If You Build It, They Will Come

 What wonders a collector's brain can come up with when left with boxes of commons and nothing but time.  That's what happened to me during the years of Covid home work time and boxes of commons that I went through over and over again. I grew up rooting for the Vikings since my dad grew up in Minnesota, and my brother started collecting Buffalo Bills because Thurman Thomas was awesome when we were kids.  We still collect these teams today, maybe a little less so, but still have decent collections.   Decent collections lead to lots of duplicates.  Decent collections lead to look at weird things like other players on cards.  Even on other team cards.  This Mike Singletary card seems to have him tackling Darrin Nelson, do I add this card to the Darrin Nelson collection? Then one day, you look at a card and think, "I wonder what game this was?"  Then the trouble question crosses your mind.  "I wonder if I can a card with a photo from EVERY g...

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 Darre...

        Profile George Williams* was a catcher for the Oakland A's and San Diego Padres in the late 90s, mostly as a backup catcher.  He accrued a 1.5 WAR over his career.  He started his college career at Des Moines Area Community College** before ending up at the University of Texas Pan America.   *  Not George Williams , nor George Williams , nor the six other minor leaguers named  George Williams , nor George Williams , nor ... ** Four DMACC players played in MLB: Corey Koskie, Scott Schebler, George Williams, and Paul Wilmet.  Personal Notes DMACC is one of a ton of community colleges in Iowa, the largest of the CCs ahead of Kirkwood.  CCs remain a difficult piece to the Iowa Collection, as they tend not to be a person's last stop.  George Williams started there before MiraCosta College in California before ending up in UTPA.  CCs can't hold elite players as they move on to bigger schools for exposure, or they ma...

        Profile David Johnson is a running back from the University of Northern Iowa, arriving there from Clinton*, Iowa.  After a successful career at UNI, David was selected in the third round of the 2015 draft by the Arizona Cardinals and was an All-Pro** by his second year in the league.  He currently plays for the Houston Texans. * Other notables from Clinton: Duke Slater (UofI CFB HOF), George Stone (MLB), Lillian Russell (Actress), George Nelson (Astronaut), Peggy Moran (actress) ** Three All-Pros from UNI: David Johnson, Kurt Warner and Bryce Paup Personal Notes This isn't a collection story, but an economics note.  It's about diversification, and how I like to spread out my pain and joy evenly.  I am a Vikings fan, and in the early 2000s they drafted a running back named Michael Bennett in the 1st round.  I was big into fantasy football by then, and drafted him onto many of my teams.  Well, he was mediocre, which is not great fo...

        Profile Mike Boddicker hits the triple crown for his Iowa cred: born in Iowa, attended Iowa, and had his life saved in Iowa.  Mike was born in Cedar Rapids and raised in Norway.  He attended the University of Iowa*, bypassing the Montreal Expos who drafted him out of High School.  He had a pretty successful career, winning an ALCS MVP, a World Series**, a Gold Glove and is in the Orioles Hall of Fame.  However, just after his career was over he discovered a lump in his neck and doctors at the University of Iowa help defeat his cancer.   * Boddicker has the 2nd highest WAR of any Hawkeye (31.3), just behind Jim Sundberg (40.5) and just above Cal Eldred (15.8) ** Boddicker is also the 2nd Hawkeye to win the World Series (1983).  First was Jim McAndrew with those Miracle Mets of 1969, and just beat out Sundberg who won with the Royals in 1985. Personal Notes A fun oddity in collecting players who aren't super stars is you somet...

     Profile Gayle Hopkins was a track athlete from Davenport who went on to have a successful career at Arizona and competed in the 1964 Olympics*.  Gayle broke Jesse Owens' long jump record at the Drake Relays**. * Olympics were held in Tokyo, and introduced Judo and Volleyball as medal events.  ** I mean any time you get to mention "broke Jesse Owens' ... record", that means you're pretty good Personal Notes When building my personal database, I've used a bunch of resources, starting with Wikipedia, BaseballReference, Football Reference, etc.  The additions I enjoy the most are the random ones I find reading an article about someone else.  I was researching James Jones for a previous post, and they were mentioning other famous athletes from Davenport, including Gayle Hopkins.  I bring up his wikipedia page and find it having very little info, so I had to dig to find he was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, raised in Iowa, and attended college in Colora...

    Profile Davenport's own James Jones is a defensive tackle who played for Northern Iowa in the late 80s and early 90s.  Jones was drafted by the Cleveland Browns* in 1991 and played 10 years in the league amassing 3 catches for 4 yards and two touchdowns (plus 37 sacks and 432 tackles).  Jones remains the highest drafted UNI player at #57**.  * His head coach was Bill Belichek and his DC was Nick Saban  ** While Jones was 3rd rounder, he was still drafted higher than Brad Meester (2nd Round) who was #60 overall Historical Significance Northern Iowa has had a number of NFL players, including a Super Bowl MVP (Kurt Warner), DPOY (Bryce Paup) and current NFL players (David Johnson, LJ Fort).  Before James Jones, there were two UNI players that were drafted highly (Randy Schultz in the 5th in 1966, Bryce Paup in the 6th in 1990).   Neither had a Panther cards, so I think I can reasonably declare that: 🔔1991 Wild Card Draft was the first UNI P...

Profile Tim Costo was a shortstop for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1987-1990, an All-American* and 1st Round pick in 1990**, and played a couple of years for the Cincinnati Reds in 1993 and 1994 with a lifetime WAR of -0.7.   * Of the 22 All-Americans, 4 had productive MLB careers (Aaron Sele, Dan Wilson, Jeffrey Hammonds, Mike Kelly) and 6 others made it to the pros.   ** Of the 26 1st Rounds, 13 had productive MLB careers, most notably Chipper Jones and Mike Mussina.  9 others also made it to the pros.   Historical Significance Tim Costo had a fine career, and played for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and I had no idea until I had opened a Topps pack in 1991.  Up until 1989 Pro Set Football, you didn't see players in their college uniforms, and often had to wait a year of pro play before you'd see them even in their pro jerseys.  The only cards you would find were the sporadic team sets that some colleges would put out. With a little research, and discountin...

         Profile A.J. Epenesa is a defensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills playing his first year in the NFL after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 draft *.  A.J. played college at Iowa and was the highest rated recruit** to play for the Hawkeyes. * Iowa players from the 2020 Draft (Hawkeyes: Tristin Wirfs, A.J. Epenesa, Michael Ojemudia, Geno Stone, Nate Stanley) ** Other highly rated recuits: Kyle Williams, Tony Moeaki, Blake Larsen and Matt Roth Personal Notes So the big thing I thought about with Epenesa was the fact that he was such a highest rated recruit coming to Iowa.  Iowa is not exactly known for getting 5 star recruits, but for taking 2 star recruits and making them the best version of them.  A short list of 2 Stars: Bob Sanders Robert Gallery Josey Jewell Chad Greenway Shonn Greene Nate Kaeding Jonathan Babineaux Joshua Jackson Micah Hyde Anthony Hitchens A.J. had a good career, but looking at the top recruits ever, two name...

       Profile Joshua Jackson is a cornerback* from the University of Iowa who was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2018 NFL Draft ** by the Green Bay Packers.  Jackson was a unanimous All-American in 2017 for the Hawkeyes, nabbing 8 interceptions for the season. * Top Hawkeye defensive backs in the NFL by CarAV: Paul Krause (141), Merton Hanks (70), Bob Jeter (50), Micah Hyde (35), Bob Sanders (32)  ** Iowa Connections in the draft: James Daniels (2nd UofI), Jackson (2nd UofI), Josey Jewell (4th UofI), Jaleel Scott (4th Ellsworth), Daurice Fountain (5th UNI), Trevon Young (6th Des Moines), Allen Lazard (UDFA ISU), Ben Niemann (UDFA UofI), Nic Shimonek (UDFA UofI),  Akrum Wadley (UDFA UofI) Personal Notes So my dad was a Vikings fan growing up, and that's how I became one as well.  Iowa sits in this point where they have no pro teams, but are within driving range of multiple.  (MLB.tv blacks out Twins, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers, Cu...

   Profile Randy Blocker was guard for the Panthers basketball team for two seasons (1992-93, 1993-94), earning All Missouri Valley Conference* recognition his senior year.  Blocker transferred to UNI after two years at Western Nebraska Community College.  Blocker was drafted** by the Hartford Hellcats*** of the CBA****. * Notable from team: Anthony Parker of Bradley  ** Iowa players from this CBA draft : James Winters (Iowa) *** Notable Hellcats that year: Les Jepsen (Iowa) and Bo Kimble **** Scrolling the draft class I saw this footnote. "Campos not eligible for draft and was picked for publicity purposes"  Jorge Campos was a Mexican goalkeeper, and I have no idea why the CBA drafted him, only that he is awesome, and who doesn't want that! Historical Significance Northern Iowa has a rich basketball history, most notably their Sweet 16 run in 2010.  However, they have yet to place a player in the NBA, which makes finding a player in his UNI jersey o...