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Editor, Writer Bill Maurer Has Vivid Memories Of Iowa's New Wall of Famers. Read How Ike Skelley Taught a Then-Young Bill a Valuable Reporting Lesson

I had the pleasure a number of years ago of being a colleague of a very talented newspaper editor and writer named Bill Maurer.

Bill worked at the Des Moines Register and Tribune when there was still an afternoon paper called the Tribune. To illustrate how long ago it was that he and I fought deadlines in the same newsroom, the Tribune ceased publication Sept. 25, 1982.

It's a shame Bill, an intelligent and witty guy, isn't still making his tremendous management decisions at 8th and Locust in downtown Des Moines.

The paper needs him more than he needed the paper.

He was a newspaperman deluxe.

Anyway, Maurer sent me a very nice e-mail after reading what I wrote the other day aobut the University of Iowa naming 20 of us as charter members of the Wall of Fame in the new press box at the spruced-up -- to the tune of about $90 million -- Kinnick Stadium.

Maurer knows and knew a number of the Wall of Famers, and I'd like to share his views of them with you.

Here's his e-mail:

"Dear Ron,

"Congratulations on being honored with your mug being among the first 20 to be hung on the Wall of Fame in the new Kinnick press box. It is most deserving and puts you in some great company.

"Reviewing that list also reminded me of how fortunate I have been over the years to work with some truly wonderful people, some of them journalists! During my five years (yeah, and a summer school, too!) at Iowa, I became pretty good friends —- or at least acquaintances -- with many of these people. Consider:

"Ike Skelley — When I went to Iowa for summer school in June, 1957, right out of Laurens High School, I had a job with the AP as a stringer. I covered everything from murders to track meets and learned a lot. One of the best lessons I ever learned was that one should never try to pull the wool over the eye of an experienced reporter. One of my AP jobs was to go to football practice every night, then call in a short story to the AP. One of my fraternity brothers was a manager on the team. Since the Hawks did the same old thing week after week, I figured I could just interview my fraternity brother, then call Ike with my story. After I did that a couple of times, he started asking questions I couldn’t answer. He knew I wasn’t at practice! From then on, I went.

"One big game, I don’t remember which, Jerry Liska came out from Chicago to cover the game. I was assigned one of the dressing rooms for postgame interviews. Then I was to come back to the press box and write up my quotes for Ike and Jerry. When I sat at the typewriter, I literally froze. I couldn’t type a word. Ike took pity on me —- I dictated to him. I shall never forgive how embarrassed I was and how kind he was to me.

"Al Grady —- What can you say! I worked Wednesday and Saturday mornings at the Press-Citizen, calling coaches for game results, then putting together little stories. Also covered University High for him. I liked Al. He was odd, but he was good to me. He helped me a lot.

"Bert McGrane —- Bert was the grand old man of the press box. When he came to Iowa City to look over the Hawks at practice, it was like having a legend in your presence.

"Gus Schrader —- I got to know him a bit as an AP stringer, really knew him best when I worked in the sports information office for the last year I was there.

"Eric Wilson —- I knew him from the first week I hit campus until I left. He called me and asked me to work in his office my last year in school. I could have graduated in January, but to get the job (it paid $2,000 for a so-called halftime position that ran a lot more hours than 20 a week) l I told him I would stay all year. No regrets. I really enjoyed it.

"Bud Suter —- Bud and Eric had side-by-side offices. Bud was a good guy with a great voice.

"Gene Claussen -- He was a faculty adviser at my fraternity, so I knew him on a personal as well as professional level.

"Bob Brown —- When I worked for Eric, it turns out the high school basketball tourney was transferred to Iowa City because Vets Auditorium was booked for a bowling tournament!! (God, can you believe that!!) Well, what a deal: My Laurens High School Elks made it to Iowa City. Laurens was in Bob’s trade territory, and he covered Laurens as well as any sports writer in the state. My folks had a hospitality room at the Jefferson Hotel. Bob would show up for drinks. When I went back to Laurens to work, I had lots of dealing with Bob at the Messenger. (Laurens was runner-up—edged by Cedar Rapids Regis!)

"Maury White —- My mom taught school in Manilla. The only place teachers could go to drink and smoke was at the White residence. I think Maury had graduated, but hadn’t yet gone to Drake. Did he work a year or so at the paper there before he went to Drake? At any rate, I met him when I was 16 when he was up at Spencer covering the Northwest Amateur. We were at Okoboji on vacation and he came to our place for drinks. A lot of them, as I recall.

"Buck Turnbull -— Bucky is a fraternity brother. I got to know him some when I was in Iowa City, much better when I was at the Register.

"Ron Maly —- Gee. How do I know this guy?!

"Of course, I had some contact with the radio guys, but didn’t ever consider them friends. But among those I remember working with were Bob Brooks, Tait Cummins, Frosty Mitchell and The Z. I always liked Johnny O’Donnell, but couldn’t call him a friend. Same with Jerry Jurgens. l didn’t know Gonder, Smith or Wine.

"That’s a lot of rambling, but you sure have stirred up some great memories. Once again, congratulations to you."

Bill Maurer

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Bill, thanks for the sensational stuff. You've brought some great memories back to life. You also mentioned plenty of things I wasn't aware of. I certainly didn't know Ike Skelley of the Associated Press as well as I knew Bert McGrane and Maury White of the Register and, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments about how Ike mentored you in your young writing life. Things like that are why Iowa and outgoing athletic director Bob Bowlsby are paying tribute to Skelley and others in a Wall of Fame project that I feel will be an outstanding feature in the new press box in historic Kinnick Stadium. Included among the Wall of Famers pictured above are Maury White, the late Des Moines Register sports columnist, at the lower left; Jim Zabel of WHO-radio, whom Maurer refers to as The Z, at the upper right and Bob Brooks, the longtime Cedar Rapids radio and TV announcer who still covers Iowa's football and basketball games home and away, at the upper left].

University Of Iowa Names 20 Of Us To Be First Wall Of Fame Members In New Kinnick Stadium Press Box. I Am Humbled. Thanks, Iowa. Thanks, Bob Bowlsby

The following announcement came today from the University of Iowa:

IOWA CITY, IA. -- The new press box at Kinnick Stadium will feature a Wall of Fame to recognize members of the news media and the University of Iowa’s own public relations staff.

“We want to honor those individuals who have covered Hawkeye football with integrity, accuracy, and fairness over a long period of time,” said Iowa Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby, in making the announcement. “We believe a Wall of Fame in the new press box at Kinnick Stadium is an appropriate way to do so.”

The Wall of Fame’s first class includes 20 men who will be recognized at Iowa’s football game Oct. 28 with Northern Illinois. Together, they have a total of 780 seasons covering Hawkeye football.

“This is an extraordinary group that has reported on the past 84 years of Iowa football,” said Bowlsby. “They knew all the great coaches and players during that time, and witnessed all the great games. We are fortunate to have had them chronicle the Hawkeyes.”

Listed alphabetically, they are:

Bob Brooks, WSUI Iowa City, 1943-48; KCRG Cedar Rapids, 1949-76; KHAK Cedar Rapids, 1977-2000; KMRY Cedar Rapids, 2000-present.

Bob Brown, Ft. Dodge Messenger, 1956-1993.

Gene Claussen, KXIC Iowa City, 1948-86. (Deceased)

Tait Cummins, Cedar Rapids Gazette, 1939-47; WMT Cedar Rapids, 1948-70. (Deceased)

Al Grady, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 1951-87; Voice of the Hawkeyes, 1988-2002. (Deceased)

Ron Gonder, KRNT Des Moines, 1965-68; WMT Cedar Rapids, 1969-99.

Jerry Jurgens, Quad City Times, 1945-77. (Deceased)

Ron Maly, Des Moines Register, 1959-99.

Bert McGrane, Des Moines Register, 1922-63. (Deceased)

Frosty Mitchell, KGRN Grinnell, 1960-85; WMT Cedar Rapids, 1986-96.

John O’Donnell, Quad City Times, 1925-67. (Deceased)

Gus Schrader, Iowa City Press Citizen, 1950; Cedar Rapids Gazette, 1951-78. (Deceased)

L.E. “Ike” Skelley, Associated Press, 1929-58. (Deceased)

Russ Smith, Waterloo Courier, 1955-90.

Bud Suter, UI Athletic Relations Director, 1955-74. (Deceased)

Buck Turnbull, Des Moines Register, 1952-93.

Maury White, Des Moines Register, 1946-88. (Deceased)

Eric Wilson, UI Sports Information Director, 1924-68. (Deceased)

George Wine, UI Sports Information Director, 1968-93.

Jim Zabel, WHO Des Moines, 1949-2000

Brooks, still active, will cover his 63rd Iowa football season this fall. Zabel, Grady and Schrader were on the scene for at least 50 years each.

McGrane and Wilson covered the Hawkeyes when they still played on the east side of the Iowa River and, along with Skelley, reported on the first game at Kinnick Stadium in 1929. Those three, plus Cummins and O’Donnell, chronicled the legendary 1939 Ironmen, starring Nile Kinnick.

Cummins, Grady, Maly, McGrane, Turnbull and Wine have all written books on Hawkeye football.

The Wall of Famers were selected by a committee appointed by Bowlsby. Additional individuals will be honored in future years.

* * *

Now for some personal comments from me.

Thank you, University of Iowa.

Thank you Bob Bowlsby.

Thank you, George Wine, and everyone else else who had something to do with establishing the Wall of Fame.

I am humbled.

On behalf of all of us in the charter group, I am grateful that Iowa and Bowlsby [pictured on the left] chose to honor those who were able to share the rich tradition of University of Iowa football by writing and talking about it over all these years.

"This was all Bob Bowlsby's idea," said George Wine. "He asked me one day if I'd like to get involved with the Wall of Fame in the new press box.

"It's a nice thing for him to do, and I think it's appropriate. He has an appreciation for people like you and the others who covered the Hawkeyes for all those years. Bob is an Iowa native who has followed the scene down here for a long time."

[Bowlsby is winding up 15 years as Iowa's athletic director and is taking a similar job at Stanford. He spearheaded the drive to make the $90 million improvements in Kinnick Stadium -- the new press box being a big part of it. Bowlsby's successor is Gary Barta of the University of Wyoming].

"Bowlsby explained to me earlier this year what he had in mind for the Wall of Fame, and said he needed someone to pull it all together," Wine said. "So I told him I'd think about it. I got hold of Phil Haddy and Tom Bauer. The three of us basically selected the 20 people for the Wall of Fame."

Haddy succeeded Wine as Iowa's sports information director in 1993 and has been in that department since 1971. Bauer has worked in various capacities at the university for many years.

"Once my committee got the 20 names together, we ran them by Bowlsby," Wine said. "He told me to start working on having plaques made of the 20 members. I have the plaques ordered, and I think they'll be very nice-looking.

"They will be gold, etched in black. I'm going over to the new press box Friday to determine which wall they'll be on."

Wine said the Wall of Fame will be in the press section on the fourth level at the north end of the new press box.

It's sad that all 20 members can't be present for the Oct. 27 dinner at the Iowa Athletic Club and the Oct. 28 game at Kinnick Stadium.

As I think of that, the years are on rewind in my mind as I write.

I think of those no longer with us.

I think of Gus Schrader, the longtime sports editor at the Cedar Rapids Gazette who gave me my first sportswriting job when I was 15 years of age. I once said I'd work at the Gazette for nothing. And that's about what I got. I was paid 75 cents an hour. But I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

I think of Bert McGrane, who came out of the Grantland Rice school of sportswriting and wrote such wonderful game stories for the Register. I had the pleasure of working in the same office with Bert late in his career. As a 24-year-old, first-year copy editor/one-night-a-week bowling-columnist, I'd use his typewriter to write stories -- hoping there'd still be some magic in the keys after he'd gone home for the day.

I think of Maury White, the sports columnist/reporter who was still showing up in the Register's offices in his 80s. He died the way he wanted to die. He collapsed on the newsroom floor -- probably after he'd written something clever --and went to the big press box in the sky a few days later. No one worked harder than Maury.

I think of Al Grady, the Iowa City writer and Hawkeye sports historian who defied death several times -- probably because he wanted to see one more Iowa victory over Michigan. If anyone bled black-and-gold, it was Al.

I think of Tait Cummins, the sportswriter-turned-broadcaster whom I listened to as a kid regularly on WMT-radio in Cedar Rapids.

I think of John O'Donnell, the man who knew everybody and called every one of them "Coach."

I think of Eric Wilson, the intense veteran of 44 years in the information business at Iowa.

I think of Bud Suter, who told me over lunch in 1965 that he thought Forest Evashevski would came back after his earlier success to coach Iowa again. Too bad it didn't happen.

I am honored to be included in the same list of Wall of Famers as my friend Buck Turnbull. Buck and I still exchange war stories. The best thing was that both of us were fortunate to cover sports during the golden age at the Register.

There are, of course, some talented broadcast heavyweights included in the List of 20.

One is Jim Zabel, who spent the last half of the 20th century living and dying with the Hawkeyes for WHO-radio in Des Moines. In his golden years, he still works at the station.

Another is Bob Brooks, the veteran Cedar Rapids announcer who still shows up for every Hawkeye game -- home and away. He watched Nile Kinnick and the Ironmen play in 1939, he'll be watching Drew Tate and the Hawkeyes in 2006.

Another is Ron Gonder, a man I got to know when he worked for KRNT in Des Moines in the 1960s, then went on to a standout career at WMT in Cedar Rapids. He's a master storyteller and an excellent person.

Frosty Mitchell covered the Hawkeyes for 25 years for KGRN in Grinnell, then bought WMT and did Iowa games for the Cedar Rapids station for another 10 years.

George Wine, who became Iowa's second sports information director in 1968 and later wrote a book about Hayden Fry and another about Hawkeye sports, was among those of us who suffered through 19 straight non-winning football seasons at Iowa. "As Jim Zabel says, 'There were one or two bad decades in there,'" Wine said with a laugh.

To all the others in the Wall of Fame -- Bob Brown of the Fort Dodge Messenger, Russ Smith of the Waterloo Courier, the late Jerry Jurgens of the Quad City Times, the late Gene Claussen of KXIC in Iowa City and the late Ike Skelley of the Associated Press -- I join Iowa in saying, "Thanks for a job well done."

Who's Demoted? Who's Quitting? Register's Dana Boone Gone After Demotion, Bill Reiter Quits After Editor Washburn Is Critical Of His Work

Demotions? Resignations?

Well, you came to the right place to get the latest from the ever-changing newsroom at the Des Moines Register.

Here's today's report from an impeccable source:

"I heard that reporter Dana Boone abruptly quit this week after she was demoted to the zoned neighborhood sections.

"Also, reporter Bill Reiter has left to take a job in Kansas City after Carolyn Washburn [right] was apparently critical of his work.

"No word on what will happen to Reiter's wife, Laurie Mansfield [left], who is on the Juice staff.

"And, Randy Essex, the former assistant managing editor who left to join Paul Anger in Detroit as the news editor there, has been demoted to business editor. He left the Register when he did not get the managing editor's job after Rick Tapscott quit."

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Reiter was a promising writer who will be missed by readers -- but evidently not by Washburn, the Register's editor. My guess is that it will be a less-juicy Juice once Mansfield leaves for Kansas City to join Reiter. I doubt many tears are being shed in Des Moines over what's happened to Essex in Detroit. He won no popularity contests here].

Going By the [Jersey] Numbers, Drake's Johnny Bright Receives National Honorable Mention for Wearing No. 43. Walker Death Shocks, Saddens Ferentz

Johnny Bright, considered one of the greatest athletes ever to have played in Iowa, received honorable mention by ESPN.com senior writer Ivan Maisel is his listing of the best college football players ever to wear a jersey number.

Bright [right] wore No. 43 during his distinguished career in which he led the NCAA in total offense in 1949 and 1950, setting a then-NCAA record of 2,400 yards in 1950 for a per-game average of 266.7, which also was an NCAA record.

He also set an NCAA career total offense record of 5,983 yards. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native finished fifth in balloting for the 1951 Heisman Trophy. Hw played in the East-West Shrine All-Star game and the Hula Bowl.

Terry Kinard, a defensive back who played at Clemson from 1978-82, was named the best player to wear jersey 43. He led Clemson to the 1981 national championship. Terry Miller, who played tailback at Oklahoma State from 1974-77 ,and Troy Polamalu, who played safety at Southern California from 1999-2002, also received honorable mention.

Bright is the only Drake player inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame being recognized in 1984. He also is the only Drake football player to have his jersey number retired.

In celebration of the centennial of collegiate football in 1969, Bright was named as the top Drake football player of all time.Bright set 20 school records at Drake in football, basketball and track.

Drafted No. 1 by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1952, Bright elected to play in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders. He led Edmonton to the Grey Cup championship in 1954, 1955 and 1956 and retired in 1963 as the Eskimos leading rusher with 9,966 yards. He was inducted into the Canadian Foootball League Hall of Fame.

The new football field will be known as “Johnny Bright Field at Drake Stadium” with formal dedication ceremonies planned during a Sept. 30 homecoming game with Morehead State.

* * *

“I was shocked and saddened to learn of Randy Walker’s passing," Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz said today following the death of the Northwestern coach.

"He was an outstanding, well-respected coach who did a tremendous job at Northwestern. He was a credit to his university and collegiate football. My condolences go to his wife and kids and the entire Northwestern football family.”

Walker [left] died of an apparent heart attack Thursday night. He was 52.

Walker died after feeling chest pains around 10 p.m. at his suburban Chicago home, said Mike Wolf, the school's assistant athletic director for media services.

"This is a devastating loss, not only for our athletic program, but for the entire Northwestern community," athletic director Mark Murphy said in a statement early Friday. "Randy truly embraced Northwestern and its mission, and cared deeply for his student-athletes, both on and off the field."

Walker was the first Northwestern coach to lead the school to three bowl games. The Wildcats lost to UCLA, 50-38, in the Sun Bowl last December.

In October, 2004, Walker checked himself into a hospital after experiencing chest pains. He was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle; the condition is not a common ailment, and is usually caused by a virus.

Walker was out of the hospital in two days, and said he was taking a new approach to his diet and work schedule.

"I've really taken my doctor's orders to heart, because frankly, I want to see my grandkids someday," he said at the time.

Two months ago, Northwestern gave Walker a four-year extension through the 2011 season. He joined the school in 1999 after nine years at Miami of Ohio.

Walker's Wildcats posted 37 wins, going 7-5 last season. He led the team to three bowl games since 2000.

Northwestern shared the Big Ten title in 2000 and went to the Alamo Bowl. The Wildcats also went to the 2003 Motor City Bowl.

Walker was the first Wildcats coach to guide the team to four seasons with at least six wins since C.M. Hollister in 1899-1902.

He is survived by his wife, Tamara, and two children, Abbey, 28, and Jamie, 25, who is the school's football recruiting assistant.

'Doug From Davenport' Writes About the 'One-Shit Shutout,' Some Goofy Register Cutlines And Adding Men's, Women's Hockey At Iowa State

"Doug From Davenport," a man who knows a lot about the newspaper business, weighed in with another of his outstanding e-mails:

"I thought you might like this. In our version of the Register on Saturday morning, the cutline under the photo of Bob Bowlsby and Gary Barta shaking hands says this: 'This is the cutline. And it goes herey.' And then it repeats the same two phrases five more times. Probably was about as interesting as the real cutline about two guys in suits shaking hands.

"Now, if they could only do the same thing with Sean Keeler's columns once in a while.

"I understand mistakes though. I knew a reporter who once had a high school kid pitching 'a one-shit shutout' and it made the paper that way. The next week I think he hurled a two-shitter. Nah, just made the last part up.

"If Jamie Pollard wants to do something the University of Iowa will never do, he should add ice hockey as a varsity sport for men and women. It's a sport thousands of kids play all over the midwest and it's a sport that you can compete at at a national level pretty quickly. Students also love the games, with or without beer sales. It would take a dedicated arena of 4,000 or 5,000 seats, could probably be used for wrestling or gymnastics, too, but apparently Pollard plans to raise $135 million, so why not? It makes much more sense than trying to have a baseball team at Iowa State, or Iowa for that matter."

"Doug From Davenport"

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for the funny, and sensible, stuff, Doug. It sounds like you're reading the earliest edition the Register puts out now. I can't imagine the paper letting stuff like those horrible cutlines make it through more than one edition, but you never know these days. Just when you think you've seen it all, you see something even worse. As for the "one-shit shutout" you wrote about, I was always told to be very careful with headlines. A smart editor told me never to write a headline that says something like "Brown's hit wins for Tigers, 5-3" His point was that it would be very easy for the space between the "s" after Brown's name to be very, very narrow. Then you'd have "Brown'shit wins for Tigers, 5-3" By the way, the photo that Harry Baumert took for the Register that "Doug From Davenport" referred to is at the top of this column. As for Sean Keeler's writing, that's something out of my control. I can't solve all of their problems at that place. And as for adding men's and women's hockey at Iowa State, it's no doubt something that college fans could get interested in. Iowa State has had men's hockey as a club sport for quite a while, and it's been both successful and popular. I haven't heard that hockey is something Pollard wants to add as an intercollegiate sport, even though he wants to spend a whopping $135 million [which he doesn't yet have] for renovations to Hilton Coliseum and Jack Trice Stadium, plus other projects. The projected renovations are pictured, courtesy of Iowa State, under the photo of Bowlsby and Barta].

* * *

On the subject of the money Pollard wants to spend at Iowa State, I heard from "Willie in Waterloo," who has his doubts.

"Someone has to convince me that Iowa State will raise those huge dollars when Clemson and South Carolina are having trouble getting it done. Clemson draws over 80,000 fans for every home game; ditto for South Carolina. I didn't do very wellin 'Math for General Education' at UNI back in 1965, but don't the Cyclones still play in a stadium smaller than either Clemson's or SC's? At least they did last season. Oh, sooner than later on the dash to Madison."

"Willie in Waterloo">

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Willie's mention of "the dash to Madison" is in reference to the belief that Pollard will be heading back to the University of Wisconsin as Barry Alvarez's successor whenever Barry gets tired of being the athletic director].

* * *

Clark Mollenhoff, where are you when you're needed?

Bud Appleby of Des Moines sent this e-mail:

"Interesting Associated Press story about Charles Grassley and pimps on page 7 of Wednesday's paper.

"Makes a person wonder what the Register's crack Washington bureau was doing."

Bud Appleby
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: It was left to Mary Dalrymple of the AP to report the story with these opening two paragraphs: "Pimps and tax traffickers could soon find themselves being chased by tax collectors, not just the vice squad. [Iowa] Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, wants the Internal Revenue Service to chase after pimps and sex traffickers with the same fervor it stalked gangster Al Capone for tax evasion....." The Register's less-than-crack Washington Bureau evidently ignored the story or wasn't able to understand it. Can you imagine that happening when Mollenhoff was running that bureau? Grassley is pictured at the lower right.]

* * *

Travis Simpson of Des Moines writes about Derrek Lee, the Chicago Cubs, the Iowa Cubs and sports-talk radio in this e-mail:

"I was listening to the Marty and Miller show on KXNO and they were discussing Derrek Lee’s shortened rehab stint here in Iowa. After a week or so of listening to them now, I’m not so sure that they will ever be able to live up to the mediocre bar that Steve Deace set. They were commenting on how the I-Cubs were allowing ticket holders to exchange their tickets for another game if they were upset about Derrek Lee not being at the Sunday game. Lee was called up after Saturday’s game in Iowa after two non-factor Cub players -- Freddie Bynum and Tony Womack -- both were injured in Saturday’s game vs. the Twins. Obviously, the move didn’t matter as the Cubs lost, 8-1, to the Twins on Sunday and 6-0 Monday to a Brewers team that had lost two of three to the equally-pathetic Kansas City Royals.

"Anyway, back to the afternoon topic on M&M’s show.....They were suggesting that the I-Cubs should take the 'high road' and offer an additional free game to anyone that had tickets for Sunday’s game because of the inconvenience of not being able to see Derrek Lee. That idea not only sounds stupid, but knowing how the I-Cubs charge $5 to park now and an arm and a leg for beer and mediocre concessions I doubt that is going to happen. Why should they in the first place? It’s not their fault that the circus in Chicago called Lee back sooner than scheduled. What if I had bought a ticket to see the Chicago Cubs earlier this year and just days before the game I was to go to was when Derek Lee was injured? Do you think the Chicago Cubs would refund or exchange my ticket just because I was unable to see him play now? HECK NO! So why should the I-Cubs feel obligated to do anything? I’d rather go see the I-Cubs play right now than the Chicago team. At least the I-Cubs play with some effort and have a manager that at least has half a brain. I had tickets to the Sunday game hoping to see Lee and even without him I still enjoyed a nice day at the ballpark and watched a well-played 5-3 win."

Travis Simpson
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for the thoughtful e-mail, Travis. In my opinion, the Iowa Cubs should let fans in free to atleast half of the team's home games because of the horrendous costs involved with taking a family to No-Name Ballpark. However, I certainly agree that the I-Cubs are a more entertaining team to watch than the Chicago Cubs. Watching a piss-poor manager like Dusty Baker trying to get a piss-poor team that plays in Wrigley Field to win games is a very depressing experience. Derrek Lee is pictured at the lower left].

Don't Laugh If a Guy Ran Iowa's Athletic Department From California. Amos Dean, the University's First President, Didn't Move From Albany, N.Y.

Bud Appleby of Des Moines took note of Al Schallau's application to become Iowa's athletic director

Schallau's qualifications seemed fine, but he said he would become Bob Bowlsby's successor only if he could continue living in California so he could enjoy his view of the ocean.

I guess Iowa didn't think much of that idea. The job went to Gary Barta, the athletic director at Wyoming:

Here's Appleby's e-mail:

"Al Schallau's offer to run the Iowa athletic department from California may have been tongue-in-cheek, but it is not without precedent.

"The first president of the University of Iowa, Amos Dean, only took the job on the condition that he did not have to live in Iowa. He ran the university for three years from his office in Albany, N.Y., and only visited the campus three times in that period."

Bud Appleby
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for the history lesson, Bud. Amos Dean [pictured on the right] was Iowa's president from 1855 to 1859, which means he didn't have any football coaches with $2.7 million contracts. Iowa didn't even field its first football team until 1889, when Charles Ashmead Schaeffer was the school president. Come to think of it, I guess I can't find too much wrong with Dean making only three trips to Iowa City. Who knows how long it would have taken him to walk from Albany in those days. I don't think the sidewalks were very good. Getting from Albany to Iowa City by covered wagon or horseback wouldn't have been much fun, either -- unless Hayden Fry was riding shotgun].

* * *

R. H. Slaughter of Des Moines had a different slant on the Iowa athletic director search. Here's his e-mail:

"Hi Ron,

"I didn't think it would this quick for Iowa to find a new A.D. Sadly, it will not be Al Schallau. Gary Barta will be Bob Bowlsby's successor.

"But I wanted to to veer off course to ask a question of our daily newspapers. I understand the premise of the Iowa Open Records law and the need to have information published out. Once I heard that Iowa had made their decision, I got on-line and went to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle website and read their side of the story.

"What was interesting was that they had a list of the possible candidates for the Iowa job. According to the Tribune-Eagle, the other candidates for the job, according to published reports, include:

• Toledo athletics director Mike O'Brien.
• Florida Atlantic athletics director Craig Angelos.
• Denver University associate athletics director Peg Bradley-Doppes.
• South Florida athletics director Doug Woolard.
• Southwestern Athletic Conference Commissioner Robert Vowles.

"Here's a question for the Des Moines Register. The University of Iowa was adamant in not disclosing the names of the candidates, for if their names were released, it could cause problems for them since they were interviewing for the job. If the Register can spend time demanding the names of the candidates for the Des Moines School superintendent job, then why didn't they press Iowa for the names of the new director of athletics? That list was never written up in the Register or it's little sister, the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

"I'm a journalistic idiot savant, but I thought it was worth noticing and asking about!"

R.H. Slaughter
Des Moines

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for another great e-mail, R. H. You've developed some outstanding reporting skills. Also, you've obviously been spending more time reading the newspapers lately than I have. I've been traveling a lot and haven't seen much of what's been in the papers from around here. Besides, I'm like a lot of other people these days. I just don't read the paper as much as I used to -- one reason being I can read a dozen papers free on the Internet in a short amount of time].

* * *

It turns out that Al Schallau can be a good loser.

After learning that he didn't get the Iowa athletic director job, and Gary Barta did, he sent me this e-mail:

"Dear Ron,

"I am writing to express my complete approval, applause, and endorsement for [interim] president Gary Fethke's selection of Gary Barta as the new athletic director at Iowa. Mr. Barta certainly brings exceptional credentials and track record to a difficult job. I think he will be excellent.

"I sure admire his foresight and PR talent when he showed up at the press conference wearing a gold-and-black striped necktie.

"NOW IT CAN BE TOLD DEPARTMENT: I really didn't want the job anyway. I couldn't leave Palos Verdes, CA, where the daytime temperatures in the winter months rarely fall below 70 degrees.

"I am today sending Gary Barta an e-mail to congratulate him and particularly to let him know that I am not a sore loser.

"Best,"

Al Schallau
Palos Verdes, CA

* * *

Schallau wasn't finished on the computer. He sent me the following e-mail after giving more thought to what goes on these days in the search for athletic directors, coaches and university presidents:

"Ron,

"I want to be one of those 'consultants' or 'head-hunters' who extract fees of $65,000 to give advice and opinions that are no better than mine.

"The Schallau Doctrines for Hiring Basketball Coaches would work successfully at least 90 percent of the time. The silver-haired coach from Long Beach State whom I recommended to Iowa in 1974 became the catalyst for building the arena frequently called 'The House That Lute Built.'

"I didn't get paid a $65,000 consultant's fee for that recommendation. But Lute did give me free tickets anytime I wanted them [including to the Final Four games at Indianapolis in 1980].

"Some time this summer, I will get around to writing a little pamphlet that will articulate all of the 'Schallau Doctrines For Hiring Basketball Coaches.' I think I will send that to every Division I athletic director in the country. If I keep it real short, there might be a one percent chance that someone will read it.

"You are sure right that Gary Barta seems to be a perfect fit for the athletic director job at Iowa. I sent him an e-mail to congratulate him and welcome him to the Iowa Hawkeye family. He already e-mailed me back. That is awesome, because I am sure that he is extremely busy right now.

"Best,"

Al Schallau

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Heck, Al, I've assumed all along that Bump Elliott -- who was Iowa's athletic director when Lute Olson [a.k.a "The World's Greatest Coach--Just Ask Him"] was hired in 1974 -- paid you at least $1 million to find the successor to Dick Schultz, who is in basketball's Hall of Shame. To show Iowa's appreciation for what you did, I think one of Gary Barta's first moves should be to name one of the restrooms at Carver-Hawkeye Arena "The Al Schallau Library." You deserve all the recognition you can get].

* * *

More history. Here's a list of all of the University of Iowa's presidents and athletic directors:

PRESIDENTS

Amos Dean, 1855-59
Silas Totten, 1859-62
Oliver M. Spencer, 1862-67
Acting President: Nathan Ransom Leonard, 1867-68
James Black, 1868-70
Acting President: Nathan Ransom Leonard, 1870-71
George Thacher, 1871-77
Acting President: Christian W. Slagle, 1877-78
Josiah Little Pickard, 1878-87
Charles Ashmead Schaeffer, 1887-98
Acting President: Amos Noyes Currier, 1898-99
George Edwin MacLean, 1899-1911
John Gabbert Bowman, 1911-14
Thomas Huston Macbride, 1914-16
Walter Albert Jessup, 1916-34
Eugene Allen Gilmore, 1934-40
Acting President: Chester Arthur Phillips, 1940
Virgil Melvin Hancher, 1940-64
Howard Rothmann Bowen, 1964-69
Willard L. Boyd., 1969-81
Acting President: Duane C. Spriestersbach, 1981-82
James 0. Freedman, 1982-1987
Acting President: Richard D. Remington, 1987-1988
Hunter R. Rawlings III, 1988-1995
Acting President: Peter E. Nathan, 1995
Mary Sue Coleman, 1995-2002
Interim President: Willard L. Boyd
David J. Skorton, 2003-2006

ATHLETIC DIRECTORS

Nelson Kellogg, 1910-1917
Howard Jones, 1918-1923
Paul Belting, 1824-1928
Edward Lauer, 1929-1934
Ossie Solem, 1934-1936
Ernest Schroeder, 1936-1947
Paul Brechler, 1947-1960
Forest Evashevski, 1960-1970
Bump Elliott, 1970-1991
Bob Bowlsby, 1991-2006
Gary Barta, 2006-

* * *

[Ron Maly is a four-time Iowa Sportswriter of the Year and also is the author of the best-selling book, "Tales from the Iowa Sidelines," which is in its second printing as both a hardback and softback book. The book is about the rich football tradition at the University of Iowa. Maly has a heck of a lot of fun doing what he's doing. Ron's columns about sports, newspapers, his family, medicine, travel, the people he knows, the people he doesn't know, a few people he'd like to know better, a few people he once knew and is trying to forget, a few people he has already forgotten, and anything else that trips his trigger appear regularly at www.rmaly.blogspot.com and www.whotv.com.].

New Athletic Director Gary Barta Is a Perfect Fit for Iowa -- But I Assume Kirk Ferentz Will Be Buying Lunch and Leaving the Tip. He's the Money Guy

It's not every day I say something nice about a group of people that had enough good sense to hire the right guy for a job.

Especially the job as athletic director at a Big Ten university.

Specifically, the one at Iowa.

I don't think Gary Fethke, interim president at the University of Iowa, and his search committee could have done any better than bring in Wyoming's Gary Barta to be Iowa's 11th athletic director.

In fact, Fethke did so well that I think he should get the president's job at Iowa permanently if he wants it.

If he doesn't want that, he should be the president of something.

But back to Barta, 42. I can't think of a better fit for him than Iowa.

He has worked at the University of Northern Iowa; his wife, Connie, is a native of Waterloo, he knows outgoing Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby very well and he has an outstanding background as a fundraiser.

Assuming Barta doesn't screw things up -- and his track record at North Dakota State, UNI, the University of Washington and Wyoming tells us he won't -- Iowa's athletic department is again in strong hands.

With that in mind, here are a dozen other thoughts on my mind regarding this subject:

1. I still don't know why a large university needs to hire a "head-hunter" firm to get a list of candidates for an athletic director opening, but the search for Barta went surprisingly fast and efficient. But if you ask me, Iowa could have done without the head-hunters because Barta probably would have hitch-hiked to Iowa City to interview for the job.

2. When Barta and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz go to lunch the first time, my guess is that Ferentz will pick up the check as well as the tip. At least he better. Ferentz is making $2.7 million a year, Barta's salary is $295,000.

3. When it comes to any decisions on Kinnick Stadium, Barta can have a hands-off policy. Bob Bowlsby, Iowa's outgoing athletic director, did a masterful job in quarterbacking the $90 million renovation of that classic stadium.

4. Barta won't need to put up any billboards in Des Moines or Cedar Rapids that say, "It's a Hawkeye State." That kind of stuff is always reserved for the second-place school.

5. It's an interesting group of major-college athletic directors in our state now. Barta is 42, Iowa State's Jamie Pollard is 40, Drake's Sandy Hatfield Clubb, 42, is the first woman hired to be a Division I-A athletic director in this state, and UNI's Rick Hartzell somehow manages to run a department when he's not officiating bigtime collegiate basketball games.

6. One of Barta's first orders of business should be to find out why Iowa can't sell out its men's basketball games on a consistent basis. Coach Steve Alford obviously doesn't have the answer.

7. Somebody needs to tell the people in this state that Iowa also has a women's basketball program. I think there are lots of folks who think the university cancelled the sport when Vivian Stringer left.

8. Barta can cancel Iowa's baseball program any day now. It's on life-support anyway.

9. I can see the possibility of an Iowa-Wyoming football game sometime in the future. After all, the policy has been for those two universities to play twice every century. Forest Evashevski's 1953 Iowa team beat Wyoming, 21-7, and Hayden Fry's 1987 Hawkeyes slipped past Wyoming, 20-19, in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego. The Hawkeyes had to score 13 fourth-quarter points to win the bowl game. Merton Hanks' two blocked kicks were instrumental for Iowa. So I think it would be a great matchup.

10. Now that we've got new thinking at the top, it's time to finally schedule that Big Four men's basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines. Drake can play Iowa and Northern Iowa can play Iowa State in the first round of games. The only thing we have to make sure of is that Hartzell doesn't bring his zebra shirt with him from Cedar Falls so he's tempted to officiate one or both of the games.

11. I hope Barta likes Florida. Iowa's football team goes there every January. But, frankly, I kind of like California. Specifically, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena -- somewhere a Hawkeye team hasn't won since Jan. 1, 1959.

12. I'm sure Mike Gartner and the Board of Regents will make some stupid comment any day now regarding the hiring of Barta. My advice to Barta is to ignore anything they say to him or about him.

* * *

[Photos from bottom to top are Gary Barta of Iowa (right), Sandy Hatfield Clubb of Drake (left), Rick Hartzell of Northern Iowa in the zebra shirt, accompanied by an angry Wisconsin basketball coach Bo Ryan, and Jamie Pollard of Iowa State].

Wyoming's Gary Barta, 42, Will Be Paid An Annual Base Salary Of $295,000 To Become the Successor To Bob Bowlsby As Iowa's Athletic Director

Gary A. Barta was named athletic director at the University of Iowa today by Interim President Gary Fethke.

Barta, 42, who is currently athletic director at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, will begin his new duties Aug. 1 at an annual base salary of $295,000.

Barta succeeds Bob Bowlsby, who is leaving Iowa after 15 years to take the athletic director position at Stanford.

“Gary Barta stood out as the best candidate in a very competitive pool of candidates following a national search,” Fethke said. “He has the qualities it takes to improve on an athletics program that is already considered one of the nation’s best.

"I am impressed that he has always put the welfare of his student-athletes first, and that he has also excelled in fielding competitive teams that excite fans. Gary has the business acumen to make budgets and to inspire the confidence that leads to significant private and corporate support.

“On behalf of the university community, I want to thank the entire search committee and especially co-chairs Dr. Charles Lynch and Joe Reddington, for conducting a thorough and expeditious search process."

Barta said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the University of Iowa athletics program,” Barta said. “I thank President Fethke and the search committee for their confidence.

"I look forward to working on a successful transition with Bob Bowlsby, for whom I have the utmost respect. I’m eager to get to know our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and the other members of the athletic department and the entire University of Iowa community. It’s great to be a Hawkeye!”

Barta has 19 years of university and athletic administration experience. He has been Wyoming athletic director since October of 2003. From November, 1996, to October, 2003, he was senior associate athletic director for external relations and sports programs at the University of Washington in Seattle.

From 1990 to 1996, he was associated with the University of Northern Iowa, where he was director of athletic development and external relations. He also served as associate director of development at North Dakota State University in Fargo, from 1988-90, where he was responsible for fundraising for athletics, the colleges of business and engineering, and the university’s annual fund.

Earlier this year, the University of Wyoming received the NCAA Division I-A Program of Excellence award, which honors athletics programs that are superior athletically, academically, and in student-athlete life skill preparation.

Barta has overseen a program with a number of significant accomplishments on the field of play at Wyoming, including a 2004 Las Vegas Bowl victory over UCLA; a 21-win season by the women’s basketball team in the 2005-06 season completed this spring; a Top 20 placing by the women’s track team in the NCAA championships in 2005; and a Top 25 finish in men’s NCAA swimming in 2004. During his three-year tenure, seven Wyoming coaches have won Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year awards.

Barta has been a successful fundraiser, having helped secure more than $150 million in private contributions and corporate sponsorships over the past 10 years. In less than two years, he helped the University of Wyoming raise more than $22 million, including $11 million in private contributions and $11 million in matching state funds.

He was directly involved in major fundraising programs at Washington, including a $100 million plan for facility renovations.

Barta earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and broadcast journalism from North Dakota State, where he was also a member of the football team that won three NCAA Division I-AA football championships.

Barta’s wife, Connie, is a native of Waterloo. She and Gary are pictured at the top of this column.

* * *

Here's a profile on Barta from the University of Wyoming that obviously was written before he agreed to come to Iowa:

It doesn't take long to get to know Gary Barta, and once you've met him, you'd swear you've known him for years. He makes you feel comfortable.

It doesn't take long to understand his passion for intercollegiate athletics, either. He'll get you fired up about the University of Wyoming.

There's his enthusiasm, friendly smile, and his ability to make you feel special. But more importantly, there's his commitment; his commitment to what is right with collegiate athletics; his commitment to the student-athlete; his commitment to the fan base that so loyally supports the program. He is as genuine as a Wyoming sunset.

On Sept. 15, 2003, former UW President Philip L. Dubois selected Barta as the school's seventh athletics director, to navigate Wyoming's intercollegiate athletics department through one of its most exciting and critical periods in history.

What has been accomplished since Barta's arrival is amazing. Wyoming's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is as healthy as it has been in decades.

Dubois' selection could not have been more right for Wyoming. "Gary is a leader," Dubois said. "He has the experience, the energy, and the personality to help move the University of Wyoming's Intercollegiate Athletics Program to the level of excellence we want for all of our university programs. He is not just the right guy, but he comes from the right kind of place. Coming from the PAC-10 (Washington), a BCS conference with a storied tradition of excellence, Gary knows what a first-class athletic program looks like, and he knows how to get us there."

Thanks to Barta, Wyoming is well on its way to getting there.

Wyoming's athletic programs are enjoying more success, across the board, than they have in years. Teams are winning, the budget is growing and facilities are being built. In Barta's first three years, seven Wyoming coaches have received Coach of the Year honors from the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming swimming produced an Olympian (Scott Usher), and Cowgirl track had a national champion (Shauna Smith). Eleven of Wyoming's programs earned grade-point averages of 3.0 or better following the spring semester. Cowboy offensive center Trenton Franz was selected as an Academic All-American, and earned an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. The Intercollegiate Athletics budget has grown from $16.5 million when he arrived to nearly $20 million in 2006-07.

Dubois felt strongly that Barta was the man to assist him in securing funding for the Strategic Plan for Intercollegiate Athletics . The plan was approved by the university trustees in September of 2003 to position UW for success as a member of the NCAA Division I-A Mountain West Conference. A key element of the plan was to address critical facility needs to strengthen the recruitment of student-athletes and coaches, and to enhance the fan experience at War Memorial Stadium.

In his first 15 months, Barta was instrumental in securing $20 million for facility renovations. In March of 2004, the Wyoming State Legislature approved a $10 million matching fund. By June of 2005, the $10 million was raised, and the matching fund exhausted. The campaign included a $5 million gift from Casper entrepreneurs John and Mari Ann Martin and Mick and Susie McMurry and their families, matched by the state for a total of $10 million. In March of 2006, the Legislature was convinced by Barta and other UW officials to provide an additional $6 million in matching funds. Within 30 days, the campaign had already raised $1.5 million toward that goal.

Facility needs addressed in the plan included: repairing the structure of War Memorial Stadium (upper West stands completed in summer of 2004); replacing the playing surface at the stadium, which has been named "Jonah Field" in recognition of the McMurry-Martin gift (completed in August of 2005); building of an indoor practice facility primarily for football and women's soccer, but ultimately benefitting all 17 sports at UW (design underway, construction to begin in August, 2006); enhancing the stadium with improved restroom and concession facilities, as well as donor suites (Upper East and West concourse renovation completed in summer of 2006); improving women's tennis facilities; and installing an all-weather track (construction underway, to be completed in August, 2004).

Barta is extremely committed to UW's Strategic Plan, and is impressed with the amount of progress made in such a short period of time.

"The plan does a great job of laying the ground work for Wyoming's future success," he says. "It is visionary, and yet practical. However, great vision without resources is irrelevant. I'm thrilled and grateful we've been able to accomplish both. It has taken a lot of hard work by a lot of people, and tremendous generosity by many wonderful supporters, but I'm happy to say the Athletic Plan is well on its way. The buy-in, and the commitment to Cowgirl and Cowboy athletics is amazing.

"There is a great history and tradition with this athletics program. There is a marvelous love affair between this wonderful state, and its athletic programs. The momentum of the Strategic Plan has UW athletics back on a successful track, the kind of success that has built the tremendous tradition that is Wyoming. Those, who call themselves Cowboy fans, have done their part to make it happen. We're not done by any means, raising funds necessary to be successful is a constant. But the progress made has been very impressive."

Barta is a native of Minneapolis, Minn. Prior to coming to Wyoming, he served as the University of Washington's Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations and Sports Programs from 1996-2003. In that position, he was responsible for raising more than $100 million in private and corporate funds for capital improvements. He also was responsible for generating revenue to fund Washington's $40 million annual intercollegiate athletics budget. While at Washington, Barta was directly involved in a variety of duties including: hiring of coaches and administrative staff; coordinating the schedule for men's basketball; initiating and managing sponsorship relationships and negotiating radio network contracts.

Upon his arrival at Washington, he directed its "Campaign for the Student-Athlete" which included a $100 million upgrade of five athletics facilities. Barta was a central participant in the design and construction of those facilities, including the $44 million renovation of the Bank of America Arena and a $30 million renovation of the Dempsey Indoor Practice Facility. During his tenure, annual private support increased from $6.9 million per year to $15.8 million.

In addition to management of all external relations including fund-raising, marketing and ticketing programs, Barta assisted coaches and student-athletes in Washington's 23 sports to achieve a high level of success on and off the field. In his final year in Seattle (2002-03), 21 of the 23 Husky sports programs participated in postseason play, and the average grade-point average for the 23 teams was 3.0.

Barta has been an active participant in the National Association for Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), and was recently named to the Executive Committee of that organization.

Barta earned his bachelor of science degree in mass communication and broadcast journalism from North Dakota State University in 1987. He was an option quarterback for the Bison football squad that won the Division II NCAA National Championships in 1983, 1985 and 1986. He returned to NDSU to begin his career in 1988 as an associate director of development and later director of development. While at his alma mater, Barta assisted in the completion of a $15 million capital campaign, and served on a task force that helped raise funds for the 20,000-seat Fargo Dome on campus. He remained there through 1990. During that same time, he also was a sportscaster for WDAY radio and television in Fargo, N.D.

From 1990 through 1996, Barta served as Director of Athletics Development and External Relations at the University of Northern Iowa. There he managed all fund-raising, marketing and promotions, and media relations activities for the school's 17-sport program.

Barta and his wife, Connie, have a son, Luke (8) and a daughter, Madison (6).

Attorney Al Schallau Applies To Be Iowa's Athletic Director, But the Offices Must Be Moved to California So He Can Still Have a View Of the Ocean

To: Randy Duncan, Ray Jauch, Ron Maly and Barry Crist

Below is my application for the University of Iowa athletic director job. I am now expecting a huge groundswell of support for my candidacy.

Al Schallau

To: Interim President Gary Fethke, University of Iowa

Dear Gary,

My name is AL SCHALLAU. I am an attorney in Los Angeles. Back in 1962 and 1963, I used to sip some brews with you and Lee Boeke, Jim Worrell, and others at Ivan's apartments on Lucas Street in Iowa City. As I remember it, you were Ivan's favorite.

I am writing for two reasons:

1. I want to suggest to you and your 14-member search committee that you seek advice and recommendations from Bump Elliott, who still lives in Iowa City. Bump was not only the greatest athletic director that Iowa has ever had; he was the greatest athletic director that ANY Big Ten university has ever had. I do think you are missing the boat if you do not seek counsel from a man who was a legend as athletic director.

2. I want to offer the name of AL SCHALLAU, Attorney at Law, as a candidate for the Athletic Director job. My conditions for accepting the job are:

(a) SALARY -- take the last salary paid to Bob Bowlsby and multiply it by two, and that will be my starting salary.

(b) LOCATION OF OFFICE -- the Administrative Office of the University of Iowa athletic department will have to be moved to Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. For 24 years, I have lived in an ocean view house in Palos Verdes, and I am not willing to move. I will conduct business every day by e-mail, phone calls, faxes, by regular U. S. mail, and by video teleconferencing. I will operate with a Palos Verdes administrative staff of TWO persons working directly under me. I think a staff of two is plenty.

(c) ADMINISTRATIVE METHOD -- my method of doing business will be to fill all Iowa City positions with very capable, diligent, and trustworthy persons, and then STAY OUT OF THEIR WAY and let them do their jobs to the best of their ability. This is known as the "Bump Elliott Method," and history teaches that it works very well.

(d) SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT -- the University of Iowa athletic department will be managed with the same system used in the management of the AL SCHALLAU LAW FIRM for the last 35 years. That system is "One Man, One Vote" ---- and I am the one man who has the one vote.

(e) SUBMISSION OF A JOB APPLICATION -- just push "Print" for this e-mail, and that constitutes my written job application.

(f) EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS -- B.A., University of Iowa College of Business Administration, 1964 J.D., University of Southern California School of Law, 1968

(g) WORK HISTORY -- 37 years experience as a trial lawyer handling civil litigation.

THE BIG IRONY: I am infinitely more qualified to be an athletic director at a major university than Mike Garrett was when he was named A.D. at USC. Garrett got a B.A. from USC and a law degree from an unaccredited law school. He never did pass the California Bar Exam. And Mike Garrett has become an EXCELLENT athletic director.

(h) INTERVIEW BEFORE THE 14-MEMBER COMMITTEE -- not a chance. I remember a doctrine preached by my marketing management professor at Iowa (the late Dr. James D. Benson). Dr. Benson said, "The only committee I would ever want to serve on would be the 'Committee to Abolish All Comittees'."

I am strong in my belief that the ultimate decision in hiring a new athletic director should properly be vested solely on the shoulders of Interim President Gary Fethke. As for the content of my interview with President Fethke, please push "print" one more time.

THE SUPREME IRONY is that I would make an excellent athletic director. But I don't expect to be offered the job. As an Iowa Hawkeye alum, I do hope that you and your 14-member committee hire an excellent athletic director -- albeit one less qualified than myself.

Best regards,

Al Schallau

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Good luck, Al. Your qualifications certainly sound better than those of some of the other candidates for the job. NOTE: Schallau is pictured on the right, Bump Elliott and a friend on the left].