tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300159422024-03-14T03:32:55.625-05:00The Real SporerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1001125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-2900618603052647252012-07-24T10:50:00.002-05:002012-07-24T10:50:26.535-05:00Game Time playoffs begin!The 2012 season of Game Time is down to just the championship game as 2 teams were eliminated Monday, July 23 in the playoffs. Sam Logic led her team to victory with her usual triple-double in the opener and the Iowa guard-tandem of Trisha Nesbitt and Juco transfer Kathy Thomas teamed up with UNI's sharpshooter Brooke Brown and Iowa incoming freshman Kali Peschel to win their game. <br />
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The first game of the night featured the #1 seed vs. #4 seed. Only Cullen Painting had defeated Logic's Vinton Merchants/McCurry's team during the regular season but this game was close throughout. UNI's explosive point guard Sharnae Lamar and Iowa's developing 6'5 sophomore-to-be Bethany Doolittle were excellent for the Pelling team with 24 and 16 points respectively, and swingwoman Stephanie Davisson showed she'll be part of the rotation at UNI this year, going 4-5 from 3 and adding 19 points. Logic received excellent support from Amber Kirschbaum with 16 points and 9 rebounds. They had their usual great balance as Jen Keitel had 12 and 9; Erin Dohnalek had 10 on 2-3 from 3, and Brooke Wheelwright added 3 3's and 11 points. <br />
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Selected box scores for Vinton Merchants/McCurry's: <br />
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Sam Logic: 9-15 on 2's, 0-3 on 3's, 7-11 ft's, 25 pts, 12 rbs, 12 assts.<br />
Amber Kirschbaum: 7-13 on 2's, 0-1 on 3's, 2-4 ft's, 16 pts, 9 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
Mackenzie Westcott: 4-7 on 2's, 8 pts, 4 rbs, 2 assts.<br />
Jen Keitel: 4-5 on 2's, 0-1 on 3's, 3-4 ft's, 11 pts, 9 rbs, 4 assts.<br />
Erin Dohnalek: 2-4 on 2's, 2-3 on 3's, 10 pts, 2 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
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Selected box scores for Pelling/Culver's:<br />
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Sharnae Lamar: 7-10 on 2's, 3-5 on 3's, 1-2 ft's, 24 pts, 5 rbs, 4 assts.<br />
Bethany Doolittle: 7-11 on 2's, 2-3 ft's, 16 pts, 3 rbs, 3 assts.<br />
Stephanie Davisson: 2-12 on 2's, 4-5 on 3's, 3-4 ft's, 19 pts, 4 rbs.<br />
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The second game of the night featured the 2 and 3 seeds; Cullen Painting/Monica's/Bob's your Uncle vs. the Coralville Hy-Vee team. Cullen features 2 Iowa players who only play half of the game as they recuperate from injuries, Morgan Johnson and Theairra Taylor and Hy-Vee was too good this night, especially on defense. Brooke Brown scored 21 and their zone defense alternated well with a double-teaming player defense to keep Cullen from shooting well and overcame Cullen's rebounding advantage of 52-31. Cullen was 20-44 from 2 and 7-35 from 3 point range while Hy-Vee went 13-29 from 3 for an 18 point advantage from beyond the arc, which overcame fine performances by Johnson and Taylor when they were in. Johnson had 19 and Taylor 20. <br />
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Selected box scores from Hy-Vee: <br />
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Brooke Brown: 3-11 on 2's, 3-4 on 3's, 6-8 ft's, 21 points, 6 rbs, 2 assts.<br />
Trisha Nesbitt: 3-6 on 2's, 2-6 on 3's, 1-2 ft's, 13 pts, 3 rbs, 3 assts.<br />
Kathryn Thomas: 1-2 on 2's, 2-9 on 3's, 8 pts, 5 rbs, 4 assts.<br />
Kali Peschel: 2-6 on 2's, 0-3 on 3's, 2-2 ft's, 6 pts, 3 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
Amber Sorenson: 0-2 on 2's, 4-5 on 3's, 12 pts, 5 rbs.<br />
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Selected box scores from Cullen Painting/Monica's/Bob's your Uncle:<br />
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Theairra Taylor: 9-17 on 2's, 0-4 on 3's, 2-4 ft's, 20 pts, 10 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
Morgan Johnson: 6-13 on 2's, 7-10 ft's, 19 pts, 13 rbs.<br />
Brittni Donaldson: 3-5 on 2's, 3-11 on 3's, 1-2 ft's, 16 pts, 5 rbs, 4 assts.<br />
Jessica McDowell: 0-4 on 2's, 2-5 on 3's, 6 pts, 11 rbs, 2 assts.<br />
Hannah Breitbach: 2-2 on 2's, 1-10 on 3's, 2-2 ft's, 9 pts, 6 rbs, 6 assts.<br />
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The Game Time championship game is at 6 pm Wednesday July 25, and is being televised by Mediacom on channel 22 in many areas of the state. Randy Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00004340982413664367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-7864917918123692012-07-23T21:17:00.001-05:002012-07-23T21:18:23.039-05:00US Debt. Once again we ask, why not argue the facts?<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remember 06? Remember Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama promised to change things if the people gave them control of Congress.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They did, and <em>they</em> did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the last fiscal year before the Dems took control of the budget process the Republicans added $459,269,261,648.20 to the United States public debt. Yes, that's about four hundred fifty nine billion dollars, give or take a few. Such profligate spending was unsustainable, five fiscal years ago. The United States could not have continued deficit spend at the rate of $1,258,271,949.72 per day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nancy Pelosi promised no </span><a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2010/10/25/video-pelosi-promises-no-new-deficit-spending-in-2007/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">new deficit spending</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in her first year. Harry Reid promised to </span><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/05/flip-flop-alert-harry-reid-on-raising-the-debt-ceiling-in-2006-video/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hold the debt ceiling</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to 2007 levels. No less a geohistoric personage as Barack Obama labelled such borrowing as </span><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=obama+debt+ceiling+unpatriotic&view=detail&mid=BCF5DFF5E2A86B206ADBBCF5DFF5E2A86B206ADB&first=0&qpvt=obama+debt+ceiling+unpatriotic"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">unpatriotic</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, actually employing the "U" word to describe the then President, Republican W.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Democrats kept their promise: they changed the unsustainable rate of federal spending. In their first fiscal year, the Democrat Congress, lead by Nancy Pelosi in the House and Harry Reid and Barack Obama in the Senate, Democats increased the public debt of the United States increased by $1,061,672,666,771.06. That's one trillion sixty nine billion dollars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The rate of debt began to accumulate more than twice as fast we did the previous year. That's a daily debt rate of $2,908,692,237.72, almost three times as fast as the Bush/GOP debt rate that Barack Obama labelled unpatriotic. Three freakin' times as fast. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Democrats have increased the deficit by more than one trillion dollars per year in every one of the five fiscal years since, and FY 2012 is only three quarters complete! The total new debt Democrats have incurred is a whopping $6,793,814,813,967.81.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are big numbers but easy facts to convey. The average person hears about debt, but they never hear anything close to the real numbers. Maybe we ask the average politically apathetic, undecided voter, the proverbial "everyman" if they feel the benefit of an extra $21,720.67 from the United States government? If the answer is no, as we suspect it will be, let 'em, know that is the extra tax burden they will pay for just new debt, not everything from Uncle Sam mind you, just debt, since the Democrats took control of the US Senate and said goodbye to reality.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, GOP, its up to us to educate them. Let's do it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-1531368087215933102012-07-23T14:30:00.002-05:002012-07-23T19:16:31.899-05:00Prime Time Playoffs Start With Two Great Games<em>By: Randy Larson</em><br />
<em> Prime Time League Commissioner</em><br />
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The four teams in this year's Prime Time league conducted 2 fierce battles Sunday afternoon to see who gets a chance at bragging rights by winning the league championship Tuesday night at 9. The regular-season champs at 5-1, the Vinton Merchants/Gatens Real Estate team, was beaten by previously winless Culver's/Iowa City Ready Mix, 100-93. And in the second game of the day, the 2 and 3 seeds, Jill Armstrong and LL Pelling/McCurry's, finished with almost the identical score, won by Armstrong 99-93. <br />
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The triumphant 4 seed was led by their 4 Iowa players with great assistance by William Penn's Keith Steffeck. Here are their lines: <br />
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Eric May: 9-13 on 2's, 1-5 on 3's, 3-3 ft's, 22 pts, 7 rebounds, 1 asst.<br />
Aaron White: 3-7 on 2's, 2-8 on 3's, 10-12 ft's, 22 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts.<br />
Anthony Clemmons: 4-7 on 2's, 1-6 on 3's, 3-3 ft's, 14 pts, 5 rbs, 2 asts.<br />
Kyle Meyer: 3-6 on 2's, 1-1 on 3's, 2-2 ft's, 11 pts, 3 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
Keith Steffeck: 4-5 on 2's, 4-5 on 3's, 20 pts, 5 rbs, 4 assts.<br />
Eric May played his best game of the summer when it counted and the Culver's team made the size mismatches work for them more than Vinton could. Obviously they had great balance, and shot well, shooting 26-47 on 2's, 10-28 on 3's, 18-20 on ft's, and only getting out-rebounded by the much bigger Vinton team, 40-38. Dallas Hodges led them with 5 assists. <br />
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Vinton was led by Iowa incoming freshman Adam Woodbury who had 20 points. They also displayed great balance with Jarrod Uthoff scoring 18, Zach McCabe 17, Josh Oglesby had 14, and former Kirkwood and Iowa City West center Okay Ukah showing his moves inside by scoring 12. <br />
Here are those 5's box scores:<br />
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Adam Woodbury: 10-14 on 2's, 0-2 ft's, 20 pts, 5 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
Jarrod Uthoff: 6-13 on 2's, 1-3 on 3's, 3-3 ft's, 18 pts, 13 rbs, 6 asts.<br />
Zach McCabe: 3-7 on 2's, 2-4 on 3's, 5-6 ft's, 17 pts, 9 rbs, 2 ssts.<br />
Josh Oglesby: 1-2 on 2's, 4-10 on 3's, 14 pts, 3 rbs.<br />
Okey Ukah: 6-7 on 2's, 12 pts, 1 rb.<br />
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Vinton continued its' season-long unselfish play which resulted in good shooting, 29-54 on 2's, 9-24 on 3's, and 8-11 on ft's, but couldn't stop Culver's from scoring and hurting them on the offensive boards. They tried a zone in the middle of the 2nd half and got the lead with it but after leading with 3 minutes to go, couldn't stop Culver's in the man-to-man they finished with. Head coach Randy Larson said "I loved how Adam developed offensively, shooting 10-14 tonight, and Zach was always good all summer. Jarrod showed how incredibly versatile and talented he is and I think he's going to be a very good Big Ten player. Josh is as good a shooter as there is in the Big Ten and I look for him to be right in the mix for a starting spot. We just never developed enough cohesiveness on defense and didn't talk enough, and tonight when the other team shot better than usual, that beat us."<br />
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In the 2-3 seeds game, Jill Armstrong rode its' 3 big horses, Jarryd Cole, Melsahn Basabe and Mike Gesell to victory. Their opponent, LL Pelling/McCurry's, was missing its' 2nd-best player, Ali Farokhmanesh but despite that, held the lead much of the game, before succumbing. Cole and Basabe both had 34 points and combined for 31 boards. The game was a series of big man match ups, as Cole and Basabe faced rapidly-developing Iowa center Gabe Olaseni and Prime Time veteran defensive star Brennan Swayzer. <br />
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Although Olaseni scored 31, in the end it was too much talent in the frontline for Jill Armstrong's team, with Gesell making sure the ball got to them, finishing with 12 assists. They also held LL Pelling's star Devyn Marble in check, as he scored 14 but was 6-17 from the field and 2-6 from the line. <br />
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Box Scores of selected players: <br />
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Melsahn Basabe: 13-23 on 2's, 0-3 on 3's, 8-10 ft's, 34 pts, 19 rbs, 3 asts.<br />
Jarryd Cole: 15-23 on 2's, 0-2 on 3's, 4-4 ft's, 34 pts, 12 rbs, 3 asts.<br />
Mike Gesell: 3-11 on 2's, 2-4 on 3's, 2-2 ft's, 14 pts, 6 rbs, 12 asts.<br />
Darius Stokes: 0-3 on 2's, 1-3 ft's, 1 pt, 2 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
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Upper Iowa's starting guard Joey Woods did a good job defensively on Gesell but without a couple of missing players, starting power forward Tucker Wentzien and sharpshooter Farokhmanesh, their teamwork kept them in the game, but didn't let them prevail. Former Winona State Hall-of-Famer Kyle Schlaak scored 20. <br />
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Selected box scores: <br />
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Gabe Olaseni: 14-22 on 2's, 3-6 ft's, 31 pts, 6 rbs, 2 asts.<br />
Kyle Schlaak: 8-11 on 2's, 1-1 on 3's, 1-1 ft's, 20 pts, 9 rbs, 1 ast.<br />
Devyn Marble: 6-13 on 2's, 0-4 on 3's, 2-6 on ft's, 14 pts, 5 rbs, 8 asts. <br />
Joey Woods: 5-10 on 2's, 1-2 ft's, 11 pts, 5 rbs, 6 asts.<br />
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The winning teams meet for a late-night championship game, televised on MC-22 on Mediacom at 9 pm Tuesday, July 24. The game is scheduled for 9 to allow Iowa players who have a night class on Tuesday to play without a class conflict. <br />
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The Game Time league semifinals are tonight, July 23rd, at 6 and 7:30, and are also televised on MC-22, as is the championship Wednesday at 6. <br />
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<br />Randy Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00004340982413664367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-36300026906543693912012-07-22T11:22:00.002-05:002012-07-22T11:40:38.559-05:00Obama Era: Expert Consensus Shows Transition from Work to Welfare Equals Poverty.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvg4pFSMb92oQ0W-5sl1SyDWFX2hJn51zayxMsPAjmGGn68NTzzX6c8OCZTcnEux-CRfYLxSznJgW86HlReHWxajhGYErga48YMhtRjqdjCRUWmnsjWn57sYDqJ3nJGeIqp8iA/s1600/american-poverty4+obama+inn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvg4pFSMb92oQ0W-5sl1SyDWFX2hJn51zayxMsPAjmGGn68NTzzX6c8OCZTcnEux-CRfYLxSznJgW86HlReHWxajhGYErga48YMhtRjqdjCRUWmnsjWn57sYDqJ3nJGeIqp8iA/s320/american-poverty4+obama+inn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Another family staying at an Obama Inn</em></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just caught a "minor" headline this morning. The percentage of Americans living in </span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-poverty-track-rise-highest-since-1960s-112946547--finance.html?_esi=1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">poverty has reached a near fifty year high</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/supplemental-poverty-measure_n_1080160.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">raw number of Americans living in poverty</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> has already reached historic worsts in each of the three Obama years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've long known that the Obama years have seen labor force participation (the percentage of Americans already employed or seeking employment) </span><a href="http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">drop to Carter</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Depression era lows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The conclusion inescapably indicts the Obama socialist approach. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 2012 the United States faces record public debt and has experienced its first credit downgrade (even the Revolutionary Government of 1778 had better credit). At the same time, after six years of Democrat budget control and a nearly four year experiment with European socialism/crony capitalism the United States has record levels of government spending in whatever way the liberals have chosen to spend it (<em>e.g. the 09 budget, the Stimulus, nationalized health care and record Social Security and Medicare spending</em>). The liberal states like New York, Illinois, and especially California spend pour even more water into that ocean of spending. Yet the independence and affluence that comes with employment is collapsing and the dependence that arises from poverty and welfare is at a historic worst. All but the committed ideologue can recognize that President Obama's socialism destroys employment and increases poverty and dependence if they know the clearest of facts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where then are the Republican ads telling the public these alarming facts? The idea that we have lost a generation of labor and nearly two generations of national wealth in only three years are the kind of shocking numbers that even the simplest of viewers could grasp, so why don't we tell them? </span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-33928351502403613652012-07-21T12:48:00.000-05:002012-07-21T15:43:57.557-05:00Zack Beauchamp/Think Progress: Boy, you've got it backwards; mass murder is not progress.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zach Beauchamp over at </span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/07/20/557811/expired-assault-weapons-ban-would-have-covered-rifle-used-in-colorado-shooting/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think Progress</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> blames expiration of the Clinton era Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The 1994 law prohibited the sale of one of the firearms used by the psychotic Aurora shooter used in his theater rampage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So? Psychotics or terrorists intent on mass murder will find weapons. If he could not have obtained an AR-15 he would have used a different firearm. If he could not have obtained a single firearm he'd have brought several. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Failing to obtain a firearm would have changed the means, not the result. Fertilizer can become an instrument of mass murder. Arson, literal fire in a theater so to speak. The Aurora monster had smoke grenades (which are already pretty illegal). Zach, have you heard of a Molotov Cocktail? Gasoline kills. Think about the mass casualties if the Aurora shooter's bombs would have worked as intended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, repealing the the no gun zones in movie theaters might have at least stopped a shooting rampage. Such bans ensure that the only firearms present are in the hands of the criminal shooter (almost always already illegally in those hands as well). The presence of a brave and armed citizen, or more than one, would have been more likely to stop or limit the carnage than attempting to disarm, and then, when that fails, search everyone to keep weapons from madmen dedicated to murder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was much easier to obtain firearms fifty years ago. It was much easier to carry those weapons into now restricted places. Yet the growing cultural phenomena of mass shooting has grown with each such restriction. More restrictive possession of firearms may not cause gun crime but it does not prevent gun crime, either. Particularly the psychotic mass murders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Liberal reaction to Aurora has displayed two enduring principles of liberal thought:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Never let a crises go to waste. Beginning with ABC's defamatory link of the shooter to the Tea Party the anti-Second Amendment choir has been at full throat, practically climbing over the victim's bodies to advance their cause.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Occupy a parallel false reality. The statistical fact that more gun control merely results in more gun crime, where literally only the criminals have guns, is lost on the liberal. The liberal solution is simply do more of what has in many ways already failed. A free society simply cannot ensure perfect safety and law enforcement cannot be everywhere, even in places like North Korea or New York City. While law enforcement cannot be everywhere a widely and legally armed citizenry, if not everywhere, can be anywhere, just like the evil doers themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even the website appears an oxymoron. More mass murder is definitely not progress. But our failing culture needs to start examining the real causes of rage that create these mass killers and stop worrying about their anti-Second Amendment agenda.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-39621079387078242542012-07-20T11:53:00.000-05:002012-07-20T11:53:16.383-05:00ABC/Brian Ross reach new low in liberal hate.<div style="text-align: justify;">
Human existence is replete with tragedy. The fragility of life itself is what renders life so precious. All that we know and love can be taken from us at any time and at almost any place. Fires, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis sweep away thousands. Stages collapse and kill concert audiences. Balconies collapse and kill partiers. </div>
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Psychos engage in killing rampages. The Aurora shooting reminds us that dangerous psychos are and have forever been in our midst and can strike at any time and almost anywhere. Tragedy seems almost a cliche and certainly an understated word for the horrific mass murder last night in Aurora Colorado.</div>
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Modern science rarely knows what makes the mass murderer kill those he does not know. An obvious lack of humanity is the easy answer. The deeper or more proximate motivation is perhaps unknowable.</div>
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Upon hearing the news of the shooting, in the most apolitical of environments-a movie theater-every person of decency (indeed, perhaps every person who is capable of human empathy at any level) could have only one response: heartfelt anguish for the victims and their shattered families. What else could one feel?</div>
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We here at TRS certainly did not suspect an act of domestic terror, as practiced and advocated by President Obama's close friends and allies, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers" target="_blank">William Ayres and Bernadette Dohrn</a>. We did not believe the monstrosity to be the product of the political violence advocated by the <a href="http://www.infowars.com/nearly-a-third-of-occupy-protesters-advocate-violence" target="_blank">Occupy Wall Street</a> movement. Nor did we suspect the massacre was motivated by the <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/new-black-panthers-king-samir-shabazz-advocates-violence-against-whites" target="_blank">racial hatred</a> of the New Black Panther Party. Politics and political motivation were the furthest thoughts from our reaction.</div>
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It is often said that adversity reveals character, it does not make it. ABC News and Brian Ross revealed the true nature of their character this morning.</div>
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Brian Ross actually went on air with the following:</div>
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The baseless speculation of Ross' commentary is far more than an example of liberal bias that motivates most of the news media; it is a spectacular display of the hatred the liberal media feels for conservatives. Running on air with a smear of conservatives, with no or distorted evidence is nothing new, of course. </div>
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But, imagine the thought process that lead to Ross' statement. Someone almost immediately engaged in the inference that this shooter (<em>like the Gabby Giffords shooter, which at least occurred in a political setting</em>) was somehow connected to a conservative political group. Only the deepest of hatred of one's political adversaries could have triggered even the initial suspicion of Tea Party's complicity in a horrific mass murder. The initial suspicion itself is the product of nothing more than a conviction that the Tea Party is composed of persons of such profound evil that they were presumptively involved in the worst of crimes.</div>
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We do not need to wait for an apology or a correction, but we should wait for the Tea Party in Colorado and whoever is the James Holmes involved with the Tea Party to drop one whale of a defamation suit on ABC and Ross. Hopefully the verdict will be so large that ABC News is simply put out of business. That might provide some justice and it just might make Ross' fellow traveller's with some circumspection before they indulge their impulse to engage in defamatory speculation for political gain.</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-31332490942806799812012-07-19T17:35:00.000-05:002012-07-19T17:35:53.183-05:00Food Stamps for Foreigners, Yes, there is a Santa ClausThe Obama Administration's capacity for wealth destruction and dependency creation quite literally recognizes no limits. We picked up a link from the <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/19/usda-partnering-with-mexico-to-boost-food-stamp-participation/" target="_blank">Daily Caller</a> that was so fantastic that it required some personal research.<br />
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Yet, the story is true. The United States government, acting through Tom Vilsack's USDA, has <a href="http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/FactSheets/reaching.htm" target="_blank">partnered with a foreign government</a> (maybe more than one), Mexico, to encourage and facilitate food stamp dependency for <em>foreign nationals</em> living in the United States.<br />
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It has been widely known that the number of Americans susbsisting on food stamps has <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/04/pf/food_stamps_record_high/index.htm" target="_blank">reached</a> and<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/13/us-usa-foodstamps-idUSBRE86C01H20120713" target="_blank"> maintained</a> record levels under the Obama economic debacle. The Administration wears the record level of food stamp dependency it has created as a badge of honor; prima facie evidence of its success in <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/barackobam409128.html" target="_blank">radically transforming</a> America.<br />
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But seriously, foreign nationals living on American taxpayer dollars? <br />
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The Obama response to criticism of its ongoing collaberation with a foreign government to encourage foreign nationals to obtain American federal welfare is simply more race baiting. Republicans could only object to foreign nationals receiving American welfare because we hate Hispanics-such an argument is regular bottom shelf stock in the Hispanic aisle of this Administration's racial division superstore.<br />
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Could even taxpaying Americans of Hispanic descent, who have seen their unemployment level nearly double under the Obama Administration's tenure and who pay the same astronomic prices for fuel and food that does everyone else regardless of ancestry, find such gibberish credible this time around? Could someone whose last name is Garcia or Gonzalez that turns out every morning and goes to work only to see a third to a half of their paycheck disappear in taxes, possibly find justice in those tax dollars paying foreign nationals, whether from Mexico, Madagascar or Malaysia, to live on American welfare? <br />
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Given the billions of dollars the Obama Administration has sent to Brazil for offshore oil exploration or Finland for electric cars or China for solar panels, the question for tax paying Hispanic voters is why their tax dollars are supporting foreign people and industries when real Hispanic unemployment is hovers around 20% and Hispanic families have seen their family income collapse under the Obama work to welfare transition?<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-29573774175481619142012-07-17T21:08:00.000-05:002012-07-17T21:10:50.730-05:00H/T Hot Air: Armed Senior Saves The Day<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Picked up this great video at </span><a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2012/07/17/video-excellent-concealed-carrier-stops-an-armed-robbery/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hot Air</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> blog. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A 71 year old hero saves an internet cafe filled with sheep, I mean young people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<em>If there's one thing this last week has taught me, its better to have a gun and not need one than need a gun and not have one</em>." <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/True_Romance" target="_blank">Clarence Worley</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-62038930815949576772012-07-16T23:03:00.000-05:002012-07-17T20:46:32.001-05:00Obama: "Rich" not only undeserving Americans.<div align="left">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On July 13 Mr. Obama made what is becoming known as the Roanoke Statement. T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he text of the Obama Roanoke Statement appears in its full context in the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/jul/15/picketvideo-obama-if-youve-got-business-you-didnt-/" target="_blank">Washington Times</a>. Even America's first socialist President has not heretofore made such an explicit expression of his contempt for the nation's small business owners and successful entrepreneurs. The WaTimes link has the "money shot", but if you don't click the link, simply read the following paragraphs.</span></div>
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<em>There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. </em><br />
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<em>If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. </em><br />
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<em>The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. </em><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What language could possibly make this Administration's utter contempt for the American experience and the concept of individualism more readily apparent? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr. Obama, of course, reverses the American paradigm. We, as a nation, came into existence for the purpose of exalting the individual. The United States continues to exist for the singular purpose of empowering the individual. Mr. Obama's Roanoke statement is the most explicit statement of the radical and, to this nation, revolutionary socialist paradigm that informs his world view and political action. The Roanoke Statement pronounces the individual succeeds only because the collective allows them to succeed; without the collective the individual is helpless and worthless. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But Obama's Roanoke Statement is more-it is a very personal expression of what socialism means for individual effort. Regardless of the effort, the 80-100 hour weeks, the risk of failure (often married to a risk of homelessness because small business owners frequently mortgage their homes to start their business ventures); the sleeplessness, the stress, the ingenuity, success is only possible because we no longer reside in a Hobbesian state of nature and government exists, according to the Obama Roanoke Statement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Roanoke Statement equates the existence of government-and its provision of the things only government can realistically provide (<em>e.g.</em> fire, police, roads and courts) with a hand out ("help"), that the otherwise successful individual beneficently received from the generous collective. The Roanoke Statement ignores the successful individual not only funded their own business but also the <em>existence of the government hand that provided the hand out</em>: federal, state and in places like NYC, local income taxes, sales taxes, gasoline and diesel taxes, taxes on electricity and natural gas consumption, vehicle registration fees, cell phone taxes and fees (hardly an exhaustive list of the tax burden born by a financially successful American circa 2012) and, not least significantly, a contribution to the retirement security of their employees through FICA taxes. Without the success of individuals there would be no tax money for even basic government. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Societies that exalt the collective and do not allow widespread success are common throughout the world of even the 21st Century. Bolivia, Bangladesh or Rawanda present quite contemporary examples of such failed cultures. So rare is success in such places that tax revenue fails to meet the basic needs of an organized society and police and fire protection <em>are</em> considered "hand outs" in a failed state. The dire survivalist existence of a modern Rawandan or Somali appears as the only alternative Mr. Obama and the socialists perceive to the their mutant hybrid of Latin American revolutionary socialism and Western European corporate national socialism. The traditional American (the most prosperous and educated and powerful nation in history) experience is not considered an alternate course of historical action in Obamaworld.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Mr. Obama, who has been the beneficiary of hand outs at every stage of his life (perhaps the reason for concealing his academic records) could not have been more articulate in the derision he feels for those who have not. If you are in the class of successful people be assured, you owe it to the collective and its </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dear Leader Obama, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-28403156291026982502012-07-12T09:35:00.002-05:002012-07-12T09:35:40.251-05:00GAME TIME FEATURES RETURNING HAWKS GAME TIME FEATURES RETURNING HAWKS<br />
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By League Commissioner Randy Larson<br />
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The fourth night of games in the 2012 Game Time League featured a big win fueled by more playing time for 2 Hawks that are returning from injuries that have limited their minutes this summer. Morgan Johnson has suffered from jumper's knee for 2 years but showed she's still very effective, with 13 points and 5 rebounds, shooting 6-8 from the field, even though she only played about 18 minutes. Theiarra Taylor, who had arthroscopic surgery 2 months ago to remove scar tissue and a cyst from one of her knees that have suffered 3 ACL surgeries in the last 3 years, looked graceful, determined and talented. She scored 12 on 6-11 shooting and not only led her team in rebounding with 9, but also tied for the team-lead in assists with 5. She did all that in only about 23 minutes of action, as she and Johnson are playing limited minutes for their Cullen Painting/Monica's and Bob's your Uncle team, which won 83-67. <br />
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Coach Randy Larson said "I am so delighted with both their physical progress but with their attitudes and unselfishness as well. I told Theairra not everybody that can create for themselves ever learns to end the play with a pass rather than forcing it and she's learned it. And Morgan is so efficient; we don't get her the ball very well yet because teams are trying to take her away and in a summer league it's hard to set up plays, but when she gets it she's awfully good. She always passes out of the double-teams, and tonight we shot it well on the pass out." <br />
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Cullen/Monica's/Bob's featured great balance, as Megan Hayes and Melanie McCreight had 10, Hannah Breitbach had 12 along with Taylor, Johnson had 13, and Jessie Pauley and Brittni Donaldson, both of UNI, had 8 and 7, as did UNI teammate Jessica McDowell. <br />
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Their opponent, Coralville Hy-Vee, was led by UNI sharpshooter Brooke Browne with 17 points, 5 boards, and constant scrappiness. Juco transfer to Iowa Kathy Thomas was also effective at both ends, with 14 points and 6 assists, and her running mate at guard Senior Trisha Nesbitt from Iowa was also very good offensively and defensively, scoring 12, mostly on 8-8 shooting from the line. They could not overcome getting outscored from 3 by 33-24 and especially being out-rebounded 49-26.<br />
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In the 2nd game of the evening the Vinton Merchants/McCurry's team was victorious 76-51 in a game that was close until the end. Samantha Logic, despite being hounded by UNI's ultra-intense point guard Sharnae Lamar all game had 23 points on 8-16 on 2's, 1-2 on 3's, and 4-6 from the line. She had 7 rebounds and 4 assists. She started off looking for her teammates on penetration drives, but with the Cullen team staying home on her teammates, put the game away in the second half by looking to score more herself. She also continually led a good fast-break all game. Her twin-towers up front Mackenzie Westcott and Amber Kirschbaum had 19 and 14, to give them 3 good scorers. <br />
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The loser was LL Pelling/Culver's and they were led by Bethany Doolittle with 21 points on 9-15 shooting. She had 7 rebounds, with swingplayer from UNI Steph Davison having 8 boards and 18 points, and UNI post Alyssa Johnson grabbing 10 boards. Pelling just couldn't hit enough outside shots to stay in reach, as Steph made 4-10 but her teammates went 0-12, and the team shot just 18-43 from 2 as well. Sharnae Lamar collected 6 assists to go with her outstanding defense, with Davison and Johnson each having 4. The teamwork was excellent for Pelling and they tied Vinton on the boards, but poor shooting was too much to overcome this night. They trailed 33-28 at half. <br />
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Game Time continues next Monday July 16, Wednesday July 18, Monday July 23 and the championship game Wednesday July 25 at 6 pm. Games are at 6 and 7:30 and admission at the air-conditioned North Liberty Rec Center is free. Full information and statistics can be found at <a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/">http://www.primetimeleague.com/</a>. <br />
<br />Randy Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00004340982413664367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-90822800878128067502012-07-09T08:25:00.000-05:002012-07-10T17:59:43.854-05:00Prime Time match-ups preview Iowa team competition next season By Randy M. Larson<br />
Prime Time League Commissioner <br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The 4th set of games in this summer's Prime Time League gave the packed house a little preview of the competition these cagers will go through in practice this fall and winter. In the first game Aaron White went head-to-head with Devyn Marble, just as they may do this season if Devyn makes the expected move to small forward and Aaron plays some small forward in addition to last year's position of power forward. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Marble's team won the war, winning 100-97, but White definitely impressed everyone with his 39 points and 16 rebounds, both game-highs. He shot 11-19 from 2, 2-6 from 3, with several from NBA range, and 11-13 from the line. Getting that many shots and that many free throws shows he's working on his in-between game, something he's cited as a key to developing another weapon to go with his 3-point shooting and dunks. While their Culver's/Iowa City Ready Mix team has yet to win this summer, they were without Eric May and playing a very strong team, they had to be encouraged by the almost-win. White did most of his damage against one of the league's best defenders, Brennan Swayzer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">White got excellent help from incoming freshman Kyle Meyer, who had 14 rebounds and made several good defensive plays. Meyer is an excellent outside shooter and at 6'10, can give the Hawks some hope that he'll develop into a very fine player in the future, despite showing a young player's inconsistency after scoring well last game, but in this one going 0-8 from 2, 0-3 on 3's and 2-2 from the line in this game. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anthony Clemmons also showed he's a fine defensive player but a work-in-progress offensively, shooting 1-8 on 2's, 0-3 on 3's and 2-2 on ft's. He had 3 rebounds and 3 assists and was going up against European pro Ali Farokhmanesh and Upper Iowa's Joey Woods. William Penn's Keith Steffeck again shot well and played well, scoring 13 with 3-6 on 3's, and grabbing 8 boards, as their team won the rebounding battle 59-34. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Devyn Marble had his best game of the summer for his LL Pelling/McCurry's team, scoring 25 on 9-16 on 2's, 0-2 on 3's, and also getting to the line well, shooting 7-11. He had 7 rebounds but only 1 assist. Gabe Olaseni showed he's also more complete defensively than offensively, as evidenced by holding Meyer to no field goals, and scoring 15 but needing 14 2's to do it, making 5, and shooting 5-9 from the line. He got 9 rebounds to lead his team. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ali Farokhmanesh, heading to Austria this fall to play professionally after playing in Switzerland his first year, shot 5-10 on 3's, 3-3 on 2's, and 1-1 on ft's, to score 22. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The second game featured another preview of the matchups these guys will be facing in practice this fall, as Zach McCabe and Jarrod Uthoff took turns matching up with Melsahn Basabe and Darius Stokes. McCabe and Uthoff's Vinton Merchants/Gatens Real Estate team won fairly convincingly, 104-96, leading 50-40 at half. The losing team, sponsored by Jill Armstrong of Skogman Realtors, was led by another incredible game by Mike Gesell, with considerable help from Jarryd Cole, heading to France for another year of professional ball this fall, after playing last year in Iceland. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gesell took over the game at times, shooting 13-19 on 2's, mostly pull-up jumpers in the lane, although he shot 0-7 from 3, the first time this summer he hasn't shot the long-range shot well. He added 2-3 from the line, netting 28 points, 4 rebounds, and 10 assists. His game is extremely well-rounded, doing everything well on both ends of the floor and playing very unselfishly. I believe that not only will he start for the Hawks immediately, but that in many games he may very well be their best player. He is consistent, athletic, hard-nosed, unafraid and smart. Darius Stokes had 3 points and 3 rebounds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the winners, Zach McCabe was excellent, shooting 4-7 on 2's, 3-3 on 3's and scoing 17, with 6 boards, and 3 assists. He held Basabe to 10, on 4-12 shooting, with 10 rebounds. If you'll remember, last Sunday Basabe dominated the action with 32 points, and Zach made this one totally different for Mel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We also saw a confident and relaxed Jarrod Uthoff in this game, his fourth under the glare of the Hawkeye spotlight. He scored 17, shooting 3-6 on 2's, 2-4 on 3's, 5-6 on ft's, and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds too, along with 2 assists. He broke his man down repeatedly, showing his ball-handling skills and in-between game. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cole matched up with Adam Woodbury again for most of the game, scoring 30, and 11 boards. But this time Adam added 16 of his own, shooting 7-11 from the floor, including several nice moves, finishing with either hand. His progress offensively has been rapid, and he made 2-3 from the line too. This was a game from him that had several moves drawing ooh's and ah's from the crowd. He made Cole go outside almost exclusively. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Josh Oglesby also had several nice passes, netting him 4 assists, and scored well with 13. He shot 3-4 on 2's, 1-4 on 3's, and 4-4 on ft's, helping his team to an excellent overall shooting night. Vinton Merchants/Gatens shot 32-48 on 2's, 8-15 on 3's and 16-19 on ft's. Former Iowa walk-on hopeful point guard Andre Murphy played very well, with 7 boards, 13 points and 4 assists, and playing with great energy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And finally, Nate Garner had a magnificent game for the winners, shooting 9-9 from the floor and scoring a team-high 21. The former Cedar Rapids prep and Evansville standout joined a very balanced offensive output, with his 21, Uthoff and McCabe's 17, Woodbury's 16, and Murphy and Oglesby's 13. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regular season Prime Time play continues next Sunday at 3 and 4:30, and Game Time, the women's summer league resumes this Wednesday at 6 and 7:30. There is no admission charge, and the North Liberty Rec Center gym is air-conditioned, but get there early, as space fills up quickly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">R</span></div>Randy Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00004340982413664367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-58947488415320961832012-07-07T12:13:00.000-05:002012-07-07T12:14:05.810-05:00Republican Party of Iowa takes a tentative step away from corporatism<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Iowa's Republican Party, released its first public statement on Justice Roberts' decision <em>NFIB v. Sebelius </em>Thursday. The statement, by Chairman AJ Spiker, provided Iowa Republicans with quite a surprise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">"<em>President Obama clearly </em></span></span><a href="http://link.sc.states.gop.com/?63-2971-3158-43341-16910" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yiv1224240765s3"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">lied </span></em></span></a><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">to the American people when he promised not to raise taxes on middle class Americans. Obamacare not only raises taxes on every single Iowan, but also guarantees higher health care costs and deficits in perpetuity. The winners today are big corporate health insurance companies who lobbied vigorously for this law and government bureaucrats, while patients have lost control over their personal heath care decisions." </span></em><br />
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<span class="yiv1224240765s1" id="yui_3_2_0_4_1341679614524558"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>“The Supreme Court’s decision today is a set back for believers of individual liberty and smaller government all across Iowa, but rest assured this will only energize us even further. The Republican Party of Iowa will be working tirelessly to send Mitt Romney to the White House along with a full Republican delegation to Congress in order to repeal Obamacare in its entirety and replace it with meaningful market-driven reforms that will reduce costs, protect patients and increase quality of care</em>."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Spiker's statement is notable for its courage and candor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Republican critique of Obamacare and the Supreme Court's refusal to limit government authority has largely, almost exclusively, focused on the apparent errors and logical inconsistency of the 5-4 majority decision and its unlimiting affect on the federal government's power to control individual conduct. But Spiker and RPI added a new, positive and potentially significant third argument: a rejection of corporatism as the only alternative to socialism in healthcare financing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Republicans have been largely silent as to alternatives to Obamacare, almost as if our leadership fails to grasp the real need for a new heathcare financing system. Healthcare spending in the United States is exploding, both in absolute terms and relative to the rest of the developed world.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/OECD042111.cfm" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiih0DpppjaoCWRGWuCW2Wsoo8Wtfi3a9hpcYwlp_YsZaCmXkBD0XAKx2YB7GqNyQXumQt78c7ckHK19GP-2SIqzZ3KDlNNVrFqXqmI0zeYzu5cBKGPv-iLnl_yMxEjoeBx__kB/s320/Growth+in+Spending+1970-2008.gif" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FGnZEyNuVHZ4XviuA4lDlLBjM8GWQqBbH5An8iJBJIsdawBKCS7-LJyTIPYL-4y-Uv1qCw8nGhB2pPtc13W_yTPnO3jUf8NhagvXqHmjQUB5xrZRYgyC07zrngNw3fU4PURe/s1600/Comparative+Expenses.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FGnZEyNuVHZ4XviuA4lDlLBjM8GWQqBbH5An8iJBJIsdawBKCS7-LJyTIPYL-4y-Uv1qCw8nGhB2pPtc13W_yTPnO3jUf8NhagvXqHmjQUB5xrZRYgyC07zrngNw3fU4PURe/s320/Comparative+Expenses.gif" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The years since 2008 have seen an </span><a href="http://www.kff.org/insurance/7670.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">explosion in healthcare costs</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> not reflected in the foregoing charts. Real people pay the almost countless billions of dollars represented in the Kaiser foundation charts. Just as important, someone gets those almost countless billions of dollars. The money does not just evaporate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Republican alternatives, such as they are, have said almost nothing about empowering individuals. We blather about law suit reform-meaningless in most of the country where medical malpractice suits are rare and more rarely successful. Of course insurance companies, hospital companies and medical care providers want to be immunized from the consequences of their errors, who wouldn't. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ERISA's </span><a href="http://www.ajronline.org/content/174/1/19.full" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">broad protections</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> against medical lawsuits was supposed to bend the cost curve down-just the opposite happened. The ERISA provisions limiting malpractice damages had the opposite affect-at the very least it did nothing but save insurance companies what is by now hundreds of billions of dollars. Those dollars have not seemed to find their way into anyone but shareholder's and executive pockets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Republicans have to do more, much more, if we are going to both capture the healthcare issue as a political strength and, more importantly, fix the healthcare financing system. As Spiker says, we here in Iowa will work for market driven reforms, not just the endless protection of big health insurance companies, that are, at best, marginally less impersonal and responsible than big government. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are many miles yet to be walked in this debate. Time alone will tell if Republican walk will match Spiker's talk. God knows there will be massive resistance to a market based solution that equalizes consumer rights and abilities with producers immunities and profits. The Republican establishment, that feasts at the trough of insurance political contributions, employment opportunities and social relationships, will fight any reform that reduces insurance profits and increases insurance risk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But if we fail to fight this battle, in the end, what alternative do we present to a public that is economically crippled by the disconnection of medical industry profit from competition? The voting public needs relief and if we cannot offer it they will turn, again, to the socialized medical system offered by Euro-style socialists that want to use it to forever chain people to the government.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"<em>When conservatives become corporatists, the public votes socialist</em>."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-67385785292039809292012-07-07T11:04:00.000-05:002012-07-07T12:14:25.970-05:00Game Time League Game 3: Commissioner's Report<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By Randy M. Larson</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Game Time League Commissioner</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Game Time league kicked off its' 2nd night of games
June 27th, with the rosters more full than the first night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iowa players Morgan Johnson, Theairra Taylor,
Melissa Dixon and Bethany Doolittle all made their debuts, although all but
Doolittle are only playing limited minutes as they continue to recover from
injuries. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first game featured Vinton Merchants/McCurry's team
featuring first pick Samantha Logic from Iowa and a full squad of UNI
players--Amber Kirschbaum, Jen Keitel, Erin Dohnalek and Hannah
Schonhardt--blowing out the short-handed Johnson and Taylor squad sponsored by
Cullen Painting/Bob's your Uncle and Monica's, 92-60. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Vinton had great balance, with Kirschbaum scoring 21,
Bradley alum McKenzie Westcott and Dohnalek scoring 16, Schonhardt 10, Keitel 9
and Logic adding 8 to go with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cullen/Bob's your Uncle/Monica's just couldn't compete
with Johnson and Taylor only playing less-than-half time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morgan in 12 minutes was </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5-7 and 2-2 from the line for 10 points, with 2 boards
and 1 assist; Taylor in 18 minutes was 4-9 and 2-3 on 3's and 2-2 on ft's, with
6 rebounds, 1 assist and 16 points. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 2nd game of the night was closer and very intense,
with bodies flying and defense the order of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The LL Pelling/Culver's team led by Bethany
Doolittle defeated Coralville Hy-Vee, 68-57.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Doolittle showed her progression after her freshman season, scoring 32
on 13-19 shooting and 6-8 from the line, adding 10 boards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was aided by Melissa Dixon in about 20
minutes scoring 10, including 2-4 on 3's, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1-2 on 2's and 2-2 from the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>UNI's freshman Sharnae Lamar was a defensive
force and scored 6 to go with 4 boards and a team-high 5 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stephanie Davison from UNI grabbed 8 rebounds
from her perimeter spot and her UNI teammate Alyssa Johnson had 7. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hy-Vee was led by incoming Iowa freshman Kali Peschel
from Minnesota, who looks ready to compete for a starting spot at the power
forward spot, although she's more of a 3, but where Iowa is well-stocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peschel scored 15, although it took 12 2's and 10
3's to make her 6 shots, along with 1-1 from the stripe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already mobile and aggressive and Peschel will lose her
knee brace later this summer, so she should become even more so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her fellow Iowa recruit from Minnesota Kayla
Timmerman only attempted 4 shots, going 0-1 on 2's and 0-3 on 3's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Timmerman did get 6 rebounds and 1 assist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incoming Juco transfer to Iowa Kathy Thomas
added 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists to team with Iowa veteran Trisha
Nesbitt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nesbitt shot 1-4 on 2's, 1-5 on
3's and 3-6 on ft's, to score 8. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">UNI off-guard Brooke Brown showed why she's one of the
best players in the league, scoring 10 for Hy-Vee and continuing to show the
leadership and competitiveness on the court I noticed the first night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brown </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">shot 4-6 on 2's,
0-4 on 3's and 2-4 on ft's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She grabbed
5 rebounds and got 1 assist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
teammate from UNI Amber Sorenson scored 5 on 1-4 from both 2 and 3, and grabbed
5 boards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kirkwood's Shantel Lehman,
headed to Wayne State, grabbed 7 boards as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-17870931199105251572012-07-05T18:47:00.002-05:002012-07-05T19:45:30.640-05:00Prime Time League Game 3: Commissioner's Report<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><em>By Randy M. Larson</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><em>Prime Time League Commissioner</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Prime Time's 3rd set of games tipped off July 1 with the
frontline of Gabe Olaseni/Devyn Marble/Kyle Meyer on the LL Pelling/McCurry's
team vs. the big 4 of the Vinton Merchants/Gatens team, Zach McCabe, Adam
Woodbury, Jarrod Uthoff and Josh Oglesby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gabe Olaseni showed he is developing quickly as he posted 20 points and
7 rebounds, going mostly up against Woodbury, who had 8 and led all rebounders
with 14.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">However Gabe shot 9-15 from the floor and 2-2 from the
free throw line while Adam was 4-16 and got no charity tosses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The defense on Devyn Marble was pretty good,
holding him to 6-19, including 0-5 from 3, to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists
but Marble's team prevailed pretty easily,</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">98-84 after leading 51-40 at half time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ali Farokhmanesh made all four of his four attempts from beyond
the arc, as both teams shot the 3 well, with his team shooting 8-19 and Josh
Oglesby leading the losing team with 4-6 on 3's and his team shooting
9-18.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither Uthoff nor McCabe
attempted a 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McCabe's line was </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5-14 and 2-2 from the line, for 12 points, and he had 8
boards and 1 assist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uthoff shot 4-8,
scoring 8, and grabbed 8 rebounds to go with </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oglesby
added 4-5 on 2's, to his 3-point sharpshooting to score 20, to go with 2 boards
and 1 assist.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My critique of the game was that the Pelling team worked
harder, passed it better and stayed close on the boards, losing by 2 to the
bigger Vinton team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woodbury rebounded
extremely well and stayed out of foul trouble but struggled to finish his moves
against Olaseni (as most will), as the Pelling team stayed at home on the good
exterior shooters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olaseni showed he can
make his mid-range jumper a bit, although it still is flat, and that he is
going to be in the mix for playing time in the Hawkeye frontline this
fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next to Basabe, he may be the
team's best shot-blocker. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Th</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">e second game of the afternoon matched the Jill
Armstrong trio of super-recruit Mike Gesell, Melsahn Basabe and Jarryd Cole vs.
Culver's stars, Aaron White, Eric May and incoming Iowa recruits Anthony Clemmons
and Kyle Meyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you remember Meyer
being on the Basabe/Cole team originally, that's exactly right, as we moved him
to replace an injured player, Dain Swetalla, on the Culver's team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He should see more action too, as playing
time behind Cole and Basabe is obviously limited. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The story of this game was Mike Gesell and Melsahn Basabe
teaming up for 57, shooting very well, with Mike going 9-13 on 2's and Mel
going 14-23.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gesell added 2-5 shooting
on 3's, and 5 rebounds and 4 assists. You'd be hard-pressed to find an
observer who doesn't think he's the starting point guard for the Hawks this
fall from day one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basabe was
unstoppable, and shot 4-5 from the line too, while controlling the boards and
the lane together with Cole, grabbing 9 boards and even getting 2 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cole led the way with 12 rebounds, and led
with 5 assists too, as well as shooting 7-11 and scoring 14.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael Aldeman from Mid-Prairie and DMAC
added 12 on 4-6 shooting from 3. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Eric May was a perfect 7-7 from the line and 5-9 on 2's,
to score 17 to go with 6 boards and 0 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>White scored 19 but needed 15 shots to make 6, with one missed trey, and
shot 7-10 on free throws. White </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">was a powerhouse on the boards against Basabe and
Cole, grabbing 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has 2
assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even in Prime Time, you
can't give up 109 and win.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kyle Meyer played well too, especially considering the
matchups he faced, shooting 7-12 on 2's, 0-1 on 3's, and posted 14 points and
12 boards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He's niftier than he looks
and seemed in this 3rd game of the summer to relax and show what he can
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemmons continued his consistently
strong defensive play but I don't believe anyone will stop Mike Gesell and he
didn't.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anthony scored 8 on 4-9 shooting
and had 4 rebounds and 2 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keith
Steffeck from William Penn scored </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">13 on 4-7 shooting from 3. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Games resume Sunday July 8 at 3 and 4:30 in the free and
air-conditioned environment of the North Liberty Rec Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Game Time games resume Wednesday July 11 and
continue Mondays and Wednesdays the rest of the way, with the championship Wednesday
the 25th.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All league details and stats
can be found at </span><a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">www.primetimeleague.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-8682185203459269342012-07-02T22:38:00.002-05:002012-07-02T22:38:39.040-05:00The Greatest Sports Blog Commentary Ever<a href="http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=2208&tid=175383714&mid=175383714&sid=880&style=2" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">READ THIS</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nothing could better describe the source and symptom of our cultural decay and its link to the entitlement mentality that nanny state has created. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is how you raise a nation of college "boys" that climb out the window while the octogenerian Holocaust survivor holds the door and protects them.</span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-68177193058058636482012-06-28T19:53:00.000-05:002012-06-28T20:38:41.648-05:00NFIB v Sebelius: The really, really scary thing ...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... is the clear insight certain dicta provides into the disturbing world view that animated Cheif Justice Robert's decision. The following dicta appears at page 39 of the </span><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">majority decision</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><em>The joint dissenters argue that we cannot uphold § </em></span><a href="javascript:invokeFlexDocument('X1D3OOO003&jcsearch=26%20U.%20S.%20C.%20%205000A&summary=yes#jcite');"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><em>5000A</em></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><em> as a tax because Congress did not "frame" it as such. Post, at 17. In effect, they contend that even if the Constitution permits Congress to do exactly what we interpret this statute to do, the law must be struck down because Congress used the wrong labels. An example may help illustrate why labels should not control here. Suppose Congress enacted a statute providing that every taxpayer who owns a house without energy efficient windows must pay $50 to the IRS. The amount due is adjusted based on factors such as taxable income and joint filing status, and is paid along with the taxpayer's income tax return. Those whose income is below the filing threshold need not pay. The required payment is not called a "tax," a "penalty," or anything else. No one would doubt that this law imposed a tax, and was within Congress's power to tax. That conclusion should not change simply because Congress used the word "penalty" to describe the payment. Interpreting such a law to be a tax would hardly "[i]mpos[e] a tax through judicial legislation." Post, at 25. Rather, it would give practical effect to the Legislature's enactment.</em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<strong>No one would doubt that this law imposed a tax, and was within Congress's power to tax</strong>." Therein lies the worst language of an appalling opinion! Everyone, anyone who adheres to the concept of limited government, and now any limit on government, instinctively rejects federal authority to compel the purchase of any good or service or face taxation to thereby subsidize other's more civically correct decisions. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other, far more onerous and expensive analogies come readily to mind. For example, the federal government can now levy a tax on all persons who fail to purchase new automobiles in a given year. Congress could readily make a finding that the domestic automobile industry is essential to national well being and that the federal government's extensive investments in that industry are jeoparized by the the industries' insolvency. Based on today's dicta and holding the Roberts Court will be quite comfortable with such an "auto tax."</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The "window tax" analogy demonstrates the lengths to which Republican appointee John Roberts instinctively will to allow the federal government to go in the oppression of we, its citizens. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">So the single worst decision in Supreme Court history is bad, very bad. Much worse, however, is the preview of more to come from just another jurist who cannot find a practical limitation to federal power over the individual.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-33072689467612710852012-06-27T21:14:00.000-05:002012-06-27T22:12:51.259-05:00HD 36 Jeff Ibbotson (R) vs. Marti Anderson (D) in Fallon Forum Face Off<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By Theodore Sporer</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Editor</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Iowa's internet radio audience has a chance to hear just how stark is the difference between the modern Republican and the modern Democrat this Friday, June 29. The two Iowa HD 36 contestants make a joint appearance on the ultra liberal </span><a href="http://fallonforum.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fallon Forum</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The broadcast airs at noon (CST), Friday, June 29.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Republican </span><a href="http://www.votejeff2012.com/index.asp" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jeff Ibbotson's</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> biography is the quintessential American story, interspersing periods of public service with a career in private industry. Private industry, the place where people learn about carrying their own weight, supporting their families and those of the employees whose jobs they create, managing budgets with one's own money and the impact of the nanny state on real people and real businesses.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This appearance also shows Jeff has two qualities not always apparent in Republican candidates. First, the courage to appear in very hostile environment. You just do not get to the left of Ed Fallon (<em>although, in all seriousness, not all of Ed's anti-corporate thoughts are that far off and he's spot on when it comes to the barbaric and medieval whaling industry</em>). The populus procul forum<strong> </strong>and host will throw only hardballs at Jeff. Second, cleverness. Not as in sly, as in smart. For years we here at TRS have called on GOP leadership to campaign in new places to persuade voters to agree with our ideology and become Republicans, not just now and again Republican voters. Repudiation of progressivism as a legitimate system of governance and distributive justice is the only way we win the Culture War and return to the Constitutional small and limited government that brought our nation so very far in so very little time (historically speaking).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ibbotson's opponent is quite literally the nanny. </span><a href="http://martianderson.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marti Anderson's</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> career has been in social work (spend a little time the </span><a href="http://socialworkers.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">NASW</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> website for a comprehensive description of the nanny state Anderson's professional society advocates) extremely liberal. For years her government job has been the distribution of such taxpayer largesse as was not devoted to her own salary and benefits. Nothing in Anderson's history shows an appreciation of government as anything other than a cradle to grave provider of economic benefits to as many people as can be brought within the web of social worker. Not an evil person, but the living face of Ronald Reagan's famous nine scarriest words in the English language, "<em>I'm from the government and I'm hear to help</em>". Such a candidate, however well meaning, defines success by the number of people <em>on</em> welfare, food stamps or otherwise dependent on government for their very existence.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hopefully Jeff will take this chance and drive home the difference between a government that limit's its empathy only by the extent of its confiscatory taxing power and a government that frees people to succeed and thrive to the best of their ability.</span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-14227441499187966422012-06-27T19:51:00.000-05:002012-06-27T19:53:20.769-05:00Game Time League: Commissioner's Report, 12th Season Kick Off<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>By: Randy M. Larson</em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>Game Time League Commissioner</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Game Time summer basketball league for women began
its' 12th season Wednesday June 20th with the competition level higher than
ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The NCAA prohibits more than 2
college teammates from playing together in the summer but this year neither
Iowa nor UNI had more than 8 returning players available or healthy to play in
the summer so Game Time was able to reduce the number of teams to 4, making the
level of competition the highest it's ever been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twenty one of the 40 roster spots are taken by Iowa
or UNI players.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sam Logic of Iowa was the first pick and she might have
been even if everybody had been healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jaime Printy and Kathleen Reynolds will sit out the whole summer of
course, since they just had ACL surgeries, but Morgan Johnson, Theairra Taylor,
Bethany Doolittle,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and Melissa Dixon
will all play after the first night's games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Taylor and Dixon are still recovering from knee surgeries and Johnson is
recovering from knee tendonitis, while Doolittle was in a moped-car collision
the day of the first game and suffered from bruises and scrapes but suffered no
injuries that will hamper her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jacqui Kalin and Mercedees Morgan are among the notables
from UNI that will also sit out due to injury, as will highly regarded
sophomore-to-be from Kirkwood Bianca Dufelmeier. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The draft order, taking into consideration the limited
basis Johnson, Taylor and Dixon will play, was Sam Logic, Bethany Doolittle,
Morgan Johnson, Trisha Nesbitt, incoming frosh to Iowa Kali Peschel, Theairra
Taylor, Melissa Dixon, Amber Kirschbaum, Mackenzie Westcott from Bradley, and
freshman-from-UNI Sharnae Lamar. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first games were largely a story of missing
players.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The full Coralville Hy-Vee team
coached by Mike Stoermer defeated the team that was missing its' first two
picks, Morgan Johnson and Theairra Taylor, 75-68.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I coached the losers, sponsored by Cullen
Painting/Monica's and Bob's your Uncle restaurants, and was proud of how
competitive they were without their 2 injured stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hy-Vee was led by UNI sharpshooter Brooke
Brown with 21 points on 8-10 shooting, including </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4-5 from 3 and 1-1 from the free throw line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Athletic and smooth frosh-to-be-at-Iowa Kali
Peschel looked ready for a spot in the rotation as a swing player right away
this fall, as she shot 4-5 from 3, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, and scored
18 points for the winners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Post player
Jessica McDowell led Cullen Painting with 16 points, shooting 5-7 on 2's, 1-4
on 3's, 3-4 on ft's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They showed great
balance with Megan Hayes from Coe scoring 13, incoming UNI frosh Jessi Pauley
had 11, UNI's Brittni Donaldson had 10, and former Iowa Wesleyan great Melanie
McCreight added 8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cullen Painting won
the battle of the boards 43-35 but shot just 5-15 from the line and Brown and
Peschel were just too good, along with Iowa's Trisha Nesbitt's leadership.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second game illustrated the same problem as the LL
Pelling/Culver's team was missing their first 2 picks, Bethany Doolittle and
Melissa Dixon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dixon, who showed us last
summer the incredible shooting and high-intensity defense that Iowa fans got to
see when she exploded onto the scene as a freshman filling in Printy's spot in
the starting lineup when she got hurt,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>will play June 27th, as will Doolittle, who is completely healthy and
showed a lot of scoring and rebounding ability last year for Iowa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the short-handed Pelling team got
completely overwhelmed by Sam Logic's team, 86-55, although it was only a
13-point deficit at half. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sam Logic's team, sponsored by Vinton
Merchants/McCurry's, was led by good balance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>UNI's post Jen Keitel had 19 points and 10 boards; another UNI post
Amber Kirschbaum posted 15 points and 17 boards; and Logic and Bradley's
Westcott added 9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sharnae Lamar showed
she is already a great college defensive player, as she used her incredible
quickness and intensity to harass Logic all over the floor, and led them in
scoring as well, with 21, shooting 3-7 from 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The big players for Vinton led them to a 58-37 rebounding edge, with
incoming-frosh-to-UNI Alyssa Johnson leading Pelling with 10. </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Game Time resumes Wednesday June 27 at 6:00 and 7:30 at
the North Liberty Recreation Center, just off Hwy 965 on Cherry Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gym is air-conditioned, games are free,
and almost all the players are predicted to be able to play in this 2nd game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See schedules, rosters and info at </span><a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.primetimeleague.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> or contact me
anytime at </span><a href="mailto:randymlarson@gmail.com"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">randymlarson@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-65259232620822815772012-06-25T21:28:00.003-05:002012-06-26T17:22:33.233-05:00Prime Time League Commissioner's Report Game 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>By Randy M. Larson</em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>Prime Time League Commissioner</em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prime Time's</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> second
night continued the great matchups we saw in the first set of games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Games are set for the next 4 Sundays at 3 and
4:30 and an early arrival is recommended, as the gym was full 30 minutes before
game time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first game featured the
considerable but young talent of the Vinton Merchants/Mike Gatens Real Estate team,
with its imposing frontline of Adam Woodbury, Zach McCabe and Jarrod Uthoff,
plus the sparkling shooting of Josh Oglesby vs. the talented and experienced
duo of Aaron White and Eric May, along with the defensively impressive freshman-to-be from
Indianapolis Anthony Clemmons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My team was able to become the only undefeated team after
only 2 games, winning a close game, 93-82, with all three frontliners grabbing
9 rebounds or more and scoring in double figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zach McCabe followed up his 27 point opening
night with 22, plus 10 boards, shooting 5-8 on 2's, 3-5 on 3's, 3-5 on FTs, and
guarding Aaron White well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam Woodbury
shot 5-10, scoring 10, and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jarrod Uthoff scored 12 on 5-8 shooting, 2-2
from the line, and grabbed 9 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Josh Oglesby shot 6-9, all 3's, and 2-5 on ft's, to score 20, but also
had twice as many assists as any player on either team, with 6. Josh’s defense,
occasionally guarding May, was pretty good. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Woodbury, after not scoring opening night, was effective in
the low post, fouled less, and except for missing all his free throws, was very
solid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adam continues to impress with
his eagerness and passing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Uthoff was efficient offensively, as his box score shows,
and can play three positions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McCabe is a
rock, very strong and determined, and a very versatile offensive player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oglesby's 6 3's included several from NBA
range and weren't all wide-open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chance
Miller, the senior-to-be combo guard from Iowa Mennonite High School played and
shot well, scoring 11. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aaron White for the defeated Culver's/Iowa City Ready Mix
team also played well, getting to the line 13 times, making 11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White scored 22, shooting 4-9 on 2's, 1-3 on
threes, and grabbing 7 rebounds, tied for second on his team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May shot 7-14 on 2's, 0-5 on 3's, and 3-6 on FTs
for a total of 17 pts, and led his team in rebounds with 9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May and White each had 3 assists, tied for
high on their team. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemmons made 4 out
of 5 2's, 1-4 of his 3's, and scored 11 to go with 1 assist and 6 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemmons is an athletic and aggressive
defender; not as accomplished yet on offense but is clearly a Big Ten player on
defense already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Culver's team
benefited from a strong game from William Penn player Keith Steffeck who scored
20 and grabbed 7 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was 8-12
from the field, including 3 threes. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second game of the afternoon featured the Mike
Gesell/Melsahn Basabe/Jarryd Cole/Kyle Meyer group vs. Devyn Marble/Ali Farokhmanesh/Gabe
Olaseni.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sponsored by Realtor Jill
Armstrong and coached by Dan Ahrens, Gesell's team trailed most of the way
before pulling away in the last 8 minutes to win 104-98.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gesell handed out 9 assists, grabbed 5
rebounds, and scored 14, shooting 4-9 on 2's, 2-3 on 3's (making him 7-9 in 2 games),
and in general was very impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gesell
got a bit tired at the end, but he played almost the whole game. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Basabe scored 29 including 11-15 from the line, where his
stroke looked better, and 9-18 on 2's and 0-3 on 3's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Basabe </span>is playing hard, grabbed 14 rebounds to
lead everybody and help his team to a dominating 59-27 edge, and when he gets
the ball facing the basket, he is almost unstoppable without a
double-team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jarryd Cole scored 32, and
was even more efficient, shooting 8-8 from the line, and 12-17 from the field,
with no threes attempted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had 11
rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kyle Meyer is stuck behind
these 2 fabulous big men and while he played most of the game, only attempted 2
shots, making them both, and got 7 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Darius Stokes looked excellent on defense, and had 7 rebounds as well,
in pretty limited minutes. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the LL Pelling/McCurry's team, led by Devyn Marble's 34
points, it was just a case of not being big enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coach Kevin Lehman (longtime UNI assistant
and former UNO head coach) always has his team playing together and moving the
ball, but the rebounding deficit was too much to overcome last night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ali Farokhmanesh had a rare off shooting
night, going 2-7 on 3's, and even missing half of his 4 free throws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gabe Olaseni continues to impress with his
developing offensive ability and his defense is ready for the Big Ten now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olaseni scored 9 points, but of course he's
going up against very good match-ups. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Devyn may have to develop his rebounding ability if he is
going to be a 3 next year, as he only pulled down 4, to go with 1 assist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was efficient offensively, shooting 8-12
on 2's, 4-7 on 3's, and 6-8 on free throws.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another packed house, another night of great effort by every
current and incoming Hawk, and both games were close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard that Fran McCaffery got a full report
from his brother who was in attendance, and who was very impressed with the
crowd and the level of play.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remember, the Iowa and UNI women play in the
Game Time league on Wednesday nights, at 6 and 7:30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See all details at </span><a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">www.primetimeleague.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>Randy Larsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00004340982413664367noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-1770684314927747062012-06-24T12:08:00.000-05:002012-06-25T21:39:39.742-05:00TRS Sports: Prime Time BBall League-Preview/Game 1 Recap (By League Commissioner Randy M. Larsen)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As </span><a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prime Time</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> heads into its' 26th
season, the interest has been tremendous from Iowa fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The confidence and excitement in what Fran
McCaffery is doing, the talent of the returning players, and the potential of
the best recruiting class since George Raveling handed over to Tom Davis's
expert handling the players that led to Dr. Tom's team being ranked #1 in the
country, all make this summer the most anticipated ever.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first
games were on Tuesday, June 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
was no delay in getting to the big story-line of the summer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are Mike Gesell and Adam Woodbury ready for
Prime Time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can these 2
Top-50-in-the-nation recruits earn significant playing time for the Hawks right
away, despite the considerable returning talent represented by Devyn Marble,
Aaron White, Zack McCabe, Melsahn Besabe, Josh Oglesby, Eric May and Gabe
Olaseni?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mike
Gesell answered with a resounding yes, scoring 27 points on 5-6 shooting on
3's, 9-19 overall, 4-6 from the line, handing out 5 assists to lead his Jill
Armstrong of Skogman Realty team, and grabbing 6 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gesell showed athleticism, unselfishness,
defensive intensity and quickness, and a calmness belying his age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gesell was guarded by the wonderfully
athletic blur named Andre Murphy who wanted to walk-on for the Hawks 2 years
ago before off-the-court trouble sidelined him and Gesell handled himself
beautifully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One game isn't enough to
say for sure, but at this point, it looks like those who predict Fran McCaffery
will hand the ball to Gesell day one as his starting point guard, allowing
Marble to play 2 or 3, look correct. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Adam
Woodbury also played very well, with lesser numbers, but impressing
knowledgeable observers by how he threw himself on loose balls, passed the ball
out of the post, and with his defensive intensity and rebounding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He started in a front-line also featuring
Zach McCabe and Jarrod Uthoff, and he showed he is that rarest of big men; a
7-footer who plays with intensity, spirit and with a good understanding and
feel for the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He only took 5 shots,
hitting McCabe for many of his 10 3's on passes back out, of which Zach made 7,
and he grabbed 8 rebounds, to go with his 3 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blocked shots aren't on our stat sheet, but
he affected or blocked several shots, and while he got in foul trouble which
limited his minutes a bit, the man he guarded, Jarryd Cole, mostly had to score
from 18 feet, instead of in the paint. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
other 2 incoming freshmen that are on-campus this summer, Kyle Meyer and
Anthony Clemmons, are less well-known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Meyer only played a few minutes as he overcomes some lingering
tendinitis but Clemmons had a major impact on his Prime Time team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He guarded Ali <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Farokhmanesh</span></span>, the European
pro from Iowa City West and UNI, now playing in Austria, and did a tremendous
job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He displayed quickness, strength
and determination, holding Ali to 5-14 shooting, including 2-8 from 3, and 13
points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemmons did not make any of his
4 3 point attempts, but did go 3-4 on 2's in the second half, ending up 3-7 on
2's, 0-4 on 3's and 0-1 on ft's, for 6 points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clemmons team lost a very competitive game, 97-94.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clemmons showed he can play both guard
positions, certainly so on defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Coach McCaffery has added a very important component in his master plan
with Clemmons because he adds defensive ability at both guard spots, as well as
depth and athleticism. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
other big recruiting excitement is about transfer Jarrod Uthoff, who came home
from Wisconsin, determined to find a better fit in playing style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite not being allowed to hear one word
from the coaching staff at Iowa, he believed he will be welcomed at Iowa and
has made the leap to join the surging Hawks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because I coached him in Prime Time after his junior year in high school
and had stayed in constant contact with him and loved his feel for the game and
unselfishness, as well as his skills inside and out the year before being named
the High School Player of the Year in Iowa, I selected him with the # 1 pick in
the draft, despite my belief that Aaron White, Devyn Marble and Zach McCabe had
all demonstrated more in college. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was
clear on opening night that Jarrod felt the effect of the spotlight, as he
hesitated in shot-selection at times, shooting 0-5 on 3's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he battled hard, threw himself on loose
balls, and shot 6-10 on 2's, 1-2 on ft's, and scored 13, to go along with a
team-high 13 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked his
defense and he is very fundamentally sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To get 13 rebounds on a frontline including Woodbury and McCabe was
impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he does need to get
stronger, he is a very versatile offensive player and one of the most
conscientious players I've coached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
might be the best Hawkeye in making post moves, is an outstanding 3-point
shooter, and can handle the ball well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After a year learning from Coach Ryan, and with the maturity to
understand that he'd improve more from a year under Coach McCaffery than he
might playing junior college ball, Jarrod Uthoff is an outstanding and exciting
addition to Iowa's talent. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 2nd
biggest storyline is about the competition amongst the players for playing time
next year, something McCaffery has said from the beginning is the biggest
advantage of the talent he's recruited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In practice next fall, the talent at center and power-forward from
White, Besabe, Olaseni, McCabe, Uthoff and Woodbury will create some great
competition, and it's starting right now. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Looking
at how they did on the first Prime Time night, we start with Aaron White, who
went 15-21 on 2's, many of them dunks, 1-4 on 3's and </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">7</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">-10 on
ft's for 40 points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White led his
Culver's/Iowa City Ready Mix team with 16 rebounds, and benefited from
favorable matchups against the other team's frontline, which consisted of Gabe
Olaseni, Tucker Wentzien from Upper Iowa and Kyle Schlaak, who is a
Hall-of-Famer from Winona State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White
ran the floor very hard, and passed well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They trailed by 13 at half and rallied in the second half to almost win.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White showed he is an accomplished Big Ten
player and probably wound have been the first pick of the Prime Time draft by
most coaches. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zach
McCabe was equally impressive, considering he was matching up with Besabe and
Cole, and his numbers were terrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
shot 7-10 on 3's including 5-6 in the first half, as his Vinton Merchants/Mike
Gatens Real Estate team roared out to a 27 point lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McCabe finished up 4-7 on 2's, 7-10 on 3's
for 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping his team to a 50-37 edge on the
boards.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Eric
May played and shot well, going 9-13 on 2's, 1-3 on 3's, scoring </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">21
points, and had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>May looked physically fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Devyn
Marble has a Tuesday night class, (which is why the only other Tuesday night
game, the championship, will be held at 9 pm), and got to the game at halftime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shot 5-10 from 2, 1-3 on 3's, 2-2 on ft's,
scoring 15, had 2 rebounds and 1 assist. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Melsahn
Basabe put up 18 points for the team with Gesell and Cole, shooting 8-14 on 2's
and 2-4 on ft's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basabe grabbed 7 boards
but had no assists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basabe was slow to
get out to McCabe at times. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gabe
Olaseni was very impressive to the fans who hadn't seen his progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He's improving rapidly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He shot 4-8 on 2's, 1-2 on ft's, and grabbed
6 rebounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought his low-post moves
were good and he is a defensive presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Olesani is not yet fundamentally sound, but his enthusiasm and live body
are obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time in my
memory (30 years) the Hawks have more than enough good big men. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a
footnote, Jarryd Cole played terrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He's gotten a job playing in the south of France, after playing in
Iceland last year and next summer is marrying Trisha Nesbitt, the tremendously
attractive point guard for the Iowa women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Look on YouTube for his wedding proposal. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">P</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">rime
Time's games are the 5 Sundays at 3 and 4:30 at the North Liberty Rec Center,
at the corner of Cherry Street and Hwy 965 in North Liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can find information at <a href="http://www.primetimeleague.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.primetimeleague.com</span></a>. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All
games are free and the gym is air-conditioned, but space is limited and the
first night was packed so get there early! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Game Time, the NCAA-approved
summer league for college women plays on Wednesdays and some Mondays in the
same location, with games at 6 and 7:30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next game is Wednesday, June 27.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are 9 Iowa women playing and 12 UNI players, as well as others
from Creighton, Bradley and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>4 of
Iowa's 5 incoming freshmen are playing, including the athletic swing player
Kali Peschel from Minnesota who looks ready to play immediately.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-35349569948555941632012-06-22T08:15:00.000-05:002012-06-22T17:57:05.642-05:00That's Obama: The Karaoke Version<em>When unemployment's sky high and a job you can't buy, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>When the stock market tanks even while the Fed cranks, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>When jewelry's cheaper than gas and Keystone won't pass, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>While he shoots a round on the pavement you pound, that's Obama.</em><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RzZQbV9JxMcFEYdzKyFCegPpblmBWUe7Fuw5PiPB6CcNAAvoSU24ibiDFJY_bOl2J5-s2j3cYIIXMf2AHx61rIq_fhDH0V3DZobhNxnNJxy38BQntkPPKhak9zqyjtaFstJi/s1600/obama_dancing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RzZQbV9JxMcFEYdzKyFCegPpblmBWUe7Fuw5PiPB6CcNAAvoSU24ibiDFJY_bOl2J5-s2j3cYIIXMf2AHx61rIq_fhDH0V3DZobhNxnNJxy38BQntkPPKhak9zqyjtaFstJi/s320/obama_dancing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<em>When insurance is lost or you pay twice the cost, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>When Big Labor is king and Arabs miss spring, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>He tells you "speak nice" while he sticks in the knife, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>When he parties' with stars but you can't pay for your cars, that's Obama.</em><br />
<br />
<em>When Russians laugh in our face and Syrians killing a pace, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>When machine guns get lost on the border they crossed, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>When spy secrets are clear and the old press corps cheer, that's Obama.</em><br />
<em>And most of all, when its all Bush's fault, that's Obama.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Yes it's all Bush's fault and that's O-baaaaaa-ma!</em><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-8844157764830791572012-06-22T07:06:00.001-05:002012-06-22T07:11:35.853-05:00Real Sports: Prime Time League Game 1 Hawk Highlights<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some quality video of opening night of Randy Larsen's great summer basketball league, now in North Liberty. The Prime Time League has offered current and future Hawkeye's a chance to polish their games for twenty-five years.
We have Game 1 Hawk high lights. Great stuff. The future looks good again in Carver Hawkeye and the larger Hawkeye Nation.</span>
<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?height=360&deepLinkEmbedCode=VvOHI2NTq8usl4kHyg04y4fxzE1qXXrR&embedCode=VvOHI2NTq8usl4kHyg04y4fxzE1qXXrR&video_pcode=A4cHE6JQ_qhd2K2c2rc9e1M6u_py&width=640">
</script></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-18989350060048661632012-06-21T21:53:00.003-05:002012-06-21T21:53:49.360-05:00Don't Be A Donkey: Classic video of The Most Arrogant Man In The World!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another great video worth cross posting: H/T</span> <em><a href="http://dontbeadonkey.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't Be Donkey</span></a></em>.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Aqxl9qiFonc" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
"<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He chose Joe Biden for Vice President just to show he doesn't need one", now that is a classic.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-56375913883447973532012-06-20T21:20:00.000-05:002012-06-20T21:20:01.374-05:00Daniel Hannan: Great Warning for American Conservatives For those unfamiliar with his follicly challenged pate, Daniel Hannan is a great conservative member of the EU Parliament. Yesterday on FNC's Neil Cavuto Mr. Hannan gave a great warning and message for the forces of Republican reform.<br />
<br />
When <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/1695751272001/france-poised-to-tax--spend-as-socialist-party-wins-big" target="_blank">conservatives become corporatists, the people become socialists</a>. It could not be said better.<br />
<br />
<script src="http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=1695751272001&w=466&h=263" type="text/javascript">
</script><noscript>Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a></noscript>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30015942.post-64786392644514854442012-06-18T08:27:00.003-05:002012-06-18T09:11:20.221-05:00RPI Convention: not a party.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Iowa Republican Party held its biennial State Convention Saturday. The boys over at the Iowa Republican provided detailed, albeit somewhat establishment tilted coverage. The reader who is interested in the timeline of confusion, conflict and cowardice can pick up coverage </span><a href="http://theiowarepublican.com/2012/live-blog-iowa-gop-state-convention/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://theiowarepublican.com/2012/republican-state-convention-losers/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Needless to say the Convention unwound as conventions usually unwind, abundant fighting (primarily over who gets the cool vacation to Tampa; a worthy prize because the National Conventions are a blast for political junkies), bitter recriminations on all sides, and the establishment(s) still as established as ever.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The divisions in RPI are ultimately about the only thing that ultimately matters in politics-from antiquity to now-power. Without power political events are at best rallies at which the troops are inspired and morale developed and at worst, blather fests, without the trophies, rules and civility of actual debate tournaments. Iowa conventions are mostly the later.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no one establishment but rather three in Iowa, one of which, the Tea Party/Paul small government group is quite new. Not every member of the TPP is new to Iowa politics. The TPP veterans carry the personal grievances of past battles, of course. Such grievances are being amplified by the other two subsets of the Iowa GOP. The leadership of this group have no real desire to share power with the other two clans because such power sharing means that party reform will stall, and with it actual governing reform will whither and die.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second group, the organized Christian right, best illustrated by the IFPC and its leadership in Chuck Hurley and Bob VanderPlaats, similarly want their agenda implemented. The IFPC group has no particular interest in sharing power with TPP clan because it dilutes the IFPC ability to control delegates, etc... However, the TPP and IFPC clan share one important attribute, or perhaps deficiency: they lack to wiles to outwit the Establishment they are fighting to overthrow, and have, in many ways become an Establishment to themselves. The IFPC clan politically turn the other cheek when slapped down by political rivals. And their opponents give the IFPC clan plenty of opportunities to turn that cheek.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Neither of the first two clans has the power to implement an agenda, either within the Party or among the elected governing Republicans. That brass ring goes to the Clan of the Cave Bear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number three on your roster but number 1 on the totem pole-"the Establishment". The money people, who rarely attend conventions or interact with the rabble who convene, the big predators, top of the food chain. These are the people to whom the platform does not matter and they don't mind so saying. The Republican "establishment" are sustained by party loyalists who simply follow the leader (next in line) or feel akin to the liberal Republicans who still view government as instrument of public welfare, channeled through their particular industries and employers of course. The common theme of the establishment are donors who want something from government and beneficiaries that are willing to give that something. These are not evil people, they just have an agenda and belief structure very different from the TPP and the IFPC clans. The Establishment has money, guile, and tradition in their corner. That's three powerful assets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Establishment clan controls most of the money and most of the real governing power. Theirs is the more timid agenda, superior in almost every way to Democrat governance to be sure, but certainly nothing like the aggressive change that the TPP and the IFPC clans advocate. Moreover, this agenda of growing and more powerful government, like the Democrats, has become increasingly irreconcilable with the aims of the other two clans. As a result, unity is cast aside while the internal civil war rages on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, was the Convention a party, like Hawk fans getting together to watch the Orange Bowl beat down of Georgia Tech? Did everyone have a good time? Nope. People left angry and more divided than ever. Old enimities were hardened and new ones created. The people who run each clan are still running them. The legislative delegation, much less the Governor's office, still has no reason to care what the average Republican thinks about government, and the average Republican is still afraid to voice their beliefs for fear those beliefs will not be echoed by our leadership and they will miss their own cut of the pie-like Oliver Twist asking for just a little more porridge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Until one of these clans can drive a unifying message (which is not chanting the mantra of "party loyalty) we will see increasingly ugly primaries and party conventions. Its the nature of politics-there can be only one ideology in charge at a time.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4