If You Build It, They Will Come

        Profile Tyler Cook was a forward for the Iowa Hawkeyes who signed with Cleveland after the 2019 NBA draft*.  Tyler played for Cleveland and Denver in the NBA, and now currently plays for the ... Iowa Wolves** in the G-League. * Iowa connections in the 2019 draft: Talen Horton-Tucker (2nd ISU), Marial Shayok (2nd ISU), Matt Thomas (UDFA ISU) ** Formally known as the Iowa Energy Personal Notes It must be crazy to be a player and be sent a box of hundreds of cards (or stickers) and have to sign each one of them.  Some players are pretty meticulous, while others scribble.  While Tyler's signature here leans more scribble, I do appreciate the simplicity of it.  He merges the T and C from his name and the end results is kinda nice.  Collection Notes I have 1/24 (4%) cards in my collection.

        Profile Steve Alford was a former All-American player at Indiana University before heading to the NBA for 4 years.  Steve played on the Men's Basketball team in the Olympics in 1984 winning the gold medal.  After his playing was over, he became a coach for a number of basketball teams**, notable the Iowa Hawkeyes (why else are we here) and currently at Nevada. * Jon Koncak (Cedar Rapids) was also on the team ** Missouri St, Iowa, New Mexico, UCLA and Nevada Personal Notes There are many "sport sins" that sports fans take judgement on.  Here in Ohio, Jim Tressel had the sin of punting too much (minor) and John Cooper had the sin of not beating Michigan (major).  You see it in Iowa as well, with ISU fans demanding only 1 win a year, against Iowa of course.   Steve Alford coached 8 seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes, but no longer coaches them so he must have committed a sports sin as most coaches do.  Most coaches fail some sort o...

The World Series is played every year (well, 1994...), and every year there is a winner.  The right team doesn't always win though.  No, sometimes the universe makes a mistake and the wrong team wins.  But how do we know who these "Misplaced Winners" are?   Well, this blog circles around one thing, and that's the Iowa Connection.  So, obviously every World Series champion should have at least one Iowa Connection, but not every one does.  Either I've missed the connection (possible!), or the universe messed up.  Thanos snapped his fingers and the Yankees won.  So lets look at those Iowa-less World Series champions and see who it should have been. If this universe happened, here are number of titles these Iowa Connections would have gained (2+): 4 - Davey Lopes 2 - Cal Eldred 2 - Corey Koskie 2 - Denis Menke 2 - Jerry McNertney 2 - John Wathan 2 - Paul Splittorff 2 - R. C. Stevens 2 - Gene Baker Note: I'm only going back to 1958 here,...

        Profile Hakeem Butler is a wide receiver (tight end?) from Iowa State who was drafted in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL Draft* by the Arizona Cardinals.  Butler was a 2nd team All-Big 12 wide receiver** after setting a school record for most receiving yards in a season with 1318 yards.  Butler is currently on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad.   * Other Iowa Connections in the draft: T.J. Hockenson (1st UofI), Noah Fant (1st UofI), David Montgomery (3rd ISU), Butler (4th ISU), Anthony Nelson (4th UofI), Amani Hooker (4th UofI), Ross Pierschbacher (5th Cedar Falls) ** Other WRs from ISU in the NFL: Ike Harris, Otto Stowe, Luther Blue, J.J. Moses, Allan Lazard  Personal Notes Oh man, here it is a couple years into his career and I thought I'd be writing about how amazing it has been so far.  He has not shown it yet.  Hakeem was injured during the preseason of his rookie year and is already on his third team.  Wh...

        Profile Ben Christensen was a pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization, drafted in the 1st round of the 1999 MLB Draft* out of Wichita State.  He was born in Waterloo** before moving to Kansas.  Ben topped out at AA before being released by Chicago. * Iowa connections in 1999 Draft: Wes Obermueller (2nd UofI), Jason Cromer (11th Des Moines), Kevin Ciarrachi (17th UNI), Nathan Hilton (28th ISU), Orlando Roman (31st Indian Hills), Eric Langill (34th DMACC), Brian Mitchell (40th UofI),William Vazquez (44th Indian Hills), Manases Pabon (48th Indian Hills) ** Some other professional athletes from Waterloo: MLB: Rick Folkers, Jack Bruner   NFL: Darren Sproles, Reggie Roby, MarTay Jenkins, David Barrett, Mike Haffner, J.J. Moses, Don Perkins Personal Notes Ok.  It is impossible to talk about Ben without bringing up the incident in 1999.  The short version, Ben struck an opposing player in the head with a warm-up pitc...

 Today we have a new collection of cards for the 2021 ICY set.  These 16 cards honor the achievements of the wrestling teams from three major Iowa NCAA teams: Iowa, Iowa State, and UNI.  Iowa won NCAA Championship, Spencer Lee was the Wrestler of the Year and Tom Brands is the Coach of the Year. Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa State Cyclones Northern Iowa Panthers

        Profile Marcus Paige was a point guard for the New Orleans Pelicans after being selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2016 NBA draft*.  Marcus played for North Carolina in college, earning 2nd Team All-American honors his sophomore season.  Marcus also played his senior season with the Tar Heels in which they made it to the championship game, but lost to Villanova.  Marcus is from Cedar Rapids**. * Iowa Connections:  Georges Niang (ISU), Paige (Cedar Rapids), and Abdel Nader (ISU) ** Well, Marion.  I don't know how those from Marion would care about being categorized under CR.  Like West Des Moines vs Des Moines, or Council Bluffs getting pulled into the Omaha metro, and of course Burlington and Bettendorf getting sucked under the Quad Cities moniker.   Personal Notes Marcus Paige is one of the better high school players to come around in the last decade or so.  Some others include Doug McDermott and Harrison Barnes...

        Profile Jon Lieber was a pitcher in MLB for 14 years with a number of teams.  His best season was his 2001 season where he logged 20 wins, an All-Star appearance and finished 4th in Cy Young voting with the Chicago Cubs*.  Jon was born in Council Bluffs and played for Iowa Western CC**. * Des Moines native Kevin Tapani also was on the team ** MLBers from Iowa Western:  Joe Bisenius, Jason Christiansen, Tony Ghelfi, Jeremy Horst, Dan Johnson, Russ Morman, Scott Pose and Erik Swanson Personal Notes If you are not from Iowa, you should know that Iowa has 4 seasons.  I personally think its the four seasons you are accustomed to, but some in Iowa will tell you the are early Winter, Winter, late Winter and Summer.  Regardless of which you believe, Iowa has some rough, cold weather for an extended part of the year, which is not ideal for baseball.   MLBers from Iowa are not overwhelming, and it seems that a majority of the players...

The NBA Finals are played every year, and every year there is a winner.  The right team doesn't always win though.  No, sometimes the universe makes a mistake and the wrong team wins.  But how do we know who these "Misplaced Winners" are?   Well, this blog circles around one thing, and that's the Iowa Connection.  So, obviously every NBA Champion should have at least one Iowa Connection, but not every one does.  Either I've missed the connection (possible!), or the universe messed up.  Thanos snapped his fingers and the Warriors won.  So lets look at those Iowa-less NBA Champions and see who it should have been. If this universe happened, here number of titles these Iowa Connections would have gained: 9 - Don Nelson 4 - Kyle Korver 2 - Harrison Barnes 2 - Kelvin Cato 2 - Jeff Hornacek 2 - B.J. Armstrong 2 - Jimmy Rodgers 2 - John Johnson 2 - Fred Brown 2 - Willie McCarter 1 - Justin Hamilton 1 - Nick Collison 1 - Will Blalock 1 - Paul Shirley...

        Profile Noah Fant is a tight end for the Denver Broncos.  Fant played for the University of Iowa for three years before declaring for the 2019* and being drafted in the first round**.   * Iowa connections in the 2019 draft: T.J. Hockensen (1.9 UofI), Fant (1.20 UofI), David Montgomery (3.73 ISU), Hakeem Butler (4.103 ISU), Anthony Nelson (4.107 UofI), Armani Hooker (4.116 UofI), and Ross Pierschbacher (5.153 Cedar Falls) ** Just crazy that Fant is a 1st round TE (not common these days), but also he isn't even the first te taken, nor even the first TE on his own team! (Hockensen).   Personal Notes So currently there are 3 teams that start Iowa TEs.  49ers with Kittle, Lions with Hockensen and Broncos with Fant.  Iowa is Tight End U, but it made me wonder how many teams have had an Iowa TE start for them?   NE: Marv Cook Buf: Scott Chandler Ind: Dallas Clark Jax: Allen Reisner Hou: C.J. Fiedorowicz KC: Jon...

Profile Kevin Tapani was a pitcher in the MLBs for 13 seasons.  He had his best year in 1991 with the Minnesota Twins as they won the World Series and Tapani finished 7th in Cy Young voting*.  A workhorse pitcher, he had over 150 innings 10 times, and double digit wins 8 seasons.  Kevin was born in Des Moines**, but was raised in Michigan. * While he was 7th, he was 3rd on his own team, with Scott Erickson and Jack Morris getting more votes.   ** Other modern MLBers from Des Moines: Casey Blake, Jeremy Hellickson, Todd Belitz, Jerry Hairston, Tom Drees, Matt Macri, Joe Magrane, Mike Mahoney, Joel Hanrahan, Benj Sampson, Todd Sears, and new 2020 addition Derek Hill. Personal Notes Kevin Tapani wasn't in Iowa much, but I do have a special spot for him in my collection.  That is because he was part of my favorite baseball team of all time, the 1991 Minnesota Twins.  Led by my favorite player, Kirby Puckett, the team went from last place to World Series ch...