RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Thoughts from the Lawn Chair


By RON MALY

Earlier this week, I wrote about Bob Modersohn, who was a colleague of mine at the paper. 

Modersohn was, and still is, an outstanding photographer. Not just a sports photographer,
Jeff Halliburton
but a thoughtful guy who could shoot the daylights out of any type of photo, sports or non-sports.


He was, and is, a pro's pro.

In the column, I included a couple of tremendous shots Modersohn had taken at Drake basketball games more than 40 years ago.

Here's what he wrote to me via Facebook after seeing the column:

"Looks great, Ron! I especially like your reference to you and I working at the paper in the 'previous century.' Makes us sound so....old. We are! The photo of you sitting in the lawn chair at the top of your maly, too site is classic and appropriate. I still remember, I think it was [former standout Drake player] Jeff Halliburton hurrying a shot against Kansas in that 1971 Regional final. I remember wondering -- why the hurry? I think Tom Bush or another Drake player was pissed at him for shooting too soon. Anyway, they are great memories. Hey, it's all we have, as far as Drake goes. 

--bob

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for writing, Bob. You brought up Jeff Halliburton hurrying a shot in Drake's March 20, 1971 Midwest Regional championship game loss to Kansas at Wichita. I'd heard that Tom Bush was, indeed, pissed about that shot, and made mention of it in no uncertain terms in the locker room after the emotional 73-71 loss--which turned out to be Maury John's final game as Drake's coach. I'd heard rumors that tempers flared to the point where there was a physical confrontation between a couple of Bulldog players in the locker room. But nobody was talking about it afterward, and there was never any proof provided that punches were thrown. It's too bad Drake couldn't have pulled off that victory, which would have put Maury John and his team into an unlikely second NCAA Final Four in three seasons. What a wonderful period that was in Drake basketball history. I feel so fortunate to have experienced it. By the way, Bob, the previous century was just 16 years ago. Never think of yourself as getting old.  As far as I'm concerned, neither you nor I will ever get old].