By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

Believe it or not, I’m lacking things to write about this week. Sure, there is the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini drama, but this is not a tabloid. You can Google that situation if you want. It’s great if you like reality TV. Besides that, nothing much has happened this week that has grabbed major headlines. So, for this week, I’m doing a buy and a sell. One of my favorite podcasts does this each week, and I’m stealing it from them. Thank you, “Brilliantly Dumb Show.” Plus, I’ll throw in my favorite clip of the week.

Buy: The NBA Playoffs

I already wrote about the NBA Play-In and how exciting it was. So far, the first round of the playoffs have been just as exciting. There have been plenty of close games, big plays and developing story lines. If there was one thing I could sell about the playoffs, it is the late tip-times. Games played in the west routinely end well past midnight, and that is past my bedtime. Even so, all week long, I have found myself staying up late to watch the conclusion of these games. I can’t get enough of them.

Sell: The NFL Draft

I might be in the minority here, but I’ve never been a fan of watching the NFL draft. Case in point, it was last night, and I opted to watch basketball instead. It didn’t help that the Packers did not have a first-round pick this year, giving me even less reasons to watch. Of course, seeing who the new players who will be coming into the league is exciting. But, even so, the NFL media at this point in the season has next to nothing to talk about besides the draft and which prospects might go where. Mock drafts after mock drafts are released, trades are rumored and, every year, we find out that nobody seems to know much of anything. The mocks are wrong, teams do things we think are dumb, or smart, and none of it matters again for several months until the season starts.

Highlight of the week

This was the best clip I saw all week, and it is an early contender for the best clip I have seen all year. Have you ever thought that you really wanted to catch a foul ball? Well, you are really only half, or maybe ever a quarter, as determined as this Colorado Rockies fan who gave it his all on this foul ball.

Bonus clip, another foul ball moment, this one much more wholesome and heartwarming, and even lacking catching the ball, but still good enough to give you a smile today. 

Reach out with comments, suggestions, and story ideas to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The NBA has faced a lot of internal and external criticism this season. Fans, players, the media and others have complained about the new 65-game rule. Some are complaining about tanking, and how too many teams are intentionally losing, and how the league is doing a poor job at stopping it. It has been mostly annoying following this discourse. But one change the league made several years ago, the Play-In Tournament, has provided some outstanding basketball games this week.

The Play-In Tournament was conceived as one way to keep games entertaining toward the end of the season. The league and fans felt that toward the end of the season, once many of the playoff spots were locked in, teams stopped trying as much, leading to some less than stellar basketball being played for the final weeks of the season. Previously, the top-eight teams in each conference advanced to the playoffs. Now, teams 7-10 enter the Play-In. The 7 and 8 seeds, and the 9 and 10 seeds play each other. The winner of the 7/8 game advances and is officially the 7 seed. The loser of the 7/8 game plays the winner of the 9/10 game. The winner of that game then becomes the final No. 8 seed.

This is meant to keep the teams in the four, five and six seeds engaged, with fear of slipping into the play-in and losing their guaranteed spot. It also gives the teams in ninth and 10th place a reason to keep trying till the very end of the season. So far, this year’s Play-In has delivered.

Three of the first four games went to down to the wire. A one-point win, a four-point win, and a five-point win. In the fourth game, the Sixers defeated the Magic in a good contest, but nowhere near as crazy as the other three. Here are some of the highlights from the other three.

The most enthralling game was certainly between the Hornets and the Heat. I lost track of how many times my jaw dropped while watching this one. Coby White exploded for 14 points in the third quarter. I mean, just listen to that crowd. Then, in the fourth quarter, time winding down, the Hornets needed three points to send it to OT. White stepped up again. To cap it all off, the team’s star, Lamelo Ball, despite a rough night overall, wins the game with a layup. The game then was quickly sealed by an insane block by teammate Miles Bridges. The Charlotte crowd did not disappoint.

Starting right after that game was Suns vs. Blazers in the West. Now, while this game didn’t have quite as many highlight worthy plays, it was close from start to finish. The main standout? The Deni Avdija of the Blazers, who capped off his 41-point night with a game winner, stunning the Suns fans in attendance.

Also in the west, the Warriors and the Clippers battled back and forth all game long. Kristaps Porzingis, despite hardly playing this season, was fantastic. Al Horford, the oldest player in the league behind only LeBron James, shot the lights out. He hit four straight threes to give the Warriors a late lead. Draymond Green locked up Clippers star Kawhi Leonardwith two steals in the final minute. And, Stephen Curry reminded everyone why he is the greatest shooter to ever touch a basketball floor.

Tomorrow, the Hornets look to continue their storybook season to defeat the Magic and advance to the playoffs. The Warriors face the Suns for the same opportunity. Will the Hornets and Warriors be able to ride the momentum after their unreal games, or will the Magic and Suns bounce back after devastating loses? We will find out Saturday night.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

ACGC and Panorama spring sports have hit the blocks, teed off and kicked off. Or, as best they can. I was prepared to get back into the swing of covering track and field for both schools, seeing as the boys and girls of the Panthers and Chargers have made a habit of qualifying for the state meets. But several meets have already been cancelled. The same goes for golf, a sport I wish I was good at. And, my personal favorite sport, soccer, also fell victim to spring’s fickle weather.  

Even with postponements and cancellations galore, I would still like to take the opportunity to use this column to detail what I am excited to see for each sport, boys and girls, for Panorama and ACGC. You can read more about them in detail in our coming Spring Sports Guide, where I interviewed each team’s head coach ahead of their respective 2026 seasons.

ACGC

The ACGC boys track and field team is coming off of one of its most successful seasons in school history. The Chargers placed second at the state meet and took home a gold medal for good measure. Add in a few more medals and a host of top-10 finishes, and ACGC had quite the 2025 season. Girls track coach, Jacob Lacey, takes the reins this season. He has been assistant in the program for a long time and is aiming the replicate last season’s success.

Speaking of Lacey, his girls track team is also a successful one. Sure, they will be missing Ava Campbell and her prowess in the distance runs, but the team returns several state qualifiers from last season. It should be another successful campaign for them as well.

Lori McGivney had plenty of recruiting to do for the boys golf team, and that she did. McGivney had to make several replacements to last year’s squad but retains her best golfer in Sayer Bireline-Huss. In the team’s first meet, they exceeded her score expectations, and Bireline-Huss placed in the top five overall.

The girls golf team is led by Will Shull for the second year. He and his golfers made great strides in her first season, and, luckily for him, returned basically his entire team from a season ago. The team won its first competition of the season at the Woodward Golf Club, led by an impressive group of seniors. Shull says the team and some individuals will be chasing records this year, so it will be interesting to see how they finish out the season.

Panorama

While interviewing the Panorama girls track team’s head coach, Greg Thompson, we shared a laugh. I asked, “What season is this for you in charge?” He said, “Oh my gosh. I’ve been doing this since 1998.” I did the math for him, since I was born in 1998. This marks his 28^th season leading the Panther girls. And he should be set for another solid year with the return of distance running star Kylie Rochholz, as well as several other returning state qualifiers.

For the boys track team, Bruce Dahlhauser had one state qualifier last year in Syler Shaffer. A few more missed out by slim margins. Either way, Shaffer is returning, as well as plenty of other solid athletes. Dahlhauser won’t put a pin in how many events he would like to qualify for, but I would be surprised if that number was only one again.

As for the Panther boys golf team, they have qualified for back-to-back state meets under Head Coach Connor Osbahr. He returns three of his six golfers from the state meet last year. The Panthers rattled off four straight wins at one point last year. This 2026 squad has every chance to go on a similar run and hopefully make the final rounds of the season for a third straight year.

The girls golf team is led by Melissa Hochstetler. Statistically, the girls had their best season in 2025. After going 1-14 three years ago, and 4-25 two years ago, the Panthers went 12-22, accounting for their most wins in a season. The year ended at regionals, but the girls return a few solid golfers and will hope to continue improving that record.

Unfortunately, the boys soccer season was cancelled due to low numbers. My heart goes out to those players who will not be able to play this year. The memories I made during soccer season were easily the most enjoyable ones of my high school days.

On the other side, the girls soccer team should be in for another season full of wins and an opposing net full of Morgan Crees goals. Crees’s 55 goals last season was the second most scored by any girl in the entire state. Her freshman year, she scored 41. Her junior year, 48. That’s 144 goals from one player. And she netted five in the team’s first game of the season. There is every chance that she can reach 200 career goals this season. I’ll have to look into what the record is. Besides Crees’ incredible goal-scoring acumen, the girls team has never had a sub .500 season since it was formed. Head Coach Paul Kautzky hopes to bring them to the state tournament this year and get Crees some much deserved post season goals on her resume. 

MLB’s new ABS challenge system is incredible.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

MLB’s 2026 season has been officially underway for more than a week now, and baseball’s newest change, the ABS challenge system, is here with it. And it has been glorious. ABS, which stands for automated ball-strike, is a computerized zone, custom fitted to every single player in baseball to ensure exact balls and strikes are called. It had been tested in the minor-leagues since 2022 and was finally given the green light for the big leagues this season.

Before I get into some of the interesting moments it has already caused, I want to start with a fun side effect that has happened. The entire MLB got a bit shorter. What do I mean by that? Well, so that teams are ensuring their players have the exact strike zone, they had to submit precise heights for all players. So, all of the players who were fudging their heights (for whatever reason) now have exact measurements. Per the Athletic, opening day rosters lost nearly 20 combined feet compared to their previous heights. That’s hilarious.

It also means that we get a whole new stat — and baseball fans love their stats. ABS Challenge Win-Loss Records. So far, the Baltimore Orioles are leading the way with a 12-2 record on challenges. Impressive. Right behind them is the New York Yankees at 13-3. The Minnesota Twins have the most successful challenges thus far with 16 to 6 losses. The Cleveland Guardians are having a rough go, currently sitting at a dismal 2-10.

Some umpires have struggled more than others. Take C.B. Buckner, who is quickly earning the title of Worst Umpire in Baseball. As of three days ago, Bucknor has been challenged eight times and had six of his calls overturned. In the Boston Red Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds game, Bucknor missed 20 — yes, 20 — calls. Teams only have two challenges, so once they miss on those, they are out. But, if you get the call correct, you get to keep it. Bucknor was challenged a whole bunch of times in this game and could’ve been challenge a whole lot more. That’s a longer video, but Jomboy Media makes some of the best baseball-related content in the space.

The most beautiful part of it all is that it is fast, efficient, cut and dry. The NBA has implemented challenges within the last few seasons. Generally, they get the call right, but it takes entirely too long to get to that point. In the NFL, challenges also take a long time, and they STILL get calls wrong. But not in the MLB. Players must challenge within two seconds of the call. The pitch gets displayed on what the exact strike zone is a few seconds later, and the call is either upheld or overturned. Quick, simple and exact. The MLB has been masterful at implementing changes to its game over the last few seasons, and they can add this one to that list.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

I had a friend ask me earlier this week, “Why is it called March Madness if the most important games are played in April?” I didn’t have a good answer. The entire Final Four and National Championship are played in April in a tournament with March in the name. Maybe that’s just part of the madness.

Last week I highlighted the Iowans and Iowa universities participating in March Madness, and I’m feeling quite vindicated right now. As of writing this column, Iowa and Iowa State are into the Sweet 16. This has become a habit for the Cyclones under T.J. Otzelberger as they make their third Sweet 16 appearance in five years under Otz. Iowa’s new head coach, Ben McCollum, in his first year with Iowa, has the team into the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1990s.

I also highlighted Iowans who were on the rosters of teams in the NCAA tournament. Now, while a great few of them were knocked out in the first weekend, plenty still remain. Incredibly, three Waukee Northwest Wolves alone are playing in the Sweet 16. Cade Kelderman at ISU. Pryce Sandfort at Nebraska. And Peyton McCollum at Iowa. How cool is that?

Last year, the general public bemoaned the historically chalky results of last year’s tournament. This year has not been too different, but there have been some incredible moments along the way. Here are some of my favorite moments from the opening weekend.

Arguably, No. 9 Iowa’s win over defending national champions and No. 1 Florida on a last second three was the coolest, craziest moment so far. I always root against the Hawks, but watching that moment live, even for me, was hard not to love.

No. 12 High Point had the biggest upset of the first round, defeating No. 5 Wisconsin on a last second layup, scored by a player who had not made a single two pointer the entire season. High Point then took No. 4 Arkansas down to the wire in a 94-88 classic. Their Cinderella story ended there, but they made the most of their opportunity.

In a matchup of college basketball blue bloods, No. 5 St. Johns defeated No. 4 Kansas on a last-second layup, sending Bill Self and the Jayhawks packing, much to my delight.

Also in the second round, Nebraska, who had not won a single NCAA tournament game until their first-round win over No. 13 Troy, defeated No. 5 Vanderbilt to advance to the Sweet 16. Coached by ISU legend Fred Hoiberg, and led by his son and point guard Sam Hoiberg, the Huskers defeated Vandy in another classic, 74-72. Vandy’s Tyler Tanner’s half-court heave at the buzzer missed by inches.

The bracket is once again mostly filled with the favorites (except for Florida). The NIL era and lax rules on transfers means the talent has slowly but surely continued to amass at the top of the college basketball landscape. This makes for less shocking upsets but does make for some incredibly entertaining games. The talent level is arguably as high as it has ever been for college basketball, and the Sweet 16 has plenty of amazing games happening tonight and tomorrow for our viewing pleasure.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas, but March Madness — a paradise for college basketball fans. Whether your favorite team made it or not — and if you’re an Iowan, it’s likely your team did — the 68-team tournament takes the basketball world by storm at the end of March to crown both the men’s and women’s national champions.

The talent level and overall interest in basketball in Iowa have been increasing in recent years, and that’s reflected in the talent coming out of the state, even from private universities. During my high school years, you would expect a handful of basketball players to earn Division I offers. And if they did, it was rarely to a Power Five — or these days, Power Four — school. After watching the Iowa high school basketball state championship playoffs, there were dozens of D-I players for both boys and girls across multiple classes. Some teams, like Waukee Northwest, had as many as three players with major D-I offers, and they didn’t even make the semifinals. It just goes to show the level of basketball talent the state possesses.

Part of that comes from the success of various university basketball programs. There is the obvious firestorm that Caitlin Clark caused in her record-breaking years at Iowa, which surely inspired a generation of girls to hit the hardwood. The Iowa men also have a solid basketball team. Sure, they can’t seem to make it to the Sweet 16, but they are consistently one of the better teams in the Big Ten. With Ben McCollum at the helm, they could break that curse sooner rather than later.

Fred Hoiberg brought the Iowa State men’s team back into the national spotlight for several years, and T.J. Otzelberger elevated that success during his five-year tenure. Bill Fennelly has led the ISU women’s team for 30 years and is one of the winningest women’s basketball coaches in sports history. He currently has one of the game’s top talents in Audi Crooks.

At UNI, Ben Jacobsen has led the men for 20 years, producing several tournament teams during his tenure. That’s no small feat coming from Cedar Falls. Even Drake has a well-respected basketball program that consistently produces successful men’s and women’s seasons.

With five programs in total making it to the national tournament, there is plenty to root for if you call the Hawkeye State home. Even if your allegiance doesn’t tie to any of those programs, Iowa natives are spread across the country on various teams. Bound Iowa put together a graphic highlighting homegrown talent on some of the nation’s best basketball teams.

So kick back, relax, throw some games on, look for an Iowan, and enjoy the fun.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.