maly, too: Attention Dan Callahan: I'm Just As Sorry As You Are That Bob Tealer Ins't Getting One Of Those Double D Awards From Drake; But Congratulations To Tammi Blackstone and Dick Hewins for Being Honored

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Attention Dan Callahan: I'm Just As Sorry As You Are That Bob Tealer Ins't Getting One Of Those Double D Awards From Drake; But Congratulations To Tammi Blackstone and Dick Hewins for Being Honored

I got an email from Ty Patton, the sports information guy at Drake, telling me that they've decided to give two "notable" former Bulldog athletes Double D Awards during a ceremony before Saturday night's basketball game against Loyola of Chicago at the Knapp Center.

The trouble is, neither of the two folks being honored is named Bob Tealer.

But congratulations anyway to Tammi Blackstone and Dick Hewins for their honors.

I'm sorry [and Dan Callahan of Sioux City is sorry, too] that Tealer, a Drake basketball standout from the 1950s, isn't getting a Double D Award.

Callahan, a former Drake basketball player and assistant coach, was pushing hard to get Tealer on the Double D list.

He wrote letters, he called people at Drake and outside of Drake [including me], he did about all he could to get Tealer honored.

I wrote about Callahan's campaign, saying that I wasn't living in this area when Tealer played for Drake, but if Callahan thought he deserved a Double D Award, I did, too.

No go.

Oh, well, I'll forward this column to Callahan so he knows I share his views about Tealer being named.

Callahan doesn't own a computer and wouldn't know how to use it if he had one.

So I send any written correspondence I have with him to his daughter, and she prints it out for him.

Maybe next year.

Anyway, here's what Patton wrote about Blackstone and Hewins:

Tammi Blackstone, a former Drake women’s basketball star, and Dick Hewins, a standout football player, will be presented the award for their athletic accomplishments at Drake and their continued success in their careers and communities.

The Double D award is presented each year to former Drake athletes for achievements in their professions and or community service since earning their degrees from Drake. Since its inception in 1968, the Double D honor has now been presented to 248 former Drake letterwinners, including Blackstone and Hewins.

Both recipients will be honored at a dinner and ceremony held Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Reservations to attend this event cost $25 per person and can be made by calling Drake athletics at 515-271-2889. Space is limited.

Blackstone and Hewins will also be recognized at halftime of the men’s basketball game against Loyola that night, which tips off at 7:05 in the Knapp Center.

Tammi Blackstone

When Tammi Blackstone’s parents built a new heated shed on their farm near Meriden, IA, where Blackstone grew up, they added one extra feature – a basketball hoop. This was where she developed her talents and realized her love for the game.

Blackstone chose Drake University over several top-25 basketball programs, and has never questioned that it was the right choice for her. At Drake, Blackstone played for coach Lisa Bluder and was part of a team that made three trips to the NCAA tournament and advanced to the final four of the WNIT. Blackstone earned all-Valley honors and holds records as Drake’s leader in blocked shots and as Drake’s most accurate shooter, with a career field goal percentage of 62 percent.

Blackstone received her bachelor’s degree from Drake in sociology and anthropology in 2000 and began her career coordinating a youth-led anti-tobacco campaign for the Iowa Department of Public Health in Des Moines. In 2002, she began law school at the University of Colorado and received her law degree in 2005.

Following law school, Blackstone returned to her home state of Iowa and began her law career with the firm of Gaudineer, Comito and George. In 2012, she joined the firm of Harrison & Dietz-Kilen, where she continues to practice in the areas of family law, juvenile law, and criminal defense.

In her free time, Blackstone enjoys writing, music, and exploring all that Des Moines has to offer.

Dick Hewins

Drake football standout Dick Hewins began his journey to Drake at Highland Community College in Highland, Kan., in 1965. Hewins helped the Scottie team compile a 14-3 record over two years and set several records that still top the list in Highland Community College’s Scottie football records.

Following two successful seasons at Highland, Hewins continued his academic and football career at Drake after being recruited by head coach Jack Wallace in 1967. In 1968, two years of playing wide receiver resulted in Hewins setting an NCAA Division I single-season reception record with 95 and a scoring record with 14 touchdowns. That same year, Hewins received the Most Valuable Player Award from Drake, and was selected to the Quantico Marines All-Opponent team.

In 1969, Hewins was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. He was later recognized in 1985 when he was selected to represent the 1960s on the Drake All-Time football team and again in 2001 when he was named to the National Junior College Football Hall of Fame.

Hewins received his bachelor’s degree from Drake in biology and chemistry and later received his master’s degree in botany from Drake in 1976. Hewins taught and coached at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines for 37 years, instructing over 5,000 students in biology and chemistry and coaching football, baseball, and boys and girls track.

While at Roosevelt, Hewins was selected as conference Coach of the Year four times, Regional Coach of the Year twice and was presented Roosevelt High School’s Distinguished Service Award. His legacy continues at Roosevelt where a former student endowed a science scholarship in his name.

Hewins presently enjoys a semi-retired life working at his hobby farm, traveling, hunting, fishing and selling sporting goods.

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.