George Wine of Coralville, a retired Iowa sports information director, has been reading newspaper stories that say the 11 a.m. Sept. 12 Iowa-Iowa State football game at Ames will be televised "nationally" by Fox Sports Net.
That prompted him to write in an e-mail, "The football game at Ames will be televised 'nationally' by Fox Sports Net? Hell, the cable systems in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids don't get Fox Sports Net!"
In a second e-mail to me, Wine wrote: "The amazing thing about the TV coverage of the Iowa-ISU game is that our newspapers are not pointing out the lack of coverage in eastern Iowa."
[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Well, it's been pointed out by me now. Obviously, Wine disagrees that it's going to be a national telecast. It's about like an Iowa home game several years ago that was on ESPNU. In the press box at Kinnick Stadium that day, Wine said, "ESPNU is the only national network that nobody in Iowa City can get!"]
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Don Clasen writes:
Hi, Ron:
"Talked to Gary Barta, the U. of I. AD at our I-Club banquet this week and mentioned your saying that Ohio State and other Big Ten schools are no longer printing media guides. He said the schools will have the guides available on the Internet. I told him that sportswriters would probably end up printing out the guides on their computers. Barta added that 'young people no longer read newspapers,' and I commented, 'That's frightening.'
"I am well aware of the size of some of the media guides after I won each school's Big Ten guide as a door prize while attending a conference football kickoff banquet about 10 or 12 years ago. I was living in Milwaukee at the time and had taken the train to Chicago for the banquet. It was somewhat of an ordeal to lug all of the heavy guides to Union Station from the Hilton Hotel.
"I also recall the luncheon because the then-coach at Minnesota--his name escapes me at the moment--opened his remarks to the crowd by saying, 'We did it! We finished 11th in the Big Ten.'
"The annual banquet of the Milwaukee Area I-Club was held Monday night at the neat new golf club owned by Jay and Joel Hilgenberg in Kenosha, Wis. Had a chance to chat with Jay and said he appeared to be under his playing weight. He replied that he had 'worked hard' to lose about 50 pounds. The ex-All-Pro with the Chicago Bears appeared to be in great shape.
"Jay, Barta, Kirk Ferentz, Mark Jennings, an assistant AD and Andy Piro of the Iowa Foundation spoke at the banquet.
"I'm sure all Iowa golfers would enjoy a round at the Hilgenberg's golf layout called the Club at Strawberry Fields. It is located on Highway 50 west of Kenosha.
"After moving to Chicago, I have remained on the Milwaukee Area I-Club's board."
Don Clasen
[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Gary Barta deals with a lot of young people in his job as Iowa's athletic director. So if he says people of that age don't read newspapers, he's no doubt right. Young people [and, unfortunately, many old people] may pick up a paper occasionally, but it's not be for the purpose of reading it. More often than not, it's for the supermarket coupons in it. For some reason, newspaper editors haven't recognized that fact yet, or don't want to face it. As for press guides soon being a thing of the past in collegiate athletics, I'm afraid it's happening right before our eyes. As I pointed out in a column several days when I wrote that Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan will no longer print press guides, I predict it will be a national trend. Indeed, Iowa State has followed Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin and won't have press guides in the upcoming school year. The Cyclones' 2008 football press guide is pictured at the left, and that could be the last the university publishes. Everything will be on the Internet.Iowa is considering the stopping of publishing of press guides, too. I certainly am aware how awkward press guides have gotten. When the Big Ten, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences would hold press days or if I participated in Skywriters functions promoted by the leagues, just hauling the heavy football guides around became a chore. It's a wonder the leagues didn't issue jockstraps right along with the press guides. Don, thanks for your mention of Jay [pictured at the right] and Joel Hilgenberg's golf course.]
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It's good to see that the Register was on top of things and got several high school baseball and softball games that were played Monday -- including Johnston's 10-inning 7-6 baseball victory over Valley -- into the Wednesday paper. Horrible. Absolutely horrible.
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Also horrible was the fact that the paper put the story of 228 people dying in an Air France plane crash on page 12 this morning. Yesterday's story on the crash was on page 8. As I said in yesterday's column, how many people have to die for the story to be on the front page?
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Speaking of airplane stories, how about the Register depending on the Associated Press to cover the story headlined "Smoky scent in cabin diverts L.A.-bound plane to Waterloo?" Where's Jack Hovelson when the paper needs him. Hovelson, who was a one-man northeast Iowa news bureau before his retirement, would've been all over that story, leaving no question unasked.
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The Chicago Cubs might as well call it a season. Lou Piniella has gotten so out of touch that it's impossible for him to motivate an overpaid, over-the-hill bunch like the Cubs. For Randy Wells to go through what happened to him last night -- pitching 6 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball, leaving with a 5-1 lead, then the Cubs losing in 12 innings -- was awful.
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Something I'd like to know is why it took so long for the Cubs to call up Wells from No-Name Team in Des Moines? Wells was Cy Young compared to some of the stumblebums Chicago had on its pitching staff earlier in the season.
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Damaged Rooster writes on Twitter: "Dead on about the DMR and not including national stories on their website. Last week, N. Korea tested nukes, nary a word from Juice Sr." I'm guessing the Register wouldn't know a national story unless it hit the managing editor in the chops.
