keep the f-16 jets flying in d.m.: Over-Inflated Pay Checks and [Maybe] Egos--TV Sports Announcers Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Joe Buck and Jim Nantz Each Paid $5 Million a Year

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Over-Inflated Pay Checks and [Maybe] Egos--TV Sports Announcers Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Joe Buck and Jim Nantz Each Paid $5 Million a Year

NBC's Costas and Michaels, Fox's Buck and CBS' Nantz are the highest-paid. Then there are Chris Berman and Mike Tirico of ESPN. Each is paid $3 million annually. Chris Berman? Give me a break. [Sources: Sports Business Journal, USA Today].

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I'm glad to see the paper is catching up with that Bobby Elliott-to-Notre Dame story. Nothing in print yet, but it's coming. As they say, better late than never.

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I'm also glad DJK has signed with the Barnstormers. If anyone can save the franchise, it's DJK.

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Nebraska 70, Indiana 69. Huskers coach Doc Sadler keeps his job for at least another week.

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I'm wondering what Gary Williams did to get on the Big Ten Network. He's not exactly Mr. Excitement. The only guy who was worse was Gene Keady. At least Keady had a better Big Ten resume than Williams, who bailed out on Ohio State so he could coach at Maryland.

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I knew Iowa State would beat Oklahoma State. Not in my wildest dreams could I see Fred Hoiberg losing to Travis Ford at Hilton.

barnstormers' djk is history already--and he hadn't even played a game or a down for the team yet

The Iowa Barnstormers have released former Iowa receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. Barnstomers general manager John Pettit confirmed the Arena Football League team placed Johnson-Koulianos on AFL reassignment, which is another word for cut. The player known to Hawkeye fans as DJK was arrested for drug possession prior to the 2010 Insight Bowl and was dismissed from the Iowa team by coach Kirk Ferentz. Pettit says the Barnstormers had no disciplinary problems or off-field issues with DJK and the choice to release him was strictly a football decision. [Keith Murphy, WHO-TV].

uni women edge drake, 68-66; hackbarth has 20 points, 18 rebounds for bulldogs

Drake's women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Northern Iowa, 68-66, Sunday at the McLeod Center in Cedar falls. Freshman Kyndal Clark led the Bulldogs [14-14 overall, 8-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference] with a career-high 21 points and Rachael Hackbarth added 20 points and a game-high 18 rebounds while jumping three spots on the school career points list. The senior center is now 12th on the Drake all-time scoring list as she moved past Julie Rittgers (1,559), Lindsay Whorton (1,564) and Kristi Kinne (1,566) to 1,570 career points. Hackbarth had her 14th straight double-double and 21st overall of the season, which leads the nation. [This story was written for Ron Maly by John Meyer of Drake's sports information staff].

kaul

The Republican primaries have been a tough sled for God, the Father of the party. (Well, Republicans claim He is.)

First, Michele Bachmann came to Him and asked whether she should run for president. "You go, girl," He said, or words to that effect. I take her word on that. (Hey, would she lie?)

Then she started campaigning. After Republicans got a good look at her, God said: "Nevermind."

Then there was Herman Cain. Remember him? He too said he'd gone to God for career advice and God had told him to run for president. It went pretty good until Cain's nocturnal habits became public, at which point God said: "Forget what I said."

That was puzzling. You'd think God would have known about Cain's tom-catting before He told him to run, wouldn't you? I mean, He's God. He knows everything. Oh well, I guess that's what they mean when they talk about His mysterious ways.

Next came Rick Perry, the governor of Texas. He also said he asked God whether he should run for president. God replied: "Hook 'em Horns."

It turned out that Perry had a second language — English — and no first. So he didn't do well in debates and speeches and stuff. But he didn't give up. He went back to God and said: "Are you sure I should be running for president?" God, startled as though awakened from a nap, replied: "Of course I'm sure. I'm God. You think God goes around not being sure?"

So Perry continued and suffered more humiliating losses.

Then God said: "Oops."

It's hard to know which candidate God favors at the moment. They all act as though they're the Teacher's pet.

Rick Santorum, however, casts himself as God's most passionate warrior in the contest, the Savonarola of the GOP.

The former lawmaker and father of seven rejects the idea of homosexuals marrying each other as repulsive and a violation of God's will. He says abortion under any circumstances is an irredeemable sin and that contraception only provides an excuse for people to do bad things to each other.

In short, he presents himself as the messenger of God's true will. Although he denies God actually told him to run, he says he feels "a calling" to do so.

And maybe Santorum is onto something. After I mistakenly declared him dead in Florida, Kid Rick has moved ahead of Mitt in many polls. Even national ones.

You wouldn't think it would take God four shots to pick a winner though, would you?

In truth it's hard to know who really is doing well among these Republicans because they're operating in so small a universe.

As Timothy Egan recently reported in The New York Times, only 3 million Republicans voted in the first nine primary and caucus states. That comes to 11 percent of the registered voters in those states.

Moreover, the people who did vote were less than representative. Ninety-eight percent of the voters in South Carolina, for example, were white (compared to 66 percent of the population there), 72 percent were older than 45 (compared to 36 percent in the state), and 65 percent were evangelical Christians (compared to 40 percent statewide).

That pattern pretty much repeats itself in state after state. The people picking the Republican nominee for president are older, whiter, and more religious than the population at large.

You wonder why the candidates seem so out-of-touch with the times? It's because they are.

On virtually every issue — healthcare, taxes on the rich, withdrawal from Afghanistan, global warming — Romney, Newt Gingrich, Santorum, and Ron Paul, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, are on the wrong side of the people.

So how do they expect to win?

Only God knows. [Donald Kaul, otherwords.org].

christopherson's 29 points spur ncaa-bound iowa state to 65-61 victory over kansas state

The national pundits said Iowa State needed at least one victory in its last three games for a chance at an NCAA tournament berth. What do they know? Some of the rest of us thought otherwise. Whatever, mission accomplished. Behind an impressive performance by Scott Christopherson, Iowa State knocked off Kansas State, 65-61 Saturday in Manhattan, Kan. The senior poured in a season-high 29 points (10 field goals in 13 shots and 5-of-5 from three-point range) to help the Cyclones secure a season sweep over the Wildcats and improve to 21-8 overall and 11-5 in Big 12 play. Christopherson's 5-of-5 effort from downtown tied a school record. [cyclones.com].

bulldogs walloped, 81-58; bradley is their opponent thursday in valley postseason tournament

Drake beat Wichita State in three overtimes earlier this season in Des Moines, but was no match for the Shockers on Saturday in Wichita, Kan. A charged-up crowd of 10,506 watched NCAA tournament-bound Wichita State end the regular season with an 81-58 victory.

Ben Simons scored 21 points for Drake--all on three-point baskets. The loss dropped the Bulldogs’ records to 16-14 overall and 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Wichita State improved to 26-4 and 16-2. Drake tied with five other teams for third place, but ended up with the No. 7 seed in the upcoming league tournament by way of multiple tie-breakers.

The Bulldogs posted a .500 record in the Valley for just the fifth time in the last 25 seasons, and first in Mark Phelps’ four-year tenure as head coach.

Drake will open tournament play Thursday at 8:38 p.m. against Bradley (7-24, 2-16 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. It is the second year in a row the Bulldogs and Braves meet in an opening round game of the tournament. Drake swept the regular-season series with Bradley.

Simons made a career-high seven three-point shots, including five in the first half to keep Drake in the game after it fell behind 12-1 in the game’s first five minutes. He shot 7-of-12 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-17 on all field goals. Simons made four three-points in a span of 2:27 in the first half to pull Drake to within two points, at 15-13, with 12:06 to play in the half.

Rayvonte Rice added 18 points for the Bulldogs, with 14 in the second half. Rice was 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line, and tied for the team lead in rebounds with four. He earned most of his second-half baskets on strong drives to the hoop against a Shockers’ defense that ranks No. 1 in the Valley in field-goal percentage defense and No. 2 in points allowed.

“We fell behind 12-1, but we got back to 15-13, and really withstood that first onslaught,” Phelps said. “We just couldn’t get consistent scoring and we could not consistently get to the free-throw line.”

Phelps credited Wichita State’s defense with holding Simons to six points in the second half.

“It was a combination of Ben not being 100 percent (after having mononucleosis) and them switching guys on and off of him, which was a great plan,” Phelps said. “That led to him slowing down in the second half.”

In the five-way tie for third place, Evansville ended up as the No. 3 seed, Illinois State is No. 4, Northern Iowa No. 5, Missouri State No. 6 and Indiana State No. 8.

NOTES:

· Drake has not allowed an opponent to shoot higher than 50 percent from the field since Jan. 7 when Northern Iowa shot 55 percent, a span of 15 games. Wichita State shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) today

· Ben Simons scored 20 or more points for the 10th time in his career and was in double figures for the 42nd time.

· Rice scored in double figures for the 50th time in 60 career games.

[This story was written for Ron Maly by Paul Kirk, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications].

veteran from texas staff greg davis will coordinate hawkeyes' football offense

By Brian Bennett, ESPN.com: You read it on Ron Maly's website nearly a week ago. Iowa confirmed it today. Greg Davis, who was fired as Texas' offensive coordinator following the 2010 football season, was hired by Iowa today. A vocal portion of the Iowa fan base longed to replace offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe and bring in some new blood from outside the program. Those Hawkeye fans got their wish but might be surprised at how similar the new play-caller is to the former one. The 58-year-old O'Keefe resigned earlier this month after 13 years as Kirk Ferentz's coordinator, moving on to an assistant's job with the Miami Dolphins. O'Keefe's conservative style was heavily criticized, though his offenses experienced major success behind star quarterbacks. Ferentz chose to replace him with Davis -- a 60-year-old veteran assistant who spent 13 years calling plays for the Longhorns and who was criticized for being too conservative, though his offenses had major success behind star quarterbacks. OK, it's far too simplistic to suggest O'Keefe and Davis are cut from the exact same cloth. But there are certainly some interesting parallels between the two. Like O'Keefe, Davis probably weathered more criticism than he deserved. When he had it rolling, his offenses were some of the very best in the country. The 2005 Longhorns averaged more than 50 points per game on their way to the BCS title behind the singular talents of Vince Young at quarterback. He oversaw other prolific attacks led by quarterback Colt McCoy, as Texas beat Ohio State in 2009 Fiesta Bowl and earned a spot in the 2010 BCS title game. Davis also developed standout quarterbacks Major Applewhite and Chris Simms, not unlike how O'Keefe produced stars at the position like Brad Banks and Ricky Stanzi. Yet for all of his successes in Austin, Davis never truly felt the love from the fan base. For the longest time, before Young blossomed into a superstar, the Longhorns stalled on offense against tough opponents, especially Oklahoma. After McCoy graduated, Texas struggled for two years to get back on track before Mack Brown finally showed his longtime trusted friend the door. The team struggled mightily to generate a strong rushing game once Jamaal Charles headed to the NFL after the 2007 season. To put it simply, Davis' offenses worked when he had a great quarterback and scuffled when they didn't. While Texas used spread elements, particularly with Young and McCoy in charge, Davis often stuck to the basics and had a maddening tendency to play it safe in big spots. Sound familiar, Hawkeyes fans? It must also be noted that Davis also benefited from some wildly impressive, blue-chip offensive talent that Brown recruited, like Young, McCoy, Charles, Roy Williams and Limas Sweed. While Iowa has done a great job under Ferentz of identifying and developing players, the Hawkeyes don't get the kind of five-star recruits that Texas brings in every year. Few teams do, so that's no knock on Iowa. Part of the problem in Texas the past couple years seems to be that the highly-rated recruits weren't as good as people thought. Can Davis succeed without top-notch talent? Davis must also prove that he can design a consistent, competent running game, which has long been a hallmark of Ferentz's teams. He'll need to do so without any proven depth at the position after Marcus Coker's departure. The happiest man in Iowa City should be James Vandenberg, who should thrive under Davis in his second year of starting at quarterback. Davis has been a coach for 33 years and has been a part of a lot of very successful teams. There is much to like about him and his résumé. There are also a lot of similarities between him and O'Keefe, for better and for worse. Ferentz has never had any other playcaller at Iowa besides O'Keefe, so it's little surprise that he stayed true to form with this pick.

'paul morrison is a true treasure to all of us'--and now he has a street near drake named after him

Anyone associated with Drake University knows Paul Morrison — Mr. Drake, as he is also known — is an institution at the school. And now, his dedication and decades of service to Drake are physically immortalized: Forest Avenue between 31st and 25th Streets was named Paul F. Morrison Way today. Several several city and university officials were present to commemorate the day. Morrison learned of the honor the week before. “Paul Morrison, and his life’s work, has served as a bridge between Drake’s athletic department and the general campus community for more than 65 years,” said Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb. “It is fitting that his name will forever connect the two with the naming of Paul F. Morrison Way. Paul is a true treasure to all of us.” Morrison, 94, grew up with Drake. His parents met there and Morrison was raised hearing about and visiting campus. He graduated from Drake in 1939 and returned to start his position as director of the mews bureau Dec. 15, 1945. During his time in that position, Morrison met his wife, Pauline, on campus. Over the years, he served as sports information director and athletic business manager. He officially retired in 1986. But retirement couldn’t keep Morrison away. He’s worked every day since in the Bell Center as a volunteer athletics historian. Morrison has served on the Relays executive committee since 1946. He has been honored at Drake by having a room in the Bell Center and a scholarship fund for journalism student athletes named after him. Morrison is also honored annually at the national convention of the College Sports Information Directors of America, of which he is the oldest member. In 1996, he received a Drake chair in recognition of his 50 years of service to the school. “It was a big surprise,” Morrison said of the street naming. “I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life and this is definitely one of the best ever.” [Story and photo by Drake News Bureau].

dave elbert writes that d.m. register is looking for a new home--but he might not be going there

The Des Moines Register put a story on the Internet today headlined "Des Moines Register begins search for possible new home." The story was written by business editor/columnist Dave Elbert [pictured], and it's located at http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/02/20/d-m-register-begins-search-for -new-home/. Elbert's story: "Word is starting to spread that the Des Moines Register is, or is about to, start looking for new office space. It was inevitable. The news industry has changed a lot in the past two decades and the speed of change is ever increasing. Ever since the Register opened its new printing plant south of the airport in 2001, it hasn’t made sense for an increasingly high-tech 21st century media company to operate from an early 20th century building. Particularly when space requirements are less than half the more than 200,000 square feet of space in the Register’s long-time headquarters at 715 Locust St. It’s a bit of a complicated real-estate situation. The building the Register occupies and the half block of land under the building are owned by separate entities. The Register, which is owned by Gannett Co., owns the building and one piece of the land, while the rest of the ground is owned by three family trusts that date back to the early 1900s. Over the years, the Des Moines Register and Tribune Co. has leased the land occupied by its two buildings — a 13-story tower that was completed in 1918 and a four-story addition built in 1947 to house the newsroom and, until it was removed, the printing plant in the basement. From the perspective of Register publisher Laura Hollingsworth, now is a good time to have a location problem. As everyone knows, a ton of commercial space is currently available at affordable lease rates in the metro area. Hollingsworth told Biz Buzz last week that it’s her firm intent to keep the Register’s news and advertising operations downtown. The eventual location of other consolidated Gannett operations, such as a regional news design studio and advertising production operations, will ultimately depend on costs and availabilities. The potential move has become a topic of discussion among business leaders recently because the lease with one of the trusts, involving the family of local business icon Dick Levitt, will expire on June 12 of this year, although the newspaper is currently negotiating for an extension of that lease, Hollingsworth said." Ironically, even though the Register is seeking new office space, Elbert [the guy who wrote the above story] may not be going to the new location. Elbert is one of the 25 newsroom employees who have been offered early-retirement packages by the newspaper, and could be out of work by the time the new office space is obtained.

al schallau says, 'i loath and detest missed free throws more than anything in basketball'

An e-mail to me from former Iowan Al Schallau, now of Palos Verdes, Calif.:

"Ron,

"I loath and detest missed free throws more than anything in basketball. Thursday night, the Iowa Hawkeyes would have beaten Penn State on the road if the Hawkeyes could have made their free throws in the last three minutes. No doubt about it: Iowa lost the ball game at the free throw line.

"To make free throws: You don't have to be tall, or fast, orstrong, or quick, or have any great natural talent. They call it a FREE throw. Why do they call it FREE? Because nobody is allowed to guard a player shooting a free throw.

"When Lute Olson was coaching at Iowa, he said on a postgame interview, 'As a team, we are shooting 73 percent at the free throw line, so we are doing just fine there.' I almost vomited.

"I called him the next day and said, 'Lute, I have two cousins who had career free throw percentages of 84 percent for four years of high school. And both were girls.'

"The Iowa Hawkeyes should hire Bob Norton, former basketball coach at Regina High School in Iowa City, to be their free throw coach. Teams now have every other kind of specialty coach. But the Hawkeyes badly need a free throw coach.

"Best, AL SCHALLAU"

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Free throw shooting has become a lost art. With all the talent we see on basketball teams these days and nights, it's a shame more players can't make a shot from 15 feet, with no one guarding them. Thanks for your comments, Al.]

ed kelly tells me he had a 'very big grin' when he wrote this e-mail

An e-mail to me from Ed Kelly:

"Ahoy, Ron,

"Hope you are enjoying the mild weather all my Iowa friends say has fooled flowers into thinking its going to be early Springtime.

"I was looking at one of the museums here and thought of you.

"The Design Museum is located across the River Thames from where we are living this winter on our boat. its a great museum. We found it awards an Annual Design of the Year Award in a number of fields, and one of them was in the field of Digital Design. I know little about that, but saw one of the newspapers I respect a great deal, The Guardian, has been nominated for a Design of the Year in this field. They are now doing a 'newspaper' version differing from how others do it online that is novel.

"Their website has a video explaining their iPAD version. They have 50 million folks who are looking at it, so either I got that number wrong or they are doing something right. You can click on this link to see a video explaining it.

"http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2011/oct/10/guardian-ipad-edition-video

"Thought you would like to see their website where they discuss it. Doesn't sound like the Des Moines Register will ever do anything like that, as it would cost them money and they would have to use people to write the stories and edit them. [very big grin]

"Have a great weekend"!

Ed & Sue Kelly aboard USSV Angel Louise
DC Based SKYPE Phone # (202) 657-6357 please leave message for us
You can see map and travel progress at http://tinyurl.com/EdandSue

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Ed and Sue are former Iowans who now spend most of their days and nights on their boat. Not a bad life, the way I look at it. Great hearing from them. And, yes, Ed, we're enjoying the mild winter in Iowa.]

kirk ferentz names his son, patriots assistant brian, and levar woods to iowa coaching staff

Former Iowa football players LeVar Woods and Brian Ferentz have been named fulltime assistant coaches on the Hawkeye football staff. Woods has been named linebacker coach, while Ferentz--the son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz--will coach the offensive line. The announcements were made Saturday by Kirk Ferentz. “I am excited to have LeVar and Brian, two men with strong ties to our program and high school football within the state of Iowa, join our staff,” Kirk Ferentz said. “LeVar and Brian had great careers at the University of Iowa and both have enjoyed unique experiences and opportunities since their graduation. I am confident they will make positive and significant contributions in all areas of our program.” Woods was a three-year letterman at Iowa and is a veteran of seven seasons in the National Football League. He has served as an administrative assistant with the Iowa program since September, 2008. Woods assumed the role of Iowa’s defensive line coach for the 2011 Insight Bowl. Despite the loss to 14th-ranked Oklahoma, the Hawkeye defense held the Sooners to a season-low 275 yards of total offense and just 114 net rushing yards. Iowa linemen recorded four tackles for loss and two sacks in that game. During his NFL career, Woods played for Tennessee, Arizona, Chicago and Detroit. He signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in 2001 and spent the first four years of his career in Arizona. In 88 career games Woods totaled 168 tackles, 2 ½ sacks, four fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Woods lettered as a member of the Hawkeye football team from 1998-2000. He was a two-year starter at outside linebacker, totaling 165 tackles, including 18 tackles for loss and four sacks. He was a team captain and co-Most Valuable Player as a senior in 2000, and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after recording 97 tackles. He was selected for the Blue-Gray All-Star game following his senior season. Brian Ferentz joins the Iowa staff after being a member of the NFL’s New England Patriots organization for the past four years. He served as tight ends coach in 2011, helping the Patriots win the AFC championship and a spot in the 2012 Super Bowl. Brian was an offensive assistant coach in 2010. He spent 2009 as a coaching assistant after serving as a scouting assistant for the Patriots during the 2008 season. Under his direction, Patriots rookie tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez made a big impact in 2011. Gronkowski finished first among all rookie tight ends with 10 touchdown catches, while Hernandez ranked second with six touchdown receptions. Gronkowski and Hernandez are the first pair of rookie tight ends with at least five touchdowns in the same season in NFL history. Brian is a three-year Hawkeye letterman, playing both offensive guard and center. He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as a senior in 2005, and was academic all-Big Ten in 2003. He was a team captain as a senior and played on Iowa teams that were among the most successful in school history. Brian was part of two Big Ten championship teams (2002 and 2004). During his tenure as a player, Iowa participated in the BCS FedEx Orange Bowl, two Outback Bowls, and a Capital One Bowl, compiling an overall record of 38-12. Brian was selected for the 2006 Hula Bowl following his Hawkeye career. He signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons, and was a member of their practice squad in 2006. Woods and Brian Ferentz were recipients of the Hayden Fry “Extra Heartbeat Award” as seniors. The award goes to the Hawkeye player who gives extraordinary effort on the field. Iowa has one remaining position open on its staff, with Kirk Ferentz yet to name a replacement for former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ken O’Keefe. O’Keefe recently resigned to accept a coaching position with the Miami Dolphins. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Steve Roe of Iowa's sports information staff].

after suffering a stroke, no more 16-to-18-hour work days 7 days a week for mccarney

Former Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney thanked fans Friday for their support after he suffered a stroke last Sunday.

McCarney joined KCCI sports director Andy Garman on the radio show "Out Of Bounds" on AM 1700 The Champ at noon.

McCarney said he is looking forward to a tough season ahead at North Texas, where he is head coach. He said the real joy of the job is when you can do things people don't think you can -- and give the fans hope.

McCarney said fun days are ahead at North Texas.

He said that after the stroke he needs to not work 16 to 18 hours days, six to seven days a week and instead be "smarter about work hours." He said better communication using phone, Internet and relying on staff more will help.

McCarney said he needs to stay healthy because he "doesn't want to put family through what we just went through." He doesn't want them to worry like they did.

McCarney said friends and fans offered their support after the news he had had a stroke. He said many "just wanted to hear his voice" to make sure he was OK.

Earlier this week, McCarney offered advice to anyone who might think they are having the symptoms of a stroke. He said don't wait; go seek help immediately. [KCCI.com]

94-year-old paul morrison will have a street near drake named after him

A man whose name has been synonymous with Drake University for generations, and who has consistently connected the athletic community at Drake with the campus community, will have his name affixed to signs along the street that only symbolically separates the two. Forest Avenue between 25th and 31st Streets will now be known as Paul F. Morrison Way, in honor of the 94-year-old man known to many simply as “Mr. Drake.” The Des Moines City Council approved the honorary street naming in Paul Morrison’s honor. An unveiling ceremony will take place Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 4:30 p.m. The event will begin on the steps in front of the Knapp Center and will continue in the Paul Morrison Hall of Honor in the lobby of the Knapp Center. “Over the last 10 years the City has selectively provided an opportunity for citizens to honor the contributions of individuals who have gone above and beyond for the community or organizations within the community,” said Des Moines City Council member Chris Coleman. Examples of such street namings include Robert D. Ray Drive, in honor of the former Iowa governor and one-time Drake University president, and Dic Youngs Way, in recognition of the Des Moines broadcasting legend. “Paul Morrison, and his life’s work, has served as a bridge between Drake’s athletic department and the general campus community for more than 65 years,” said Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb. “It is fitting that his name will forever connect the two with the naming of Paul F. Morrison Way. It is extremely gratifying to be able to recognize Paul for the special place that he holds in the hearts and memories of so many people. Paul Morrison is a true treasure to all of us.” “Paul is an icon for the best in Drake University,” said Drake president David Maxwell. “He has been part of the university family for 78 years, as a student, employee, volunteer and teacher/mentor to thousands of students and colleagues. In all of these roles, Paul has exhibited a passion for Drake and its people that is contagious and incurable, and his wise counsel and encyclopedic knowledge of Drake’s history have enriched all of us who are privileged to have him as a friend and colleague.” Morrison was informed of the honor in a meeting this morning of the entire athletic department staff. “It was a big surprise,” Morrison said. “I’ve had a lot of surprises in my life and this is definitely one of the best ever. It is a signal honor for me.” Morrison has described his lifelong association with Drake as a love affair, which began when his parents attended Drake in the early 1900s. His father, Marion Holbrook Morrison, and mother, Leonta Starzinger Morrison, met on Drake’s campus in 1902. Marion helped to start Drake’s first history club and was the announcer for the 1919 Drake Relays. Paul Morrison graduated from Drake in 1939. While a student he was sports editor of the Times-Delphic as well as the Drake yearbook, the Quax. Upon graduation he was hired by the Gazette in his hometown of Cedar Rapids, before being drafted into the U.S. Army where he was stationed in the Pacific Theater and produced his division’s newsletter. Upon his return from the war he resumed his position with the Gazette before being hired as the first fulltime director of the Drake News Bureau on December 15, 1945. He later would serve as the athletics business manager before beginning a lengthy run as sports information director. Since his retirement in 1986, Morrison has continued to serve the university by volunteering his time in the athletic department as historian and consultant. Morrison received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1978, the Drake medal of service in 1992 and the first Missouri Valley Conference Meritorious Service Award in 1997. The latter is now known as the Paul Morrison Award. Three daughters of Paul and his late wife Pauline graduated from Drake, as well as several grandchildren, bringing to 14 the total number of Morrison family members who are Drake graduates. Paul Morrison remains a treasure to the Drake community. For generations to come, all who travel along, or cross, Paul F. Morrison Way will know the special place he holds in Drake’s history. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Paul Kirk, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications; photo of Paul Morrison with Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb by Ron Maly].

cyclones close 2012 football schedule against new big 12 member west virginia

Iowa State announced its 2012 football schedule Tuesday. The season opener at Jack Trice Stadium is Sept. 1 against non-conference opponent Tulsa. Iowa State’s first-ever game with West Virginia will close the regular season Nov. 24. West Virginia is leaving the Big East Conference to join the Big 12.

Sept. 1 TULSA AMES, IA
Sept. 8 at Iowa Iowa City, IA
Sept. 15 WESTERN ILLINOIS AMES, IA
Sept. 29 TEXAS TECH AMES, IA
Oct. 6 at TCU Ft. Worth, TX
Oct. 13 KANSAS STATE AMES, IA
Oct. 20 at Oklahoma State Stillwater, OK
Oct. 27 BAYLOR (Homecoming) AMES, IA
Nov. 3 OKLAHOMA AMES, IA
Nov. 10 at Texas Austin, TX
Nov. 17 at Kansas Lawrence, KS
Nov. 24 WEST VIRGINIA AMES, IA
[KCCI.com].

barron bremner dies at 75; he played football and wrestled for hawkeyes

John Barron Bremner, whose lifelong career at Coe and Cornell colleges touched the lives of many, died on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012, at home in Iowa City. He was 75. Though ill with cancer for far too long, Barron lived every moment fully and with an intense love of life, family and his many, many friends. Barron was born April 6, 1936, in Knob Lick, Miss., to parents Noel and Bertha Marie (Bess) Bremner. He moved to Iowa with his family in 1943 and graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1954. Barron pursued and found success in football and wrestling at the University of Iowa where he earned his BA and MA degrees. He was a member of the 1957 Big Ten and Rose Bowl championship football team and the Big Ten championship wrestling team. Barron was president of the Delta Upsilon social fraternity, the Phi Delta Kappa educational fraternity and the Iowa Lettermen’s Club. Barron was a college educator at Coe College and Cornell College for 42 years. He firmly believed in the value of athletic experiences in building individuals of strong character. Barron coachedfootball, wrestling and tennis at Cornell from 1959 to 1978; coached football and wrestling and served asathletic director at Coe from 1971 to 1978; coached wrestling and served as athletics director and assistant to the president at Cornell from 1978 to 1982; served as vice president at Cornell 1982 to 1993; and endedhis career at Coe as athletic director and assistant to the president 1993 to 2001. Barron served as president of the NCAA College Wrestling Coaches Association and served on the NCAA Wrestling Committee and NCAA Swimming Committee. He was elected to the College Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, to the Coe College Athletics Hall of Fame, and to the Cornell College Sports Hall of Fame. In 2001, Coe College created the annual “Barron Bremner Outstanding Athlete Award” in honor of Barron’s many years of outstanding service to the college, its students and the community. In 2011, Coe and Cornell established “The Bremner Cup,” an all sport traveling trophy in honor of Barron and his 42 years of service with both colleges. Barron married Elizabeth “Bette” (Bates) Bremner on Aug. 9, 1961, in Allee Chapel on Cornell’s campus. Always celebrating the abundance in life, they enjoyed a family of six children. After 29 years of marriage, Bette preceded him in death in 1990. He married Virginia “Ginne” (Fristedt) Bremner on Dec. 16, 1994, at their home in Mount Vernon, adding in countless ways to both the family and their shared fun. In addition to his wife, Ginne, he is survived by five children and their spouses, Barbara Bremner and her husband, Peter Stevenson of Des Moines, William Bremner and his wife, Lynn (Klinge) of Minneapolis, Brenda (Bremner) Clark and her husband, Dr. Jeff Clark of Cedar Falls, Dr. Rebecca Bremner and her husband, Matthew Pigg of Portland, Ore., and Dr. Barron Bremner and his wife Britt (Skogman) of Des Moines. He is also survived by stepson, Steven McLeran and his wife, Laura (McComas) of North Liberty. Known as “Papa” to them all, Barron is survived by 16 grandchildren, Gabriel and Xavier Stevenson, Samantha, Madeline and Abigail Bremner, Gabriel and Jenna Clark, Perry Henderson, Sabine, Henry and Eleanor Pigg, Maclain, Kylie and Tatum Bremner, and Lucas and Samuel McLeran. Additionally, Barron is survived by two brothers and a sister, Dr. Robert Bremner of Cedar Falls, Rear Adm. Bruce Bremner of Colorado Springs and Elizabeth (Bremner) Isaac of New Virginia. Barron was preceded in death by his wife, Bette, in 1990; his daughter, Elizabeth Noel Bremner in 1992; and his brother, Dr. George W. “Bill” Bremner in 2007. Barron was larger than life. He touched the lives and shaped the futures of countless students and athletes over the years. He has left the world a much greater place and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. A public celebration of Barron’s life will be held at 2 p.m. March 3 in Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College. A reception will follow at Coe’s Clark Alumni House. Friends may, if they wish, make a memorial gift to Coe College, Cornell College, Iowa City Hospice or, as Barron suggested some time ago, “give a double dip ice cream cone to a child.” [Cedar Rapids Gazette.com].

$2 increase per game in the cost of hawkeyes' football tickets

The cost for tickets to home games of the University of Iowa football team will increase $2 per game for the general public and UI faculty and staff in 2012.

The increase will move the cost of a season ticket purchased by a member of the general public for the seven home games to $388 each. The cost for a season ticket purchased by a member of the faculty and staff will move to $318 each.

There will be no increase in the cost of a student season ticket, however, UI students will have the choice of purchasing a 7-game season ticket at $175 or a 6-game season ticket at $150. The 6-game season ticket will not include a ticket to the Hawkeyes’ game against Nebraska scheduled for Friday, Nov. 23 – the day after Thanksgiving when classes are not in session.

If available, single game tickets will be sold at the following prices:

Iowa State (Sept. 8) $70

Northern Iowa (Sept. 15) $60

Central Michigan (Sept. 22) $55

Minnesota (Sept. 29) $65

Penn State (Oct. 20) $65

Purdue (Nov. 10) $65

Nebraska (Nov. 23) $70

The athletic department has also designated Iowa’s games against Northern Iowa and Central Michigan as games where a limited number of $25 tickets intended for use by boys and girls age 18 and younger will be available for purchase.

Fans who purchased season tickets for the 2011 season will receive season ticket renewal information from the ticket office via email later this month. The renewal process will begin in early March. If available, single-game ticket sales will begin in late June or early July.

As always, season ticket customers will have the first opportunity to purchase away game tickets. This year that schedule of games includes the Hawkeyes’ 2012 season opener against Northern Illinois in addition to games against Big Ten Conference rivals Michigan State (Oct. 13), Northwestern (Oct. 27), Indiana (Nov. 3) and Michigan (Nov. 17).

Iowa sold out all seven of its home games in 2012 and has reached sellout status at 54 of its last 56 games played at Kinnick Stadium.

[This story was written for Ron Maly by Aaron Blau of Iowa's sports information staff].

iowan milo hamilton, 84, will step down as astros' announcer after 2012 season

Iowa native Milo Hamilton, who has been the voice of the Houston Astros for more than a quarter-century, said Wednesday he plans to retire following the 2012 season, concluding what will be 59 years announcing major league games. Hamilton is from Fairfield, IA, and is a graduate of the University of Iowa. "I've known for a couple of years that this would be my final season calling games," Hamilton said. "It's been a wonderful career. I never dreamed it would go on this long. There have been so many great moments, most of which have come with the Astros." The 84-year-old Hamilton, who received the National Baseball Hall of Fame's prestigious Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting, in 1992, is expected to stay involved with the team in several capacities beginning in 2013, the first year the Astros play in the American League. Hamilton has called primarily only home games since the 2006 season. [mlb.com].

w.d.m. native john meyer is in his first week as communications assistant in drake athletics

Paul Kirk, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications, introduced me to John Meyer prior to today's women's basketball lunch at the OverTime restaurant in Urbandale. Meyer is in his first week as Drake's assistant director of athletic communications. He serves as the primary contact for women's basketball, rowing, softball and volleyball, as well as assisting with the Drake Relays and all other aspects of the athletic communications department's operation. He replaces Brock Ascher at Drake. Meyer came to Drake from Wichita State, where he was a media relations graduate assistant from 2010-12. Meyer was the primary media contact for the Shockers' tennis programs and the women's golf program. He also served as the secondary media contact for the Wichita State baseball and men's basketball teams, and in June, 2011, worked on the media relations staff for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium. A native of West Des Moines and a graduate of Valley High School, Meyer graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a business minor from Kansas State in 2005. He will obtain his master's degree in sports management in May from Wichita State. Prior to his work at Wichita State, Meyer worked five seasons in minor league baseball and two off-seasons for the Arizona Fall League in baseball operations and media relations. [GoDrakeBulldogs.com; photo by Ron Maly].

george wine writes from florida, and sure knows how to make a guy in the snow belt feel great!

Retired University of Iowa sports information director George Wine tells me in an e-mail: "Former Iowa offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe is going to coach wide receivers for the Miami Dolphins. If he thought DJK was a problem at Iowa, wait until he tells Brandon Marshall what to do...We have been in South Florida for five weeks. Home in March. The [Phil] Haddys are up the road in Naples this month and have seen them twice. [Haddy has just retired as Iowa's sports information director]. I liked your photo [of the snow that fell throughout central Iowa over weekend]. Makes me glad I am down here."

ken o'keefe, 58, who was hawkeyes' longtime offensive coordinator, is heading to miami dolphins

By Brian Bennett, ESPN.com: The prayers of many University of Iowa football fans have been answered. Ken O'Keefe is leaving as the Hawkeyes' offensive coordinator. The Quad City Times reported O'Keefe informed Hawkeye players that he will join the Miami Dolphins as wide receivers coach. Joe Philbin, the Dolphins' new head coach, was formerly an offensive line coach at Iowa. Iowa is now in the market for both an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. O'Keefe was the only offensive coordinator Kirk Ferentz has ever had with the Hawkeyes. “Ken O’Keefe has decided to leave our Iowa staff for another coaching opportunity,” said Ferentz. “Ken’s work contributed greatly to our program’s success during the past 13 years, and more impressively to the growth and development of the young men in our program. We wish Ken and Joanne the most success in this new chapter of his career.” This easily qualifies as the most tumultuous turnover to hit Ferentz's staff, as Norm Parker retired as defensive coordinator following the season after working in that role for all of Ferentz's 13 seasons in Iowa City. O'Keefe, 58, was known for tutoring quarterbacks and helped develop Heisman Trophy runnerup Brad Banks, Drew Tate and Ricky Stanzi before handing the reins to James Vandenberg this past season. Vandenberg threw for over 3,000 yards and had 25 touchdown passes. But he also had become a target for increasing fan criticism because of Iowa's often buttoned-down style of play. Few days went by this season when I didn't get a question or comment from a Hawkeyes fan asking if Ferentz could just please fire O'Keefe and bring in a more wide-open style of play. Fact is, though, Ferentz is very comfortable employing a more classic Big Ten offensive system and is unlikely to bring in someone who will deviate much from that approach. If you're expecting the next Gus Malzahn to stroll into Kinnick Stadium, keep dreaming. And few folks were complaining about O'Keefe when Stanzi led the Hawkeyes to an Orange Bowl win or when Banks guided the team to the Rose Bowl in the 2002 season. Iowa averaged 27.5 points per game in 2011 and 28.9 points per game the year before, finishing in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten both times. Still, some new ideas could freshen up a program that has seemingly stagnated since that Orange Bowl run. Ferentz has shown loyalty to his assistants over the years through thick and thin, and these are the most changes he's ever had to make. Highly-respected defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski left for the same position at Nebraska this offseason, too. Ferentz hasn't talked much about his staff since the Insight Bowl loss to Oklahoma, so we're not sure if he anticipated this move by O'Keefe. Given the close relationship between the two, it's hard to believe O'Keefe completely blindsided Ferentz with this news. Yet this comes at a difficult time for Iowa, as many of the would-be attractive candidates are already locked into other jobs. Would Ferentz be interested in promoting from within? Assistant coach Erik Campbell, who has done a great job developing receivers and tight ends and knows the Big Ten inside and out, could be an interesting choice if the Hawkeyes look to go that route. And then there's the small matter of hiring a defensive coordinator, a position that's been vacant for more than a month now. Iowa has given indications that it will announce Parker's successor next week. The Hawkeyes will certainly need to accelerate that hiring process for an offensive playcaller to get ready for spring practice. One thing's for sure: it will be a fascinating offseason to follow in Iowa. Many Hawkeyes fans wanted big changes to be made with this program, and for better or worse, that's what they're getting.

iowa air national guard's f-16 jets scheduled to be taken away from d.m. base

Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack confirmed late Friday rumored Air Force plans to retire and disband the Iowa Air National Guard F-16 unit based in Des Moines. The unit's planes, according to Loebsack, would be retired in the federal fiscal year starting October 1, 2012. The unit, the 124th Fighter Squadron is part of the 132nd Fighter Wing currently flies the F-16 Falcon and is based at the Iowa Air National Guard base at Des Moines International Airport. Loebsack says the squadron would be the only F-16 squadron retired in the Pentagon's plan to start cutting US defense spending in the wake of the pullouts from Iraq and Afghanistan. Vowing to fight the Pentagon's move, Loebsack says "The 132nd Fighter Wing has shown time and again that they are amongst the most skilled Airmen and women in the country." The sentiment was echoed by Congressman Steve King who said, "...I am frustrated that the Air Force has left us searching for answers as to why a unit that has one of the highest levels of mission readiness, one of the lowest military personnel costs, and some of the most experienced personnel in the Air Guard has been singled out to lose its fighters, In addition to eliminating the squadron, Loebsack says the Pentagon also plans to convert the entire fighter wing to one featuring the remotely piloted MQ-9 Reapers, more commonly known as predator drones. [KGAN.com].

ellen modersohn named director of publications and design at luther college

Ellen Modersohn has been named Luther College's new director of publications and design. Modersohn will assume her duties with Luther on Feb. 27. She succeeds Greg Vanney, who directed the Luther publications and design staff for almost 20 years before accepting a position with the University of Iowa Foundation in 2011. Modersohn will direct the college's publications operations. She will oversee the publications and design department and serve on the college's seven-member marketing and communications team. "We are pleased Ellen is joining the Luther marketing and communication team and taking the director's role on our publications division," said Luther president Richard Torgerson. Torgerson said Modersohn's experience and her vision in media content and design will be assets for sharing information with the Luther community of students, parents, alumni and friends. "I am very much looking forward to working with the creative staff and students at Luther and helping to support the college's exemplary education and outreach programs," Modersohn said. Modersohn currently serves as a features editor with the Des Moines Register. From 2002-08 she was a production editor and copy editor on contract with the Meredith Corporation, a media and marketing organization in Des Moines that published some 20 magazines and provides strategic marketing strategies and solutions for hundreds of clients and agencies nationwide. She has a 27-year career in journalism, publication design, editing and marketing in Iowa and Wisconsin. She has experience in leading and supervising information and marketing teams and directing publishing and printing operations. A graduate of Grinnell College, Modersohn has done post-graduate study at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin. Her husband is Bob Modersohn, a former Register photographer. [The Decorah Newspapers.com].

drake-wichita state feb. 25 game picked as 12:30 p.m. 'wildcard weekend' attraction

The Missouri Valley Conference has selected the Drake at Wichita State basketball game Saturday, Feb. 25, to complete the league's Wildcard Weekend on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana, FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX College Sports, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and the ESPN family of networks. The defending 2011 NIT champion Shockers -- 19-4 overall, winners of nine of their last 10 games and currently in second place in the league standings with a 10-2 record -- will play host to Drake -- 13-10 overall and 6-6 in The Valley -- at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan., at 12:30 p.m. The game will be a rematch of the teams' thrilling, three-overtime contest in Des Moines last Saturday. Powered by a career-high 29 points from Ben Simons and a near triple-double from Rayvonte Rice (19 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists), the Bulldogs outlasted the Shockers, 93-86, at the Knapp Center.

spying on muslims

The Muslim community in Des Moines is as small as it is diverse. The members of the four mosques here are from Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, among other nations. Although the roots of the Muslims here may be worlds apart, the community is a tight-knit group. That’s why what happened at their mosques in Des Moines is alarming to so many of its members. “That was really surprising, very sad that somebody would come or the FBI or Homeland Security would send somebody here to pretend to be Muslim and try to find out what goes on here. I feel there is no need for that,” said Dr. Hamed Baig, president of the Islamic Center of Des Moines. Baig is talking about 42 year-old Arvinder Singh. Baid says he saw Singh a couple of times at his mosque, and that Singh would have been welcomed like all newcomers interested in learning about Islam. But it wasn’t until recently that members of the community discovered that Singh, who was raised a Sikh, was allegedly sent into their mosqus to spy for the FBI. Singh told CNN that the FBI told him, "'You look Middle Eastern, and we need your help for the war against terror.'" [Kiran Khalid, CNN]

garson retires

Louisville Courier-Journal publisher Arnold Garson said Thursday he is retiring March 2. It was unclear if the retirement was Garson's idea, the Courier-Journal's idea or the parent Gannett Co.'s idea. Garson, 70, departs a 3.5-year stint at the helm of the Courier-Journal, has been with Gannett for 27 years, most recently as publisher of the Courier-Journal, a position he has held since August 2008. He was previously publisher of the Sioux Falls, S.D., Argus Leader. Before becoming publisher of the Argus Leader in 1996, he served as editor of the San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sun and as managing editor of he Des Moines Register. One of the Register's Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure was for a 1985 series examining the dangers of farming as an occupation. The other, in 1987, was for photography depicting the shattered dreams of American farmers. [Courier-Journal.com].

charlie spoonhour, who coached basketball at burlington, dies at 72 of a lung disease

Sad news today. My ol' buddy Charlie Spoonhour, a former basketball coach at Southeastern Community College in Burlington and several other places, has died from complications of a lung disease. He was 72. Among Spoonhour's other coaching stops were Southwest Missouri State [now Missouri State], St. Louis and Nevada-Las Vegas. Spoonhour was diagnosed in 2010 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which required a lung transplant at Duke University Medical Center. In 19 seasons as a Division I head coach, Spoonhour was 373-202. The last time I saw and talked with Spoonhour was in 2008 when he was at Drake to do the TV commentary on a Missouri Valley Conference game. Here's what I wrote then: Charlie was coaching at Southeastern Community College in Burlington when he called me one day in the 1970s. "I want you to be on my radio show," he said. "How much are you paying?" I asked. "It's a low-budget operation," he answered. "Just $5,000 and free admission to all Southeastern athletic events." Just kidding. I appeared free of charge on Charlie's show. Anyway, Spoonhour went from the junior college job in Burlington to a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Nebraska, then later was the head coach at Southwest Missouri State, St. Louis University and Nevada-Las Vegas. He's living in Las Vegas now and keeping the manufacturers of turtleneck shirts rich. That's the only kind of shirt he ever wears. Maybe that's where Larry Eustachy got the turtleneck idea when he was at Iowa State. I asked Spoonhour what he thought of Drake, and he said he couldn't believe "the great atmosphere" at the Knapp Center. "Did you think it would happen here?" I asked, considering Drake's program was at rock-bottom when he coached against the Bulldogs at Southwest Missouri. "Since it happened here before [in the Maury John era], yes," Charlie said. "People here know what it takes. "This was a great turnout [another overflow crowd of 7,152]. It's great to see this many students involved. That's the hard thing now [around the country]. It's too bad Drake had to lose, but give Bradley credit. They came in here and fought their way back in the second half." I asked Spoonhour if he's ever seen a first-year coach have the success Keno Davis is having. "Not at the Division I level," he answered. "I talked to Tom Davis after the game and asked him what it's like watching Keno coach. I know about it because I'm a nervous wreck when I watch my son, Jay, coach. "Jay is an assistant at Texas-San Antonio." Spoonhour said what Keno is accomplishing is "the culmination of what they started as a staff when Tom was in charge. I'm happy for Keno and happy for his father."

in the pink

Valley's girls' basketball players wore pink uniforms during their victory over Des Moines Lincoln at Bill Coldiron Fieldhouse on the Valley campus in West Des Moines. It was "Coaches vs. Cancer" at both the girls' and boys' games. Coach Jeff Horner and his Valley staff wore pink T-shirts during the boys' game. In addition, many fans wore pink T-shirts during the two games. Valley sold the pink shirts that said, "Band Together Against Cancer." Valley won both games from Lincoln. The Tigers' girls prevailed, 76-48, and Valley's boys won, 68-57.

'book of mormon' will be at d.m. civic center jan. 24 through feb. 3, 2013

The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines announced Tuesday that a new show is coming to Des Moines: "The Book Of Mormon". The show will run Jan. 24 through Feb. 3, 2013. The Broadway musical was written by the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez. "The Book of Mormon" tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries sent to a remote village in Uganda and have have trouble connecting with the locals, who are worried about famine, poverty, and AIDS. The show premiered on Broadway in March of last year and was awarded nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Season tickets for the Civic Center go on sale in April. [KCCI.com].

cheers

Southeastern Conference cheerleaders are stereotyped as Southern belles known for their elegance and gentleness. And then there’s Anna Watson. The Georgia junior is the most ripped female college cheerleader you will ever see; She bench presses 155 pounds, squats 255 and can dead left 230. Profiled in the student newspaper, Red and Black, Watson sounds like a “workout warrior” when she describes at one point working out an hour-and-a-half, six days a week and taking down 3,000 calories a day. She was close to a $75,000 fitness modeling contract, but turned it down because the agent wanted her to use Anavar, a legal anabolic steroid to gain more muscle. Keep an eye on Watson, a junior, next fall on the Georgia sideline. We wouldn’t want to be the opposing player that accidentally runs into her between the hedges. [Lost Lettermen.com/Facebook].

gymnastics victory clinches cy-hawk series for iowa state over iowa

The Iowa State women's gymnastics team rallied past No. 23 Iowa, 194.900-194.550, Friday night to clinch the 2011-12 Cy-Hawk Series 2011-2012 championship. With the gymnastics victory, Iowa State improved its standing in the Cy-Hawk Series to 15-6 with only six remaining points up for grabs. "Hilton [Coliseum] is one of the most difficult and most intense venues we'll compete in this season, and we just couldn't block out our surroundings and finish tonight," said Iowa coach Larissa Libby. "Iowa State is a great team and they're capable of making up points, especially in their home environment. They're the kind of team that if you give them an inch, they'll gain a mile and that's exactly what they did against us." After trailing following three rotations, the Cyclones delivered a 48.900 floor score while the Hawkeyes faltered down the stretch, tallying 48.125 on beam in front of 1,993 fans. Iowa State (1-2 overall, 0-1 Big 12 Conference) was led by senior co-captain Michelle Browning's career-high-tying 39.350 in the all-around. The Houston, Texas, native went on to capture the meet's all-around crown. Browning tied for the bars crown with a career-best 9.875 and was part of a three-way draw on floor with a 9.825. Iowa's (2-4-1 overall) Maya Wickus won the vault crown with a 9.850. Jessa Hansen of Iowa tied Browning's 9.875 on bars for title on the apparatus. The Hawkeyes' Jessica Morreale won the beam, scoring 9.850. Browning, Iowa State's Celine Paulus and Iowa's Emma Stevenson all shared top honors on floor. [Cyclones.com/Hawkeye Sports.com].

ex-hawkeye coker transfers to [get a load of this one] stony brook. good luck on that one, marcus

Stony Brook football is poised to take a step toward national prominence with the official announcement coming Wednesday that former Iowa running back Marcus Coker has enrolled as a transfer student, according to Newsday.com. Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore confirmed Monday that Coker is joining the team, Newsday said. Coker rushed for 1,384 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, trailing only Heisman Trophy finalist Montee Ball of Wisconsin in Big Ten rushing. Coker was investigated, but not charged, in an alleged sexual assault Oct. 28 in Iowa City, police said. “The investigation is closed because the victim didn’t want to press charges,” Sgt. Denise Brotherton of the Iowa City police department said Monday. Priore said he and Stony Brook administration officials investigated Coker’s background before clearing him to begin classes Monday. [Iowa City Press Citizen.com].

great news: southwest airlines says it's going to be flying in and out of des moines

Southwest Airlines announced Friday that it is coming to the Des Moines Airport. The company confirmed it plans to convert AirTran Airways operations at 22 domestic and international airports to Southwest operations over time. A date for the transition in Des Moines has not yet been announced. AirTran is owned by Southwest Airlines. The AirTran airports that will switch over to Southwest include: Flint, Michigan, Rochester, N.Y., Pensacola, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Dayton, Ohio, Richmond, Va., Key West, Fla., Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tenn., Akron-Canton, Ohio, Wichita, Kan., Des Moines, Branson, Mo., Portland, Maine, Grand Rapids, Mich., Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Cancun, Mexico, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Aruba, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, and Nassau, Bahamas. "AirTran service and employees at these airports are planned to convert to Southwest gradually over the course of AirTran's integration into Southwest," the company said in a news release issued Friday. Southwest is known for bringing competition to airports and reducing airfare prices. Des Moines Airport Executive Director Donald Smithey said the announcement will be a game changer. At some airports fares have dropped by up to 45 percent after Southwest entered the market. Gov. Terry Branstad and his administration have been in contact with Southwest Airlines executives since taking office last January, hoping to persuade them to bring their air service to Des Moines. “This is a great day for Iowa,” said Gov. Branstad. “My administration has worked extensively to establish a permanent presence for Southwest in Iowa, and we are pleased that they recognized the great opportunity the state of Iowa provides. [KCCI].

goofball ohio state president apologizes for making another dumb comment--about the polish army

The president of Ohio State University apologized Friday for comparing the problem of coordinating the school's many divisions to the Polish army, an off-the-cuff remark that a Polish-American group called a "slanderous" display of bigotry and ignorance. "As you might know," the Associated Press reported, "I made those ill-chosen remarks during a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech," Gordon Gee said in an apology emailed to a spokeswoman for the Polish American Congress. "I realized at the time that I had made a mistake." Gee on Wednesday had been telling an audience in Columbus of the problem of coordinating the university's 18 divisions such as independent schools and colleges. "When we had these 18 colleges all kind of floating around, they were kind of like PT Boats, they were shooting each other," Gee said. "It was kind of like the Polish army or something. I have no idea what it was." The comment drew a scornful statement from the Chicago-based Polish American Congress, which says on its website that it represents at least 10 million Americans of Polish descent and origin. "The Polish American Congress is shocked by the slanderous analogy used by Ohio State University President Gordon Gee and his slur on the military of a nation that has been fighting valiantly and effectively alongside the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan," the group said in its statement released Thursday. "We are dismayed by the bigotry and ignorance expressed by the President of such a large and prominent American university," the congress went on to say. Gee realized he'd made a gaffe as nervous laughter arose in his audience of a couple hundred listeners at a Columbus Metropolitan Club monthly forum. He said, "Oh, never mind, who did I embarrass now?" and added, a moment later: "I'll have to raise money for Poland now." He may have been referring to the aftermath of a wisecrack that got him into trouble in November 2010, when he boasted that Ohio State's football schedule didn't include teams on a par with the "Little Sisters of the Poor." An apologetic Gee later sent a personal check to the real Little Sisters of the Poor in northwest Ohio and followed up with a visit to the nuns months later. The Polish American Congress said thanks but no thanks to any contribution from the Ohio State president. "Poland not only has a capable military, but also is strong economically and does not need money being raised for it," the group said. Susanne Lotarski, a spokeswoman for the congress, said Friday she was consulting with its executive committee on how to respond to Gee's apology.

Tiger woods' ex-wife has $12 million, 6-bedroom, 8-bathroom mansion bulldozed

fired indianapolis columnist tells editor ryerson, 'i'll see you in court' [and she will]

Susan J. Guyett says she was laid off from her job at the Indianapolis Star because of her age. She was 59 at the time. The judge presiding over the matter says there is enough evidence to go to trial in April. U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young found Star Editor and Vice President Dennis Ryerson’s explanations for her termination “contradictory.” Ryerson [pictured] is a former Des Moines Register emplyee--the worst editor the newspaper ever had [which takes some doing considering Mike Gartner is another former Register editor]. Replacing Plaintiff with [a reporter 20 years younger] indicates that the news reporters were not indispensible, as Ryerson claimed, and casts doubt on the legitimacy of the Star’s stated reason for Plaintiff’s termination versus reporters in the hard news department with less seniority. Guyett was laid off in December 2008, after Ryerson described her as “uniquely qualified” to handle “a very unusual beat,” Young wrote in his order. The order reveals details about how layoff decisions were made at the Star: In November 2008, [Star President and Publisher Michael] Kane notified the Star’s employees of the need for a second RIF in order to reduce payroll expenses by ten percent, or roughly $980,000 and a headcount target of twenty. … Ryerson was again in charge of the RIF [reduction in force] … Of the factors he considered in deciding which jobs to eliminate, Ryerson considered seniority to be paramount. … To begin the process of elimination, Ryerson and Todd Moore (“Moore”), his Administrative Editor, generated lists of newsroom employees. … Again, Ryerson divided the newsroom employees by division, department, and job classification. … Ryerson decided not to include any reporters from hard news departments, such as business, community news, sports, and others, in the December 2008 RIF, because those departments serve the basic function of the newspaper. … On the other hand, the Features/My Life department was included in the RIF, because it was not high on Ryerson’s priority list and required a different kind of reporting. … In other words, a person may be a good features reporter, but cannot cover community news. … Ryerson believed it would be easier for a new reporter to continue the Talk of Our Town column than to move into a community news reporting position. Initially, Ryerson did not include Plaintiff on a list of employees being considered for termination. … In an email to Keough on November 10, 2008, Ryerson suggested that Plaintiff should not be terminated, because he believed she covered “a very unusual beat” and was “uniquely qualified to handle it.” … Accordingly, he contemplated making an exception for Plaintiff under the “outstanding ability” caveat in the CBA [collective bargaining agreement], even if she had less seniority than other employees who were terminated. …The list that Ryerson eventually used to determine RIF candidates was prepared by Moore and consisted of thirteen reporters from the My Life department, including Plaintiff … When asked why he changed his mind about making an exception for Plaintiff due to her “outstanding ability,” Ryerson responded that he “thought more deeply about the quality of her work and whether somebody else could indeed do the work . . . . [a]nd rethinking what the definition of outstanding ability truly would be.” …On December 3, 2008, Ryerson, along with a human resources representative, called the employees affected by the RIF to the conference room and told them that their positions were being eliminated. (Id. at 133:1-16). Plaintiff also was handed a letter stating that her position was “being eliminated.” [Poynter.org].

ed kelly captures the excitement exploding around big ben on the arrival of the new year

We would be remiss not to forward (ALONG WITH OUR BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR) a picture of Big Ben at precisely midnight (Greenwich Mean Time) as the New Year moved into the Western Latitudes! Sue and I hope for your Best New Year Ever, filled with more Joy and Happiness for you and your family than any you have had your entire life! Ron, I just got a reply automated email from Marc Hansen's work email that he is out of the office and has no access to work email till Jan 10th. Must be off on vacation or somewhere? Thought it interesting in light of your column the other day. Best wishes to you and all your family, Ed and Sue in LONDON. [MESSAGE FROM RON MALY: Ed, a very Happy New Year to you, Sue and everyone else out there in the wild blue blogosphere. As for Marc Hansen, I guess I'd go on vacation, too, if the bosses told me I wasn't going to be assigned to the Iowa-Oklahoma Insight Bowl game at Tempe, AZ].

the 1981 bench clearing football brawl between iowa and michigan state that wasn't a brawl at all

The phrase "bench-clearing brawl" is one of the most overused in sports. Misused, too. Indeed, many so-called bench-clearing brawls [especially during baseball games] aren't brawls at all. They consist of players running onto the field or the court, then standing around talking and laughing with one another. Some bench-clearing brawls are the products of peoples' imaginations. In other words, they didn't occur. Like the one that Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops [pictured] convinced Des Moines Register sportswriter Randy Peterson happened. Stoops, whose team beat Iowa, 31-14, in the 2011 Insight Bowl game at Tempe, AZ, was quoted in the paper as saying, “We had a big fight — a bench-clearing brawl is what I remember, and, surprise, I was right in the middle of it [during Iowa's 1981 victory over Michigan State in the regular-season finale at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City]. Stoops was further quoted as saying, "Unfortunately, I got a punch in, and it was caught on TV. My dad saw it, and he was more than a little disappointed with what was going on.” Just one problem. I was writing newspaper stories in those days, and I covered that game. It was a classic that sent Stoops and the other Hawkeyes to the Rose Bowl, but I don't recall any bench-clearing brawl ever happening. Neither do others who were in the stadium for the game, including retired Iowa sports information director George Wine. In an e-mail sent to me and others, Wine wrote, "The D.M. Register quotes Bob Stoops as saying he has two vivid memories about Iowa's 1981 Michigan State game -- (1) the fans stormed the field after the game and it got scary for the players, and (2) there was a bench-clearing brawl in which Stoops says he threw a punch that TV captured and got him in trouble with his father. I vividly remember fans storming the field, but have no recollection of a bench-clearing brawl. How about you?" Like I said, I recall no bench-clearing brawl. Said Guy Manasse: "I went back and looked up 2 separate videos and I could not see any brawl, but none of the video had wide shots. I am sure emotions were high and a quick flare-up would be possible, but this long afterwards could be embellished a bit." Another Hawkeye football fan says this of the "imaginary brawl": "Maybe Stoops is like [retired Iowa coach] Hayden Fry and doesn't let facts stand in the way of a good story." The weird thing was that Stoops' "memory" of the so-called bench-clearing brawl came when he was asked by Peterson, "Best recollection of a game?"

lots of fun watching/listening as keno [remember 28-5 at drake?] appears on big ten network

It was a pleasure watching and listening to Keno Davis on the Big Ten TV basketball network Saturday night. Keno, the son of former Iowa and Drake coach Tom Davis, did a very good job with his commentary during Iowa' 82-68 victory over the Bulldogs in front of what seemed like more empty seats than seats with bodies in them at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Indeed, it was a lot more fun listening to Keno than it was watching the game. If, indeed, this was the last game Drake plays on the Iowa campus, it wasn't anything to write home about for the Bulldogs and their fans. Drake was outplayed, outhustled, outshot and outrebounded most of the night by an Iowa team that is predicted to finish at the bottom, or close to it, in the Big Ten standings. As for Drake, it certainly didn't look like the Bulldog team coached by Keno Davis that had a 28-5 record in 2007-2008. Drake looked pretty good in its victory over Iowa State early in the season at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, but the Bulldogs are a different team on the road. That needs correcting very quickly for a team that has a 6-4 record. Whatever, it was worth turning on the TV to see and hear what Keno had to say. The guy knows his way around a microphone, but I'm thinking he'd be happier coaching basketball again. Keno grew up watching his dad coach at Iowa. Tom Davis became the winningest basketball coach in history with the Hawkeyes. After being unfairly cut loose by Iowa, Tom sat out a few seasons, then became Drake's coach, and put Keno on his staff. Keno was an immediate winner. He was everybody's national coach of the year in his one season at Drake. Things didn't work out so well for him at Providence, his next coaching gig. But let's hope he gets another coaching opportunity soon.

The Round Table decides it was a strange newspaper today. Again. The person who laid out the sports section must have been blindfolded. The high school basketball games were buried on page 5. Best way in the world to drive away the people who might [with strong emphasis on the word might] be buying the paper in the future. Advance stories on Northern Iowa football and Iowa State basketball on page 1. One ho-hum game will be played in nearby [just kidding ]Ann Arbor, Mich. Clone basketball should've been on page 5, Valley's 62-43 victory over Roosevelt in front of the biggest, loudest crowd The Round Table has ever observed in Bill Coldiron Fieldhouse at Valley should've been on the front page. The place was rocking. There should always be at least one high school game on page 1 of the Saturday paper. Again, the high schools are full of future readers. Or should be. Roosevelt brought a lot of fans. The Round Table is happy about that. Good to see kids interested in their basketball teams. The Round Table is also happy coach Jeff Horner has a powerhouse-in-the-making at Valley. The place has been a sleeping basketball giant far too long. Did The Round Table read that score right? North 62, Dowling 60? Good for North. No Metro boys' standings in the paper. Maybe because there also wasn't anything about the Hoover-Marshalltown game anywhere in the paper. Hoover won, 53-38. Sadly, The Round Table needed a magnifying glass to find anything about Drake's home basketball game tonight against Air Force. Hey, it's just the local Missouri Valley Conference team playing a home game. Ken Discher and The Round Table are glad UNI beat Niagara in volleyball. There it was, at the bottom of page 7. The Round Table hopes somebody remembers to check Daniel P. Finney's hard drive. It's time for The Round Table's 2-mile walk on a rainy Saturday morning.

gannett bosses get the big bucks, workers learn they'll have to take unpaid furloughs again

As expected, the Gannett Co.--which owns the Des Moines Register and the Iowa City Press Citizen--just announced another round of unpaid first-quarter furloughs for most of its employees, the fifth such round imposed on the workforce over the past three years. This will be the fourth consecutive time they've fallen in the first quarter, suggesting the company is now locked in a cycle of early-year furloughs as it struggles to deal with continued declines in revenue. The move was announced by the chief executives of the U.S. Community Publishing newspaper division and recently created Gannett Publishing Services, which handles printing and distribution. "The furloughs will impact most USCP and GPS employees. However there is a minimum salary level set for implementation,'' Bob Dickey [pictured] and Evan Ray said. The two divisions are believed to employ more than 20,000 of GCI's more than 30,000 global workers. Furloughs have saved the company a combined $67 million since 2009, according to filings with federal securities regulators. But the latest round is certain to renew anger over multimillion-dollar bonuses to Dickey and other top executives in recent years, awards that have eaten into the furlough savings and drawn sharp criticism in the national press. Dickey, for example, got paid $3.4 million last year, including a $600,000 cash bonus. His total compensation jumped from $1.9 million in 2009. Then, last month, CEO Craig Dubow resigned for medical reasons, taking with him a retirement and disability payout estimated at $37.1 million. This year's first-quarter furlough was imposed widely across the newspaper division. But there were two more, in the second and third quarter, that were limited to about 1,000 highly paid division employees. Today's announcement comes amid speculation among Gannet Blog readers that GCI may soon order more layoffs. The furlough memo didn't address that possibility. Rather, it said: "Furloughs . . . are the best option for USCP and GPS to help manage their costs in this uncertain business climate and to help us mitigate other cost reduction strategies." [Gannett Blog.com].

swenson spurs valley [14-0] to 5th 4-a state title in 10 years; it's his best coaching job ever

Talk about coaching brilliance. Active coaching brilliance, we mean. Try Gary Swenson [pictured] of Valley High School in West Des Moines. This guy. this season's team and Swenson's program are unbelievable. Swenson's Tigers [14-0] have now won five state class 4-A titles in 10 seasons after rallying past Bettendorf Friday night, 17-14, at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. Ron Maly, who watched Swenson and the Tigers perform all season, says this was the guy's best coaching job ever. To win 14 consecutive games was tremendous. After three quarters of struggling to even hold their ground, Bettendorf appeared to have pulled off a fourth-quarter mini-miracle. Then, whether it was nerves or over-excitement, all of the sudden progress screeched to a halt. With barely a minute left, Valley capped the stunning comeback victory, leaving the Bulldogs heartbroken at the UNI Dome for a second straight season. “They wanted it more,” Bettendorf linebacker Keaton Jurevitz said. “We had it, but we had more things go wrong. I don’t know what happened.” For a few minutes late in the fourth quarter, it appeared Bettendorf had scripted its own unthinkable comeback. Having labored all game against the Valley defensive front, Bettendorf quarterback Nick Heimendinger connected with Nick Hughes for a 94-yard touchdown completion. Hughes’ 72 yards after the catch put the Bulldogs ahead 14-10 with less than 6 minutes to play. Based on what its defense had done to that point, Bettendorf looked to be in great shape. But after forcing Valley to a three-and-out, the Bulldogs ran only one more play with a lead. After an 11-yard reception, Bettendorf fullback Shayne Boles couldn’t maintain possession, and a stripped ball signaled the beginning of the end. “They’re outstanding on defense,” Bettendorf coach Aaron Wiley said. “Couple bounces go the other way, and maybe it changes.” Given the unfavorable bounces, Bettendorf held off Valley for almost 4 minutes, but Tigers sophomore Tyus Mason eventually came around the left side to run in his second touchdown, giving Valley the final edge. Bettendorf (12-2) had 1:19 to work with, but starting at its own 20-yard line, the offense couldn’t produce. On the first play from scrimmage, Heimendinger chased down a fumbled snap and heaved the ball out of the end zone. The throw-away didn’t pan out as Mason, making a rare defensive appearance, intercepted the ball to effectively win the championship. Bettendorf’s defense proved stout as ever, holding Valley under 3 yards a carry and 3-of-11 passing. But courtesy of the two fourth-quarter turnovers and only nine first downs from the offense, the Bulldogs' defense was forced to deal with Valley drives starting at or inside midfield four times. Valley scored on two of those drives, finding just enough outside space. “Our line does a spectacular job for us,” Mason said. “We just went through the openings when we had them. “It was the last game. We had to put it all on the line.” Initially, it was Bettendorf that broke a scoreless quarter and a half that saw more punts (seven) than first downs (six). As Tom Dunlavy blocked Holden Kramer’s punt, Jurevitz scooped up the ball and ran 26 yards for a 7-0 lead. The Tigers answered with an 88-yard drive that resulted in a Mason score on an end-around from 6 yards out. Valley went ahead, 10-7, on a third-quarter field goal that came after the Tigers’ drive began at the Bettendorf 29. Three times in the second half, the Bulldogs failed to field Valley punts and began drives inside their own 10-yard line. For the game, Bettendorf was 1-for-12 on its offensive drives, all of which started beyond midfield. “I just think we killed ourselves,” said tailback Blake Younkin, who had 28 yards on 15 carries. “It got loud, and we couldn’t hear. “This is going to be in the back of my mind forever — 14-17, that’s how I’m going to look at it.” Preparation for next season will start with a largely different look for Bettendorf, which graduates 17 of its 22 starters. “What a great career,” Wiley said. “It hurts, and it’s bad and we wish we could change it. “But you move on, and you hope that the kids take some great memories from it.” [Andrew Petersen, Quad City Times].

ron maly's take: drake's 74-65 victory over cyclones gave basketball program a much-needed boost

Ron Maly was talking with his good friend, Marc Hansen, prior to Tuesday night's Drake-Iowa State men's basketball game at the Knapp Center. "Are you supposed to write something for the paper after the game, or did you just drop in because you were in the neighborhood?" Maly asked Hansen. "They want me to write something only if Drake wins," said Hansen, the columnist who was shipped from the news department so he could save the sports department [and maybe the entire newsroom] at the Des Moines Register . Well, maybe save it anyway. Hey, Hansen can't do it all. Realistically, neither Maly nor Hansen thought a column would be necessary after this November non-conference basketball game. But both of us were wrong. "I've got to have it done in 30 minutes," Hansen told Maly as the game ended and sportswriters were headed to the interview room. The Bulldogs certainly gave Hansen and everyone else something to write with their 74-65 victory over the Cyclones. Don't forget, the Bulldogs were trounced by 48 points by Iowa State early last season at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Even the strongest of Drake fans had reason to question where their program was headed after that debacle, plus some of the Bulldogs' losses that followed. And, let's face it, few people gave Drake much of a chance Tuesday night. But the Bulldogs came to play--and play they did. And Mark Phelps showed he could do some coaching. Drake pulled off a victory that was very, very good for the university's men's program, which hasn't had much to boast about since the Tom Davis/Keno Davis seasons. Every bulldog in town was smiling after this one. The box score showed that attendance at the 7,002-seat Knapp Center was 5,665. Maly didn't believe it. He mentioned to Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb after the game that there was no way another 1,337 fans could have been shoehorned into the building. As Maly scanned the place throughout the game, it looked full. Sandy couldn't believe the 5,665 number either. "I'll look into that," she told Maly. Ben Simons scored a game-high 24 points and Rayvonte Rice added 18 as the Bulldogs improved their record to 2-0. Despite Iowa State's superiority over Drake last season, Cyclone coach Fred Hoiberg indicated he could see trouble coming Tuesday night. It showed in practices leading up to the game. "Put this one on me,” Hoiberg said. “I didn’t have these guys prepared." Of his Cyclones, Hoiberg said, "We're not as good as we think we are." Said Phelps: "I thought the first key was to get off to a good start, and I think we did that, When we needed grit and toughness, we had it. When we needed poise and composure we had it as well." The Bulldogs shot 50 percent for the game and 59.3 percent in the second half. As seconds ticked eff the clock, Maly asked Chuck Schoffner, the retired Associated Press sports editor who was sitting next to him on press row, if he thought Drake's students would storm the court when the game ended. "I'll bet they do," Schoffner said. They didn't. Maly figures the Bulldogs' fans believed in their team more than some of the guys writing about the game. Drake leaves today for the U.S. Virgin Islands, where it will compete in the Paradise Jam. Obviously, it's going to be a very happy flight for Phelps and his players. The Bulldogs' first game will be against Mississippi at 2:30 p.m. Friday. Drake almost made it a doubleheader sweep Tuesday night over Iowa State. The Cyclone women, however, rode a 17-0 spree late in the game to beat the Bulldogs, 71-64, in a lid-lifter [that's a term some people used when describing preliminary games in the previous century] that began at 5:06 p.m.--when some folks were still driving home from work. “Unfortunately, [basketball is] a 40-minute game,” said Drake coach Amy Stephens after her team lost its poise in the final stages. The women's game drew a crowd of 2,420, making it a nice payday for Clubb and her athletic department.

can't get enough drake basketball talk? coaches' lunches, coffees, radio shows are scheduled

Basketball season is unde rway and back again this year are the weekly Monday night Drake coaches’ radio show and the monthly Tuesday coaches’ luncheon featuring Bulldogs men’s coach Mark Phelps and women’s coach Amy Stephens. The basketball coaches’ radio show begins tonight, hosted by Bulldogs play-by-play voice Larry Cotlar. The shows will take place most Monday nights throughout the season from 7-8 p.m. at Boston’s, located at 12401 University Avenue in Clive. Dates set for 2011-12 are: Nov. 7, 14, and 28. Dec. 5,12, and 19; Jan. 9, 16, 23, and 30; Feb. 6, 13, 20, and 27. Stephens and Phelps will provide insight into upcoming games for the Bulldogs women’s and men’s basketball teams, respectively. There is no cost to attend; food and beverage will be available for purchase and seating is based on availability. Each week, there will be opportunities to win prizes such as tickets and other surprises. The Drake basketball coaches’ luncheons are back for another season, and this year will take place at Overtime, located at 4810 86th Street in Urbandale, beginning at 11:30 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m. The cost to attend is $12 per person and includes a lunch buffet. The first luncheon gets under way tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 8, for both the men’s and women’s teams, and will feature Stephens and Phelps. Larry Morgan emcees the luncheon. Future women’s basketball luncheons will be held Dec. 6, Jan. 10 and Feb. 7, while the men’s luncheons are scheduled for Dec. 13, Jan. 24 and Feb. 21. And don’t forget to join coaches from all of Drake’s athletic programs tomorrow morning, Tuesday, Nov. 8, for “Coffee with the Coaches” from 7:30-9 a.m. at Smokey Row, 1910 Cottage Grove, Des Moines. Come enjoy free coffee and conversation with Drake’s coaches. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Paul Kirk, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications].

valley has a strong 4-a tradition, and now the tigers are back for another shot at the title

The first year the state held a state championship game was 1972. Dowling lost to Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 6-0, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. (Games were moved to the UNI-Dome in 1976). Valley's first trip was in 1979; the Tigers lost to Dubuque Hempstead, 28-9, and finished the season 9-3. Since then, Valley has played in the state championship game seven times, winning four (2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008); of the 4-A schools, only Bettendorf (7) has more championships (Iowa City's City High also has four). Valley has also done very well in the state playoffs. They have participated 26 times (the only 4-A school with more appearances is Dowling with 3), including 19 straight (best in 4-A). Valley's record is 41-22 (only Bettendorf and Dowling have more victories), which gives them an overall winning percentage of .651. Coach Gary Swenson is also deserving of mention in the scope of this trivia. He is only one of three coaches who have won state championships at two different schools (Spencer & Valley). He has won five state championships; in 4-A only retired Bettendorf coach Merv Habenicht has won that many. He leads all the 4-A coaches in play-off appearances with 24.[Campus Messenger, West Des Moines Schools].

iowa: the harvard of football coaching

By JARED DIAMOND, The Wall Street Journal: It's no secret which college football programs produce the most NFL players. Schools like Texas, Ohio State and Florida do pretty well in that category. But tucked away in the heart of Big Ten country, somewhat removed from the national spotlight, there's a different sort of football factory—one that specializes in coaches. With a list of graduates that ranges from Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Wisconsin's Bret Bielema to a crop of notable coordinators and assistants like Florida State's Mark Stoops, Iowa has been the undergraduate home to 16 of the nearly 1,200 head coaches and assistants working in Division I college football. That's three more than Florida, four more than Michigan, 10 more than Notre Dame and four times the number from Wisconsin, Southern California and Stanford. When you include coaches who were assistants at Iowa but didn't play there, the list includes former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and current Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz, among others. Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel, who has two former Iowa players on his football staff, said that when you consider how many coaches the school has produced, it would be fair to call Iowa "the Harvard of the profession." Iowa's unsurpassed track record at turning college kids into successful football coaches is due, in large part to one man: Hayden Fry. During his tenure from 1979 until 1998—in which he went 143-89-6 and led Iowa to 14 bowl games and three Big Ten titles—Fry quietly built a system designed to groom potential coaches. "Every one of us has come through Hayden Fry," said William Inge, Buffalo's defensive coordinator. "He's the one who molded us into the coaches we've become." "Not one of us would have gotten the opportunity to coach without Hayden," said Iowa graduate and North Texas coach Dan McCarney, who keeps a photo of Fry in his office. In an interview from his home in Mesquite, Nev., Fry, who is now 82 years of age, said his approach to inspiring future coaches stemmed from the lessons he learned from his father while growing up on a farm in Odessa, Texas. Fry's father would tell him he couldn't go to school until he filled the pickup with hay and fed the cows. "I said, 'Daddy, we have 2,000 acres and creeks and trees, how am I going to find all those cows?'" Fry said. "He said, 'All you have to do is drive out and listen. One cow is the leader, the bell cow. Find the bell cow, and you find the whole herd." The "bell cow" theory not only stuck, it became a tenet of Fry's coaching philosophy. As a coach, Fry took he unusual step of tapping certain players to serve as player-coaches for their position groups. The idea, he said, was that they would develop leadership skills that could benefit the team on Saturdays. "A few of those guys hopped on their motorcycles and left," Fry said. "The ones who stayed became my coaches, because those are the guys who players will listen to, not an old coach like me." Upon graduation, those "bell cows" who wanted to pursue coaching careers had an easier time of it than they did at other schools. The second phase of Fry's development process was to give the students entry-level coaching jobs on his staff—usually as graduate assistants. Of the 16 Iowa players now coaching elsewhere, 13 coached at the school early in their careers, including 10 who started as graduate assistants. Though it's not unusual for football players to return to their alma maters as graduate assistants, having so many of them go on to become successful coaches elsewhere is particular to Iowa. At Florida State, the school that finished No. 2 on the list to Iowa with 15 alums currently coaching, only four of those coaches started as graduate assistants there. Several of Iowa's former assistants say Fry was a prolific mentor because he wouldn't hire an assistant unless he believed that assistant was capable of becoming a head coach some day. He also trusted his assistant coaches more than anyone they've worked for. "When you came on his staff, you'd better be ready to coach because he wasn't going to sit you down and tell you what he wanted you to do," said Bill Brashier, who coached under Fry for more than 20 years. "He hired you because he knew you'd do what you were supposed to, and he was one of the few head coaches who really believed it." After spending just one year as Fry's tight-ends coach—an entry level, part-time position that came with little major responsibility—McCarney said that Fry was impressed enough to offer him a job as the defensive-line coach. McCarney, an offensive lineman who'd never played or coached defense in his life, was thrown into the fire. "You can either teach or you can't, and he knows that," McCarney said. "He knew more about what we could do that we knew. You can't imagine the kind of confidence and motivation that gives you. It makes you feel like you can't let him down." Fry said his knack for picking talent stemmed from another lesson he learned—the hard way—from his father. In the 1930s, when Fry was around 9 or 10, he said his father dragged him to the barn and started beating him with a horsewhip for no apparent reason. After a while, his father explained that he'd beat him because he wanted him to remember the lesson he was about to teach him for the rest of his life. "Then he said, 'Son, I don't know what you're going to become, but if you want to be successful, you better surround yourself with winners.'" When his coaches were ready to move on, Fry was gifted at singing their praises. "ADs would always call and ask for permission to interview my assistants, and I'd say that if you interview him, you'll hire him," Fry said. Bump Elliott, Iowa's athletic director during most of Fry's tenure, said Fry's recommendations went a long way. If there's anyone who ranks second to Fry in influence, it's Florida State's Bobby Bowden, who coached at the school from 1976 to 2009, and whose progeny includes South Florida's Skip Holtz and Texas's defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. Chris Massaro, athletic director at Middle Tennessee, said he hired football coach Rick Stockstill in part because of his experience playing for Bowden. Next week, Fry will have a good opportunity to see his legacy in action when Iowa plays Oklahoma in the Insight Bowl. he game will pit Iowa's Ferentz, a former Fry assistant, against Bob Stoops, a former Iowa player and graduate assistant. "I think of these guys as my sons and I follow and watch them all," Fry said. "It makes you feel good, like you really made a difference in people's lives."

bulldogs on the tube

The Drake Bulldogs will appear twice on ESPNU and three times on FOX Sports Midwest, in addition to eight games on Mediacom Connections channel 22 during the 2011-12 men’s basketball season. The Missouri Valley Conference released its broadcast schedule and announced new contract agreements with both ESPN and Fox Sports that will distribute its games to regional and national audiences. Drake will first appear on ESPNU Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, for its game at Northern Iowa, and again on Sunday, Feb. 12, at home vs. Evansville. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs’ three games to be broadcast on FOX Sports Midwest are Saturday, Jan. 28 vs. Wichita State (8 p.m.), Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Indiana State (7 p.m.) and Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Bradley (7 p.m.). The eight-game slate produced and broadcast by Mediacom tips off Tuesday, Nov. 15 vs. Iowa State (8 p.m.), followed by Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Nov. 26 (7:05 p.m.); Air Force on Saturday, Dec. 3 (7:05 p.m.) and Eastern Michigan on Thursday, Dec. 8 (8:05 p.m.). The remaining four games to be broadcast by Mediacom are Missouri Valley Conference matchups on Saturday, Jan. 7 vs. Northern Iowa (7:05); Wednesday, January 25 vs. Creighton. The Bulldogs will appear on the Big Ten Network, at Iowa on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. Season tickets for Drake basketball are on sale now, as well as a number of other ticket packages that make it even more attractive than ever to watch the Bulldogs compete at the Knapp Center. Back this year is the popular Hyvee Hot Zone season ticket, which can be purchased at all metro area Hy-Vee locations. The general admission ticket price of $99 includes a $25 gift card to Hy-Vee per each ticket purchased (a $124 value). All seats are located in the upper baseline section on the east side of the Knapp Center. Additional ticket package options are available on www.godrakebulldogs.com. [This story was written for Thirty Nine Eighty One by Paul Kirk, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications].

the kaul column about register, other newspapers that register refused to print on editorial pages

It's been a little more than 50 years since I first walked into the Des Moines Register newsroom to begin a career in journalism. It was a beat-up scruffy place filled with beat-up scruffy people, almost all men. They worked in a big room lined with gray steel desks piled high with newspapers, stacks of books, notebooks, and ashtrays overflowing with cigarette stubs. They wrote on manual, black typewriters. The phones, also black, had rotary dials. This scene right out of The Front Page was a case of love at first sight. "This is my kind of place," I told myself. And, as it turned out, I was right. But the most important thing about that room was something you couldn't see: an invisible wall that protected its inhabitants from interference from the business department. It meant that, if you had the facts on your side, you could annoy the rich and powerful of the city. The wall would protect you from retaliation. The best newspapers in those days tended to be owned by long-time newspaper families. These owners viewed their papers as profit machines, certainly, but also as a public trust. These families supported the principle that news was news and business was business, and the two should not be confused. It wasn't a perfect arrangement. It would have been better, for example, to have had more women and people of color reporting and editing the news. But it worked pretty well for decades. Things changed in newsrooms as they did everywhere else. Computers arrived on the scene, bringing with them increased efficiency but also competition for readers and advertising dollars. The ranks of the ruling families grew too numerous to be fed by dividends alone. They cashed out, selling at elevated prices to newspaper chains, which then resold the publications to business brigands who had neither understanding nor interest in newspapers as newspapers. Newspapers were just another kind of dog food to them. In city after city, papers were closed down, staffs cut to the bone, and home delivery severely curtailed. The invisible wall? Can something invisible disappear? It did. Nowhere was that scenario played out more starkly than at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times companies, home to a half dozen of the nation's finest papers. A friend of mine, James O'Shea, a top editor at both the Tribune and the Times, had a ringside seat at the disaster. He's written a book giving a blow-by-blow account: The Deal from Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers. It's not a pretty story. The Chicago Tribune papers and the Los Angeles Times group merged in 2000, a move that made L.A.'s powerful Chandler clan significantly richer and journalism considerably poorer in California's largest city. Increasingly the bulwark between the business and news departments was ignored. The business types couldn't understand the need for it. News should be put at the service of profits and the quicker the better, they thought. Soon the answer to every problem was to water down the product with brutal staff cuts, domestic and foreign bureau closures, and the pursuit of trivial, celebrity-oriented stories. Give the people what they want was the new mantra. What was no-brainer logic to business people was anathema to old-fashioned journalists like O'Shea who held the quaint belief that the job of a newspaper is to inform readers. O'Shea and others fought for that creed but couldn't overcome, in his words, "the greed, incompetence, corruption, hypocrisy…of people who put their interests ahead of the public's." The sad story ends with the sale of the giant corporation to a Chicago real estate tycoon, Sam Zell, a bizarre foul-mouthed figure who makes Donald Trump look couth. Eventually Zell led the company into bankruptcy, leaving his papers limping along with insupportable debt and ever-shrinking staffs. I hate to be one of those old crocks who talks about how things were better in the old days. But you know what? Some things really were better in the old days, including newspapers. [Donald Kaul, otherwords.org].

douglas benyshek

Douglas Lee Benyshek, 81, from Mesa, Ariz., was taken by the Lord Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, and is back together again with his beloved wife, Mary (deceased Dec. 20, 2003) in heaven. Doug had been a member of Hosanna Lutheran Church in Mesa, since 1992. Doug was born and raised in Belleville, Kan., and was the son of Wesley and Mary (Kasha) Benyshek. Doug was a long time employee of Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids, and then for Motorola in Arizona. Doug had a total of seven children. He had three children from a previous marriage with Marcella Vorheis, including Greg Benyshek, Bruce Benyshek (deceased Dec. 16, 2005), and Curtis Benyshek. Doug then was joined in marriage Mary (Koehn) Hessenius on June 15, 1973, in Cedar Rapids, she had three children from a previous marriage, Phillip Hessenius, Jeffery Hessenius and Carol (Hessenius) Miller and Doug and Mary’s daughter, Sarah Benyshek. Doug had a total of six grandchildren, Tyler, Jackie, Janae, Jordan, Joseph, Nicholas and Katie. Doug is survived by his sisters, Marcella (Cletus) Klein and Joann (Jim, deceased) Brown; and a brother, Victor.

congratulations, brooksie: It's Now the bob brooks press box at kingston stadium in cedar rapids

An updated version of the Kinnick Stadium Media Wall Of Fame is at the top of the page, with Phil Haddy, Chuck Schoffner, Kevin Evans and John Campbell joining these 20 charter members. Bob Brooks, WSUI Iowa City, 1943-48; KCRG Cedar Rapids, 1949-76; KHAK Cedar Rapids, 1977-2000; KMRY Cedar Rapids, 2000-present. Bob Brown, Ft. Dodge Messenger, 1956-1993. Gene Claussen, KXIC Iowa City, 1948-86. (Deceased) Tait Cummins, Cedar Rapids Gazette, 1939-47; WMT Cedar Rapids, 1948-70. (Deceased) Al Grady, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 1951-87; Voice of the Hawkeyes, 1988-2002. (Deceased) Ron Gonder, KRNT Des Moines, 1965-68; WMT Cedar Rapids, 1969-99. Jerry Jurgens, Quad City Times, 1945-77. (Deceased) Ron Maly, Des Moines Register, 1959-99. Bert McGrane, Des Moines Register, 1922-63. (Deceased) Frosty Mitchell, KGRN Grinnell, 1960-85; WMT Cedar Rapids, 1986-96. John O'Donnell, Quad City Times, 1925-67. (Deceased) Gus Schrader, Iowa City Press Citizen, 1950; Cedar Rapids Gazette, 1951-78. (Deceased) L.E. "Ike" Skelley, Associated Press, 1929-58. (Deceased) Russ Smith, Waterloo Courier, 1955-90. (Deceased) Bud Suter, UI Athletic Relations Director, 1955-74. (Deceased) Buck Turnbull, Des Moines Register, 1952-93. Maury White, Des Moines Register, 1946-88. (Deceased) Eric Wilson, UI Sports Information Director, 1924-68. (Deceased) George Wine, UI Sports Information Director, 1968-93. Jim Zabel, WHO Des Moines, 1949-2000.

james speed, who went blind before being able to play basketball for iowa, dies at 61 of cancer

Former University of Iowa basketball player James Speed has died at the age of 61. Speed was living in Las Vegas, Nev., and died Wednesday of complications from liver cancer. Speed and his wife of 36 years, Sylvia, have lived in Las Vegas for the past 36 years. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter and three step-children. Services are pending. Speed was a prize Hawkeye recruit in 1970, when he tragically lost his sight before he ever played a game for Iowa. He was a 6-7 forward who played junior college basketball at Imperial Valley Junior College in El Centro, Cal. He signed with Iowa despite offers from over 85 other schools. He was raised and attended Valencia High School in Shreveport, La. Speed came to Iowa to play for coach Dick Schultz. Joining him in that heralded recruiting class were Neil Fegebank and Jimmy Collins. A sinus infection led to his losing sight in both eyes. He went on to overcome his blindness by working as a basketball coach, basketball announcer on the radio and most recently in real estate. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Phil Haddy of Iowa's sports information staff].

7-1 adam woodbury of sioux city east picks iowa over roy williams and north carolina

If Fran McCaffery succeeds in rebuilding the Iowa basketball program, his 2012 recruiting class might be an early sign of it happening. The class added its second consensus top-100 high school recruit when 7-foot-1 center Adam Woodbury announced Wednesday night that he would attend Iowa. Woodbury made the announcement during a news conference at Sioux City East High School, where he is a senior. He picked Iowa over a long list of scholarship offers, but it came down to the Hawkeyes and North Carolina, whose coach, Roy Williams, has had long-standing success in landing elite players from Iowa. “I think it’s huge in the fact that I think it’s a program turner for them,” said Van Coleman, who runs a recruiting website called Hot100hoops.com. “It is a top 50 player by everybody’s rankings. We’ve got him at No. 43. “It’s a young man that has been recruited by some of the best in the country, and by one guy who’s come here before in Roy Williams and won the last five or six battles with instate schools. This is big for the Iowa staff in saying we’re back and we’re involved with the Iowa kids, but that we can also compete for a top-notch player.” Woodbury is the fourth high school senior to pick Iowa since March and the second from the Sioux City area. The other is Mike Gesell, a 6-1 point guard from South Sioux City, Neb. [Pat Harty, Iowa City Press Citizen].

these 3 guys had the hawkeyes' football press day well covered on the practice field

It remains to be seen how many football games Iowa will win in 2011, but at least writers Marc Hansen, Ron Maly and Dave Stockdale were enjoying themselves and talking a good game as Hawkeye players, coaches, reporters, photographers and curious others gathered on press day in Iowa City. Hansen [left], the only guy in the photo equipped with a tape recorder, notepad and pen, has returned to the Des Moines Register sports column job after spending the last 10 years as a columnist for the Metro & Iowa section at the newspaper. Maly, who covered lots of games with Hansen in the previous century in press boxes around the nation, says Marc is one of the nation's best columnists, and predicts his writing will be stronger than ever now that he's back in the sports department. Maly [center] and Stockdale [right] are retired Register writers, and came to the interviews at Kinnick Stadium and the Ron Kenyon practice field to make sure Hansen, after all these years, still knows that a football is a strange-shaped object that can take funny bounces. Just kidding. Great to have you back, Marc. I'll see you in the press box.

brooksie, an iowa treasure, and standout linebacker james morris of solon prepare for the season

A sizable number of University of Iowa football eras are included when Bob Brooks and James Morris get together and stand behind a microphone. Brooks doesn't claim to have done a radio broadcast of the first game the Hawkeyes played against [and lost to] Grinnell, 24-0, in 1889, but ol' Brooksie has been around the Iowa football scene for a long, long time. He said he recalls attending games Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Ironmen played, and he's been part of the Iowa sports wallpaper since. I recall listening to Brooks broadcast Hawkeye football, basketball and, yes, even baseball games when I was a kid, and he has become an Iowa treasure. Morris is a 6-2, 227-pound starting sophomore linebacker for Iowa. He's a class young man from nearby Solon who figures to have an outstanding season for the 2011 Hawkeyes. In the photo, Morris was being interviewed for Brooks' TV show on Mediacom. [Photo by Ron Maly].

a couple of guys who got their kicks in a bigtime way when they played football for drake

An e-mail sent to Drake historian Paul Morrison produced a message and a photo, relayed to me by longtime Bulldogs booster Jay Cookman. Jay's message to me: "The kickers in the photo are Bob Smith, a Drake kicker and graduate of the university in the early 1970s. He played backup quarterback to Dennis Redman and was the extra point and field goal kicker for the Bulldogs. He held most of the kicking records for the scholarship playing Drake Bulldogs. He tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs, when they had Jan Stenerud. However, when he was trying out he met Ed Sabol, who was just beginning with NFL Films and who was just inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bobby later tried out for the Chicago Bears and again talked with Ed Sabol. Mr. Sabol offered him a job with NFL Films and he and his wife Kennie have been with NFL Films for over 30 years. He is a Double D Winner at Drake University as well. Billy Cundiff is the other kicker in the picture, black shirt."

gary dolphin has prostate cancer; optimistic for full recovery, says he won't miss any hawkeye game

University of Iowa radio play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He is not expected to miss any Iowa football or men's basketball games and is optimistic for a full and complete recovery. "My doctors are confident they've caught the cancer in the early stages and I will attack it aggressively with radiation treatment,” said Dolphin. “Barring unforeseen circumstances, I expect to fulfill all my responsibilities to the university and Learfield Sports, where football and basketball are concerned. In the meantime, I would appreciate the prayers and well wishes from Hawkeye fans all over the country. I'd also like to urge ALL males, age 50 and above, to have the simple PSA blood test performed. It could save their life." Chuck Schroeder, General Manager of Hawkeye Sports Properties had the following comment; “We’ll be with Dolph every step of the way through his treatment of this disease. Gary is a huge part of Hawkeye Sports Properties and the Hawkeye Radio Network. We have great confidence that he’ll be ready when we go on the air in a few short weeks.” Dolphin, who recently turned 60, will start his 15th year as the radio voice of Iowa football and men’s basketball. He has served as host for the weekly coaches' show on radio and television, featuring Kirk Ferentz and Fran McCaffery. He also represents the Iowa athletic department at countless benefits, fundraisers and I-Club events throughout the year. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Steve Roe of Iowa's sports information staff].

9-game big ten schedules on the way, but iowa's rivalry with cyclones not in any danger

Iowa, along with other Big Ten teams, will play a nine-game league football schedule beginning with the 2017 season. Iowa has played nine Big Ten games four times (1971, 1972, 1983, 1984) previously. Three teams each from the Legends Division and Leaders Division will feature five conference home games during odd-numbered years, while the other three schools from each division will host five conference contests during even-numbered years. The 2017 schedule will include five conference home games for the Hawkeyes, Michigan State and Nebraska from the Legends Division and Illinois, Indiana and Ohio State from the Leaders Division. The 2018 schedule will feature five Big Ten home games for Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern of the Legends Division and Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin of the Leaders Division. The Big Ten will return to a full nine-game conference schedule for the first time since the 1983and 1984 seasons. Eight of 10 conference schools played nine-game schedules during the 1981 and 1982 seasons (Iowa and Ohio State played eight). Iowa and Northwestern featured nine-game schedules in 1971 and 1972. Two league teams also played nine games from 1977-80. "We spent a great deal of time, as a conference, considering the move to nine games,” said Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. “There are positives and negatives, but in the end most everyone agrees it's the best way to go. The Big Ten worked with us regarding our series with Iowa State. At this point it appears it will go forward without interruption." The 2011 campaign, the Big Ten’s 116th football season, kicks off with prime time home games for the defending Big Ten co-Champions. Wisconsin will host UNLV on Thursday, Sept. 1, and Michigan State will face Youngstown State on Friday, Sept. 2nd. The conference’s remaining 10 teams open action on Saturday, Sept. 3rd, including Iowa hosting Tennessee Tech at 11 a.m. in Kinnick Stadium. Nebraska officially enters the league this year and will play its first conference game at Wisconsin on Oct. 1st. The league will also begin division play for the first time this season. The champions of each division will meet on Saturday, Dec. 3rd, in the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game to be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and televised by FOX Sports. The winner of the title game will earn a chance to play in either the Rose Bowl Game or Bowl Championship Series Nnational championship game. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Phil Haddy of Iowa's sports information staff].

layoffs, furloughs force d.m. register to cover state high school tournament with freelance writers

In an e-mail titled "Layoffs, Furloughs, etc.," Bud Appleby of Des Moines writes: "The state high school baseball tournament is going on in Des Moines, and the Register apparently does not have enough reporters on the staff to cover it. I counted four stories in the paper this morning and all were written by freelancers -- two by Chuck Schoffner and two by Dan Holm." [RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Schoffner [pictured] is the longtime Associated Press sports editor from Des Moines who retired early from the news-gathering agency because his bosses wanted to change the description of his job. The AP no longer wanted him to cover such things as Monday and Tuesday football press conferences at Iowa State and Iowa, and seemed to be generally placing sports coverage on the backburner. Schoffner later became a blogger at the Register, and now freelances local stories for that newspaper and any others that want to hire him. Here's what Schoffner says about himself on his website: "What's been keeping him busy: researching and writing sample chapters of a book about Joe Black, first African American pitcher to win a World Series game; covering Iowa sports for newspapers and wire service distribution; covering USA Track and Field Championship and the John Deere Classic golf tournament. Professional Background: Chuck's 34-year writing career includes more than 26 years with the Associated Press and seven years with United Press International. As a sportswriter his stories about coaches, athletes and sporting events — including five summer Olympic Games — have appeared worldwide. But so have the features he developed on authors, professors, scientists and famous Iowans. Chuck began his freelance career in 2005. Services: •Coverage of athletic events (press conferences, pre-game stories, features, game stories and statistics, event follow-up) •Feature writing of stories on non-athletic topics for print and electronic media, including travel writing." Holm's main gig has been writing sports for the Ankeny Register.]

no pigs, jugs or axes--iowa, nebraska football teams will play in the 'heroes game'

Some play for axes, little brown jugs and even a milk can. Others engage in "battles" and "holy wars." Still more play for cups of a myriad of shapes and sizes and names. On the last Friday of November in Lincoln, Neb., the football teams from Iowa and Nebraska will square off in the first of what is expected to be a long, competitive and entertaining rivalry between one of the Big Ten Conference's original member institutions and the league's most recent addition. And, while the goal is the same as other trophy games -- win the struggle on the gridiron and claim the trophy -- the Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers won't use their annual meeting to determine exclusive ownership of football bragging rights for the Corn Belt. Instead, they will use the national stage that will be Nebraska's Memorial Stadium or Iowa's historic Kinnick Stadium each autumn to honor citizens of their respective states who are, according to Webster's Dictionary, "admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities," and they intend to work with a partner to do a good deed of their own. Representatives of the two institutions unveiled their plan for "The Heroes Game" this morning, hours before the Big Ten celebrated the start of its 116th season of football -- the first which includes the Cornhuskers as a member institution of the nation's oldest and grandest intercollegiate athletics conference. The institutions plan to honor one citizen of Iowa and one citizen of Nebraska prior to each Heroes Game for their extraordinary act. These heroes will be nominated by friends, neighbors or co-workers and will be guests of the two teams at the game where they will be honored on-field during game day. Each will also have their name and hometown etched on the to-be-created Heroes Game trophy. The institutions plan to honor one citizen of Iowa and one citizen of Nebraska prior to each Heroes Game for their extraordinary act. These heroes will be nominated by friends, neighbors or co-workers and will be guests of the two teams at the game where they will be honored on-field during game day. Each will also have their name and hometown etched on the to-be-created Heroes Game trophy. "We believe that the people of Iowa and the people of Nebraska are very much alike in many ways. Both believe in an honest day's work, the importance of community and family, and both love college football and their football heroes. We also know there are citizens of our states doing exceptional things every day and we think they are deserving of some recognition and we look forward to using this game to do that," said Tom Osborne, athletic director at Nebraska. The first "Heroes Game" is still months away. It will be played the day after Thanksgiving -- Friday, Nov. 25. However, that event is already larger than life for the fans of the two teams. Iowa and Nebraska officials are counting on that interest to drive another piece of "The Heroes Game" puzzle: The opportunity to use the "Heroes Game" to raise funds for a non-profit organization in each state. The beneficiary of the efforts initiated in support of the first two "Heroes Games" will be the Iowa and Nebraska chapters of the American Red Cross. [This story was sent to Ron Maly by Steve Roe of Iowa's sports information staff].

like i said, let's call iowa-nebraska the meat grinder classic and get ready for the nov. 25 game

Iowa and Nebraska will tell us Friday what the trophy will be [it'll be the Heroes Game] when football teams from the two Big Ten universities play Nov 25 this season at Lincoln, Neb., and in the future. I have already suggested, of course, that the schools should play in the Meat Grinder Classic [that's kind of how I view the Hawkeye-Husker rivalry, a meat grinder-type classic, keeping in mind that the state of Iowa and Nebraska are heavy into farm animals in the middle of our nation's breadbasket], and I've included a photo of the kind of meat grinder I'm referring to. This is no Mickey Mouse meat grinder. It's something called a German Knife table meat grinder by Turbo Air with a 3-inch knife, priced at $1,326.25. It has a 660-pound capacity [in other words, about the size of two Iowa and Nebraska offensive linemen--one from each team]. It has a gear-driven screw motor [something that makes me very happy], a hand wheel ring, includes removable bowl assembly and feed tray, and is heavy duty polished stainless steel. The best thing is, it ships in two business days.

football player jared devries spends more than $5 million on iowa farmland

A company owned by professional football player Jared DeVries has purchased 750 acres of Cerro Gordo County farmland for more than $5 million. Records in the Cerro Gordo county recorder’s office show two different transactions in which Pigskin Farms, in care of Jared DeVries, purchased 430 acres in one transaction for $3,184,778 - about $7,406 an acre; and 320 acres in the second transaction for 2,177,487 - about $6,804 an acre. All of the acreage is in Dougherty. Sellers in one transaction were trustees of the Lonabelle Spencer Trust. Sellers in the other transaction were relatives of Lonabelle Spencer DeVries, who grew up in Aplington, graduated from Aplington-Parkersburg High School and the University of Iowa, has played his entire career with the Detroit Lions in the National Football League. He and his family live in Clear Lake. [Mason City Globe-Gazette].

'herky's locker room' new official team store for hawkeyes

The University of Iowa has entered into an agreement with LIDS Sports Group for the operation and management of Herky's Locker Room, a new retailer and the official team store of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Herky's Locker Room will consist of brick and mortar retail store locations, game day locations at Kinnick Stadium and Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and the e-commerce website www. herkyslockerroom.com all carrying officially licensed Hawkeye merchandise. LIDS Sports Group, primarily known for its LIDS retail brand which operates more than 975 stores across North America, will operate Herky's Locker Room within its LIDS Clubhouse division. LIDS Clubhouse operates team-specific professional sports and collegiate athletics retail stores and e-commerce websites. The first Herky's Locker Room store will operate from the former Hawk Shop location at 1525 Second Street in Coralville. LIDS officials expect both the retail location and the website to be in operation in early August. According to Iowa athletic director Gary Barta, the decision to partner with LIDS Sports Group was driven in great measure by the desire to meet the increased demand of Hawkeyes fans across the country for merchandise. Interest has accelerated in recent years as a result of the success and exposure on a national level of the Hawkeye football, wrestling and women's basketball programs, and the momentum that is building behind the men's basketball program. "Hawkeye fans proudly support our school colors and the Tigerhawk logo. This new retail agreement will provide UI fans access to the latest officially licensed University of Iowa apparel, accessories and novelties thanks to the excellent reputation, experience and strong national presence of LIDS Sports Group," said Barta. Operating out of Indianapolis, LIDS Clubhouse has agreements with more than 25 professional teams, collegiate athletic departments and sports organizations including the University of Washington, Texas Tech University, the University of Kansas, Iowa State, the New York Yankees, and the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Jets. LIDS also has agreements with the NASCAR Hall of Fame and is the official retail clubhouse operator of Major League Baseball. "Herky's Locker Room is an exciting addition to the LIDS Clubhouse team and we look forward to demonstrating to Hawkeye fans everywhere LIDS' dedication to staying on top of industry trends, offering a broad assortment of quality products, and putting customer service first," said Ken Kocher, president of LIDS Sports Group. The University Book Store, home of the Hawk Shop, will continue to offer a selection of fan wear, gifts and the academic supplies needed by Iowa students and other members of the Hawkeye community at its locations in Iowa City. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Steve Rowe of Iowa's sports information staff].

6-8 player from minnesota who averaged 17.6 points says he'll play basketball at drake

Joey King can check one thing off his summer to-do list. The 6-foot-8 rising senior and standout forward on Eastview High School’s basketball team has committed to play basketball at Drake University after he graduates high school. [That is Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minn. Bud Appleby of Des Moines points out that Drake women's player Brittnye McSparron is also from that school.] King, one of the state’s top players in the class of 2012, helped lead the Lightning to a 22-5 mark and a South Suburban Conference title this past winter. He averaged a team-best 17.6 points per game and scored in double figures in 24 of 27 games, with a season-best 36 points against Eagan, his former school. King said Drake had a feel similar to the Minnesota Southside AAU program with which he’s had a strong spring and summer; King’s comfort level with the school made his decision easy. “It was just like Southside,” King said. “They took me when I was not very good at all and they just believed in me, so I believed in Southside. They brought me to where I am and now [it’s the same] with Drake.” King received interest from several schools, including Santa Clara; Drake only more recently began recruiting King, but he noticed the attention the staff paid him at a recent team camp. He could have waited until the end of the July recruiting period for new scholarship offers, but decided to end his recruitment. “Before I made my decision to go to Drake, I was considering going all the way through July and seeing what happens, but I found the best fit for me already, so why wait?” he said. He said a weight has been lifted from his shoulders after making his college choice. “Once I started talking to Drake, it was an easy decision,” said King. “Now, there’s not ‘Oh, my gosh, this coach is here.’ I can relax a lot more.” Another plus for King was that Drake doesn’t have a Division I football team, so basketball is the main sports on campus. “There are no other sports that bring in all kinds of people,” he said. “The basketball team should be pretty exciting.” And the school is three hours away from Apple Valley--close enough so his friends and family can watch him play, but still far enough away to start living as an adult. “It will be nice that my mom can come and watch games,” King said. King admits that he is still learning about the Bulldogs’ program; the team finished 13-18 last season, but lost only one senior and should be much improved this upcoming year. Drake assistant coach Brett Nelson watched King play Wednesday at Bloomington Jefferson. “They are totally behind me 100 percent,” King said. With his recruitment over, King is focusing on having a big senior season for the Lightning. He and his teammates have already been busy this summer. “We played five tournaments over this summer,” he said. “We want to make a run in the state.” King said the Lightning’s early exit from the postseason this past year will be a big motivating factor; the Lightning lost to Lakeville South, 56-50, in the Section 3 semifinals. “We were definitely upset our season was cut short,” said King. “We did not expect to lose in the section tournament, but once it happened, we just had a sour taste in our mouths. We are really making a push this year and getting better over the summer.” [Apple Valley Patch].

neil doughtery, who was an assistant basketball coach at drake in the 1988-89 season, dies at 50

Neil Dougherty, a former head coach at TCU and assistant at Drake [when Tom Abatemarco was the head coach in 1988-89] and Kansas, died on a run earlier this week in Indianapolis. He was 50. Dougherty was working for Ihoops, a joint venture between the NBA and NCAA to help promote youth basketball initiatives. He was in Indianapolis for a recruiting event and went jogging Tuesday. He never returned and was listed as a "John Doe" until he was identified Friday. "Serving the game he loved, Neil has been a driving force and true visionary in the path of building iHoops from its earliest days," NCAA vice-president Greg Shaheen said. "Neil's commitment to assuring young people experience the joy and satisfaction of the game as he did will empower our focus going forward." Dougherty worked at Cameron, Drake, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Kansas as an assistant from 1984 through 2002. He got his first head coaching job at TCU in 2002. He was fired after going 75-106 in six seasons with the Horned Frogs. [ESPN.com; special thanks to Mike Mahon for assistance on the story].

register bailouts: reporter reid forgrave going to fox sports; hupp, lisa fernandez also quitting

According to someone who still works there, education writer Staci Hupp is leaving the Register for a job in state government, and photographer Lisa Fernandez is also leaving. Fernandez is married to Arturo Fernandez, the former photo editor who was laid off in the last cost-cutting move. Hupp is a native Iowan and first-rate education reporter. Her loss is a big one for the Register. She's very talented. Forgrave is the paper's top feature reporter, the best around there since Ken Fuson. The collapse is happening quickly. -- Bud Appleby from Des Moines. Darrell from Denison. [RON MALY'S COMMENTS: I hope the last person out of the door shuts off the lights. I'm told by someone who knows that Hupp and Forgrave leaving are a big deal on the fourth floor newsroom. They are among the best of what's left. It's a message to the others to get the hell out as soon as possible.].

geneva overholser, james o'shea, don clasen and the newspaper book, 'the deal from hell'

Don Clasen, a former Des Moines newspaperman who now is retired in Chicago, writes: "Happy 4th, Ron: There's a story in the Chicago Tribune today by ex-R&T editor Geneva Overholser about former Register reporter Jim O'Shea's book, 'The Deal from Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers.' Mrs. Overholser begins the piece by explaining, 'As longtime readers of this newspaper know too well, few marriages have failed more spectacularly--or with greater impact--than that of Chicago-based Tribune Co. and the Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Co.' O'Shea was managing editor of the Trib when he was sent to L.A. in 2006 to lead the Times newsroom. 'The next year, real estate magnate Sam Zell bought the company in a controversial deal that collapsed quickly into bankruptcy proceedings, which dog the newspapers to this day,' Geneva wrote. She continues: 'For anyone concerned about the state of newspapering, this is an important primer. The $8 million merger (really a Tribune Co. takeover of Times Mirror) in 2000 created a disparate media giant that never cohered, bringing together TV stations, radio and nnewspapers...Two Times editors fell quickly to the ensuing profit pressures.' I recall O'Shea being a good reporter when I worked with him at the Register in the '70s. But his future with the Times went downhill after he sought to continue to make the Times a highly respected publication despite being ordered to cut costs. Mrs. Overholser describes O'Shea as quoting early R&T owner Gardner Cowles 'on an era when journalism trumped profits: The only newspaper that counts in the long run is bottomed on public respect.' The story points out how the respect of newspapers has declined. 'Instead of developing strategies to produce the kind of content that would protect their most important asset--the public trust--they depreciated it like an aging Linotype.' The story contains much more that might make a good newspaperman invest $28.99 to buy O'Shea's 395-page book. Don Clasen, Chicago. [RON MALY'S COMMENTS--Thanks for the story, Don. When the public library has the book, I'll check it out].

Ervin Koehn. served with honor. u.s. military veteran

Ervin Henry Koehn, 92, a longtime resident of Rosehaven Nursing Home in Marengo, passed away, trusting in Jesus, June 23, 2011, after a lengthy illness. Funeral services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 28, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, rural Victor with Rev. Nicholas Huelsman officiating. Organist will be Marna Mohr. Pallbearers will be Justin Becker, John Bruzek, Ben and Christopher Koehn, and Craig, Dustin and Kevin York. Burial will be in St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday at the Smith Funeral Home in Victor with the family present from 5:00 to 7:00 Monday evening. Memorial contributions may be directed to the Ladora Fire Department, St. John’s Lutheran Church or Trinity Lutheran School in Cedar Rapids. Ervin was born on May 23, 1919, to Katherine (Sheda) Koehn and Henry Carl Koehn in rural Victor, Iowa County, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church, rural Victor, and attended schools at Guernsey and Victor and returned to St. John’s Lutheran School graduating 8th grade with his future wife, Elizabeth Hinrichs. They were married on December 8, 1943, in Medford, Oregon. He received his G.E.D. at Kirkwood Community College. Ervin served in The United States Army from 1941-1945, in the Pacific Theatre during WW II, and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Medical Badge. He proudly wore his 1st Medical Regiment badge on his WW II Veteran’s cap. Ervin was a farmer, not far from his birthplace, for most of his life; he was also employed at Amana Refrigeration for 29 years until his retirement in 1984. He lived in Cedar Rapids from 1973 to 1993, where Elizabeth died in their home in 1991, and later lived in Victor and Ladora. He was a former member and trustee at Trinity Lutheran Church and school in Cedar Rapids. On May 21, 1994, he was united in marriage to his long-time friend from his childhood, Velma Bringmann of Ladora, in Washington, Iowa. Survivors include six children, Ken (Tylaine) Koehn of Montezuma, Betty (Ross)York of Ladora, Dan (Diana) Koehn, Mary (Todd) Becker, Eric (Patsy) Koehn and Ed (Berta) Koehn, all of Cedar Rapids; step-son, Leroy (Jan) Bringmann of Victor; two sisters, Miquie Bruzek of Cedar Rapids and Maxine (Ron) Maly of West Des Moines; two sisters-in-law, Vivian Hinrichs of Williamsburg and Janet Hinrichs of Pleasant Hill; three brothers-in-law, Gary (Janis) Hinrichs of Marengo, Ed (Ruth) Hinrichs of Fairmont, Minnesota and Doug Benyshek of Mesa, Arizona; 12 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wives, Elizabeth in 1991 and Velma in 2009; one daughter, Susan who died in infancy; his parents; two sisters, Irene Timm and Mary Benyshek; one step-son Richard Bringmann; and two great-grandchildren, Katie Koehn and Koral Nichole York. Ervin will be remembered as a loving, hardworking, and caring husband, father, grandpa, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend by all who knew him. The Koehn family would like to express their thanks to the staff at Rosehaven and Essence of Life Hospice in Amana for all their loving care given to their dad over the last several years, and for all those who have expressed their sympathies to them. [Smith Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Victor].

washington bureau [or what was left of it], writer brasher are other victims of d.m. register purge

Aside from the human losses [in this week's layoff of 13 people], one thing that has not received attention is that when the Des Moines Register laid off writer Phil Brasher [pictured], it also closed its Washington, D.C. bureau--or whatever was left of it. Maybe AOL Patch can serve up some ag coverage to the Register. Paula Crossfield writes on the Civil Eats blog about the serious consequences of the Register's decision to lay off Philip Brasher, the paper's well-known agriculture reporter in Washington. "Brasher," she said, "was one of the only reporters who was not working for agriculture industry-sponsored outlets in the room at Senate and House Agriculture Committee hearings, and played a key role in informing the public about these as well as the inner workings of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For the most part, the agriculture industry will now have a free reign over coverage of national food policy issues in the Midwest." Asked for comment, Register publisher Laura Hollingsworth -- who also is head of Gannett's midwest regional group of newspapers -- said: "While we made the difficult decision this week to close our Washington, D.C., office, we maintain a 45-year reporting veteran in Des Moines who covers the agricultural issues that affect Iowa and the midwest. We also are augmenting his coverage with resources from Gannett’s ContentOne team. Fully leveraging our resources in Iowa and Washington allows us to still provide comprehensive political and agricultural coverage for our readers in Des Moines and beyond." We could fertilize a lot of farmland with statements like that. Hollingsworth's is an increasingly common, and false, refrain from publishers and other senior managers whenever the ax falls: Less is the same. (Or, in the case of The Tennessean, it's actually more.) Worse still, Hollingsworth glosses over the fact that Brasher was a big contributor to ContentOne's ag coverage. On Twitter, Brasher wrote: "Years with @DMRegister were wonderful. Real pros have lost jobs they loved -- and still working their butts off there." To be sure, Brasher wasn't the only Register journalist who lost his job when Gannett laid off 700 U.S. newspaper employees Tuesday. Among the other 12 in Des Moines: Jane Schorer Meisner, who won the highest of journalism's highest honors: a 1991 Pulitzer Prize in public service for groundbreaking reporting that -- with the victim's consent -- publicly identified a woman who'd been raped. Meisner's work, the Pulitzer judges said, prompted widespread reconsideration of the traditional media practice of concealing the identity of rape victims. [Gannett Blog/Bud Appleby].

former utah assistant stan johnson hired for drake men's basketball coaching staff

Bud Appleby tells me that Bill Riley, the radio announcer for Utah basketball games, says former Utah assistant coach Stan Johnson has been hired at Drake. Johnson lost his job at Utah when head coach Jim Boylen was fired in March. Here's Riley's tweet on Twitter: "Just want to give a shoutout and congratulations to former Ute assistant Stan Johnson, who landed a job at Drake! Good Coach/Great Guy!" Riley was on-target. Here's a release sent to Ron Maly this morning by Paul Kirk, Drake's assistant athletic director for sports communications: "Stan Johnson has been named an assistant coach for the Drake men's basketball program, head coach Mark Phelps announced Monday. [Johnson [pictured] better be good because his job is to replace Kareem Richardson, who drew rave reviews because of his recruiting abilities at Drake. Richardson left the Bulldogs to take an assistant coaching job at Xavier University of Cincinnati. Richardson's departure was first reported by the Xavier sports information office, and was reported in this area exclusively by Ron Maly.] Johnson spent the previous three years at the University of Utah as an assistant coach for the Utes. 'I am excited to welcome Stan and his family to our Drake family,' said Phelps. 'He is a man of character and integrity with outstanding experience as a high-level recruiter and excellent on-floor coach. He shares our philosophy of making the players on campus the most important part of our program. Stan is committed to excellence from the smallest detail to the most involved project, and is a perfect fit with our players, staff and the entire Drake community.' Johnson brings eight years of experience as an assistant coach to his new position with the Bulldogs men’s program. 'I was really impressed with the vision of (athletic director) Sandy Hatfield Clubb and the direction of coach Phelps with his program,' Johnson said. 'The eagerness of the staff at Drake and the character and talent of the guys within the program was amazing to me. Drake is a big-time place and I’m excited about the big-time things we can accomplish with Drake basketball.' During his three-year stay at Utah, Johnson was part of a staff that coached the Utes in 2008-09 to a 24-10 record, a share of the Mountain West Conference Championship and the postseason conference tournament title. Utah finished the season ranked No. 25 in the AP poll and earned a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, at the time the highest seed ever given to a Mountain West team. The 2008-09 Utes also ranked No. 1 in the MWC in opponent field-goal percentage and recorded a school-record 166 blocked shots. In 2009-10 Utah led the MWC in opponent three-point field-goal percentage, set another school record for blocked shots (186) and recorded 172 steals. Johnson came to Utah after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge in 2007-08. The Matadors finished 20-10 overall and earned a share of their first Big West Conference regular season championship with Johnson on the staff. Prior to his year at Cal State Northridge, Johnson spent three seasons (2004-07) on the bench at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. The Bearcats were 50-30 in that period, with three consecutive winning seasons for the first time in school history. The 2005-06 squad posted a 27-5 record, including a school-record 14 victories in a row to open the season. Southwest Baptist captured the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association title that year and made a trip to the NCAA Division II tournament, finishing No. 6 in the national rankings. Johnson started his coaching career at Bemidji (Minn.) State University in 2003-04. In his lone season at Bemidji, Johnson helped coach the Beavers to a 20-10 mark and their first-ever 20-win season. Bemidji State was 14-2 in conference play that season, earning a berth to the NCAA Division II tournament and leading the nation in 3-pointers per game, with 11.7. As a player, Johnson was a three-year letterman at Southern Utah University. He was a team captain and starter in 2000-01 and helped lead the Thunderbirds to the Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) title and a berth in the NCAA tournament, where they dropped a 68-65 decision to No. 3 seed Boston College. Johnson was a three-time member of the Mid-Continent Conference All-Academic Team and earned a bachelor's degree in communications from SUU in 2003. Johnson played his senior season of college basketball at Bemidji State (2002-03), where he served as a team captain and earned honorable mention all-conference accolades. He averaged 13.5 points and distributed a team-high 114 assists during his one season with the Beavers. Johnson is a graduate of Taylorsvlle (Utah) High School. Stan and his wife Brittany have a two-year-old daughter, Brooklynn, and a one-year-old son, Myles."

ex-d.m. register newsman o'shea blasts those dirty, rotten scumbags from the newspaper business

Former Des Moines Register, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times newsman James O’Shea’s recently published “The Deal from Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers” has plenty about “uncouth clown” Sam Zell, and also aims some harsh criticism at former Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons and current editor Gerry Kern. O'Shea calls FitzSimons "petty, mean-spirited and almost obsessively single-minded. I think his tendency to be a meddling micro-manager also exposed his hostility to journalists." The author notes that FitzSimons' irritation that the paper would run a picture of a gay couple kissing on the front page. Sounds like O'Shea is kind of pissed off.[Crain's Chicago Business].

if you believe what this guy says, i've got some low-priced land i'd like to sell you in bolivia

Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor apologized for his off-the-field conduct that led to his departure from the university and helped lead to the forced resignation of former Buckeye coach Jim Tressell. Speaking at a staged media event in which he took no questions, Pryor said, "In terms of Ohio State, I'd like to say sorry to the coaching staff, say sorry to my teammates, say sorry to all of Buckeye Nation and all the Buckeye fans across the country. "I never meant to hurt anyone directly or indirectly with my conduct off the field and I am truly sorry." Pryor spoke alongside his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who organized the event. Rosenhaus, who lauded Pryor's football skills and insisted he should be a first-round pick in the NFL's supplemental draft – whenever there is a supplemental draft – also declined to take questions. During his talk in front of reporters and cameras – a talk that lasted about 1 minute 40 seconds – Pryor apologized to Tressell and accepted responsibility for his former coach's demise. "In terms of coach Jim Tressell – a special shout out," Pryor said. "I am sorry for what all went down and I apologize with all my heart. I love you just like a father, you taught me a lot and I apologize for putting you in a situation of taking you out of a job and a place that you love to be." Pryor hadn't spoken publicly since leading the Buckeyes to a victory against Wisconsin in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4. Between then and now, the scandal that surfaced last December at Ohio State snowballed into one that ultimately cost Tressell his job and made it clear that Pryor wouldn't play another down of college football. Pryor, though, answered no questions about how he came to allegedly trade signed memorabilia in exchange for tattoos. He didn't address reports of his supposed cozy relationship with a Columbus, Ohio, car dealership – nor did he attempt to explain the numerous automobiles he was reported to have driven during his time with the Buckeyes. Seconds after Rosenhaus and Pryor sat down in front of reporters and TV cameras, Rosenhaus made clear that his newest client would be taking questions. After Pryor's 100-second statement, Rosenhaus turned to the cameras himself and said, "Terrific." He then spent much of the next six minutes promoting Pryor – sometimes to the point of hyperbole. Or past it. "The reason that I signed him as a player despite all of the prognostications and whatnot is I am a firm believer after 25 years of experience that Terrelle Pryor will be a great – not a good quarterback – a great quarterback in the National Football League," Rosenhaus said. [Sun-Sentinel].

no big deal, i guess--isu-iowa game on [ho-hum] fox tv network at 11 a.m. sept. 10

Iowa State will get a national "Game of the Week" appearance on the Saturday of Thanksgiving week and two more television exposures according to football schedules shared at this week's Big 12 meetings. The Cyclones will face preseason top-ranked Oklahoma on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. on FX. Iowa State will host Iowa on Sept. 10 at Jack Trice Stadium at 11 a.m. with television coverage provided by the Fox Sports Network--a secondary sports network. So Iowans should assume the networksdon't regard the Iowa-Iowa State game as very prominent in the upcoming season. So let's hope the Cyclones and Hawkeyes play a helluva game right down to the last second to prove the TV bigwigs wrong. The Cyclones close the regular season at Kansas State on Dec. 3 with an 11:30 a.m. kickoff. That game will also be shown on FSN-. Five Iowa State games have been chosen for TV so far. The Cyclones have never previously earned this many guaranteed TV games prior to the start of the season. Iowa State's game at Connecticut on Sept. 16 is set for 7 p.m. on either ESPN or ESPN2 and the home finale against Oklahoma State on Nov. 18 will start at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. [cyclones.com; commentary by Ron Maly]

hoover

From Bud Appleby of Des Moines: "After former Des Moines Register reporter and columnist Willis David Hoover lost his job when a Honolulu newspaper folded, he got back into the music business. This is a link to his fan club Facebook page. There are several You Tube videos of him performing on the page. I haven't looked at all of them, but some are pretty good, "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" is one I like. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Willis-David-Hoover-Fan-Page/102085243186792?sk=wall.

iowa's football game nov. 25 at nebraska will be televised nationally, starting at 11 a.m.

Iowa's football game Friday, Nov. 25, at Nebraska will be televised by ABC-TV to a national audience, with a start time of 11 a.m. The announcement was made today by the Big Ten Conference. Iowa's Oct. 22 homecoming matchup against Indiana will also begin at 11 a.m. in Kinnick Stadium at Iowa City. It was announced earlier that Iowa's Oct. 15 home game against Northwestern will start at 6 p.m. That game will be televised by the Big Ten Network and marks Iowa's only night game of the regular season. Start times and television information for Iowa's remaining nine games has not yet been released. The Hawkeyes open the season Sept. 3, hosting Tennessee Tech. Iowa junior center James Ferentz has been named to the Rimington Trophy spring watch list. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most outstanding center in NCAA Division I college football. Ferentz (6-2, 284) started all 13 games for the Hawkeyes in 2010. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Steve Roe of Iowa's sports information staff].

drake will be getting another women's basketball player from wisconsin

The Wisconsin presence continues to become more pronounced on the Drake University women's basketball roster. Verona junior Ashley Bartow will become the latest export from the Badger state to take her basketball talents to the NCAA Division I school in Des Moines. The 5-foot-11 guard gave her commitment Sunday night to Bulldogs coach Amy Stephens. Bartow, who said she'd also been offered a scholarship by Bradley, averaged 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.4 steals last season after transferring from Sun Prairie. She was named honorable mention all-state by both the Associated Press and Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. Bartow, who works with the Pacesetter Basketball program, will follow former Pacesetter members Rachael Hackbarth (Wisconsin Lutheran) and Stephanie Running (Oak Creek) to the Bulldogs when she arrives for the 2012-13 season. Bartow is the second girls athlete from Verona's Class of 2012 to commit to play college sports. Wildcats volleyball standout Jillian Bauer committed to Ohio State earlier this year. [Wisconsin State Journal.com].

high school junior who scored 64 points in a game says he intends to play basketball for drake

Micah Mason of Natrona Heights, Pa., had never been on an airplane before, but the Highlands basketball star's feet haven't touched the ground since he returned home from Drake University in Des Moines over the weekend. Mason, a 6-foot-2 junior point guard, was so impressed by his unofficial visit -- and four previous visits by Drake's coaches to Highlands in the last couple of months to see his shooting workouts -- that he gave the school a verbal commitment on Easter Sunday. Mason said, despite any more scholarship offers that may come during AAU season or after, he will sign with Drake on Nov. 9. Channeling the famous "Field of Dreams" line, "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa," Mason praised the school's recruiting efforts and genuineness. "I feel so strongly about this," Mason said. "There is a lot of trust there. They believed in me, and I believe in them. I had this connection; I can't explain it." Mason, who led the WPIAL in scoring this season (33.3 points per game) and had six games of 40 or more points, had interest from more than a dozen Division I schools, including NCAA runnerup Butler. Butler coach Brad Stevens visited Highlands last week, but did not make an offer. And after his visit to Drake, Mason didn't want to wait for one. "I loved the people, the players and the campus," Mason said. "The school isn't too big; there's like a 13-1 ratio. The coaches know you. I am not the type of guy to make a sudden move, but I can't pass this up." Mason's transcript was sent to Butler as well. Mason is an 'A' student. He called Stevens yesterday to tell him he had committed. Some larger schools also showed interest, including Boston College, Maryland and Arizona State, but Mason felt he was going with a sure thing. All four of Drake's coaches -- coach Mark Phelps and assistants Mike Gibson, Kareem Richardson and Justin Ohl -- came to Highlands to see Mason work out. Drake offered a scholarship in mid-March, a few days after Phelps came to Highlands and saw Mason make 170 of 200 3-pointers and 50 straight free throws during a nonstop, 35-minute drill. The coach also asked for some game film, including footage of Mason's 64-point outburst against Valley. In that game, Mason made 17 of 19 shots, including all seven of his 3-point attempts, and 23 of 24 free throws. Mason went on to garner all-state honors and was an honorable mention on the MaxPreps Junior all-American team. Phelps' first knowledge of Mason came while he was thumbing through Sports Illustrated and noticed Mason in "Faces in the Crowd." Mason was featured after his 64-point game -- the second most in a game in WPIAL history. Mason said Phelps told him he would likely be the starting point guard next season and could see up to 30 minutes per game. "Drake really seems like the best opportunity for him," said John Mason, Micah's father. "He can work towards a degree in business marketing or business management there. It seems like a good environment for him, all the way around." John Mason said he was surprised by a decision "this early," but didn't plan for the recruiting process to carry into Micah's senior year. "We hoped to have a decision made by July," he said. Phelps, a former assistant at North Carolina State and Arizona State, also knows John Miller, the former Blackhawk coach who is a close friend of John Mason. Miller's sons, Sean and Archie, are head coaches at Arizona and Dayton, respectively. But neither school offered a scholarship to Mason. Drake, which went 13-18 this past season, competes in the Missouri Valley Conference.[Fox Sports.com]. [RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Drake's basketball program always needs shooters. I hope this kid helps fill that requirement in future seasons]..

he's no. 1

A late-in-the-year rally enabled Daniel P. Finney [pictured at the top of this news item] to dethrone longtime champion Mike Gartner [pictured directly below this item] in a heated race to decide the 2011 title as Official Asshole of this website. Finney, a hack reporter for the Des Moines Register, has been a threat for the Official Asshole title since returning to his roots at the Register after he was run off from the newsroom at the St. Louis Post Dispatch after a series of immature acts. His bizarre behavior has been documented in these columns previously. Obviously, Finney could stay in the shadows for only so long after seeking haven in Des Moines following his disgraceful exit from St. Louis. He came on strong in the Official Asshole campaign in 2011, and his exploits were documented accurately by those who keep track of e-mail writing and other use of the printed word. Finney unseated longtime Official Asshole winner Gartner, the Civic Skinny columnist for Datebook and disgraced [fired, too] ]NBC News and daily newspaper operative. Garnter was voted the Official Asshole of this website in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. He had no serious challengers for the title until Daniel P. Finney moved back to central Iowa and into contention.

sick

Just in case Gannett employees thought 2011 might bring better news after years of layoffs and furloughs, the year was just four days old when a note landed in the in-box of people who work for the community news division saying, once again, they were required to take an unpaid week off. After explaining that revenues at the newspaper giant continued to be soft and the outlook was uncertain, Robert J. Dickey, Gannett’s president of U.S. Community Publishing, said, “I know furloughs are very hard on you and your families and I thank each of you for the continued commitment and great work.” Dickey made it clear that not only did the company’s executives feel their pain, they would share the sacrifice, noting that he too would take a furlough and that Craig A. Dubow, the chief executive, and Gracia C. Martore, the president and chief operating officer, “each will be taking a reduction of salary that is equivalent to a week’s furlough.” But as it turns out, the buck stopped just short of Dubow and other executives. Dubow had agreed to lower his salary by 17 percent through 2011, but then again, last month he received a cash bonus of $1.75 million for 2010 and Martore received $1.25 million. For 2010, they were also awarded stock, options and deferred compensation that would bring their combined packages to $17.6 million if the company and its stock hits certain targets. A company spokeswoman pointed out that 70 percent of their compensation was noncash and dependent on future performance. In fact, the top six executives at the embattled publishing company would receive 2010 compensation packages of more than $28 million if the company does very well, which seems unlikely, but the symbolism remains. The savings from two years of mandatory furloughs for the rest of Gannett employees: $33 million. Well, that didn’t go very far, did it? This is not a story about incompetents feeding at the trough, although a lot of Gannett employees would say that is precisely what the story is about. Yes, revenues have declined at the company four years in a row and the stock price is down more than 70 percent, but even divine intervention could probably not fix all that is wrong with Gannett and publishing in general. The company has 23 television stations, but with 82 newspapers, many of them dailies in small and medium-size cities, the company was bound to be clobbered by a recession on the one hand and a systemic flight from advertising in newspapers. Gannett’s flagship, USA Today, is a once-robust national newspaper but has lost 20 percent of its circulation in the last three years. About a week ago, I was at the Marriott in Detroit, and as I stepped over the newspaper at my door as I usually do, I then wondered why. It occurred to me that everything in that artifact that would be useful for me — scores from the teams I follow, a brief on big news and a splash of entertainment coverage — I had already learned on my smartphone and tablet before leaving the room. Gannett is aware of the challenge and has moved aggressively into mobile, with six million downloads of its apps, but those marginal revenues will not fill the hole created by challenges to its core business. In terms of financial engineering, Dubow and his crew have done a good job with a bad hand. Last year, revenue was down only marginally, and according to the company operating cash flow was $1.3 billion, up 19 percent from 2009, while debt was reduced by $710 million, to $2.35 billion. That’s a testament to what the Street would call “aggressive cost management.” But out in the rest of the world, we know that generally means dumping bodies overboard, and Gannett is a high achiever when it comes to downsizing. In the five years that Dubow has run the company, its work force has gone from 52,000 employees to just over 32,000. Most of its employees are nonunion, so the leadership is free to manage as it sees fit, including telling some people their careers are over and telling the people that remain not to come to work. “It has been incredibly galling to watch them lining up for these big compensation packages while they have squandered every opportunity to make the kind of changes necessary for the company to survive,” said an employee of USA Today. (She and others I spoke to said that there would be retaliation if they spoke for attribution.) “Meanwhile, we have had furloughs three years in a row, so you can’t help but feel exploited and angry.” The cuts have had an impact beyond the people who work for the company: The readers in towns and cities that are served by Gannett newspapers are finding a lot less news when they open up the morning paper. The company has always had a reputation for stellar margins built on barebones newsrooms; now it has the worst of both worlds. In announcing that Dubow would receive a hefty package, double the previous year, Gannett hardly shied away from part of what was driving the award: “The company achieved substantial expense reductions through a variety of efforts, including continued centralization and consolidation efforts and salary freezes, positioning the company for growth as economic conditions improve.” Ken Doctor, an analyst at Outsell and the author of “Newsonomics,” suggested that Gannett is mostly in the business of managing entropy. “There has not been a lot of strategy other than cost-cutting to maintain profits and some small bets in digital that have not had any significant impact yet,” he said. While their approach may be lacking in imagination and long-term strategy, Mr. Dubow and his team can be credited with being prudent in difficult times. Prudent, except when it comes to their own compensation. On the Gannett Blog, gannettblog.blogspot.com an independent site about the company, employees have expressed a high level of frustration and outrage about the compensation going to the folks at headquarters while people in the field watch newsrooms and their compensation shrink. “Pure and simple, a laugh in every employee’s face,” said one anonymous poster on the day the packages were announced. Jim Hopkins has been editing the Gannett Blog since he took a buyout from USA Today where he was a business reporter in 2008. “It has become a case study in how a mature company facing sudden and tremendous pressure tries to save itself,” he said. “It’s been fascinating to watch in real time, but I think there have been terrible consequences. Gannett has a big footprint in 100 communities, and those places have less and less information.” “I wouldn’t want their jobs,” he concedes. “But there is so little empathy for the employees and so little understanding of how these packages are perceived. I think they don’t realize how this looks.” Obviously. [David Carr, New York Times].

more from the lost & found dept.: fresh film of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig in Sioux City surfaces

Imagine, if you will, two of the biggest baseball stars of all time cavorting about in the back yard of a Sioux City home. Not just your ordinary everyday baseball players, mind you. This was Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, circa 1927. Before they became the ‘Sultan of Swat' and ‘Iron Horse.' A mere 10 days after what most consider the greatest baseball team of all time -- the 1927 New York Yankees -- completed a four-game World Series sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. One of the few moving images of the Babe, part of a 16-millimeter film shot outside a Jackson Street residence in Sioux City on Oct. 18, 1927, has recently been made available for public viewing. The quality is remarkable considering the time. Ruth and Gehrig, wearing the uniforms of their barnstorming baseball teams, are seen relaxing with a group of adults and children. The film, recently discovered in a cellar in Illinois, shows a 32-year-old Ruth and 24-year-old Gehrig in uniform mingling among well-dressed men, women and children outside a large brick home at 3723 Jackson St. Ruth's "Bustin' Babes" and Gehrig's "Larrupin' Lous" were playing a game in Sioux City that afternoon. Keep in mind, the 1927 Yankees, famous for their Murderers' Row lineup, posted a 110-44 record. The Babe clubbed 60 home runs that year, a record that stood for 34 years until Roger Maris broke in it 1961. Gehrig hit 47 home runs and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player. Although there is no audio, Ruth is shown talking to the camera while Gehrig is holding a small boy and gives him a kiss on the cheek. As it turns out, the home belonged to the family of John J. "Jiggs" Donohue, president and owner of Rice Brothers, a livestock commission firm located in the stockyards. Donohue, who hatched many promotional events, brought Ruth and Gehrig's teams to the Stockyards Ball Park after the 1927 season. The young boy Gehrig is holding was 2-year-old Ken Donohue, while at one point in the surprisingly clear footage Ruth jumps on a pony and models young Jimmie Donohue's cowboy hat. Two more Donohue boys -- Phil and Jack -- are also shown posing with the baseball stars. "That was an exciting time for our family, although I wasn't in the pictures because I was only 4 months old," said Joanne (Donohue) Sanderson, now of Cherokee, Iowa, and the younger sister of the four boys shown in the film. "My dad was a very outgoing person and he got them to come up there that day before they played a baseball game." Jimmie Donohue died at the age of 16 from surgical complications related to appendicitis. Ken and Jack Donohue are also deceased. Phil Donohue, 93, lives in Sioux Falls. Excellent golfers, Phil and Jack Donohue combined to win six men's city championships. Phil prevailed in 1940, '46 and '47 while Jack won three in a row from 1948-50. Joanne Sanderson, 83, has a twin brother, Tom, who lives in Denver, Colo. Christy Walsh of Christy Walsh Syndicate, a New York-based promotions company, is also shown in the film. Walsh is widely considered the first major sports agent. According to a story published in the New York Times last week, Major League Baseball's archive contains less than an hour's worth of moving images of Ruth. The 3 1/2 minutes of Ruth and Gehrig are part of eight reels of 16-millimeter film discovered in an Illinois cellar. R.C. Raycraft, whose family owns the 3rd Sunday Market, an antique show in Bloomington, Ill., bought the films for an undisclosed amount from an antique dealer who acquired them as part of an estate sale. "It was one of those things that fell into my lap," Raycraft said. "I'm a big history fan. Having an interest in baseball and the fact that I'm a filmmaker, it got my attention. "The fact that they were home movies drew my attention and the films themselves were from the 1920s, so it was really a no-brainer." At the time the film was made, Raycraft said, a camera of this quality would have cost as much as a new Ford automobile. Simply put, there weren't a lot of people who owned movie cameras. The most important aspect of collectibles, according to Raycraft, is to be able to track down the origin. He said a photo taken on the same barnstorming tour two days earlier in Des Moines recently sold for $33,000. "If you were to make a copy of the film today it would have marginal value, but there would be no significance," Raycraft said. "The films, like the photos, if they are original, there is a lot of interest in it." Raycraft's interest was twofold. "A, it was Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, days after Babe finished a season where he hit 60 home runs. And B, it was a home movie, not a publicity stunt. It showed people relaxing and hanging out in the back yard. "It's hard to compare Babe Ruth with anybody. As far as 20th century legends, I think he ranks at the top." That fact wasn't lost on the Donahue family. The memories from that day were cherished for years and by generations. "It was a pretty exciting time for our whole family, and we talked a lot about it over the years," Joanne Sanderson said. "Then you'd open up a drawer and there'd be an autographed baseball rolling around." Raycraft said he has not decided if he would sell the film. He may donate a copy to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. "I'd love to see Cooperstown do something with it," Raycraft said. "You can study the film and see Ruth and Gehrig's true personalities. Ruth was there to goof around and Gehrig to play with the kids." The 43-year-old's Los Angeles-based business produces law enforcement videos, but Raycraft is familiar with the wheelings and dealings of antiques and collectibles. A dealer at the 3rd Sunday Market asked him if he was interested in "home movies" of Ruth and Gehrig. "How do you put a value on something like this," queried Raycraft. "It would be hard because it's priceless. It is the type of thing that needs to be seen and people need to know about." The movie reels, which according to attached paperwork belonged to Dudley C. Scott, who owned two movie theaters in Le Mars, Iowa, also includes aerial shots of farmland, downtown Le Mars and videos of Nebraska football games. Barnstorming tours were popular in that day and age. It was a way for the players to cash in on their popularity and, in Ruth and Gehrig's case, doubled their regular salaries. A packed house was on hand for the game in Sioux City, with Ruth and Gehrig playing on opposite teams. The Journal reported that when the regular stands and bleachers were filled, fans jammed along the infield baselines and filled temporary bleachers set up in the outfield. The Babe didn't disappoint, hitting a home run. "It was a rifled hit, straight over the right field fence that sent two runners in ahead of the Clouting Caliph, who jogged around the bags happy with the thought that he had parked one for the crowd," the Sioux City Journal reported the next day. "Gehrig didn't deliver a home run, but the "Larruping one" was a hit with all ages, especially the kids." Excerpts from the Journal's story, which appeared in "The Way of Life II: Stories from the Yards," written by Sioux Cityan Marcia Poole, went on to report: "The crowd's enthusiasm swelled into the sixth inning when Ruth's team was leading 4 to 2. Children pressed closer and closer to their heroes." Police "rushed helter-skelter in a futile attempt" to keep the kids under control. By the eighth inning a ‘deluge of humanity' was on the field." The teams tried to keep playing but "what chance did any group of ball players have when 5,000 school kids got it into their heads that they wanted to swarm about Gehrig and Ruth? Not a chance. NOT A CHANCE." According to a Journal story, after the players' train pulled into town, photographers were clamoring for shots of Ruth and Gehrig. Gehrig, though, refused to leave the hotel until he ate breakfast, which that day consisted of a healthy choice of bacon, eggs, bran and two baked apples. Upon arrival, Ruth went to The Journal office and requested 20 copies of the Oct. 18 edition. Babe, who apparently used the papers for a personal journal, also asked for one copy each of every day from the previous two weeks. [Story by Barry Poe, Courier Lee News Service; In photo, courtesy of the Sioux City Public Museum, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig pose at Stockyards Park in Sioux City in 1927].

another significant loss for d.m. register--political expert beaumont leaves paper to work for ap

Thomas Beaumont, a veteran chronicler of presidential politics and the Iowa Caucuses, has been named Des Moines correspondent for the Associated Press. The appointment was announced Wednesday by David Scott, the cooperative's regional editor for the Central U.S., and Scott McFetridge, the AP's news editor for Iowa and Nebraska. Beaumont joins the AP from the Des Moines Register, where he had served as the newspaper's chief political reporter since 2002. He led the paper's coverage of the White House aspirants who every four years spend months courting Iowa voters ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation caucus vote. "Tom breaks the news that matters most in presidential politics in Iowa," Scott said. "We're delighted that he's joining the AP and are excited about what he will bring to the report." As Des Moines Correspondent, Beaumont will join a political coverage team that includes state government reporter Mike Glover and Iowa City Correspondent Ryan J. Foley. Along with reporters from across the region and the AP's Washington staff, they will ensure the AP's report on the caucuses and the 2012 election is consistently first and always complete. "Adding Tom to the AP's team in Des Moines will ensure that our members in Iowa and our customers nationwide are well served throughout the 2012 campaign," said Kia Breaux, the AP's Chief of Bureau for Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. Beaumont, 42, joined the Register in 1999 as a general assignment and investigative reporter, focused on development in Des Moines' western suburbs. He took over as the paper's chief political reporter three years later, and has served as the lead writer for the newspaper's Iowa Poll since 2008. He previously covered courts and politics for The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, Ill. Beaumont, who grew up in southeastern Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1989 and earned a master's degree in journalism from the school in 1993. He is married and the father of three sons. [Associated Press].

as i was saying...

I wrote the other day that Ohio State, which may have the cheatingest coach [Jim Tressel, who is pictured] and the cheatingest collegiate football program in America, should be made to forfeit all the victories it posted in 2010--including a 20-17 decision over Iowa--I heard from a friend of mine. "When the NCAA awards Iowa a forfeit in its football game with OSU, I'll buy you and Maxine dinner at the finest cafe in Des Moines," the man said in an e-mail to me. "I hate to see Keno Davis get the boot at Providence. I recall when some wanted Iowa to go for him rather than (ugh) Todd Lickliter." -- Ron Maly

a changing game: sports teams [including iowa] and leagues can break their own news

When the University of Iowa named a new basketball coach last year, reporters around the state scrambled to get the story. Several staked out a nearby airport and hung around campus hoping to snag an interview with the new man, Fran McCaffery. No dice, university officials said — McCaffery and his team weren’t giving interviews. For sports journalists these days, the playing field isn’t always level. As the Iowa incident suggests, teams and leagues can break their own news, over and around the independent news media that cover them. Professional and big-time college teams aren’t just news sources now; they’re in the news business, too, with their own radio, TV and Internet operations. At the same time, teams and leagues have imposed an increasing array of restrictions on news organizations limiting how and what they can report. The trend has even trickled down to the high school level, with some state athletic associations signing “exclusive” TV and media contracts that prevent independent journalists from certain kinds of reporting. In an earlier age, teams welcomed coverage as free publicity. Now, in an age when technology permits almost anyone to broadcast text, photos and videos instantly, some are far more wary of reporters, viewing them as info-competitors. For special access to most professional and major-college events, news organizations are given a lengthy list of restrictions on their behavior. Reporters, for example, are sometimes prohibited from live-streaming and live-blogging from a venue, or tweeting in a manner that gives a running, real-time account of the action, because of exclusive contracts. No unauthorized media organization can post clips of a professional game, either. The NBA and major league baseball permit news sources to display only two minutes of interviews and practice-session footage per day; the NFL allows just 45 seconds’ worth. [Washington Post.com]

take this idea and shove it, gannett--i won't pay a penny to read any newspaper on my computer

Gannett Co., the owner of 82 newspapers including the Des Moines Register and the Iowa City Press Citizen, is considering charging for its online content, chief executive officer Craig Dubow said. The company, which also owns television stations, is trying a paid-content model at three newspaper websites, and is likely to experiment more before making a decision about the broad use of paywalls, Dubow said. “We’re going to see more of this until we can get exact a model as possible. We want to be able to do this and do it once.” Gannett is among media companies searching for ways to create paying customers out of people who now access news for free on the Internet. The New York Times Co. will start charging readers for online access “very shortly,” chairman and publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. said. Gannett’s newspaper in Greenville, S.C., has started charging readers $7.95 a year to access content devoted to Clemson University sports. Those subscribers view 40 to 70 pages per visit, compared with 6 to 8 pages on Gannett’s free websites, according to the McLean, Va.-based company. Paying customers “like what they are seeing,” Dubow said. The company started a branding and marketing campaign designed to show advertisers and consumers that Gannett spans multiple platforms. Along with the campaign, called “It’s All Within Reach,” Gannett introduced a new logo [pictured] and corporate website. After soliciting input from customers and advertising agencies, Gannett decided to raise brand awareness, Dubow said. “Our consumers and business customers really want media and marketing solutions to be put together for them by the company,” he said. Gannett fell 19 cents to $16.05 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have risen 6.4 percent this year. [Bloomberg.com]. [RON MALY'S COMMENTS: I won't pay a penny to read any newspaper on my computer. The minute a newspaper begins a pay-to-read plan, I'm gone].

iowa's response

The University of Iowa does not have access to the detail behind the SI.com survey that examined the 2010 preseason top 25 college football programs. However, the UI does know that a total number of 18 student-athletes who were on the 2010 team roster have, in fact, been charged with offenses since 2007. All 18 charges were misdemeanors. Of these charges: 15 were alcohol related; Two were for possession of a controlled substance; One was for misdemeanor assault, and the student-athlete plead guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. Underage consumption of alcohol and extreme consumption of alcohol have been issues for The University of Iowa and Iowa City community for several years. Staff of the UI and the City of Iowa City have and currently are collaborating on a number of efforts to address these concerns. The University of Iowa currently does not do criminal background checks of student-athletes it is recruiting for participation in its intercollegiate athletics program. UI coaches do routinely have extensive conversation with parents, high school coaches, and other individuals important in the lives of student-athletes they are recruiting. The following comment is from Gary Barta, director of athletics at the University of Iowa: “I learned about the SI story this morning. Our total number of incidents match that in the story, however, the detail shows that all 18 of our incidents were misdemeanors and that the vast majority were related to poor decision-making associated with alcohol. And, as many in Iowa know, this has been an ongoing concern for all students on our campus and in our community. “Each incident involving a student-athlete is taken seriously and handled according to our student-athlete code of conduct. Some football student-athletes who have had an incident while a participant in our program have successfully graduated, others are still with us, and others are no longer a part of the program. “I am very confident in Kirk’s approach to recruiting. I know he and his staff go to great lengths in trying to assess character when deciding whether to invite a young man to the UI. Like the vast majority of our peers, we don’t do official criminal background checks. “Recruiting quality student-athletes in all sports is of the utmost importance to me and our coaches. I am anxious and open to discussions with my peers in the state and in the Big Ten Conference and beyond on whether criminal background checks need to become a regular piece of our recruiting process. “Lastly, I continue to be impressed and pleased with the work of the overwhelming majority of our football student-athletes in their athletics competition, in the classroom, and as representatives of the University of Iowa on a daily basis.” The following comment is from Kirk Ferentz, Iowa's football coach: “For 12 years we have dealt promptly, firmly, consistently, and within the student-athlete code of conduct when we have incidents involving members of our football program. My staff and I will continue to work to ensure our student-athletes are successful as a student, as an athlete, and as a citizen of the Iowa City community.” [This story was written for Ron Maly by Phil Haddy of Iowa's sports information staff].

better know your senator--register reporter quotes wrong guy in story about boaters' blood alcohol

It's always a good idea for a newspaper reporter to know who said what when she's writing a story. Jennifer Jacobs [pictured], a veteran Des Moines Register reporter, made a sizable screwup in Thursday's editions of the paper. In a story on page 3 of the Metro & Iowa section, Jacobs wrote about boaters "being considered intoxicated when their blood-alcohol level is 0.08, not 0.10--the same as for vehicle drivers, under a bill the Iowa Senate approved Wednesday." Jacobs later wrote in the article: "'If you've had too many, you've been consuming alcohol on the water and you're at the legal limot of 0.08, you could go right to the ramp, load your boat on the trailer and drive away and you're legally drunk,' Paulsen said." Jacobs apparently thought House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha made the comment. He didn't. In a correction in Friday's paper, the Register wrote: "A quote attributed to the wrong person Thursday in an article about a bill to lower the blood alcohol level for being considered legally drunk when driving a boat. Lowering the level from 0.10 to 0.08 would match the level for vehicle drivers. It was Sen. David Johnson. R-Ocheyedan, who said: "If you've had too many, you've been consuming alcohol in the water and you're at the legal limit of 0.08, you could go right to the ramp, load your boat on the trailer and drive away and you're legally drunk." Nobody is quite sure where Jennifer Jacobs is loading her trailer today. Maybe she doesn't know either.

a freefall: drake's basketball teams slip to no. 13 in latest d.m. register rankings

Drake fans are convinced their basketball team now ranks behind Iowa State, Iowa, Northern Iowa, Creighton, Harrison Barnes, the Iowa Energy, the Prime Time League in North Liberty, Roy Williams, Marcus Paige, the Noon League at the Des Moines YMCA, the 8 o'clock pickup games on Saturday mornings in Howard Pulse's machine shed at Prole, IA, and Doug McDermott in terms of interest at the Des Moines Register. The Register's editors, of course, consistently bury stories about the Bulldogs on pages inside the sports sections. Very shameful.

lewis lloyd was 'black magic' in philadelphia, fran mccaffery was 'white magic'

"The mention of Lewis Lloyd [in the column at the left] reminded me of a story that was in the Quad City Times late last year," writes Bud Appleby of Des Moines: "When Lloyd was a hot-shot high school player in Philadelphia, he picked up the nickname 'Black Magic.' Another hot-shot player at one of the other Philadelphia high schools at the time was given the nickname 'White Magic.' That was present Iowa coach Fran McCaffery [pictured]." Here's Steve Batterson's story that was in the Quad City Times: "Growing up in Philadelphia surrounded by the city’s five tradition-filled Division I programs, Fran McCaffery developed a passion for basketball at an early age. He remembers going to the Palestra to watch Saturday night doubleheaders, accompanied by his parents and his brother, Jack, now a Philadelphia area sports reporter. 'My father loved the game, and we’d go as a family and watch both games,' McCaffery recalled. 'We’d stay until the end, and sometimes that was pushing midnight. It was great entertainment, and it was what we would do as a family. I have a lot of great memories from my youth of watching those teams play. By the mid-1970s, McCaffery was the one being watched. He was one of the top high school players in the Philadelphia area, and former Drake standout Lewis Lloyd was among the players he competed against. Philadelphia sportswriter Julius Thompson tagged both with nicknames. 'Lewis was already being called Black Magic, and Julius Thompson gave me the nickname of White Magic in print,' McCaffery said. 'I could dunk, go behind my back, between my legs and throw behind my back and throw behind-the-back alley-oop passes, that type of thing, and the nickname stuck.'"

big ten not dumping legends & leaders divisions yet; they'll continue through 2011 season

The Big Ten will keep its new division names through the 2011 football season, league officials confirmed Thursday. The new names, Legends and Leaders, sparked a backlash after being unveiled last month. League commissioner Jim Delany told WGN-Radio in Chicago on Dec. 16 that he wanted to let the names "breathe a little bit," adding that they could be re-evaluated after Jan. 1. Although the league will continue to evaluate the names and conduct market research on their sustainability, it never planned to change them before the 2011 season. "We can't test them until we play a season," Big Ten chief communications officer Diane Dietz told ESPN.com on Thursday. "We can't know until we use them." Big Ten division play begins this fall with the addition of Nebraska. The league holds its first football championship Dec. 3 in Indianapolis. [ESPN.com]

what the register did--and didn't--mention in a hoover high school basketball story

From Bud Appleby of Des Moines: "The Register did get coverage of a high school basketball game on the front page of the sports section on Wednesday, highlighting the return of Reggie White to the Hoover team. According to that story, White played for the first time Tuesday night after being suspended for the first semester for "violating the Des Moines school district code of conduct policies." What the Register did not mention is that White was able to play because he is out of jail on $10,000 bond. It did mention that he was charged with assault causing bodily injury "following an incident in August." That "incident" was a roaming band of young thugs beating up people outside the Iowa State Fairgrounds. You may remember that some cops referred it to "get whitey night" at the fair. White did not play in Hoover's game last night -- at least his name did not appear in the box score. Of course, there was no explanation in the Register."

imagine what this guy's wife and kids said when he told 'em he was moving from palm springs to d.m.

The Gannett Co. and the Cincinnati Enquirer didn't listen to Ron Maly's advice. Maly wrote a couple of months ago that Carolyn Washburn wasn't qualified to be the editor of the Enquirer. But she somehow was named Monday as the new vice-president and editor at the Enquirer. The woman known as "Car Wash" in the Register's newsroom will be the first female editor in the history of the Enquirer, which is entering its 170th year. Washburn, 48, has been the editor of the Des Moines Register since 2005 and replaces Tom Callinan, who retired last month. The Enquirer and the Register are both owned by Gannett Co. Inc. Washburn has spent her entire 26-year career at newspapers owned by Gannett. At the Register, she oversaw several rounds of firings and layoffs that left morale in the newsroom at an all-time low. Evidently, Gannett's bosses didn't care. She still was promoted. A fifth-generation Cincinnatian, Washburn says she looks forward to reconnecting with her hometown. Her parents live in the Bridgetown area, while a brother lives in Carthage and a sister lives in Anderson Township. “It’s the best thing in the world--for me, journalism is public service--I get to come to a place that matters to me and do public service,” Washburn said, adding that she would continue exploring the city to better understand what it needs from the Enquirer. She noted that her father is a voracious newspaper reader and sends her copies of articles that grab his attention. Enquirer president and publisher Margaret Buchanan said Washburn is a proven talent to lead the Enquirer’s editorial operations. “Carolyn brings the necessary leadership and journalistic excellence that has long been the tradition of editors in Cincinnati,” Buchanan said. “She is also a Cincinnati native and graduate of McAuley High School. I know the Cincinnati community shares my excitement in welcoming her back home.” Washburn’s career has taken her to Michigan, Virginia, New York, Idaho and Iowa. She is a 1980 graduate of McAuley, where she helped launch the school’s newspaper and served as editor. In 1993, she was the managing editor of the Idaho Statesman in Boise. In 1995, she returned to Rochester as managing editor of the Democrat & Chronicle. She became editor of the Idaho Statesman in 1999, and then took the top editor job in Des Moines in 2005. While in Des Moines, Washburn moderated presidential debates in 2007, and did a lousy job of it. She was named Gannett’s Editor of the Year in 2008 and a first runnerup for the same honor a year later. In 2010, she received Gannett’s Chairman’s Ring, and the Register won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. Washburn plans to relocate to Anderson Township with her husband, Perry, and their two daughters, Aida, 14, and Madina, 12. They also have a son, Daniel, 21, in school at Iowa State University. A former Enquirer editor and reporter was named to replace Washburn in Des Moines. Rick Green [pictured], who has served as editor for the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., since 2008, was named to the same post at the Register. He'll be in for a surprise when he hits Iowa in January and February after working in Palm Springs. Green joined the Enquirer in 1988 shortly after graduating from Ohio University. From 1997, he held a number of editorial posts until he departed in 2004, when he was the assistant managing editor of business and metro news. [Cincinnati Enquirer.com]

gannett's hollingsworth swings her ax again--press-citizen boss is told to take a hike

Looks like West Group president Laura Hollingsworth has swung her ax again -- this time, at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. The paper's general manager, Dan Brown, has resigned, the paper disclosed in a four-paragraph story that doesn't include the usual fond farewells bestowed on executives departing under good graces. Brown had been GM since July 2009; he joined the paper in 1991. Hollingsworth, who also is publisher of the Des Moines Register, told a staff meeting that she hoped to name a new GM "soon,'' the paper says. As head of the West Group, Hollingsworth oversees more than a dozen other newspapers, including the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. In September, Sun publisher Richard Ramhoff left his job, also without warning; his departure got the four-paragraph treatment, too. The Press-Citizen's circulation is 10,129 Monday through Friday, and 12,396 on Saturday. It does not publish Sunday. Text of Press-Citizen story: General Manager Dan Brown has resigned from Press-Citizen Media. That announcement was made to Press-Citizen staff at a meeting Wednesday by Gannett Co. West Group president Laura Hollingsworth. She said she hopes to name a new general manager soon. Hollingsworth, who is president and publisher of the Des Moines Register, oversees the Press-Citizen as well as more than a dozen other newspapers. Brown joined the Press-Citizen in 1991 as an advertising account executive. He served in several positions during his time at the Press-Citizen, including marketing director and advertising/marketing director. He was named general manager in July 2009. Executive editor Jim Lewers will be responsible for Press-Citizen operations until a new general manager is named. [Gannett Blog.com].

more bad times at d.m. register--4 more employees laid off; will additional furloughs be next?

There was no mention of it in the hard-hitting [just kidding, of course; the reporting in Biz Buzz is about as soft as it gets in the Des Moines Register], but Gannett Blog reports that publisher Laura Hollingsworth told a late-afternoon staff meeting that the paper had laid off four employees, and delivered a message now familiar to many across Gannett: The economy is still weak, advertising is still soft, and changes are afoot. "She was asked about furloughs,'' a reader said, "and said she did not know." With perhaps 550-600 employees, the Register is one of GCI's biggest worksites, yet the status of any job cuts there during the current round of company-wide job reductions had not been reported until now. Also on Gannett Blog was this message: "Anonymous said...4 in Des Moines. 1 Finance, 3 Production. That would indicate the layoffs were in the finance and production departments, not in the newsroom. But I'm sure no one in the building is relaxing these days. That's why they're writing very soft and silly stories that won't offend anyone--especially Hollingsworth and the other bosses. Biz Buzz and the managing editor certainly don't want to be part of the layoffs and firings and be escorted to the rear exit of the newsroom by security people]. The paper is part of GCI's West Group of dailies, where some sites have missed revenue targets in recent months. GCI launched the latest reductions last Wednesday. Earlier, readers reported employees received notices at the Register, the Tallahassee Democrat, The Journal News in Westchester, N.Y., plus New Jersey's Daily Journal in Vineland and the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill. [Gannett Blog.com].

deep thinker

This guy has been following Hawkeye football for many years. He claims he played so pro ball for a while, but no one believes him. Ron Maly looked him up the other day at Macbride Hall in Iowa City. Ron had some classes at Macbride Hall when he was a student at Iowa, and he stops by there whenever he can. The big guy stressed that Iowa had better not be taking this week's game at Indiana lightly. "Those Hoosiers can be tough," he said. "I remember when Bo McMillin had a pretty strong outfit over there in Bloomington from 1934 through 1947. By the way, whatever happened to Bobby Knight?"

here's what i think: iowa state, uni, drake should stay on hawkeyes' basketball schedules forever

Hawkeye Basketball.com reports that someone asked Fran McCaffery, Iowa's first-year basketball coach, this question today at press day or media day or whatever it is they call the day a major college coach meets with reporters at the start of a season: "You mentioned playing all three other in-state teams. There's been talk in the past about how that hampers scheduling ability. Are you committed to keeping those three teams on the schedule going forward?" McCaffery's reply: "Not necessarily, but right now I don't see any change in the foreseeable future. I'm fine with it. I think it's one of those things. When you have playoff atmospheres earlier in the season, it's sometimes more difficult for the coaches than it is for the players. The players, I think, like it, the fans like it. It gives the media a lot more to write about. But at the same time, it does limit some of our scheduling opportunities. As you look down the road, we've got the ACC/Big Ten challenge and we've got the league, and with the addition of Nebraska, how many games are we going to play? Are we going to be committed to an exempt event every year? Do we want to try to instead of playing some of those teams, do we want to start playing some made-for-TV games? But I think for me personally, I'm looking forward to the in-state challenges. I know what Iowa-Iowa State is. I guess I really don't know because I haven't gone through it yet, but I saw it a little bit with football. I know what Northern Iowa has. We've played them each of the last two years. I know how good they are. I know what a great coach Ben [Jacobson] is. I know what it's like to play up there; it's not easy. So I think from that standpoint, it makes a lot of sense." [RON MALY'S COMMENTS: I'm glad McCaffery doesn't see any change in the foreseeable future about Iowa's games against in-state teams Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Drake. I also hope McCaffery doesn't see any change in the long run, either. Any decision that would allow Iowa to discontinue playing Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Drake would be a huge mistake. I mean, huge. Let's see, Iowa has non-conference home games against South Dakota State, Louisiana-Monroe, SIU-Edwardsville, Idaho State and Louisiana Tech on the 2010-2011 schedule. How many fans do you suppose will want to watch any of those games. My guess is not many. But put Iowa against Iowa State, UNI or Drake and you've at least got a chance to put some people in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a place that definitely needs some people and some life. Iowa needs Iowa State, UNI and Drake on its schedules forever]. [Hawkeye Basketball.com].

evidently, this kind of stuff runs in the family; lyndsey fennelly tweets, 'huck the fawkeyes!!'

The folks who spend time reading Twitter--and evidently there are a few of you around--say Lyndsey Fennelly, Bill's daughter-in-law, is just as outspoken on the social networking vehicle as the old man. A reader told me Lyndsey had this nugget as one of her recent tweets: "@Austen4 - let me know if you need that good luck 'pound' before every game. Great game 1 -- Huck the Fawkeyes!!" Now is that any way for the daughter-in-law of a Big 12 Conference basketball coach to be writing about the football team representing the University of Iowa? By the way, Iowa State did not exactly huck the fawkeyes in the game that was not much of a game earlier this season. The Iowa Hawkeyes hucked Lyndsey's beloved Fyclones, 35-7, and retained the Cy-Hawk Trophy. Lyndsey Fennelly describes herself this way on Twitter: "Basketball teacher as Director with Point Guard College. Life full-filler. Insatiable hunger for growth and knowledge. Sister. Daughter. Wife. Friend." Love that word insatiable.

i won't pay a penny [certainly not a bus token] to read the register or any other newspaper online

The Tallahassee Democrat, Greenville (S.C.) News and St. George (UT) Spectrum now charge $9.95 a month for web access. Gannett is using what it learns from the test sites "to help us develop our long-term strategy for paid content," a spokeswoman said. [RON MALY'S COMMENTS: I hope this paywall plan is a miserable failure. And if the Des Moines Register, another Gannett paper that's losing readers dramatically printwise and onlinewise, tries to start charging people who want to read the news, I hope it fails, too. I wouldn't pay a penny or a bus token to read the Register or any other paper online. [Poynter Online].

register story on cyclone recruit didn't mention he'd been kicked off the team at northern illinois

"The Des Moines Register's story [written by Randy Peterson] about the latest Iowa State basketball recruit failed to mention that he was kicked off the team at Northern Illinois," writes Bud Appleby of Des Moines. Here's a story written by John Sahly of the Daily Chronicle detailing Jake Anderson's transfer: "After being dismissed from the Northern Illinois basketball team, Jake Anderson has found a new home at Iowa State. Pending graduation and a waiver from the NCAA, Anderson would be eligible to play for the Cyclones immediately. 'Words can’t explain how I feel at this time,' Anderson said in a news release. “I am looking forward to getting together with the guys and try to win games next year. One thing I can help out with right away is assisting the freshmen with their transition from high school to college. But the thing I am really looking forward to is playing in front of those crazy fans. I have heard so much about the atmosphere at Hilton Coliseum and I want to give the fans something to cheer about.' On April 12, Anderson, who had been a starter for three seasons under NIU coach Ricardo Patton, told The Daily Chronicle that he was forced out in a short meeting with Patton just after spring break. Anderson, who had been suspended for a game for a violation of team rules as a sophomore, said he didn't want to leave the Huskies. 'The chance to significantly improve our backcourt with the addition of Jake was something we could not pass up,” Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. 'He has been in the trenches and knows what it takes to play Division I basketball. He has also proven to be a great scorer and we are looking forward to seeing Jake compete for playing time right away next year.' Anderson, a former Mid-American Conference freshman of the year, averaged a career-low 10.6 points and a career-best 6 rebounds in 2009-10. The Cylones were 15-17 overall and 4-12 in the Big 12 last season. Hoiberg took over as Iowa State's coach on April 28 after Greg McDermott left to become Creighton's coach."

Bob bream's book '105 north governor' is a must-read for anyone who grew up in iowa city in 1950s

A message from Al Schallau: "Bob Bream has written and published a great book about Iowa City entitled 105 NORTH GOVERNOR. It is the life story of the Bream family, who lived at that address (at the corner of Governor and Jefferson Streets). It is a 'must read' for any persons who grew up in Iowa City in the 1950s. It is not only the life stories of Bob Bream, his parents, and his brothers and sisters, it is also about his next door neighbor (Dick Knoedel), and about Jack Lekin, and others. There are childhood photographs of Diane Demory, Al Scott, Dick Knoedel, and others. The book is really fun to read. It is about grade school at Horace Mann, and very hot summers in Iowa City. What amused me the most was his chapter about selling peanuts, popcorn, soda pop, or frosty malts at the Iowa Hawkeye football games. I did that myself. He told us about how to sneak into Iowa Hawkeye football games. I also did that many times. But my method was better than his. The crucial item that got me past the guard was a badge that said 'Fidler Concessions.' After the 1955 football season, I decided I was not going to sell pop at football games anymore. So I took my 'Fidler Concessions' badge home with me. I got one of those aprons in which the vendors kept their money. So for every game in 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959, I would put on my apron and my 'Fidler Concesssions' badge and walk right past the guard. Once inside, I took off the apron and badge, put them in my coat, and watched the games from the south bleachers. If the game was a sellout, we watched from the grass at the southeast corner of the stadium. In September, 1960, I became a University of Iowa student and didn't have to sneak into Hawkeye football games anymore. HOW TO PURCHASE BOB BREAM'S BOOK: Go to Google and type in 105 NORTH GOVERNOR, and hit Search. The first item that comes up is Iowa Book Store, at 8 South Clinton Street, Iowa City. Just push the appropriate buttons to enter your credit card, mailing address, etc., and the book will arrive in your mailbox in about five days. Best regards, Al Schallau."

and now for your quote of the week [or the century]: 'we're not gonna get shot over no paper'

Two Cedar Rapids Gazette carriers reported a man held them up at gunpoint while they were delivering their route early Thursday morning. According to an unbylined story in the Gazette Friday, Billy Lingo and his wife Lisa were delivering papers at about 4:45 a.m. when a man got out of a green van and approached them, yelling, “What’s up? What the (expletive) you want to do?” The man, described as a black male in his mid-20s, pulled out a gun when Lingo replied that the couple was simply delivering newspapers. He repeated his questions, then ran into a nearby apartment complex, the couple reported. The couple, who have been Gazette carriers for the past five months, delivered the rest of their route Friday morning, but dropped off all newspapers for the apartment complex at its main office. "We're not gonna get shot over no paper," Lisa Lingo told the Gazette. Neither carrier was injured in the incident. [Editor & Publisher].

ex-kansas standout raef lafrentz lives in d.m., invests in iowa farmland

Former Kansas University basketball standout Raef LaFrentz’s NBA career appears to be over. The 33-year-old LaFrentz — who had surgery on his right shoulder 13 months ago as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers and missed the entire 2008-09 season — is currently a free agent living in Des Moines. Kansas' third-leading scorer of all-time has been busy accumulating farmland in his home state. “He was debating on whether to stay (in Iowa) or go play ball,” said LaFrentz’s dad, Ron, who lives with wife Ellen in Monona, IA. “I told him, ‘You’ve still got some knees left. If you stay in it much longer, those knees are not going to be any good. By 45, 50 you’ll have to have a knee replacement.’ “I’m not too much in favor of him going back and playing any more. His personality is suc he likes the competition and all that, (but) he’ll get over it,” Ron LaFrentz added of his son, who has had surgery on both knees to go with the shoulder operation. Raef LaFrentz, who made $12.7 million with the Blazers a year ago, has bought 160 acres of land in Adel, 500 acres in Dorchester and additional acreage in Iowa Falls. Raef and his wife, Joie, have one child — 2-year-old son Cael. “As for what he’s going to do when he gets bored ... like Ted Williams said, ‘You can only fish so much.’ He’s staying busy,” Ron said. “He’s made some good investments (in land) and may decide to get into real estate.” As far as hoops ... Raef might consider a return if an NBA team made an offer he couldn’t refuse. Because of his injury history, that doesn’t figure to happen. “His competitiveness has not died down too much. He said it’d be awfully difficult to get into (playing) shape,” Ron said. Raef averaged 10.1 points and 6.1 rebounds a game in an 11-year career that included stints in Denver, Dallas, Boston and Portland. “He probably would consider a one-year contract or so. His skills don’t seem to have deteriorated too much. But the healing process gets slower when you get to be 33, 34. He’s very content with what he’s doing now. We’re hoping some of the family genetics carries over into Cael and he ends up going to Kansas.” The 6-foot-11 LaFrentz, a two-time consensus all-American who is Kansas' No. 3 all-time leading scorer, had his Kansas jersey No. 45 retired during the 2002-03 season. He’s not been able to get back to a game since. “He loves that place,” Ron said, noting Raef has Kansas City Chiefs season tickets. “There’s no other place in the NCAA where the atmosphere is such as in Allen Fieldhouse.” [Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World.com].

cold-hearted move: dan mccool, the nation's best wrestling writer, among 36 laid off by register

The Des Moines Register is laying off 36 people as the economy continues to hammer advertising revenue. The Iowa Independent said the newspaper's Iowa City Bureau has been closed, and reporter Erin Jordan and veteran eastern Iowa photographer Harry Baumert have been dismissed. The newsroom layoffs include sportswriter Dan McCool, the best wrestling writer in the nation; director of photography Don Tormey, news editor Suzanne Behnke, designer Scott Lester, features writer Dawn Sagario, writer Mary Challender and writer Kathy Hickman. Lisa Colonno volunteered to be laid off. Colonno had been a south zones reporter and a former sportswriter who covered the Iowa Chops or whatever-the-hell the name of the professional team in town was called. Larry Ballard, a former mid-level editor, was demoted to reporter. Ballard is a former Workbytes columnist in the business page. Of course, Workbytes is just a bad memory, too. Indeed, Workbytes turned out to be a slot that didn't do anything for a person's career. Sagario also used to write Workbytes and now is gone. Sagario also was a reporter for the Health section, which has shrunk to one page lately. Not much future there unless Hy-Vee starts sponsoring the entire section, like it does the West Des Moines Register. Also gone are Jason Zappe, Lata D'Mello, Brian Gaynor and Matthew Wheeler. Among those demoted was Kathy Bolten, who no longer an assistant managing editor. Her pay was cut. Tina White and Chase Davis quit. The cuts represent 6 percent of the company’s workforce. Effected employees will receive a transitional pay plan based on their years of service. “I remain optimistic that the economy will improve; unfortunately as a company we must scale ourselves to the current environment,” said Laura Hollingsworth, president and publisher of the paper. “I understand the financial and emotional impact of this decision and my thoughts are with these employees and their families.” Employees affected come from various departments including: advertising, production, circulation, marketing, information technology, finance and the news staff. “Our goal was to minimize impact on our reporting staff and we achieved that. We remain invested in and committed to providing the depth and quality of news and information Iowans have always depended upon. We will serve Iowans now and for years to come as a multimedia information company,” said Hollingsworth. If you believe that bunch of corporate crap, you'll believe there's still a future to journalism. Last week, Gannett Co., the Register’s parent company, said it would cut 1,400 jobs nationally. [Des Moines Register.com and the Iowa Independent contributed to this story].

d.m. register's reid forgrave, k.c. star's bill reiter talk about sick and dying newspaper business

I've spent evenings, weekends and furlough days for the past few months talking to some of the people who still have jobs in the dying newspaper business. Already, former Des Moines Register reporter Bill Reiter [the rumor is he left the Register after editor Carolyn Washburn said she didn't like a story he wrote] can hear his colleagues at McClatchy's Kansas City Star laughing. Reiter knows he'll be teased for his unbridled optimism, his belief that journalism's glass is still half full. "I feel like I live in Middle Earth, and the dark cloud has covered the land," Reiter says. What right does he have to be so happy about his job? After all, he's a mortgage-holder with a journalist-wife and a kid on the way, and he works as a sports enterprise reporter at a paper that has had four rounds of layoffs, saying goodbye to more than 100 staffers. There's plenty to do at work; he feels lucky to get to write Sunday takeouts on a near-weekly basis. But he also spends half his free time "trying to talk fellow journalists off the ledge." Here's what he tells them: "I can't save the newspaper industry, and I can't stop layoffs, and I can't impact the recession. I know this is a cliché, but I can only do the best work that I can do, and I happen to still love it. If you still love it, love it while you can." Besides, in this economy, no profession is layoff-proof. Reiter, 31, believes journalists are craving colleagues and editors who inspire them, who trust them and who know that the key to rowing through the rocky shoals of reinvention is telling great stories. "Everywhere I look there are signs that people are desperate to feel good about journalism," he says. The Web site sportsjournalists.com -- where sports reporters typically complain about the uselessness of awards -- took an uncharacteristic turn as participants urged the complainers to "be quiet; give us something to celebrate, for once!" Reiter recalls. His buddy Reid Forgrave noticed the same response at a beer-and-bitch session following the latest Iowa Newspaper Association awards dinner. Forgrave, a reporter for the Register, says the usual complaints about "my editor wouldn't let me write a 40-inch story; it had to be 25" were gone. "The old complaints almost seem like a luxury now," says Forgrave, 30. Even with the announcements of Gannett-wide furloughs, "People weren't too happy about sacrificing a week's pay, but they weren't as irate as you might expect. It was more like, 'At least we're not getting laid off.' " What keeps him going is the readers who are desperate to tell their stories. The day before his weeklong furlough was to begin in February, a source tipped him off to a 70-year-old woman being kicked out of her house because it was in foreclosure – even though she'd paid her rent. "Those are the stories that I'm most scared of losing. You can always say foreclosures are up 4.2 percent, but when you show it happening to an old woman who's on her front lawn with her granddaughters going through her stuff.." Even though he can't always do it, Forgrave knows he does better work when he protects himself from newsroom negativity, even if it means trying to distance himself from some coworkers and the poisonous drumbeat of Romenesko postings. It would help, he adds, if more editors across the country doled out "honest, positive encouragement that plays to our conscience, to our calling -- the reason we got into the business in the first place," Forgrave says. He likes to take the long view, imagining the industry five or 10 years into the future: "We've figured out how to make money on the Web and we're back to the place where we're not all Chicken Little anymore. "It will probably have been good for us to have had the spotlight shone on us. For once, we'll feel more in tune with the people we're covering..down to the level of what newspaper writers used to be and back to the people that we should be writing about more – the voiceless." [Beth Macy, American Journalism Review. If Macy is among the best that journalism has these days, the business will be dead sooner rather than later. Macy needs an editor. Quickly and badly].

on and in the field

Ron Maly is a professional writer and author. He is a four-time Sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa, and he's the author of the best-selling book, "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines," which chronicles the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa. Not only was the hard-cover edition of the book a best-seller, so was the revised, soft-cover edition. Ron is a charter member of the Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box at Iowa City [shown in the photo below]. The Wall of Fame honors members of the media who covered athletics at the University of Iowa. These days, Ron writes about anything that interests him.

Ron Maly's publisher writes: "The University of Iowa has been fielding football teams since 1889, but few have been more successful than the recent squads coached by Kirk Ferentz. In the newly revised and updated trade paper edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, fans can indulge in an up-close view on everything that has taken place in Iowa football through the 2004 season, including the marvelous 2002 season. In 2002 the Hawkeyes tied for the Big Ten title, won a school-record 11 games, and played USC in the Orange Bowl. Award-winning author Ron Maly covers every gripping moment that took place both on and off the field in a season that produced an 8-0 conference record ? from the exciting 42-35 survival in overtime at Penn State to the stunning 34-9 victory at Michigan and the 45-21 win at Minnesota that wrapped up a perfect Big Ten schedule."

anonymous comments permitted by gannett co. rankle d.m. register reporter clark kauffman

Doug Feaver is retired from WashingtonPost.com. His defense earlier today on Jim Romenesko's Poynter journalism website of unmoderated, anonymous comments prompted Clark Kauffman to dig up a letter he wrote to Gannett's news chief in early 2008. The Des Moines Register reporter complained that the chain "is systematically dismantling its professionally staffed newsrooms and replacing them with Information Centers staffed in part by unpaid (and sometimes anonymous) contributors. I know financial pressures are driving this, but the result is as predictable as it is unavoidable: a lower quality news product." Here's what was written by Kauffman and posted on Poynter Online: From CLARK KAUFFMAN: I see that a former Washington Post website editor is defending unmoderated, anonymous comments by saying there are "dark forces are out there and that it is too easy to forget that truth by imposing rules that obscure it." Do anonymous, unsubstantiated allegations help expose the truth? I'd argue that the opposite is true and that's why newspapers are staffed by trained, skilled reporters, editors and fact-checkers, and not by anonymous individuals randomly plucked off the street. In January, 2008, I wrote to Gannett's senior vice president of news at the time, Phil Currie, to explain my own personal concerns about the unmoderated "story chats" embraced by the company. Mr. Currie didn't respond, but there's little or nothing I said then that wouldn't apply to newspapers today. Here's that letter: Mr. Currie, As a Gannett reporter, I was happy to see your NewsWatch column about responsible journalism. I was particularly encouraged to see you argue that we need to help the public "see the difference between shouting matches and sound journalism, and underscore that the second version -- while perhaps not quite as visually or viscerally entertaining -- in the long run is far more informative and important to us all." I hope I'm not out of line here, but from my perspective, it looks as if Gannett's newspapers are determined to erase the line that once separated sound journalism from uninformed commentary, unsubstantiated accusations and anonymous allegations. Like other Gannett papers, the Register has turned its newsroom into an "Information Center," in part by publishing rumors, half-truths and outright lies submitted by anonymous folks with screen names like "Hugh G. Rekshon." Not long ago, we had a reader who decided to publish on our site the juvenile court record of a young woman, complete with references to drug testing, psychological exams and the girl's one-time status as a juvenile ward of the state. We routinely publish comments questioning the virtue of female criminal defendants and the citizenship of anyone who seems to have a Hispanic surname. We call that "community conversation." Others see it as a public stoning, hosted by a newspaper that grants all of the attackers complete anonymity. And like other Gannett papers, the Register is cutting back on content produced by trained, professional journalists while encouraging community members to submit photos, columns and blogs. A few of our community bloggers have used this forum to write about the details of their drug use and their sexual activities. Most of our contributors choose their topics more carefully, but again, they're not professionals. Not everyone who can type is a reporter. Not everyone with a cell-phone camera is a photographer. But in the Information Center, we're all part of a homogenized team of "content providers" -- some of whom, not coincidentally, work for free. A well-researched Register news article is published on the same Web page as a reader's step-by-step instructions as to how a local woman under a psychiatrist's care should commit suicide using carbon monoxide. The Register also has government officials writing copy for its news columns. Last week, I interviewed a state department head who told me about the health columns his workers are writing, at taxpayer expense, for my employer. I know we've also had city officials contribute bylined columns. These are public officials working for a private, for-profit business on the taxpayers' dime. That's the sort of thing Gannett should uncover and report. It's not the sort of thing Gannett should facilitate. We also have advertisers working directly for our newsroom. A few weeks ago, an editor had to ask one of "our" health columnists, who actually works for the Hy-Vee grocery store chain, to stop using the column to shill for Hy-Vee brand merchandise. Don't get me wrong: We still do great things here at the Register, day in and day out. I'm proud to work here. But just as our best journalism enhances our reputation in the community, these other contributions diminish the standing of the institution and the people who work here. More important, they contribute to this problem of readers and viewers confusing all the shouting, name calling and misinformation on the Web with the actual news you're paying people like myself to produce. Somehow, in the transition from ink-on-paper to pixels-on-a-screen, we threw away almost all of our standards related to content and professionalism. We're no longer willing to act as a gatekeeper, apparently because some of our competitors on the Web aren't willing to act as one. They publish unverified allegations from anonymous individuals, and now, so do we. They make no distinction between mere information and actual news, between stenography and reporting, between press releases and news articles, between analysis and uninformed speculation ... and now we seem to be doing the same. How can we expect our readers to distinguish between all these variations in information dissemination when we're unable to do so ourselves? In 1897, the New York Times decided the best way to compete with all of the scandal sheets in the city was to openly promote the fact that it was going to act as a gatekeeper and would decide what sort of news was worthy of publication. While other papers tried to compete by publishing the most outrageous and unverified stories, the Times actively promoted the fact that it was willing to print only the news that it deemed "fit to print." The paper used its high standards to set itself apart from all of its competitors, and before long it was recognized as the most reliable and accurate source of news in the city. I wish Gannett would take that same approach to the competition we face today. Instead, it is systematically dismantling its professionally staffed newsrooms and replacing them with Information Centers staffed in part by unpaid (and sometimes anonymous) contributors. I know financial pressures are driving this, but the result is as predictable as it is unavoidable: a lower quality news product. One final point: I don't mean to preach, but our lack of liability for publishing "story chat" material doesn't lessen our moral responsibility. I know everyone at Gannett understands that. But do they realize that the people subjected to the most inflammatory reader comments on news sites are often violent criminals or people with mental health problems whose troubles have put them in the news? In that context, a murder or suicide that stems from something posted to one of our sites is a real possibility. As noted in the example cited above, there's no shortage of people out there who will use our story chat to figuratively yell "Jump!" at someone standing on a ledge. We haven't had a MySpace-type incident yet, but I think it's only a matter of time. Well, as I said, I was pleased to read your column. I suspect there may not be many people at the corporate level who share my concerns, but I think they're indicative of these larger problems you mentioned in your column. And as a lifelong Iowan who appreciates the role of The Des Moines Register in this state's history, these are the things that keep me up at night. -- Clark Kauffman, reporter, Des Moines Register.

27-year veteran ecker, 56, fired at gazette; he was among 3 top investigative sportswriters in iowa

Not a lot of upbeat stuff from the newspaper front today. Jim Ecker's byline has appeared for the last time on the sports pages of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Ecker, 56, who has been writing two columns a week and covering Northern Iowa basketball games, has been fired after nearly 27 years at the newspaper. Ecker [pictured] is one of the three best investigative sportswriters in the state of Iowa, and didn't deserve what happened to him. Also fired from the Gazette's sports staff were John Riehl and Jeff Dahn. In all, more than a dozen newsroom employees were dumped at the Gazette. People at the paper are referring to it as "Black Tuesday." It is, of course, a sign of the times in the newspaper business. The Gazette isn't the first paper to fire reporters and editors, and it won't be the last. Amid the turmoil in the business, nothing should surprise me. Or you. There are shockers every day. Who'd have thought page 1 cartoonist Brian Duffy would get the ax at the Des Moines Register a while back? Good people, people with talent are shown the door in an industry that's shellshocked because of declining advertising profits and circulation. One of the talented writers to take a career hit was certainly Ecker. He was a high-proile reporter and columnist at the Gazette, and I know first-hand how hard he worked. He was well-known throughout the state, as well as other areas of the country. He covered big bowl games and NCAA tournaments. He's been in huge press boxes in the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences. He's asked tough questions in press conferences. He's gotten into heated discussions more than once with coaches and athletic directors. A classic Ecker performance came a number of years ago when he was on the Iowa football beat. Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry spent most of a Tuesday press conference berating Ecker because he aggressively tried to find out what Iowa's new uniforms looked like. But the more Fry barked, the more Ecker barked. It was sports journalism at its best. It also was Ecker and Fry at their best. After those two guys got through with each other, there wasn't any time to talk about football. Ecker didn't quit on a column or a story until he got it right, and I thought he was fair to the people he wrote about and fair to the people he worked with. Critics said he at times treated sportswriting as though it was the police beat. But I say not enough people covering sports do it the way Ecker does it. He's been a friend of mine for a lot of years, and I'll miss seeing his byline in the Gazette. Good luck in the future, Jim. [By Ron Maly].

Cartoonist duffy, outdoor writer latest victims of purge in the register's newsroom

Two traditions at the Des Moines Register undoubtedly went down the drain today in the latest bloodbath in the newsroom. Brian Duffy, the veteran front-page cartoonist, and outdoor writer Julie Probasco-Sowers were victims of another round of layoffs and buyouts in a dying industry. Duffy was no doubt the last page 1 cartoonist at the Register, following such Pulitzer Prize-winners as J. N. "Ding" Darling and Frank Miller. Darling won Pulitzers in 1924 and 1943, Miller in 1967. Many newspaper people wondered why Duffy never won a Pulitzer; now he never will--at least at the Register. It's difficult to believe the Gannett Co., owner of the Register, has ordered massive layoffs and buyouts at its newspapers with Christmas just weeks away. But, obviously, it is a business that no longer has a heart. In the old days, newspapers gave their employees holiday bonuses; today they give them pink slips. There are people besides Duffy and Probasco-Sowers who've been told they'll be without jobs. Among them are Conrad Schmidt, a zones photographer; Tim Brown in the library; Cindy Lane, an event tracker; Ken Seeber of the night copy desk; Randy Witke of the day copy desk, who is taking a voluntary retirement, and Todd Bailey, sports online content. "There are several open positions in the newsroom, but I haven't heard whether they bit the dust or not," a source says. "I'm guessing they did. It's not a a happy ship right now."-- Cartoon by Duffy, May 27, 2008

betrayal

A number of my friends from both inside and outside of the newspaper business urged me to read a book titled "David and Liz -- Dancing Through Love." It's not what you might think. Just because the words love and dancing are in the title, there are plenty of things in the book that are neither graceful nor lovable. It's a paperback written by Dave and Elizabeth Kruidenier with Beverly Rivera Davis that gives a reader some insight into the newspaper business when people actually thought it had a future. I mean, when Dave Kruidenier was at the top of his game, circulation and advertising weren't at all-time lows at the Des Moines Register like they are now, readers weren't invited continually to read the paper on their computers and eager young journalism students weren't being told that newspapers are dead. Davis wrote the 347-page book after interviewing Dave Kruidenier and his wife, Liz. The late Dave Kruidenier was the big boss at the Register during some of the time I worked there. Indeed, I was onboard when Time magazine, in 1984, called it one of the best 10 newspapers in America. I didn't see much of Dave, and neither did most of the other reporters and middle editors who worked in the newsroom on the fourth floor of the paper at 8th & Locust. I probably would have had more conversations with Kruidenier had I made better use of the elevators. But, in those days, I usually walked up and down the stairs and forgot the elevators. Dave rode the elevators. However, whenever I did have occasion to talk with Kruidenier, we got along very well. After I gave the introductory speech for new members of the Register & Tribune's 20-Year Club in 1979, Kruidenier greeted me warmly, told me how much he liked my comments and mentioned that he thought the double-breasted navy blue blazer, white shirt with French cuffs, blue-and-red striped tie and gray slacks I was wearing that Sunday afternoon gave the program a professional look. More than anything, he liked the shoes I was wearing. "Are those Johnston & Murphy?" he asked. "You're close," I told him. "Nice," he said. I thanked Kruidenier, told him he was dressed well, too, and mentioned that I thought he was doing a great job of running the paper. I figured that was the least a stockholder joining the 20-Year Club could tell the big boss. On the "About the Authors" page at the end of the book, Kruidenier is called the "former CEO and president of Cowles Media Company, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper publisher, and philanthropist." Dave Kruidenier never really left the building, even after the Register was sold, but the paper has never been the same since he had to cease running the show. The book says Dave's wife, Elizabeth Woodwell Stuart Kruidenier "is an attorney, civil rights activist, and philanthropist." Beverly Rivera Davis "is a native Iowan and longtime friend of the Kruideniers. Educated at the State University of New York, she is a former television reporter and producer, talk show host and wire journalist. Currently, she is a freelance writer and U.S. political correspondent for PROFIL, an Austrian weekly newsmagazine." The book, published by iUniverse, has a price on the back cover of $24.95. I am indebted to my good friend, Bob Downing, who loaned me his autographed copy so I could read it. In the book's foreword, Beverly Rivera Davis writes, "David and Liz Kruidenier with this book was their last and best gift to me. When David died before all these pages were completed, our city lost its most generous philanthropist and I lost a dear friend and best mentor.... "We first met in the mid-70s. Already in their fifties, David and Liz were at the height of their beauty and power; known as scions of society and seriously accomplished professionals...." I was particularly interested in chapter 23 of the book, which is titled "Betrayal." The betrayal part is in reference to Mike Gartner, aka Michael Gartner, a power-hungry little asshole who many people regard as the most hated man in the state of Iowa. At one point or another, Gartner -- who has always had an advanced case of "little man's disease" and is a poster child for the ailment -- finds a way of getting under the skin of virtually everyone he meets. Read my entire review of the book in my July 9, 2008 column. Link at the bottom of the page, under "the end." Photo of Gartner--the Official Asshole Of This Website--courtesy of Google.