Iowa's football team will hold an open practice at Valley Stadium in West Des Moines on Sunday, April 14. Iowa will conclude spring drills with a final open practice in Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, April 27. The open practice in West Des Moines will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Valley Stadium. West and Southeast gates will open at noon. All seating will be general admission. There is no admission charge for the practice, but a ticket will be required for entry. Tickets will be available at the customer service counter of select Hy-Vee locations in central and western Iowa beginning at 3 p.m., on Saturday, April 6. A limited number of tickets will also be available at the UI Athletic ticket office in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. There will not be parking available at Valley Stadium, with the exception of limited handicap parking available in the west parking lot. The Valley Church parking lot, adjacent to Valley Stadium, will not be available until 1 p.m. Additional parking will be available on a first-come-first served basis at: Valley Southwoods Freshman High School, Jordan Creek Elementary, WDM City Hall, WDM Library and WDM Church, surrounding the stadium. Due to limited parking, fans are encouraged to car pool when possible. Access to most parking is available off of Fuller Drive and/or 39th street. Concession stands within the stadium will be open. No outside food or drink will be allowed in Valley Stadium. “We are pleased to be able to bring our squad to West Des Moines and central Iowa,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “This is an opportunity for us to reach out to our Central and Western Iowa Hawkeye fans that support us so loyally during the fall in Kinnick Stadium. The staff of the West Des Moines Community School District has been great to work with in putting all the details together. We appreciate the cooperation we have received in the planning and organization and look forward to the event.” No tailgating, including open frame grills, is allowed on West Des Moines Community School District, city or Valley Church property, including before or after the practice. Alcohol is not ever allowed on city or district property and all district property, including Valley Stadium, is tobacco-free. There will not be a post-event autograph session. Iowa began spring drills on Wednesday, March 27. Iowa opens its 2013 season at home against Northern Illinois on August 31. The Iowa baseball team will also be in action in Des Moines on April 14, as the Hawkeyes take on Kansas State at Principal Park. First pitch is scheduled for approximately 3:30 p.m., following the completion of the Iowa Cubs game which starts at 1:05 p.m. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Aaron Blau of Iowa's sports information staff] PARTICIPATING HY-VEE STORE LOCATIONS (Tickets will be available at the Customer Service Counter no later than 3 p.m., Saturday, April 6) Altoona Ankeny Ankeny Drugstore Council Bluffs Des Moines Des Moines Drugstore Indianola Johnston Pleasant Hill Sioux City Urbandale West Des Moines West Des Moines Drugstore Windsor Heights .

Olympian and Des Moines native Lolo Jones is set to join the field for the 2013 Drake Relays, director Brian Brown said today. Jones is one of more than 50 elite athletes that Brown has recently added to an already stellar field that now features 25 Olympic medalists from the 2012 Olympics set to compete in a series of London Rematch at Drake Stadium, April 25-28. The 2013 Drake Relays Hall of Fame class was also unveiled with University of Iowa Director of Track and Field Larry Wieczorek and four-time Olympic medalist Jeremy Wariner set to join the previously enshrined track and field greats. Wariner also will compete on the Blue Oval as part of a 400-meter London Rematch field that already features Luguelin Santos, the silver medalist from the London games. In addition to the influx of talent for the London Rematch competitions and the Hall of Fame inductees, Brown also announced a new addition to the collegiate competition with the Hy-Vee Cup to be awarded to each men’s and women’s program that accumulates the most points in selected relay events. Those scored relays include the 4x100, 4x400, 4x800-meter, sprint medley and distance medley relays. All five relays will be scored with the traditional 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points being awarded to places 1-through-8. Jones’ inclusion in the women’s 100-meter hurdle field gives the event an added boost as it already features the 2012 silver and bronze medalists in Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells, respectively. Virginia Crawford, Queen Harrison, Danielle Carruthers, Tiffany Porter and Kristi Castlin join that trio. Seven of the eight competitors in the field ranked in the top 10 in the event during the 2012 season and they will vie for the $50,000 purse being offered in all London Rematch races, the largest track and field purse ever awarded on American soil. Highlighting additions to the men’s events is a new London Games Rematch in the shot put. The incredibly deep and talented field currently features American bronze medalist Reese Hoffa, 2012 World Indoor Champion and Olympic finalist Ryan Whiting and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Christian Cantwell competing for the $25,000 purse in the event. [This story was written for Ron Maly by Ty Patton, Drake's assistant athletic director for communications].

Lolo Jones. Photo courtesy of Google.

'This Might Be the First Time UCLA Actually Hired a Dead Man'

By T.J. Simers

Los Angeles Times

I saw the guy working on TV, his team surprising folks in the NCAA tournament, but honestly I don't even know his first name now that he has become USC's basketball coach.

But he has to be more interesting and exciting than the dolt introduced as UCLA basketball coach Tuesday.
It's pretty well understood that whoever coaches UCLA basketball is a dead man walking, it being only a matter of time before the alumni agree he'll never be another John Wooden.
But this might be the first time UCLA actually hired a dead man.

Steve Alford. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

Yeesh, the John Wooden statue outside of Pauley had more life to it than Steve Alford, the robot who sputtered nonstop platitudes while never once answering a question directly.
He wouldn't even say if Bob Knight had called him since he was named UCLA's coach.
When he was asked about his role in defending an Iowa player from sexual assault charges and allegedly bullying the victim into not pursuing the case, he blamed school administrators for his behavior.
The player later pleaded guilty to intent to commit sexual assault on another victim and served time. Protesters expressed their disapproval at Iowa's basketball games, but on the bright side they had to buy tickets to attend the games. And that's very important to UCLA.
Obviously there hasn't been anything in town much more irrelevant than USC basketball, but that was before talk of dunk city, a wife who's a model and fun.
Never heard fun mentioned once at UCLA's somber get-together.
Who is the better risk? The guy from Florida Something Or Other who got everyone in the country excited with two tournament wins? Or the guy who has taken his team to the NIT six of the last 12 years, going 4-6, while compiling a 5-7 mark in the NCAA tournament?
Maybe that explains the lack of energy at UCLA's introductory affair with Alford. These things are supposed to be more pep rallies than news conferences with UCLA supporters, alumni, cheerleaders and mascot overwhelming the number of media in attendance.
But when it came time for Athletic Director Dan Guerrero to introduce the dolt, Alford got a standing ovation. From one guy.
Everyone else remained seated. And they were given no reason to come to their feet or break out in an eight-clap as UCLA's new basketball leader droned on and on about himself.
We know this much, he has a sizable ego in explaining how successful he has been, and yet he shouldn't even be mentioned in the same category as successful as Ben Howland has been.
When it came time to meet with the media in small groups, Alford took on all questions while looking at his feet. It was as if he had previously rehearsed this and was trying to recall what to say without making eye contact.
"Are you on automatic pilot?" I asked the robot.
"I just like looking around," he said.
That would explain how he ended up at UCLA a few days after agreeing to a 10-year contract extension at New Mexico and telling Lobos fans, "There is no other place I would rather coach than UNM, representing the best fans in the country."
Nice to see I'm in agreement with Alford, and UCLA doesn't have the best fans in the country.

No contest. It was Iowa all the way. By the way, Maryland, welcome to the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes outshot and outhustled Terrapins of the Atlantic Coast Conference [and, in 2014, of the Big Ten] to win Tuesday night's National Invitation Tournament semifinal round game, 71-60, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. What's more, Iowa's Fran McCaffery clearly outcoached Maryland's Mark Turgeon as the Hawkeyes improved their record to 25-12. So Iowa will play Baylor of the Big 12 Conference in Thursday night's championship game. The Bears defeated Brigham Young in Tuesday night's first game. I'm on record as predicting that Iowa will win the title, and I feel even stronger about it after tonight's game. With the exception of Louisville and Wichita State, which will be playing in the NCAA Final Four on Saturday in Atlanta, Iowa is playing the best collegiate basketball in the nation. The Hawkeyes are dazzling fans with their late-season strength. Teams in the NIT have been no match for them. They excel on both offense and defense, they rebound very well, and they have a will to win that is unmatched. Devyn Marble scored 21 points and had nine rebounds, Eric May 12 and Aaron White collected 10 points and had eight rebounds Tuesday. Center Alex Len led Maryland [25-13] with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Iowa's Eric May after a 71-60 victory over Maryland in NIT. Photo by Biran Ray of the Cedar Rapids Gazette via Twitter; retweeted by Hawkeye Basketball.. Box score that follows courtesy of ESPN.com.

Iowa Hawkeyes
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Melsahn Basabe, F	15	2-7	0-0	0-0	1	3	1	1	0	1	3	4
Aaron White, F	31	1-3	0-0	8-10	2	8	1	1	2	2	2	10
Adam Woodbury, C	29	3-8	0-0	3-4	1	3	0	0	2	0	3	9
Eric May, G-F	36	3-7	1-2	5-6	1	4	5	3	0	0	1	12
Roy Devyn Marble, G-F	33	8-16	2-5	3-4	3	9	3	1	1	3	1	21
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Zach McCabe, F	15	3-5	1-2	0-0	1	2	3	0	0	0	3	7
Josh Oglesby, G	7	0-2	0-2	0-0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Gabriel Olaseni, C	6	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
Anthony Clemmons, G	17	1-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Mike Gesell, G	11	2-5	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	4
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		24-57	4-12	19-24	9	30	17	7	5	6	17	71
		42.1%	33.3%	79.2%
Maryland Terrapins
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Dez Wells, G-F	27	4-11	0-2	1-2	1	4	3	0	0	1	5	9
Charles Mitchell, F	18	3-7	0-0	0-0	2	4	3	0	0	3	0	6
Alex Len, C	31	6-10	0-0	4-6	3	9	1	0	6	0	1	16
Pe'Shon Howard, G	31	0-2	0-1	2-2	0	2	4	2	0	4	4	2
Nick Faust, G	29	5-14	2-5	2-6	0	3	1	0	1	2	2	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Logan Aronhalt, G	25	3-8	3-6	0-0	1	3	0	0	0	2	0	9
James Padgett, F	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jake Layman, G-F	27	2-5	0-1	0-0	4	7	0	1	2	4	4	4
Shaquille Cleare, C	9	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		23-57	5-15	9-16	12	33	12	3	10	16	18	60
		40.4%	33.3%	56.3%

IOWA	38	33--	71
MD	33	27--	60

Iowa State University said today that coaches and staff made dozens of improper recruiting calls between 2008 and 2011 and it has asked the NCAA to levy a punishment of two years of probation. An Associated Press story on ESPN.com said the university said it reported the "inadvertent" violations to the NCAA in November 2011. It said an "exhaustive" review of three years of telephone and text messages discovered that non-coaching staff members made 55 impermissible phone calls while coaches made 24 improper calls. The review also found that coaches also failed to document 1,405 calls in which they tried but failed to connect with recruits for reasons such as dropped calls, lack of answers or voice mails. Those attempted contacts were supposed to be logged under NCAA rules, which regulate the number and timing of coaches' contacts with recruits. The university said it had entered into a summary disposition process with the NCAA, which allows universities to submit their own investigative findings and propose penalties. The NCAA's committee on infractions will then determine whether to accept the findings and penalties or to move forward with its own hearing to seek a different punishment. "We are hopeful the NCAA will recognize our sincere effort to adhere to NCAA rules and will accept our self-imposed sanctions," athletic director Jamie Pollard said. "We are definitely a stronger organization as a result of what we learned about our internal monitoring system and we look forward to resolving these self-reported violations in a timely manner."

I just got off the phone with my neighbor Al, the health nut. "I've got some bad news for you, Ron," Al said. "What's up?" I asked. "Your friend Jack Pardee died yesterday," Al said. "Where'd you hear that?" I asked. "On the Internet," Al said. "I remember when you used to write newspaper stories about him." I wrote about Pardee becuase he was a native Iowan. He was born in Exira, a community of fewer than 1,000 people. He moved to Texas with his family when he was a teenager. I recall Jack as being a very cordial guy whenever I visited with him. He died of cancer just two weeks before his 77th birthday. Pardee was a linebacker at Texas A&M, and was the only guy to be a head coach in collegiate football, the NFL, the U.S. Football League, the World Football League and the Canadian League

Native Iowan Jack Pardee. Photo courtesy of Google.

Iowa's basketball team is in the Big Apple. Coach Fran McCaffery and his players were busy doing interviews at today's NIT tournament press lunch. The Hawkeyes play Maryland on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Photo courtesy of Iowa Basketball and Twitter. Iowa is on a roll, and Ron Maly expects the Hawkeyes to win the NIT championship.