At first glance, last week did not seem like a banner week for ISU athletics. The week seemed full of performances that lacked the drama or compelling story lines that might captivate a fan’s attention. It wasn’t as if Cael Sanderson was tossing 197-pound men around like grade school children en route to his fourth NCAA wrestling title.

Future Chicago Bull Marcus Fizer wasn’t throwing down perfect no-look passes from future Pacer Jamaal Tinsley at Hilton Coliseum. Seneca Wallace wasn’t racing through opposing defenses to the top of every Heisman watch list in the country. Larry Eustachy wasn’t showing up in the Des Moines Register with a Natural Light in his hand and an intoxicated college girl on his arm. As it turns out, an article in this week’s Sports Illustrated chronicling the recovery of the ex-Cyclone coach was as close to the national sports spotlight as Ames would get.

At first glance, last week seemed like the type of sports week that made you wonder why you sprung for those season tickets instead of a comfortable chair for watching the new season of reality television. But that was only at first glance.

Cyclone athletes provided all the drama and excitement that even the most avid reality TV watcher could ask for. Games came down to the final seconds. Injuries were shaken off for the good of the team. Virtual unknowns became heroes. Athletic feats the layperson could only dream of pulling off went down right in front of our eyes. Even the most captivating developments in “My Big Fat Obnoxious Fianc‚” paled in comparison to the entertainment ISU athletes provided this week.

Did you want to see a hero rise from obscurity to carry his team to victory over a rival? No, you didn’t have to tune in to the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge 46.” You only needed to check out Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday night. A walk-on guard from Winterset was the hero the Cyclones needed to knock off the Iowa Hawkeyes and win the mythical state championship. John Neal hit two huge 3-point shots to help the Cyclones hold off Iowa and help himself become the big man on campus for the week. Hitting 3-pointers to seal home wins over rivals is the dream of every walk-on. That’s why people walk on. Movies end that way. Still not convinced?

Maybe you want to see a competitor push through an injury to defeat a tough opponent. I wouldn’t recommend watching one of Donald Trump’s apprentice-wannabes fight through a paper cut to out-brown-nose the competition and be the first to get Trump his morning latt‚. Seeing ISU wrestler Nate Gallick come back from an ankle injury to knock off Northern Iowa national finalist Dylan Long might be slightly more impressive. Gallick shook off the rust and the disadvantage of limited training to top Long 3-2 and help the Cyclones avenge last week’s loss to the Panthers. Fellow Cyclone Nick Passolano overcame an injury that kept him out of early-season action and slapped a devastating pinning combination on Northern Iowa’s Chris Bitetto that would rival any of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s moves.

Moreover, it was clear that unlike the WWE “athletes,” Bitetto wasn’t contractually obligated to let Passolano manhandle him.

Do you want to see impressive feats of strength and athleticism? You could have watched a dentist from Cleveland try to win over Meredith the Bachelorette by flexing his pecs every time she entered the room. However, it might have been a little more exciting to watch ISU gymnast Erin Dethloff twist, vault and flip her way to victory in the floor exercise and beam competitions during the fourth-ranked Cyclones’ narrow win over Nebraska Friday night. The average person would be hard-pressed to duplicate Dethloff’s floor exercise routine on the surface of the moon, much less on the floor at Hilton.

Dethloff also navigated the 4-inch wide balance beam with more ease than most people navigated Welch Avenue’s 4-foot wide sidewalks later that night. But you may still be looking for more. Maybe you want to see a team push through adversity to get a big win. You could watch the squad of poindexters band together to take on the team of jocks at dodgeball on the “Average Joe” show. It could be exciting to see if the scrawny guy with Buddy Holly glasses can defeat the pretty boy with rippling abs and professionally highlighted hair.

But maybe you’d be better off watching Baylor, a team that got more press for an off-season murder than for any on-court accomplishments, fight off an exciting but road-challenged ISU team. The Cyclone faithful may have rather been watching their favorite reality show, but at least the basketball game didn’t leave you hanging until next week.

The moral of the story is this: Put down the remote and check out the Cyclone athletes. There is a reason why they get scholarships. There is a reason why they get written about in the paper. Win or lose, they are more exciting than your weekly fix of reality TV shows, so get out there and check it out. But someone please tape “The Real World”so I know if Brad and Cameran hook up this week.