I guess the bicycle trip across Iowa is over for another year. The one they call RAGBRAI, I mean. I passed it up for the 42nd-straight time, and instead rode my $20 no-gears, no-frills bike around my neighborhood one afternoon. I didn't pay much attention to the 2015 version of the week-long bike ride, but I began hearing some stories about it when the riders were in the eastern part of the state. I'll be honest, I never spent much time thinking about what people who are required to ride 60 or 70 miles a day on bicycles do to empty their bladders during the trip. But I hear that some folks who live in our state [mostly in rural areas] are upset because riders don't mind using their front yards or corn or bean fields as areas where they can pee. Someone told me that a number of riders [both men and women] got off their bikes and either stood or squatted to relieve themselves in plain sight of others during the morning and afternoon hours. I used to hear that peeing in public wasn't a wise thing to do do, and I kind of feel that way myself. But I guess bicycle riders don't share my view on such matters. I'm going to ask My Neighbor Al what he thinks about this pissing -in-public stuff when he gets back from his fishing trip.

Dave Buhr of Waterloo is leading a campaign he hopes will result in the University of Iowa retiring the jersey number of former Hawkeye basketball player Murray Wier. Here's an update sent to me by Buhr: "Hi, Ron, this is David Buhr and I just wanted to give you an update on the Murray Wier project. Mark Hankins, Iowa assistant athletic director, called to set up a time when he, [athletic director] Gary Barta and I could meet in Gary’s office. So we are going to get together on Aug. 27 and see what we can do to make this happen. -- Dave."

A message from the uncle of former Hawkeye football player Scott Chandler: "Ron, greetings, my old email friend. Scott was cut by the Buffalo Bills with the entrance of the new Ryan coaching staff. They paid a new guy a huge contract for basically the same stats Scott had...go figure. Anyway, he signed with the Patriots...good money up front...two-year deal. Scott had his best games against the Pats while with the Bills. A Hawkeye lives on to fight another day. God bless you. -- Proud Uncle Bob."

I think I've seen everything now. I read very few newspaper stories these days, and now I know why. I like to read the website version of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, especially on a rare day when the Chicago Cubs win and the St. Louis Cardinals lose. So I called up the Post-Dispatch's web page tonight and read this headline: "Happy Birthday, Jamie Garcia." Garcia is a Cardinals pitcher. I can't say that I have ever read a so-called metropolitan paper that sent birthday greetings to a pitcher for the hometown professional team. But then I recalled that the Post-Dispatch is famous for the cheerleading it does when it comes to the Cardinals. I plan to start researching who it was in the sports department of the Post-Dispatch that wished Garcia a happy birthday. Until I find out for sure, I'm pinning the blame on sports columnist Bernie Miklasz, a clown who is the most ridiculous Cardinals cheerleader on the Post-Dispatch staff.

Bernie Miklasz

Joe Maddon Is Already My Manager Of the Year

By RON MALY

Major league baseball's 2015 season is about halfway finished. Next week's all-star game is 

Joe Maddon

supposed to be the mid-point, but by that time the teams will have played more than half of their schedules. That includes the Chicago Cubs, who are still fielding a team. And a pretty good team, if I say so myself. The Cubs, who are usually gasping for air  and trading their players to contending teams at this part of the season, are actually 8 games above .500 while sitting in third place in the Central Division of the National League standings. If they continue playing the way they are now, they might actually make a wild-card appearance in the postseason playoffs. The players are certainly not the reason for the Cubs' success.  Well, certainly guys like Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant have done their share of situational hitting, but they are not The Story. All of the credit goes to Joe Maddon, the Cubs' first-year manager. There is no one in the Cubs' lineup who is hitting .300, the team doesn't get many hits or score many runs, and Jon Lester--who signed a $155 million contract to pitch for Chicago this season--has won 4 games. In their last two games, the Cubs had four hits and three hits, and won both times. In Sunday's game, they had one hit while leading the Florida Marlins, 1-0, in the eighth inning. They eventually won, 2-0. What I'm saying is that the Cubs' Joe Maddon is already my Manager of the Year. Not in just the National League, but in all of baseball. I know the Manager of the Year award isn't supposed to be presented until next November or December, but in my book he has a stranglehold on the prize. How Maddon, who performed his magic act at Tampa Bay in the American League before signing on the with the Cubs prior to this season,  keeps pushing the right buttons I don't know. All I hope is that he keeps it up. And that he wins a game or two from the Cardinals one of these nights.