Going Down Memory Lane

It’s basketball season and it’s still winter here in Iowa. It makes me ponder the old days when I was in athletic media relations in the great warm state of Louisiana.

This Iowa boy traveled to northern Louisiana to serve as a graduate assistant at Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe. NLU is now ULM (University of Louisiana-Monroe). The name change was tough on people. One guy I knew in media relations said he (a graduate) would no longer financially support the school because of the name change. Ouch.

Being a Midwesterner, I had no clue what the South was like. The people talked funny and the food was strange, but I grew to love the South, Monroe and the state of Louisiana.

My responsibilities were to promote the women’s athletic program. Athletic media relations people provide information on the teams and players to various media outlets. If some radio or TV guy/gal seems to know much information about a particular team, chances are the stuff came from the media relations person.

I only traveled with the women’s basketball team. We finished a terrible 7-23 that year. But other memories also linger.

We journey to the state tournament in southern Louisiana. It’s a long haul from northern Louisiana to the south. We traveled via bus. Robert Muarry, one of the assistant coaches, was always giving me a hard time about being from Iowa. On that particular bus trip he badgered a player from Louisiana to tell me all about southern cooking. She hesitated but probably knew it couldn’t hurt her playing time.

And then, there was Larry the bus driver. Larry and I shared a room and a bed on the trip. Now Larry was a big fellow. When I say big, I mean big. The double bed was a little small for a tall, skinny, 6-7 guy and a big bear-type. I didn’t bother Larry even though he snored like a bear. He was my ticket back to northern Louisiana. Larry and I got along just fine, ha.

I will never forget that season in Louisiana. There were great folks, great weather and interesting athletic teams to promote.

Iowa Hires Another Mid-Major Hoops Coach

Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta hopes lightening doesn't strike twice.

About four years ago, Barta hired Todd Lickliter from a successful mid-major in Butler University. We all know how that one turned out. It was a failure with a capital F.

Today, Barta announced his second new mid-major coach in Siena's Fran McCaffery.

McCaffery was quick to dismiss the similarities with the Lickliter hire. He said that he has turned around three programs. Lickliter did just one.

Well, like new coaching announcements, they were selling hope in Iowa City, Iowa. Hawkeye fans need lots of hope these days. The program is in terrible shape. I don't know what is worse: losing all those games for three years or fan apathy.

Iowa fans were crying out for a coach that runs an uptempo, entertaining style. It sounds like McCaffery will meet that wish.

If first impressions are correct, his demeanor is like the last coach. Maybe he does have fire in his belly, but it didn't show (if he does) at the press conference. Sounds like Mrs. McCaffery is the vocal one in the family. The best part of the press conference for me was when Barta mentioned that they have a seat belt on the Mrs. chair in the arena.

Mrs is probably the best player in the family. She played college ball at Notre Dame. Maybe they should play a game of h-o-r-s-e against each other in Hawkeye Carver Arena. That would probably draw a nice crowd.

Indeed, McCaffery has a solid track record. Now we will see if he can put people in the seats and successfully match up with other Big Ten coaches like Thad Motta, Tom Izzo and Bruce Weber.

What do you think of the new Iowa coach?

How Will Northern Iowa Handle Success?

This is unchartered territory.

Entering the NCAA basketball tournament last week, few outside of the mid section of the country had ever heard of the University of Northern Iowa Panthers.

But that all changed in just two hours. The Panthers two-point victory over No. 1 ranked Kansas removed their status from a lesser known Missouri Valley conference team to basketball rock stars. Now the whole college basketball world recognizes this Cedar Falls, Iowa squad.

ESPN is calling, Dan Patrick too. How about New York newspapers. TV outlets. Interviews, stories, publicity and more publicity. It's crazy.

The whole state of Iowa is taking about the Panthers too. This from a state that has two teams in two power conferences (Iowa and Iowa State). Everybody supports Northern Iowa these days. Purple and gold are the hot colors.

But this week comes the true test. Northern Iowa has changed roles from the hunters to the hunted ones. Numerous mid-majors in the past have advanced to the Sweet 16. Many have departed the next game.

If you listen to Panther players and their coach, Ben Jacobson, everyone is saying the proper things. They know Michigan State is a good team, the Panthers will be focused, blah, blah, blah.

Here is hoping the stars-in-the-eyes mentality will not appear Friday night. Northern Iowa needs to keep playing like a huge underdog. Bring that hard hat,lunch pail and go to work.

The stakes are higher, the pressure mounts, but the Panthers can keep winning. It's been a dream season so far. There is no sense waking up just yet.

Iowa Needs a Personable Basketball Coach

Todd Lickliter's firing as Iowa basketball coach became official Monday. The hammer did fall on his basketball head as rumored over the weekend.

Lickliter was a successful coach at Butler, but 38-58 at Iowa was unacceptable. Things just didn't click. He never seemed to bond with the Iowa fans either. Lickliter isn't your rah-rah slap you on the back kind of coach. His personality seemed reserved.

Lickliters' predecessor at Iowa, Steve Alford, also did not bond with the Iowa fans. But unlike Lickliter, Alford seemed to just irritate fans.

I think athletic director Gary Barta should hire a people's coach this time. How about a guy who mixes well with people and is a rah-rah personality? He needs to have a double major in public relations and coaching. He needs to get people excited about the Iowa program again and put people back in the seats.

Maybe Iowa should look at a Tom Davis clone. Davis took Hawkeye teams to the NCAA Tournament and won games there too before he was basically fired at the end of the 1998 season and allowed to coach until 1999. Davis preached an uptempo style and pressure defense. He also used many players.

Wins and loses make or break a coach, but as Iowa has discovered with its last two hires, public relations (or lack of it) is a critical equation as well.

What type of coach do you think Iowa should hire?