This past Tuesday, the Cyclones came to town to tout the past season and promote the upcoming season of Iowa State athletics. And they had plenty to shout about.

The venue also provided Cyclone fans with an up-close and personal look at some of their student-athletes and their fine coaching staff. Veterans Memorial Stadium provided a perfect backdrop for their salesmanship.

I had a nice conversation with Jamie Pollard, the ISU athletic director, who seemed much more comfortable with the conference situation in the Big 12 than he had been in the recent past. Also, he knows his coaching staff is solid and that Bob Bowlsby will bring the leadership necessary to the Big 12 in these changing times of college athletics.

There's no doubt Iowa State's head coaching staff in football, men's basketball and women's basketball is as strong as it's ever been. But there was a time, not too long ago, when Iowa State coaches would not even cross the Linn County line to recruit or appear in this area.

I remember telling former ISU football coach Jim Criner one time, "Don't be afraid to come to the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. If you think that you're at the end of the parade, just turn it around and become the leader of the parade."

Cyclone fans are abundant in this area, and they deserve seeing their coaches, cheerleaders and team members just as much as Iowa does with its I-Club tour.

That period in Cyclone publicity (or lack thereof) is long over. I was reminded, as the big black bus rolled up to the stadium and Pollard got out, the Cyclones are in the battle for fans and athletes in this area, just as they are in every part of the state and around the nation.

It was good to have them here.

AT LONG LAST, the high school baseball season opens on Monday at the Marion High School diamond and the Linn-Mar diamond. Yes, it's time for the Bob Vrbicek Metro tournament.

The featured games at Marion on Monday send Xavier against Mount Vernon and the Marion Indians against Prairie. The Linn-Mar diamond will feature an anticipated showdown between Washington and Kennedy and then Linn-Mar against Jefferson. The action begins at 5 p.m. at both sites.

The semifinals will be held at the school sites on Tuesday, with the championship at Veterans Memorial Stadium and Perfect Game Field on Wednesday.

Good luck to all.

(Bob Brooks is sports director at KMRY and has been one of the leading voices of college and prep sports in Eastern Iowa for more than 65 years. He is a 10-time winner of the Iowa Sportscaster of the Year Award, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana in 2004. His sports reports can be heard weekday afternoons at 4:30 and 5:30, and Saturdays at 6:40 for the Hawkeye football wrap-up.)