Ron Maly has been a professional writer and author for more than half a century. He is a four-time Sportswriter of the Year in the state of Iowa, and he's the author of the best-selling book, "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines," which chronicles the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa. Not only was the hard-cover edition of the book a best-seller, so was the revised, soft-cover edition. Ron is a charter member of the Wall of Fame in the Kinnick Stadium press box at Iowa City. The Wall of Fame honors members of the media who covered athletics at the University of Iowa. These days, Ron writes about anything that interests him.

Al Schallau Says Pete Newell, Sharm Scheuerman Responsible for Iowa Hiring Lute Olson [But It Was Al Who Made the Phone Call To Bump Elliott]

Longtime University of Iowa sports fan Al Schallau, who now lives in California, is often given credit for being the man responsible for Lute Olson becoming the Hawkeyes' basketball coach prior to the 1974-1975 season.

Now -- with the death of Pete Newell -- Schallau goes into detail in an e-mail to me about what actually took place at that time.

Here's his message, titled, "Pete Newell and Sharm Scheuerman: Now It Can Be Told:"

Ron,

"I am saddened to learn that Pete Newell passed away. I met him twice and he was the same wonderful man in private as he was in public.

"In December, 1955, the Iowa Hawkeyes' Fabulous Five basketball team was anything but fabulous. The Hawkeyes lost three straight on a west coast trip that included a 70-45 loss to Pete Newell's California Golden Bears. That night, the Hawkeyes were awful.

"Senior point guard Sharm Scheuerman was sitting by himself in the bleachers after the game, feeling far down in the dumps. Pete Newell went and sat next to Sharm and talked to him for a long time, offering him many words of encouragement for their upcoming Big Ten Conference games.

"The Hawkeyes lost their first Big Ten game to Michigan State, but won their next 13, plus winning three NCAA tournament games before losing to Bill Russell and USF in the NCAA championship game.

"Pete Newell and Sharm Scheuerman became lifelong friends. As he was to so many others, Pete was a mentor to Sharm, which lasted long after Sharm's years as Iowa basketball coach.

"In March, 1974, I called Bump Elliott to recommend that he hire Long Beach State basketball coach Lute Olson. Bump had never heard of Lute, so he called Sharm and asked him to 'Call some of your friends on the west coast and check out Lute Olson.'

"Sharm called Pete Newell, who said, 'Lute is a solid basketball man. As a game coach, he is as good as you will find in the college ranks.'

"You can say anything you want to about Lute Olson. But one fact will always be uppermost in my mind. Lute's teams (at Iowa and at Arizona) could come from behind to win games as well as any teams in the country. Iowa's win over Georgetown in 1980 will always stand out in my mind.

"Pete Newell and Sharm Scheuerman were the men responsible for Lute Olson being hired as Iowa Hawkeye basketball coach.

"Best,"

Al Schallau

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for that history lesson, Al. Sharm Scheuerman [pictured at the left as a Hawkeye player] lettered on coach Bucky O'Connor's Iowa teams in 1954. 1955 and 1956. After O'Connor's death, Scheuerman had a 72-69 record as the Hawkeyes' coach from 1959-1964. Lute Olson was 168-90 as Iowa's coach from 1975-1983, then took the job at Arizona. He's now retired from that job. Pete Newell and longtime friend Bobby Knight are pictured at the right. That's Newell on the left, Knight on the right].

And They're Off!

The before-and-after of Cole's braces.

Regarding Those Season Ticket Refunds for Drake Basketball Fans, I'm Fairly Certain Bulldogs' Player/Funnyman Brent Heemskerk Was Joking About Them

Drake held its first men's basketball Tipoff lunch of the season today at Christopher's restaurant in Beaverdale, and the clear-cut star of the show was Brent Heemskerk.

Heemskerk [pictured at the left] is a 6-8, 225-pound senior forward from Grand Rapids, Mich., who might have a future in stand-up comedy.

Those attending the lunch needed something to get their minds off last week's opening game -- a disappointing 58-48 loss to Butler -- and Heemskerk gave them a few things to laugh about.

He made sure he told the fans that Drake's players are better than they showed in a game that saw them trail at halftime by the ugly score of 25-14.

"If we don't score in double digits in the first half of our next game, Coach Phelps has promised to stand outside the Knapp Center and give fans refunds for their season tickets," Heemskerk said.

I'm pretty sure Heemskerk meant it as a joke.

Heemskerk said today's Tipoff lunch was his fifth since coming to Drake.

"The only person who's been to more of them is Paul Morrison," he said of Drake's 90-year-old sports department historian and all-around information man and goodwill guy for the university. Morrison is pictured at the right.

Heemskerk is majoring in finance, marketing, entrepreneurial management and general business, and said he has already accepted a job at Principal Financial in Des Moines after he gets his degree.

"The last Drake player to accept a job at Principal was the player of the year in the Missouri Valley Conference and in the league's postseason tournament," someone in the crowd told Heemskerk.

"That's why I accepted the job," Heemskerk said.

The reference was to Adam Emmenecker, who set a Drake record with 213 assists. Ironically, although Emmenecker was supposed to begin a career at Principal, his outstanding 2007-2008 season got him a contract to play basketball in Germany.

The game against Butler was Mark Phelps' first as Drake's coach. He took over a program that saw Keno Davis go 25-8 and advance to the NCAA tournament in his only season as the head coach.

The Bulldogs' point guards were pretty bad in the opener. Something else that must improve is getting more good shots for Jonathan "Bucky" Cox, another 6-8 senior forward.

Cox scored a career-high 29 points in Drake's loss to Western Kentucky in the NCAA tournament last season, but was limited to five shots and seven points by Butler.

I didn't attend the game, but others who did told me Cox got the ball a lot, but immediately was hounded by Butler defenders and couldn't get the kind of shots he thought were necessary to score.

Somebody's got to figure out a solution to that, sooner rather than later. I mean, Cox is supposed to be a leader on this team.

Heemskerk, Phelps and athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb told people at today's lunch that they're confident Drake can, and will, play better.

I sure hope they're right.

Improvement can't come too soon.

The next game is tomorrow night against Morehead State at the Knapp Center.

'I'm Excited. I'm Anxious To Get the Regular Season Going,' Says Mark Phelps As Countdown Starts To His Debut As Drake's 25th Basketball Coach

For Mark Phelps, excitement is the word.

Phelps is the 25th men's basketball coach Drake has had since a guy named C. A. Pell sent his 1907 Bulldogs onto the floor against Des Moines Baptist.

Pell and his players won that game, 36-17. Ol' C. A. must've had a tremendous defense.

Phelps' team has had two exhibition games -- won 'em both, too -- but Josh Young, Jonathan "Bucky" Cox and the boys get down to business for real at 7:05 p.m. Saturday when they play Butler in their season opener at the Knapp Center.

It's also the debut for Phelps [pictured], who signed on as Drake's coach last April 21 after one-year wonder Keno Davis had a school-record 28-5 finish that got him a $1 million-a-year job at Providence.

I asked Phelps today what his emotions are as the countdown starts for Saturday's game.

"It's been a while [since April 21]," Phelps said. "A lot has happened. It's been a short 6 1/2 months and it's been a long 6 1/2 months.

"But I'm excited. I'm anxious to get the regular season going, and I would say most of my emotions are excitement."

Phelps said his starting lineup will be the same Saturday night as it was in Drake's exhibition victories over Truman State and Arkansas State.

"We'll start Craig Stanley, Josh Young, Adam Templeton, Jonathan Cox and Brent Heemskerk, he said.

Phelps said his team is "in relatively good health, other than the normal nicks and bruises at this time of year."

It's not like Drake is starting the season against the Sisters Of the Poor.

No opponent with a hyphenated name in this opener.

Butler has been a national power in recent seasons, and anyone who knows anything about Division I basketball knows about the school in Indianapolis.

The Bulldogs -- the Butler Bulldogs, that is -- finished 30-4 last season, but Drake handed them one of their losses Feb. 23 at home. Drake, then ranked No. 18, rode Young's 25 points to a 71-64 victory over a Butler team that was No. 8.

It's been known for a long time that Butler would be Drake's regular-season opener this year.

I sat next to Tom Davis, Keno's dad, at most of Drake's home games last season, and Tom told me late in the year that Butler would be here for the 2008-2009 opener.

But that was before he knew Keno would now be at Providence, not Drake.

I'm not sure Phelps would have scheduled Butler as his opening opponent if he'd had anything to say about it.

"There's no question we're going to find out more about ourselves by playing Butler than playing a team that's not of their caliber," he said. "But it is what it is. It's on the schedule. It's the game I inherited.

"Certainly it would nice if we could kind of ease [into the schedule]. But there's a certain excitement and expectation about opening up this way as well. We know it's a game of great interest to both programs."

Silence Is the Word. You Won't Catch Me Getting Into This Mess

I've decided to not write anything about the latest football problems at Iowa State.

Silence is golden and all that kind of stuff

I mean, I like dogs -- as long as they're small dogs -- and I'd never kick a Shih-Tzu.

I had two of 'em -- Shih-Tzus, I mean -- and didn't kick either one.

So I'm sure as hell not going to kick an Iowa State football coach with a 2-8 record.

Besides, I never criticize anyone on Veterans Day.

Those talk-shows in Texas can have all the fun they want at Gene Chizik's expense.

They can put words into his mouth that say he wishes he was still Mack Brown's defensive coordinator with the Longhorns instead of the guy running the program at a coaching graveyard like Iowa State.

Massacre the poor guy. He's certainly vulnerable these days.

After all, some things never change.

Nearly a half-century ago, when Clay Stapleton was in charge of the Iowa State football program, it was one of the toughest coaching jobs in America.

I say that even though Stapleton's 1959 team was called the Dirty Thirty and had a 7-3 record.

Today, with Chizik [pictured at the top] struggling in his second season, Iowa State is still a very difficult place to win.

Indeed, some would say it's an impossible place to win.

Not me, of course.

All I know is, I don't care who the next coach is -- Pop Warner again or the defensive or defensive coordinator at Texas or Ohio State -- winning at Jack Trice Stadium, or certainly away from Jack Trice Stadium, will be a challenge.

Maybe you've forgotten that the legendary Glenn S. "Pop" Warner was Iowa State's coach in 1895, 1896, part of 1897, 1898 and part of 1899.

Never had a losing season, either.

He became so famous at Iowa State that a kids' football organization was formed in this country, and was named after him. It's still going strong today.

Evidently, things went downhill in Ames after Pop's days there.

Johnny Majors [pictured at the left] told me a long time ago what a hard job it was to coach at Iowa State.

"I've always heard that this is a place you win, then get out," he told me in a candid moment during the time he was the Cyclones' coach from 1968 through 1972.

And Majors followed his own advice.

He got out.

After being rumored for more coaching jobs than Bobby Stoops has been in recent years, Majors went to Pittsburgh -- where he won a national championship -- then to Tennessee, where he was eventually fired.

Another round of "Coach Watch" has begun at Ames.

But, like I said, I'm staying out of all this.

Chizik, who walked through artificially-produced smoke at Hilton Coliseum when he was announced as Iowa State's new coach less than two years ago, now is the target of some heat for what he has -- or hasn't -- done on the football field.

Chizik or his bosses can say all they want about how things are going, but if the guy doesn't get things turned around fairly soon, I'm thinking he'll be gone.

Don't forget, Kansas State coach Ron Prince was handed his walking papers the other day after just over 2 1/2 years on the job.

There is little patience anywhere. There's pressure on college presidents, who transfer that pressure to their athletic directors, who transfer it to their coaches.

The president wants to stay employed, and so does the athletic director.

So what do they do? Fire the coaches.

Chizik told people yesterday at his weekly press conference that he doesn't second-guess himself for taking the Iowa State job.

Hey, what did you expect him to say, something like, "I was happy as Mack's defensive coordinator, and the biggest mistake I ever made was to come to Ames, Iowa. This is the pits?"

Or do you expect Jamie Pollard, the athletic director, to say, "When I hired Chizik, I really screwed things up -- and, hopefully, it's not an error that will follow me around when I try to get out of Ames. I should have never hired Chizik?"

I've written plenty of times in the past that it was huge mistake for Pollard to fire Dan McCarney from the Iowa State coaching job.

But I'm getting off that horse right now.

I still believe it, but I refuse to write it again today.

Remember, I'm being quiet about all of this.

R. H. Of Des Moines Reaches Into the Past To Touch On the Names Of Some Sports, Writing and Broadcast Heavyweights

Ron Gonder's recent commentary on WMT-radio in Cedar Rapids about the problems I had with former Iowa football coach Ray Nagel prompted R. H. of Des Moines into sharing some memories.

Here's his e-mail:

Ron,

"As someone who is under 40, but not naive about Iowa football, it was a treat to read Ron Gonder's story on how he got you into hot water with Ray Nagel. In college, I read the accounts of the Evy-Nagel feud and I hooked on the events surrounding the feud. From the black student-athletes boycotting, to Evy getting Gary Grouwinkel, Ted and Larry Lawrence, among a few to undermine Nagel, and the changing landscape of the country at that time in the late 60's and early 70's.

"The feud, in my eyes, was the most compelling saga in Iowa sports history. Then again, I trust guys like Al Grady, Marc Hansen, Buck Turnbull, and you to correct me if I'm wrong!

"Ron Gonder and Frosty Mitchell were two major reasons why I started following Hawkeye athletics as a kid growing up in Eastern Iowa. Some of the credit also goes to Bob Hogue and Bill Bolster, when both of them at KWWL-TV, helped created the Iowa Television Network and put Hawkeye basketball and football on television. But it was WMT that made me a fan of Gonder and Mitchell, along with the late Gus Schrader, Carl Gonder, Dick Trotter with Pigskin Parade after the game, and the entire WMT team.

"I finally met Ron Gonder in 2005, at the Class 4-A boys basketball final between Bettendorf and Linn-Mar. His son Carl was being inducted into the Athletic Association's Hall of Fame. My aunt's brother, Mike Davis, who played for East Waterloo, was also being inducted. The Gonder family sat a few rows above my family in the balcony inside Vets Auditorium. It made my night to finally see and meet the guy who made 'You can pass in the songbooks on this one!' and 'the crowd is going bananas!!!' popular phrases on the eastern side of the state!

"It's fitting that Ron is a topic on your blog. Several days ago, on a certain sports radio station in town, a certain afternoon show host had a cow about Gonder being in the booth with Dolphin and Podolak during the fourth quarter of the Iowa-Illinois game. I'm not going to mention the guy's name on this blog, because I'm sure he reads this blog as well. But, he knows that I'm talking about him! That fella strongly felt that Gonder had no business being there, and for that matter, didn't think highly of him.

"I wanted to reach into the radio and throttle that guy. Anyone who is on the Kinnick Stadium Wall of Fame, either as a contributor, broadcaster, or writer, is a 'made man' in my book [to use the term from the Mafioso]. They can stop by the booth anytime when they are invited to come. I don't care if it's Jim Zabel, Bob Brooks, George Wine, or if the ghosts of Eric Wilson and Maury White pops in, they deserve the invite to drop in with Dolph and Eddie.

"I was never so furious and angry listening to that rip job of one of the living legends of Iowa sports broadcasting. But, I feel better after reading Gonder's story about Ray Nagel. Nagel must have hated Buck, Maury, you and Evy so much, I could imagine him running around the Iowa campus at 3 a.m., screaming his lungs out!

"Best,"

R.H.
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: R. H. of Des Moines is a very accurate reporter and has his facts straight in this electronic account of Iowa sports and broadcast history. I'm glad he brought up the names from the past that he did because they take me back to a time when newspapers were a very important part of the communications scene, and there was talent galore in press boxes -- in both the sportswriters' and broadcasters' areas. I'm especially happy that R. H. mentioned Gus Schrader's name. Gus was the longtime sports editor/columnist of the Cedar Rapids Gazette who gave me my writing star when I was a 15-year-old student at Wilson High School in Cedar Rapids. Gus went to the big press box in the sky a number of years ago, but I still thank him for his kindness. I am honored to be in the University of Iowa/Kinnick Stadium with Gus, as well as Ron Gonder, Brooksie, "Z" and the others. That's Bob Brooks pictured at the right and Frosty Mitchell at the left].

*

GLORY DAYS OVER AT NEBRASKA

Longtime Cornhusker fan Alive In Clive, not his real name, says the NCAA "has taken the powerhouse football programs apart" in this e-mail:

Ron,

"Good piece on Nebraska...I don't think any of us are going to see the glory days of our favorite college football teams. Those days are gone, and the NCAA has taken the powerhouse programs apart. The BCS is already a mess this year. All we can hope for is a decent season for our boys.

"You can place Rick Neuhauser [or Neuheisel] on your coach list. Now here is a stellar coach if I ever saw one.

"Go, Valley, Here is a good football team winning.

"I remain,

Alive in Clive

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: I figure Nebraska is going to continue being in the same boat with the Iowas and the Purdues of the world. Those teams are going to have more 7-5 records than 10-2 records. It's a good thing Bob Devaney is now doing his coaching in the huge stadium upstairs because he wouldn't like what's going on at Nebraska these days. As for unbeaten and No. 1 ranked 4-A team Valley, I figure the Tigers should be underdogs in Friday's game against Ankeny in the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls. But that doesn't mean Valley can't win. I continue to admire the job Gary Swenson is doing with the program there. The guy is amazing].

*

HERE'S A HORRIFYING THOUGHT FOR YOU

I make the point in another area where I write about how amazing it is that collegiate football teams with so-so records -- like 6-4 and 5-5 -- are wondering which bowl games they'll be playing in.

I recall when an outstanding Iowa team had an 8-1 record in 1960 and played in no bowl.

That was Forest Evashevski's final Hawkeye squad. Its only loss was to Minnesota and it walloped Ohio Sate, 35-12, and Notre Dame, 28-0, in its final two games -- but stayed home for the holidays because of rules that then prohibited a team other than the Big Ten champion from going to bowls.

Just think, Iowa's 1968 and 1969 teams -- both of which went 5-5 -- would have gone to bowl games if today's regulations were in effect.

That might've meant Ray Nagel wouldn't have been fired after the 1970 season.

What a horrifying thought.

I've Seen Plenty Of Big Games At Kinnick Stadium, But Iowa's 24-23 Victory Over Penn State Is Most Memorable Since No 1 vs. No. 2 Thriller In '85

Iowa City, Ia. -- Well, they got the old place rocking again.

Kinnick Stadium, I mean.

Just when people around the country were thinking Kirk Ferentz couldn't coach anymore and his offensive and defensive coordinators should be given one-way airplane tickets -- Ken O'Keefe to a Division III job in Montana and Norm Parker into retirement -- Iowa's football team rose up out of the ashes of a head-scratching 2008 season and spoiled Joe Paterno's party.

If you thought Paterno's hip hurt before yesterday's Penn State-Iowa football game, you should have seen him afterward.

It's a wonder the 81-year-old Grandfather Image Of College Football didn't order one of his assistants to take him to nearby University Hospitals on the Iowa campus so he could have immediate hip replacement surgery.

Paterno's hip, and probably his head, hurt all the way back to State College, Pa., after this one.

Iowa somehow found a way to hand Penn State its first loss of the season, 24-23, in the cold and the wind of a Saturday evening in November, and now suddenly Ferentz is worth the $3 million-a-season they pay him and O'Keefe and Parker can stick around for at least another week.

Yes, sir, Nile Kinnick would've been proud of this victory in the stadium [pictured above] they named after him.

Iowa radio announcer Gary Dolphin called Hawkeye fans who stormed the field prematurely "idiots" because Iowa wound up getting a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct because of it.

I probably agreed with Dolphin because I don't like it when people leave their seats and run onto a playing field in any sport. I think they should act like they've been there before. At least until the game ends.

Then, again, when you knock a team coached by Joe Paterno out of national championship contention on Daniel Murray's 31-yard field goal with 1 second remaining [pictured, courtesy of SI.com], I guess Dolphin and I should let fans be fans for 10 minutes.

After all, victory over a team that's ranked No. 2 or No. 3, depending on whose poll you're paying attention to, doesn't come that often.

Speaking of that, I was thinking after the game about the big games I've seen over the years in Kinnick Stadium, and trying to figure out where yesterday's game ranked.

As far as I'm concerned, the victory over Penn State was the biggest I've seen in a the old ballpark that's got a million memories since Hayden Fry's No. 1-ranked Hawkeyes got past Bo Schembechler's No. 2 Michigan team Oct. 19, 1985.

That '85 game was unforgettable. I mean, it would've been unforgettable even without the No. 1 and No. 2 rankings because I just like to see Iowa beat Michigan, even if it's the debate teams that are doing the scrapping.

There have been plenty of other historic games I've seen at Kinnick, of course. Off the top of my head, the 36-7 victory over Michigan State on Nov. 21, 1981 that sent Fry's team to the Rose Bowl.

There was more involved than that, of course.

It came at a period in Iowa football history when people were starting to wonder if Iowa even belonged in the Big Ten.

The Hawskeyes' 8-4 season ended a string of 19 consecutive non-winning seasons at the school.

Then there was the 12-10 victory Sept. 7, 1977 by Bob Commings' Iowa team over Iowa State in the renewal of a series that had been dormant since 1934.

There are plenty of others. Certainly the 10-7 victory over Nebraska in a rousing Sept. 12, 1981 season opener that set the stage for Fry's first Rose Bowl season, the Hawkeyes' 16-9 victory over Ohio State, Nov. 2, 1991 that came in a 10-1-1 season, and certainly the 6-0 victory Nov. 17, 1956 in a game that helped Rose Bowl-bound Iowa to a 9-1 season.

Enjoy this one, too, folks.

Stuff like this doesn't come that often anymore.

The Beat Goes On At Valley Southwoods