maly, too

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The Best Team[s] Money Can Buy

By RON MALY

Lots of people have been raving about the newest National Basketball Association team playing for the Lexington, Ky., franchise this season. The players are nicknamed the

Wildcats, and now I'm raving about them, too. They are the absolutely the best team money can buy. At least the best team coach John Calipari can buy. I'm kidding, of course, that there's an actual NBA franchise in Lexington. As far as I know, Calipari is still coaching a bunch of McDonald's all-Americans at Kentucky University that will be heavily favored to win the NCAA Final Four this season. But they'd probably win the NBA championship, too, if they were allowed to compete for it. On TV tonight, I marveled at how bad the Wildcats made Kansas, the pride of the Big 12 Conference look. The Wildcats won, 72-40, and the turning point was when Kentucky's players tied their shoes in the locker room. Kansas didn't have a chance. Actually, Kentucky isn't just one team. It's two teams. The Wildcats come at you in platoons. I'm not sure which platoon is the best.They're both pretty darn good. Maybe they should play each other for the NCAA championship. It would be a heck of a game.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Well, it's a start anyway. It's not the Final Four, but at least it's the 2016 first- and second-round NCAA men's basketball tournament games that were awarded today to Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines. The city has had NCAA wrestling and NCAA women's basketball events in the past, but finally an NCAA men's event will be held at 16,000-seat Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa State is the "host' university, but that means the Cyclones can't play in the tournamenat. That's unlike what happens in preliminary rounds in the NCAA women's tournament. The host school gets games in the women's event so the tournament gets larger crowds. Iowa, Northern Iowa and Drake, however, would be able to play in the Des Moines men's tournament if they were chosen for the NCAA field The NCAA website today told it this way: "The 2016 tournament features two brand new hosts as Brooklyn and Des Moines join Providence, St. Louis, Raleigh, Oklahoma City, Denver and Spokane as first- and second-round sites. The East Regional will be played in Philadelphia, which will be hosting the tournament for the 28th time. The Midwest Regional will take place in Chicago, while the South Regional will be played in Louisville and the West Regional will be held in Anaheim. Houston will host the 2016 Final Four." I have covered NCAA first- and second-round games in such cities as Pullman, Wash., Salt Lake City,, Lincoln and Omaha, Neb., and Hartford,Conn. Not always were all of the seats filled in the arenas at those places. It's important for Des Moines to sell all of the seats so it can get a future tournament.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Home Is Where The Art Is

By RON MALY

Valley High School showed off its new $15 million, 1,136-seat Performing Arts Center this afternoon with a music-filled, student-performed gala grand opening.

"Home Is Where The Art Is" was the theme of the 3-hour celebration.

Music included the National Anthem; Fanfare: Lieto Godea Sedendo by

Gabrieli; Ode To Joy by Beethoven; All the Hemispheres by Hafiz; Somewhere Over the Rainbow [dancing provided by Valley senior Alyson O'Hara and second-grader Scout Claussen], and Homeland sung by West Des Moines students in grades 4-8 and Valley's acapella choir, plus a postlude in the lobby by the Valley jazz orchestra.

There were speeches by West Des Moines school officials, students and others, and the best thing about them was that they were short.

If you couldn't make it to the event, or had to leave early, you missed the vast array of pastries, apple cider and coffee available to everyone present.

Indeed, if you went home hungry or thirsty from this deal, it was your own fault.

The Performing Arts Center is the windup to a $66 million three-phase construction project at Valley that began in 2011.

In my estimation, it was money well spent.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

National Anthem Was the Highlight Of This Game

By RON MALY

There wasn't anything humorous about Drake's basketball game today at the Knapp

David Maxwell

Center.

After all, the Bulldogs--minus seniors Gary Ricks Jr., and Karl Madison, who have been suspended three games for doing things the NCAA doesn't like [detailed a few columns below this one]--were clobbered by Bowling Green, 77-58, in their regular-season opener.

Nothing funny about that.

But there was some stuff just before the game began that sounded funny [or at least unusual] to me.

I was driving to Hy-Vee and had the KRNT coverage of the game on my car radio.

Many stations that broadcast collegiate games cut away to do commercials when the pregame National Anthem is played or sung.

Not so today.

That was a good thing.

Announcer Larry Cotlar said David Maxwell, Drake's president, would be playing the anthem on his electric guitar.

I mean, that's unusual right there--a university president playing the Star Spangled Banner on his electric guitar.

But there was a pause before the anthem began.

"I guess [Maxwell] is having trouble getting his guitar plugged into the electricity or something," Cotlar said.

Then Paul Doerrfeld, Cotlar's commentator, said, "I'll bet this delay isn't making the coaches happy. I wish the band would just play the anthem."

That didn't happen.

Finally, Maxwell got his electric guitar working, and his playing of the Star Spangled Banner sounded great on the radio.

Nothing good took place after that.

Undermanned Drake didn't stand a chance in the basketball game in front of a matinee turnout of 3,362 fans.

"We're a work in progress right now," coach Ray Giacoletti said.

I didn't watch much of Iowa's football game on TV today. It was while I was observing parts of the 30-14 victory over an Illinois team that's got to be one of the worst in America that I started thinking about how much I don't like it that the Big Ten is split into West and East divisions. I realize, of course, that the main reason for the divisions is so the West champion can play the East champion in December to give the league a fat payday and decide which team is the conference champ despite all those regular-season games. But I don't like it that Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan aren't on the Hawkeyes' schedule. I'm from the old school that says it's not an official Iowa schedule unless the Hawkeyes tee it up against Ohio State and Michigan just like in the days when Forest Evashevski was coaching against Woody Hayes, and Hayden Fry was coaching against Bo Schembechler. Games week after week against Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Maryland and Illinois don't exactly trip my trigger. I'm glad Iowa has already won seven games and will be going to a bowl, but I wish today's victory would have been over Michigan instead of those hapless Fighting [are we sure about that?] Illini. Heavens to Jim Delany, after that Illinois performance today, Red Grange must be rolling over in his grave

Friday, November 14, 2014

I predicted Dowling of West Des Moines and Washington of Cedar Rapids would win tonight's semifinal round football games in the class 4-A high school playoffs, and that's what happened. Dowling rolled to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and moved another step toward another championship with a 41-28 victory over Central Iowa Metro League rival Waukee at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The Maroons, whose only loss has been to crosstown West Des Moines rival Valley, 24-21, improved their record to 12-1 behind another superb performance by quarterback Ryan Boyle. Waukee closed its season with an 11-2 record--both losses to Dowling. Unbeaten Washington of Cedar Rapids defeated previously-undefeated Bettendorf, 28-17, in the other semifinal round game. By the way, I picked Dowling to repeat as the 4-A champion, and nothing that happened tonight in Cedar Falls made me change my mind. Indeed, I think Dowling will win fairly easily in next Friday night's game, which starts at 7 o'clock in the UNI-Dome.

Drake basketball players Gary Ricks, Jr. and Karl Madison are suspended for the first three games due to receiving improper benefits not in compliance with NCAA bylaws. The two seniors will not play in the games Saturday, Nov. 18 and Nov. 22. "As soon as we learned of this situation that occurred during the 2012-13 season, we notified appropriate personnel and launched an internal review," said athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb. "We are, and will remain diligent in our adherence to all NCAA bylaws and to the education of our student-athletes, alumni, and donors in maintaining integrity and compliance with NCAA rules. Once advised of the situation, Gary and Karl worked diligently to resolve the issue and to come into full compliance with NCAA regulations."

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.