 |
| David Price |
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
I have decided that, when I grow up, I am going to become a major league baseball pitcher. I made that decision tonight after learning that 30-year-old David Price has agreed to sign a 7-year contract with the Boston Red Sox that will pay him $217 million. Many of you may consider that an obscene amount of money to be paid to a man for simply throwing a ball. Not me. I'm calling my travel agent right now, looking for the first flight available to Arizona so I can work on my curveball.
When Coach Maury John and His Drake Basketball Teams Were Enjoying Their Glory Years At Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Talented Organist Bill Henderson Pepped Up the Place With 'Three Blind Mice' and Other Famous Music
By RON MALY
My condolences to the family of Bill Henderson, whose funeral will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Grace Lutheran Church, 3010 52nd Street in Des Moines.
Bill died on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 85.
He was a talented musician who entertained fans as an organist at Veterans Memorial Auditorium when Drake basketball games were played there.
Maury John was the best basketball coach the university ever had.
He was in charge of the Bulldogs' program from the 1958-59 season through the 1970-71 season, coaching his 1968-69 team to the Final Four and taking his squads to three straight NCAA tournaments.
It was Maury John who arranged for organist Bill Henderson to perform at games in the Auditorium.
The organ music was in addition to music provided by the Drake pep band, giving atmosphere at the arena a big-city feel when Drake basketball was in its heyday during the Maury John coaching era.
Henderson always had fun with the fans, the coaches and the players.
John loved it.
The savvy coach, of course, was looking for any home-court advantage he could get in the 14,000-seat arena.
Henderson had fun with the fans and the teams.
The officials? Well, Bill had fun, the zebras probably not.
When Henderson thought the officials gave Drake a bad call, he'd play "Three Blind Mice" on the organ.
Henderson's obituary, provided by Hamilton’s Funeral Home, 605 Lyon Street in Des Moines, said he played the organ for 25 years at the Auditorium., meaning he continued performing after Maury John left Drake following the 1970-71 season.
John took the Iowa State job prior to the 1971-72 season, and persuaded Henderson to be the organist at Hilton Coliseum, which had just opened.
John was able to coach at Iowa State for only two full seasons and part of a third. He developed inoperable cancer in his third year, and died shortly thereafter.
With John's passing came the end of the organ music at Hilton Coliseum.
Henderson's obituary said he skillfully played a number of musical instruments including piano, trombone and tuba in addition to the organ for the Des Moines Symphony, Maple Street Jazz Band, and Veterans Band. Bill was a lifetime member of the Des Moines Musician’s Union.
My condolences to the family of Bill Henderson, whose funeral will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Grace Lutheran Church, 3010 52nd Street in Des Moines.
 | ||
| Bill Henderson. Courtesy of Hamilton's | . |
Bill died on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 85.
He was a talented musician who entertained fans as an organist at Veterans Memorial Auditorium when Drake basketball games were played there.
Maury John was the best basketball coach the university ever had.
He was in charge of the Bulldogs' program from the 1958-59 season through the 1970-71 season, coaching his 1968-69 team to the Final Four and taking his squads to three straight NCAA tournaments.
It was Maury John who arranged for organist Bill Henderson to perform at games in the Auditorium.
The organ music was in addition to music provided by the Drake pep band, giving atmosphere at the arena a big-city feel when Drake basketball was in its heyday during the Maury John coaching era.
Henderson always had fun with the fans, the coaches and the players.
John loved it.
The savvy coach, of course, was looking for any home-court advantage he could get in the 14,000-seat arena.
Henderson had fun with the fans and the teams.
The officials? Well, Bill had fun, the zebras probably not.
When Henderson thought the officials gave Drake a bad call, he'd play "Three Blind Mice" on the organ.
Henderson's obituary, provided by Hamilton’s Funeral Home, 605 Lyon Street in Des Moines, said he played the organ for 25 years at the Auditorium., meaning he continued performing after Maury John left Drake following the 1970-71 season.
John took the Iowa State job prior to the 1971-72 season, and persuaded Henderson to be the organist at Hilton Coliseum, which had just opened.
John was able to coach at Iowa State for only two full seasons and part of a third. He developed inoperable cancer in his third year, and died shortly thereafter.
With John's passing came the end of the organ music at Hilton Coliseum.
Henderson's obituary said he skillfully played a number of musical instruments including piano, trombone and tuba in addition to the organ for the Des Moines Symphony, Maple Street Jazz Band, and Veterans Band. Bill was a lifetime member of the Des Moines Musician’s Union.
Bill Dwyre, who got his start in the newspaper business as a sports copy editor at the Des Moines Register, has retired from his job as a sports columnist at the Los Angeles Times. Dwyre was a longtime sports editor at the Times before writing columns. I worked with Bill in his years at the Register. He's a good guy, and did wonderful work wherever he was employed.
 |
| Bill Dwyre |
Iowa, Memphis, Providence and Virginia headline the eight-team field for the 2016 Emerald Coast Classic basketball tournament. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Savannah State and St. Francis Brooklyn also are playing in the tournament with one more team to be announced within the next month. Iowa, Providence and Virginia competed in the 2015 NCAA tournament, with Iowa and Virginia advancing to the third round. First and second-round games will be played at on-campus sites Nov. 12 through Nov. 23, with the third round and championship round scheduled Thanksgiving weekend Nov. 25-26 at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla. Iowa State captured the 2015 Emerald Coast Classic title by beating Illinois, 84-73, in the championship last Saturday.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Holy Toledo! 36-Year-Old Matt Campbell Will Be Paid $2 Million In His First Season As Iowa State's New Football Coach. I Just Hope He's a Better Fit With the Cyclones Than Frank Lauterbur Was When He Came To Iowa In the 1970s After Winning 23 Straight Games At Toledo. Lauterbur's 3-Year Record With the Hawkeyes Was 4-28-1 and the Lousy Defenses Designed for Him By Assistant Coach Ducky Lewis Set Major-College Football Back By At Least a Half-Century
By RON MALY
Whenever anything happens in or about Toledo, Ohio, a few people usually want to shout or simply say, "Holy Toledo!"
All right then.
On with business.
Holy Toledo! Matt Campbell is Iowa State's new football coach.
And Holy Toledo! He's going to be paid $2 million in his first year on the job.
“I couldn’t be more excited to receive the opportunity to coach at Iowa
State,” said Campbell, who is leaving a successful stint at the University of Toledo to coach the Cyclones.
“Two years ago after we played the Cyclones in Ames, I called my wife [Erica] and said you simply would not believe this place. Their fans, the game-day environment and facilities are all incredible.
"I could see us living in Ames and me coaching the Cyclones some day. My family and I are truly humbled.”
Campbell is 36 years of age--meaning he is one of the youngest collegiate head football coaches in America.
I'm sure he is an eager young man.
I'm sure he welcomes challenges.
It's good to be 36 and eager.
He'll have plenty of challenges as Iowa State's coach.
He will be paid well to meet those challenges head-on.
Iowa State said Campbell agreed to a six-year contract with a first-year salary of $2 million.
His 36th birthday is today. Nice birthday gift, that $2 million first-year salary.
“Matt’s coaching and playing achievements are extraordinary, but we were even more impressed by his character, leadership and commitment to his family,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Matt, Erica and their children to the Cyclone family. We are truly blessed to have one of the industry’s rising stars leading our football program.”
I refrain from predicting success in the Big 12 Conference for a coach--Campbell or any other coach--from the Mid-American Conference.
But I wish the new man in Ames the best.
He is in a league in which it is very difficult for a football program like Iowa State to succeed-- whether the coach is a young man or a man not-so-young.
In my working years, I closely observed Iowa State coaches such as Clay Stapleton, Johnny Majors, Earle Bruce, Donnie Duncan, Jim Criner, Jim Walden and Dan McCarney.
None had it easy.
Some left the Cyclone job on their own terms.
Some didn't.
Campbell, whose team handed Iowa State one of its nine losses in the just-concluded 2015 season.
Toledo officials were well aware that Campbell would be in high demand by athletic directors elsewhere, and the Mid-American Conference university tried hard to keep him.
But Toledo's efforts failed, the Toledo Blade reported. The newspaper was among the first to report that Campbell agreed to become the successor to the fired Paul Rhoads at Iowa State.
Reports surfaced that Toledo had offered Campbell a contract that would've made him the highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference. He earned $495,000 this year.
"We think very highly of Matt Campbell and have made him a very generous ffer to keep him as our head football coach," news sources quoted Toledo athletic director Mike O'Brien.
On Sept. 19, Campbell's Toledo team defeated Iowa State, 30-23, in double overtime at Toledo, Ohio.
Reports say Iowa State will pay a $200,000 buyout to bring Campbell on board. Campbell had a 35-15 record in four seasons at Toledo after taking over for Tim Beckman in 2011.
Campbell perhaps agreed to terms with Iowa State even before the fired Paul Rhoads finished a 3-9 season at Iowa State with a 30-6 loss Saturday at West Virginia. Rhoads was paid $2.2 million this year at Iowa State.
I hope Campbell fares better at Iowa State than another former Toledo coach--Frank
Lauterbur--did at Iowa in the 1970s.
Lauterbur, who won his final 23 games and had a 48-32-2 record from 1963-1970 at Toledo, was hired as Iowa's 22nd head coach prior to the 1971 season.
I got to know Lauterbur well, and regarded him as a good friend.
Unfortunately, his success at Toledo didn't follow him to Iowa.
Lauterbur lasted just three seasons in Iowa City.
His first Hawkeye team had a 1-10 record, his second was 3-7-1, his third was 0-11.
That 1973 season was nightmarish for lots of folks, including me. I was writing plenty about the Hawkeyes in those years [when Iowa went through 19 consecutive seasons of non-winning football].
Wikipedia described Lauterbur's final season at Iowa this way:
"The 1973 season was a disaster. Iowa finished with the worst record in school history. The Hawkeyes lost all 11 games to finish the year 0–11. The only other winless season in Iowa history occurred in 1889, [the university's] inaugural campaign, when the Hawkeyes lost the only game they scheduled that year.
"Despite the 0–11 record, Lauterbur had two years left on a five-year
contract, and then-athletic director Bump Elliott considered retaining him. Iowa fans were unhappy
with Lauterbur, obviously, but they were more unhappy with defensive
coordinator Don "Ducky" Lewis.
"Lewis' defensive units, so spectacular at Toledo, were horrible at Iowa. In 1973, Iowa yielded 401 points on the season, the most in school history. In addition, Lewis was notoriously profane in public, which embarrassed and appalled several fans. That might be tolerated if Iowa was winning, but not at 0–11.
"Elliott approached Lauterbur about firing Lewis as defensive coordinator. Lauterbur refused, stating that he had to have full control of his staff and that it was his right, not Elliott's, to hire and fire assistant coaches.
"Elliott agreed, but then reminded Lauterbur that it was his right, as athletic director, to hire and fire head football coaches by relieving him of his duties as Iowa head coach.
"Lauterbur's loyalty to his assistant backfired, as now Lauterbur and Lewis were both out of a job. Ron Maly, a reporter for the Des Moines Register, wrote, "On the day he was fired, Lauterbur held an umbrella over my head so he could protect the notepad I was using from the rain that was falling near the stadium. He was a good guy, but Iowa clearly was not the right place for him."
ABOUT MATT CAMPBELL
Record as Head Coach
2011 Toledo 1-0 Military Bowl Champions
2012 Toledo 9-4 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
2013 Toledo 7-5
2014 Toledo 9-4 GoDaddy Bowl Champions
2015 Toledo 9-2 TBA
Coaching Experience
Bowling Green, Graduate Assistant, 2003-04
Mount Union, Offensive Coordinator, 2005-06
Bowling Green, Assistant Coach, 2007-08
Toledo, Run Game Coordinator, 2009 & Offensive Coordinator, 2010-11
Toledo, Head Coach, 2012-15
Bowl Games As Coach
Bowling Green, 2003 Motor City Bowl
Bowling Green, 2004 GMAC Bowl
Bowling Green, 2007 GMAC Bowl
Toledo, 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
Toledo, 2011 Military Bowl
Toledo, 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Toledo, 2015 GoDaddy Bowl (’14 season)
National Championships (Division III)
Mount Union (player), 2000-2001-2002
Mount Union (offensive coordinator), 2005-2006
[Source Iowa State University]
Whenever anything happens in or about Toledo, Ohio, a few people usually want to shout or simply say, "Holy Toledo!"
All right then.
On with business.
Holy Toledo! Matt Campbell is Iowa State's new football coach.
And Holy Toledo! He's going to be paid $2 million in his first year on the job.
 |
| Matt Campbell |
“Two years ago after we played the Cyclones in Ames, I called my wife [Erica] and said you simply would not believe this place. Their fans, the game-day environment and facilities are all incredible.
"I could see us living in Ames and me coaching the Cyclones some day. My family and I are truly humbled.”
I'm sure he is an eager young man.
I'm sure he welcomes challenges.
It's good to be 36 and eager.
He'll have plenty of challenges as Iowa State's coach.
He will be paid well to meet those challenges head-on.
Iowa State said Campbell agreed to a six-year contract with a first-year salary of $2 million.
His 36th birthday is today. Nice birthday gift, that $2 million first-year salary.
“Matt’s coaching and playing achievements are extraordinary, but we were even more impressed by his character, leadership and commitment to his family,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Matt, Erica and their children to the Cyclone family. We are truly blessed to have one of the industry’s rising stars leading our football program.”
I refrain from predicting success in the Big 12 Conference for a coach--Campbell or any other coach--from the Mid-American Conference.
But I wish the new man in Ames the best.
He is in a league in which it is very difficult for a football program like Iowa State to succeed-- whether the coach is a young man or a man not-so-young.
In my working years, I closely observed Iowa State coaches such as Clay Stapleton, Johnny Majors, Earle Bruce, Donnie Duncan, Jim Criner, Jim Walden and Dan McCarney.
None had it easy.
Some left the Cyclone job on their own terms.
Some didn't.
Campbell, whose team handed Iowa State one of its nine losses in the just-concluded 2015 season.
Toledo officials were well aware that Campbell would be in high demand by athletic directors elsewhere, and the Mid-American Conference university tried hard to keep him.
But Toledo's efforts failed, the Toledo Blade reported. The newspaper was among the first to report that Campbell agreed to become the successor to the fired Paul Rhoads at Iowa State.
Reports surfaced that Toledo had offered Campbell a contract that would've made him the highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference. He earned $495,000 this year.
"We think very highly of Matt Campbell and have made him a very generous ffer to keep him as our head football coach," news sources quoted Toledo athletic director Mike O'Brien.
On Sept. 19, Campbell's Toledo team defeated Iowa State, 30-23, in double overtime at Toledo, Ohio.
Reports say Iowa State will pay a $200,000 buyout to bring Campbell on board. Campbell had a 35-15 record in four seasons at Toledo after taking over for Tim Beckman in 2011.
Campbell perhaps agreed to terms with Iowa State even before the fired Paul Rhoads finished a 3-9 season at Iowa State with a 30-6 loss Saturday at West Virginia. Rhoads was paid $2.2 million this year at Iowa State.
I hope Campbell fares better at Iowa State than another former Toledo coach--Frank
 |
| Frank Lauterbur |
Lauterbur, who won his final 23 games and had a 48-32-2 record from 1963-1970 at Toledo, was hired as Iowa's 22nd head coach prior to the 1971 season.
I got to know Lauterbur well, and regarded him as a good friend.
Unfortunately, his success at Toledo didn't follow him to Iowa.
Lauterbur lasted just three seasons in Iowa City.
His first Hawkeye team had a 1-10 record, his second was 3-7-1, his third was 0-11.
That 1973 season was nightmarish for lots of folks, including me. I was writing plenty about the Hawkeyes in those years [when Iowa went through 19 consecutive seasons of non-winning football].
Wikipedia described Lauterbur's final season at Iowa this way:
"The 1973 season was a disaster. Iowa finished with the worst record in school history. The Hawkeyes lost all 11 games to finish the year 0–11. The only other winless season in Iowa history occurred in 1889, [the university's] inaugural campaign, when the Hawkeyes lost the only game they scheduled that year.
 |
| Ducky Lewis |
"Lewis' defensive units, so spectacular at Toledo, were horrible at Iowa. In 1973, Iowa yielded 401 points on the season, the most in school history. In addition, Lewis was notoriously profane in public, which embarrassed and appalled several fans. That might be tolerated if Iowa was winning, but not at 0–11.
"Elliott approached Lauterbur about firing Lewis as defensive coordinator. Lauterbur refused, stating that he had to have full control of his staff and that it was his right, not Elliott's, to hire and fire assistant coaches.
"Elliott agreed, but then reminded Lauterbur that it was his right, as athletic director, to hire and fire head football coaches by relieving him of his duties as Iowa head coach.
"Lauterbur's loyalty to his assistant backfired, as now Lauterbur and Lewis were both out of a job. Ron Maly, a reporter for the Des Moines Register, wrote, "On the day he was fired, Lauterbur held an umbrella over my head so he could protect the notepad I was using from the rain that was falling near the stadium. He was a good guy, but Iowa clearly was not the right place for him."
ABOUT MATT CAMPBELL
Record as Head Coach
2011 Toledo 1-0 Military Bowl Champions
2012 Toledo 9-4 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
2013 Toledo 7-5
2014 Toledo 9-4 GoDaddy Bowl Champions
2015 Toledo 9-2 TBA
Coaching Experience
Bowling Green, Graduate Assistant, 2003-04
Mount Union, Offensive Coordinator, 2005-06
Bowling Green, Assistant Coach, 2007-08
Toledo, Run Game Coordinator, 2009 & Offensive Coordinator, 2010-11
Toledo, Head Coach, 2012-15
Bowl Games As Coach
Bowling Green, 2003 Motor City Bowl
Bowling Green, 2004 GMAC Bowl
Bowling Green, 2007 GMAC Bowl
Toledo, 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
Toledo, 2011 Military Bowl
Toledo, 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Toledo, 2015 GoDaddy Bowl (’14 season)
National Championships (Division III)
Mount Union (player), 2000-2001-2002
Mount Union (offensive coordinator), 2005-2006
[Source Iowa State University]
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Just as I expected, Michigan State became the team that will tee it up against Iowa next Saturday night at Indianapolis in the Big Ten Conference's championship football game. The Spartans rolled past Penn State, 55-16, today at East Lansing, Mich. Connor Cook, showing no effects from a shoulder injury, fired three touchdown passes while connecting on 19 completions in 26 attempts for 248 yards. It was such a breeze for Michigan State that starting center Jack Allen lined up in the backfield in the last quarter and ran for a 9-yard touchdown.
 |
| Michigan State celebrates. Photo courtesy of the Lansing State Journal |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)