If You Build It, They Will Come

   Here's my updated list for Iowa Connections on NBA teams.  There are 27 connections at the start of the 2023-24 season.  Connections are sparser than the NFL, so I will only list teams with connections.  Looks like we are cheering for a Milwaukee/ Phoenix Finals this year! (Shout out to Sacramento, Utah, Golden State, Dallas, Indiana and Atlanta)  Note: Coaches/Staff in  italics . Note: These players/coaches/staff are not with NBA teams this after they were last year:  Nate Bjorkgren  (Buena Vista),  Paul Jesperson  (UNI),  Mike Dunlap  (Iowa),  Dave Joerger  (Cedar Rapids River Raiders), Al McCoy (Drake), Aaron Nelson (ISU) Note: This will change as players get added throughout the season and as I discover assistant gms that went to Iowa colleges.  Some names to watch include: Tyger Campbell, Terry Stotts, and  Joe Wieskamp 

 So while my flat rate box was a bit of a dud on the Iowa Connection side, I did ok on my Fuzzy Iowa Connections.  Fuzzy Connections (FC) are typically players who played for one of the minor league teams in Iowa.  As of today, I try to collect at least one card from each of these players. There are three levels for the FC card: 1. Have - I have a card of the player, and the card has nothing that relates to their Iowa Connection.  Here are two from this box.  Jorge Perez played in the Quad Cities in 2013 and 2015.  Gaither Bumgardner played for Burlington in 2015. 2. Good - I have a card of the player and it mentions their Iowa Connection.  As you can see on the backs of these two cards, Ryan Yarbrough played for Clinton in 2015 and Kyle Barraclough played for the Quad Cities in 2012.   Come on Topps, it sure looks like he's putting out a fire by...well we'll say hose. 3. Perfect - This is a card with the player in their Iowa Connection jerse...

  Profile Keaton McKinney was a pitcher from Ankeny who was drafted by the Mets in the 28th round of the 2014 MLB Draft*.   Keaton opted for college**, and he attended Arkansas for three years before retiring with arm issues. * Mitch Keller was taken in the 2nd round this year ** Apparently he had a high asking price and slipped this far.  We always applaud those who bet on themselves, but sometimes it doesn't work out as you intend.  I hope he has found a nice career now.  Heck, he might even be doing better than bouncing around the minor for a while. Personal Notes So Leaf put out these 2013 Perfect Game cards, and I'm not totally sure who the market is for them.  Well, me obviously as I needed this McKinney, but its got to be focused on prospectors.  But it takes years before you know if these guys hit, and the payoff seems pretty bleak.  The top player may be Jack Flaherty, and his card will cost you $4.00.  Even his auto is only $50...

 So like most of you, I missed going to card shows in 2020.  Being able to dig through dime boxes and pulling random cards that someone thought of as worthless that is priceless to my collection is just awesome.  But like so much, COVID took it, and I was left scrambling. Well, off to Target to pick up some boxes....except there are none there.  Hobby boxes have skyrocketed as collectors chase those high priced signatures.  Where could I find cards? For my birthday, my brother sent me a flat rate box with my gift.  But it didn't fill the box, so he just filled it with a bunch of cards he didn't want anymore. I loved digging through those, as I found a bunch of stuff for my collection. So then, I found out that you can just buy boxes like this on eBay (of course).  A wide variety of cards can be found.  Baseball, football and basketball cover most of them.  Some are just a mix of whatever, some are boxes of "I just opened a ton of Bowman, so h...

Even more last minute roster changes, as Taylor Rogers gets the call and makes it to the festivities one hour and 22 minutes later (Rogers lives in Colorado).  Joining Rogers is Andrew Kittridge from the Rays Name, Team, Year(s) Taylor Rogers, Cedar Rapids, 2013  (New!) Andrew Kittridge, Clinton, 2012  (New!) Whit Merrifield, Burlington, 2010 Taijuan Walker, Clinton, 2011 Salvador Perez, Burlington, 2009 Mike Trout, Cedar Rapids, 2009/2010 Teoscar Hernández, Quad Cities, 2013 Carlos Correa, Quad Cities, 2013 Jared Walsh, Burlington, 2016 Lance Lynn, Quad Cities, 2008 Kris Bryant, Iowa, 2014/2015/2018 Max Muncy, Burlington, 2012 Kyle Schwarber, Iowa, 2015/2017 Chris Taylor, Clinton, 2012 Josh Hader, Quad Cities, 2013 Craig Kimbrel, Iowa, 2019

As with every All-Star game, players drop out due to injury or whatnot.  So we have replacement players, and we have more Fuzzy Iowa Connections.   Name, Team, Year(s) Whit Merrifield, Burlington, 2010 (New!) Taijuan Walker, Clinton, 2011  (New!) Salvador Perez, Burlington, 2009 Mike Trout, Cedar Rapids, 2009/2010 Teoscar Hernández, Quad Cities, 2013 Carlos Correa, Quad Cities, 2013 Jared Walsh, Burlington, 2016 Lance Lynn, Quad Cities, 2008 Kris Bryant, Iowa, 2014/2015/2018 Max Muncy, Burlington, 2012 Kyle Schwarber, Iowa, 2015/2017 Chris Taylor, Clinton, 2012 Josh Hader, Quad Cities, 2013 Craig Kimbrel, Iowa, 2019

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...

 It's 4th of July weekend, which means we are getting close to the MLB All-Star game.  This years game features tons of first timers and old-timers, but does not feature a single Iowa Connection.  Iowa hasn't produced much elite baseball talent over the years, and this year continues the same trend.  However, we do have a bunch of what I will deem "Fuzzy Connections".  An Iowa Connection typically consists of one of three things: Born in Iowa, Lived in Iowa, or went to school in Iowa.  (Yes, all three typically mean live in Iowa as well.)  But sometimes a player has a connection to Iowa that isn't exactly a choice. (Yes, I know that Born in Iowa isn't a choice either).  Baseball players are sent to minor league teams at the discretion of their major league clubs, and typically spend a few summer months there one year and are off.  They may not have a residence there, but crash at a host family or maybe a hotel.   So, I don't count i...

 In part one I discussed the Iowa Connections for the Nation Sports Collectors Convention this year in Chicago.  However, the autograph guests are only part of the show.  We can't forget the dealers! This years dealers are well represented from Iowa.  They include: Hog's Collectables from Burlington Ripping Vintage Packs from Spencer Dan Even from Dubuque Aarons Sports Cards from West Des Moines Andrew Inmon from Johnston Jerry Nelson Ent. from Clear Lake Crescent Collectibles from Crescent Liberty Sports Cards from North Liberty

        Profile Chris Tritle was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 19th round of the 2000 MLB draft*.  Chris played a few years in the minors before retiring.  He was born in Cedar Rapids and played high school ball at Center Point-Urbana. * 2000 MLB Draft Iowa Connections: Joel Hanrahan (2nd Norwalk), Tritle (19th Center Point-Urbana), Jose Rodrigeuz (24th Iowa Western CC),  Ryan Danly (38th Cedar Rapids), Ryan Trytten (39th Ottumwa), Alan Abram (40th Des Moines), Sean Johnson (41st Clinton), Michael Laesch (43rd ISU), Ben Riley (49th Iowa Western CC) ** MLBers from Cedar Rapids: Mike Boddicker, Cal Eldred, Ben Ford, Bill Hoffer, Mitch Keller , Bruce Kimm, A.J. Puk, Dick Rozek, Scott Schebler, Shawn Sedlacek, Cy Slapnicka, Ryan Sweeney, Greg Thayer, John Wathan, Earl Whitehill Personal Notes Chris Tritle of one of many Iowa baseball players who played in the minors, but never really got close to the majors.  Many of them have minor league c...

  AFL Draft Iowa Connections I'll be filling these in as I post in the blog.  I'll link to the players as they each get a post.   1966 Stas Maliszewski, 13th, Davenport Lyle Loebach, 17th, Simpson Frank Fuller, 19th, Drake Randy Schultz, 20th, UNI Tim Van Galder, RS 2nd, ISU Joe Beauchamp, RS 6th, ISU Karl Noonan, UDFA, Iowa Mike Eischeid, UDFA, Upper Iowa 1965 Tom Vaughn, 11th, ISU John Berrington, 12th, ISU Mike Cox, 12th, ISU Rossevelt Ellerbe, RS 8th, ISU 1964 Mike Reilly, 5th, Iowa Pat Batten, 7th, Drake Wally Hilgenberg, 8th, Iowa Cloyd Webb, 11th, Iowa Paul Krause, 12th, Iowa Dick Herzing, 21st, Drake 1963 Keith Kinderman, 3rd, Iowa Chuck Walton, 13th, ISU 1962 Jerry Hillebrand, 2nd, Davenport Sherwyn Thorson, 3rd, Iowa Al Hinton, 6th, Iowa Wilburn Hollis, 13th, Iowa Larry Ferguson, 17th, Iowa Bill Van Buren, 23rd, Iowa Bernie Wyatt, 32nd, Iowa 1961 Tom Watkins, 8th, ISU Charles Lee, 10th, Iowa Jim Morgan, 21st, ISU Wayne Fontes, 22nd, Iowa Don Webb, 24th, ISU...

        Profile Everett Lindsay was born in Burlington*, Iowa and played in the NFL for 11 years, mostly with the Minnesota Vikings** as an offensive tackle.  He was raised in North Carolina and has returned as a coach for Brevard College.   * Others notable from Burlington : (MLB)Steve Macko/Jack Hamilton/Matt Perisho , (NFL) Tony Baker/Kurt Warner ** Lindsay's head coach was Dennis Green (UofI) who brought Everett with him to Arizona as an OL coach Personal Notes I love to read profiles on these random players you never spent a moment thinking about, and its always amazing what interesting facts you uncover.  For Everett, its the fact that this NFL player never started in High School.  Not once.  Had to walk on at Ole Miss.  Take that Michael Jordan! Collection Notes I have 2/9 (22%) cards in my collection.

Profile Earl Whitehill was born in Cedar Rapids and grew up to be a major league pitcher with Detroit, Washington, Cleveland and Chicago.  Earl won 218 games throughout the 20s and 30s* and was often amongst the tops league in wins, games started, and hit batters**. * The decades 1920s and 1930s, or his twenties and thirties?   Both, as Whitehill was born in 1900! ** Whitehill knocked Lou Gehrig unconscious during his games streak.  Gehrig finished the game Personal Notes Earl Whitehill's Wikipedia page  mentions that he had a celebrity marriage to Violet Geissinger.  So what constitutes a celebrity marriage in the 1920s?  In 2020, its pretty fluid, I mean you could have a celebrity marriage between YouTube stars now.  Well, Violet was the The Sun-Maid Raisin Girl.   Collection Notes I have 1/25 (4%) cards in my collection.

        Profile Harrison Barnes is a two time Iowa 4A State Basketball champion from Ames*, who went on to the NBA being drafted by Golden State in the 2012 NBA draft**.  Harrison won a title with Golden State, and also won a gold medal in 2016.   * Harrison played with future NBAer Doug McDermott on the team ** Iowa Connections in the draft: Barnes (1.7 Ames), Royce White (1.16 ISU), Justin Hamilton (2.45 ISU)  Personal Notes Harrison Barnes is a fun guy to read about.  Born and raised in Ames, he has shown success all through his life.  Academic success, athletics success, business success, and life success.  I love this generation of young stars who have their athletic careers but put that privilege they have from it and use it to build careers outside of playing and use it to help others. Collection Notes I have 44/2279 (2%) cards in my collection.

   CFL Draft Iowa Connections I'll be filling these in as I post in the blog.  I'll link to the players as they each get a post.   2021 Alaric Jackson, 2nd, Iowa 2021 - Global Matt Leo, 4th, ISU Niklas Gustav, 4th, Morningside 2017 Faith Ekakitie, 1st, Iowa 2016 Tavau Smith, 1st, Iowa 2013 Nolan MacMillan, 1st, Iowa 2012 Cleyon Laing, 1st, ISU 2005 Anthony Posteraro, 4th, Graceland 2002 Reid Seitz, 3rd, UNI 1999 Trevor Bollers, 1st, Iowa 1996 Sheldon Napastuk, 3rd, ISU 1995 John Murphy, 1st, Morningside 1978 Dan Taylor, 1st, Iowa Central

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,...

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...

     WNBA Draft Iowa Connections I'll be filling these in as I post in the blog.  I'll link to the players as they each get a post.  Currently, there 9 years out of the 25 years that do not have a relevant Iowa basketball player (04, 08, 09, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21). 1997 Michelle Edwards, Initial, Iowa Toni Foster, 1st, Iowa Tia Jackson, 2nd, Iowa 1998 Tangela Smith, 2nd, Iowa Nadine Domond, 2nd, Iowa Angela Hamblin, 3rd, Iowa 1999 Amy Herrig, 4th, Iowa 2000 Desiree Francis, 2nd, ISU Stacy Frese, 3rd, ISU 2001 Megan Taylor, 4th, ISU Cara Consuegra, 4th, Iowa 2002 Angie Welle, 2nd, ISU Lindsey Meder, 3rd, Iowa Jerica Watson, 3rd, Iowa Tracy Gahan, 4th ISU 2003 Carla Bennett, 3rd, Drake Lindsey Wilson, 3rd, ISU 2004 None 2005 Anne O'Neil, 3rd, ISU 2006 Crystal Smith, 3rd, Iowa 2007 Lyndsey Medders, 2nd, ISU 2008 None 2009 None 2010 Alison Lacey, 1st, ISU 2011 Kachine Alexander, 3rd, Iowa Kelsey Bolte, 3rd, ISU 2012 None 2013 Chelsea Poppens, 2nd, ISU Anna Prins, 2...