From the corner chair

Talking rivalries

jr.ogden — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:19:00 GMT

It's never too early to talk high school football.

In a live chat today at www.gazetteonline.com, Jeff and Jeff (that's Linder and Johnson or Johnson and Linder), spent a lot of time talking football instead of baseball and softball. It's what folks want to talk about.

The sports team has been kicking around a lot of ideas to preview the 2009 high school football season. We've settled on a series of stories on rivalries and want your help and thoughts.

What is the your favorite prep football rivalry? Is it City High and West battling for the boot? Is is Solon and Mount Vernon? How Washington and Jefferson, a traditional showdown that has lost some luster in recent years.

What about Kennedy and Xavier? It's relatively new, but it sure stirs things up in northeast Cedar Rapids leading up to the game.

Some other thoughts are West Branch-Regina, Prairie-Jefferson in Cedar Rapids, Cascade Western Dubuque, Anamosa-Monticello, Highland-Lone Tree (the rivalry, not the combined teams of past years), Dyersville Beckman-Western Dubuque, Central City-Springville?

That's just a handful of outstanding rivalries. Again, we want your thoughts. Pick your top five from this list or come up with your own. E-mail your thoughts to Jeff Linder at jeff.linder@gazcomm.com

Learn from Ed Thomas' life

jr.ogden — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:14:00 GMT

Here is a short version of my column that will appear in Sunday's paper:

I didn’t know Ed Thomas, but I knew about him.

I had never met the man who put Aplington-Parkersburg on the national map, but I know people like him.

I’ll bet many of you felt the same way Wednesday morning when the shocking news hit — a legendary coach from small-town Iowa was shot and killed while putting a group of student-athletes through weight training.

It’s more than sad.

But out of tragedy often comes lessons. The Ed Thomas I’ve read about and heard others talk about would have turned this evil into something good. It would take time, but he would have found a lesson to teach the young students and athletes he adored.

According to those who knew him well, Thomas was more than a football coach. He was a man of faith, a father, a grandfather and a teacher.

UNI football coach Mark Farley knew Thomas well — football coaches, separated by just a few miles, with similar ideals.

“The hard part is this is a great man, not just a great coach, a great man,” Farley said Wednesday. That’s been a common theme.

Thankfully, there are many high school coaches in Eastern Iowa who share Thomas’ passion for not only coaching, but teaching and molding beyond the fields and games. It’s a fraternity Thomas Coaches play such an important part in the lives of our children, from the youth baseball coach to the college football coach.

Let's all learn from Ed Thomas' life.

A different woman coming to Fifth Season race

jr.ogden — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:31:00 GMT

Kris Ihle-Helledy is coming back to Cedar Rapids for the first time since winning the Alliant Energy Fifth Season 8K in 2001.

She's a different woman in 2009.

Ihle, the last name she uses professionally, now is a mother of two young sons. She earned her doctorate in counseling and psychology and she's now 40.

She's run the Fifth Season 8K four times and won it four times. Her first race in C.R., in 1997, produced a still-standing record time of 25 minutes, 55 seconds.

Will she get No. 5 on July 4.

"Oh, God, no," she said with a laugh. "I'll consider myself blessed if I can pull of the masters win."

Not only is her life different these days, so is her perspective. She said she'll do the best she can on July 4, but won't be upset if her time isn't on par with her previous performances here.

"It's just a different chapter in my life," she said. "I'm in a totally different life stage.

"I feel like I'm about 20-something, but I run like I'm 40-something."

Look for more on Ihle-Helledy next week during our preview of the 24th annual Alliant Energy Fifth Season 8K.

DeVries message is simple, but needs to be heard

jr.ogden — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:07:00 GMT

Here is an excerpt from upcoming column:

Steve DeVries has a message for parents of young athletes — “relax.”

DeVries, 60, has a doctorate in sports psychologist. He’s a professor at Cornell College in Mount Vernon who teaches sports psychology and sports sociology. He also offers a coaching authorization class.

More importantly, DeVries is a former coach who spent 18 years directing the Cornell wrestling program. Most importantly, DeVries is the father of two sons who were successful youth, high school and college athletes.

DeVries loves athletics. He thinks they play an vital role in our lives. They teach valuable lessons.

Yet those lessons often are lost on parents of aspiring athletes and coaches molding our youth.

“The things you can do to make sports more enjoyable also makes (the athletes) more productive,” he said.

DeVries’ message is simple. “It’s not rocket science,” he said.

But it’s one that too often falls on deaf ears — or the wrong ears.

DeVries has three main points he makes to parents and coaches — let the kids be kids (i.e. have fun), make it a successful experience (this does not mean winning) and learn the “good stuff we know our kids can get out of sports” (i.e. development).

“Try to identify something they did well, something positive about the experience,” he said. “Any kind of improvement ... glimmers, lights you can find.”

Parents and coaches need to point out these small victories, he said, because teammates too often won’t and “the kids are going to focus on the stuff you focus on.”

We have to keep it fun to keep them involved.

“Parents just need to relax and let their kids enjoy this thing,” DeVries said.

A year ago today ...

jr.ogden — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:16:00 GMT

It's hard not to reflect on what happened in my home town a year ago today.

I was preparing to leave on a Wednesday night, flying to Las Vegas for the Olympic Trials in freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman and Judo. It was a great assignment and one I would turn into a mini-vacation with my wife joining me a couple of days later. Our son also was set to arrive for a bachelor's party.

But a year ago today, I walked downtown with colleague Jeff Linder to watch the Cedar River rise toward the bridge. It was smacking the side of the bridge on Third Avenue. A few hours later, I walked back down after the bridge was closed.

I left for Vegas that night and, when I woke up in the morning, I had several missed calls, several messages telling me what happened in Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas. I switched on CNN and there, in my hotel on the famous Vegas strip, was my town under water.

Talk about feeling guilty, with the pleasure.

I did my job in Vegas, my wife joined me and I got to see my son for a few minutes. I got a lot of good work done, had a lot of fun, but I never will forget my friends and family struggling to keep their heads and businesses above water.

Some still struggle today.

So, with this little blurb of rememberance, I ask for you all also to not forget. Remember what happened here last June and help in any way possible, even if it's just picking up a hammer to nail some drywall.

This is a wonderful town, a wonderful community and it's people have - and will - survive.

Brands' message simple, but worthwhile

jr.ogden — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:51:00 GMT

Tom Brands is proven winner on the wrestling mat, as fierce a competitor and a coach as I’ve ever seen.

Last night, at the ninth annual Celebration of Sports Banquet, the University of Iowa wrestling coach showed he’s a winner off the mat, too. And just as fierce.

Those of us who have had the pleasure of listening to Brands speak — in front of his team, the media or a group of young athletes — were not surprised by his message or his passion.

Hopefully this message carried loud and clear to an audience that included some of the top high school senior athletes in Linn County on Wednesday night.

As these wonderful athletes venture to the “next level,” hopefully the words from Brands will carry them through. By the looks on their faces, by their edge-of-the-seat attention, it appears it will.

Brands started by apologizing for “talking down” to the audience, telling them they were “his team” and this simply was how he talked to his Hawkeye wrestlers. He talked about being a success in their particular sport, about reaching their athletic goals and doing the right thing “all the time” so they don’t end their careers with an empty feeling and perceived failure.

He talked about the importance of academics, but said it’s all right to be an athlete-student as long as you work just as hard, focus just as much in the classroom and do those same right things in your life so you can fulfill those goals, too. Tom Brands is all about doing the right thing. He had a reputation as a tough-as-nails wrestler, a relentless competitor who some felt was too intense, to aggressive at time. That ridiculous in a one-on-one combat sport, of course.

But, even during those days, you never saw a Brands on a police docket. He never was suspended for “breaking team rules” and never was in Coach Dan Gable’s doghouse.

“One strike equals three,” he told the high school stars, warning that missteps in college linger for years.

Brands admitted his message was no different from one heard any day of the week, from many coaches and, he hoped, all parents.

But this is who Tom Brands is and his message is simple. He lives his life trying to get better every day, being a better husband, a better father, a better coach, a better friend. It’s simple, but it’s not easy.

“He’s as good a person, and father, as he is a coach,” University of Iowa sports information director Phil Haddy said during a recent conversation.

Brands learned this life lessons growing up in Sheldon, then later in life under men like Gable. He said he never rolled his eyes at their lessons, their messages.

I didn’t see any eyes rolling last night, either.

It was the worst of times, but ...

jr.ogden — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:00:00 GMT

I had the best of times.

Joe Henderson, the one-time West Coast editor for Runner's World magazine, once told me I would be a runner for life.

At the time, I nodded in agreement because running was the most important thing outside my family and work. I couldn't wait to get out and put in my five miles or my track workout or my weekend long runs.

I was a runner. I was a road racer.

The past few years, however, running became less and less important. Injuries led to weight gain, weight gain led to more injuries and eventually it all led to doing a lot more sitting than moving.

I've written before about my return to running, this time, though, as a proud jogger or, as I like to write, a proud "walgger," mixing jogging with walking and doing most, if not all, with my wife. She was not included in my past running life, thus the emptiness of a long-distance runner.

Last Saturday, I ran my first 5K in two years, my first official race (wearing a race number) since the last Sutliff Bridge 5K a long, long time ago. I ran the entire 3.1 miles at the CRFD Memorial 5K at Prairie High School, finishing in 22 minutes, 42 seconds.

It very likely is the worst time I've ever recorded in a 5K, but I can guarantee you it was the best time I ever had running one. There was no stress, no worries and no pain. I ran a 7:40 first mile chatting with friend John Armon, then picked it up just enough to average 7:19. That's not fast, but it is fast enough for the new runner in me.

Now I just have to get my wife to finish her first 5K. She's ready, willing and more than able.

So, I guess, the best of times are yet to come.

And now for something completely different

jr.ogden — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:26:00 GMT

OK, this isn't sports, but, hey, there is more happening in the "corner chair" than athletic events. Sometimes.

Anyhow, just finished reading the latest offering from David Morrell earlier this week. In a word "Wow!"

Morrell is best know as the man who created "Rambo" in his "First Blood" novel. It was a great book, one of this best. But Morrell is so much more than "Rambo."

I've been a fan since reading "First Blood" in high schoool and haven't missed one since. His story-telling is second to none, the action unrivaled in fiction today.

In "The Shimmer," which comes out in July, Morrell writes about the real-life "Marfa Lights," mysterious lights that appear in a small Texas town. Do a Web search on "Marfa Lights." You'll be surprised by what you find.

In "The Shimmer" the town is called Rostov, and the story follows police officer Dan Page, whose wife has left him to find something in these lights. A series of exciting events follow after Page finds his wife. There are thrills galore, a lot of intrigue and can't-put-down storyline.

Morrell is called the "father of the modern action novel" and it's hard to argue that statement. He also is a master researcher. He took flying lessons to help him with his book. It's not the first time he's gone to great lengths to better understand his stories and his characters.

It's wonderful reading. Look for it in July.

2009 Eastern Iowa running schedule

jr.ogden — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:51:00 GMT

Look for a local road this summer? Get those legs moving. Here is the list we've got so far:

MAY

16 — Marion Arts Festival 5K, Marion, (319) 373-0741

23 — CRFD Memorial 5K, Cedar Rapids

23 — EF5K walk/run, Parkersburg

30 — Central Lutheran School 5K, Newhall, (515) 577-8908

30 — Dam to Dam, 20K and 5K, Des Moines

JUNE

6 — Kernels Foundation 5K, Cedar Rapids, (319) 896-7612

6 — Robins Civic Club 5K, Robins, (319) 329-8746

6 — Loop the Lake 5K, Cedar Falls, (319) 233-0243

7 — Pigman triathlon. sprint distance (500-meter swim, 25K bike, 5K run), Palo, www.pigmantri.com

12 — ACS Washington County 5K and Relay for Life, Washington (Iowa), (319) 653-1051

13 — Run the Flood, Cedar Rapids, www.crruntheflood.com

13 — Dam to Downtown 10K, Iowa City

13 — Keota Fun Run, 5K and 10K, (641) 636-3019

19 — Kalona Days 5K, (319) 656-3822

20 — Hog Wild Days, Hiawatha, (319) 389-0429, www.hogwilddays.com

20 — Solstice Strike 5K, Coralville, (319) 466-9817

27 — Cascade 175th Celebration 5K

27 — Gallop & Trot 5K, Edgewood

27 — Timber City Adventure Race, Maquoketa, 8-mile canoe, 14-mile bike, teams and individuals, (563) 652-4602

28 — Sturgis Falls Half-marathon and 5K, Cedar Falls, (319) 277-6526

28 — West Union Triathlon, (563) 422-3685

JULY

4 — Alliant Energy Fifth Season 8K, (319) 530-2873, or www.cvra.net

4 — Williamsburg Firecracker run, (319) 668-1636 4 — Dysart 5K, (319) 476-4081

4 — Belle Plaine Rotary 5K, (319) 444-3322

4 — 5K for Independence Day, Cedar Falls

5 — Tri in July, Sigourney, (641) 622-2404

11 — Midnight Madness, 5K and 10K, Ames, (515) 232-6131

12 — Muscatine County Fair Parade 5K, West Liberty, (319) 627-7454

18 — Solon Beef Day 5K, www.beefdays.com

25 — Bix 7,Davenport, (563) 383-2489

25 — Shed Your Threads, Elkader, (563-245-3662)

25 — Walker Pickle Days 5K, (319) 448-4425

AUGUST

1 — Town & Country Days Road Race 8K, Epworth, (563) 876-3442

6 — Veterans Memorial Hosptial 5K, Cardiac Classic, Waukon, (563) 568-3411

8 — Atkins Watermelon Days 5K, (319) 446-7016

8 — Panther Prowl 5K, Monticello, (319) 465-4548

15 — St. Judes Sweet Corn Festival, 8K and 5K, (319) 550-4980

15 — Lone Tree Fun Run 5K, (319) 629-4222

16 — Pigman Triathlon, half-ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run), Palo, www.pigmantri.com

29 — Mustang Gallop 5K, Cedar Rapids, (319) 363-1323, ext. 1836

29 — Grinnell Happy Days 10K, 5K, (641) 236-2620

SEPTEMBER

20 — 19th annual Pewterman Pentathlon, Cedar Rapids

Randy Lewis ready to go

jr.ogden — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:09:00 GMT

Randy Lewis, a four-time all-American for the University of Iowa wrestling team in the 1970s, is getting back on the mat.

Lewis, 49, announced this decision several weeks ago, but know it's time to back up his plan.

"If I hadn't" put it out on the message boards, "I'd probably back out," he said today.

Lewis will wrestle in a World Teams qualifier today in Waterloo, competing at 163 pounds. He was in the 180s when he made the annoucement and was down to 167 today.

"It's going to be a little problem," he said of making weight.

But he's ready to compete.

"I have some skills that these guys aren't use to," he said.

He said he only feels 49 "when I look in the mirror."

He hasn't been doing any hard training for fear of injury.

"I'm too old to train. I think I'm young enough for one tournament," he said.

Look for more on this story in Saturday's Gazette.

Auto racing, Arlo Becker style

jr.ogden — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Arlo Becker hasn’t changed much in his “50-some” years of racing cars at Hawkeye Downs.

He’s “69 and holding” and still takes things one season at a time.

“I’ll give it one more year,” he said. But there’s one thing Becker, 71, would like to see change at a track that is celebrating its 84th season.

“I would like to see Hawkeye Downs go back to dirt some day,” he said this week while promoting the his May 17 “Race’m or Wreck’m” event at the track, “but I don’t know if it will happen.”

Becker, of Norway, thinks fans and drivers around Eastern Iowa like dirt racing more than asphalt. Hawkeye Downs is the only asphalt track in an area with many dirt options.

“Everybody likes to let it hang out on the dirt,” he said.

Becker, who drives in the modified division at Hawkeye Downs, said he may switch to dirt next season “if my health holds up.”

“I’m seriously thinking about it,” he said, noting he’d run at Benton County Speedway in Vinton and West Liberty Raceway.

Becker and the rest of the modifieds will be back on the half-mile tonight after racing on the quarter-mile last week at Hawkeye Downs.

“I prefer the half-mile,” he said. “You go faster and you get the big picture as far as a guy slowing down up there ... your vision has to be better.”

He also said the setup is completely different on the smaller track, where you “turn left and go fast.”

“You have to have your car set up just perfect,” he said.

Why Kevin Jackson?

jr.ogden — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:20:00 GMT

I never heard from Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard, seeking my counsel on who his next wrestling coach should be. I knew it would be a long wait.

Pollard, I’m sure, is got plenty of advice from Cyclone boosters and others in the wrestling world before making Kevin Jackson his next coach.

Once again, Pollard proved to be full of surprises in his hire. It looked like the field was narrowed to former Cyclones Chris Bono, Joe Heskett and Jackson and former Arizona State wrestler Zeke Jones. Mark Manning, reportedly, was a candidate, too.

No knock on Jackson, but he would not have been my top choice. Bono and Heskett made more sense. Both are young, talented coaches capable of taking this team to the top next year.

The biggest knock against Bono was he’s still competing, although I think he would have gladly hung up his singlet to coach in Ames. Although he’s never acknowledged it publicly, those close to Bono said he was bitter when Cael Sanderson moved ahead of him on the coaching chart at ISU several years ago. If true, that could have hurt him, too.

That mades Heskett the front-runner in this corner. An assistant at Ohio State now, Heskett will be a great head coach some day. It looks like it will happen somewhere other than Ames.

I did chat with a couple of UNI wrestlers Thursday night at the school's senior sports banquet. Moza Fay, one of the best wrestlers in recent UNI history and a class act, said Jackson is very well-liked and respected among wrestlers.

That's good enough for me, but I still would have liked to have seen what Heskett can do.

It's official: Heffernan leading Illinois wrestling

jr.ogden — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:25:00 GMT

Dan Gable said he always felt Jim Heffernan was destined to be a wrestling “lifer.”

“It’s a good situation,” Gable, the former University of Iowa wrestling coach, said about Heffernan, who was named the 14th head wrestling coach at the University of Illinois on Tuesday. “I know that he’ll do a good job there.”

Heffernan, 45, was a four-time All-American for Gable at Iowa, winning an NCAA title in 1986. He then worked as a volunteer assistant with the Hawkeyes before embarking on his own career path, first as an assistant at Lehigh, then working with Mark Johnson, a former Iowa assistant himself, at Oregon State.

Heffernan went to Illinois with Johnson in 1992 and has been his top assistant since. Johnson retired last month.

“I kind of knew he would be a lifer in the sport when he came in,” Gable said in a telephone interview while flying from Washington, D.C., to Chicago. “He just had that passion for it.”

Heffernan is the fourth ex-Gable wrestler to land a Big Ten program, joining Barry Davis (Wisconsin), Duane Goldman (Indiana) and Tom Brands (Iowa). Northwestern Coach Tim Cysweski wrestled at Iowa when Gable was an assistant.

Gable said following Johnson won’t be easy. Johnson, with Heffernan at his side, coached the Illini to 10 Top-10 NCAA finishes in 17 seasons and had seven national champions and 45 All-Americans.

“He’s going to have to buckle down and get a little tougher than he has been probably even as assistant,” Gable said. “He’s moving up the ladder and if expects good results that commitment from him is going to make a big difference.”

Heffernan said he knows he has some “big shoes to fill.”

“Those expectations and goals are something I will continue to embrace as we continue on to the next chapter in Illini wrestling,” he said in a news release.

Gable thinks Heffernan is up for the task.

“He has a lot of good traits,” he said.

“He has paid his dues ... and he deserves this opportunity,” Johnson said in a news release.

Heffernan expected to be named Illini coach

jr.ogden — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:08:00 GMT

The University of Illionis announced today it will name it's new wrestling coach this afternoon. Look for former Iowa standout Jim Heffernan, a long-time Mark Johnson assistant, to get the job.

Heffernan wouldn't comment Tuesday morning, but a source familiar with college wrestling said he will replace Johnson, a former Hawkeye assistant who retired last month.

Here is Heffernan's bio from www.fightingillini.com:

Jim Heffernan begins (just ended) his 17th season as Illinois' top assistant.

A 1986 NCAA 150-pound champion and four-time Big Ten Conference champion, Heffernan garnered the National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year honor in 2001 following the Illini's fifth-place national finish and second-place finish in the Big Ten.

Heffernan joined the Fighting Illini staff in May 1992 after serving as an assistant to head coach Mark Johnson at Oregon State for two years.

Heffernan's expertise as an assistant coach gained recognition in 1995 when he earned his first honor as Assistant Coach of the Year by the NWCA.

A 1987 graduate of the University of Iowa, Heffernan was a four-time All-American, while being a member of three Hawkeye NCAA and four Big Ten championship teams. Heffernan captained the Hawkeyes as a senior and grabbed Iowa's Male Athlete of the Year honor in 1987.

Heffernan began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa before becoming an assistant coach at Lehigh University in 1988. He remained at Lehigh until moving to Oregon State in 1990.

He also coached the Cadet Wrestling Team at the world championships in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1992, and the USA World Espoir Team in 1989.

Heffernan graduated from national wrestling powerhouse St. Edward High School (Cleveland, Ohio), where he finished as a two-time high school state champion.

Heffernan and his wife, Rebecca, live in Champaign with their son, Sean, and daughter, Alex.

Heskett next ISU coach?

jr.ogden — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:25:00 GMT

If Joe Heskett will become the next Iowa State wrestling coach, Ohio State Coach Tom Ryan isn't saying.

Heskett, a four-time all-American for the Cyclones and a member of Ryan's staff in Columbus, is being rumored as the next ISU coach after Cael Sanderson bolted to Penn State.

Ryan said Monday that those rumors were not true and "all speculation at this point."

He did say, however, that Heskett "has interviewed, he is interested and he's got a lot of pride in the place."

Ryan said Heskett, as of Monday, still was a member of the Buckeye coaching staff and, he hopes, will be for a long time.

"I'd hate to lose him," Ryan said.