More On Lolo & Shawn: 'Scott Pierce Said Publicly What a Few Folks Were Afraid To Say, For Fear Of Being Ripped Apart'

R. H. of Des Moines weighs in on the Lolo Jones/Shawn Johnson situation as it relates to the Des Moines media:

"On another subject, I'm still waiting for our local media to recognize Lolo Jones as an Olympian. Granted, her performance was disappointing. But it will be a long time before this area produces another Olympic track athlete. Sure, Shawn Johnson represented us very well. But it's easy to be humble with medals around your neck. Lolo's character was tested. She didn't just pass the test---she aced it.

"It is not my intention to stir the race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but I can't think of another reason Lolo was slighted by our local media these past several weeks. For as long as I live, I will remember WHO-TV's pre-Olympics special "Iowa's Golden Girl" being about Shawn Johnson. If they mentioned Lolo (and I have to admit I did not watch it), they certainly didn't mention her in the promos or the opening of the show."

Ron,

"I've been listening (and so have everyone else) to Scott Pierce for about a decade now. I have been a fan of his for a long time.

"He nailed it with Mariotti the blowhard and the local coverage with Lolo.

"I'm going to stick with the Lolo angle for the purpose of this e-mail. Scott is the first person who publicly came out and said what a few folks were afraid to say, for fear of being ripped apart: Why the slight against Lolo?

"Was it because she came out of nowhere in the Olympic trials to win the hurdles and qualify for the Beijing Games? Is it because Lolo was in only one race, and Shawn was in several routines? Was it because Lolo lost her race?

"Or is it, as Scott pointed out, is it because Lolo is not Shawn Johnson? I think what Shawn has done was great, but Lolo was a greater story because she has spent a better part of 10 years going from the lanky runner from Roosevelt to an Olympian. Shawn is just getting started. Lolo had to perservere and work harder to realize her dream.

"To second Scott's thoughts was watching WHO-TV's late-night news coverage on the day Johnson winning the gold and Lolo losing her race. Nearly 10-15 minutes was devoted to Shawn (her routine, her parents, the kids from her gym at Boston's, the neighborhood watch party, etc).

"Anyone who ...
-always make it a priority to return home to visit family and friends every year,
-commit to running the Drake Relays every year, even if her sponsors didn't like it,
-to get her sponsors to pony up about $8,000, combined with her Olympic Trial winnings to give to a flood victim,
-and to donate shoes to her high school's track team

"...is a Gold Medalist in my book and is more deserving of media attention, or at least the same coverage that Shawn has received.

"I wonder if fellow gymnast Nastia Liukin still has that frown on her face. She hardly cracked a smile, even when she won gold.

"I look forward to hearing Scott call the Bulldogs-Peacocks tilt on KRNT tonight!"


R.H.
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for your comments, R. H. As usual, you made a lot of sense, and I know there are many people who agree with you. I, too, will be paying attention to Scott Pierce's broadcast of the Bulldogs-Peacocks tilt tonight from the local stadium, aka Johnny Bright Field].

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Lolo Jones is pictured at the top of this column, Shawn Johnson is pictured at the right.

Scott Pierce Says Chicago's Jay Mariotti 'Is In Part What's Wrong With the Newspaper Business.' Also, He Says Lolo Jones Was Slighted By D.M. Media

Veteran radio play-by-play announcer Scott Pierce of Des Moines takes off on ex-Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti, and has some other thoughts on his mind in this e-mail to me:

Ron:

"Through no fault of his own, Jay Mariotti is in part what's wrong with the newspaper business. Too many reporters worry about being included on CNN's and/or Fox's news panel than just doing their job. In sports, they all want to be on First Take, The Sports Reporters, Around The Horn, etc.

"I'll take someone like Rick Hummel from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch any day over some fraud like Ken Rosenthal. Hummel just reports and writes. He's not worried about making a name for himself.

"On another subject, I'm still waiting for our local media to recognize Lolo Jones as an Olympian. Granted, her performance was disappointing. But it will be a long time before this area produces another Olympic track athlete. Sure, Shawn Johnson represented us very well. But it's easy to be humble with medals around your neck. Lolo's character was tested. She didn't just pass the test---she aced it.

"It is not my intention to stir the race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but I can't think of another reason Lolo was slighted by our local media these past several weeks. For as long as I live, I will remember WHO-TV's pre-Olympics special "Iowa's Golden Girl" being about Shawn Johnson. If they mentioned Lolo (and I have to admit I did not watch it), they certainly didn't mention her in the promos or the opening of the show."

Scott Pierce

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Over the years, I've met countless sportswriters and sportscasters in press boxes, locker rooms and interview rooms, but the Chicago Sun-Times' Mariotti wasn't one of them. Maybe that's because he rarely traveled with the pack. Mariotti's critics say he didn't have the balls to go to the locker room and interview room so those he attacked could confront him. He had as many enemies in his own newsroom than he had among the athletes, managers and coaches at whom he pointed arrows.

Chris DeLuca, a Sun-Times writer/columnist who is writing in a manner that would suggest he wants to be the guy who replaces Mariotti at the paper, addressed the issue today. Writing from Baltimore, where he was traveling with the White Sox, DeLuca said, "Word of Jay Mariotti's split with the Chicago Sun-Times reached the White Sox' clubhouse minutes after their victory Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, and the reaction could be heard outside.

"Once again, Mariotti should've been there to witness it first-hand. Ozzie Guillen -- the top target of the venom-spewing columnist who called for the Sox to fire their manager this season despite the team being in first place -- said his e-mail inbox had a record number of new arrivals by Wednesday afternoon. It was a steady stream of digital high-fives. "'When people wish the worst on people, you have to be careful because the baseball gods are going to get you,' Guillen said. 'He was not asking just for my job, he was asking for thousands and thousands of peoples' jobs over the years. I'm not going to say I will get the last laugh because I will get fired from this job. But the day I get fired is the day I lose interest in this game. Am I enjoying this? Yes, because he tried to make my life miserable. He did everything in his power to make my life go the wrong way, but he didn't make me miserable because I don't believe him. Maybe if somebody else wrote that stuff about me, then I would put attention on it. And that's what he wanted. He wanted attention. He has to thank me because I gave him a lot of [stuff] to work with. I know I helped him the last four years to make his money, and, obviously, he did not help me at all to make my money.'

"Mariotti spent the better part of his first day divorced from the Sun-Times, acting like a scorned lover. He wants you to believe there was a greater principle involved -- one that somehow loomed larger than his ego. He wants you to believe that newspapers -- specifically the two biggest ones in Chicago -- are dying. Once again, Mariotti was playing fast and loose with the facts. 'It's about time,'' said Sox broadcaster Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson, another favorite target of Mariotti's. 'I know one thing, when he got that [contract] extension three or four months ago, he wouldn't have signed that extension if the things he's saying about the Sun-Times now were true. So he's spinning it again. 'We have some great newspapers in Chicago, and the Sun-Times has some great writers. He tried to give readers the perception that he was in the clubhouse getting all the stuff, that he was in the dugout getting all that stuff, when he was never there.' The Sun-Times was a vibrant, relevant newspaper long before Mariotti arrived 17 years ago. It remains one today. The Sun-Times has built its reputation as being a bulldog covering the city and being the No. 1 source for sports and entertainment coverage...'

I'll accept Scott Pierce's claims that Lolo Jones [pictured at the right] didn't get the recognition she deserved from the Des Moines media. However, I'm not a good source. For a major portion of the time the Olympics were being held, I was traveling. I was unable to see any Des Moines TV stations and the Des Moines Registers that were available to me and others had such early edition times and were so far out of date that they weren't worth the 75 cents that one or two people were spending to buy them].

Tide Is Turning In Iraq

From the Narshalltown Times-Republican:

Speaker says there is a difference between 2005 and recent trip

By KEN BLACK, TIMES-REPUBLICAN

Saying he believes the tide has been turned in Iraq, a fighter pilot with the Iowa Air National Guard gave his impressions on the five-year-old conflict in the Middle East to the Noon Lion's Club Monday.

Col. Mark "Bo" Maly said there is a difference between 2005 and his most recent trip to Iraq.

"There has been some success in what's happened over there with the way the war has progressed," he said.

Although the workload of fighter pilots is just as heavy as it was before, the jobs tend to be a little less dangerous.

"The threat is fairly permissive as far as surface-to-air missiles and arms fire," he said.

Fighter pilots are still flying every day, perhaps as long as seven hours, providing overwatch support for troops on the ground or looking for improvised explosive devices.

Despite the improved conditions in the country, Maly noted it still does not make the goodbyes at home any easier.

"Saying goodbye ... is one of the hardest things we do before we deploy," he said.

Still, looking at the progress the country has made over the past several years does bring a sense of satisfaction to what United States' servicemen are doing, according to Maly.

But while the U.S. has made efforts to help stabilize the country by working on the electrical grid, providing additional security, and building or rebuilding schools and hospitals, Maly believes most of the change has taken place as a result of the Iraqi people. Perhaps, he said, they have simply grown tired of the simple things in life the rest of the world takes for granted - reliable electricity, clean water and a safe environment.

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Contact Ken Black at 641-753-6611 or kblack@timesrepublican.com

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T-R PHOTO BY KEN BLACK

Col. Mark Maly speaks about the Iowa Air National Guard to the Noon Lions Club in Marshalltown Monday. Maly believes the country has made tremendous progress toward peace and stability in the past several years

*

[RON MALY'S COMMENT: The entire Maly family is very proud of Mark amd everyone else serving in the U.S. Armed Forces].

Every Church Picnic Needs Great Music

The singing was excellent on a beautiful evening at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Des Moines

Andy & The Armory

I was out of town last week when people around here learned of the death of Glen Anderson.

But I want to thank Mike Swan of El Dorado, Kan., for giving me the details and helping me recall the days when the man we called "Andy" was Iowa State's basketball coach.

Swan is the mass communications lead instructor and sports media adviser at Butler Community College in El Dorado.

In an e-mail to me, Mike wrote:

"Ron, with the passing of Glen Anderson at 79, I wanted to share some things with you. I have included an article of yours from the 1960s about the Armory with some quotes from Andy. It hangs on the wall in my basement office.

"I am an Ames native who went to Iowa State and graduated in 1979 in journalism. I then finished a master's degree in the same field in 1998, writing a thesis on the history of The Iowa State Daily [coverage of Anderson's teams is in there].

"I attended Anderson's ISU basketball camp as an eighth-grader and I remember he called my home to make sure I was coming. The camp was big, but not as huge as today's versions, and I cannot tell you the impact that call had on me. I loved the game but did not make my high school team.

"However, the camp was a tremendously positive experience and helped us improve. After the coach called me, I telephoned a friend and told him I would inform him if any more big-time college coaches contacted me.

"I have fond memories of Coach Anderson."

Here's the Des Moines Register story of mine of nearly 40 years ago that Swan sent:

I.S.U. Armory: Beautiful, or Mad House?

By Ron Maly
Register Staff Writer

AMES, IA. -- Chalk up another one for the Armory. Chalk it up, that is, if you can find room in the tattered pages of history that tell the story of the old place.

Iowa State won a basketball game and Aaron Jenkins thought he won a boxing match Saturday against Nebraska. The basketball game went into overtime, but Jenkins' unscheduled fisticuffs with Jim Brooks were cut short before any damaging blows were struck.

It was business as usual. People come into the Armory expecting anything -- and usually get a little of everything. Whatever the case, no one ever goes away saying he didn't get just a bit excited.

The 99-93 victory was Iowa State's sixth at home this season. The Cyclones have lost only to Drake and Kansas State in the Armory while compiling a 9-9 record overall.

A lot of people thought Drake Coach Maury John was being facetious last month when he said "they might as well put 20 points on the board right now for Iowa State. The Armory is worth that much."

There were, however, some who knew John wasn't being facetious. They were the coaches who also have brought teams here to play.

To the opposition, the Armory is too small, too old, too cramped, too noisy and -- more often than not -- too heart-breaking.

To Iowa State, the Armory is beautiful.

It has 7,000 seats -- and they're at just about any angle you care to mention. Watch a game from press row and you don't see bodies. You see heads.

First a guy risks getting a nosebleed in one of those high-up seats, then he risks heart failure in another maddening finish that has become a way of life here.

What is it about the outdated arena that turns extraordinary opponents into ordinary ones? What is it that inflates Iowa State with some sort of magic strength?

"The Armory probably works both ways," said Arnie Gaarde, who has seen its charms as both a player and coach. He captained the 1955-56 Cyclones and is now an assistant to Glen Anderson.

"The crowd is right on top of everyone and it has an effect on both teams," Gaarde continued. "We crawled back to within 10 points in our game with Kansas and the crowd got with us.

"It gave us a big lift and, at the same time, it probably caused Kansas to do some things it didn't want to do."

The Cyclones, in one of the gigantic shocks of the season, won that game, 78-72, in two overtimes. It came just a week after Kansas had beaten Iowa State, 94-61, at Lawrence.

"It's the enthusiasm," said Anderson. "It's bound to help our players. I can't say if we have the biggest home-court advantage in the Big Eight, but we certainly have one of the best.

"Nebraska isn't bad, you know. Over there people are practically sitting on the court. Their feet are about this far (Andy had his fingers spread apart by two inches) from the floor."

Anderson mentioned enthusiasm, and certainly the Armory has that. The acoustics being what they are, a crowd of 10 could holler and sound like 1,000. Voices bounce off the walls and ceiling very well.

The band not only makes music, but makes noise. It has its own cheers. Large banners decorated -- well anything is a decoration in the Armory -- the walls Saturday, none of them complimentary to Nebraska.

Iowa State students threatened to go on strike last week, but they probably would have crossed picket lines to get into Saturday's game.

School spirit isn't supposed to be "in" anymore, but the word apparently hasn't gotten here yet. The old Armory roof almost blew off a couple of times during the wild matinee performance.

It won't be long before the roof can blow away and hardly anyone will know the difference. In case you haven't heard, the Armory's days as an intercollegiate basketball facility are numbered.

Three more games this season and a dozen or so next year, then it's goodbye. Iowa State's new 14,000-seat coliseum is scheduled to go into use for the 1970-71 season.

"The new place will probably hurt our home-court advantage," Anderson commented, "but it should help our recruiting.

"You should see the Armory he we're trying to convince a player he should attend Iowa State during the spring. The bleachers are down, it's dirty and dusty in there and there really isn't too much you can tell a kid.

"So what we do is show him a picture of the new coliseum."

Wonder what it's like to watch a game without a nosebleed?

*

The victory over Kansas by Glen Anderson and his Cyclones that I wrote about in the story came on Jan. 13,1969.

Iowa State finished the 1968-69 season with a 14-12 overall record and was 8-6 in the old Big Eight Conference.

Andy didn't know it at the time -- at least I don't think he knew it -- but the clock was ticking on him.

He lasted only two more seasons as the Cyclones' coach. His 1969-70 team had records of 12-14 and 5-9, and his final Iowa State team in 1970-71 slid to 5-21 and 2-12.

Hilton Coliseum didn't open in time for the 1970-71 season as planned, but it was ready for 1971-72. Clay Stapleton, the football coach-turned-athletic director, didn't want Anderson as the coach in the new building.

Anderson was a very nice man, but the best of his 12 seasons was the 15-9 record he had in his break-in year of 1959-60.

Iowa State was just as difficult a place to coach in those days as it is now, and Stapleton thought the university needed someone other than Glen Anderson to be the coach when Hilton Coliseum opened.

I was talking with Stapleton one day in his office during Anderson's sad final season.

All of a sudden, he said, "They tell me Maury John at Drake is a very good coach."

"Yes, he is," I answered.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I'll bet Stapleton had already made contact with John about becoming Anderson's successor.

John took his final three Drake teams to the NCAA tournament, and his 1968-69 squad finished third in the Final Four at Louisville, Ky.

John, the best coach Drake ever had, clearly had the Bulldogs' program in an elite status.

Unfortunately, John didn't live long enough to get the Iowa State program built to where he wanted it.

His first two Cyclone teams went 12-14 and 16-10. He soon became ill with cancer and couldn't finish the 1973-74 season, which ended at 15-11 with assistants coaching the team. John died soon thereafter.

*

I covered numerous basketball games and wrestling meets in the Armory [which is pictured], and enjoyed being there every time.

I covered an NCAA wrestling tournament there, and Dan Gable was still competing for the Cyclones at the time.

"Harold Nichols had it rolling in the Armory," Mike Swan told me of the longtime Cyclone wrestling coach. "You wrote about 'ghosts' one time regarding Drake's 1969 basketball team. Sometimes when I go back to Ames, I pop into the Armory and you can hear the 'ghosts' of ISU athletic teams of the past.

"I've been on quite a nostalgia kick recently, I guess because I'm getting older and I get to see my kids go through some things I did. We are quite settled here [in El Dorado], 20 minutes from Wichita.

"My wife is a former Young Iowa Journalist of the Year when she worked at the Iowa City Press-Citizen."

*

Thanks for the memories, Mike.

Cub Reporter

Rev. David P. Mumm [pictured at the lower left], formerly of Des Moines, sent this e-mail:

Hi Ron,

I thought you might enjoy this:

Cub Reporter

The newspaper editor was instructing the cub reporter in important details of his calling.

"Never state as a fact anything you are not absolutely sure about," said the editor. "To avoid putting the paper in the position of stating something which it may not be able to prove, you should always use the words 'alleged,' 'claimed,' 'reputed,' 'rumored,' and so on, unless you know positively that everything is true as stated.

The cub was sent out to get society items, and soon thereafter the following paragraph appeared in the society column:

"It is rumored that a bridge party was given yesterday by a number of reputed ladies. Mrs. Smith, it is said, was hostess. The guests, it is alleged, with the exception of Mrs. Brown, who says that she comes from Illinois, were all local people. Mrs. Smith claims to be the wife of Alexander Smith, who is rumored to be doing a thriving business in town."

David P. Mumm, M.Div.
Senior Pastor
Concordia Lutheran Church
Machesney Park, IL 61115
Office Phone: 815-633-4983


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Someone who isn't a cub reporter is the talented John Carlson, the veteran Des Moines Register columnist.

I heard from another guy in the newspaper business who relayed a rumor that Carlson was considering taking a buyout like Ken Fuson and Jerry Perkins did at the Register.

The paper has been ordered by the parent Gannett Co. to whittle its staff by 12 or 13 people. Fuson, an outstanding feature writer, and farm editor Perkins made it easier for management by offering to take buyouts.

The rumor I heard is that Carlson considered doing it, too, but later changed his mind.

I'll check with John the next time I see him.

I'm glad he decided to stay, and I hope he is, too.

*

Still no mention in Biz Buzz about the departures of Fuson, Perkins, Jane Norman and the rest of the Register newsroom people.

The departures made the online national journalism news, but evidently mum's the word in the Register on who's leaving, and why.

Shame on the paper.

Terrible reporting and terrible customer relations.

*

Speaking of terrible, how ridiculous is it that the so-called restaurant reviews in the Register's Datebook supplement don't include some sort of rating?

To simply say that it was the reviewer's preliminary visit, so that's why there's no rating, doesn't cut it with me.

It's a no-guts way to review something.

Then again, what should we expect in this era when most newspaper people are running scared?

One day a reporter can be rewriting press releases, the next day she's out on the street.

Ask Jane Norman about that.

*

More blockbuster stuff on today's sports pages.

Postcards from Beijing by Bryce Miller continues to be riveting reading.

I figure those people spending 75 cents a day for the paper can't wait to pick up their papers and see that sort of clever writing every morning.

*

I mentioned Dr. Paul Meier [pictured at the right] in one of my columns recently. He's the 78-year-old marvel of a guy who spoke all of last week at the Lutheran family camp at Okoboji.

Meier is the professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, and is a second vice-president of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.

He's also a prolific author.

He has written historical fiction and non-fiction booka, and he also writes children's books. Indeed, he was working on a book during the week he was at Okoboji.

His historical fiction include the No. 1 national best-seller in religious fiction, "A Skeleton in God’s Closet."

*

My friend George Wine of Coralville has more on his mind than Iowa's football team these days.

He sent along a bunch of great squirrel-and-dog photos -- one of which is printed at the top of this column. Someone probably sent them to him.

I like squirrels and I like little dogs, so I really like the pictures George sent.

For a while, it got my mind off the crap going on at the paper these days.

Your Fearless Forecaster Predicts the Hawkeyes Will Go 8-4, Iowa State 4-8 [But Don't Put Any Money On Any Of That!]

Reporters who cover Big 12 Conference football games are picking Iowa State to finish in the same place most other people think the Cyclones will wind up in the standings -- last in the North Division.

I guess it's hard to argue that Gene Chizik's team will be able to do any better.

I know I'm not applying for Orange Bowl credentials yet.

I'm picking Iowa State to go 4-8 overall this season in Chizik's second year as coach.

Then there's Iowa....

I told a guy yesterday that I've decided the Hawkeyes will rebound from last season's 6-6 debacle, and go 8-4 in 2008.

Now I'm trying to figure out the eight teams the Hawkeyes will beat.

I've been consulting with Rocky the orangutan [pictured at the right, courtesy of the Great Ape Trust Of Iowa] about all of this.

I knew Rocky would be a big help in my preseason prognostications. He always has answers lots of others don't.

All I know for sure is that I feel better about Iowa's chances in 2008 because Western Michigan isn't on the schedule.

A ridiculous 28-19 loss to that team in the 2007 finale kept the Hawkeyes from going to a bowl game.

Right now, I'm saying Iowa will beat Maine, Florida International, Iowa State, Northwestern, Indiana, Wisconsin, Penn State and Purdue.

Sorry, Bo [he's the Iowa City guy to whom I made the prediction], I see Iowa losing to Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Illinois and Minnesota.

*

Now back to Iowa State.

I figure the Cyclones will win their first two games -- both at home -- over South Dakota State and Kent State. Then they'll lose at Iowa and UNLV, and to Kansas at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

They'll win at Baylor, lose to Nebraska, beat Texas A&M, and lose at Oklahoma State and Colorado, and to Missouri and at Kansas State.

Iowa State tied Nebraska for the worst records in the North last season. The Cyclones somehow beat Kansas State and Colorado, and wound up 3-9 overall.

"The Cyclones surprised me last year as they were the least-talented team in the Big 12," Phil Steele wrote in his College Football Preview magazine. "This year's squad has 14 returning starters and will be stronger in Chizik's second season, but with 25 out of 52 lettermen lost it looks like a rebuilding year."

Missouri, which went 12-2 overall in 2007, is heavily favored to win the North title in 2008. The Tigers received all 51 first-place votes in the reporters' poll.

Kansas is expected to finish second, followed by Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas State and Iowa State.

Oklahoma received 49 first-place votes and is a heavy favorite to win the South title. Texas, picked to finish second, got the other two first-place votes.

Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Baylor followed.

*

By the way, rather surprisingly, Steele thinks Iowa will tie Michigan and Illinois for fourth place in the Big Ten.

"The Hawks do not have overwhelming talent at the skill positions, but do have my No. 4-rated offensive line and No. 4-rated defensive line plus much improved special teams," he writes. "They also do not face Ohio State or Michigan in Big Ten play, giving them the best schedule of the middle-rung teams."