So a while back I made a post about high school football fields in Iowa I've been to. That is linked HERE. 60 of them for football/track.
As for baseball, to the best of my recollection, I've been to 66, if I include 3 fields to watch high school games that normally have other tenants (Principal Park, Bucks Field in Waterloo, and Grandview College)
First let's start with the fields I recall playing on. Most of these school are consolidated, but I presume the fields are still there.
Sanborn, Hartley, Primghar, Milford, Paullina, Sutherland, Alta, Aurelia from the Sioux Valley Conference. Not as many games played back then as now, so the non-con list isn't that big. Cherokee, Western Christian-Hull, Little Rock, George, Melvin, Storm Lake St. Mary, Everly, Ocheyedan, Arnolds Park, Sibley.
Next let's go with HS fields I have umpired on. Roland-Story, South Hamilton, Blairsburg NE Hamilton, South Hardin, Ames, Boone, Ogden, North Polk, Glidden-Ralston, Collins-CMB, Zearing Colo-Nesco, Dayton-SE Webster Grand, Gilbert, Des Moines Christian.
Then there are a bunch where I've watched Jerald play, either in school ball, or spring ball. Nevada, State Center-West Marshall, Marshalltown, Gilman-East Marshall, Waterloo Bucks, Ft Dodge Dodger Stadium, Ft Dodge St Edmond-Harlan Rogers Park, Jefferson Greene County, Prairie City-PCM, Carroll Stadium, Rippey East Greene, DM Roosevelt, DM East, DM Hoover, Johnston, Saydel, Ankeny, SE Polk, Newton, Waukee, Woodward-Granger, Bondurant-Farrar, Principal Park, Belmond-Klemme, Grandview, Van Meter, Mason City Newman, Martinsdale-St Marys.
Then I recall a few more, where I just went to watch for one reason or another, that didn't involve me, or Jerald. Floyd Valley in Alton, Granville Spalding, Sioux Center, Manson NW Webster, Slater-Ballard, Lawton-Bronson.
I don't know if I have a favorite. Probably Carroll Stadium, it just has a cool old time vibe to it. Not to be a homer, but I really like Norsemen Field. Coach Hill takes such nice care of it, and the grass baselines between home and 1st, and home and 3rd are a bit of an oddity.
My HS home field had its own oddity. Light poles in the field of play in right and center fields. They were there for football and in the way for baseball. I seem to recall you couldn't catch the ball off the poles, but you could the electric lines.
Martensdale-St Marys has I think an old brick bus barn as a home run "fence". As close to Camden Yards as you can get in Iowa I guess.
Back to my high school days, Ocheyedan didn't have a home run fence. Just a big open field. Run Forest, run! Lawton-Bronson has stadium seats, which is really cool for a small high school. SE Polk has the only all turf field of the bunch. Clean bounces, and clean jerseys.
Ames has a new field now, that I haven't been to. Their old field is kinda cool too. Lotta history there, including Satchel Paige pitching there. I'll leave with a photo of Jerald at bat there, back in 2015. I love the 4 legged light standards (and my cell tower in the background).
It didn't quite rise to a bucket list item, but I've always wanted to see Joe Jackson in concert. When I saw his show was coming to Des Moines on June 20, I cleared my calendar to hit the concert. I have always been a fan, and appreciate that he has done a lot of different "sounds" and musical styles. Even though I am partial to his "New Wave" roots.
The show was at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. I'd heard about it, but had never been there. Hoyt Sherman is a theatre that is probably 90 years old or so? Beautiful place, and the acoustics are really good. It is attached to a house, and pre-show, you can walk around and look at old trinkets and artifacts, so that was kinda fun to do. The theatre holds maybe 1000 people? I'm guessing it was 2/3 full. From my seat in the balcony, I didn't get a good view of the lower level.
No parking at the place unless you do $15 valet. So you need to park on the street. Vicki and I got something about a block away, so no big deal. I saw tickets were available, so I didn't get them ahead of time. Was going to walk up, but saw some selling on StubHub. There were a pair of front row tickets for $50 a piece this afternoon, but somebody snatched them before I pulled the trigger. So I held off for some desperate person that was selling a pair for $9 a piece in the balcony. Bought them 2.5 hours before the show. So I got a hell of a bargain, as their face was $27 a ticket.
The show started about 8:15, so a bit after the scheduled start time of 8. It was a very spartan stage. No light show or pyrotechnics or anything fancy like that. Just Joe's keyboard, and elevated drum set, and then all the packing crates just left on the stage.
Joe came out solo to start the show. He mentioned he was his own opening act. So just Jackson and his keyboard. He opened with "It's Different For Girls". That's probably not a well known song by the general public, but listeners to XM's 1st Wave channel would certainly recognize it. He did 3 more songs by himself.
The remaining 3 musicians made their way out during songs, which was kind of a cool way to bring them out. They just jumped in as they got out there. The lead guitar and bassist were certainly competent guys. They didn't particularly do anything to steal the spotlight from Joe. Both Vicki and I were impressed with the drummer all night. He was tight, and really added to the performance. Saw him break a stick, and he didn't miss a beat, just grabbed another and kept going.
I think it was 5 or 6 songs in, Joe played "Is She Really Going Out With Him", which was his first hit to chart in the US, back in 1979. Probably my favorite song of his (or Breaking Us in Two, which Jackson didn't perform tonite). I got to holler "Where?" just like at 1:30 into this video.
So obviously Jackson had his biggest commercial success in the 1980s. And like most any band/artist that is a few years removed from their hits, that's probably what most people go to hear. So when the band goes, "And here is a song from our new album..." everybody groans and heads to the bathroom or to go hit the beer line. Jackson was no different, and mentioned he was going to play some songs from his latest release "Fast Forward". But ya know what? They were some really good songs. I enjoyed them as much as any of the "oldies". I didn't hit the merch table on the way out, but I will be looking to purchase. Again, that is why I like Joe Jackson, there's always a different song/sound. Some slow, some that rock out pretty good.
Of course he played "Steppin' Out", his biggest US hit. And while that was a big hit, I probably wouldn't put it in my top 10 favorite Joe Jackson songs. Just not a big fan of that song. But tonite, he slowed it down, didn't have that fast synth sound to it, and it sounded really cool. Not really sure why, but for some reason, as they were playing it, it reminded me of Phil Collins "In The Air Tonite". It was paced like that, and just had a good sound.
The show also had a couple of covers in there, including a David Bowie song, and that was fun little departure. The concert as a whole was not overly "slick". Which actually was ok. Joe goofed up a couple times. Missed some lyrics on a song, and had to start over. Also missed a note while singing, and croaked it out. But that is live music, and performers and fans took it all in stride.
Jackson wasn't overly chatty, but talked a bit about his songs, and his bandmates. He did answer one question I had, and that was if he had ever been to Iowa before. And he said in the show he had never performed here, so that was kinda cool to be in Iowa show #1.
So the show ended a bit in reverse of how it started. The band members just stopped playing during a song, gave a wave, and walked off the stage. And so Joe was left by himself, just as he had started. The show ended with the song "A Slow Song" which was a good one for he and his piano. The show clocked in at just under 2 hours.
I don't think Joe Jackson was ever a great vocalist. He has a distinctive sound, and he uses it well, but I've never thought his greatness was in his singing, it was more with the instruments and lyrics. And tonite was no different. As mentioned above, he squeaked out a wrong note once. Not sure if that is just the voice box getting older, or if maybe he has a sore throat, or maybe just one of those things. With that said, a good effort, and certainly was worth my money, and would have been had I paid full freight, instead of vulturing off some poor person on StubHub.
Also, just have to play social scientist here. I've been to many concerts, and typically my concert genre is a bit harder. But even so, most concerts have a core demographic probably, but I see lots of different ages and people there. But this may have been the least age diverse concert I have ever been to. I saw no kids, and 95% of the people there were between 45-55. Another thing I noted. This seemed to be a higher income crowd that concerts I typically go to. Most people were really well dressed. Didn't see any tats. Only saw 1 concert t-shirt (I saw a dude in an AC/DC black t-shirt, go figure?). Not sure what that all means, but just an observation.
So anyway, glad I went. Vicki isn't a big fan, but she enjoyed herself and had a good time. So I'm calling today a win, and glad Joe Jackson made a stop in DSM.
I just went to a track meet in Clarion to see my niece run. Never been there before. Interesting set up for the fans, as the entire home bleachers had a wooden grandstand. I've seen a few wooden grandstands at high schools for baseball, but never for football. So I got to thinking, how many Iowa High or Junior High School football fields have I been to, to have never seen that.
I started going through them in my mind, and it is a big list, so I decided to put them down on the computer. So here is my list. This is actually attending a football game, or a track meet. (with my travels for work, I have driven by many more, but not gonna count those). The list will include schools that are now departed due to closings and mergers. So this will be high schools, and possibly junior high schools.
(JH) will indicate a Junior High game or field. (Ref) will be fields I have refereed on (which adds to the total)
So let's start with my younger days, I was at every field in the Sioux Valley Conference. Sanborn, Milford, Hartley, Primghar, Paullina, Sutherland, Alta, and Aurelia. I'll throw in a bonus of Calumet (JH) of Sutherland. The only "bowl" I've been to. The field was not flat, it actually had a big dip in the middle.
Here are the remainder from my high school days in NW Iowa:
Boyden-Hull (Hull), M-OC (Orange City), Sibley, George, Everly, Estherville.
So when I moved back to Iowa in 1997, I got to see some new ones. Then I started writing for the Story City Herald, and calling games on Norsemen Network/The Rocket, following the Norsemen around. I also covered girls track for awhile for The Herald, so that added some tracks. I also started reffing, so that has added some others. By 1997, there was no longer conference football, but districts, and that changed every two years. So that was a chance to add to my list. So here goes:
Roland-Story (Story City)(Ref), Roland-Story (Roland)(JH), Colo-Nesco (Zearing)(JH)(Ref), Colo-Nesco(Colo)(Ref), West Marshall (State Center), East Marshall(LeGrand), South Tama(Tama), Union(LaPorte City), BCLUW(Conrad), Dike-New Hartford, Aplington-Parkersburg, South Hardin (Eldora), Iowa Falls-Alden, South Hamilton(Ref), Webster City, Eagle Grove, Clarion-Goldfield, Ft Dodge St. Ed (Dodger Stadium), Prairie Valley (Gowrie), SE Webster Grand (Ref), Southern Cal (Lake City), Carroll Kuemper(Carroll Stadium), Greene County(Jefferson), East Greene(Rippey), Ogden(Ref), Boone(Ref), Ames, Ames(JH)(Ref), Ballard(Huxley), Bondurant-Farrar, Van Meter, Prairie City-Monroe, CMB-Baxter, CMB-Maxwell, North Polk(Old and New fields),Nevada(Ref), Gilbert (Old and New Fields) (Ref at both), Hampton-Dumont, Central Springs (Manly), Osage, North Fayette Valley (West Union), Hudson, Grundy Center.
So if I counted right, that is 60 different school facilities I've been witness to an event. Most are football, some are track only. And if I counted right, I've reffed at 11 different fields.
This has intrigued me for baseball now. I'm guessing that will be a higher number. But that will be for another day.
I do want to throw in a quick review. My favorite place is Eldora, at least from the visitor's side. Great view over a valley to the west. Really pretty in the fall. Twins: My high school field in Sanborn, and CMB-Maxwell. No track, so cars pull up right next to the field. Great way for fans to get really close to the action. Good looking places I haven't seen a game: Really like the looks of Emmetsburg's facilities as I drive by. And Colfax-Mingo looks kinda cool built into the side of a hill. Quirks: Nevada has a steep hill in the back endzone. as they try to cram it inside of a track. Sanborn and Primghar had baseball infields on the field, Primghar at the 50, and Sanborn in one endzone. Worst: North Polk's old field was the worst. Just beat to death, and something like a 3rd world field. Their upgrade to the new turf may have been the biggest upgrade in the history of Iowa high school sports.
Track quirks: Van Meter and Ogden, just like Drake, have blue ovals. Boone's track is more round, so it has huge sidelines for football, but the track curves are really close to the endzones.
Always happy times when you can fix a techy problem. And always nice to find the answer from helpers on the internet.
I discovered my cable internet provider, had upped my speed from 10 Mbps to 20Mbps at no charge (Stratford CCS). So that was nice. However, when doing speedtests, I could never get more than 10 Meg, no matter the device I tried.
I hooked a laptop directly into the back of the cable modem, with no router, and there was the 20Meg service. Worked great. But back to my router, and whether I was hardwired in it, or via the air, it was never more than 10Meg.
I found my answer on the net. I had Media Prioritization set for 10Mbps on my computer. As the master of the house, at least techy wise, I wanted my computer set to be the boss for moving whatever I wanted moved back when the router was initially installed, and we had 10Meg service.
However I forgot all about that setting. So when we got bumped to 20Meg, everything still was throttled to 10. I changed the setting, and I am now moving a nice 20Meg download on any device. Hooray!
And good job for Stratford CCS for coming out just to check. And I have good luck with them delivering their advertised speeds all the time.
Tis Christmas time, and of course all the classic movies are playing...It's A Wonderful Life, Elf, Die Hard...and A Christmas Story.
A Christmas Story is a good movie, but there is one thing that drives me cuckoo. The mom's hair. The movie is set in the late 40s/early 50s. Women didn't have hairstyles like that. The movie does a great job of reconstructing that time.
But seriously, they couldn't change out her 80's hair?
Just wanted to give a mention to the director of the NLCS Game 6 broadcast on Fox Sports 1 of the Cubs/Dodgers game. Like most everybody, I don't want to hear Joe Buck. But I thought the director did a spectacular job of showing the situation. Obviously the Cubs haven't been in the World Series in 71 years. And they have passionate fans. And the director knew enough to show those fans.
Most people don't think about the director or the camera work. But I've always had an interest in that, so I probably pay a little more attention to that kind of stuff. And in the case of this game, the game was not the only story. An equal story is the pain and misery Cubs fans have had for all these years. And the director and the camera folks really found those people in the stands and their emotion. Young/old, men/women, didn't matter. The smiles and nerves of the fans were as fun to watch as the game.
The original top notch sports director was Chet Forte, the first director for Monday Night Football in its heyday. That guy was ahead of his time in game presentation.
And last night, that game showed why sports is the best TV property there is. It is unscripted, and you never know what is going to happen. So while not a Cub fan, I really enjoyed watching the game and the Cubs fans last night.
Was taking a trip to Luxembourg via Brussels, Belgium on United Airlines. Wasn't really looking forward to the 7 hour plus flight there, and almost 8 hour trip back, so decided to give United's Economy Plus a try. I've read various opinions on it, that it is worth it, and that it is not. So now, after experiencing it, I come down on "depends".
I bought the tickets about 5 months prior to the trip. About a month out, I decided to buy the Economy Plus add-ons. I first bought it on my outbound flight from Des Moines to Chicago. It was an extra $42 for that segment on a 737. 45 minutes in the air from DSM to ORD, so no problem to sit that long. But I had a 1.5 hour connect, but I really wanted to make sure I made my connection, so Economy Plus got me on the front of economy, and an extra 5 inches (I think) of leg room. So would I do it again on that segement? If Chicago was my final destination, no way. For a short flight like that, at 5'10" I could handle a regular economy seat like that with no problem. But in my case, the extra $42 was worth it, to know it would buy me a couple extra minutes to get to my connecting gate.
On the flight to/from Brussels from Chicago, it was around $170 extra each way. To me, that is a noticeable extra amount of cash, especially when buying upgrades for my wife and I. The advantage of getting on or off the plane sooner was not an issue in this case. It basically came down to an advantage of having an extra 3" on the 777. Also, the gamble of my wife and I having a 3 seat section for the 2 of us. I'd been watching the flights to/from Brussels, and at united.com, you can see the taken seats on a given flight. And I had noticed that Economy Plus seats on the Brussels flight frequently was way less than full. So I was also hoping that nobody would take that 3rd seat by us. (as an aside, the Boeing 777, in economy, has a 3-3-3 layout for seats).
I thought it was going to pay off on the flight to Brussels. Pretty much everybody was on the plane, and no more passengers were getting on, and nobody was sitting next to Vicki. Joy went to despair when a lady holding about a 1.5 year old baby started walking down our aisle, and she stopped at our seat. Shit! The last thing I want is a lap baby next to us for the next 7.5 hours.
Then the grandma showed up, and they called a flight attendant, because they thought they were in our seats. After much rigamarole, the flight attendants asked a guy sitting by himself in a row behind us, if he would move next to Vicki, and the mom, baby, and grandma could go back there. Fortunately the dude agreed (probably so he wouldn't be by the baby), and we had a decent flight. The extra 3 inches bought us some extra leg crossing.
The flight home was full, so no empty seat next to us this time either. So the question is, would I again spend an extra $680 total for my wife and I, to each have an extra 3 inches of legroom for a total of 16 hours in a plane seat? Initial thought? Yes, I would. Since I'm an Economics major, I'll break it down with a math equation. Between my wife and I, we had 32 person-hours in that seat for $680. That is paying $21 an hour for that extra 3". That is a little more painful with that factoid. We probably could have used the $680 for back massages and physical helps.
My wife and I are both 5'10", so we fit into economy seats ok. If it was my 6'4" son, I'm sure it would definitely be worth it.
Here are two pics I took. One is the leg room by itself. And then a pic with my magazine pushed up against the seat in front of me, and where it is in my lap. As a reminder, I'm 5"10.
As for my United experience overall, I know they are one of the lower rated airlines. But for me, it went about as smooth as possible. Flights on time. And I know people like to bag on airline food, but I thought it was pretty good. Hot and tasty. Free beer on the international flights. Bags arrived quickly and undamaged. Only minor complaint is that the flight attendants on ORD/BRU were a bit surly and seemed like old bags that were easily annoyed. But on the way back, they were typically older flight attendants, but they seemed happy and ready to help customers.
My career as a media member covering Roland-Story Norsemen football is over (for now at least). I've been covering Norse football since the fall of 2004. I started writing for the Story City Herald then, and did that through the fall of 2014. In the fall of 2008, Paul Clark started The Norsemen Network, and had me on as the Herald football reporter, as a guest during the pregame of the Powerade scrimmage. We seemed to work well together, and I just hung around with him. Paul upgraded The Norsemen Network to The Rocket, and I stayed on there in the fall of 2015.
Well The Rocket is done, I'm not going back to the Herald, so this fall I go back to being simply a Norsemen fan. Here's a pic of Paul and I ready to call a game from the new pressbox.
Through the years, I've pondered who the best I have seen. Now that I am done, I decided to put together a list of the Roger As Media All-Norsemen Football Team. My friend, and Norse basketball PA man Tom Lathen, did something similar for his tenure calling Norse basketball games.
The thing is, when reading Tom's list, I kinda just have to trust him on it, and can't argue it. I think high school sports has a limited viewpoint. I think people seem to pay more attention when their kids are in school, but don't really follow it as closely any other time. And while I lived here in 2000 for example, I don't know that I went to a Norsemen basketball game that year. So in my case, most readers will probably go, "Who was that?" for at least a few of the guys.
But I'm gonna do it anyway. Some guys are clear to me. But that is easy in the skill positions, because they have the stats in the paper each week. I'm also not going to name anybody two ways. And the spot where I struggle the most is the interior of the defensive line. I have nobody in mind for those spots. I have some potential names, but they will be going on the offensive line. And then for the picks. Some guys played on great teams, and some guys played on some bad teams. I tried to take in consideration of likely success no matter the year they had played. Also a note, for any player, I will put their graduation class after them, but remember, their senior football season would have been the year before. So if I say Thor Svensen (2008), that means his senior football campaign was in the fall of 2007.
So let's get started.....
My first draft pick regardless of position is Sam Hammes (2006). Sam ran for almost 1500 yards in the fall of 2005, and had a career per carry average of almost 7.7 yards. Just a beast running the ball for the Norse.
Now that the top pick is in, let's go over to the defense first, because, as they say, defense wins championships. Of course, depending on the opponent, is what kind of defense you might run. But I'm going to go with a 4-4-3 base package. So let's start up front first. Two come to mind right away. At defensive end, I'm going with Nolan Rasmussen (2009) and Brandon Morgan (2011). These guys were quick and strong off the end. Brandon had his career cut short due to concussions, but both are worthy.
For noseguard/nose tackle I have some guys in mind, but I'm going to put them on the offensive line, so scratch them. This position is difficult, because they don't get a lot of big stats as the linebackers do all the cleaning up. But I'm going to go with Garrett Schubert (2008) and Westin Barnes (2006) to plug up the front.
Switching to linebacker, there are a lot of good options. Some played hybrid positions, "Monster" being one of the well known name from years past. But I'm going to lump them all together with 4 linebacker positions. Cole Billerbeck (2009) comes to mind first. And he'd probably be my #2 overall draft pick, if I was doing that. A combined 290 tackles between his Junior and Senior years, and just always seemed to be getting up off the pile. Next I'm going with a guy I only saw for one year, Nick Handeland (2005). He was the District Defensive MVP. Enough said. Justin Doolittle (2008) was a 3 year starter with 240 career tackles. I'm struggling with who to go with my 4th linebacker. Because the 3 others are solid on the interior, I'm gonna go with a little more speed on the outside, and use him as a partial cover guy, and that is Josiah Soderstrum (2015).
Switching to the D-backs, a lot of good choices there. We've had 7 1st team All-District selections here in my timeframe. At the corner position, one guy comes to mind right away. He was a 1st team All-District pick. He wasn't that big, but his wrestling toughness really helped him, and that is Dan Brodie (2007). For the other corner, I'm going with somebody who seemed to be a good cover guy, and that is Jordan Sheahan (2005). At safety, this may be my toughest pick out of two guys in my entire list. So I'm gonna mention them both. Zeb Hammes (2009)did a great job at covering people, and was always there to clean up. But he is not my pick. I'm gonna go with Tyler Hovick (2016). The Norse have not had a harder hitting safety in my years covering the team. Fun to watch him crack the opponent pads. Unfortunately, he didn't play on the best defensive teams, so he got in on a lot of tackles too, leading the team in the fall of 2015, which is not a good thing for a safety.
Time to head over to the offense. Much of my time covering the team, the Norse ran a wishbone offense. And in my all-timer team, if I ran that, I'd need 3 running backs. I like the 'Bone, but with the guys I have, I'm gonna have a pro set offense, so 2 running backs, 2 wide outs, and a tight end. Also, the wishbone meant an option quarterback. The guy I am picking at quarterback, I would not choose for running the option tho. If I were, the aforementioned Zeb Hammes would be my pick, but again, he ends up as the runner-up at a position. My starting quarterback is Evan Johnson (2013). Johnson didn't throw a lot. But when he did, he was very efficient. A starter for a year and a half, 60% completion rate, even career TDs vs interceptions (which is rare at R-S). My team needs a good game manager, so Evan's my guy. Roland-Story's Trent Dilfer.
In the backfield, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, is my first overall pick, Sam Hammes (2005). He's Roland-Story's 5th all-time leading rusher, and has the highest per carry average of any back with at least 100 carries. There are a lot of good choices for the 2nd running back slot. And a lot of guys in the career rushing top 10. I'm gonna go with Darren Johnson (2008). He has the 3rd most rushing yards of any Norsemen ever, and was tearing up the field starting in his sophomore year. Definitely had the quicks and was a 3 time 2nd team All-District rusher.
Switching to the wide receiver spot, I'm first going with Ryan Skaar (2013). He was more known for his basketball exploits, but he could jump and had good hands to catch the ball. He's 4th all time for the Norse in career receptions and receiving yards. And for my next slot, I'm biased, but with that said, I'm going with Jerald Fritz (2015). Jerald had his 6'4" height and speed to cause opposing defenses to change up to cover him, especially against smaller defensive backs. Other than Skaar, he had the single best receiving season during my time covering the Norse. Here's Brett Staton (2017) to Fritz for a long completion called back for a penalty, and then on the next play, the same play call, and the longest pass completion in Norsemen history.
Going to tight end, I'm going with Jacob Rathmacher (2009). Not to beat on the coaching staff, but he gets the award, in my opinion, for most under utilized player I have seen for the Norse. He was tall, big, and strong, but we rarely passed to him. Even so, he still did a nice job blocking up front.
As for the big uglies up front, here's my 5. Logan Voga (2006), Ben Whaley (2006), Bret Johnson (2011), Xavier Drake(2011), Nick Ahrens (2014). Voga was the best of the bunch, IMO, a 3 year starter, and 2 year 1st team All-District pick. Bret Johnson was my next pick, a 2 time 1st Teamer. Zippy Drake was always solid and Nick Ahrens gets in based on his senior campaign. He had a really nice senior year leading the line.
Of course we need special teams too. For a kick returner, I'm going with Bryttan Thompson (2011). 28 yard average for his career and 32 yard average his senior year. State Track sprinter speed. Bryce Sampson (2009) is my punt returner. Most punts returned out of anyone I've seen with a healthy 10 yard average
Punter is close. Gunder Howe (2016) and Bryce Holdridge (2009) both punted for 3 years, are 1/2 in R-S career punting average with Gunder having a career average of 8 inches (yes inches) more than Bryce. But I'm going to take Bryce as my punter. Bryce was a bit more consistent, so the old guy gets the nod.
Kicker is another close one. I have been witness to the golden years of Norsemen kicking. In the entire history of Roland-Story Norsemen football, there have been only 28 made field goals. And I have seen 21 of them.
I didn't necessarily layout the stats for other positions, but this one is really interesting. It is 3 guys that are neck and neck and neck. Gunnar Wyatt (2009), Charlie Steenhagen (2013) and Gunder Howe (2016). Career kickoff average is Steenhagen 47.63 yards, Wyatt 45.84, and Howe 45.71. Career made field goals: Steenhagen 8, Howe 7, Wyatt 6. Career PAT % Wyatt 84.7, Howe 84.2, Steenhagen 77.5. Longest career field goal: Wyatt 42, Steenhagen 38, Howe 38. I'm a stats guy, and I think a case could be made for any of them. But I've come this far, so I gotta make a pick. I'm just gonna go with my gut, and take Gunnar Wyatt as my kicker.
So there ya' have it. There are some guys I covered that are still playing, that I think could bump onto the list, if they have nice Senior years this year. But since my era ended with last fall, they hadn't shown enough to get onto the list yet. So hopefully the Norse have a nice year this year, and make some good memories.
So who did I miss? Who do you disagree with? I'd like to hear what you think, so leave a comment.
Just when I came out with a post on high school pitching rules, because it seems like everybody asks me all the time, the National Federation of High School athletics (of which the Iowa High School Athletic Association is a member, has come out with a new rule regarding pitchers. Starting in 2017, high school pitchers will be on a pitch count, and not an inning count.
So what's the new count? We don't know yet. They are leaving it up to each member state to determine their own pitch count rules. That will certainly be interesting to administer. Will they put the game pitch count in Quikstats? I think they will need to. Will there be 1/2 inning pitch comparisons between opposing teams? I suppose so.
Little League has been doing it for awhile. Some mom or dad volunteers to keep pitch count, and then each half inning, they go find the other team's pitch count mom or dad, and make sure all is well. Will it become some sophomore sitting on the bench? I imagine so.
I'm guessing Iowa will come up with a number around 120 pitches a day. In Little League, 9-10 years olds can pitch a max of 75 a day. 11-12 year olds can pitch a max of 85, 13-14s can go 95, 15-16s can go 105, and I don't remember their 17-18 division. (Currently North Story Little League doesn't have any 15-18 year old teams, but they are chartered under Little League. So if the age increase is the same, the 17-18s would be 115, and that's why I'm guessing they will up it to 120 a day--with rest periods at different pitch counts.
Fun stuff. If you want to read the press release, it is RIGHT HERE.
Because I umpire, lots of times, I get people asking me about pitching limitations for high school pitchers. To be honest, I don't really concern myself with that too much. My job is fair/foul, safe/out, ball/strike. But it is in the rule book. I just got an email from the association that lays it out pretty well, so if this interests you, here ya go...
In summary, the pitching limitation rule is nine innings on any given day, followed with two calendar days rest. If a pitcher pitches more than four innings, up to a maximum of nine innings, on any two consecutive calendar days, he will follow with two calendar days rest. The maximum number of innings a pitcher may pitch in a week is 16.
NOTE: As part of the pitching limitation rule, one pitch constitutes an inning having been pitched.
EXAMPLES:
a) A pitcher pitches nine innings on Monday. How many days rest are required? Two calendar days rest, meaning Tuesday and Wednesday; he may next pitch on Thursday.
b) A pitcher pitches four innings Monday. How many innings can he pitch on Tuesday? He may pitch the maximum of five innings on Tuesday followed by two calendar days rest, meaning Wednesday and Thursday. He may next pitch on Friday.
c) A pitcher pitches three innings Tuesday, two innings Wednesday. He must now follow with two calendar days rest (Thursday and Friday). He can next pitch on Saturday.
d) A pitcher pitches nine innings on Saturday. He must now follow with two calendar days rest (Sunday and Monday). He can next pitch on Tuesday.
e) A pitcher pitches seven innings on Tuesday. When can he pitch again? He can pitch on Wednesday for the maximum of two innings. He must then follow with two calendar days rest, meaning Thursday and Friday. He may next pitch on Saturday.
f) A pitcher pitches two innings Thursday and five innings on Friday. He will now follow with two calendar days of rest (Saturday and Sunday). He can next pitch on Monday. Remember, pitching in any combination of innings greater than four innings up to the maximum of nine innings on any two consecutive days will result in two calendar days rest; OR pitching the maximum of nine innings in any one day requires two calendar days rest.
g) A pitcher pitches two innings Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Legal: He has pitched 12 of his allowable 16 innings for that week.
h) A pitcher pitches one inning Tuesday and eight innings Wednesday. Legal and he will follow with two calendar days of rest, meaning Thursday and Friday. He can next pitch on Saturday.
i) A pitcher pitches eight innings on Monday; does not pitch on Tuesday, however, does pitch on Wednesday. How many can he pitch on Wednesday? He can pitch the maximum of eight innings on Wednesday because those eight innings, added to the eight innings he pitched Monday, give him his maximum of 16 innings for the week. Had he only pitched seven innings
on Monday, he could have pitched the maximum nine innings on Wednesday and reached his maximum 16 for the week.
j) A pitcher pitches six innings Wednesday; does not pitch Thursday, but does pitch on Friday. How many innings can he pitch on Friday? He can pitch a maximum of nine innings, which would give him a total of 15 innings for the week.
k) A game begins Tuesday, July 25, at 10:45 p.m. and is completed at 12:35 a.m. the following morning. The starting pitcher pitches; (a) 7 innings; (b) 9 innings. Under the IHSAA pitching rule, the game would be considered played July 25th, even though the game did not end until early the following morning. In (a) the pitcher would be able to pitch 2 innings on
Wednesday, those 2 innings combined with the 7 innings pitched on Tuesday make 9 innings pitched on two consecutive days. The pitcher would now have to take two consecutive calendar days off, Thursday and Friday. He may pitch again on Saturday. In (b), the pitcher would have to take two consecutive calendar days off, meaning Wednesday and Thursday.
He could pitch Friday. This is all providing he does not exceed 16 innings in a week and stays within the prescribed guidelines (Sunday through Saturday).
l) A pitcher pitches 7 innings on Friday and 2 innings on Saturday, the pitcher must follow with two calendar days of rest, meaning Sunday and Monday. He may next pitch on Tuesday. The confusion with a few coaches was that Saturday ended the week by reference, and with that in mind they thought this individual could pitch again on Monday. The rule is for the safety of the individual and when two calendar days of rest are required, the pitcher is unable to pitch again until day three when category B of the pitching rule applies.
Back in the 80s, Sun Country Wine Coolers had a good run of popularity. Not really sure where they went to, but I don't think they still make it. I don't remember them selling it in individual bottles either. I only remember them in plastic 2 liter bottles. After checking out some ads, they apparently had single serving bottles, but like I said, I don't remember them. Here is the ad I remember best, with "Addicted to Love" as the backing song.
Other ads typically had celebrities, in a polar bear outfit. Like this one. Here's The Four Tops.
So anyway, I was having an 80s themed party, and wanted some Sun Country Wine Cooler. So I wanted to make my own. I found some recipes on the net. Tried 'em, didn't like 'em. One of them was to use pinot grigio wine. Don't! Tasted like crap.
Try this for a sampler to see if you like it. I had several people at my party say they really liked it. So stay to the same ratios if you want a bigger batch, but make yourself a glass first to try:
4 oz. Welch's Orange/Pineapple/Apple Juice Cocktail
4 oz. Pink Moscato wine. (though any Moscato would probably work)
6 oz. Ginger Ale
I thought it had the right amount of fizzy, fruity, winey.
Sorry to see that Rich Olive passed away. Not a surprise, as he has been battling cancer for awhile. But still a sad deal.
I can't call Rich a friend, but certainly an acquaintance. I was in some Judge Story plays with him, being a Roland city councilman and mayor, I had times to cross paths with him on his work with Story City economic development, and I would talk to him occasionally as he was voice of the Norsemen football over the PA, while I did my radio work on The Rocket.
So I can't quite comment like his friends could. But he is a guy that any town would be happy to have.
Reading his obituary, I saw that he had lived in Story City since he was 2. I was aware that he graduated from school here, ended up as a coach, and then ran his own small business.
Normally, somebody that has lived their whole life in a town, I worry about being a "townie". My definition of a townie is somebody that has lived their whole life in a town, hangs out at the bar, is not in any civic organizations, and bitches about all the problems in the town (and he probably likes the Hawkeyes and worships Hayden Fry)
Rich met the first criteria for being a townie. But the reason why he was not a townie and instead was great for Story City was his civic-mindedness. He volunteered his time for stuff that made Story City and Roland-Story better. And with his economic development work, he made the area better, by helping bring in jobs.
I didn't know Rich enough to know if he bitched about stuff. But even if he did, he was out there trying to solve the problems of the community.
Not every town is lucky enough to have a guy like that. So his death is a loss for his family, but it is also a loss for the community as well.
While not a hobby, I do have an interest in the aviation industry. In a long ago job, I used to fly a lot. And I always asked for a window seat, so I could watch the goings on in the airport as bags were loaded and all that, as well as to enjoy the view while flying. Going to the airport was fun. Mostly because it gave a chance to look at planes. And part of that is how they were painted, also known as their livery. Seems like a strange word to me, but a plane's livery is simply their paint job.
So that paint job is how an airline was branded, and would be obvious to a flyer as to whose plane is was. American Airlines had an obvious one. They weren't painted. They had their bare aluminum skin.
I was thinking about my favorite liveries, so decided to make a blog post about it. In reviewing some, I think in general I like stripes across the windows, airline name above the windows. The wrong logos on the tail, I'm not a fan of either. While not a list in order, I'll start with some I don't like.
Here is one from now defunct PeoplExpress. An upstart after airline deregulation, they eventually went under. I don't like the brown, the highlighted windows, or that lame logo on the tail.
I don't like the airline name wide across the body. The Polish airline LOT has always done that. Northwest did it for awhile too.
And I'm just not a fan of the Eskimo on the tail of Alaska Air. It also has the airline name big across the body, so if one has to be chosen as my least favorite livery, this is it.
So on to my favorites. And in pondering, maybe I'm just nostalgic, but every livery I've chosen is no longer in use. In positions 4 & 5, the airline is still operating, they just look different now. My gold, silver, and bronze are all defunct airlines. So without further ado, coming in at #5 most favorite livery is the 1980s Delta Airlines. Here's a Delta DC-10. It has the stripe across the middle, the swept back airline name, and the tail adds some character without being too flashy. I never flew Delta when this was their livery, but I always liked the look. Bonus for the black nose cone too.
Coming in at #4 is the 80s/90s United Airlines with the "tulip tail". United has changed their livery over the years probably more than anyone. And they've never had a bad one. Of current liveries, I think they have the best one. On their tail is a nod to Continental Airlines, and their logo, after United took over Continental. So anyway, below is a 80s 737, and then as an added bonus, a 737 with their current livery.
Coming in at #3 and #2 are similar. At #3 TWA, and #2 PanAm. TWA is now a part of American, and I think Pan Am just kinda went under. I flew on TWA some, and never flew on PanAm. But they, to me, were the classy international airlines. If I ever had a chance to go to Rome or Prague or Cairo, it was going to be on TWA or PanAm. Now my experience on TWA was flying to Sioux City and not Rome. But in any case, I think I looked good doing it. TWA went thru some different liveries over the years, but I liked the version with the red block "Trans World", and the black under the windshield. A TWA 747 was just a bad ass jet. As for PanAm, I really liked the 60s and 70s look. White with blue and their recognizable logo on the tail. I include a photo of the 707, the first and best international travel jet--which was also on the the main characters in the movie Airport.
Now for my winner. North Central Airlines. North Central ended in the early 80s after merging with Republic, who merged with Northwest, who merged with Delta. Never had a chance to fly them. But I recall a trip my parents took me to the Minneapolis Airport, and with North Central headquartered there, there were plenty of those planes to look at. I remember seeing them on a trip to the Sioux City Airport as well, as a kid. I think their teal and silver look sharp, and their font on "North Central". They also had a distinctive logo on the tail. It even had a name, Herman the Duck. So here is a Convair 580 (I got to fly on one of those a few times-curtains in the windows even), their DC-9, and even an promo film for them.
Gonna just give a minor rant on something. I hate it when old people complain about the cost of stuff and say, "I'm on a fixed income!"
I call BS. A fixed income sounds good to me. I could get thrown out on my ear tomorrow. My income is not fixed. Gramps, you are still gonna get your check next month, and the next month, til forever, and not ever have to worry about it. Plus, if inflation is high, you get a bump in pay.
Then if you still don't like it, get a frickin' job. That's a way to increase your income.
Hang with me here. I like Memorial Day. It is a very appropriate time to honor those who have gone before us. And especially a good way to honor those in our armed services who paid the ultimate price--those who died on the field of battle.
My peeve is people and companies who turn Memorial Day into "Salute the Troops Day". Yes, I like the troops. Yes, I am thankful for the efforts our troops do to protect our country. But Memorial Day is not a troops honoring day.
I saw a post on Facebook from Air Choice One " In honor of Memorial Day, tag a veteran, and tell us how you appreciate their service, and we will give one lucky winner 2 round trip flights on our airline."
That's great, and it is nice a company rewards our veterans. But the people who should get the prize for Memorial Day, can't use it, because they are deceased. I think it is bad karma to do special things for live veterans on Memorial Day. Again, this is a day to honor those who have passed away, in particular, armed forces who died in service of their country.
I feel the same way about people who are posting pictures of their alive and kicking current and/or former military friends and family. If you want to post a picture of old Uncle Joe, in his uniform when he was in Korea, and then died in 1992, I've got no problem with that either. But today is not the day to post a picture of Cousin Jimmy, who is currently stationed in the Azores. Today. is. not. that. day.
There is a line there, and maybe I'm coming off as anti-military or anti-veteran, but that is not the case. My request is to reserve this day for those that have passed away, and use it to honor them.
Here's my guy to honor. I went looking for Vietnam War casualties. You can search by date. I decided to search for my birthday. Unfortunately, there were a lot of US servicemen killed on the day I was born. I'm gonna choose this guy, Gunny Willis Bowman, from Philadelphia. If you want to read about him, here ya go.
Spent some of my Sunday afternoon on projects, but did so while watching the 2016 Libertarian Party Convention. That brought back some memories. I was a delegate to the 1996 LP Convention in Washington, DC, representing West Virginia, and a delegate to the 2000 convention in Anaheim, representing Iowa.
In both cases, I got to deliver the state delegation vote totals for the presidential candidates. So that was kinda cool. I got my 30 seconds of fame on C-SPAN.
I sorta remember my speeches for both, in 96 it was something like, "Mr. Chairman, the delegation from West Virginia, where the state motto is Montani Semper Liberi, Mountaineers are always free, we cast our votes for the following....."
In 2000, it was, "Mr. Chairman, the delegation from Iowa, the birthplace of (I forget, it was somebody from Iowa who had just died or something), the birthplace of Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, and the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk, we cast our votes for the following..." I knew Libertarians tend to be Star Trek nerds, so I knew the Captain Kirk reference would get an applause line. It did.
I've always had kind of a love/like relationship with the Libertarian Party. For the most part, politically I am a libertarian. There are all sorts of definitions, I've heard "Pro Choice on Everything", "socially liberal, fiscally conservative", "Republicans Who Smoke Pot", "South Park Republicans", among others.
So there are libertarians (with a small "l"), who have a political philosophy. Then there are Libertarians (with a big "L"). That is a party member. The problem with being a big "L" is that America just doesn't, as a whole, vote for 3rd party candidates. It can be Greens, Reform, Libertarian, or whatever. Once any 3rd party starts getting too big, one of the 2 big parties will start endorsing what the 3rd party is pushing, and then the 3rd party goes back to irrelevancy. So to run or a support a Libertarian generally means you are voting for somebody who is not going to win. "Wasting your vote" is the frequent mantra. So to be active as a Libertarian means getting your brains beat in on Election Day. You don't get money because you can't win, you can't win because you don't have money.
Then I've found many Libertarians want to run a debating society, and not too the hard political work. People run for US Congress as Libertarians that have never even been elected to anything, don't belong to any civic organizations, but are the masters of online message boards. That's not a way to win elections. They may be great people, and great ideas, but that is like showing up with a bunch of 5 foot tall guys to play a NBA team in basketball.
So anyway, I was watching the convention today, that was taking place in Orlando. It was the same stuff that drove me crazy about those conventions. It is a meeting, run with 1000 people, with Roberts Rules of Order. So there are always people making "points of order" or "points of personal privilege". Then motions to argue all sorts of arcane crap. There is a certain segment of people that seem to get off on being Roberts Rules gurus. You even see it locally at the caucuses here in Iowa. "Mr. Chair, I move to suspend the rules to allow Joe Blow to make a 2 minute presentation to comment on the withdrawal of his nomination to be the party's Vice Presidential nominee". Then someone else hollers, "Point of information" "The Chair recognizes microphone #2. Please state your name." "Mr. Chair, John Doe, delegate from Ohio, is the 2 minute presentation now, or after the discussion of the motion to cease nominations?" ARRRGH!
Today was the awesome sauce of the LP tho. The Republicans and Democrats have highly scripted conventions. They care about what it looks like on TV, and nobody is getting to the stage without being properly vetted. But today....The LP was doing nomination speeches for individuals who were interested in becoming their national chairman. So the first speaker was some guy around 30 years old, about an 8" long beard below his chin, and weighing around 300 bills. He had the convention audio-visual people start some song, and he proceeded to slowly strip down to a thong. No one bothered to get him off the stage, and he danced in a thong for his allotted 2 minute time. Hilarious, sad, and pathetic all at the same time. At the end of the 2 minutes, he withdrew his nomination for chair. Here is American Democracy in action.
I heard some local sports talk guys talking about most overrated beers. I remember a couple from their list. Sam Adams Boston Lager, Blue Moon, and "American Macro Beers".
I don't think Sam Adams is overrated. It's a solid beer. Blue Moon is a good one for the list. I really don't get the appeal. "Put an orange with it". If it needs an orange, it sucks.
Which gets to my most overrated beer, and that is Leiney's Summer Shandy. I've never drank horse piss, but that is what I imagine it tastes like. Regular Leinenkugel's is ok. I'd love to have someone hand me a regular Leiney's. But their Summer Shandy is awful.
I get that people are trending to micro breweries. And these brewers are trying various concoctions. But please, no fruit in the beer. Beer should be beer. If I want wine, I'll drink wine. So this Summer Shandy crap has lemon in it. "It's like a combination of lemonade and beer." Think about that for a second. That sounds horrible.
I find myself watching the over the air "dot-channels" more than any other TV stations/networks. I guess my only time to watch TV is generally from 8:30PM or after. I'm really like watching Hill Street Blues on 8.3. It's on at 9PM. HSB was probably my favorite show when in high school. It still holds up pretty well in my opinion.
It's still a little hokey at times. But it is the grand daddy of realistic cop/law dramas. It does a nice mix of drama and comedy.
Something that I noticed, is that my political opinion hasn't changed in the 30 years since this show aired. I really disliked the character of Henry Goldblum back then. His character is a detective that is a bleeding heart liberal. Sticking up for dirtballs, and just generally being whiny and full of doubt all the time. Just didn't like the guy. And the funny thing is, I fell the same way now. Just find him annoying.
I don't have a favorite character. If I had to pick one, I'd pick a guy that didn't get on the show until the last couple years, and he wasn't ever on that much. But that was Sid the Snitch. The character was really pathetic, a sleazeball and very self-interested, but he had a good heart in the end. Here he is in action...
Now at 9:30, I might flip over to 8.2 to watch Hogan's Heroes. Probably my favorite live action 1/2 hour comedy show ever. They had some stinkers, but all in all a good show. I can forgive the laugh track, which is awful. And I get, POW camps are not funny, and they were nothing like this. But in the end, they are making fun of Nazis, so that is good.
I might flip over to 13-3 at 10PM. They replay old Tonight Shows with Johnny Carson. I didn't really watch him much back then, mostly because I generally was in bed then. But I watched enough to know that he was King of Late Night. So I like to watch his opening monologues. They are flippin' hilarious. Of course a lot of the jokes are time bound. I've heard a lot of Al Haig jokes lately. I'm sure they would fall flat to anybody over 40. But lots of really laugh out loud funny stuff that is timeless. Johnny is a really good interviewer too. Whether it is a staple like Tony Randall, or some starlet that was never heard from again.
So if you have your rabbit ears hooked up, give it a try!
Took in a Cyclone Softball game last Saturday, while Vicki and Paige went shopping. Always had some interest in going, but I've never been to one. It was a cold blustery day, as the Clones took on Top 20 ranked Baylor.
I had a really good time.
I wasn't expecting it to be that fun, but I kinda liked it. Now most of the fun was because I sat next to the Cyclone Hockey team, who went as a group to the game. And they were full of commentary, that you would expect from a bunch of college guys. They were cheering for the Cyclones. But they were also riding Baylor too. Nothing horrible or over the line, in my opinion, but snarky in a fun way.
Baylor had a player named Robin. So the guys were chanting, "Batman's sidekick! Batman's sidekick!" Or "You are a bird! You are a bird!" And they were hollering at on deck batters, "You have an ugly bat!" And of course they rode the umpires, especially on plays that weren't even close. A Cyclone player was thrown out at first by 3 steps. "C'mon Blue! Are you blind? Open your eyes!" A Baylor player hit a home run. They guys started chanting, "Steroids! Steroids!" It was hilarious.
I know the Clones have struggled in softball, and this game was no exception. Clones hung with them for 5 innings, then ended up losing by 10 or so.
The field is, what, maybe 3 years old now? It's really nice, and it in next to the new track and soccer field, just east of the Towers, and just north of the ice arena along Mortensen. Best of all, no charge to get into the game.
The really funny thing is, how much it is like high school sports tho. When we think about football or men's basketball, it is a huge event, and the players seem larger than life, and almost untouchable. Here, after the game, the Baylor girls left the dugout, walked behind the bleachers, and met their parents. They were carrying their own bat bags. I heard the Baylor pitcher's dad talking to his daughter about the plate umpire. Then the players all got onto the bus, still wearing their uniforms. So it is easy to say, Big 12 softball is not like Big 12 football.
But again, just wanted to mention it, because even though the Clones lost, and even though I was by myself, I had a pretty good time. I endorse Cyclone Softball for some good, cheap entertainment.
Just got done watching tonight's episode of Lucifer on Fox. This show is really starting to intrigue me. As noted in my original blog post, it has its humorous moments, but tonite was a bit darker, and had a plot line revolving around faith.
I was reading a copy of the newspaper of the Dubuque Catholic Diocese that Vicki gets, and found a commentary about the show. It surprisingly didn't rip it to shreds.
If you are interested in the show, it is an interesting read, HERE IT IS.
Of course, the original review from the Catholic News Service is a bit more harsh, from when the series first came out. HERE IT IS.
Tonite's episode was a bit more interesting from a dogma point of view. Of course the criticism from the church is that this show adds some glamour to Satan, aka Lucifer. But tonite, they pounded home the horrors of Hell. If you watched the show from a Christian perspective, I think it would be rather refreshing to see that on network television.
And speaking of the word "Dogma", it reminds me a bit of the movie of the same name. It is good entertainment, but it gives you something to think about, other than a straight laugh. However I realize how the movie Dogma is seen, would be widely open to interpretation, depending on your religious point of view. But I suppose that is another blog post. HERE is the IMDB review of that movie in case you are interested.
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