Welcome WRNL’s newest contributor, Cyote Williams!

Editor’s note: As we continue to to do our best* to be the world** leader*** in completely real****, factual*****, and unbiased****** Cyclone coverage, we’re looking to expand our coverage of Iowa State athletics. In steps our newest contributor, Cyote, who will be heading up our coverage of Iowa State’s Olympic sports (though GrappleCy will always be our wrestling guru). Please welcome him to the WRNL with the proper cheers, boos, and heckling that we expect from all of you.

Hey, everybody. My name is Cyote Williams. Whether you chose to pronounce it as “coyote” or “Cody” is entirely up to. I’ve spent my entire life correcting people and this point I’ve accepted the uniqueness of this name that my parents have cursed me with. I have a passion for sports writing that I hope one day takes me not just around the country, but the entire world. That passion undoubtedly coming from being an Iowa State, Chicago Bulls, Green Bay Packers, and Arsenal FC fan, as every single one of these teams has had their fair share of triumphs and tribulations that makes it feel like I’ve been supporting these teams for centuries and not just a little over a decade.

I’ve always been enamored with sports from a young age, but never had a team to root for until my step dad decided that he was going to win me over by taking me to Iowa State games, an odd decisions considering the shakiness of our football and basketball programs during the mid 2000s. However, I can’t thank him enough for introducing me to one of the greatest fan bases in the country.

Attempting to pull from the deepest parts of my memory to see what my first Iowa State moment was that made me a fan, I come up with a triple overtime win against Toledo that I was lucky enough to be in attendance for in 2006. A game in which Todd Blythe made a one handed catch in the end zone to seal the game for the Cyclones, and Jack Trice Stadium exploded with adoration witnessing one of the greatest to ever do it for their program. Not a bad way to start your time as a fan of any team.

After that I was hooked for life. I wouldn’t even allow myself to wear any black and yellow combination of clothes due to pure hatred for that team out east. The culture surrounding Iowa State’s sports programs made me appreciate everything about sports, not just the Cyclones.

Even though it was the football program that first caught my eye, it was basketball that kept me around. The amount of basketball camps I spent in Ames in awe of what I could only assume were giants dressed in cardinal and gold, who, in my eyes, could never miss a shot, is uncountable. Nobody can convince me that Hilton Colosseum doesn’t have magic surging throughout its panels. From watching Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock, to Diante Garrett and Craig Brackins, Will Clyburn and Melvin Ejim, Monte Morris and Georges Niang, The basketball program has never failed to bring in some truly lovable characters as well as talented basketball players.

All of these factors come together to create a lifelong fan, who’s excited for an opportunity to make his sports journalism dreams come true. With a university like Iowa State being about as close to a soap opera of events as it can get when it comes to sports, I’m certain there will be no shortage of moments and stories to report on and discuss until college is eventually made obsolete by the internet.