
o I got chills when he performed “TKO” and “Mirrors.” The dude is just an entertainer that can sing and dance so unbelievably well. The entire concert: just him and his band, three hours, singing, moving and dancing the entire time. I cannot wrap my head around how he does it. Truly amazing.

Alright, I’m done, sorry I had to. Back to Creighton……

If Doug McDermott doesn’t win player of the year this season, I’m never watching another game of college basketball. Write that down. What amazes me about McBuckets (great nickname, McDonalds needs to jump on him for advertising next year) is how he brings it every single night. Coaches probably spend weeks preparing for him and all defensive drills in practice for opponents focus on him, yet he’ll get 36. I think some coaches probably walk away from games where he has 26-30 and think, “Man, we did a pretty good job on him tonight.” That’s just insane. While he’s no Steph Curry or D. Lillard, where mid-major meets superstardom, Doug McDermott will be a solid NBA player for 8-10 years. He can score in any way, he’s smart, he’s a work horse, he’s got great hair, and I think he could play on multiple teams. Some guys just need to find the right system, but Doug is better than that. The Warriors could sure use him right now…….

Speaking of the Warriors, how bout that All-Star start for Steph!!!! Big time. Yes, he didn’t shoot well in the game or in the 3 pt contest but it’s about recognition. He’s just gearing up for the big second half of the season. Nobody’s going to have to do more for their team this half than Steph is. And, just to remind any of you who may not be obsessive like me…. Here’s a look at Steph’s first half of this season compared to D Rose in 2010-2011, when HE WON THE MVP.

PLAYER PPG APG SPG FG% 3P% PlayerEffiencyRating
Stephen Curry (2013-14) 23.8 24.6 9 1.7 0.461 0.409
Derrick Rose (2010-11) 25 7.7 1 0.445 0.332 23.5

No, he’s not the MVP, that’s KD or LeBron for sure, but he’s having a fantastic, 1st Team All-NBA caliber season.

Speaking of KD, I have to say I LOVE the nickname Slim Reaper. I literally think it’s the coolest nickname ever. Check that, it’s a toss-up between that and McBuckets.

This is the end of Part 1……..