The Hyball: What Sports Teams Got You Through It?

By Bobby Loesch on December 8, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Dynasty, Yo
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The Hyball is a weekly basketball column.

Been in my feelings these last few days about Michigan football making the CFP and being favored in its first game.

(I promise this intro is not about Michigan football.)

These tender thoughts are less about the 2022 Wolverines on a micro level and more about sports in a big picture sense. Remember when it all just vanished in 2020? The dark period was about 100 days. How did we do it?

I mean, don't actually answer that. This week's not that heavy.

Sports distract in the best possible way sometimes. It's 4:15 p.m. as I write this, and the sun is nearly gone for the day. Winter is my least favorite season, and I am very grateful to follow men and women's college basketball, the NBA, the NHL, college football, the NFL (with no endorsement), and men's and women's tennis (what up, Aussie Open?). If you are trying to get through the worst season, let one or all of those leagues be your north star. Or... south star, really.

But sports don't keep us from fixating on slippery sidewalks or frozen windshields. They can help healthily take your mind off a bad boss or difficult personal relationship. I begin every morning by looking up the sports slate. It sets up the dynamic of the day in the exact same way checking the weather does.

And even as college football's regular season concludes -- oh what, what will we do with our Saturdays?! -- there's still always that light in the distance. I'm sure most of you know, off the top of your head, New Year's Eve day will begin with our Iowa Hawkeyes in the Music City Bowl vs. Kentucky. Do we have quarterbacks? Friend, we do not. Do they? Friend, they don't. But are you still gonna watch? Friend, you are.

Going back to macro appreciation of sports, it got me thinking about who my Team of the Year would be for each year I've been a sports fan. Who should I appreciate the most for performing well and making even more sports exist through their successes? The title years are easy, but what about the non-title years? Did at least one squad give me a memorable post-season run, or, at bare minimum, a regular season worth following?

I've you've read this column in the past, you know I am an Iowa, Michigan, and Washington State fan in the college sports realm. For pros, it's a little more centralized. Mostly Chicago teams (Bulls, Bears, Sox, Blackhawks, Sky) and my high school alma mater (Neuqua Valley in Naperville, IL). Uh, um... as well as the New England Patriots, Chelsea, Roger Federer, etc.

So with all that in mind, I put together a comprehensive list. Some notes and rules:

  • Gold = won a title
  • Born in '86, so my first real conscious sports memories are around '92
  • This means the '85 Bears are out (I was in the womb!)
  • As are the '91 Bulls (first MJ title over the Lakers)
  • Excluded tennis, USA hoops/soccer, and golf due to those being sub-three week runs
  • But hey, make your own rules
  • Third column is a related, defining memory

Without further adieu:

Team of the Year (Bobby)

Some wild stats:

  • More years with titles than without; so GD spoiled
  • 2002 was the last year all pro teams I root for didn't make the playoffs; only other time was '99
  • Longest drought without a title (four years) still featured two Super Bowl appearances (one respectable, one Rex Grossman)
  • Sadly no Iowa on this list; the '02 Iowa football team absolutely woulda made it, but I didn't become a fan until '04; our memorable hoops teams can't seem to get out of the first weekend lately

Told a friend about this, and his version was way cooler than mine. He extended it past his favorite teams and made it more about what brought him the most sports joy. As a troll/White Sox fan, he included the '03 (Bartman) and '17 (weak title defense) Cubs, when the Yankees lost the '01 World Series, and some of the more marquee March Madness upsets, as some examples. But he's also an NIU fan, and he had their Orange Bowl appearance in '13 above his Blackhawks actually winning the Stanley Cup title that same year.

We all have our values, and you know I love your favorites -- so let's see yours; promise it'll kill at least an hour to research and make, but it's really damn rewarding. And we need that brightness before the snow buries us all.

The Hyball

"Grieving someone you didn't know is still grief."

Last Week

12/6 - No. 15 Duke 74, Iowa 62: Ugggggh, so we can't shoot anymore? Also only nine shots for our all-American hopeful. Eeeeek.

...Bowen though.

This Week

12/8 - Iowa vs. Iowa State (20): Follow the ladies' lead, gents. Iowa is favored by 3.5 in this one, and we could really use a hang-your-hat-on win in non-conference.

12/11 - Iowa vs. Wisconsin: The women also already banked a Sconnie win this year, so, again, yeah, go do that.

Caitlin Corner Molly Mound

Sat down to watch the NC State game on DVR, and as I was loading it up with a SportsCenter broadcast on in the background, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt was just putting the finishing statement on his "Caitlin Clark scored a lot but Iowa lost" highlights. This is why I typically put on History Channel or Discovery Channel as my "safe" channel when DVRing something; rookie move to keep a sports channel on as the default.

* * *

But as we said above in the men's preview, Wisconsin was better for WBB. This Molly Davis Euro floater is exquisite.

Also, I've dogged on Connor a lot for his mid-play grumbling in the past, but Queen C complaining as she's assisting is next level.

(Molly nailed the three at the end, so she gets the section name this week.)

* * *

The Iowa State win on Wednesday night was the icing on the cake of a solid 2-1 week. Caitlin Clark rebounded from early poor shooting in the first quarter and finished with a near triple double. I personally lost my shit at three different Kate Martin plays (two threes, including a bank that didn't count, and an absolutely sick block).

Rafters Ring
Just Another Drum Track
Obligatory Michigan Section

Rough hoops week when Jaden Ivey (presumably losing a football bet) is your highlight.

The lowlight? Starting PG (and Princeton transfer) Jaelin Llewellyn suffered a torn ACL in Michigan's loss to Kentucky in London. Glass half empty thinking says this fully sinks the season. Glass half full says there are some talented -- albeit young -- guards who can potentially learn on the fly and hopefully be more polished once they get a few dozen games under their belts. Leaning toward the former but hoping for the latter.

The Mini-Hybrid

I am all out on Deion Sanders.

This was so good:

On field Iowa:

Off field Iowa: CADE, BABY.

Nothing can take away this excitmen--

oh no he sad now

In all seriousness, I've been asked a lot who Iowa is getting in Cade McNamara. I've watched the majority of his college career, and well, honestly, it's really hard to talk about him, even positively, without sounding either dismissive or coach speak-y. I'd call Cade:

- Tenacious
- Competitive
- A leader
- Competent
- An adult in the room

I realize none of those terms are really in the same category as "4.4 40" or "laser rocket arm" or "built like a brick house." Because, well, he's not those things. But he really is everything else. He's a Big Ten champion. An Ohio State killa. He led Michigan to their first ever Big Ten title game and first ever CFP appearance.

Honestly, the upgrade from Petras to McNamara alone has me excited. But what would really hype me up is if he's able to get more people (TE Erick All*, anyone?) to join him.

(* - ND and Washington are his other two finalists, alongside Iowa)

Also I wrote this whole section avoiding calling him a "game manager on steroids" only to find out he, too, does not want to be labeled that way.

"I don't want to be labeled as a game manager anymore,” McNamara said on The Room podcast. “I know the type of offense Iowa has had in the past. They told me we're not looking to stay this way. We're well aware that we need to change in order to be back as contenders for the Big Ten championship."

Here's to KF not actually lying when he told Cade this.

Bill Walton's Western Civilization 
No Context College Basketball
Wrapping It Up...

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy or email to bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.

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