Reporters Think Michigan Will Overcome Its Coach's Shortcomings and Win the Big Ten Football Title; They Figure Iowa Will Finish No Higher Than Fourth

Depite the fact Lloyd Carr [pictured at the right] is back for what likely will be his last season as coach, Michigan has been picked the Big Ten Conference's preseason football favorite by reporters.

Wisconsin was chosen second and defending champion Ohio State third.

That obviously means Iowa, which had a disappointing 6-7 overall record in 2006, was picked fourth or lower. Fourth is where most preseason magazines are generously tabbing the Hawkeyes.

The Big Ten announces only the top three teams in its preseason poll so that the bad teams don't feel even worse. At least that's what the league's publicity office hopes.

The reporters picked Michigan running back Mike Hart as the preseason offensive player of the year and Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis was tabbed the defensive player of the year.

Don't pay too much attention to that. Iowa's Drew Tate once was picked the preseason offensive player of the year, too.

*

Some of this story was written by the Big Ten's publicity staff. However, the story was heavily edited by Ron Maly -- especially the segments about Lloyd Carr's coaching ability and future at Michigan, as well as where Iowa was picked. However, Maly isn't concerned that the Hawkeyes weren't picked among the top three teams because he's fully aware of who some of the media voters are. Also, Ron obviously has never thought much of Lloyd Carr's coaching ability, and he [Maly, not Carr] figures Carr will screw things up somehow during the season.

Beauty At Its Best....

 

Drake's Paul Morrison Turns the Big Nine-Oh. He's As Strong As An Oak, and They'll Plant a Tree In His Honor 'So He Can See It for the Next 90 Years'

Paul Morrison, also known as Mr. Drake, celebrated his 90th birthday with his Drake family in the Morrison Room at the Drake Knapp Center on Wednesday.

he 1939 Drake graduate has been working with the university for more than 60 years.

"I don't feel like I'm 90," said Morrison, who serves as a consultant and historian for the Drake athletic department. "My philosophy has always been that I will stay as long as I can or until I become a burden."

After the crowd of more than 50 people sang "Happy Birthday," Morrison said, "Let's do it again next year."

Sandy Hatfield Clubb, Drake's athletic director, recalled attending Morrison's 89th birthday. She thanked Morrison for being an icon for Drake and a model of leadership.

"Paul is such a unique man. He is great to work with," Hatfield Clubb said.

Morrison was recognized during the 50th anniversary of the College Sports Information Director's Workshop in San Diego on June 30. He is one of two members of CoSIDA who attended the very first workshop in Chicago, Ill., in 1957.

Morrison joined the Drake staff in 1945 and served as director of the Drake News Bureau, sports information director and athletic business manager. Although he officially retired in 1986, he continues to give 40 to 50 hours of volunteer service at Drake every week while also traveling with the Drake football and basketball teams.

Age hasn't hindered Morrison at all during his travels. Last Nov. 11 he was attending a football game in Jacksonville, Fla., and four days later was on a dogsled ride in Fairbanks, Alaska, when the Drake basketball team opened the season at the Top of the World Classic.

The longest serving member [since 1947] and secretary of the Drake Relays Executive Committee, Morrison co-authored a history of Drake athletics and a history of the Drake Relays.

He has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor given to Drake alumni; the 'D' Club Service Award; and the Drake Medal of Service Award.

Morrison was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1974 and received the first Missouri Valley Conference Award of Merit in 1997.

Drake president David Maxwell and Madeleine Maxwell are planning to plant an oak tree this fall in his honor and put it on campus "so he can see it for the next 90 years," they wrote in a letter.

Morrison's dedication to the university shows through all that he does, said Brett Saddoris, director of marketing and promotion for athletics.

"Paul is the last one to say he needs a celebration like this," Saddoris said. "He earns this every day. He has worked so hard. He is a bulldog through and through. He is an asset to Drake. Every company should have a Paul Morrison."

*

EX-DRAKE COACH SUSAN YOW HIRED AT BELMONT ABBEY

The Charlotte Observer said Belmont Abbey [that's a college in Belmont, N.C.] has hired Susan Yow, the sister of North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, as women's basketball coach.

Susan Yow, an assistant on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team, was also an assistant with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. She was a Division I head coach for 22 years with Providence, Kansas State, UNC Wilmington, Drake and East Tennessee State.

*

This story about Paul Morrison was written for Ron Maly's web page by Drake sports information director Mike Mahon. The photo of Morrison courtesy of Drake.

Chuck Fulton Was a Champion Right Down To the Final Inning; Now Ken Charipar, 76, Is Last Survivor Of the Wilson Ramblers' Title Team Of 60 Years Ago

The e-mail came out of the blue.

“My name is Eric Oliver and I work with Perfect Game Baseball in Cedar Rapids,” it began.

“I have an idea for a bittersweet story that could run around the time of the boys’ state baseball tournament.

“This summer marks the 60th anniversary of the 1947 Wilson High School of Cedar Rapids state baseball championship team. Chuck Fulton [pictured at the right] passed away June 28 – leaving Ken Charipar the last surviving member of that team.

“I think a column of Kenny reminiscing about the events of that summer would make great reading, especially with your ties to that school and era.”

Today, after a number of telephone calls and e-mails, here’s that column.

*

It’s about a high school in southwest Cedar Rapids that’s no longer a high school
[it’s a middle school] and about a group of gritty young guys who made sports their passion at a time when life was much simpler.

They called them the Ramblers.

And, man, did they play hard. And, man, were they good.

Ken Charipar, who is 76 and says he’s “lucky to be here” after a series of very serious health problems, remembers it all so well.

They've already named a ballpark -- the one at Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids -- after Charipar, and there's a tournament in Cedar Rapids that's named after the late Bob Vrbicek, a Wilson teammate of Charipar who went on to become an outstanding umpire.

It doesn't get much better than that.

“When we were kids, we spent a lot of time at the ballpark,” he recalled. “We didn’t have the distractions kids have today -- the money, the cars, the video games.

“We bonded together. We weren’t afraid to spend a couple or three hours a day at the park, We’d walk from Wilson down to the field at Hayes [elementary] School for practice, then we’d walk back.”

Eric Oliver, whose day job is as a physical education teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in Cedar Rapids, did a considerable amount of research for me on this project.

He found that Wilson, coached by Don Durey and helped out by others, won state baseball championships in 1947 and 1948 with a combined record of 50-3.

“With only two pitchers [Frank Simanovsky and Arnie Pavlicek]!” Eric said.

The starters were Chuck Fulton at second base, Bob Reid at catcher, Ken Charipar at third base, Don Harmon at shortstop, Bob Vrbicek in centerfield, Chuck Petefish in rightfield, Lloyd Oliver [Eric's father] in leftfield, Frank Simanovsky was the lefthanded pitcher who later played minor league baseball with a kid named Mickey Mantle, and Hal Cooper was the first baseman.

*

Wilson was a school made up of kids who came from hard-working families -- many of Czech descent.

Those families lived in well-kept homes with lawns that were trimmed every week -- twice a week if there was plenty of rain -- with motorless mowers that were pushed manually.

The dads worked, the mothers stayed home to look after the kids and to buy their groceries at the corner store.

Sixteenth Avenue -- commonly known just as The Avenue -- was a center of business. You could get your pork roast and your jaternice at Pohlena's Meat Market, you could buy your kolaches at Sykora's, you could get a pint of whiskey at the state-run liquor store. And, yes, you could stop for a Hamms at one of several beer joints along The Avenue.

So what's jaternice? I knew you'd ask that question. It's pork snouts and pork jowls that are ground and mixed with cereal. My dad liked it, I did everything I could to stay away from it.

The years haven't softened my feelings on jaternice.

But I just try to be nice when I'm offered a plate of it and say, "It's not on my diet."

Few things are.

Riverside Park and Hayes School were both close-by The Avenue. Kenny Charipar, Lloyd Oliver and Chuck Fulton could double to left-center in both ballparks at the drop of a belt-high fastball.

Even now, mention of Riverside Park brings back the distinctive odors from the adjoining Penick & Ford Co. -- better known as the Starch Works -- to some of us.

*

Wilson's 1947 good-pitch, clutch-hit Ramblers defeated Bancroft, 2-1, in the state championship game.

Lloyd Oliver, Ken Charipar, Chuck Fulton and the rest of that superb 1947 Wilson Rambler team was made up of players who began winning when they suited up for the Roosevelt Hotel American League Junior squad-–just called “Junior Legion” in the mid-to late-1940s –- coached by Carl “Shrimp” Matter and Frank Tvrdik.

“My dad passed away six years ago of cancer,” Eric Oliver said. "He’s in St. John’s Cemetery with a baseball and bat at his side of the tombstone.”

One of Lloyd Oliver’s younger brothers was Ken, who was in my classes at Lincoln Elementary and Wilson High School.

One day in fourth grade at Lincoln, Ken and I were chasing each other through the room and knocked over the teacher’s big flower pot. The pot broke, the flowers were knocked to the floor.

The teacher ordered us to go downtown and buy her a new pot, which we did.

The teacher wasn't the only person who was mad about that flower-pot incident. So was my mother. And I suppose Kenny Oliver's mother, too.

By the way, Kenny Oliver no longer has to worry about replacing broken flower pots.

“He passed away a few years ago," Eric Oliver said.

*

I was 10 years of age when I began hanging around with Chuck Fulton and his younger brother Jack, both of whom lived a couple of blocks from me in Cedar Rapids.

Their dad, John Fulton, put me in the back seat of the car and hauled me to baseball games all around Cedar Rapids and even to Iowa City.

Chuck Fulton played baseball, football and basketball for Wilson, and he played them well. He was my role model. Because he was a second baseman, I wanted to be a second baseman.

I never got to be as good as Chuck. But I gave it my best. That's what you were supposed to do in those days on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids. Do the best job you could.

In the obituary from Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids, it said “Charles D. Fulton, 76, died at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha, following a rare lymphoma. A Celebration of Life party, as requested by Chuck, will be held at a later date….”

*

That July 17 celebration turned into quite a deal, Eric Oliver told me.

It was held at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and Oliver called it “one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced.

“It was stormy and rainy right up until a few minutes before 5 p.m., when the sky opened up and the sun came out. It was the most beautiful day you could ask for. Two hours later, as the event was culminating, the storms moved in again.

“I can just hear Chuck saying, ‘Look, I only need a couple of hours.’”

Oliver said Jack Roeder, general manager of the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League, estimated the crowd at between 400 and 500.

“It was a literal hall of fame of Cedar Rapids athletes from the 1940s,” Oliver said. “Young’s Hill [where the Charipars, the Fultons, ex-NBA coach Bill Fitch and my brother and I grew up], Lincoln, Wilson, Riverside Park and Hayes Field were mentioned many times.

“Chuck’s children and grandchildren each took turns at the microphone, followed by close friends. Much of the sentiment involved humorous stories about Chuck and his caring, gregarious personality, which endeared him to so many.

“Many speakers spoke of how much the state championships meant to Chuck and how modest he was despite his tremendous athletic ability. When Bill Quinby took the microphone, he talked of the high school rivalries, read off the name of each person in the starting lineup and went on to explain that –- with Chuck’s passing –- Ken Charipar was the last survivor of that team.”

Quinby was an outstanding athlete at Franklin High School on Cedar Rapids’ northeast side. He went on to become a football referee in the Big Ten, then later the NFL.

Kids from Wilson [at least this one] always considered the Wilson-Franklin rivalry to be the biggest and best in a city that then had four public high schools [McKinley and Roosevelt were the others].

Wilson was usually better in baseball and football, Franklin was usually better in basketball and the country club sports.

Oliver said “a video presentation of Chuck Fulton’s life on the stadium’s Jumbotron, beginning with baby pictures and a picture of Chuck at about age 5 standing in front of Lincoln Elementary and continued with pictures of Chuck and [his widow] Elaine in their teens and throughout their life, with their family and friends ending with a picture of Chuck smiling and waving goodbye to us all.

“I can tell you that there was not a dry eye in the house at that moment. Finally came the beer and the ballpark fare -– hot dogs, nachos and so forth – and some of the most enjoyable and pleasant mingling you could ever hope for….”

*

Chuck Fulton’s obituary said he was “a director with the Kernels and a member of the Cedar Rapids Baseball Hall of Fame…He had been active on numerous committees and was a key player in helping the Reds and Kernels make the necessary improvements mandated by Major League Baseball during the 1990s to keep professional baseball in Cedar Rapids.

“Chuck had put in many hours at the park and had been a tireless worker/ambassador for the club….”

Eric Oliver said “Chuck Fulton was a true friend. I remember attending an M&J League old-timers game at old Vets Stadium in Cedar Rapids when I was around 10 or 12. I will never forget my dad hitting what would best be described as a ‘major league pop-up’ into the shallow part of the infield between second base and shortstop.

“Just as I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that my ‘hero’ had just made an out, I heard a voice from the dugout yelling, ‘Let it drop!’ for the whole ballpark to hear – allowing his old teammate to reach base with a ‘hit.’

“I gave my dad a hard time about this up to and including the day he passed away. Every time I brought it up, the smile that came to his face was unmistakable.”

*

Back to Ken Charipar, the lone survivor of Wilson’s 1947 state champions.

The man is quite a story.

When he says he’s “pretty lucky to be here,” he means just that.

He says he survived cancer of the esophagus, which is the disease that killed Drake and Iowa State basketball coach Maury John and has killed many others.

“I had surgery to remove my esophagus, then doctors pulled my stomach up to make me a new esophagus,” Charipar said. “I’ve also had 5-way coronary bypass surgery and I use a defibrillator now.

“I was one of the early ones from our group of players to get sick, but for whatever reason the Good Lord has me hanging on yet.”

Charipar’s grandson, Nathan Woods, played for the Cedar Rapids Xavier team that lost to West Delaware of Manchester, 8-0, in Saturday's championship game of the class 3-A high school tournament here. Woods pitched a no-hitter Friday in Xavier's 7-0 victory over Sioux City Heelan.

Xavier was the defending champion, so a second consecutive title would have enabled Charipar’s grandson to equal what he and his Wilson teammates did long ago.

“Nathan was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 28th round of the recent major league draft,” Charipar said. “He’s a first baseman, outfielder, catcher and pitcher. He’s planning to attend Belmont University in Nashville, but we’re all waiting to see what kind of money the Dodgers come up with.”

Kenny Charipar knows something about collegiate baseball. He was an assistant baseball coach at the University of Iowa for 11 seasons.

A son-in-law of Charipar is even more well-known. Mike Boddicker, now retired from baseball, was a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles and several other clubs, and now lives in Kansas City.

*

In researching and reviewing Wilson’s 2-1 victory over Bancroft in the 1947 state championship game in Cedar Rapids Gazette clippings, Eric Oliver said, “Having given up only two hits in the entire game, Frank Simanovsky opened the last inning with a bout of wildness –- beaning the leadoff hitter.

“The next batter hit a single to leftfield and the runner on first made the mistake of trying to take third base on my dad. He threw a ‘shot’ to third baseman Kenny Charipar to nail the lead runner.

“By tournament time, Shrimp Matter had been relegated to the stands by the Iowa High School Athletic Association for lack of certification. From there, he flashed a pre-arranged signal to coach Don Durey to bring in Arnie Pavlicek, who made quick work of the last two outs, and the boys from the poor side of Cedar Rapids became kings for a day.”

Wonderful stuff, Eric. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

*

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Ron Maly is a graduate of Wilson High School in Cedar Rapids. He actually finished his classes in January of the year he got out of school, but had to wait until June to get his diploma at Kingston Stadium with the rest of the graduates. It's just a guess, but Ron thinks the school administration, for some unknown reason, didn't want to have an outdoor graduation ceremony in 6 feet of snow at Kingston Stadium in January. From January until September, Ron worked in the stock room at Link-Belt Speeder in Cedar Rapids to make enough money so he could get through most of his first year at the University of Iowa. Tuition at Iowa was cheaper in those days, and Maly had a parttime job at the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he went to Iowa. Ron tells the editors of this website that the factory job was good for him. "I found out I didn't want to work in a stock room again. Or a factory again," he explains. In his years at Wilson, Maly liked most of his teachers and most of his classes. The exceptions were his biology and woodwork classes, which may explain why he didn't try to find a job in either of those fields. Ron can't remember his biology teacher's name or what she looked like, but his woodwork teacher was Jay Busby and, sad to say, Ron remembers what Busby looked like. The picture in Maly's mind is not a pleasant one. He's also told his editors that he didn't think Busby had a sense of humor. "If he did, he wouldn't have sent me into the counselor's office when he saw me writing my own excuse after I went to a movie the day before, instead of going to school," Maly said. Busby was never one of Ron's favorites. Maybe that's because he [Old Jay, not then-young Ron] was Wilson's basketball coach, and didn't do very well at it. Every time Ron visits Cedar Rapids -- which, unfortunately, isn't often anymore -- he drives past Wilson to make sure it's still there and hasn't been turned into a truck driving school. His editors think he secretly wishes it was still a high school. And, oh, yes, one more thing. The photo of Chuck Fulton at the top right of this column comes to you as a courtesy of Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Dave Peterson Calls It a Career at the Paper. Roosevelt's Fabian Brown Will Go To Iowa Central, Not ISU, Because Of Low Grades

News today from the paper:

From: Don Tormey
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:39:30 -0500
To: DES-NEWSROOM
Conversation: Staffing news
Subject: Staffing news

Senior Photographer David Peterson has announced his retirement from the Register after some 30 years of dedicated service. He will pursue a few personal projects and freelance work (more golf too) -- I'm sure we'll continue to see him around Des Moines and the state.

Dave has been a wonderful contributor to the paper with Pulitzer Prize winning visual coverage of the farm crisis in the '80's, in addition to the top stories from the floods to the Caucus cycles, State Fairs, RAGBRAI'S, High School State Tournaments and Drake Relays where he is known to most as "Mr. Drake Relays". Dave has captured many powerful, emotional and memorable photographs for our readers over the years. In addition he has won numerous national, state and Register awards for his news, feature and sports photography.

He is an all-around true photojournalist, a visual idea generator, a passionate advocate for visual storytelling and solid contributor for numerous sections of the paper throughout his distinguished career. He will be missed.

His last day will be August 16th. Please wish him well in his new adventure.

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Good for Dave Peterson. He'll enjoy his retirement, and he probably will have the chance to make almost as much money -- or more -- freelancing as a photographer than he did at the paper. He doesn't seem old enough to go into retirement, so let's just hope leaving the paper is his idea and not theirs. But you never know these days. Editors and bean counters at 8th & Locust again have been asking newsroom workers if they want to retire so the bottom line will look better to the tight-fisted Gannett Co. And, if they don't retire, they'll look hard for a way to make 'em retire. Don't forget, the paper -- in this new "let-Joe-Blow-do-the-work-for-us" plan -- can get the public to take photographs and write stories, and it won't cost the management a penny. So who needs high-priced writers and photographers? I teamed with Peterson on a number of jobs over the years. The most interesting was in 1974 when he and I flew [yes, sportswriters and photographers actually flew places back then at that place] to Massillon, Ohio, for a print and photo package of that city's unbelievable football tradition. I think Peterson packed every type and size of lens that was ever made for that trip. The only photographer who might have taken more equipment on a trip with me was the late Larry Neibergall, the king of duct tape in the newspaper business. Peterson won a Pulitzer prize in 1987 for photographs in the feature category. He won for photos "depicting the shattered dreams of American farmers." You could figure that reporters and photographers always had an advantage with the Pulitzer committee when they wrote or took pictures about farming. The '87 Pulitzer won by Peterson was one of the last it's snared. The Register used to be a regular in the Pulitzer prize ring, but that tradition went down the drain when Gannett bought the paper. The Register has won 15 Pulitzers in all, but one picked off in 1991 by reporter Jane Schorer was the most recent. That's a long time ago, Pulitzer fans. Anyway, a personal memo to Dave Peterson: Life will be better for you now that you're retired. I'll be seeing you at a major-college football or basketball game somewhere].

*
GRADES KEEP FABIAN BROWN FROM IOWA STATE

The Iowa State Daily says Fabian Brown's appearance with the South all-star team in Saturday's Iowa Shrine Bowl game may have been the last time he plays football at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames for awhile.

The paper said Brown had signed with Iowa State this past winter, but has since decided to go to Iowa Central Community College. Brown, a linebacker at Des Moines Roosevelt, was a three-star recruit on www.rivals.com, and the 29th-best strong side linebacker in the nation, according to www.scout.com. He said his grades were the reason for the change.

"Because of my grades and my GPA, I didn't meet the requirements to pass the [NCAA] Clearinghouse," Brown said.

According to www.ncaa.org, the NCAA Clearinghouse, is "an organization that works with the NCAA to determine a student's eligibility for athletics participation in his or her first year of college."

In order to play NCAA sports, high school students must meet the requirements of the clearinghouse. The requirements center around taking proper high school classes, and achieving an adequate combination of GPA and ACT or SAT scores.

Brown was recruited and offered a scholarship by former Cyclone coach Dan McCarney, but decided to stay at Iowa State when new coach Gene Chizik took over. Brown said the new coaching staff wanted him to stay. His grades, however, posed a problem and the new staff helped him to a decision.

Chizik Says He's Not Accustomed To Losing and Doesn't Like Losing But, Sorry, Gene, Your Clones Will Probably Finish In the Big 12 North Basement

Whenever Iowa State gets a new football coach -- and lord knows there have been plenty of them over the years -- people from Texas and Oklahoma and Nebraska and Missouri want to know why the guy took the job.

It must be the clean air in Ames.

Or the ag school.

After all, folks for years have been hearing that Iowa State is a football coaching graveyard and that Ames is the place that guys with 2-10 records come to die.

Dan McCarney seemed on his way to ending that "graveyard" crap, but a 4-8 record last season [and an impatient athletic director] did him in. Fortunately, he made it out of central Iowa with a heartbeat and is now the assistant head coach at South Florida.

Let's all hope McCarney, a good guy, gets a break after the 2007 season and finds himself another head coaching job -- at a place where he can play Iowa [he did all right against the Hawkeyes] but doesn't have to play Texas and Oklahoma.

So now Gene Chizik [pictured at the right] is Iowa State's coach, and he's the guy assigned to answer those questions about, "Why in the hell did you pick Ames, Ia., as the place to start your head coaching career?"

That's all right. They asked Johnny Majors the same thing in 1968. Certainly McCarney. Donnie Duncan, too.

Majors told me he'd heard other coaches say the way to handle things at Iowa State was to win, then find greener pastures -- or words to that effect.

After Iowa State, he won a national championship at Pittsburgh and got fired at Tennessee.

Duncan could beat Iowa, but his teams died at midseason. He's now working for the Big 12 Conference.

Earle Bruce won at Iowa State, but got out the minute the Ohio State job opened.

They asked Chizik basically the same thing today -- the one about why he came to Ames -- at the Big 12 meetings in San Antonio.

Enough sportswriters survived last night on the Riverwalk to make it to the Iowa State press conference on time.

The Big 12 furnishes quotes to nosy Internet writers like me, so this is what I found out:

"What interested you most about the job at Ames?" Chizik was asked.

"A couple of things," he said. "When I was approached with some different opportunities, I really felt like whatever opportunity I pursued had to be something where I felt like there was going to be a commitment to excellence and a commitment to win.

"And when I was approached about this job, basically I wanted them to lay out their vision for how Iowa State would have an opportunity to win the Big 12 North. That was my whole goal and vision.

"And that was my interest. And so when I sat down with Jamie Pollard, the athletic director, and the president, Dr. [Gregory] Geoffroy, they laid out something that was a commitment. I certainly didn't come anywhere to lose. I'm not used to it. I don't like it. I took this job because they had a vision on what it's going to take to be a champion."

Pollard went on to say that the Iowa State job is a tough one, "but that's part of the challenge. That's what I like about the job."

Indeed, the Iowa State job is so tough that the Cyclones are generally picked to finish last in the Big 12 North this season.

At least Phil Steele in his College Football 2007 magazine picks 'em last, and Phil's stuff is about as good as it gets in the preseason.

Like me, Steele thinks McCarney did pretty darn well at Iowa State.

"I thought Dan McCarney did a tremendous job at Iowa State, and this is a team that had five winning years in his last seven years....This year they have the second-fewest returning starters in the Big 12, and also the fewest lettermen returning.

"While they do host both Colorado and Kansas State at the end of the season, where they should be playing their best ball, I will call for a second conesecutive finish in the basement for ISU and just their third losing season in nine years."

Chizik has experienced Bret Meyer at quarterback and Todd Blythe at receiver, so we've all got to figure the Cyclones will throw and catch the ball pretty well. But the rookie coach knows Iowa State must run the ball--and that may or may not be possible consistently.

"I'll go to my grave believing if you're going to win the Big 12 or any league you have to be able to run the football first," Chizik said.

That's something they all say. On their way to the coaching grave.

*

ALIVE IN CLIVE CHECKS IN WITH HIS VOTE

Alive in Clive -- a very astute football observer if I ever saw one -- has been spending the summer watching movies.

Indeed, he's inspected the Nebraska highlights film 23 times of Bob Devaney's final season as coach.

But Alive crawled out of the film room in his basement long enough to notice the Register's omission of Iowa's 1939 Ironmen from its list of the top 20 teams in the state.

Here's his e-mail:

"...the register really doesn't get it. I know I am voting late, but I would like to put forth the 1971 Nebraska University Football team. Yes, the one who played in the game of the Century against the sooners of oklahoma. I know that they are not in Iowa, but I am sure that someone on the team was from Iowa.

"I remain as always, Alive in Clive"

[RON MALY'S COMMEMTS: Good thinking, Alive. I'm sure there were a couple of Iowans on that Husker team, so maybe you should put your vote into an envelope and send it to Randy Brubaker at the paper. I think he's handling all of tardy ballots. There could be a recount and a revised top 20 any day now. A wrestling team led the voting last week. Maybe it'll be Nebraska's 1971 football team next Sunday].

*

OH, TO BE AMONG THE FINEST AGAIN

A reader sent me an e-mail titled "Goodbye to Newspapers? -- The New York Review Of Books." He included a quote from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20471 that reads:

"Newspapers report their own erosion in the business columns, doggedly recording inch-by-inch shrinkage of page sizes and job-by-job shrinkage of news coverage, but statistics alone cannot convey the true loss to the country. Besides the Los Angeles Times, the papers showing the ravages of extensive cost-cutting include many once ranked among the country's finest: The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Des Moines Register, The Hartford Courant, the Louisville Courier-Journal, the San Jose Mercury News, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, for example."

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Well, business pages are disappearing in some papers these days, so that means they won't need to report how bad the newspapers are doing much longer. But I'm sure they'll always find the space for 28 pages of RAGBRAI coverage in the Register each day].

*

STRIP JOINT OWNER MAY DONATE $1 MILLION TO GOPHERS' NEW STADIUM

A reader sent a story from Minneapolis Star Tribune that tells us of Robert Sabes, who owns a downtown strip joint and might soon be donating $1 million to the Minnesota Gophers' new football stadium:

"For the past two decades, Sabes owned Schieks Palace Royale, one of the premier strip clubs in downtown Minneapolis and one of a string of business interests that have made Sabes an intriguing figure.

"And for more than a year, the University of Minnesota has been chasing the colorful but reclusive Sabes, hoping his family would contribute financially to the school's new football stadium.

"As recently as a week ago, the university listed the Sabes Family Foundation as verbally committing $1 million to the project -- making Sabes potentially one of the largest donors to the new 50,000-seat stadium.

"'The university has had a number of discussions with the foundation about opportunities to support our mission, whether it is the stadium or in another way,' said Dan Wolter, a university spokesman.

"'We don't comment on discussions with donors and potential donors.'

"University officials involved in the drive to raise $86 million in private money for the $288.5 million stadium, including Joel Maturi, the school's athletic director, declined to comment on the potential gift or Sabes' background with Schieks.

"But a university adjunct professor, who said he had approached Sabes' foundation on behalf of the stadium fundraising drive, said the contribution had grown more uncertain even as school officials count it toward the $60 million already raised privately for the stadium. Andy Andrews, an adjunct professor with the Carlson School of Management, said that the foundation had in effect withdrawn its commitment, and that university officials are now scrambling to get the family to reconsider.

"'He's a very generous guy," said Andrews, who said he first approached the foundation at least two years ago and said he was asked recently by stadium fundraising officials to lobby it again. Andrews said Sabes' business interests were not part of the university's fundraising discussions, and added that 'I don't suppose I gave it much thought. I'm just trying to raise money for the stadium.'

"Steve Sabes, the family foundation's trustee, said neither the foundation nor Robert Sabes would comment on their discussions with the university. 'He's a private person. He just doesn't want to get involved,' said Steve Sabes. Robert Sabes is listed as a foundation manager in 2005, the most recent year for which state records are available. The foundation reported $43 million in assets that year....'"

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Hey, when did Minnesota's fundraisers ever care where the money came from?]

*

AND FINALLY....

A guy wants to know what this "Biz Buzz" stuff and that cute little picture that goes with it in the paper is all about.

I said I'd be checking on it.

Excitement In the Neighborhood. And I Do Mean Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

Fire trucks with their sirens on, police cars, an ambulance, TV trucks, guys lugging big cameras down the sidewalk where kids usually ride bicycles. Smoke and flames could be seen by onlookers. All of that stuff disrupted the neighborhood on a quiet July morning in the suburbs. A kid evidently was playing with firecrackers. Firecrackers sometimes cause fires. When fires happen, fire trucks appear quickly. In this case, they did anyway. It was nice to know that everybody's tax money was paying off. After a few hours, all was quiet again. Owners of the home, plus assorted helpers, were seen late at night, starting to repair the damage.

Iowa Energy Basketball Team Starts On the Road, Then Opens Its Home Schedule Nov. 26 Against Albuquerque

The Iowa Energy basketball team will play its home opener Monday, Nov. 26, after starting the season with two games on the road.

The new Des Moines-based team travels to Bismarck, N.D., for games Nov. 23 and Nov. 24 against the Dakota Wizards, the defending NBA Development League champions. The Nov. 26 home opener at Wells Fargo Arena sends the Energy against the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, the 2005-2006 champions.

“We’re pleased to come out of the gates against two championship teams that will clearly demonstrate to fans and enthusiasts the high caliber of basketball talent in this league,” said Energy coach Nick Nurse.

“It’s not for the faint of heart to take on the two best teams in the league, and we know it will be fun and entertaining for our energetic and growing fan base.”

The Energy also announced a Christmas night game against the Dakota Wizards. The full schedule will be announced soon.

*

[This story was written for Ron Maly by Jamie Pearson of the Iowa Energy]

Reader Writes, 'Even the Chimps At Blank Park Zoo' Know Nile Kinnick and the Rest Of Iowa's 1939 Ironmen Provided This State With Its Best Team Ever

Something the paper does these days really shouldn't shock anyone because it's one dumb move after another down there.

However, I get the idea R. H. of Des Moines is in shock because he titled his e-mail to me with the words, "Shocked, I tell you, shocked!!!"

Hey, anytime a guy is in three-exclamation-point shock, that's a bigtime shock!!!

R.H. of Des Moines was referring to the Des Moines Register's top 20 list of the best sports teams in the state of Iowa.

Left out of the list and not even in the "narrowly-missing-the-cut" category were Nile Kinnick and the rest of Iowa's 1939 Ironmen.

I know people in the paper's newsroom read my columns regularly. My up-to-the-minute readership surveys show "Des Moines Register" dozens of times each day on my computer..

I wrote in a column last week that folks at the paper would be screwing things up again if they didn't name the Ironmen the state's best team.

They didn't, so now people are writing to me about it.

Here's an e-mail from R. H. of Des Moines:

"Ron,

"The next time I consider sending in a vote for the best sports team in Iowa history, I'll make sure I stuff the ballot boxes, a la the Daley machine in Chicago circa 1960. I was so confident that the Ironmen team would be #1, let alone in the top three, I didn't put them on my submittal to the sports department. Today, I'm wishing I had a donkey to kick me up and down Grand Avenue from the Capitol to the DMACC West Campus.

"Either the Register didn't think that The Ironmen was too prehistoric for the reader's taste, or it shows how quick readers forget to appreciate history, or how much readership has dropped to a point where no one bothered to even read the story.

"I never knew Waterloo had a great team in 1975. I was born in 1976, so I only knew them as the Indians and the Diamonds. If I were to ask anyone back home in Waterloo what was the best minor league team they ever saw, they couldn't tell me. Hell, they are very quick to tell me about the 1969 East Waterloo team (that was part of the long winning between 1965 and 1972) and the great West High wrestling teams from 1968-75 under Bob Siddens (the two teams I submitted).

"Call me a picky fellow, but when I think of best teams ever, that team had to be not only special, and have individuals on that team that people continue to remember to this very day, but more importantly their part in the historical context of Iowa sports. It's easy to add the 2000 Quad City Steamwheelers and their AFL2 title, but how many folks across the state knows who was on that team outside of the Quad Cities?

"Exactly. That is why the 1939 Iowa football team (aka The Ironmen) without a doubt is the best team in Iowa. Even the chimps at Blank Park Zoo knew that. It's too bad a good number of those who sent their choices to the sports department have no clue how valuable The Ironmen were to this state. They were undoubtedly 'Iowa's First Team.'"

R.H.
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Great e-mail again, R. H. You're right on the money as usual. It's absolutely unbelievable to me that the 1939 Ironmen received no recognition at all in the paper. It was almost like coach Eddie Anderson's wonderful team was left out purposely. It's difficult for me to blame reporter Andrew Logue for this mess. I've got to believe that other goofballs at the paper made the decisions on what teams should make up the top 20, and that good-guy Logue was the only person sitting in the office and had to write the story. The tale of the Ironmen had Hollywood written all over it. Nile Kinnick, the team's standout player, was a Phi Beta Kappa student who lost his life in a 1943 Navy plane accident, and Iowa Stadium was renamed Kinnick Stadium [pictured] in 1972. A statue of Kinnick greets fans outside the stadium. What other sorts of clues does the paper need to put the Ironmen No. 1 in the state? Like I said, unbelievable. It's as unbelievable as the paper naming Dick Schultz, who had a 41-55 record as Iowa's basketball coach, to the Des Moines Register Sports Hall of Fame a few years ago].

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IT'S 'CRAZY' THAT THEY PASSED UP THE 1939 IRONMEN

Harold Yeglin, a retired and longtime Register newsroom do-it-all employee, weighed in on the "where-the-heck-are-the-Ironmen?" question with this e-mail:

"Hi, Ron:

"Just Googled the Register's website and saw that list of so-called Top 20 all-time Iowa sports teams.

"Crazy. How could they pass up the 1939 Iowa football team that produced the Heisman Trophy winner, national coach of the year and was either 1 or 2 in voting as the AP's 1939 Team of the Year (Nile Kinnick's Ironmen were either first and Joe DiMaggio's New York Yankees second or the other way around; my memory fails me -- check it out!).

"I was reporter, copy editor, assistant slotman, slotman, Administrative Sports Editor and even a 16-year-old part-timer in The Register sports department in a stretch from 1942 to 1991 -- so what the hell do I know?

"I see on the website that Buck put the Iowa football team of the early 1920's at the head of his selections. Good choice, too.

"Yes, Iowa's wrestlers under Gable were outstanding. But does anyone remember the wrestling team from little Cornell College that won both the national NCAA and AAU titles in one year -- either 1947 or '48 -- and put at least one guy on the 1948 U.S. Olympic team. (In that postwar era the national AAU tournament was even bigger than the NCAA meet.)

"Etc., etc.

"All the best -- Harold.

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Great idea, Harold, to bring up tiny Cornell College and its wrestling program. I guess Mt. Vernon is out of the Register's circulation area now, so that's why nobody at the paper was aware -- or cared -- about what went on at Cornell in the 1940s. Like I pointed out earlier, I think Randy Brubaker must have had something to do with that top 20 list in the paper].

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THEY'VE 'BEEN DRINKIN' TOO MUCH SODY POP'

George Wine, who was Iowa's sports information director for 25 years, writes about the missing Ironmen from the Register's top 20 list:

"As Hayden Fry would say, those guys at the Register have been drinkin' too much sody pop. Unbelievable . . . Headed home tomorrow, with stops in Idaho and Denver. See you press day when the Cubs have taken over first in the National League Central."

George Wine

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Wine and his wife, now both retired and living most of the year in Iowa, have been traveling in the state of Washington, Wine co-authored a book with Fry that detailed the coach's success as the football coach at Southern Methodist, North Texas and Iowa. George still writes weekly online columns during the season about Hawkeye football].

Hawkeye Women's Track Coach James Grant Dies At 60 Of Cancer

Iowa women's track coach James Grant [pictured] died of cancer today in Iowa City. He was 60.

Grant, was in his 23rd year with the Hawkeyes -- serving as an assistant coach from 1986-96 and head coach the past 12 seasons.

He is survived by five children –- Flor-Maria Grant-Cope, Suzette Grant-McTaggart, Aisha Grant-Daley, Kareem Segler and Jamie-Lee Grant.

“The University of Iowa family has lost a valued member today,” said University of Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. “Jim Grant, in addition to being an outstanding coach and representative of the Iowa athletic department, was a good person. The news of Jim’s passing is terribly sad for all us who knew and worked with him. The example he set as a coach and important member of our staff was truly something special. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”

At Iowa, Grant coached one NCAA champion, 15 all-Americans, 26 Big Ten champions, three NCAA Midwest Regional champions, 28 all-region selections and 81 NCAA Midwest Regional qualifiers. Iowa placed third at the 2004 Big Ten Indoor Championships in Iowa City, sixth at the 2003 Big Ten Outdoor Championships and 10th at the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional - the team’s highest placings under Grant.

The third-place Big Ten indoor finish tied the team’s highest conference finish in school history. In the past 11 seasons, 30 school records were set by Grant’s student-athletes. A total of 61 Hawkeyes have earned 111 academic all-Big Ten honors under Grant.

He was born Jan. 8, 1947, and is a native of Jamaica. Funeral services are pending.

*

[This story was written by the University of Iowa sports information office. Photo of James Grant courtesy of the University of Iowa]

Don't Believe Anything Else You Read -- Like I Told You a Few Days Ago, Nile Kinnick and His 1939 Iowa Ironmen Gave This State Its Best Team Ever

As Uncle Otto would've said, "You gotta be kiddin' me!"

Actually, most days Uncle Otto would have used a much more descriptive word than "kiddin.'" But since he's now in the big farmhouse in the sky and since this is Sunday and Uncle Otto would've already listened to the "Lutheran Hour" on his radio, I wanted to be a little more careful with my language in this column.

I know one thing. Uncle Otto -- who claimed he used to listen to Jim Zabel broadcast Hawkeye games on a crystal set -- would be putting in some kind of rough day out on the south 40 after reading what the paper said were the best 20 sports teams in the history of our state.

The 2000 Quad City Steamrollers? The 1975 Waterloo Royals? The 1998 Indian Hills basketball team? Give me a break. Please.

I mean, Nile Kinnick and his 1939 Iowa Ironmen weren't even mentioned in the story. And, heavens to Erwin Prasse, that was the team I said should be a runaway No. 1 on the list when I tried to help out the paper with last week's column.

"No respect for the old sportswriter," a guy with a smile on his face said when I walked past him on my way out of church this morning.

What he meant was, how could the paper totally ignore Kinnick and the Ironmen?

It was a team that not only captured the imagination of a state, it wrapped an entire nation in emotion as it marched to a 6-1-1 record with the All-American Boy as its leader. All while giving people something to be happy about at the end of the Great Depression.

My goodness, Nile Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy that season. No one else from an Iowa university or college has picked off football's big prize before or since. In Iowa City, they named a stadium after him and they put a statue of him in front of it.

There was talk that Nile Kinnick, a Phi Beta Kappa student, might someday be a governor or a senator. Maybe even the president.

The young man was piloting a Navy plane when he died in the Caribbean Sea in 1943 at 24 years of age. A country that already at war went into mourning when it happened.

How the paper could, unbelievably, leave that team out of the top 20 is beyond me. It didn't even make the "narrowly missing the cut" category.

All I can figure is that Randy Brubaker must have had something to do with the voting.

I'm pretty sure John Carlson and the folks in the RAGBRAI office went along with me in the balloting for the Ironmen as No. 1. Carlson has been around a long time, and he knows the impact Kinnick and the Ironmen had on this state. The RAGBRAI people would've tried to sell a few more papers and had Kinnick on the ride if he hadn't died so young.

Oh, well. Now they'll have to settle for Shawn Johnson on the next ride. Or is it Zach Johnson?

I figured the paper would screw up this best team project.

No problem.

As far as I'm concerned, the Ironmen -- with Eddie Anderson as their coach, Nile Kinnick as their star player and Erwin Prasse as their captain -- were and are the best team.

Ever.

Without question.

*

The photo of the statue of Nile Kinnick [right] at the entrance of Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City courtesy of Wikipedia. The photo of and Erwin Prasse [left], captain of Iowa's 1939 Ironmen, courtesy of Google.

Heisman Trophy Winner Nile Kinnick and His 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen Gave This State Its Best Team Of All Time -- And Don't Let Anyone Tell You Differently

The question comes up every once in a while.

A bunch of drunks will be sitting in a bar at midnight -- complaining about their bosses, lying about their love life and arguing about sports.

Eventually, they’ll decide to call the newspaper to get their answer.

To the sports question, I mean.

“Hey, we’ve got a bet going on down here about who had the best team in the state of Iowa,” one of them will say to the already-overworked copy editor who answers the phone.

Actually, those days are pretty much over now, one reason being that newspapers -- at least the one in Des Moines -- close up shop so early these nights that there’s nobody there to answer the phone at midnight.

Now, though, the paper itself is asking the question about what’s the best team our state has ever had.

Naturally, in this era of “let’s-get-the-public-involved journalism,” the paper has been asking readers to do the work for it.

They’ve been appealing, online and in print, to people to send nominations for the best team, or teams. They’ve also been calling retired employees to help them out on this project.

I hope they gave Ken Fuson and the night janitor chances to cast votes in the in-office poll, and not just people like S. P. Dinnen and Carol Hunter. I know Fuson is an Iowa fan [now you can see where I'm going with this], and the janitor might be, too. At least he bought Jim Zabel's CD that had highlights of the 1956 Hawkeye football season on it.

My intention with all of this is to save the paper a lot of work. I sure don't want 'em to screw this up the way they did last winter when they called Bill Garrett of Indiana the Big Ten's first black basketball player.

They completely overlooked Iowa's Dick Culberson, who was the conference's first black player in 1944-45.

I know folks at the paper are waiting -- both eagerly and anxiously -- to get my vote. So I'm here today to name the best sports team in the history of our state.

Without a doubt, it's the 1939 University of Iowa football team that was called the Ironmen and had eventual Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick as its standout player in the backfield.

Anyone who tries to tell you there was a better team doesn't understand the Ironmen or what they meant to this state.

They didn't go unbeaten -- indeed, they lost to Michigan, 27-7, and they were tied by Northwesern, 7-7 -- but they remain as the No. 1 sports story in this state.

Oh, sure, I realize Iowa's 1958 team went 8-1-1 and clobbered California, 38-12, in the Rose Bowl. Forest Evashevski's Hawkeyes won the Big Ten championship that season, led the nation in total offense and were named the mythical national champions by the Football Writers Association of America.

That team certainly deserves strong consideration to be the best ever in this state, but I'm sticking with Kinnick's 1939 Ironmen as the finest.

Good lord, they thought so much of Kinnick that they named Iowa's stadium after him, didn't they?

I was too young to watch the Ironmen play their eight-game schedule in 1939, but I had the pleasure of talking to several members of the team when I wrote my book "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines."

I'm just glad I was able to have several interviews with Erwin Prasse and Bill Reichardt about that team before they died.

Prasse's words told me what the Ironmen meant to this state and the nation.

This is what I wrote in the book:

"It was 1939, and agricultural Iowa still hadn't completely recovered from the Great Depression.

"Certainly football at the University of Iowa was still depressed.

"The Hawkeyes were coming off 1-7 and 1-6-1 records under teams coached by Irl Tubbs in 1937 and 1938. With little to look forward to on the football field, fans stayed away from the stadium on Saturdays.

"In those days, they had nothing to cheer about," said Erwin Prasse, now of Naperville, Ill.

"Prasse was an end on the football team and one of the best athletes the university ever produced. Indeed, he was captain of the 1939 team.

"'It was the stupid Depression, and it hurt the farmers especially," Prasse said. "The state was really down.'

"But it turned out there was some light at the end of the tunnel.

"Actually, a number of lights.

"One was named Dr. Eddie Anderson. Another was Nile Kinnick. Another was Al Couppee. And, yes, certainly another was Erwin Prasse himself.

"It was 1939. It was the year of the famous Ironmen."

In writing about Anderson, the coach, I said, "As far as I'm concerned, the most amazing thing about Dr. Eddie Anderson when he was coaching Iowa's football tream that he also practiced medicine.

"Can you imagine one of today's major college coaches practicing urology at a hospital until early in the afternoon, then running football practices late in the day?

"Not me.

"'Anderson did his medical work at the hospital in the mornings, then he'd be wearing his doctor's clothes when he showed up at the practice field,' said George "Red" Frye, who was a center on Anderson's 1939 team. 'He then would change into his football clothes.'"

Frye said it didn't take him long to realize that Anderson would turn Iowa into a winner in 1939.

"I knew [he] was going to be a perfectionist," Frye recalled. "One of the first things he said to us was that he didn't want any quitters.

"He said, 'If you're going to quit, quit now. Don't be bothering me for a certain amount of time, then back out.'"

Reichardt, a former Iowa fullback, told me when I was doing research for the book that he was a 9-year-old mascot on the 1939 team.

He claims Kinnick wouldn't have won the Heisman Trophy had Iowa not beaten Notre Dame and Minnesota in back-to-back late-season games.

Reichardt maintained that Iowa fabricated its only touchdown play in the huddle of the 7-6 victory.

This was Reichardt's version of the play:

"Iowa originally called right halfback Buzz Dean's play in the huddle. But Dean said, 'I can't take it. I've got a separated shoulder.' Then they turned to Kinnick and said, 'Can you take it, Nile?'

"Nile said, 'I think I've got a couple of broken ribs on my right side, so let's run the play to the left side."

Reichardt also claimed Anderson was on the sideline shouting, 'Don't give the ball to Kinnick! Everybody in the stadium knows you're going to give it to him!'

"But, against the rule of the coach -- the meanest SOB around, I'm talking a mean, tough guy -- they gave the ball to Kinnick," Reichardt said. "Those exhausted Iowa players leveled everybody on the field. Kinnick put the ball in his left hand, protected the ribs on his right side and crossed the goal line standing up.

"He then drop-kicked the extra point and Iowa went on to win, 7-6. Had that play failed and had Iowa not beaten Notre Dame, Kinnick never would have won the Heisman Trophy and they never would have named the stadium after him."

Iowa Stadium was renamed Kinnick Stadium in 1972.

Tragically, Kinnick died in 1943 in the crash of his Navy fighter plane in the Caribbean Sea.

There certainly have been some other outstanding football teams in this state. Howard Jones' 1921 and 1922 Iowa squads went 7-0 and Jones' teams won 20 straight games over three seasons. Clay Stapleton's 1959 Dirty Thirty at Iowa State went 7-3,and Dan McCarney's 2000 Cyclones were 9-3. Chuck Shelton's 1981 Drake team went an unheard-of 10-1.

Who can forget Drake's 1968-69 basketball team that went 26-5 and finished third in the Final Four at Louisville after losing to Lew Alcindor and his heavily-favored UCLA team, 85-82, on opening night?

Iowa's 1944-45 Iowa basketball team went 17-1 and won the Big Ten championship. That was the Pops Harrison-coached powerhouse for which Culberson played.

Valley High School in West Des Moines has had some outstanding Class 4-A football teams coached by Gary Swenson in recent seasons. The Tigers' baseball teams were state champions in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Then there were Paul Moon's tremendous basketball teams at old Davenport High, the great basketball programs at St. Mary's of Clinton, Diagonal and Palmer, Central College's "Wonder Team" that won 35 straight games in 1930, '31 and '32 and Dan Gable's Hawkeye wrestlers, too.

There have been plenty of other strong teams in our state, but when it comes to the best, I'll never be convinced there was any better than Nile Kinnick's 1939 University of Iowa Ironmen. I salute them again.

*

One more time, here's Kinnick's stirring acceptance speech at the Heisman Trophy ceremony Dec. 6, 1939 in New York City:

"Thank you very, very kindly, Mr. Holcomb. It seems to me that everyone is letting their superlatives run away with them this evening, but nonetheless, I want you to know that I'm mighty, mighty happy to accept this trophy this evening.

"Every football player in these United States dreams about winning that trophy, and of this fine trip to New York. Every player considers that trophy the acme in recognition of this kind. And the fact that I am actually receiving this trophy tonight almost overwhelms me, and I know that all those boys who have gone before me must have felt somewhat the same way.

"From my own personal viewpoint, I consider my winning this award as indirectly a great tribute to the new coaching staff at the University of Iowa, headed by Dr. Eddie Anderson, and to my teammates sitting back in Iowa City. A finer man and a better coach never hit these United States, and a finer bunch of boys and a more courageous bunch of boys never graced the gridirons of the midwest than that Iowa team in 1939. I wish that they might all be with me tonight to receive this trophy. They certainly deserve it.

"I want to take this grand opportunity to thank collectively all the sportswriters, and all the sportscasters, and all those who have seen fit, have seen their way clear to cast a ballot in my favor for this trophy. And I also want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Prince and his committee, the Heisman award committee, and all those connected with the Downtown Athletic Club for this trophy, and for the fine time that they're showing me. And not only for that, but for making this fine and worthy trophy available to the football players of this country.

"Finally, if you will permit me, I'd like to make a comment which in my mind, is indicative, perhaps, of the greater significance of football and sports emphasis in general in this country, and that is, I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest and not on the battlefields of Europe. I can speak confidently and positively that the players of this country would much more, much rather, struggle and fight to win the Heisman award than the Croix de Guerre.

"Thank you."

*

Is that wonderful, or what?

*

Photos of Nile Kinnick [right] holding his 1939 Heisman Trophy and coach Eddie Anderson [left] of Iowa's '39 Ironmen courtesy of Google.

Iowa State Plays Purdue In Las Vegas Classic Basketball Tournament On Dec. 22

Iowa State's men's basketball team will play Purdue in the Las Vegas Classic at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 22 in the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, according to Purdue's student newspaper, the Exponent. The winner will face the winner of the Alabama-Missouri State game in the championship game Dec. 23.

Jacob Craig, Derek Retherford Named Co-Captains Of Drake's Football Team

Senior free safety Jacob Craig of Mt. Vernon and junior quarterback Derek Retherford of Johnston have been named co-captains of Drake's football team. Craig, a first-team all-Pioneer Football League choice last year, will enter his second year as a starter in the secondary. The three-year letterwinner was named the squad's co-defensive player of the year last season. Retherford started the first five games last year before suffering a season ending injury. He passed for 916 yards, including five touchdowns.

Mike Taylor Isn't So Valuable Now -- Cyclone Coach Greg McDermott Kicks Him Off the team. It's a Break for the Ames Police, Who Won't Be So Busy

Iowa State senior guard Mike "Light Fingers" Taylor has been dismissed from the basketball team, coach Greg McDermott said today.

It was a wise decision by McDermott. Nobody needs Taylor's act.

Taylor was the Cyclones' most valuable player last season, but the guy couldn't stay off the police blotter.

NcDermott appears to be losing some of his hair, and having Green on the scene seemed to be making him thinner on top at an alarming rate.

He sure as hell didn't want to look like Yul Brynner by the time classes start in August.

“Mike and I sat down at the beginning of the summer and clearly defined the expectations that he needed to meet in order to remain a member of this basketball team,” McDermott said.

“Unfortunately, Mike fell short of the goals that were set for him. As a result, I have decided that it is in Mike’s best interest to pursue his academic and athletic career at another institution.”

A native of Milwaukee, Wis., Taylor earned honorable mention all-Big 12 honors in his only season with the Cyclones in 2006-07, averaging 16 points and 4.5 assists.

“I had a great experience at Iowa State,” Taylor said. “I appreciated all of the fan support and the opportunity to play in front of Hilton Coliseum. However, due to circumstances I got myself into, it is in my best interest to further my education and basketball opportunities at another school.”

Well said, Mike.

*

Some of this story was written for Ron Maly's website by Mike Green of Iowa State's sports information office. The story was edited by Maly, who also added all of the editorial comment. Photos of Mike Taylor [right] and Greg McDermott [left] courtesy of Google.

Mike Riggs Leaving Minneapolis Star Tribune To Join Meredith Corporation In Des Moines. 'Top Leadership Position' Is An 'Offer He Couldn't Refuse'

I guess this announcement, posted on Jim Romenesko's media news website, is something the Meredith Corporation of Des Moines should be proud of.

And Mike Riggs should be a pretty happy guy, too.

Date/Time: 7/18/2007 5:59:34 PM
Title: Strib CFO Riggs takes job with Meredith
Posted By: Jim Romenesko

Star Tribune announcement

Mike Riggs Leaving Star Tribune
by Par Ridder, Publisher & CEO

July 18, 2007 - Mike Riggs, our CFO and senior vice president for finance and information technology, will be leaving the Star Tribune July 31 to become a senior vice president at Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa.

This is an excellent opportunity for Mike. Meredith is one of the nation's leading media companies, with premier magazine, television and book businesses, and Mike will be in a top leadership position there. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

While we are happy for him and understand his decision, we will miss his outstanding contributions at the Star Tribune. He is one of the top talents in our industry. Last year, Presstime, the magazine of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) named Mike one of its "Twenty Under Forty," an honor recognizing the best young talents in the industry.

Mike has been a pivotal player in moving us through the change of ownership of the Star Tribune - a challenging job that has required the highest level of financial expertise. He has led this transition skillfully and gracefully, and we appreciate all that he has done.

Prior to becoming CFO in 2006, Mike was a sales director in Interactive Media and director of business planning for the Sales division. He joined the Star Tribune in 1996 and worked for a year as a senior financial accountant. He left briefly to become a Securities and Exchange Commission reporting specialist at Graco, Inc. and returned to the Star Tribune in 2000 as a Classified Advertising finance manager for the Housing, Transportation and Call Center group. In 2001 he moved to director of business planning for the sales division and in 2005 headed up the highly successful interactive ad sales effort.

We have begun a search for Mike's replacement. In the interim, Chuck Brown, controller, and Jon Ochetti, planning and analysis director, will report to me, and Molly Hoeg, IT director, will report to Kevin Desmond, SVP of operations.

Please join me in wishing Mike and his family all the best in their move to Des Moines.

Keno Davis' First Drake Basketball Team Will Host a Tournament Next Season That Includes Duquesne, Cal State Northridge and North Carolina Central

Duquesne, Cal State Northridge, first-year NCAA Division I team North Carolina Central and host Drake will play in the Iowa Realty men's basketball tournament Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

The Bulldogs will be coached for the first time in the 2007-2008 season by Keno Davis [pictured], whose father, Tom Davis, led the Bulldogs to their first winning record in 20 years last season.

*

CYCLONES' PAULSON, MEDDERS HONORED

NCAA and Big 12 Conference champion wrestler Trent Paulson and all-Big 12 basketball player Lyndsey Medders were named Iowa State’s 2007 male and female athletes of the year today.

Paulson was instrumental in Iowa State's resurgence on the national collegiate wrestling scene, helping the Cyclones win their first conference title in 20 years and place second at the 2007 NCAA meet.

Medders ranked sixth nationally in assists (6.5) in 2006-07, pacing the Cyclones to a 26-9 record and a second-round NCAA tournament appearance. Medders, who owns Iowa State's single-game (16), single-season (216) and career (719) assist records, earned first-team all-Big 12 honors for the second consecutive season and was an honorable mention all-American pick.

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BIG TEN NETWORK ANNOUNCERS NAMED

The Big Ten network today named veteran play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman and analyst Charles Davis its lead football broadcast team.

Brennaman and Davis will be joined by five others who will complete the conference's studio team and comprise the network’s game-day announce teams. The roster includes former Indiana coach and ESPN analyst Gerry DiNardo; retired Denver Broncos and former Illinois fullback Howard Griffith; former Minnesota coach Glen Mason; play-by-play announcer Wayne Larrivee and former Northwestern and Chicago Bears defensive back Chris Martin.

DiNardo and Griffith, serving as analysts, will join Dave Revsine, the network’s lead studio host, for coverage from Big Ten headquarters in downtown Chicago, while Larrivee and Martin will comprise a second on-air team. Mason will serve as the analyst on a third game broadcast team, one whose play-by-play position is to be determined.

Like I Said, the Kid Can Shoot -- Drake Guard Josh Young Named the Outstanding Player In Summer League After Drilling 33 Points In Championship Game

Drake guard Josh Young was named the outstanding player in the YMCA Capital City Summer Men's Basketball League after propelling Coca-Cola Bottling Company to a 103-94 victory over Gratias Construction in the championship of the league tournament at Valley Southwoods School in West Des Moines.

Young, who will be a sophomore for the Bulldogs in the upcoming season, scored 33 points in the championship game, hitting 14-of-22 shots including five three-point baskets. He also had six rebounds and four assists.

Young averaged 21.9 points in the summer league, while shooting 61.3 percent from the floor including 58.1 percent (25-43) from three-point range.

The Lawton, Okla., native also averaged 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in the summer league, which featured players from Drake, Iowa State and other area colleges.

Young, who scored more points (342) than any other freshman in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, was named to both the Valley's all-freshman and all-newcomer teams. He scored a career-high 23 points, including a career-high five three-point baskets in Drake's 101-96 overtime victory over Evansville in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

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This story was written for Ron Maly's website by Drake sports information director Mike Mahon. Photo of Josh Young courtesy of Google.

Steve Loney Names Veterans Tom Lichtenberg and Randy Ball To His Drake Coaching Staff; Matt Jeter Promoted To Defensive Coordinator

Randy Ball and Tom Lichtenberg, who have a combined 39 years of collegiate coaching experience -- including 25 years as college head coaches -- have joined the Drake football staff.

New Drake head coach Steve Loney also said Matt Jeter has been promoted to defensive coordinator.

This will mark the third time Lichtenberg and Loney have been on the same coaching staff.

Loney was a graduate assistant at Iowa State in 1974 during the same time Lichtenberg served as assistant football coach under Earle Bruce. Loney served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Morehead State, under Lichtenberg in 1979-80.

Lichtenberg, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, brings 23 years of collegiate coaching experience to Drake, having served as head coach at Morehead State (1979-80), Maine (1989) and Ohio (1990-95).

"I have known Tom Lichtenberg for 32 years," said Loney. "We are all very lucky to have Tom step away from retirement to accept this position. To do so, demonstrates his belief in our goals and vision for Drake football. He will be invaluable to me in my position as head coach and will be an unbelievable role model for all that come in contact with him. His love for our youth and obvious successful coaching background make him an integral piece to this puzzle as we move the program forward."

Ball posted a 98-83-1 record in 16 years as a head coach at Western Illinois (1990-98) and Missouri State (1999-2005)

The winningest coach in Western Illinois history with 64 victories, Ball was also the nation's winningest I-AA coach from 1996 to 1998, taking the Fighting Leathernecks to three NCAA playoff appearances.. Ball's WIU tenure was capped in 1998 when the Leathernecks recorded their best-ever I-AA finish, beating Montana and Florida A&M before losing at top-ranked, top-seeded and unbeaten Georgia Southern in the semifinal round. Western Illinois' 31 victories were more than any other I-AA school from 1996 to 1998.

"Randy Ball brings to us a great background on both sides of the ball that will be an invaluable resource for our defensive staff," Loney added. "As former head coach, he will be a good sounding board for me and will have an immediate impact on our program. I got to know Randy 30 years ago and have watched his career develop. His success is undeniable and I am very excited to have him join our staff."

Jeter joined the Drake coaching staff in 2003, handling the defensive backs as well as serving as the recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs.

"Since my hiring, Matt Jeter has impressed me with his thoroughness and grasp of the challenges facing the Drake program during this time of transition," said Loney. "It quickly became apparent to me that he has the respect of the players and is ready for the defensive leadership position on this staff. I am excited to watch his talents unfold."

Before taking over the reins at Ohio, Lichtenberg served one season (1989) as the head football coach at the University of Maine where he was the Yankee Conference Coach of the Year, and one season as the assistant head coach at Northern Iowa (1988).

Lichtenberg also was an assistant coach at Ohio State under Earle Bruce. He was the quarterbacks and receivers coach for the 1986 and 1987 seasons, having the opportunity to develop the talent of former Buckeye great Cris Carter.

Lichtenberg also was offensive coordinator at Bowling Green in 2000 and served as an assistant coach with the Columbus (Ohio) Destroyers in the Arena Football League, under Earle Bruce, in 2004.

Before a three-year administrative stint at Iowa State as an assistant athletic director (1983-86), he spent two seasons at Notre Dame as the offensive coordinator, running backs and quarterbacks coach.

Prior to Notre Dame, Lichtenberg was head coach at Morehead State from 1979-80 and spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Eagles. He also served as the offensive coordinator at Iowa State from 1974-78.

Lichtenberg was a three-year football letterwinner and one-year track letterwinner at the University of Louisville. He earned a bachelor of science degree in health and physical education from Louisville in 1962 and a master of education and secondary administration from Xavier University in 1966.

He and his wife, Sue Ann, have five children: Tammy, Michelle Tom Jr., Susan and Bubba. They also have 12 grandchildren.

Ball was Western Illinois' offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 1983 through 1989 under coach Bruce Craddock. Ball became the Leathernecks' head coach in 1990 after Craddock died of cancer in February of 1990.

After finishing tied for second in the Gateway five times in six years from 1991 through 1996, Ball took the Leathernecks to Gateway Football Conference titles in 1997 and 1998. He became Western Illinois' all-time winningest coach in 1998. Ball also led Western Illinois to the playoffs for the first time as a head coach in 1991.

The 31-8 record Ball fashioned from 1996 through 1998 gave him the best two-year and three-year season records in Western Illinois history and the 11 wins in both 1997 and 1998 are the most ever for one season at the school. The 31-8 record from 1996 through 1998 also made Western Illinois the winningest I-AA program in the nation over those three seasons.

In nine seasons as head coach, Ball had a 64-41-1 (.608) record at Western Illinois, including a 35-18 Gateway record. After finishing in a tie for second in the league five times in six years from 1991 through 1996, Ball took Western Illinois to Gateway titles in 1997 at 6-0 and in 1998 with a 5-1 conference standard. Ball was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award as I-AA National Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1998.

> A native of Muskogee, Okla., Ball played for three MIAA title teams from 1969 to 1972 at Truman State and was a two-time all-MIAA offensive guard. He graduated from Truman State in 1973 with a degree in physical education and got a master's degree in 1977 from the University of Missouri. After four years as a high school coach, Ball coached at Missouri Western (1977), Illinois State (1978-80), and at Truman State (1982) before moving to WIU in 1983.

Ball and his wife, Sandi, have two children. Andy is a graduate of Central Missouri State and is in his second year as an assistant football coach at Missouri-Rolla in Rolla, Mo., and Katie graduated from Missouri State in 2003 and now lives in St. Louis.


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This story was written for Ron Maly's website by Drake sports information director Mike Mahon.

Bowlsby, Who Left Surprisingly a Year Ago As Iowa's Athletic Director, Is 'Turning Stanford Around' With '21st-Century Style'--But Work Still To Do

Bob Bowlsby, who -- rather surprisingly -- resigned as Iowa's athletic director a year ago, is getting good reviews from people who are observing him in his new job at Stanford.

In a story headlined "Bowlsby turning Stanford around -- AD has made significant changes since taking over last July," this appeared in today's Oakland Tribune:


In his first year on the job, Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby made two very public moves. He fired football coach Walt Harris after a dismal season, and suspended legendary men's swimming coach Skip Kenney for removing names and records of five athletes from school media guides.

But much of Bowlsby's impact has come behind the scenes. Since arriving from the University of Iowa last July, he has ushered Cardinal athletics into the 21st century. Despite its deep pockets and Olympic-sport success, Stanford needed modernizing.

Bowlsby has focused on improving the revenue sports, especially football. He has overhauled fundraising. He even has upgraded the computer system. The Stanford athletic department — home to 13 consecutive Directors' Cup trophies, 850 athletes and a $300 million-plus endowment — finally has its own server.

And Bowlsby, 55, has done it all with a management style markedly different from that of his predecessor, Ted Leland. Bowlsby is much more involved in day-to-day operations, especially those regarding budget issues, according to staffers.

"He's going to implement change, and change sometimes isn't easy for people," said women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer, who spoke highly of Bowlsby. "There is a lot of work to be done."

The football program has floundered for years. The basketball teams flopped in the 2007 postseason, and the baseball team missed the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 14 years. The cost of living has made itdifficult for Stanford to hire, and retain, top assistant coaches and support personnel.

And then there's this: the athletic department itself is running a multimillion-dollar annual deficit. (The endowment cannot be used to pay down the operating deficit.)

"I'd characterize us as balance-sheet rich and checking-account poor," said Bowlsby, who conceded the budget woes were worse than he envisioned when he took over July10, 2006. "But the situation is improving."

Insiders believe the key to everything — to solving the budget woes, to increasing donations, to paying coaches competitive salaries — is fixing the broken football program. Firing Harris and hiring Jim Harbaugh was only a start.

Harbaugh has infused the program with confidence and energy, and early indications are he has made inroads in recruiting. But Bowlsby needs more than that. He needs Harbaugh to win — fast — to dramatically raise interest in the program.

But Stanford is not a place for quick turnarounds. As one staffer put it, the Cardinal rebuilding from last season's 1-11 performance, its worst in 46 years, is comparable to a 1-15 NFL team rebuilding solely through the draft. The collegiate equivalent of making trades — bringing in junior college transfers — is not a viable option because of Stanford's admissions requirements.

Even if Harbaugh gets football fixed quickly, winning consistently is another challenge entirely. Only twice in the past 30 years has Stanford had back-to-back winning seasons.

"You have to have all the pieces to the puzzle in place," Bowlsby said. "At times, we've had them all in place and haven't, for whatever reason, been able to keep them in place, usually due to personnel changes."

Staff continuity is crucial to sustained success, but keeping Harbaugh's staff together won't be easy. It never is at Stanford. After the Cardinal went an encouraging 5-6 in Harris' first season, half the staff bolted for jobs that paid better or were in cheaper locales.

Bowlsby acknowledged that "sticker shock" in the Bay Area is a significant problem, and said the department is looking at ways to resolve the problem. He declined to go into detail, but sources said Stanford is considering a housing complex at submarket rates for coaches in all sports.

School officials also hope changes in the fundraising model will generate revenue that can be used for housing and salaries. Bowlsby plans to implement a "stratified benefits" plan in which choice seat locations and parking spaces to major sporting events go to the biggest donors. If it seems like a money grab, well, most Division I-A athletic departments have used the stratified-benefits model for years.

And that's not the only change in the fundraising department. In years past, Stanford coaches have raised money for their individual "sport improvement funds." But Bowlsby's plan calls for donations to be funneled through one arm — the Buck Cardinal Club — and then distributed to each program (with Bowlsby having the final word).

"What we've done is centralize fundraising, so we're not having 35 different sports making annual appeals to friends and alumni around the world," Bowlsby said. "Instead, we'll be making one unified solicitation that can be used to fund the entire program."

Like stratified benefits, centralized fundraising is a staple of 21st century college athletics. It has the added benefit of taking fundraising responsibilities away from coaches.

"It's a huge relief," softball coach John Rittman said.

Of course, there is one potential pitfall to centralized fundraising: It inherently places more emphasis on the football program — the face of the athletic department — as the prime mover of alumni donations. But can football handle the load?

For years, Stanford seemingly has gone to great lengths to prevent football from engulfing the rest of the athletic department, as it does at many DivisionI-A schools, because of the vast resources needed to win consistently. But Bowlsby and others within athletics believe the sentiment has changed, that football will be given the needed resources.

"I don't think I'd have been hired," Bowlsby said, "and I don't think Stanford Stadium would have been built, if there wasn't an expectation that I'd put priorities on making the Stanford football program as strong as it could be."

Although the challenges weren't nearly as steep, Bowlsby has been through a football rebuilding process before. During his 15 years as Iowa's athletic director, the Hawkeyes went 3-8, 1-10 and 3-9 in consecutive seasons. The team turned it around, producing winning seasons in each of Bowlsby's final five years.

Whether he can do the same at Stanford remains to be seen. But 12 months into the job, he has put his stamp on the program — and the athletic department.

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Photo of Bob Bowlsby [right] courtesy of Google.

Maybe the Fear Of a Barry Switzer-Type Program At Iowa Scared Bob Bowlsby Away From Hiring Bob Stoops As Football Coach; That and 'Ratatouille,' Too

Sid from Shueyville writes:

"Hi, Ron,

"Maybe this is one reason Bowlsby was cool on Stoops when Fry retired. I'll see you at press day."

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Sid is referring to the NCAA coming down hard on Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops [lower left] and the Sooners' program. The eight victories Stoops and his team had in 2005 will be wiped out because quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J. D. Quinn were paid for work they didn't do at a Norman, Okla., car dealership in the off-season. Stoops kicked Bomar and Quinn off the team, but it's hard to believe he didn't know about the infractions. The NCAA also penalized Oklahoma two football scholarships a season for two years. Stoops, a former Iowa player, wanted to be named the Hawkeyes' coach when Hayden Fry retired after 20 years, but then-athletic director Bob Bowlsby [lower right] -- rather surprisingly -- turned his back to Stoops and chose Kirk Ferentz].

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IT'S CALLED PICKING YOUR SPOTS

From Bud Appleby of Des Moines:

"So the Hawkeyes are playing the Bradley Braves in an invitational basketball tournament. Whatever happened to Iowa's politically-correct policy of not playing against teams that have Indian nicknames?

"Iowa's first game in the tournament will be against Florida Gulf Coast -- a first-year Division I school -- on Nov. 18 in Iowa City."

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: It's called picking your spots, Bud. Evidently, Iowa uses that excuse of not playing teams with Indian names only when the coach in a particular sport doesn't want to play a particular game. The Hawkeyes aren't going to be picky about being matched against Bradley's Braves in the South Padre Invitational next November in Todd Lickliter's first season as coach].

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ENERGY/HIGH SCHOOL DOUBLEHEADERS A GOOD IDEA

From Rev. David P. Mumm, the former pastor at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Des Moines:

"Hi, Ron,

"I got an e-mail this morning telling me about Des Moines new NBA developmental team -- the Energy. I really like what they are planning, partnering with the high schools for a doubleheader evening. It sounds to me like a win for everyone involved. What a great way to build excitement and recognition for the new club in town, and at the same time, to benefit the high school teams. I don't know why other teams haven't thought of a similar concept.

"My favorite professional baseball team is actually playing like a professional team this year. The biggest problem the Brewers have right now is, you can only put nine guys on the field at one time. Their depth is great....I wondered, in May, when they lost 15 of 20, whether they were going to be another typical Brewer team...."

David P. Mumm, M.Div
Senior Pastor
Concordia Lutheran Church
7424 N. Second St.
Machesney Park, IL 61115

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: The Brewers have been one of the best stories in major league baseball this season. Unfortunately for them, the Chicago Cubs have finally started playing the way their high-salaried players are supposed to be performing, and now Milwaukee's lead in the National League Central is only 3 1/2 games over Chicago. It may be a divisional race that goes down to the last game of the season. Just so the St. Louis Cardinals aren't part of it].

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REMY WILL BE READY FOR THE FOOD CHANNEL SOON

I saw the movie Ratatouille [top photo] the other day, and it's everything the critics have said it is.

I continue to be amazed at what cartoonists can accomplish

As hard to believe as it seems, a rat named Remy is almost as cute as my dog, Saki, was.

Of course, Remy is a gourmet chef in Paris and he speaks pretty well, so that somehow explains why he's so cute.

The movie is a great one for grandparents and grandchildren to see together.

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GET BACK TO BASKETBALL WHERE YOU BELONG, MARK CUBAN

I've sent for the papers that will enable me to apply to buy the Chicago Cubs.

Once I get the application in, Mark Cuban will have no chance.

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TV VIEWERS WATCH CHANNEL 13--FROM 6 TO 7 A.M. ANYWAY

From Tim Gardner at Channel 13 in Des Moines:

"WHO-TV's “Today in Iowa” won the critical morning news battle in the latest Nielson television ratings in the 6 a.m.-to-7 a.m. time slot.

"In addition to the morning news victory, Channel 13 News continues to grow in the key adult 18-49 demographic showing year-to-year share growth in every weekday newscast while KCCI’s all declined.

“'We couldn’t be happier,” said WHO-TV news director Rod Peterson. 'We continue to evolve our news product to best fit central Iowa viewer’s needs and they continue to respond. This is a real tribute to the hard work and thought that the men and women of Channel 13 News devote to our product every day.'"

"The four week ratings period was April 26 to May 23."

[RON MALY'S COMMENT: Hey, anytime WHO-TV beats KCCI in anything, it's news].

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NICE GOING, CHARLIE

Charlie Harpster is leaving the newsroom of the paper, and the good news is that it appears he survived long enough to make it to his own retirement gathering.

Here's the announcement:

From: Randy Brubaker
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:54:50 -0500
To: A Register Newsroom
Conversation: Charlie Harpster retirement
Subject: Charlie Harpster retirement

To all:

Please congratulate Charlie Harpster on his upcoming retirement.

Charlie's last day will be July 27. A sendoff is in the works.

Over the years, Charlie has developed a reputation as being a good-natured colleague, possessing a deep commitment to the Register and being able to recall news stories in great detail. He has a sharp and detailed eye for stories likely to develop into a "big story." In fact, Charlie has led the Register's coverage of these major national and international stories since he became wire editor in 1989: the Gulf War, the Clinton impeachments, the Columbine shootings, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the current war on terror. Besides the big stories of the day, Charlie has a knack for finding the talker stories on the wire.

Before he started as wire editor, Charlie came to the Register in 1971 as a reporting intern from Nebraska. He roamed Iowa as a state reporter, and covered city hall and the education beat, earning an AP newswriting award in 1979 for an investigation into a series of problems atIowa's small private colleges. In 1980, he joined the copy desk and was known as a good headline writer.

Former copy desk chief Kathleen Richardson summed up it up best in 1989: "He's meticulous, intelligent, cool under pressure, and immensely competent
in anything he does."

And here's more....

From: Suzanne Nelson
To: Bud Appleby; Marvin and Kay Braverman; Marvin Hastings; Tom & Diann Weinman
Cc: Kurt Helland
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 7:56 AM

There is a send-off for Charlie Harpster on July 27 and one in early August
for Terry Manley.

Kurt Helland and I are putting together e-mail messages from retirees about
remembrances of working with Terry and Charlie or saying best wishes.

We'll need the e-mails by Tuesday July 24.

E-mails can be sent to me at snelson@dmreg.com or khelland@dmreg.com

Thanks for all of your help,

Suzanne

We wish Charlie well and will miss him in the newsroom.

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Nice going, Charlie. I'll be seeing you at the retirees' lunches at the Chinese buffet].

Bob Karnes Knew How To Run a Track Meet, But His Big Mistake As Drake's Athletic Director Was When He Couldn't Keep Maury John As the Basketball Coach

Say all you want about Bob Karnes' ability to coach track and do a good job for 14 years as director of the Drake Relays.

I won't argue with you about that.

But don't try to tell me that Karnes, who died yesterday at 81 in Mesa, Ariz., was a strong athletic director.

A strong athletic director doesn't let the best basketball coach at the university in 100 years get away.

Especially to a place 25 miles north of the campus.

That's the thing I remember most about Bob Karnes.

Nice guy, yes. Never a cross word with me, yes. Expert at managing the best collegiate track and field event in the nation, yes.

But it ends there.

Karnes shouldn't have been named the athletic director at Drake -- a job he held from 1968 through 1986.

It was in 1971 that Karnes made the biggest mistake of his career.

He let Clay Stapleton, then the athletic director at Iowa State, swoop in and take Maury John to Ames.

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I saw it from both sides.

One day I was interviewing Stapleton in his office at a time when work was finishing on Hilton Coliseum, where Iowa State was about ready to start playing its basketball games.

Stapleton and I talked about how bad the Cyclones' basketball program was toward the end of the Glen Anderson era.

Anderson's record in 1970-71 -- his last season at Iowa State -- was a horrible 5-21.

The last thing Stapleton wanted was to try to sell tickets to Hilton Coliseum with Anderson running the program.

Stapleton and I talked about who might be a good choice to succeed Anderson, who hadn't yet been fired.

"They tell me Maury John is a great coach," Stapleton said.

"He's better than great," I responded. "He's fantastic."

I should have known then that Stapleton was planning to ask John if he wanted the Iowa State job.

Hell, maybe he'd already asked him.

*

Whatever, John left Drake after his 1970-71 Bulldogs lost to Kansas, 73-71, in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal round at Wichita, Kan.

Had Drake won that game, it would have gone to the NCAA Final Four for the second time in three seasons.

John's 1968-69 team went 26-5 and finished third in the Final Four at Louisville. The Bulldogs might have won the national championship had it not been for an 85-82 loss to eventual champion UCLA in the semifinal round.

That 1968-69 team -- with players such as Willie McCarter, Willie Wise, Dolph Pulliam, Al Williams and Don Draper -- was the best Drake has ever had.

Probably the best Drake will ever have.

And I can't believe Drake will ever have another three-year run that produced records of 26-5, 22-7 and 21-8 in 1969, 1970 and 1971.

And Bob Karnes and his bosses let John get away.

All the man wanted was some credit.

And the use of a car.

John told me he didn't even have the benefit of a loaner car for recruiting purposes when he coached at Drake. Had Karnes gone to bat for Drake's coaches and gotten loaners for his coaches -- a common thing in collegiate athletic then and now -- John might have stayed. Or at least thought about staying.

I'm sure Iowa State paid John more money than he was making at Drake. But I'll bet the difference in pay wasn't nearly as much then as it is now.

John had his program at Drake rolling like no one before or since had it rolling.

He should have been the man who was offered the athletic director job at Drake, not Karnes.

Drake was a basketball school, and no one knew basketball like Maury John.

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John was replaced at Drake by Howard Stacey, who couldn't coach his way out of a sack -- either paper or plastic.

In his first season after John left for Ames, Stacey had a 7-19 record -- losing his last nine games.

John had gotten indications that Karnes wanted Stacey in the job because of what happened during the 1970-71 regular season. Stacey, who was the interim coach at Louisville, beat John's Bulldogs, 81-78, at Veterans Memorial Auditorium here on Jan. 23, then embarrassed Drake, 94-52, less than a month later in Louisville.

Karnes was impressed with Stacey, and John kept hearing the word "young" as the season went on. John, then in his early-50s, got the idea that Drake wanted the younger Stacey to build the program.

It never happened. The building, I mean.

John went to Iowa State, got more money, got his loaner car.

But after less than three seasons at Iowa State, John was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus and soon died.

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It was also during Karnes' term as athletic director that Drake decided to end its scholarship football program, which had done some unbelievable things when Chuck Shelton was the coach.

Shelton's 1981 team went 10-1 and his 1985 squad shocked Iowa State, 20-17, at Ames. His 1979 and '80 teams upset Colorado. Those victories over Colorado opened so many eyes in Boulder that some people there thought Shelton should be hired as the coach.

Because the rug was pulled from his program after the '85 season, Shelton was still so pissed off that he didn't even come back to Drake Stadium when his '81 team had its 25-year reunion last fall.

I guess ol' Charlie didn't think much of Karnes' ability as athletic director either.

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Photos of Maury John [right] and Chuck Shelton [left] courtesy of Google.

Heather Burnside Named Co-Host Of WHO-TV's 'SoundOFF' -- She 'May Not Be the Best Choice, But She's the Right Choice,' Keith Murphy Jokes [I Think]

WHO-TV is somewhat proud to announce that Heather Burnside has been named co-host of "SoundOFF with Keith Murphy."

"I can’t believe they hired me,” says Burnside. “Good thing there’s no tough act to follow. Whose place am I taking anyway?”

Rumor has it Burnside is taking the spot vacated by Andy Fales.

For some reason, Fales took a job in Kansas City.

The last anyone heard, he was still there -- saying, "What does it take to improve my ratings in this hick town?"

It’s a homecoming at WHO-TV for Burnside, who worked at the station as a sports anchor/reporter from 1993 to 1996. Burnside will also remain on the air at classic rock station 95KGGO, including its popular morning program with "Lou and the Round Guy."

[Round Guy co-hosted SoundOFF in the early years before retiring from late nights].

Burnside's age was not listed in the announcement from WHO director of creative services Tim Gardner.

Of course, neither was Murphy's.

In addition, Burnside's and Murphy's earned-run averages were also kept a secret.

But when they're at the plate, both swing for the fences.

“Heather may not be the best choice, but she's the right choice,“ said Murphy, the Channel 13 sports director and godfather of SoundOFF. “She fit our criteria of complete irreverence, thick skin, and willingness to work for loose change out of vendo-land.”

Burnside is equally excited.

"Keith supervised my internship during college. If not for his wisdom, I'm not sure I could have finished my four year bachelor's degree in seven years. He taught me everything he knows about television, and then after that first hour, we mainly recited movie lines, played nerf hoops, and made prank phone calls in the days before caller ID."

Murphy adds, “What’s more miraculous than hiring Heather is that this low-budget program with little or no quality control stays on the air and attracts a large audience. Just goes to show that people will watch about anything live and local and late on a Sunday night.”

Burnside has been on the air at KGGO radio since 1999. Before that, she worked as an associate producer at ESPN. Yes, that ESPN. She knows who wears a toupee and who doesn't. She'll reveal that on an upcoming show if ratings dip as expected.

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About SoundOFF

SoundOFF went on the air in January of 1997 and has broadcast more than 535 live programs. The program has aired live on Sundays at 10:35 p.m. for the past 10 years and has been hosted by Channel 13 aports director Keith Murphy from what was expected to be a failed idea and canceled show. Who knew? Somehow SoundOFF won yet another award this year, as it was named "Best Sports Program" by the Iowa Associated Press.

Though the focus from the beginning has been the calls and opinions of viewers and hosts, SoundOFF is also known for its irreverent, humorous, and unpredictable moments. Though calls regarding the Hawkeyes and Cyclones are prominent, all sports topics have been discussed from the preps to the pros and from Little League to the big leagues.

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IOWA PLAYS BRADLEY IN SOUTH PADRE INVITATIONAL

After playing two home games in the preliminary rounds of the South Padre Invitational, Iowa’s men’s basketball team will meet Bradley on Nov. 23 at the South Padre Convention Center on South Padre Island.

Along with the Iowa-Bradley matchup, Vanderbilt will meet Utah State that same day in South Padre. The tournament concludes with a pair of games on Saturday, Nov. 24. The opponents and dates for the early round games in Iowa City have not been finalized. Iowa’s complete 2007-08 schedule is expected to be released in August.

“We know the two games on South Padre Island will be against good basketball teams,” said Iowa coach Todd Lickliter. “All three of the teams there had successful seasons a year ago and have well-established programs. Vanderbilt was in the Sweet 16 last season and Bradley advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2006. Playing in an exempt event gives us the opportunity to play additional games against strong competition in a tournament atmosphere.”

Iowa and Bradley, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, have not met in basketball since early in the 1976-77 season. Iowa holds a 6-3 series advantage. Bradley posted a 22-13 record a year ago. The Braves return Jeremy Crouch, one of the top three-point percentage shooters in the nation, and senior Daniel Ruffin, one of the nation’s active leaders in career assists.

Vanderbilt (22-12) returns three starters from its squad that advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last year, including Shan Foster (15.6 ppg), the third-leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference. Iowa and Vanderbilt have never met in men’s basketball.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings was interviewed and apparently came close to being named the successor to Steve Alford as Iowa's coach following the 2006-2007 season. That was before Lickliter got the job.

Utah State (23-12) returns three starters from last season, including all-American senior point guard Jaycee Carroll (21.3-point scoring average), who ranked 10th in the nation in scoring a year ago. Iowa holds a 2-0 series advantage over the Aggies, with the last meeting a 64-59 Iowa victory in the first round of the 1983 NCAA tournament.

Iowa posted a 17-14 record a year ago for its sixth straight winning season. Lickliter takes over the Hawkeye program after a successful stint as the coach at Butler.

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Photo of Heather Burnside courtesy of WHO-TV.

St. Albert Pujols Has Gone From Being a Nice Kid To a Near-Clone Of Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa -- a Constant Complainer

R. H. of Des Moines touches all the bases with his latest thoughts, ranging from baseball to television:

"Hi, Ron,

"St. Albert (Pujols) finally showed his true colors in front of a national television audience by whining about not being inserted into the All-Star game. Since being called up and playing full time for the Redbirds, Pujols has gone from a "nice kid" to a near-clone of Tony LaRussa: a virtual complainer. LaRussa whines about balls and strikes, Albert does the same. The more Albert is under Tony, the more negative and bitter he gets. It's a shame, but not surprising. I was expecting Gary Sheffield to behave like that with Jim Leyland.

"Talk about someone who has learned well under the master. Which brings up one Marty Tirrell, who said Barry Bonds should be picked over Alfonso Soriano. Soriano hits a home run to bring the N.L. within one, at 5-4. Bonds spend most of his time waxing poetic and indirectly telling Jason Giambi to shut his trap about steroid use. Someone will be eating crow this week!

"The Amy Jacobson story is amazing to me because it provides another example of how to ruin your reputation and career by not analyzing your actions and adhering to protocol in the world of journalism. Why in H-E-double hockey sticks would you head over to the home of a person-of-interest in a major missing person case, so your kids can take a dip in the pool? The sister of the estranged husband lives in Iowa, which provides another Iowa angle to this fiasco (By the way, why hasn't any newspaper in the state, including the one "Iowa Depends On" haven't caught on to this story, solely on the Iowa connections involved?). Jacobson, clearly not showing any ethical perspective, decided on a whim to head over there.

"Dumb move, sweetheart. Really dumb move.

"If Stebic's sister wanted to talk to her about the case, why doesn't she leave the house and meet Jacobson at the local pool?

"No one in their right minds would head over to that house, considering the circumstances involved. Including reporters who are following the story for their television stations and newspapers.

"We didn't see NBC's Brian Williams having a few beers with O.J. Simpson on the golf course during the murder investigation of his ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman. Williams and everyone else knew better than to socialize with someone who could have a Ginsu knife next to his 6-iron in his bag.

"You never know what type of person you could be dealing with."

R.H.
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: The good thing, R. H., is that there's still an entire last half of the major league baseball season to go -- plus the playoffs, then the World Series. It'll be fun watching what kinds of holes the big league players and managers dig for themselves before the World Series is decided on -- are you ready for this? -- Nov. 1. [Bud Selig should be fired immediately for that one!] However, time has run out in Chicago and every other major market for Amy Jacobson -- who studied broadcast and film while earning Phi Beta Kappa honors in the classroom at the University of Iowa. She'll likely be doing her TV reporting, and modeling two-piece swimsuits, in a place like Tupelo, Miss., from now on. She can kiss the big time goodbye].

*

Photos of Brian Williams [left] and Amy Jacobson [right] courtesy of Google.

The Barry Switzer Days All Over Again? NCAA Says Oklahoma and Coach Bob Stoops Must Erase Their 8 Football Victories From 2005, Lose Scholarships

Big football news today from Oklahoma.

Indeed, shocking news to the Sooners, coach Bob Stoops [a former Iowa player] and Oklahoma's fans.

News that usually happens to programs like no-name Idaho State, not bigtime Oklahoma.

Heavens to rifle shots off the balcony at the athletic dormitory, this is starting to sound like the Barry Switzer era all over again.

Just think, there are still people who wish then-Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby would've hired Stoops and not Kirk Ferentz when Hayden Fry was retiring.

The NCAA said Oklahoma must erase its victories from the 2005 season and will lose two scholarships for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, according to the Associated Press.

The penalties stem from a case involving two players, including the Sooners' starting quarterback, who were kicked off the team last August for being paid for work they had not performed at a Norman car dealership. The NCAA said Oklahoma was guilty of a "failure to monitor" the employment of the players.

Oklahoma president David Boren said the university will appeal the NCAA's "failure to monitor" finding and the ruling that Oklahoma must erase the victories from the 2005 season. Oklahoma has 15 days to notify the NCAA in writing of any such appeal.

The Sooners went 8-4 and beat Oregon in the Holiday Bowl to end the 2005 season. Records from that season involving quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn must be erased, the NCAA said, and Stoops' career record will be amended to reflect the erased victories, dropping it from 86-19 in eight seasons to 78-19.

Oklahoma also will have two years of probation added to an earlier penalty, extending the Sooners' probation to May 23, 2010.

Those sanctions are in addition to those already self-imposed by Oklahoma, which has banned athletes from working at the car dealership until at least the 2008-09 academic year and moved to prevent the athletes' supervisor at the dealership, Brad McRae, from being involved with the university's athletics program until at least August 2011.

Oklahoma also will reduce the number of football coaches who are allowed to recruit off campus this fall. The Sooners also dismissed Bomar, Quinn and walkon Jermaine Hardison from the team.

Paul Dee, the athletic director at Miami and the interim chairman of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, said Oklahoma will be allowed to keep the money it received for playing in the 2005 Holiday Bowl, because the NCAA does not regulate bowl games.

"Although this case centered on a few violations involving three student-athletes, the committee finds this case to be significant and serious for several reasons," the NCAA report said, noting the length of time of the violations and the fact that Oklahoma had appeared before the committee in April 2006 regarding violations in its men's basketball program.

On Aug. 3 -- the day before the Sooners began preseason practice -- Stoops dismissed Bomar and Quinn from the team after the university determined they had been paid for work not performed at Big Red Sports and Imports.

That led to an NCAA investigation, which found that Bomar, Quinn and Hardison had been paid for time they did not work at the car dealership and that Hardison received payment for time he spent participating in a scrimmage and spring game.

The players and McRae engaged "in a deliberate scheme to deceive both the employer's payroll system and the university's employment monitoring system in an attempt to violate NCAA rules of which they were real aware," the report stated.

The committee found that Oklahoma "demonstrated a failure to monitor" the employment of several athletes, including some football players who worked during the academic year. The NCAA said that failure led to the university not detecting NCAA rules violations.

During the investigation, the university disputed that allegation, arguing that the NCAA should applaud, not penalize, its efforts to root out violations and noted that NCAA president Myles Brand told one news outlet that the university "acted with integrity in taking swift and decisive action" in the case.

Dee said today that Oklahoma should be praised for quickly dismissing the players from the team, calling that action "very influential on the committee."

Still, the committee said that Oklahoma should have undertaken more extensive efforts to monitor the players' employment, because the dealership apparently was the largest employer of Oklahoma athletes.

Boren disagreed, saying in a statement that "any mistakes made by the athletic department compliance staff while monitoring would not have prevented the intentional wrongdoing by the student athletes and the employer involved."

Stoops said he "strongly supported" Boren's decision to appeal.

"Our current team is focused on the upcoming season," Stoops said. "The university is dealing with a matter that relates to the 2005 season. This group of players and those that will join our program later have no reason to be concerned about our goals or the direction of our program. Those things remain unchanged."

Both Bomar and Quinn lost a season of eligibility. Bomar has been ordered by the NCAA to pay back more than $7,400 in extra benefits to charity, while Quinn was told to pay back more than $8,100. Both players transferred to Division I-AA schools -- Bomar to Sam Houston State and Quinn to Montana -- where they can resume their careers this season.

Through Sam Houston State athletic department spokesman Paul Ridings, Bomar declined comment Wednesday.

Oklahoma officials also appeared before the Committee on Infractions in April 2006 following an investigation into hundreds of improper recruiting phone calls by former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson's staff.

Oklahoma escaped major sanctions in that case, as the infractions committee also found the university guilty of a "failure to monitor," a less severe ruling than "lack of institutional control," which had been recommended by the NCAA's enforcement staff.

The committee mostly accepted the university's self-imposed sanctions, which included reductions in scholarships, recruiting calls and trips and visits to the school by prospective recruits.

*

Photo of Bob Stoops courtesy of Google.

Everything Is Back To Normal In Baseball -- $13 Million-a-Year Player Albert Pujols Is Mad At Manager Tony LaRussa, Who Left Him Out Of All-Star Game

I'm glad to report that everything is normal after baseball's All-Star game.

The American League won and at least one of the multi-millionaire players is mad.

Albert Pujols is upset with his manager that he sat on the bench throughout last night's game in San Francisco.

"It's the All-Star game. He [meaning manager Tony LaRussa] can do what he wants," Pujols told reporters after the National League lost for the 10th consecutive time to the American League, 5-4.

"He does whatever he wants. If I wasn't expecting to play, I wouldn't have come here," added Pujols, who was the only National League position player not to get into the game.

LaRussa is Pujols' manager with the St. Louis Cardinals. Judging by Pujols' comments, I guess we can all assume the two guys aren't drinking buddies after games.

Actually, that's a fact. Pujols doesn't drink for religious reasons, and LaRussa, who was arrested for drunk driving during spring training, has other drinking buddies.

Pujols, who is being paid $12,937,813 to play this season [can you imagine that...a few dollars short of $13 million?] said LaRussa didn't talk to him during last night's game.

Tony talked about him aftrward though.

"If he wants to get upset, he can get upset," LaRussa said. Whatever he wants to do, he can do. It's America."

My guess is that Pujols was embarrassed in front his equally well-paid teammates because he wasn't put into the game by his own real-time manager

Sounds like it's going to be an interesting second half of the season in the Cardinals' clubhouse.

*

Just think how bad a game it would've been if Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs hadn't hit that two-run homer in the ninth inning for the National League. Who said the guy isn't worth $136 million over eight years?

*

Bud Selig, the airhead who is loosely referred to as baseball's commissioner, was his usual uncertain self at the All-Star game.

He told some reporters he planned to be on hand when Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hits his 756th home run to pass Henry Aaron on baseball's all-time career list, but he indicated to others he might be on Mars -- where he is most of the time anyway.

Bonds already has hit 751 home runs, and many [me included] think the use of steroids contributed to most of them.

Aaron doesn't plan to be present when Bonds breaks his record. I think he'll be signing autographs on another planet -- alongside Pete Rose.

*

I don't recall David Archer being any sort of prize-winning interview source after the Iowa State football games in which he played quarterback in 1982 and 1983, but evidently a few people think he can put words together.

My West Coast Correspondent sends me information that the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback and the team's radio analyst the past three seasons, has been named the analyst for the Southeastern Conference's game of the week.

Archer is considered a rising star in the broadcast business.

*

Someone whose broadcasting star has suddenly fallen is Amy Jacobson, who has been fired as a reporter at WMAQ-TV in Chicago.

One of the things that makes the Jacobson story so interesting around here is that the 37-year-old woman from Mount Prospect, Ill., is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa.

You can always figure that those Hawkeyes know how to stay in the news.

Jacobson was canned because she was seen on videotape [nobody's saying who did the taping] while dressed in a two-piece swimsuit at the home of Craig Stebic, whose estranged wife, Lisa, has been missing since April 30.

Jacobson, who is married and has two children, was working on the story of Lisa's disappearance for her TV station.

Uh-huh.

"I'm crushed," Jacobson told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I can't lie to you. I'm devastated. I thought they would suspend me and then support me. I can't believe they did this after all I'd done for them."

Poor thing.

*

Photo of Albert Pujols [right] courtesy of Google. Photo of Amy Jacobson, both in and out of her swimsuit, [left] courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Jeanne Abbott Ends 13 Years At the Morning Paper; The Features Editor Accepts Knight Fellowship and Will Return To Teaching At University Of Missouri

Personnel news from 8th & Locust:

All:

Jeanne Abbott, our features editor since 1994, is leaving the Register to return to teaching.

As many of you know, Jeanne¹s resume is a wonderful mix of work on features pages and teaching at universities, so it¹s no surprise that after 13 years at the Register, she¹s excited about her new opportunity. She has accepted a Knight Fellowship at the University of Missouri for the 2007-08 year,something that will give her a chance to try new things and take a walk on the academic wild side. Her last day will be Friday, Aug. 3.

Jeanne previously was at the University of Missouri from 1983 to '89, where she taught and was features editor at the Columbia Missourian. She earned her bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctorate degrees all at Missouri. Jeanne has also worked at the Sacramento Bee and taught at Cal State (Sacramento), and been an editor at the Anchorage Daily News.

At the Register, Jeanne has reinvented the features section and Datebook several times, leading her staff as they created content that was focused on entertainment, recreation, health, and home & garden. She¹s demonstratedversatility while directing products for families, for Boomers and for Gen X. She¹s coordinated a great range of training programs for us in the past year. And we¹ve also come to know her as a RAGBRAI queen.

One of her most important contributions to the Register over the years has been nurturing good writing. Her staff members, past and present, treasure her as an editor and writing coach. We all owe Jeanne a special thanks forthat, because she has helped keep story-telling as a Register hallmark.

We¹ll miss Jeanne¹s enthusiasm, her resiliency and her ability to make things happen. Please join us in congratulating Jeanne on her next career chapter!


-- Randy Brubaker and Carolyn Washburn

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Whenever someone bails out of the newspaper business these days, people wonder if it was her idea or management's idea. Whatever, Abbott did the company a big favor. She probably won't be replaced [nobody is anymore], and the paper will be able to use her salary to pay the bosses more].

Valley Men's Tournament At Wells Fargo Arena? You Can Bet Your Next Fireman's Carry That Won't Happen; And the Paper Thanks ISU for the Doak Handout

Bud Appleby of Des Moines sent me a story out of the Wichita Eagle that said Des Moines might be one of the cities the Missouri Valley Conference considers for the men's postseason basketball tournament from 2009-2013.

The tournament has been held in St. Louis recently and has become very popular with fans, even though there isn't a team from that city in the conference.

Commissioner Doug Elgin expects to receive bids from Des Moines, Omaha, St. Louis and Kansas City for the future tournaments.

Here's my response to that:

There is no chance in hell the tournament will be held in Des Moines -- unless, of course, the state high school wrestling tournament, the state high school boys' and girls' basketball tournaments, five tractor pulls, a half-dozen pro wrestling shows and eight country/western singing shows are moved to the high school gym in Urbandale.

Or unless the Valley basketball tournament is played in July.

The day the Valley tournament is held at Wells Fargo Arena is the day Bud Selig schedules the World Series for No-Name Ballfield.

*

Here's another e-mail from Appleby:

"The story in today's paper about Dick Doak getting an award is, word-for-word, a news release from Iowa State.

"It seems to me that if it concerns one of their own, they would at least have a member of the staff do it. It's not like they didn't know about it in advance because Carol Hunter is quoted in the story.

"I guess it's cheaper this way."

Here's the release from Iowa State:

Richard Doak to receive 2007 Greenlee School Schwartz Award

AMES, Iowa -- Richard Doak, a long-time columnist and editorial page editor of The Des Moines Register, will receive the 2007 James W. Schwartz Award for Distinguished Service to Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. Doak will be presented the award during the Greenlee School's annual alumni homecoming activities on Saturday, Oct. 20.

The Schwartz Award is the highest honor conferred by Iowa State's Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. The school's advisory council and faculty nominate candidates, and faculty members select a winner from those finalists.

"It is the best of all honors to be recognized by one's alma mater," said Doak. "That's doubly true in this case because Jim Schwartz was one of my favorite professors at Iowa State. To receive an award bearing his name is special indeed."

Doak will join the Greenlee School faculty this fall as a lecturer.

"Dick Doak is a model for student journalists," said Michael Bugeja, director of ISU's Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. "His writing is clear, his opinion is informed and his love for Iowa State -- and the state of Iowa, for that matter -- deep and abiding. We are delighted that he has been named our 2007 recipient. And we put him to work, too, fresh from retirement. Dick has been named a lecturer for the coming 2007-08 year, teaching science writing and other print courses."

Doak retired from The Des Moines Register earlier this year. His previous assignments in 42 years with the newspaper included a wide variety of news beats -- from city hall to education to a decade covering the Iowa Legislature. He also served as business editor and deputy editorial-page editor.

His professional honors include the Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi distinguished service award, the Gerald Loeb award for distinguished business and financial journalism, the Education Writers Association best in the nation award, the American Political Science Association award for outstanding reporting of public affairs, and the Women in Communication's Claris Award. He led a staff project that was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.

"Richard Doak built a remarkable four-decade-plus career at the Register, as a reporter, editor and columnist," said Carol Hunter, editorial page editor for the Des Moines Register. "His greatest legacy, though, came through his work on the opinion staff in persistently pushing Iowa to consider quality of life as the foundation of economic-development efforts. Dick realized long before other big thinkers, a pet tongue-in-cheek phrase of his, that instead of throwing money at companies to move here, Iowa should concentrate on making the state a great place to live. Then the workers and jobs will come. Being a great place includes great schools and universities, of course. But look around the state, and you'll also see Dick's approach taking shape in the form of water-cleanup efforts, bicycle trails and new recreational and cultural centers. Our children and grandchildren will live in a better place because of Dick's work."

Doak is a past president of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and serves on the advisory council for the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.

The Newton native is a graduate of Iowa State University in technical journalism with a master's degree in economic history. He was editor-in-chief of the Iowa State Daily and elected to Cardinal Key while he was an ISU student.

He and his wife Mary Lou live in Johnston and are the parents of four grown daughters. They have 11 grandchildren.

"This quiet, unassuming person (Doak) distinguished himself during his 42-year career with Iowa's leading newspaper by putting his extraordinary journalistic talents to work as editor of the editorial page toward a long-term vision of making Iowa a better place to love for future generations -- a lofty goal that is now bearing fruit," said Louis Thompson, Jr., chair of the Greenlee Advisory Council and 2001 Schwartz Award winner.

Other Schwartz Award winners include Hugh Sidey, former TIME magazine White House correspondent; Roy Reiman, founder of Reiman Publications; Terry Anderson, former Associated Press Middle East bureau chief; Kevin and Mollie Cooney, KCCI-TV anchors and reporters; Herb Plambeck, America's first full-time farm broadcaster; Chris Adams, investigative reporter for Knight Ridder's Washington bureau; Bill Monroe, executive director of the Iowa Newspaper Association, Des Moines; and Patricia Dean, associate director of the School of Journalism, Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: You're right, Bud. It's cheaper that way. At least it didn't say "The Register's Iowa News Service" at the top of the story].

*

A guy I know would like someone at the paper to explain this headline that was at the top of Section E today:

Dog left
in a car?
Work up
a lather

*

Photo of Dick Doak [right] courtesy of Iowa State University. Missouri Valley Conference logo [left] courtesy of Wikipedia.

Drake's Legendary Paul Morrison Is Honored Again; Meanwhile, He Wonders Why Standout Athlete Chuck Orebaugh Is a No-Show In the Paper's Hall Of Fame

It wouldn't be an official summer without an update on the legendary Paul Morrison.

Morrison -- less than three weeks away from his 90th birthday -- returned home [and to his office] this week from San Diego, where he received yet more recognition.

"Nick Vista and I were introduced as the only guys who were at the first College Sports Information Directors Association workshop 50 years ago, and also were present at this one," Morrison explained.

Morrison is a Drake graduate who liked the place so much that he stayed there to go to work.

He has handled various jobs at the school -- including a quarter-century or so as sports information director. Vista is a former sports information director at Michigan State.

"Real nice fella," Morrison said of Vista.

Morrison, who turns 90 on July 25, is now the the historian at Drake. When I say historian, I mean historian. His knowledge of the goings-on at Drake isn't limited to the athletic department. He knows all there is to know about everything at Drake.

So that brings us to Chuck Orebaugh, who is dead, and Bobby Keefer, who isn't.

"I ran into Keefer, who is 80-some years old, a while back," Morrison said. "He was a great softball player, and he was asking me why Orebaugh isn't in the Register's Hall of Fame."

Morrison was referring to the Des Moines Sunday Register Sports Hall of Fame, something I know quite a bit about because I contributed a considerable amount of writing to it.

Indeed, the Des Moines Sunday Register Sports Hall of Fame is something that used to be considered important.

"I agree with Keefer. I would think Chuck Orebaugh would be a strong candidate for it," Morrison said. "He lettered in football, basketball and I think he was on our track team, too.

"He was a halfback in football and an all-conference player in basketball. He actually was on an all-America basketball team. He got into coaching after his playing days.

"Let me get his card."

Pause.

Morrison found Orebaugh's card in his massive files.

"OK, Chuck lettered in football at Drake in 1934, 1935 and 1936, and was captain of the team in '36," Morrison said. "I saw him play in my first two years at Drake, when I was a student.

"He lettered in basketball in 1934-35, 1935-36 and 1936-37 and was named to our All-Centennial team."

This is what it said when Drake made its all-century selections a couple of years ago:

"Chuck Orebaugh (1933-37) Guard. The Des Moines native was the first three-time all-Missouri Valley Conference performer and was Drake's first all-American in basketball as selected by the Helms Athletic Foundation. He led the Bulldogs to their first two league championships in basketball in 1935 and 1936. He also was captain of the Drake football team. His brother, Sam, was quarterback on Drake's only undefeated football team in 1922. His father, Claude, also was a Drake track letterman, graduating in 1922."

Morrison said he thought Sam Orebaugh was in the Register's Sports Hall of Fame.

I checked. He isn't.

Farmer Burns is in, Chuck and Sam Orebaugh aren't. You remember Farmer Burns, don't you?

I wrote the stories about more than a half-dozen folks who were elected to the Hall--people like basketball's John Johnson and Fred Brown, athletic administrator Paul Brechler, baseball's Jack Dittmer and George Pipgras, archery's Doreen Wilber and, hell, even bowling's Bob Strampe.

"You're our go-to guy," the boss said.

"Aw, shucks," I said, or something like that. "That's why they call this place we work 'the world's greatest sports section.'"

For a long time, Register sports editors and columnists Sec Taylor, Leighton Housh, Bert McGrane and Maury White paid close attention to who should, and who shouldn't, be in the Hall of Fame.

Things changed a few years ago. The big names were gone, and I think Randy Brubaker was the sports editor when Dick Schultz was somehow -- I mean miraculously -- named to the Hall of Fame in 2003.

Don't ask me how the voting took place..

Schultz had a 41-55 record as Iowa's basketball coach, and was regarded as one of the worst in Hawkeye history.

Old-timers couldn't believe it when he was put into the Hall. But they regarded it as a sign of the times. Things have gone downhill fast -- in the Register's Hall of Fame and beyond.

Brubaker now is the managing editor.

When I asked Morrison if Chuck Orebaugh would be regarded as the best all-around athlete in Drake history, he said, "He'd be among the top ones. But we've got to remember a guy named Lynn King, a Drake football player who was named to Notre Dame's all-opponent team two years in a row, and also played baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals.

"He lettered in football in 1928, 1929 and 1930 and was a forward in basketball. He played for the Cardinals' Gashouse Gang, and we started a baseball program at Drake one time just to satisfy him."

That Lynn King is not to be confused with the Lynn King who was a Drake athletic director in more modern times. The athletic director Lynn King is now at Pacific University in Stockton, Calif.

By the way, King [the athlete, not the athletic director] is in the paper's Hall of Fame.

Mention of all-around athletes got Morrison cranked up.

"To me, one of the unfortunate things about collegiate athletics today is that there aren't many, if any, all-around athletes," he said. "The pressures are demanding on the coaches and the players.

"The coaches put their players on weight machines all year, and the players don't have time to be multiple-sport athletes. That's a tragedy."

Meanwhile, the man is preparing to turn 90. They may need a few candles for the cake, so I'm going to Hy-Vee to buy some.

*

Photo of Paul Morrison [right] by Ron Maly. Photo of Drake's Old Main [left] courtesy of Google.

The Hawkeyes Were Clobbering Minnesota, 35-0, So Gary Dolphin Let 'Terrific Young Man' Chris Hassel Keep Right On Calling the Plays

I asked my friend Gary Dolphin, the outstanding Hawkeye radio network football and men's basketball announcer, the other day about Chris Hassel.

Hassel, of course, is the new sportscaster at WHO-TV who got a huge career boost a couple of years ago when he won an announcing contest in Des Moines.

Here's Dolphin's e-mail:

"Ron,

"How ya' doin'? Happy post-4th of July.

"Yes, Chris Hassel won the right to be "Voice of the Hawks" for a series of plays against Minnesota in the last game of the season in 2005.

"I think it was 35-0 Hawks at the end of the first quarter and he had called a couple of scoring drives. He was having so much fun I let him do half a period. He was thrilled, as I was for him. Terrific young man. Thanks for asking. I hope you're doing well."

Dolph

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: I hope Gary Dolphin is getting a breather from his rugged-but-enjoyable schedule, which starts every fall with Iowa's 13-game football season [including a bowl game], followed quickly by the Hawkeyes' long basketball schedule. During that time, Dolphin does radio call-in shows with Iowa's coaches on a weekly basis, and frequently appears as a guest on other radio and TV shows around the state. He has also turned into an accomplished writer with the blogs he authors for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. After the basketball season, he appears at most of the "I" Club functions around the state and nation. Dolphin also somehow finds time to do his day job at a bank in Dubuque. I'll forever be indebted to Dolphin and his commentator sidekick, former Iowa running back Eddie Podolak, for appearing with me at a busy book-signing in downtown Iowa City several hours before a Hawkeye victory at Kinnick Stadium in 2003. They helped make the hardback edition of my book "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" as well as the soft-cover edition that followed best-sellers. Chuck Hartlieb, another ex-Iowa quarterback, and retired KRNT and WMT-radio sportscaster Ron Gonder also appeared at my book-signings. I thank all of you guys, and so does my publisher].

*

My West Coast Correspondent gave me a look a few days ago at that story out of Indianapolis on Steve Alford.

I thanked him -- not Alford, my correspondent -- but decided I didn't need any more crap on Alford taking up space in my columns.

People in Iowa are sick of Alford. Just like they got sick of Lute Olson.

I was surprised the Register fell for the Alford story. Well, maybe I wasn't surprised. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with anything they do there these days.

Sometimes I wonder if the editors make decisions to deliberately try to make their reporters look bad -- like using a story out of Indianapolis about a clown people are trying to forget that had nothing new in it.

All I know is, after looking at the on-line comments from astute readers of the Register's story, I'm glad I stayed away from it:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/SPORTS020504/707050381

Phil Richards used to write good stuff. Too bad he had to get stuck with the Alford assignment.

It certainly was not a career moment.

I'm blaming the Gannett Co. -- the owner of both the Register and the Indianapolis Star -- and the editors at both papers for the dumb story.

*

Photo of Gary Dolphin courtesy of the University of Iowa.

And a Happy Firecracker To You, Too! 'Firing Dinnen Is Too Easy'; Did Tightwad Owner Of No-Name Ballteam Tell No. 2 Radio Announcer the Plane Is Full?

It appears to me that R. H. of Des Moines has been spending some time in Missouri lately, buying the latest in fireworks. Whatever the case, he lights up some assorted scumbags and misfits with this on-target Fourth of July essay:

Ron,

Your June 21, 2007 blog on S.P. Dinnen handing his checkbook to political parties hit a nerve for me. Being a younger reader to your blog, I have had this Pollyanna inclination that reporters and those who are employed in the media put aside their personal, religious, and political biases and write the story as it is. They should not be part of the story. Some of the writers who were quoted in the story gave some weak and someone goofy excuses, but Rita Hall's took the cake.

"Rita Hall, section designer/artist and sometime writer at Newsday, is named for giving $210 to Sen. Hillary Clinton in March 2006. She advises: "Dig deeper. I gave $2,000 to Kerry." She adds: "I'm not allowed to do this. I know it's against the rules. I'll probably get fired. They're looking for any excuse to cut staff here....

"My view is: You're still going to have an opinion whether you admit to it or not. If you don't admit to it, you're being dishonest. Let's be transparent." "

The interpretation I picked up on that statement is this: There are a good number of today's journalists are arrogant and cocky enough to say "we know what the rules are when it comes to being impartial, but we don't give a damn and we're not ashamed to show our political colors." That is asking for trouble. Heck, Maury White, Don Kaul and Rob Borsellino would not be as crass as to tell you how much they contributed to a certain candidate.

When Rita Hall said, "Dig deeper. I gave $2,000 to Kerry," she had to be saying it with a half-cocked smirk on her face and disregarding the integrity that is needed to be a journalist. Firing Dinnen or sending him to the Indy Star for a copy boy to named later is too easy. Dennis Ryerson wouldn't have enough "hard" work for Dinnen to do in Indianapolis. Send Dinnen to Chicago and make him spend the entire summer with someone crazy, like Ozzie Guillen and Jay Mariotti. Imagine the F-bombs and obscenties that Dinnen will have to listen to on the southside with the 2007 version of Bozo and Cookie?

The lovable losers, known as the Chicago Cubs, have won seven out of the last eight games. That's all well and good, but I have to wonder if shipping Michael Barrett to San Diego was a good thing for the Cubs, or a good thing for him? In jettisoning Barrett, Carlos Zambrano has decided to put his boxing career on hold and the Cubs are doing something they haven't done in nearly four years: be in second place in the N.L. Central. However, I have to question if Barrett is getting the better end of the deal. The Padres are in first place, competing neck-and-neck with the Dodgers, and have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Cubs. Talk about the irony of all ironies.

In local news, the No-Name team must be cutting costs on plane fares and gas. In the past, when No-Name team has two announcers in the booth, both announcers would go with the team to out-of-town games and call the games on radio. This year, that is not the case. At every home game, the long-time announcer and the new guy will rotate innings and do play-by-play. For the road games, the long-time announcers still goes with No-Name team, but the new guy is stuck in the studios downtown, doing the post-game recap.

I wonder who took his plane ticket? That guy we refuse to mention, who happens to be the owner of the No-Name team that plays at No-Name Ballpark?

Have a great week, Ron, and Happy Birthday, America!

R.H.
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for you astute comments, R.H. You always do a sensational job of keeping track of what's going on in the important areas of our community. By the way, I've updated numbers on the poll I took about Des Moines Register business reporter S. P. Dinnen. Of the 10,342 folks who have responded so far, 93 percent think he should be fired. Five percent think he should accompany Mike Gartner to Iceland, where they can work as paperboys for a weekly newspaper. There's too much profanity listed with the other 2 percent of the responses to print on a holiday. I'll wait until a Saturday when Bill Clinton is in town and has to pay $6 for a beer at No-Name Ballfield after throwing the first pitch into No-Name Ballteam's dugout for that. R. H., it certainly doesn't surprise me that No-Name Ballteam is cutting corners with the radio announcers. Knowing that operation the way I do, I fully expect the announcers to soon be sitting in a house-trailer outside No-Name Ballfield during road games, creating play-by-play from Western Union reports -- the way Ronald Reagan used to do it back in the old days. Incidentally, to illustrate that I'm in the holiday spirit, I originally wrote that some "assorted assholes, scumbags and misfits" were being written about in this column. But I eliminated the word "assholes" after my ex-pastor sent me an e-mail that had nothing to with this column or with assholes, either. I just thought it would be be better to save the reference to "assholes" for another day -- like when my garbage pickup guy leaves the container in the street. However, I was fully aware that columnists Don Kaul and the late Maury White, who are pictured, would appreciate pinning the "asshole" label on a few select folks].

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Photos of Maury White [left], the late sports columnist at the Des Moines Register, and Donald Kaul [right], a retired Register news columnist, courtesy of Google.

Funeral Saturday For Al 'The Leaper' Williams, 60; Dolph Pulliam Recalls the Outstanding Play Of His Drake Teammate In the Glorious Maury John Era

Al Williams, who earned first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference basketball recognition in 1969-70 and was a key member of the Drake team that played in the 1969 NCAA Final Four, died Monday night at the age of 60 after battling cancer.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at the Levett & Sons Funeral Home, 4347 Flat Shoals Parkway in Decatur, Ga., 30034.

Williams, a native of Peoria, Ill., started on Drake teams that played in both the 1969 and 1970 NCAA tournament. He averaged 8.8 points and 7.2 rebounds on the 1968-69 Bulldog team which posted a school record 26-5 mark en route to finishing third in the NCAA tournament.

Drake fell to eventual champion UCLA, 85-82, in the semifinal round before blitzing North Carolina, 104-84, to claim third place.

Williams was a co-captain on the 1969-70 Drake team, leading the Bulldogs to 22-7 record and the championship of the NCAA Midwest Regional.

"The team had named Al 'The Leaper' because no one on the team could jump as high as he could," said former Drake teammate Dolph Pulliam. "Al had great quickness for a 6-foot 6-inch center. Add that to his jumping ability and you can see why coach Maury John had him in the starting lineup in his junior and senior year."

He averaged 13 rebounds as a senior, which was a school single-season record at the time. He also departed as Drake's career rebounding leader with 731 for an 8.6 average. That mark now ranks fourth on the school single-season list.

Williams grabbed 23 rebounds in a 95-84 victory at North Texas State Jan. 29, 1970.

He averaged 10.6 points during his career at Drake and ranks 27th on the school career scoring list with 905 points.

"I can remember being in the dressing room the evening we played UCLA in the semifinal round of the Final Four in 1969," added Pulliam. "During our usual loud and rambunctious dressing room pregame talk, Al leaped into the center of the locker room and yelled 'I'm going to out-jump Alcindor!'"

He was referring to UCLA center Lew Alcindor.

"Upon hearing those words, we said to Al, 'Now don't get too excited.' But Al showed the kind of spirit and will to win that helped the team reach the Final Four."

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This story was written for Ron Maly's website by Drake sports information director Mike Mahon.

New WHO-TV Sportscaster Is the Same Chris Hassel Who Won a Contest In 2005 To Do Radio Play-By-Play On a Hawkeye Football Game Against Minnesota

Good things happen to talented people who are in the right place at the right time.

An example is Chris Hassel.

I mentioned in these columns the other day that Hassel had been hired as the new sportscaster at WHO-TV to take the slot vacated by Andy Fales, who took a job in Kansas City.

Afterward, WHO-TV sports director Keith Murphy mentioned to me that "Chris won that statewide contest to do play-by-play for a Hawkeye football game a couple of years ago. He got to call the second half in Dolph's place...."

Dolph is Gary Dolphin, Iowa's football and men's basketball play-by-play announcer.

So I contacted Hassel about the tryout he won.

"Yes, I was that guy back in November of 2005," Hassel said. "I was a junior at St. Ambrose and I won a contest at Jordan Creek Mall [in West Des Moines] against about 60 other play-by-play men and women.

"I went into the contest not knowing what to think. There were some really good ones there, so I was blown away when I was picked. It's always been a dream of mine to call an Iowa football game, and I got that chance against Minnesota.

"I was only supposed to call four plays, but I actually got about 35, including three touchdowns."

I recall hearing Hassel's play-by-play, and I came away impressed with the job he did.

"Before the game, I was already working in TV as a sports anchor/reporter for KLJB FOX 18 in Davenport," Hassel told me. "However I quickly was offered the job as play-by-play voice of the Mississippi Athletic Conference on WOC-radio in Davenport. Soon after, I added morning drive news to my plate."

Enter Rod Peterson into this scenario.

"Interestingly enough, Rod [my news director at WHO] was working at KGAN in Cedar Rapids, and he got hold of me as well," Hassel said. "Rod offered me a job at Channel 2 as a sports reporter in January of 2006, but ater thinking long and hard about it, I turned it down.

"I had been given a chance of a lifetime at KLJB and I didn't think it was right for me to leave that station that put its trust in me as weekend anchor as a 20-year-old."

Then more good things started happening to Hassel last spring.

"Everything came full-circle in May when I saw Rod [Peterson] at the Iowa Broadcast News Association awards banquet," he explained.

"Rod told me there was an opening at WHO-TV with the departure of Andy, and he would be thrilled if I were to apply. I'm sure the 10 first-place awards I won that night had a little something to do with it as well.

"Two weeks later, I was their guy, and I'm loving every minute of my time here. Hiring a 22-year-old in a market like this and a station like this is probably frightening for news and sports directors. I'm doing my best to help make their decision a good one and not a nightmare."

Good reviews were immediate.

"Andy Fales called me the first time he saw Chris anchor to say, 'That kid's a natural," Murphy said.

Some of the most entertaining stuff about the hiring of Hassel at WHO-TV came in the announcement from director of creative services Tim Gardner at the station.

"I can't believe they hired me," Gardner quoted Hassel. "And what's nice is that there's no act to follow.

"When Chris showed up for interview dressed in a suit and attempting to impress with his business acumen, we were concerned partly because wwe had to look up the definition of acumen," said Channel 13 sports director Keith Murphy.

"But once he got the job, we saw the real Chris. He showed up for his first day of work in cargo shorts, jacked up on Mountain Dew, and doing impressions of Jim Zabel.

"We knew then he'd fit in."

Gardner now adds: "We can only keep Andy's shrine assembled and fully-maintained for 30 days past his departure."

One more thing....

Some TV viewers, of course, have long memories. A number of them obviously recall that Hassel won the contest to call some plays on an Iowa footall broadcast.

"Cyclone fans are already e-mailing, accusing me of Hawkeye agenda," Murphy told me, presumably with a laugh. "But you know how that goes."

Yes, I do.

I remember those days well.

Indeed, they're still happening. I just got another e-mail the other day from a guy who wondered what I've got against Jamie Pollard.

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Photo of Chris Hassel courtesy of WHO-TV.

Mike Woodley, Ex-Coach At Valley High School and Also a Former Assistant At Iowa State, Named To Lead Grand View's New Football Program

Grand View College strides forward with plans to launch a collegiate football program with the hiring of Mike Woodley as its head coach.

Woodley is a familiar name in Iowa coaching circles. He was head football coach at St. Ambrose University from 1991 to 1993 and assistant coach at Iowa State from 1994-2003.

Woodley has more than 30 years of coaching experience. Currently the head football coach at Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, Texas, Woodley is a 1974 Northern Iowa graduate and four-year football letterman.

He was a two-time team captain, a three-time first team all-conference choice and a second team all-American in 1973. He still holds the Panthers' school record for 20 career interceptions. He was a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1975 and '76.

Woodley coached at the high school level in Alamogordo, N.M., East Waterloo, Osage, Fort Dodge and Valley in West Des Moines. He and his wife, Betsy, have four sons, Brian, Matthew, Andy, and Joe. All four of Woodley's sons are coaches as well.

Woodley [then at Valley] was the first assistant coach Dan McCarney hired when he took the Iowa State head coaching job.

“We are very excited that Mike Woodley has agreed to be the first football coach in the history of Grand View College,” said athletic director Troy Plummer. “His coaching experience at many different levels, his familiarity with central Iowa, and his recruiting ties across the country make him the perfect fit for the position.”

Grand View will field its first football team in 2008. Woodley will spend the 2007-2008 academic year developing the program in preparation for competitive play the following year.

“Anybody who’s been in this business long enough knows that the opportunity to start a program from scratch is very rare,” said Woodley. “There are so many exhilarating things happening on campus with the addition of athletic programs, new student housing, and new buildings. Grand View is headed in the right direction, and I want to be a part of it. The fact that my family lives here, and with all of the special people I have met at Grand View, I feel like I am coming back home. I’m ready to start recruiting and join the ranks of the other successful Grand View athletic programs.”

The Vikings will be in the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association, whose anticipated teams include Iowa Wesleyan, McKendree, Olivet Nazarene, Quincy, Saint Xavier, St. Ambrose, Trinity International, St. Francis (Ill.) and William Penn.

Woodley holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from UNI and a master’s in physical education from Winona State. He is a 2003 Iowa High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee, and a 2005 UNI Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.

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This story was written by the public relations staff at Grand View. The photo of Mike Woodley courtesy of Grand View.

Hey, Tell Lou Piniella! 'Nate the Great' and Other Members Of the W.D.M. Little League Cubs Went 20-3, Won the League Title and a Tournament, Too

These photos for Ron Maly's website were taken by fans of the Cubs of the West Des Moines Little League. The players on the championship team are 9 and 10 years of age. The Cubs won the league title by shellacking the Phillies, 25-12, in a playoff game that featured a dramatic 12-run inning and finished under the lights. The Cubs were a very good team from the start and got better as the season progressed. They were regarded as an offensive machine that capably handled any kind of pitching their opponents threw at them. They obviously proved that a team called the Cubs can actually excel in batting, fielding, pitching and running the bases. And winning the big one was no problem for these kids. They did it all season. Hurry, somebody tell Lou Piniella!

[NOTE: This story was written by Ron Maly's editor. Ron has been out of sight for a couple of days. He was last seen celebrating the West Des Moines Cubs' championship at a Dairy Queen, where he was devouring a chocolate ice cream cone. He and other members of his family, plus some friends, were crowded into a couple of booths at the ice cream parlor. They were singing the West Des Moines' Cubs fight song. If, indeed, there is such a thing. Ron always said he wanted to celebrate something the Cubs did, and this was his chance. He got tired of waiting for the Chicago version of the Cubs to do anything positive. We expect Ron to be back to work in a couple of days].