"Freedom isn't free." That's a line most commonly associated with, in order, military veterans and Team America: World Police. And as long as you equate America's foreign interests with "freedom," that statement holds up well (whose freedom, exactly, we've been fighting for post-WWII is another matter entirely, but let's not get bogged down on that right away).

As you're no doubt aware, Ed Thomas, one of the finest men in the state (either associated with athletics or otherwise) and a most worthy namesake of Ed Thomas Field, was killed when a very disturbed young man--one who probably shouldn't have been on the streets, but for a rather serious clerical error--unloaded his gun into Thomas at point blank range. All of this happened as Thomas was supervising weightlifting for at least a couple dozen of his students. Most saw it happen. And a community still trying to rebuild from tragedy has lost the one man it had come to depend on the most, even before the PF5 tornado flattened half of the town.

All of this is to say, it was one of the most horrific, senseless gun crimes in our country, not matching in scope (but certainly in brutality) the massacres at Virginia Tech or even Columbine.

And it is the real price of freedom in America.

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Well, this didn't take long. Authorities have charged the man accused of killing Ed Thomas earlier this morning, Mark D. Becker, with first-degree murder. Becker's only 24, but as first seen in the comments below, has a long rap sheet, which drugs and physical violence both popping up.

We'll try to confirm this later today, but for now:

6/20/09 Eluding Parkersburg Police Department
6/20/09 Reckless Driving
6/20/09 Failure to Stop at Yield Sign
6/20/09 Speeding 20+ Over
3/2/09 Speeding 6-10 Over
12/19/08 Criminal Mischief 4th Degree (86 days in jail)
11/18/08 Assault Causing Bodily Injury
1/26/07 Speeding 20+ Over
9/8/05 Safety Belt
1/10/05 OWI 1st Offense
9/24/04 Speeding 1-5 Over
8/4/03 Unsafe Approach to Stationary Vehicle

(EDIT: Some charges previously listed were dismissed, and so are no longer included)

Back to the shooting. First-degree murder means premeditation, and that seems sufficiently likely here. There's nothing to suggest this killing was an accident or a crime of passion; Becker (allegedly) went to Thomas' workplace and shot him multiple times, including at least once in the head. We don't know if Becker tried to flee or where he was apprehended, but that's barely relevant at this point.

There's no word yet on where the gun came from, if it's his, etc. Maybe the killing was preventable. Maybe it wasn't. That's a matter for the days and months yet to come. For now, we reel and mourn.

(Oh, and that's probably an old mugshot; considering his already prodigious crime streak, the Courier probably already had a mug of his on record. We hope it's old, anyway; otherwise that smirk would be truly haunting.)

Wow. Ed Thomas, shot at point blank range multiple times, died at Waterloo's Covenant Hospital this morning. We really don't know what to say, other than that we're glad no kids were attacked and that the suspect's in custody. Past that, this is such an unbelievable tragedy that we're speechless.

Thomas was the high school football coach of Jared DeVries, Aaron Kampman, Casey Wiegmann, and a ton of other Hawkeyes. He won two state titles, was named High School Coach of the Year by the NFL in 2003, and was the rock the town of Parkersburg needed as they rebuild from that massive tornado that flattened the town 13 months ago.

The school even officially renamed their Sacred Acre "Ed Thomas Field" a while back; now, that designation seems more grief-soaked than congratulatory.

This is a giant loss for the town, the state, and sports in general. Rest in peace, Ed.

We're a little upset this isn't celebrated as an anniversary, but apparently, the UI athletic department was (metaphorically) firebombed to hell 12 years ago. During a fundraiser.

We're not giving away the answer yet--although if you're over 30 or have read the Hlog today, you already know--but it prompted this surreal recap in the Daily Iowan, featuring one of the single finest two-sentence stretches in journalistic history, helpfully boldtagged for your convenience:

About 80 percent of the 1,300-person audience left during [his] performance, said UI Men's Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby, who was among those who walked out. Athletic department officials contemplated pulling [him] off stage, said Rick Klatt, UI assistant athletic director for external affairs. However, most of the audience members who remained laughed and applauded [his] routine.

[He] frequently used the word "fuck," described his own masturbation habits and offered his opinions on anal sex between homosexual men. His jokes about women having sex with pigs also appeared to offend the audience. As parents led their teenage children out of the auditorium, [he] said, "What do you want me to talk about -- losing my luggage at the airport?" and, "What did they expect, for me to hold up a picture of Yassir Arafat and make a joke?"

"[His] performance was anything but comedy," Bowlsby said. "It was profane, vulgar, and off-color. The last thing I want to do is to suppress anybody's First Amendment rights, but I feel his material is inappropriate in the majority of venues in America."

So who is it and why are we talking about it now?

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We don't feel like writing it all over again, so this is basically a cut-and-paste from our Speed Read over at SbB this morning, with a few embellishments now that we're not cramped for space. Hey, it's not plagiarism if you link to it (or if you wrote it the first time too, as it were):

This is clearly not the appropriate forum to discuss the ongoing turmoil in Iran. We’re not nearly qualified enough to comment on it, and that’s not what you’re here to read anyway. That said, if you’re wanting to find out more about watching the seeds of revolution occur in real-time, Andrew Sullivan’s blog is a good place to start.

So why even bring it up? Only for the most epic picture in tOSU history, via 11W (click here for higher res, pops):

We're not sure if Captain Tehran has watched OSU football over the last five years, but they too have seen promising starts like this. It doesn't end well.

Anyway, your move, Michigan.

Hi, people. Give Hawkeye State a hug.

We know you're in the mood for hard-hitting, big-time news that'll reverberate through the program for ages. To that we say, "It's June, motherfucker." This is when the athletic department all hibernates. Gary Barta's in a cocoon. His heart rate is "glacier."

Therefore, we're forced to do this. We're not proud.

That's Donnie Wahlberg, yes, THE Donnie Wahlberg, showing off the ol' abdominators. And... yes, inexplicably, in an Iowa hat. We don't know why.

Look, people. It's either that or we're writing a story about how doodoopoop reads the same upside-down and right-side up. And doodoopoop is a very funny word.

INPIYL2I is your daily roundup of Iowa news, epic photoshopping, and other things you should read.  Send tips to hawkeyestatebhgp@gmail.com.

Just ask the Persians: Stay out of Greece   Despite a late-game rally, Iowa lost game 2 of its European vacation 76-75 to the Greek Select Team.  Given that the Hawks were down 27-10 after the first ten minutes, it wasn't so HOLY SHIT WE TOOK FORTY-THREE 3-POINT SHOTS?!?

Shooting proved to be the difference in the contest, as Greece shot 45.5% from the field, compared to 38.8% for Iowa. The Hawkeyes hit just 13-43 (30.2%) three-point attempts, while Greece made 11-24 (45.8%) three-pointers. Greece won the rebounding battle 40-37 and outscored Iowa from the free throw line, 15-10. Iowa was guilty of just nine turnovers.

You would think that, given the fact that we played well inside against the Italians and were making shots inside the arc at a 54% clip, we would focus on the interior offense.  You would think that, when you average 1.08 points per 2-point shot and  0.90 points per 3-point shot, that it would be statistically logical to pound it inside. You would be mistaken.  Keep chucking it, Tucker (4-15 from three) and Bawinkel (4-12)!

When asked for comment on the loss, leading scorer Matt Gatens said, "Man, fuck this place.  The gyros are better at George's anyway."

What do you expect when you name your stadium after the whiny guy from Friends?   Rittenberg (who is quickly finding that there are only so many Disney-friendly ideas for the offseason) ranks the toughest places to play in the Big Ten.  Kinnick Legendary Kinnick Stadium comes in fourth:

For starters, it's always packed. And arguably no stadium in the Big Ten puts the fans closer to the field than Kinnick. Throw in the color schemes -- black and gold in the stands, pink in the visitors' locker room -- and this is not a fun place to play.

Notably (and correctly), he ranks The House that Nile Built ahead of that key-jangling-geezer-infested library in Ann Arbor.  More troubling for Iowa's chances of a Big Ten championship this year, he places it behind three road opponents, including Penn State:

If every game was played at night, Beaver Stadium would get the nod for the top spot. Penn State's White-Outs are freakin' awesome and very intimidating, and the sight of the massive stadium rising from the hills is enough to make opposing players tremble.

Just a reminder:  Iowa plays Penn State September 26.  At Beaver Stadium.  At night.  Um, yeah, that could be a problem.

Stanford had some trouble with the windmill   Rain hit Toledo this afternoon, and the Hawkeye golfers were only able to finish the first half of their second round.  Iowa sits in 19th place at +20, two shots ahead of Illinois (Yeah, suck it Illini!) and only one shot back of jNWU.  With a good morning session, a top 20 finish isn't out of the question.

The story of the day was Michigan, who posted a -7 team score before darkness cut their day short, vaulting the Wolverines into second and giving UM a legitimate shot at the weekend match play finals.  Just one Big Ten school (Minnesota, 2002) has won the championships in the last 30 years.

Oh, and Tiger Woods' alma mater is in last place.

UPDATE:  Iowa finished the morning in a tie for 20th at +29.  Scores ballooned for teams who had to finish this morning; for instance, Ohio State finished at +26 for the day.  Any hopes for the weekend are effectively over, as we're 15 shots back of the top 8.

Tim Brewster Tweeting o' the Day

"On to Baton Rouge for NCAA tourney PERIOD," sir?  Brewster hasn't used a period in a Twitter post since May 15.  That is twenty tweets with nary a period.  In that time, he has used exclamation points in sentences about such things as:

• T Denny Sanford
• Wrestling recruiting
• Artificial turf (twice)

And, the greatest of all...

• Young children with life issues

Clearly, someone has a case of tournament envy...

BREWSTATS!!!!
Exclamation point count:  6
Total exclamation points:  18
Exclamation points per day:  6.0
Inadvertent ENTER key usage:  1

INPIYL2I is your daily roundup of Iowa news, epic photoshopping, and other things you should read.  Send tips to hawkeyestatebhgp@gmail.com.

The Hoop-a Was A-Big-a Like-a Pizza Pie-a   The Licks won the first game of their tour of Europe, Asia, and the Subcontinent 78-58 over something called Basket Ferentino.  They never trailed, and it's clearly because "Basket Ferentino" is Italian for "basketball team of quadrapalegic dwarves":

Junior Jarryd Cole and sophomore Aaron Fuller led Iowa's inside game as the Hawkeyes dominated the backboards. Iowa held a 53-33 rebounding advantage, with Fuller grabbing 15 to lead the way. Cole added 12 rebounds and added 20 points, hitting 10-131 field goal attempts. Fuller scored 12 points to go with his game-high in rebounds.

We've said a lot about Iowa hoops over the last six months, but none of it was about our strong inside game or domination of the backboards.  Tomorrow, the team tours the Vatican, where John Lickliter's ongoing hijinks might cause an international incident.

"Hey guys, check out this funny hat I got in the gift shop..."

FORE   After day one, Iowa is tied for 18th at the NCAA golf championships at +17.  That puts them ahead of the likes of #2 seed USC (who obviously ran a "pay-for-play" scheme to get Vijay Singh on their squad; lack of institutional control runs deep), Stanford, Florida, and Texas.  The exquisitely-named Vince India and sole senior Cole Peevler led the way at +3 for the first round.  The Hawks are 7 shots back of the Thursday cut.  Team leaderboard here, individual leaderboard here, and Golfweek's story on the Cinderella Hawks here.

He's the one carrying the wallet that says "Bad Mother Fucker"   Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com continues his rundown of the top players in the conference.  At #15, we get everyone's favorite cornerback:

For the record, it's pronounced Spuh-vay, and Big Ten fans should get to know the name. If Spievey builds on a superb sophomore season this fall, he should be the Big Ten's best cornerback and one of the best in the country.

Rittenberg goes on to note that Norm Parker's already said Spievey might be the best corner he's coached.  There's really nothing more to add to that.  Well, other than WOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Tim Brewster Tweeting o' the Day

No Brew tweets today, so we'll go with another from Monday.  Someone hasn't mastered the intricacies of the ENTER key...

HEY GUYS THIS IS TI

BREWSTATS!!!!!
Exclamation point count:  8
Total exclamation points:  12
Exclamation points per day:  6.0
Inadvertent ENTER key usage:  1