I was 12 or 13 the first time I heard the Dead's "Truckin.'" Never stopped loving it. As Bill Walton would have said about Bob Weir today, thank you for your life.

Hlas Out of Bounds: Iowa had a very nice football season. The fact it played wrecking machine Indiana as tough as it did, though, isn't cause for a parade or statue. mikehlas.substack.com/p/heres-what...

Valdez.

Jesse Watters highlights that Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by ICE, had "pronouns in her bio" and "leaves behind a lesbian partner and a child from a previous marriage"

Always choose good over evil. Just a reminder.

I was outside the U.S. Capital the day after Jan. 6, 2021. www.thegazette.com/opinion/i-ju...

In his first day in office, President Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. Five years later, most of the officers injured that day have never widely shared their experience. Here are some of their stories, in their own words:

Hlas Out of Bounds: Yes, the NCAA transfer portal has turned Iowa State's football program into temporary rubble. On the whole, though, it's made college football way more interesting. mikehlas.substack.com/p/the-ncaa-t...

A reminder - before Trump, MAGA, Musk and Fox rewrote history - that this is what the entire country agreed had happened five years ago today:

Nebraska has a 19-game winning streak. In men's basketball.

Valdez in January: In the words of Marv Levy, where else would you rather be?

Hlas Out of Bounds: Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball was very alive and very well Saturday. A good time was had by all, other than UCLA. substack.com/home/post/p-...

This year is flying by.

2026 better not be the year we pierce the veil of illusion to discover the world is but a nothingness projected upon nothingness I've got some shows I want to catch up on

Of course he did.

Rice vs. Texas State in the Armed Forces Bowl tomorrow at noon.

Iowa punter Rhys Dakin is entering the NCAA transfer portal. Dakin had 3 punts for a 49-yard avg. yesterday. Two landed inside the Vanderbilt 20. Elsewhere, Michigan St. punter Ryan Eckley -- the Big Ten 2025 Punter of the Year. -- is forgoing his last year of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

Final: Iowa 86, Nebraska 76. Chit-Chat had 24 points for the Hawkeyes.

Does iron really sharpen iron? Football coaches and players like to say that, but how do they know?

Hlas Out of Bounds: Iowa's football season was like a successful dinner party. Everyone went home satisfied. mikehlas.substack.com/p/reliaquest...

The Reliaquest Bowl-winning Hawkeye players are getting ready to douse Kirk Ferentz with a bucket-full of cybersecurity technology.

Iowa led Missouri 24-14 in the third quarter of last year's Music City Bowl.

Vanderbilt scored exactly 45 points in each of its last three games. Iowa hasn’t allowed 45 or more points in any of its last 45 games.

Illegal kicks never go unpunished in football. You tell and tell and tell punters not to kick the ball ahead of the line of scrimmage, but they do it anyway.

Vanderbilt ranked 17th in this year's U.S. News and World Report’s list of the U.S.’ best universities, first among SEC members. Iowa ranked 102nd overall, 16th among the Big Ten’s 18 schools.

Funny to see people saying Iowa should have tush-pushed on 4th-and-inches at its 30. Did they really think that was being considered?

Sure, Iowa could have run the ball there.

It's 23 hours until the ReliaQuest Bowl. The man who got my Heisman Trophy vote this year and then insulted me will quarterback one of the two teams. Details: mikehlas.substack.com/p/diego-pavi...

It's 23 hours until the ReliaQuest Bowl. The man who got my Heisman Trophy vote this year and then insulted me will quarterback one of the two teams. Details: mikehlas.substack.com/p/diego-pavi...

Fascinating story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m...

I hate text chains.

Pilot just said “takeoff is gonna be trash” which is the funniest way to hear I’m about to die

This from Iowa journalist @laurarbelin.bsky.social is so good. Belin - an actual journalist with years experience including covering Russia(!), spells out what it's really like trying to get the govt to comment for stories & why Bari Weiss screwed up. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/12/25/o...

Those Pop-Tarts came out of the toaster a split second after entering. It's the most-questionable thing I've ever seen in college football, and that includes the Colorado "fifth down" game, conference realignment, and that Barstool creature being on the Fox pregame show.

Hlas Out of Bounds: There are 8 bowl games today, which is 25 fewer than I covered. I prefer to focus on the strange rather the mundane, and there was plenty of both. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Minnesota has won nine straight bowl games. Fantastic!

The Epstein Files Should Not Have Been Released This Way www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/o...

Christmas Eve afternoon in Valdez, Alaska:

When you rank 118th in total offense, 101st in yards per play and 57th in scoring (includes 4 kick-return TDs, a defensive TD and two safeties), and you win the Joe Moore Award for the nation's best offensive line? You're Iowa.

With dismay, I share this news:

NFL owners, as if there ever were a doubt, suck.

Hlas Out of Bounds: Two words describe women's and men's basketball at Iowa and Iowa State so far this season: Holy moly! open.substack.com/pub/mikehlas...

My wife just got home and proclaimed.. "OMG, People Are So Stupid!" I'm not sure what this is in relation to, but it checks out.

And there it is...

WELKER: Why was Ghislaine Maxwell moved just days after you interviewed her? BLANCHE: That's a Bureau of Prisons security issue that I will not talk about WELKER: Did you have anything to do with it? BLANCHE: I am responsible for the Bureau of Prisons, so every decision they make lands on my desk

Are we sure Iowa-UMass wasn't a CFP game?

It's time to reduce the College Football Playoff to 4 teams.

My car is getting into the holiday spirit with its annual display of dashboard warning lights.

Me: make it a double. Server: your soup?? Me: you heard me.

The first draft of my memoir: