maly, too

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Some Very Good News

By RON MALY

You know me.

Always looking for something positive to write.

And, after researching some future collegiate football schedules, I think I've found something to be optimistic about.

We all know that Ohio State is the new national champion.

We all know the Buckeyes have better players on their roster than most NFL teams.

We all know Ohio State's Urban Meyer is the best coach on the planet.

So here's the good news: Iowa won't have to play Ohio State next season or the season after that.

Indeed, the Buckeyes are on the Hawkeyes' schedule only once in the next five seasons--and that game is Nov. 4, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

Then Ohio State drops off Iowa's schedule again at least the next two years.

Hey, that Iowa-Ohio State game in 2017 is a long way away.

So the Hawkeyes won't have to tee it up against God's gift to football for quite some time.

Heck, maybe Urban Meyer won't even be coaching Ohio State in 2017.

For that matter, who knows if Kirk Ferentz will be coaching Iowa by that time.

I hope he is, but anything could happen.

Kirk might decide to be a success doing something else.

In 2017, Urban Meyer may be coaching in the NFL.

If he is, you know his team will be best in the league, and he'll be the best coach in the league.

I guess it wouldn't surprise me if Meyer if commissioner of the NFL, or owns all of the teams by 2017.

All I know for certain is, after watching this week's national championship collegiate game in which Ohio State crushed Oregon, 42-20, I'm glad Iowa doesn't play the Buckeyes until Nov. 4, 2017.

Monday, January 12, 2015

On With The Show

Valley High School put its spectacular show choir and jazz choir groups on display for family and friends tonight in the Performing Arts Center on the school's West Des Moines

campus, and it was thumbs-up all the way. Valley will join show choirs and jazz choirs from many other high schools Saturday at Waukee in the first competition of the season.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

No. 1-Ranked Valley Girls Win In Overtime, 88-81

‏@ValleyGirlsBB

[Tweet from Valley Girls Basketball:]

Our ladies continue to find ways to WIN! 88-81 victory over Xavier [of Cedar Rapids] in OT. Role players stepped up in big moments to secure the TEAM WIN

[The victory at the Bill Coldiron Fieldhouse on Valley's campus improved the No. 1-ranked Tigers' record to 11-0.]

Friday, January 9, 2015

The day is too cold and too crappy to spend any time wondering what the hell is the meaning of that sports page headline saying THEIR BANE REMAINS, and why Bryce Miller [whose last day was supposed to be Nov. 21] is still showing up in the paper.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

'I Coach Such Amazing Young Ladies,' Tweets Valley's Joe Sigrist

By RON MALY

I didn't make it to Valley's boys'/girls' basketball doubleheader last night at Waukee. But my son and his family were on hand for the games, and I received texts throughout the night with scores of the games. I was particularly interested in the girls' game because it was a matchup of a Waukee team that was ranked No. 1 among the state's class 5-A squads, and a Valley team that was No. 2. Valley won, 72-66, which means the Tigers will be No. 1 in the next rankings. Coach Joe Sigrist's Tigers have a 9-0 record as they try to make a second consecutive trip to the state tournament. The 2013-2014 team lost to Southeast Polk in the opening round at Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines. Sigrist has done a wonderful job of pumping life into Valley's girls' program. After my son texted me with the final score last night at Waukee, I tweeted Sigrist with my congratulations, and he sent a return tweet a while later. It'll be fun seeing if the Tigers, who again don't have much size but make up for it with a lot of wire-to-wire scrappy play, can continue winning at their present pace. Waukee will certainly not go away anytime soon. The Warriors will be factors the rest of the season, and so will Dowling. In other words, there's a long way to go until the state 5-A tournament in March.

Ronald Wesley Maly @WesleyVaclav

@JOhioSigrist Tremendous win tonight at Waukee, Joe! The Tigers are headed to the top of the state rankings. Keep up the great work. - 07 Jan

Josef Sigrist @JOhioSigrist

@WesleyVaclav It was an AWESOME environment! I coach such amazing young ladies... My job is so fun! Thank you for the kind words.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Jim Leiser, His Cushman Motor Scooter, the Drive-In Theater

Jim Leiser of Iowa City, a friend from my high school days in Cedar Rapids, died recently in Las Vegas. Here's what I wrote to his widow, Janet, and her family in the memories section in connection with his obituary at an Iowa City funeral home:
I was very sorry to learn of Jim's death. He and I were classmates many years ago at Wilson High School in Cedar Rapids.

Both of us were in the 1953 graduating class. If memory serves me correctly, I piloted Jim's Cushman motor scooter around the block a time or two without,incident during our years at Wilson. Jim was among the fortunate few in our class who was able to afford a motor scooter, and it was nice of him to trust me as the occasional driver of the Cushman. I'm dating myself with this comment, but I also think I was among the passengers in a car owned by Jim that attempted to sneak into the drive-in theater on the westside of Cedar Rapids back in the days when there were still drive-in movie theaters. Unfortunately, our endeavor didn't work out the way we had it planned. A security guy at the drive-in caught us before we got into the theater, and instructed us to go home--or at least go somewhere far away from the drive-in. Those were the days! I believe I also remember Jim's wife, the former Janet Dumond. I think she and I were classmates at Lincoln Elementary School at 18th Avenue and 9th Street in Cedar Rapids. Correct me if I'm wrong about that, Janet. Also, of course, Janet and I were classmates at Wilson. My best to Janet and everyone else in Jim's family. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. * Jim's obituary, courtesy of the Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City:

James E. "Big Jim" Leiser, 79, of Iowa City, died unexpectedly, Tuesday, December 9, 2014, in Las Vegas, NV.

Jim Leiser

Jim was born July 25, 1935, in Sumner, Iowa, the son of Joseph and Beverly (House) Leiser. His family moved to Cedar Rapids where he graduated from Wilson High School.

On August 23, 1953, he was united in marriage to Janet M. Dumond.

The couple lived in Cedar Rapids until moving to Iowa City in 1966. For the past 15 years, Jim and Janet wintered in Arizona.

Jim enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he proudly served his country during the Korean War.

He was the first of three generations serving in the Marine Corps. Himself in Korea; his son, James E. Leiser Jr. during the Vietnam War and his grandson, Wesley J. Leiser during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Jim was a proud member of the local 125 Plumbers Union as a Master Plumber, retiring in 1991. He was a member of the American Legion, VFW, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. As an avid swimmer, he competed in the Veterans Golden Age Games.

He was a proud Marine who had a wonderful sense of humor and a generous heart.

His family includes his wife of 61 ½ years, Janet; children, James Leiser Jr. (Sue) of Cedar Rapids; Lynn Martin (Mitch) and Lisa Leiser-Lovetinsky (Dale) all of Iowa City; five grandchildren, Wesley Leiser (Dawn) of Anamosa, Amy Leiser-Vega (Jay McCary) of Cedar Rapids, Chris Martin (Jenny), and Kelly Martin (Jon Flickinger), both of North Liberty and Joseph Rundlett (Anna Leavy) of West Branch; 9 great-grandchildren, 1 great-great grandson, a sister, Elaine Hayes (Larry) of Overland, Kansas; and longtime family friends Gizz Blakley and Jim and Karen Tucker all of Iowa City.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

COPD & Dying

By RON MALY

This doesn't come as any news to me, but I thought I'd pass it along to My Neighbor Al, the Health Nut and everyone else. The

Cleveland Clinic says approximately 80 percent of COPD deaths are caused by smoking. Just to make you aware, My Neighbor Al, the Health Nut used to smoke, but quit many years ago. He doesn't have COPD, but I know some people who do. Most of them are on oxygen 24/7. It certainly doesn't look like a fun disease, especially when I see those commercials advertising some sort of medication that might help their lungs [pictured] function better. There's always an elephant sitting in the room, sometimes on a guy's chest. Not a pretty sight. Please quit smoking if you haven't already done so.

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.