'Great Educational Environment In West Des Moines'

I'm here to tell you about yet another national honor for the city of West Des Moines--more specifically, the schools in West Des Moines.

I heard about the honor the other day while attending the farmers' market in Valley Junction. While I was buying a few cucumbers and radishes, a guy asked if I was aware of the honor.

"I haven't seen anything in the paper about it," the guy said. "Of course, I don't subscribe to the paper, and I read it very infrequently. I used to see it in the barber shop, but the barber--like everyone else these days--canceled his subscription."

"No problem, I said. "If the story was about West Des Moines, it  no doubt wouldn't have been in the paper anyway. West Des Moines and the schools there--especially Valley High School--are things the paper loves to hate.  Lots of jealousy and hate in the newsroom at that paper, starting with the opinion pages and continuing on throughout every other department.

"If Valley High School and its football stadium were  in downtown Des Moines, and if condos and apartments were being built in the end zone, the paper would be all over the story."

Anyway, I checked the Internet and found the story to which the guy was referring. Here it is:

"One of the first things people tend to ask when deciding where to move is 'How are the schools?' If you’re starting a family, already have one, or are a student yourself, that’s a pretty valid question.

"It’s also true that good schools increase your property value over time. But not everyone wants to live in a huge city with tons of schools, so where can the more peaceful sort go that still offers good education options?

"As it turns out, there are a lot of places for people like those. The Movoto Real Estate Blog noticed that there were so many, it only seemed natural to rank them by how good their schools were. So we put on our thinking caps and studied hard to get this top 10 list of the best small cities for education:

1. Chapel Hill, NC
2. Novi, MI
3. Oak Park, IL
4. Cedar Park, TX
5. Auburn, AL (tie)
5. Royal Oak, MI (tie)
7. Hoffman Estates, IL
8. Manhattan, KS
9. West Des Moines, IA
10. Lakeville, MN

"We selected 140 small cities (populations between 50,000 and 60,000) then used the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey, AreaVibes, and GreatSchools.org to collect what we deemed important education criteria. Those criteria were:

• Student-teacher ratio
• Money spent per year per student
• High school graduation rate
• GreatSchools.org rating (based on test scores for the area)

"From there, we ranked each place in each category from one to 140, with one being the best. Then we averaged each place’s scores into a Big Deal Score, with scores closer to one being the best.

"With that, we found that Chapel Hill was the best small city for education. Let’s take a look at why it—and the rest of our top 10—are best for students."

Here's what the story said about West Des Moines:

Source: Flickr user AnneCN

"This city was at the very top in the way of high school graduation rate. Over 96 percent of students graduated, and they did so with test scores that ranked eight out of 10. Not bad for our only Iowa representative in the top 10.

"There was also a decent amount of money spent per student per year, and the student-teacher ratio was 16 to 1. Overall, very positive scores that indicate a great educational environment in West Des Moines."

I fully agree.

A League Of Have-Nots

By RON MALY

I've written several columns in recent months saying the Des Moines public schools are so bad in football that the elite suburban schools shouldn't waste time playing them. 

Des Moines Roosevelt High School

Obviously, people at the Roosevelts, Easts, Lincolns, Hoovers and Norths of central Iowa have been reading my stuff. 

Now it's in the paper that they're saying they want to form their own league with a few of the other have-nots of Central Iowa Metro League athletics. 

I'm all for that idea. 

My only question is whether it would be class 3-A football, or 2-A.  

Roosevelt, East, Lincoln and the other Des Moines schools have no business playing Valley, Dowling, Southeast Polk, Waukee, Johnston and the rest of the talent-rich metro high schools in football and a number of other sports. 

The sooner the Des Moines schools get out of the CIML, the better. 

Unfortunately, the metro teams will still be rolling roughshod over Roosevelt and the rest in the 2014 season, and those 70-7 scores [in favor of the metro teams] will be an embarrassment to the entire city of Des Moines. 

Games against the Des Moines schools have turned into breathers for the metro schools in recent seasons. 

The best the Des Moines schools can hope for in 2014 is for the "mercy" rule to be put into effect at the time of the opening kickoff. 

Just let the clock keep moving, whether Valley is ahead of Lincoln by 35 points or not.

Don't stop the clock after out-of-bounds plays or even at halftime. 

That way the scores won't be so one-sided and the paper's naive editorial writers won't have to write that Valley and Dowling were pouring it on.

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Speaking of embarrassments, Manny Ramirez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his playing debut with Des Moines' Triple-A baseball team. 

Manny Ramirez

I'm wondering why  that clown was penciled into the starting lineup on his first day with the team. 

He's supposed to be some sort of half-assed advisor to young players in the Chicago Cubs' farm system, but I'm figuring Ramirez actually thinks he's auditioning for a return to the major leagues. 

It's too bad there isn't anyone in the entire Chicago organization who is smart enough to tell Ramirez he was washed up 10 years ago.

*

Good for Devyn Marble.  Hopefully, things will continue working out for him.

*

My Neighbor Al, the Health Nut, came over for a cup of Italian Dark Roast on this rainy morning, and asked what I thought about the paper's sports columnist borrowing the late Maury White's "A Little Bit About a Lot Of Things" idea for a weekly notes column. 

Maury White

Al, who had just read the paper at Hy-Vee, said the present columnist calls his notes column "A little bit about a lot." 

I told Al I don't have any opinion on it, and I don't care, because I don't read the stuff, 

Obviously, there's nothing new in newspapering these days. 

*

Photos courtesy of Google.

Rewarding Mediocrity

By RON MALY

Soccer is a strange sport. 

It's a game where mediocrity is rewarded far too frequently. 

At least in the World Cup. 

In what other sport--and in what other event-- can a team, its coach and its fans be ready to party after a 1-0 loss? 

In what other sport can a team be happy about advancing to something called a knockout round after one measly victory [over Ghana], a tie with Portugal in which the U.S. team choked away the lead in the final seconds, and a shutout defeat administered by Germany? 

This is starting to remind me a little of wrestlebacks in Iowa's state high school wrestling tournament and double-elimination in softball tournaments. 

At least folks who ran the NCAA basketball tournament had the good sense to quit holding consolation games at the Final Four after UCLA's Bill Walton said he didn't want to play in one. 

Something tells me the World Cup is a marathon [it lasts for more than a month] event set up so the players and coaches on teams that aren't very good, and their fans, can hang around the host city so they continue spending money and helping the local economy. 

Oh, well, I just guess I don't know enough about soccer. 

Hell, I don't even have a red, white and blue shirt with stars and stripes on it so I can attend the next party to celebrate a loss. 

It is now obvious that the rumors of Theo Epstein's mental illness are true. Epstein, the Chicago Cubs' president, says Manny Ramirez [who also has plenty of problems, most of them in his head] will join Des Moines' Triple-A baseball team tomorrow in Colorado Springs. All I can figure out is that Ramirez must have pictures of Epstein. Or else Epstein owes Ramirez lots of money. Epstein says the 42-year-old Ramirez will be a player/coach with the Des Moines team. The Des Moines team needs Manny Ramirez like it needs Mike Gartner. Indeed, my hope is that Gartner is on the road trip with the Des Moines team, and that he and Ramirez take a hike together into the Rocky Mountains this week, and never return. That way, neither one of them will ever have any contact with Kris Bryant and other players on the Des Moines team.

These days, Mike Mahon is doing what he does best--providing me with information. The guy who spent many years as Drake's sports information director tells me this: Amy Stephens, who coached the Bulldogs' women's basketball program for a number of years, has joined the Nebraska staff for the second time as an assistant coach. After being dismissed at Drake, Stephens was an assistant for one season at St. Louis and one season at Memphis. As far as I'm concerned, the most interesting thing about Stephens' new job as a Nebraska assistant is her salary. She's being paid $166,564, which is likely twice as much as she earned as Drake's head coach. Mahon also tells me that Gregg Gottlieb, who was a player on Rudy Washington's Drake teams from 1991-1993, is a new assistant coach at Oregon State. Also, Ricky Kreklow will play his final season of collegiate basketball at Creighton. Kreklow is the son of former Drake standout Wayne Kreklow, and Creighton is Ricky's third university. He earlier played at Missouri and California. Wayne Kreklow and his wife are Missouri's volleyball coaches.

Gregg Gottlieb, courtesy of California athletics

,Amy Stephens, courtesy of Omaha World Herald

Ricky Kreklow, courtesy of USA Today

Not Ready for Prime-Time

By RON MALY

One of my sons was a standout collegiate soccer player. In those years, I enjoyed watching him play, and I enjoyed watching his team win. Despite all of that, I don't know a lot about soccer, and I haven't paid much attention lately to what's going on in the sport nationally and throughout the world. Unlike a lot of other Americans, I haven't suddenly become a huge soccer fan because the United States is playing in the World Cup. Indeed, I haven't watched a minute of either of the games the U.S. has played in Brazil against Ghana [a victory] and Portugal [a tie, or as they say in soccer, a draw]. However, I can't help feeling that the U.S. should never have to settle for a 2-2 tie with Portugal. The U.S. should never have to settle for a tie with Portugal in any sport. We're supposed to be the world leader in everything, aren't we? I say that even though the U.S. soccer coach is a German, and five of the U.S. players are German-Americans. Indeed, I think the U.S. choked in the final seconds of its tie with Portugal. The U.S. couldn't finish. That's never a good thing in the World Cup or the World Anything. I guess the U.S. soccer team isn't yet ready for prime-time.

Mike Jay Earns National Announcing Award

Anyone who attends the Drake Relays or the Iowa Coed State High School track and field championships knows Mike Jay is an excellent track and field public address announcer.

Now Jay has earned the stamp of approval for being one of the best PA announcers in the country.

Jay has been named recipient of the Scott Davis Memorial Award by the Track and Field Writers of America for excellence in announcing by a current track and field announcer

The award came during the annual TAFWA awards breakfast held in conjunction with the recent NCAA Outdoor Track and FIeld Championships in Eugene, Ore.

"I am both humbled and honored with this award," said Jay  "It is extra special since I had the opportunity to work with Scott Davis a number of times before his passing and to be selected by media professionals in the track and field world, makes it extra special too."

"We are thrilled for Mike," said Drake Relays director Brian Brown. "It is my opinion that Mike has been the best announcer in the nation for many, many years. It is nice that he is finally getting the recognition he deserves."

Jay has been the lead announcer at the Drake Relays since 2006 as well as the lead announcer at the Iowa Coed High School State Track and Field Championships since 2005.

"Mike Jay is a former school administrator and recognizes the educational values of competition at all levels," said Bud Legg, information director for the Iowa High School Athletic Association. "His passion for track and field and athletes is the essence of his announcing which engages the fans and makes them more than spectators."

Jay's resume has grown over the years with Jay annually having been on the announcing team for the U.S. Track and Field Indoor and Outdoor Championships since 2006.

He also has been the track and field announcer at 11 NCAA Division I Indoor and Outdoor Championships  as well as the 2003 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship in Waterloo, IA, and the 2005 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Waverly, IA.

Former longtime Drake sports information director Mike Mahon nominated Jay for the award.

"Mike has always been recognized as the best track and field PA announcer in the Midwest and it's good to see him get recognized nationally," said Mahon, who served as media coordinator of the Drake Relays from 1988-2010.

"Mike brings an unparalleled passion to track and field announcing that makes him the top college announcer in the nation. He puts a lot of hours into his work, compiling research background information that helps educate the fans. And if a race is on record pace, Mike's enthusiasm can be heard over the PA trying to help drive the runners to break that record.

"To Mike's credit other meets have started utilizing his talents hiring him to announce meets around the nation."

Jay enjoys serving as lead announcer for NCAA Regional events just as much as the national championships, having work nine NCAA Division I Regional Cross Country meet and several NCAA Track and Field Regionals including the West Regional May 29-31 In Fayetteville, Ark.

If that's not enough, the personable Jay has been the announcer of cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field championships for five prominent NCAA Division I conferences: Southeastern, Big Ten, Big 12, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and Missouri Valley Conference.

Jay also is the regular home meet announcer for the University of Iowa, University of Alabama and University of Nebraska.

He piles up a lot of frequent flyer miles visiting the West Coast several times throughout the season, traveling to Seattle, Wash., to cover Washington Huskies home indoor meets as well as Stanford, Calif., to announce the Stanford Invitational and Peyton Jordan Invitational during the outdoor campaign.

Jay retired from 26 years as a high school track and field and cross country coach at Columbus Community High School in Columbus Junction, IA, and now works for Northwestern Mutual.

Jay believes in giving back to the sport that has given him so much pleasure and countless opportunities. 

He is currently serving as the 2nd vice-present of the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, chairman of the Iowa Association of Track Coaches Hall of Fame Committee as well as being a member of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Track and Field Hall of Fame Committee.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Northern Iowa head track and field coach Dan Steele:

"This is a well deserved honor. There is an art to this profession few can master. Mike Jay has and it is a pleasure to work with him." 

Joe Wegstaffe, track and field director of operations at Stanford:

"Unbelievable. We are lucky to have Mike Jay call our Stanford meets."

Da'Nelle Earl, track and field director of operations at Nebraska:

"Mike Jay is the BEST and this is a well deserved honor. We love having him announce our meets in Lincoln."

Davenport Assumption HIgh School head track and field coach Tim O'Neill:

"This is awesome. Mike Jay has the ability to reach everyone when he speaks. Well earned and deserved."