Thistles To the Paper. Again

By RON MALY

It's business as usual at the Des Moines Register.  No story--not one word--in today's paper on Valley's 91-17 victory over North last

night in a girls' basketball game. Yet, people at the paper are begging non-subscribers to pay for a one-month subscription and they'll give 'em three months free. For what? Lousy coverage of the high school sports teams? If I recall right, the paper also stiffed Dowling when it steamrolled North, 77-7, in football a number of weeks ago. Not a word on that game either. The only good thing about the paper not having stories on Valley and Dowling runaway victories is that Randy Evans and the other knuckleheads in the Opinion department of the paper are less inclined to give the schools those stupid thistles [from the Roses & Thistles department] because of 70- and 80-point differences in the score. As I pointed out in an earlier column, only an idiot would give a thistle to a suburban high school team that wins by 70 or 80. You can't tell a second- or third-team player to not score a touchdown or a basket. They should give the thistles to the Des Moines schools because they're so non-competitive. By the way, Evans has had a thistle up his ass since giving Valley's football team a thistle after an 88-0 victory over some terrible team from Council Bluffs. A few others down there deserve thistles placed in very personal places, too.

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While on the subject of the paper, I have a thing or two to mention about Daniel P. Finney and Roland H. Thompson,  his personal and very close friend. But I don't want anything like that cluttering up Thanksgiving, so I'll get into that subject on another day.

James Naismith, the Man Who Invented Basketball, Probably Knew There Could Be Nights Like This. Valley Girls' Coach Joe Sigrist Substituted Early and Often In a Mismatch Against North. But Even That Couldn't Hold Down the Score. The Tigers, Who Made It To the Class 5-A State Tournament Last Season, Led At the Half, 59-2, Then Went On To Win Their 2014-2015 Opener, 91-17

By RON MALY

Coach Joe Sigrist has the makings of another outstanding girls' basketball team at Valley High School.  Sigrist's 2013-2014 squad had

enough firepower, defense and scrappiness to win 22 games and make it to the class 5-A state tournament. Whether this season's team reaches that level remains to be seen, but the Tigers opened their schedule by cruising past overmatched North, 91-17, tonight at the Bill Coldiron Fieldhouse on the Valley campus. Sigrist substituted early and often after his team opened a 29-2 lead after one quarter behind 6-foot senior guard Grace Vander Weide. Everyone on the Valley team [other than the student managers] played, including those who had participated in the preliminary game--a 53-5 victory by Valley's junior varsity over North's JV squad. Unfortunately for North's JV and varsity teams, there is no "mercy" rule in basketball as there is in high school football. In football, the clock runs continuously if a team has a lead of at least 35 points in the second half.  And no basketball fan in his or her right mind should expect a coach to tell his players to not shoot or rebound, regardless of the score. All a coach can do is substitute liberally in both halves, as Sigrist did.  If any team needed a mercy rule, it was North. Valley's halftime lead was 59-2. After three quarters, it was 68-6. Valley can look ahead to tougher competition as the season progresses. As for North, well, I hope there are better nights on the horizon.  At least no one could fault the Polar Bears' effort tonight. They did as well as they could against a far superior opponent.

The Day and Night They Forgot About Basketball At Hilton Coliseum and Turned the Huge Arena On the Iowa State Campus At Ames Over To the High School Chorus, Band and Orchestra Performers Who Have Been Named the State's Best At the Iowa Music Association's All-State Festival Concert

The Iowa High School Music Association staged its 68th All-State Festival Concert at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, and what a rousing 2-hour performance it was--starting with America the Beautiful by the All-State Chorus and Band and finishing with Battle Hymn Of the Republic by the chorus and orchestra. Iowa Public television stations [channel 11 in central Iowa] across the state will show the performance at 7 o'clock on Thanksgiving evening and again at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30.

All-Staters from Valley High School in West Des Moines

Valley's Senior All-Staters

A Valley All-/State Singer and Her Proud Parents

No All-State Festival Concert Would Be Complete Without Proud Grandparents, Too

The All-State Festival Concert Was Just the Ticket At Hilton Coliseum in Ames

West Des Moines Football Continues To Show Off Its Muscle: It's the Ryan Boyle Extravaganza All Over Again As the Dowling Quarterback Runs for 3 Touchdowns and Passes for One In the Maroons' 49-14 Victory Over Previously-Unbeaten and No. 1-Ranked Cedar Rapids Washington In the High School Class 4-A State Championship Game At the UNI Dome

By RON MALY

As was the case in a lot of other West Des Moines Dowling High School football games this season, the class 4-A state championship game turned into the Ryan Boyle Extravaganza. 

Boyle was brilliant, running for three touchdowns and passing for one in the Maroons' spectacular 49-14 victory over a Washington of Cedar Rapids team that came into the game with a 13-0 record and ranked No. 1. 

But the Warriors were no match for a Dowling juggernaut that rode the talents of Boyle to its second consecutive 4-A championship at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. 

Boyle ran for 146 yards as he guided Dowling to its 13th victory in 14 games this season.  He was named the player of the game.

The Maroons' only 2014 loss was to crosstown West Des Moines rival Valley, 24-21, on Sept. 19 at Valley Stadium. 

In that game, Boyle [who will play his collegiate football at Iowa] was clearly outplayed by Valley sophomore Rocky Lombardi. 

But Boyle and his teammates weren't to be stopped after that setback. 

They clobbered everything and everyone that got in their way. 

Washington's players, coaches and fans  were undoubtedly shellshocked by Dowling's offensive firepower, but it was business as usual for central Iowans who watched the Maroons win by such scores as 49-0 over Urbandale; 45-14 [regular season] and 41-28 [playoffs] over Waukee; 51-10 over Lewis Central; 52-3 over Sioux City East; 50-13 over Johnston; 70-21 over Des Moines Roosevelt; 77-7 over Des Moines North; 62-21 over Indianola; 59-24 over Ames [playoffs] and 48-14 over Ankeny [playoffs].  

I've never been a guy who subscribed to the theory that a loss was good for any team, but perhaps the defeat at Valley in September somehow benefited Dowling. 

I know it was the best high school football game I've ever seen, and I know it did wonderful things for the Valley program. 

Hopefully, it helped Dowling, too. 

Whatever the case, the Maroons' lopsided victory tonight further emphasized my belief that the best high school football in the state of Iowa is being played in the Central Iowa Metro League. 

More specifically, in the city of West Des Moines.

Bob Dyer & Dan Johnson

By RON MALY

I'm trying to come to grips with the deaths in recent days of Bob Dyer and Dan Johnson, two former sportswriters at the Des Moines Register. 

Bob died last Saturday, Dan died Tuesday. 

My condolences to their families

My prayers and thoughts are with them.

I worked many years with both men. They were very talented writers, and they will be missed throughout the sports scene in this state. 

Bob Dyer was a stalwart in the newspaper's collegiate football and basketball coverage, and recruiting was one of his specialties. 

Dan Johnson covered women's athletics like no one before him or after him covered it. 

He also did outstanding work on the horse racing beat, both locally and nationally. 

Both Bob and Dan went onto other jobs after leaving the paper. 

Bob Dyer left the paper at a fairly young age to enter the profession of selling stocks and bonds, and later did an excellent job as a local sports-talk radio host. 

It was not Dan Johnson's idea to leave the Register. 

The paper has had numerous staff cutbacks--ordered by the Gannett Co.--in recent years, and Dan was the victim of one in 2011.  

Among others losing their jobs in that cutback were Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Schorer Meisner; standout photographer John Gaps III, and sports columnist Sean Keeler.  

In my opinion, telling Johnson he was losing his job was a cold-blooded move by people at Gannett and at the Register. 

Dan had informed his bosses and others in the newsroom that he was fighting a serious disease. 

Someone told me it was a blood disease that could not be cured.  

Even though his bosses were aware of his situation, Dan was laid off.  

No one saved his job.

Not the sports editor.  Not the editor of the paper. Not the publisher of the paper.

Horrible.

Like I wrote earlier, cold-blooded.

Bryce Miller, a former Register sports editor and now the general sports columnist, wrote about Johnson in today's paper. 

He wrote that the sports department was "working with heavy hearts this week" because of Johnson's death.

But Miller did not mention that it wasn't Johnson's idea to leave the Register. 

I believe Miller was the sports editor when Johnson and Keeler were laid off.  

I think I'm correct in writing that, when Johnson was told he would have no job at the Register, Andy Hamilton moved from the Iowa City Press Citizen to the Register. 

However, Hamilton didn't come to Des Moines to take over Johnson's women's basketball and horse racing responsibilities. 

He came here to help cover collegiate wrestling and high school sports. 

No one has ever taken over Johnson's responsibilities. 

The paper's coverage of women's collegiate basketball now does not come close to the way Johnson handled it.  

An example came this week when there was no advance story on the Drake-Iowa State women's game at Ames. 

That would never have happened had Johnson still been at the Register. 

He wrote advance stories for Drake, Iowa State, Iowa and Northern Iowa. 

He often would cover two games in one day--one at 1 p.m., another at 7 p.m. at arenas in different cities. 

Dan Johnson would drive to hell and gone to cover games and races. 

One other thing.  

There have been more changes at the Register lately. 

More layoffs, more resignations. 

Among the changes is that there is no longer a need for a general sports columnist. 

So Bryce Miller is quitting the paper. 

But he was still in the paper this morning. 

A friend of mine--another retiree from the Register's sports department--emailed me with this comment: 

"I thought Bryce Miller quit."  

My response to the retiree: "People have told me Miller's last day at the paper is supposed to be Nov.  21. That's today." 

We'll see.

I'm thinking I've seen this movie before. In the agonizing final few weeks of last season probably. Iowa's basketball team looked decent in the first half of tonight's game against 10th-ranked Texas, then the roof fell in. Well, it wasn't actually the roof of Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple that fell in. It was the Hawkeyes' offense and defense that collapsed Consequently, Texas advanced to tomorrow night's championship game of the 2K Classic with a 71-57 victory. Iowa [2-1] won't win many, if any, games this season with 29.6 percent shooting, and if it gets just two field goals in 15 attempts by starting guards Anthony Clemmons and Mike Gesell. The three guards who came off the bench--Trey Dickerson, Josh Oglesby and Peter Jok--didn't exactly burn the nets either. They combined for three baskets in 14 tries. Aaron White's 23 points led the Hawkeyes--14 of them coming on free throws. Jonathan Holmes scored 17 of his 19 points in the last half to lead Texas [3-0], which is mighty tall and mighty talented. But the Longhorns are beatable. Rick Barnes' teams are usually beatable. But the Hawkeyes simply weren't up to the task. Iowa dominated the first half and actually led, 30-24, at its conclusion. But Texas' coaches and players made the adjustments Iowa's didn't at intermission, and the Longhorns completely outplayed the Hawkeyes after a 43-43 tie. Texas scored the next 13 points and held Iowa without a field goal for more than 8 minutes to decide the game. Iowa's Gabriel Olaseni was ejected from the game after being called for a flagrant foul in the final minutes.

S&H Green Stamps & a Tennis Champion

Al Schallau tells me his sister, Anne Guerrant  [formerly Mona Schallau], was recently  inducted into the United States Tennis Association's  Southwest Tennis Hall of Fame.  She was introduced by her husband Terry Guerrant. It was my pleasure to write the story when she was named to the paper's Sports Hall of Fame. Here's a copy of the July 14, 1996 story [headlined: Schallau and tennis: a match point], with a  drawing of her by Mark Marturello:

By RON MALY

Register Staff Writer

Don Klotz said he will never forget the day.

"We were having a tournament in Iowa City, and three little girls showed up for one of the divisions," the 90-year-old former Iowa tennis coach said.

"Two of the girls had been given lessons, and the third was this skinny kid named Mona Schallau.

"I thought, well, 'she doesn't know much about tennis.' I had never heard of her. So I sent her to a distant court to play a 10-game pro set with one of the other girls. Before I knew it, Mona was back.

"I asked, 'Who won?'


"Mona said, 'I did, 10-0.'

"So I sent her out to play a second match. She won that one, 10-0, too. By that time, I was wondering where she had come from."

Soon, it wasn't so much where she had come from, but where she was headed.

Today, at 47 years of age, she becomes the 148th member of the Des Moines Sunday Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.

Mona Schallau, once of Iowa City, is now Anne Guerrant, of Scottsdale, Ariz. She is married to Terry Guerrant, and they have a son, Danny, 14.

"Actually, my proper first name is Ramona, and Anne was my middle name," she said. "I've gone by Anne for about 10 years."

Starting with that first tournament in Iowa City, her tennis got steadily better. So good that it produced big-time victories, rankings, world travel and money.

In 1976, she was ranked No. 6 in the nation and No. 11 in the world. That year, she teamed with Ann Kiyomura of San Mateo, Calif., as the nation's No. 1 doubles team.

"My best year in professional earnings was 1976, when I made $103,000," Guerrant said.
"I made between $75,000 and $100,000 for four or five years."

It started with an 11-year-old Mona Schallau asking her mother, Elsie, for a tennis racket. Her mother obtained one using S & H Green Stamps.

"She decided she wanted to be a tennis player," Elsie said. "So I saved my Green Stamps to get her a racket."

The racket, Guerrant recalls, was one of those old-fashioned wooden types.

"It weighed 12 3/4 ounces, and the oversized graphite composite racket I use now weighs 10 ounces," she said. "Today's rackets are much more powerful."

She credits her brother, Don, for her early tennis knowledge.

"He played tennis with me and showed me how to keep score," Guerrant said.

But it was Klotz who had a big role in moving her up the ladder.

"She was part of our junior program in Iowa City," Klotz said. "She's a tremendous natural athlete, and she has great desire."

The desire to play tennis - and succeed - was evident when she was a junior at City High School.

There were no sports for girls, but that didn't stop the 5-foot 4-inch competitor from pursuing tennis.

"I went to the school board meetings by myself and sat for 1 1/2 hours to ask if they'd join the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, so I could play in the state tournament," she said. "I ended up getting all the votes."

She won state titles as a junior and senior, and she said she would have played more girls' sports in high school had they been available.

"As a senior, we did get a team at City High, and 30 girls went out for it," she said.

She went on to play regional and national events and got a No. 20 junior ranking.

"No big deal," Guerrant said. "I was such a late bloomer."

Young tennis players from cold-weather states - especially those with professional aspirations - often are urged to head for places such as Florida, Arizona and California so they can play outdoors as often as possible.

Guerrant chose Florida. After graduating from City High School in 1967, she headed for Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

"I was a pretty good player in those days," she said. "I made the semifinals of the national intercollegiate tournament and was picked to represent the United States in the World University Games in Turin, Italy, in 1970.

"I also was on a doubles team, with Margie Cooper of Florida, that was the runner-up at the national intercollegiate tournament."
When she graduated from Rollins, the Virginia Slims pro tour was just getting started. It was something that attracted Guerrant.

"I went to play the Australian circuit," she said. "I started with $5,000 and decided I would travel the world and play tennis."

Travel the world she did. Guerrant made it to such places as China, Russia, Japan, England, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and New Zealand in addition to Australia. She played in some of those nations many times.

"I played at Wimbledon six times," she said. "That was a dream come true. There's lots of energy in the air and huge crowds."

Guerrant said she won 15 professional doubles titles, including six with Kiyomura.

"We were playing against the best in the world," she said. "In singles, I won some smaller tournaments."

Guerrant teamed with such players as Billie Jean King and Rod Laver in World Team tennis competition in the 1970s, and she played on U.S. Wightman Cup teams in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

The money has gotten much better than when Guerrant was a pro. She said her achievements likely would be worth $600,000 to $700,000 a year now, but she said she doesn't regret playing when she did.

"The competition is much tougher now," she said. "I might not do as well."

Guerrant said she plays tennis mostly for fun these days, but still is good enough to win championships.

"I still weigh 115 pounds, but I'm not as fast as I used to be," she said. "I play United States Tennis Association age-group competition and won the national 45-and-over singles title in 1994. I earlier won the national 35-and-under title."

Guerrant describes herself as "a pretty solid all-around player. I like to go to the net. That's my strength."

Husband Terry continues to be amazed at her ability.

"I'm very proud of what she has done," he said. "I was a club player, and I used to think I was pretty good. Club players sometimes imagine they could be a little competitive with the pros, but they're dreaming.

"I've never beaten Anne, and never will."

Looking back, Elsie Schallau still is somewhat amazed at what her daughter has accomplished on tennis courts around the world.

"I never thought she'd become the great tennis player she is, and I don't think she did, either," Elsie said.

"But she has lots of determination. When she decides to do something, she does it."