maly, too

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

UNI Women Picked 3rd, Drake 4th

Drake's women's basketball team was picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll, the conference office announced Wednesday prior to the start of the league’s tipoff event on the campus of league newcomer Loyola of Chicago.

A year removed from having one of the youngest rosters in the conference, second-year Drake coach Jennie Baranczyk has nine players back with significant experience. Seven of the nine returnees started at least nine games for the Bulldogs.

Indiana State, which received 26 out of 40 first-place votes and 378 total points, was tabbed as the preseason favorite by the league's coaches, sports information directors and reporters.. Wichita State, which captured its first-ever regular season and Valley tournament championships in 2012-13, is second with 13 first-place votes and 360 points. Northern Iowa garnered 259 points for third place in front of the Bulldogs, who tallied 221 points.

Drake junior guard Kyndal Clark was named to the Valley's preseason all-conference team. Clark averaged a team-leading 14.6 points per game last season and was named to the all-MVC second team and all-defensive team. Alex Harden of Wichita State, Simone Law of Loyola, Cartaesha Macklin of Southern Illinois and Anna Munn of Indiana State round out the preseason all-conference squad. Harden is tabbed the preseason Player of the Year.

Bulldog fans will have the opportunity to check out the 2013-14 Drake squad when it hosts its lone exhibition game Friday against Dubuque at 7:05 p.m. The Bulldogs open regular season action one week later when former MVC-rival Creighton visits the Knapp Center Nov. 8 at 7:05 p.m.

--John Meyer, Drake sports information

For Sale At a Book Store Or Web Page Near You

The second updated edition of Ron Maly's best-selling book, Tales from the Iowa Hawkeyes Sideline, is now available at Amazon, www.amazon.com/Tales-Iowa-Hawkeyes-Sideline-Collection/dp/1613213387, Barnes & Noble.com, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tales-from-the-iowa-hawkeyes-sideline-ron-maly/1115409291?ean=9781613213384, eBay, www.ebay.com/ctg/Tales-Iowa-Hawkeyes-Sideline-Collection-Greatest-Hawkeyes-Stories-Ever-Told-Ron-Maly-2013-Hardcover-/150604712, Barnes & Noble and other leading book stores everywhere. The book, originally published in 2003, chronicles the proud football tradition at the University of Iowa. Ron had just as much fun writing the third edition of the book as he did the first two, both of which were best-sellers. You will enjoy reading about such high-profile Hawkeyes as 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick, Alex Karras, Randy Duncan and Bill Reichardt, plus coaches Howard Jones, Dr. Eddie Anderson, Forest Evashevski, Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz. Questions? Contact Ron Maly on Facebook or at ronmalybook@juno.com

Idiotic

By RON MALY

On one of my other websites, I point out another reason for the circulation freefall at the paper. There was some garbage on page 2 of the Sunday opinion section this week that was critical of the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Valley High

School of West Des Moines because of the Tigers' recent 88-0 football victory over Thomas Jefferson of Council Bluffs. All of my kids are Valley graduates, and I have grandchildren there now. I have a grandson who is a member of the Tigers' outstanding football team. I have no time for the idiotic "thistle" aimed at Valley because of its superior football facilities and its 2013 team. For years, a strange resentment and jealousy of Valley and its academic and athletic facilities has existed at the paper--to the point where coverage of the Tigers' games has consisted of one or two paragraphs, even when the team has been winning state championships under coach Gary Swenson. In my opinion, Valley is the best high school in the state and one of the best in the midwest. No one at the school should have to apologize for an 88-0 football victory. Instead of pointing thistles at Valley, the paper should be wondering what the hell is wrong with the football programs inside the city of Des Moines. The Des Moines schools are so bad in football that I think it's a waste of time for Valley, Dowling and the other suburban teams to play them. Here's some of what I wrote in the column on the other website: "What the paper should be more concerned about than 88-0 high school scores is what to do with programs in its own backyard. By that, I mean the lousy football being played at Des Moines schools such as North, Lincoln, Hoover, East and Roosevelt. Those programs are embarrassing. The best football in the state is being played in the suburbs--at Dowling, Valley, Southeast Polk, Urbandale and Johnston. I'd rather see a league made up of those schools, along with Ames and Indianola. As far as I'm concerned, you can forget the teams in Council Bluffs and Sioux City." By the way, I hope Valley wins tonight's class 4-A playoff game, 88-0, and that no one on either team is injured.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Roy Says It

Roy Of Ruthven writes to me about Iowa's victory over Northwestern:

"Ronnie, football has always been, and always will be, a game of momentum AND emotion, adrenalin etc.! (Blocking, tackling, coaching yada yada yada!) We fans may have been too complacent on our old derrieres for sixty regulation minutes, but my oh my, when it came to over time we all sure as hell woke up â€“ might have been the loudest I have ever heard the crowd in legendary, historic!:) Kinnick Stadium. (Sure, we coulda, shoulda, woulda in regulation but, especially with this team, a W is a W is a W ...Maybe we end up in a lower tier bowl yet! Especially if they ever learn to play FOUR quarters...in the same game!:) Sure glad we stayed until the end! Don't ever give up, or something like that!!!"

--Roy Of Ruthven

[RON MALY'S COMMENT--You said it, Roy].

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Keeping My iPad Mini Battery Charged

By RON MALY

My neighbor Al, the health nut, rang the doorbell at 8 o'clock this morning.

I was wearing just my boxer shorts at that time of day, of course.

"You got a cup of Dark Roast?" Al asked.

"It's that kind of morning, I guess," I said to Al.

"Yeah," he answered, "I've already been to Hy-Vee to read the morning paper, but that was worthless."

"Why was it worthless, Al?" I asked.

"Because I wanted to see who Valley plays in the first round of the high school playoffs, and there wasn't anything in the paper about it," Al explained. "No playoff matchups at all."

"Does that surprise you?" I asked. "They've got early deadlines down there now, you know."

"No, I didn't know that," Al said. "All I know is that I drove all the way to Sioux City last night to see Valley pulverize Sioux City East, 42-7, and I expected to be able to find out who the Tigers are matched up against in the playoffs Wednesday night."

"They play Sioux City North at Valley Stadium," I told Al. "I saw it on my iPad mini this morning, courtesy of the KMA in Shenandoah website. The way the pairings look to me, Valley would play Johnston in the second round, Ames in the next round and Dowling after that."

"Don't assume too much," Al said.

"I'm not," I said. "All I'm assuming is that Valley is playing its best football of the season right now, and if they can keep it up, I think they can make it to the UNI-Dome for at least the semifinal round."

"We'll see," said Al, a longtime Valley fan. "Keep the battery to your iPad mini charged up."

Saturday, October 19, 2013

88-0 No Doubt Even Embarrassed Ol' Thomas Jefferson Himself

My son drove his family to Council Bluffs last night, and kept me updated via his cell phone and mine with how Valley's football team was

Thomas Jefferson

doing in its game against Thomas Jefferson High School of Council Bluffs. I couldn't believe it when he said the Tigers were ahead, 67-0, at halftime. And I was virtually speechless when I heard that the final score was 88-0. Hey, that was an embarrassment to even old Thomas Jefferson himself. Or at least the memory of ol' Thomas. Eighty-eight to zip! I'm wondering if it isn't time for those folks at the Council Bluffs schools to quit kidding themselves into thinking their athletic teams can compete against the squads from suburban Des Moines. Indeed, I'm wondering how long the schools from Des Moines will want to keep playing the Dowlings, Valleys, Waukees, Johnstons, Urbandales and Southeast Polks of the world. Frankly, Hoover, North, Roosevelt and East can no longer hang in there on the football field with the heavily-populated suburbs in sports and a lot of other things. I wonder what Thomas Jefferson would think about all of this. Thomas Jefferson, the man. Not the school.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Future Hawkeye Football Schedules

The Big Ten office announced the conference football schedules for the 2018 and 2019 seasons today, as approved by the Big Ten Directors of Athletics. The schedules continue to include nine conference games, as Iowa will host four Big Ten games in 2018 and five league games in 2019.

Along with playing the six members of the West Division in both seasons, Iowa will meet East Division opponents Indiana, Maryland and Penn State in 2018 and Rutgers, Michigan and Penn State in 2019.

Beginning next season, the Big Ten football division alignments will feature Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers in the East Division. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin will represent the West Division.

Iowa’s home slate in 2018 includes home trophy games against Wisconsin (Heartland Trophy, Sept. 22) and Nebraska (Heroes Game, Nov. 23). Iowa and the Cornhuskers will continue to play on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, in both 2018 and 2019. Additional home conference games include Maryland (Oct. 20) and Northwestern (Nov. 10).

The Iowa road schedule in 2018 includes games at Minnesota (Oct. 6), Indiana (Oct. 13), Penn State (Oct. 27), Purdue (Nov. 3) and Illinois (Nov. 17).

The Hawkeyes get an early jump on conference play in 2019, as Iowa hosts Rutgers on Sept. 7, the second weekend of the season. Iowa resumes Big Ten play at Michigan on Oct. 5. Additional home games are against Penn State (Oct. 12), Purdue (Oct. 19), Minnesota (Nov. 16) and Illinois (Nov. 23).

Iowa closes the 2019 regular season with the Heroes Game at Nebraska on Friday, Nov. 29. Iowa also travels to Northwestern (Oct. 26) and Wisconsin (Nov. 9).

Iowa will announce its 2018 and 2019 non-conference schedules when all opponents and dates are finalized.

Here are Iowa’s Big Ten football schedules for both 2018 and 2019:

2018

Sept. 22 Wisconsin*

Oct. 6 at Minnesota*

Oct. 13 at Indiana

Oct. 20 Maryland

Oct. 27 at Penn State

Nov. 3 at Purdue*

Nov. 10 Northwestern*

Nov. 17 at Illinois*

Nov. 23 Nebraska*

2019

Sept. 7 Rutgers

Oct. 5 at Michigan

Oct. 12 Penn State

Oct. 19 Purdue*

Oct. 26 at Northwestern*

Nov. 9 at Wisconsin*

Nov. 16 Minnesota*

Nov. 23 Illinois*

Nov. 29 at Nebraska*

* - - Divisional game

--Steve Roe, Iowa sorts information.

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.