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So Iowa State's basketball team played Alabama in Kansas City Monday night. As is standard protocol when your team is in town, the Kansas City chapter of the ISU Alumni Association held a pregame event at a local establishment. They chose McFadden's Sports Saloon, a sports bar with a two-star Google rating in the Power & Light District.
It was your fairly typical pregame alumni gathering. Jamie Pollard showed up and handed out a plaque to some dude in a golf shirt and MC Hammer pants.
The drink menu showed an unusual level of humor over the Larry Eustachy situation (which, remember, began in Missouri).
The bar had flags for Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa State and Iowa, showing at least a passing interest in drawing in college sports fans from around the area.
I say "had" because, at some point around the time that Pollard was handing out that plaque, a McFadden's employee took down the Iowa flag and SET IT ON FIRE.
Thank you @McFaddensKC for taking down the Iowa flag & lighting it on fire #cyclONEnation pic.twitter.com/I0dUb4QZha
— Ali (@aliandskyy) November 24, 2014
If you had any doubt that it was a bar employee burning an Iowa flag as opposed to a random yokel, I submit the following:
1. He's wearing a blue shirt. Usually someone in that shade of blue in that proximity to a crowd of Iowa State fans during basketball season is dropping 40 on them and then being threatened on Twitter.
2. He's standing on the bar without consequence, and in fact at the bar's encouragement. Here's another shot, from the ISU Alumni Association of Kansas City's Facebook page, showing that this bozo was allowed to stay on the bar and let the flag burn while three other bartenders look on without any perceptible reaction.
3. The bar's Twitter account retweeted a message thanking them for burning the flag.
We're not exactly surprised that Iowa State fans are so obsessed with Iowa that they "thank" bars for burning Iowa flags in fairly clear violation of Kansas City Code of Ordinances Section 10-332(g)(2) and (3). We wouldn't be surprised if one of them actually burned the flag without even asking the bar. It wouldn't matter if they were playing Alabama, Duke or the Chicago Bulls. All they would care about is Iowa, because that's what Iowa State fans do. There's a reason why Jamie Pollard was there for this and apparently had no problem with it, after all. If Iowa had done this, Pollard would be sprinting for the nearest podium. But Iowa wouldn't do this, because Iowa has at least a modicum of class.
However, for a bar to not just condone that behavior, but to have its actual employees engage in the burning of a flag from a team that wasn't even playing in Kansas City that day, obviously working under the assumption that it could do this under the radar, score some cheap points with Iowa State fans, and replace the flag before Friday's game? Sorry, guys, but we're not going to let that stand. We're not a bunch of amateurs. We're the #1 party school in the country. What Iowa State calls "VEISHEA parties," we call Tuesday night. Our greatest tradition is drinking, and we're going to observe that tradition somewhere else.
For the first time ever, we're issuing a MANCOTT that isn't a half-joke. We encourage all Iowa fans to avoid McFadden's Pub this Friday and every other day for the rest of eternity. They have shown they are clearly not interested in your business, at least not when your back is turned. If you're in Power & Light and want to get a beer and watch a game, we recommend literally any other bar. Not only will that bar not have two reviews calling it the "Worst place [they have] ever been," but it won't burn an Iowa flag and then shake the tip jar for your cash.