What I Collect

I don't know if I've posted a definitive definition of my Iowa Collection, mostly because its very fluid and still always changing.  What constitutes an Iowa Connection?  What about an Iowa Fuzzy Connection?  Can someone fall off the list?  I'm going to answer these for you (and somewhat myself) here.  As I said, everything is fluid (as you will see below).

What is a Iowa Connection?

As it is currently, a person could have been born in Iowa, gone to school in Iowa, or lived in Iowa.  I suppose the idea that a person's time in Iowa forged something in them that made them great.  Or greatness seeks out Iowa, for those who moved there later.

Born in Iowa is the typical connection. When local news talks about someone representing Iowa, they are typically talking birth place.  When SI does a story about the best athletes from Iowa, they are talking birth.  So think Bob Feller, Kurt Warner and Dan Gable.  But this also includes guys like Darren Sproles and Joe Burrow.  Sproles was born in Waterloo and Burrow was born in Ames.  However, when it comes to Burrow, Iowa might be the 3rd state you think of associated with him, because he was raised in Ohio and became the man in Louisiana.  Joe Burrow still holds a spot in my collection because he was born in Iowa, and I will believe that he became who he was because of it.

Gone to school in Iowa is the next category.  This will include University of Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Drake.  Also, Luther, Simpson, Coe, Loras, Centerville, and Wartburg.  Don't forget Des Moines Area CC, Indian Hills, North Iowa Area CC, and Morningside.  Or Parsons, Graceland, St. Ambrose, Dubuque, and William Penn.  And on and on and on.   Iowa is rich in colleges, universities and community colleges. So I get to add Troy Davis (ISU), Fred Jackson (Coe), Caitlyn Jenner (Graceland) and David Johnson (UNI) to my collections.  I get to add Bill Madlock (Indian Hills) and Dale Carter (Ellsworth), even though Dale was there for a year.

The last category is lived in Iowa.  You might say that born in Iowa and went to school in Iowa also means that they lived there, and you'd be right.  This category catches a few other people.  So now I get John/Jim Harbaugh as they lived in Iowa when their dad Jack Harbaugh was a coach with Iowa.  I get Jason Momoa because he was raised in Norwalk.  I get Lolo Jones for her time in Des Moines.  I also get Buddy Biancalana because he moved to Fairfield after his career was over.

So what about the Iowa Cubs?  

Yeah, so this is why I created the Iowa Fuzzy Connection.  Typically minor league players made no choice to play for, say, the Iowa Cubs or Burlington Bees.  They are drafted by MLB teams and told where to play.  So they played in Iowa, but lived in is iffy.  So I've decided to try to collect at least one card of each of these players.  

Interesting, what about the Waterloo Bucks.

Buck me!  I'm not sure!  Waterloo is not currently affiliated with a team  so the players made the choice to come here. So, maybe so!  I know of two teams off the top of my head (Waterloo, Clarinda), but I bet there is more.  This will require more research.

What about pro teams from Iowa?

Like the Barnstormers?  Well they are currently not in my checklist, but leaning towards adding them as well.

Luckily not too many pro teams in Iowa

Well, more than you think.  There was the Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets in the CBA, the Atlanta Hawks started as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, bunch of hockey teams, the Des Moines Menace soccer team and of course the Iowa Blizzard volleyball team.

Not just athletes though?

Yep!  Athletes are going to constitute most of the cards out there, but there are others.  John Wayne is from Iowa.  President Herbert Hoover is from Iowa.  Bud Day is a Medal of Honor winner from Sioux City.  So there are cards out there.

So with Jason Momoa, does this mean Game of Thrones cards?

Yes, and card checklists don't always list actors names, only character names, or sometime not even that! ("The team finds a field of dead people")

Anyone get taken off the list?

Yes.  I'm not a fan of murder, so John Wayne Gacy (from Iowa) will never be in my collection.  I've never found a person who wished never to be associated with the state from a bad experience, but it will probably happen at some point at which I might pull them from the collection.  

Cool, cool, cool.  Isn't this just an insane amount of cards?

Yes, I mean we are talking over 800 players and coaches in the NFL alone.  If a player hits, it is just insane.  Some of the bigger collections belong to Kurt Warner, David Johnson, Jim Harbaugh, Trent Green, Harrison Barnes and Bob Feller.  Really any big name now has thousands after a year, like Noah Fant and TJ Hockensen.  Nate Stanley is the 3rd string QB for the Vikings and will probably be cut this year.  He has nearly 1000 cards.

So, why?

Because I asked myself a few years ago what it was that I wanted to do with my collection, and its not flipping cards or obtaining the best value.  Its collecting the things I love, trading what I don't need for what I want.  Plus, I also get to make a bunch of spreadsheets, which is always awesome.