maly, too: A cold day like this meant it was a good time to have a cup of Italian Dark Roast with My Neighbor Al, The Health Nut. Al has been a longtime basketball fan of the team in Cedar Falls that used to be referred to as the Tutors by headline writers at the paper, and now he's happy that Northern Iowa is winning again. He's also wondering if the Bulldogs will ever get their bite back, and so am I

Sunday, January 10, 2016

A cold day like this meant it was a good time to have a cup of Italian Dark Roast with My Neighbor Al, The Health Nut. Al has been a longtime basketball fan of the team in Cedar Falls that used to be referred to as the Tutors by headline writers at the paper, and now he's happy that Northern Iowa is winning again. He's also wondering if the Bulldogs will ever get their bite back, and so am I

By RON MALY

As a few of you may know, My Neighbor Al, The Health Nut is a longtime fan of Northern Iowa athletics.

I'd say the only person in our neighborhood who comes close to caring as much about UNI as Al does is Brenda, who lives in the corner house down the street.

I mean, Al has followed teams from the school in Cedar Falls even when it was called Iowa State Teachers College, and headline writers at the paper would use "Tutors" as the team's nickname.

Actually, Northern Iowa has had lots of names.

Like Iowa State Normal School from 1876-1909; Iowa State Teachers College [1909-1961]; State College of Iowa [1961-1967] and now the University of Northern Iowa.

My Neighbor Al will go to any length to find out how UNI is doing in basketball and football.

By "any length," I mean 10 feet or less so he can turn on his TV or radio.

Al got lucky last night.

UNI's basketball game was televised by Fox Sports Midwest or something, so he was able to watch the Panthers drub Drake, 77-44.

"My Panthers haven't been playing all that well since beating fifth-ranked Iowa State last month at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, but maybe they've got their act together now." Al said a few minutes ago over a cup of Italian Dark Roast.

"But there's still work to do. UNI's record is only 10-7 for the season and 2-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"A bigger question is Drake. What's wrong with the Bulldogs? They're 0-4 in the Valley and 5-11 for the season. Is there any hope over there?"

I told Al I haven't been paying as much attention to the Bulldogs as I did 40 or 50 years ago, so I don't have the answer to Drake's problems.

"I do know there are some really good people working in the administration at the school," I said. "At least they don't have Rudy Washington to kick around over there anymore.

"The present coach says his team 'is not beaten down,' but I guess Drake fans have to wonder what's going on. The Bulldogs don't seem to have much bite anymore.

"I thought Tom Davis and his son Keno coached up a storm and got the program back to where it's supposed to be, but things have been pretty lean ever since."

Al means well, and said he hopes things improve at Drake.

"The Bulldogs are my second-favorite collegiate team," he said. "I'd like to see 'em get off the floor and start beating some teams.

"In fact, I hope they win every one of their games the rest of the way other than the the one against UNI on Feb. 6 at the Knapp Center."

Al added that he's hoping to buy tickets to that Feb. 6 game for himself and his wife Diane.

"I'm planning to wear my new purple T-shirt that day," Al said. "Diane had it made special, and gave it to me for Christmas, wrapped in purple paper.

"It says TUTORS on the front. You don't see many of those anymore. I wore it last night while watching the game on TV."

"Have another cup, Al," I said.

JOLTIN' JOE GOT IT STARTED

When Ron Maly was a kid in Cedar Rapids, he wanted to enter an essay contest, and he did. He wrote about Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees being his favorite baseball player. For finishing second in the contest, Ron won a Louisville Slugger baseball bat autographed by DiMaggio. Ron later wanted to be the first person in his family to attend college, and he was. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Iowa, and did what all political science majors do. He became a sportswriter. He had, after all, covered high school football, basketball and baseball games for the Cedar Rapids Gazette while he worked parttime during his university days. Ron wanted to sit in the press box and write about an Iowa-Minnesota football game, and he did. It happened while he was the sports editor at the Albert Lea [Minn.] Tribune, and the game was at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. Ron wanted to cover a World Series, and he did. Also when he was working for the Albert Lea newspaper. Ron wanted to cover Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Orange Bowls, Cotton Bowls, Holiday Bowls, a Freedom Bowl, a Sun Bowl, a Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournaments, and he did those things after he moved to Des Moines. Ron was a four-time sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa [the years were 1977, 1978, 1994 and 1996]. In 2006, he was named a charter member of the University of Iowa's media Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box. A photo of the plaque that's displayed in the press box is displayed above this story. Following Ron's retirement from the newspaper business, a publisher asked him if he wanted to write a book about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa, and he did. The hardback version of "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines" was a best-seller, and so was the revised, softback version. Now he's been asked by his publisher to update the book for a second time. He's in the process of doing that at the present time. Ron considers being asked to update a best-selling book for the second time to be the supreme compliment, considering the Hawkeyes won just four games in the 2012 season. When Ron isn't working on books, he's busy traveling and spending time with his family. Indeed, he attends the athletic, theatrical and musical [both vocal and instrumental] events in which his six grandchildren participate. He also writes about anything that interests him for his many websites. Every chance he gets, Ron proudly wears his America Needs Farmers T-shirt.

The Hawkeyes' Rich Football Tradition, Revisited

I mentioned a while back that I was in the process of updating my Tales from the Iowa Sidelines book. Updating it for the second time. The original hardback edition of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines [pictured at the right] was published in 2003, during the 10-3 season, when coach Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa football team had a 10-3 record that included a 37-17 victory over 15th-ranked Florida in the Outback Bowl and after the Hawkeyes went 11-2 in 2002. That book was a best-seller, so the publishers came to me again in 2005, a season that finished with a breathtaking 30-25 victory over No. 11 Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day, 2005. Because buyers had cleaned out the the shelves in the bookstores, the publishers wanted to know if I'd do an updated version of the book. I agreed, The revised, soft-cover edition [pictured at the left] was published in 2005. Warren Holloway, who teamed with quarterback Drew Tate on a miraculous 56-yard touchdown pass to win the Capital One Bowl, was featured on the cover. That book, too, turned into a best-seller, So I had reason to feel very good about my years as a published author. It's not every day that a the original version is a best-seller, and so is the updated version. Then, imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from a senior editor at the publishing company last fall, wanting wanted to know if I was interested in doing a second updated version of the book. It came at a time when things weren't going well for the Hawkeyes in the 2012 season. They lost their last six games and finished with a 4-8 record. Frankly, the thought of doing a revised edition of the book during a 4-8 season seemed to be a stretch. "Maybe producing a revised edition in a year or two would be a better idea," I told the publishers. "We'd like to do it now," I was told. "Let me think about it," I said. After a few days of thought, I accepted the idea. I talked myself into the idea that this was the supreme compliment--being asked to do a second book update during a 4-8 season showed strong confidence by the publishers in me and in the Hawkeyes' football program. So I got back into the business of interviewing players and coaches again, going to postgame press conferences, weekly press conferences and a scrimmage in West Des Moines. After a press conference in Iowa City, I did a one-on-one interview with coach Kirk Ferentz, and mentioned to him that I was in the process of doing a revised edition of my two best-selling books. I congratulated him on the excellent things he had done for Iowa's football program--all of which contributed to the success of my books. "I think Coach Fry had more to do with it," he told me, bringing up the name of Hayden Fry, his one-time boss at Iowa and a man who brought Iowa's football program back from the dead in the 20th century. That's modest Kirk Ferentz for you. Even though the 2012 season wasn't something Hawkeye coaches, players and fans will recall with any special feeling, Ferentz has a 14-year record of 100-74 at Iowa that includes two 11-victory seasons [2002 smd 2009], two 10-victory seasons [2003 and 2004], plus he's been the Big Ten coach of year in 2002, 2004 and 2009, and national coach of the year in 2002. Indeed, Ferentz has done some wonderful things at Iowa City, and I fully expect his success to continue. I've concluded my writing for the second update of Tales from the Iowa Sidelines, and the senior editor has furnished me with an early look at the book. Not only are the Kirk Ferentz years included in the updated version, but so is the stuff I previously wrote about Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeye Ironmen, Ronald Reagan, Ozzie Simmons, Ossie Solem, Randy Duncan, Alex Karras and lots of other legends from Iowa's rich football history. I expect the book to be in stores soon. I hope you like it.