Cael Bails on Iowa State - Wrapup

I purposefully decided to wait a bit to write this post; I wanted to get past my emotions about Cael's departure and write about it after more information came to light and as the Cyclone Wrestling team began the transistion to the post-Sanderson era.

The Good News:

Iowa State has a new Wrestling coach and he's a good one. Kevin Jackson is a former Cyclone All-American, Captain of a Iowa State National Championship team, Gold Medalist in the Barcelona Olympics, and USA Wrestling's National Freestyle Coach for the last several years. 

His coaching resume, while not proven collegiately (yet), is outstanding on an international level. He's shown success a coach at the level that all recruits aspire to one day reach - which is outstanding; one could make the comparison that if this was football not wrestling, he's the equivilent of a Superbowl-winning NFL coach come back to his alma mater as HC.

So far, he's been able to salvage 8 of the 10 returning letterwinners (one of the transfer's being Sanderson's youngest brother, senior-to-be Cyler) and 2 of the 4 recruits in the class which keeps us in contention for a national title next year (but less so than before Cael's decision to leave).

Last thoughts on Cael:

Now that Cael is officially gone and things have been held together in Ames, one question remains: Why did he leave?

As I've written before, he was the highest paid coach in the country, coaching at his alma mater, who had given him everything he asked for, with his brother a senior-to-be on the team, and in front of a fanbase that loved him - so why leave?

I'm not sure that we'll ever really get the answer but for two interesting perspectives, I offer up the following from two brothers: this from current Cyclone grappler Duke Burk's brother Danny and this from Cael's brother and assistant Cody.

Burk offer's some interesting, logical, and quite possibly nail-on-the-head accurete conjecture:

It is often possible that even the best feel they need to get away from certain situations. For whatever reason, even when they seem to have everything they could want, they feel the need to get away. The situation with Cael Sanderson fits the mold perfectly for this exact type of behavior.

He goes on to specify the following two reasons:

• Cael probably didn't like the pressure of being compared to Iowa (which is more so at in-state rival Iowa State than conference rival Penn State). Burk doesn't mention it but Cyclone athlete-turned-Hawkeye coach Dan Gable's success in the role probably excaberated the pressure.
• He may have felt too much pressure to win from Iowa State fans; losses from Cael Sanderson never jibed, each one was a let down to fans. Iowa State fans may have "loved him too much" as the icon that is (was).

As I said, Danny Burk's thoughts make a lot of sense and is probably the closest-to-the-program information that we'll see in a public forum. I'm glad he shared them.

As for the thoughts from Cody, they provide an interesting perspective on how hard the decision was and how little Cael's closest confidents knew in the process.

Cael Bails on Iowa State - Part 3

What does this mean for Iowa State?

On the surface, this hurts wrestling in the short term. We lose our coach, likely many of our recruits (including the top ranked recruit in the country), and perhaps much of our current team due to the easy transfer rules in wrestling.

We were poised for a fourth consecutive conference title and a healthy run at the national title and that isn't likely (unless the men can do it out of motivation for Cael ditching them for the money in "Happy Valley"). 

However, we were a top wrestling school before Cael and will continue be so after him. I'm upset about him leaving but don't think it's a long term detriment for the program (assuming we can weather the arms race of coaching salaries that Penn State initiated).

The bigger problem that the situation illustrates is the fact that Cael Sanderson bailed on Iowa State. Recent years have been rough in Ames and this year has been one of the worst. The firing of Larry Eustachy, the successful basketball coach we thought we be around forever, and the defection of Gene Chizik, the unsuccessful football coach that we all thought had us poised for future success, each made us a bit of joke. The lack of success in those two programs (the two that matter most at any school) makes everyone in the athletic department uncomfortable and, unfortunately, we're always waiting for the next shoe to drop.

No one, anywhere, thought that said shoe would be the defection of Cael Sanderson. The surprise of that development makes me question the entire state of athletics in Ames.

Cael Bails on Iowa State - Part 2

What does it mean to me?

I've had an uncomfortable feeling about Cael leaving ever since I first saw the internet rumors last night. It's physically bothered me and I've had to stop and ask myself why. I'm not a wrestling fan, per se; I've never wrestled myself and actually struggle to understand the scoring.

However, I love my Iowa State. My friends here in Indianapolis actually joke about my dedication in the fact that I'll ignore a NCAA men's regional being played in town to watch the women's team compete for the Sweet 16 in basketball on TV. I've been to baseball games (when we had them) and even the occasional volleyball and gymnastics meet. I usually get to at least one basketball game a year and even though I live 7.5 hours away I buy season tickets for football make it to most games. 

For that reason, the defection of Cael Sanderson bothers me.

Cael's Legacy at Iowa State

Iowa State was in a similar position years ago when the first "greatest wrestler ever" was competing for Iowa State, Dan Gable. Gable wanted to coach and Iowa State did not have a spot for him so they let him get away and he want on to become the greatest coach ever at our rival school. That's a tough pill to swallow but, fortunately, it did not stop the only wrestler ever to best Gable's collegiate record from choosing Iowa State.

Cael is not only a wrestling icon but also an Iowa State icon (several fans named their sons in his honor after his collegiate career wrapped). He, along with his three brothers all, wrestled for the school and were literally a Cyclone family. He won the conference in each year he coached and was perennially within reach of a National Title. He was the highest paid person in his profession in the country and was believed to be in his dream job (coaching at his alma mater) at only 30 years old. Which begs the question, why leave at all (much less for a lesser program)? 

Unfortunately, it seems like the "money" is the likely answer.

Cael Bails on Iowa State - Part 1

What happened?

In what can only be described as unbelievable to any Cyclone fan, Iowa State lost it's wrestling coach today when Cael Sanderson accepted the same job at Penn State. Sanderson, the greatest collegiate wrestler ever, had been employed by Iowa State since he graduated - first as a "special ambassador" while he trained for the 2004 Olympics, then as an assistant coach for one season, and finally as the head coach for the last three years.

Cael, the only wrestler to ever go undefeated in collegiate wrestling (159-0), is the third Sanderson brother to letter at ISU. The last Sanderson brother, Cyler, is a senior on the current squad.

Cael is a wrestling icon and until today was viewed as a Cyclone stalwart. He was the highest paid wrestling coach in the country at about $130,000/year. Penn State was rumored to have offered him $500,000 per year which is obviously a big jump and something that would be hard for anyone to turn down.

Wrestling, an obscure non-revenue sport, has a tradition of pride at Iowa State. While the news of Cael leaving made was barely mentioned in the national sports media, it dominated the Iowa State sports news for the last two days. Iowa State is one of the top five wrestling schools nationally and under Cael's leadership had won the Big 12 title three consecutive years.

Penn State has a much larger athletic budget than Iowa State and is looking to bring its wrestling program from irrelevance to prominence by buying the Sanderson name. While unparalleled as a wrestler, Cael has not achieved such dominance as a coach, yet, though his iconic status attracts recruits like few others.

The Impact

If the $500k rumor turns out to be true, Penn State will likely have hastened the demise of collegiate wrestling. By not only buying their relevance but effectively raising the bar 5 times, other top schools will be forced to match.

Penn State conference rivals such as Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio State, who've had considerably more success, will have to raise salaries either to keep their current coaches happy or at the very least out of pride. Thanks to a great revenue model, they'll be able to do this. 

Several of the Big 12 programs will match suit and raise salaries, too.

The impact will come at others schools - the ones that are already on the verge of cutting the sport. Many schools, most recently the University of Oregon, have cut wrestling due to concerns over Title IX equity and shrinking athletic budgets. The ones trying to make the death knell decision will have a harder time when they consider what will become an "arms race" in coaching salaries just to be competitive. Arms races exist all over collegiate sports (football coaching salaries, basketball facilities, etc) but for the most part haven't touched the non-revenue sports such as wrestling. They hurt football and basketball programs, too, but these programs have the capability to recoup somewhat through ticket fees and TV revenues, wrestling doesn't have that option.

I'm sure the choice wasn't easy for Cael but his decision has been made. I'm sure the money is a blessing and I'm sure that Penn State is tickled at their fortune. The news is not so good for collegiate wrestling and is terrible for Iowa State but it's time to move on.

Iowa Affirms Rights for Samesex Marriage

For an expatriate Iowan(1), I think that I keep up on the news back home better than most. However, I missed the fact that the Iowa Supreme Court was set to issue it's decision regarding a challenge to state's ban on samesex marriage last Friday.

Thanks to the magic of the Interwebs, I was fully up to speed within a few minutes of logging on that morning. It started through Twitter, where there were a plethora of posts announcing that the Supreme Court's website had been over-trafficed and brought down prior to the decision being announced. Over the next several hours the site was restored and news sites like the Des Moines Register reported that news that the gay marriage ban had been (unaminously) overturned.

I don't want to get too far into the politics here so I'll just say I was pleased with the ruling.

I was more than a bit surprised at the positive reaction to the news throughout my social networks. The buzz was all over Twitter and Facebook. Tweets and status updates were littered with posts boasting pride in Iowa's progressive decision and the example that it has set for the nation. 

When it comes to politics, Iowa and it's "first in the nation" status is prominently featured at the beginning of each Presidential Election. Otherwise, we don't get a lot of notoriety - except for decisions like these.

State Senate Majority Leader Mike Grostal and State House Speaker Pat Murphy issued a joint press release applauding the decision that also featured other progressive moves the state has made in its history:

Iowa has always been a leader in the area of civil rights. 

In 1839, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected slavery in a decision that found that a slave named Ralph became free when he stepped on Iowa soil, 26 years before the end of the Civil War decided the issue. 

In 1868, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated “separate but equal” schools had no place in Iowa, 85 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision. 

In 1873, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination in public accommodations, 91 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision. 

In 1869, Iowa became the first state in the union to admit women to the practice of law. 

In the case of recognizing loving relationships between two adults, the Iowa Supreme Court is once again taking a leadership position on civil rights.

Great job, Iowa. 

(1)Well, kind of, sometimes Indiana seems like an entirely different country.

Basketball Players Are Getting the Heck Out of Iowa

I don't know what's going on but the University of Iowa has had three Men's basketball players announce transfers in the past few weeks.

Not to be outdone by UIowa in anything, the Iowa State Cyclones have had two players announce transfers just this week (with one or two more rumored to be considering transferring, too).

What the heck is going on?

As a Cyclone fan, I suppose the optimistic view is that the Hawkeye players appear to be bigger losses to their team than the seldom used freshman leaving Ames. The former-Hawkeyes also appear to be leaving due to unease and discontent (aside from Jake Kelly's understandable homesickness) whereas the Cyclone players have all stated their leaving to find squads where they can get more playing time.

Either teams woes would be cured with a solid winning season and a nice berth in 2010 Tourney.

63rd Annual Indiana University Business Conference

Cross posted with the Kelley School of Business "BizBlog"

I had the pleasure of attending the 63rd Annual Indiana University Business Conference put on by our very own Kelley School. This was my second time attending the conference and I was a little concerned that this year's event wouldn't live up to my expectations after last year's great event that featured presentations by the CEO's of FedEx Corporation, Simon Property Management, The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Langham Logistics as well as Indiana University President Michael McRobbie and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels - but it did.

At first blush, this year's speakers didn't jump out at me as the same level of "household names" as before. However, that doesn't mean that they (and their companies) weren't impressive or didn't provide equal or greater value to those of us in attendance - they certainly did.

These year's lineup included Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, Bill McKibben, Environmentalist, Amory Lovins, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Michael Evans, Founder and President of AIT Laboratories, Douglas Lattner, Chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting and Michael Rippey, President of ArcelorMittal USA.

The moderator and keynote speaker was New York Times Columnist David Brooks (who is a household name, despite what I mentioned earlier) was amusing, informative and insightful in his discussion of political leadership in the midst of this economic crisis. He offered behind-the-scenes stories and personal impressions of both President Obama and the second President Bush that put into perspective how I view those in power.

As good as Mr. Brooks keynote was, my favorite presentation was actually by Mr. Lovins, whose physical appearance matches his title of "Chief Scientist" but his communication skills do not. His presentation was quite understandable for the non-technical 50,000 foot decision makers in the room as well as compelling in its arguments (such as the value in automotive and aviation companies switching from steel to carbon fiber for construction materials).

In a first for me, I attempted to keep a running Twitter account of the goings on throughout the day and was joined in by others hailing from the Bloomington and IU East campuses (click here for the archive at #kelleyconf).

I would strongly recommend that any Kelley student, especially those of us evening MBA candidates who have lost our continuing education budgets in our full time jobs, take full advantage of the no-cost or low-cost opportunities provided for learning of this kind. The next one is coming up quickly - register now for the IU Entrepreneurial Connection event in Bloomington on March 27th.

Click below for posts on Social Media Fanatic about the event:

• Tweeting from the Indiana Univ Annual Business Conference
• #KelleyConf Hashtag

Southwest Airlines' Rapping Flight Attendent

I don't fly Southwest very often but I do respect how they do business (see my post on seeing founder, Herb Kelleher present in Bloomington) and apparently that includes rapping the pre-flight address.

He's right - you're not going to hear that on United Airlines.

Nesting

Hope has just entered her third trimester and apparently that means that we're in full nesting mode.

This past week we had the majority of the first floor of the house repainted. Tomorrow (Saturday) is scheduled to be when we paint the nursery (ourselves). We're also planning to head out to buy a guest bed, so that those of your who make your way to Indy to visit Baby Blueberry don't have to sleep on the a mattress on the floor.

Future nesting plans include new couches and area rug for the living room and a fence for the backyard (my choice). 

What recession?

Pledge to End Hunger

Have you taken the pledge?