Author Archives: Jeff

Mar 13

Periods. Do. Not. Go. In. Phone. Numbers.

Posted on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, at 11:39 AM by Jeff

Attention Iowa Legislature: Please stop doing that. The proper style is with dashes, and preferably parentheses for area codes, no matter how many advertisements appear otherwise. Periods aren’t supposed to be used for dates, either, USA Today redesign notwithstanding. It is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Periods. Do. Not. Go. In. Phone. Numbers.
Mar 12

Somehow, this makes it worse

Posted on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, at 10:28 AM by Jeff

The NCAA/CBS “75 Years of March Madness: Top 10 upsets” list contains four of the six times a 15 seed beat a 2 seed. Hampton over Iowa State didn’t make the list. Neither did Coppin State over South Carolina. (The … Continue reading →

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Somehow, this makes it worse
Mar 11

2012 RAGBRAI map out

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2013, at 12:46 PM by Jeff

Available as a PDF from the Register’s web site. Historical route notes based on my research: This will be RAGBRAI’s first visit to West Des Moines. The closest it has been was 2004, when the overnight town was Waukee and riders … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous, Maps | Comments Off on 2012 RAGBRAI map out
Mar 09

Whataburger trolls 40% of the Big 12

Posted on Saturday, March 9, 2013, at 2:37 PM by Jeff

The “Big 12 Network” broadcasts of games often include ads for the Whataburger fast-food chain. This includes Iowa State-West Virginia, whose fans are literally hundreds of miles away from the nearest location. The northernmost Whataburger in the country is near … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography | Comments Off on Whataburger trolls 40% of the Big 12
Mar 08

North Tama places fourth at state basketball tournament

Posted on Friday, March 8, 2013, at 6:03 PM by Jeff

The North Tama Redhawks went up against two experienced boys’ state tournament squads in two days and the results of both were similar. Around the middle of each game, the turnovers and missed shots piled up and NT suffered crushing … Continue reading →

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Mar 08

Boyden-Hull 77, North Tama 52

Posted on Friday, March 8, 2013, at 12:47 AM by Jeff

KWWL.com Video from KWWL. Story from KCRG. More links later.

Posted in Sports, Tama County | Comments Off on Boyden-Hull 77, North Tama 52
Mar 06

State semifinals: Remembering Dinsdale, Part 2

Posted on Wednesday, March 6, 2013, at 1:40 PM by Jeff

Two years after losing in the semifinals of the 1950 boys’ state basketball tournament and finishing in fourth place, the Dinsdale Red Devils of Tama County made a return trip to the Iowa Fieldhouse. Once again, Dinsdale was the smallest … Continue reading →

Posted in Sports, Tama County | Comments Off on State semifinals: Remembering Dinsdale, Part 2
Mar 05

State semifinals: Remembering Dinsdale, Part 1

Posted on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, at 3:20 PM by Jeff

While 2013 is the first appearance of the consolidated North Tama County Community School District in the state boys’ basketball tournament, more than 60 years ago tiny Dinsdale almost lived its own version of the Hoosiers story twice. In Iowa … Continue reading →

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Mar 04

North Tama 47, Ankeny Christian 45

Posted on Monday, March 4, 2013, at 9:14 PM by Jeff

North Tama overcame 10 first-half turnovers, a 10-point halftime deficit, and under 50 percent free-throw shooting to defeat Ankeny Christian Academy 47-45 Monday in the first round of the boys’ state basketball tournament. When the Redhawks’ Mitchell Boerm made the … Continue reading →

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Mar 04

‘The exact same measurements’

Posted on Monday, March 4, 2013, at 12:43 AM by Jeff

North Tama plays Ankeny Christian at 3:45. Related: Class 1A has smallest percentage of teams in state finals (Des Moines Register) (Yes, the movie clip is about the state final, but this is the NT boys’ first game at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Sports, Tama County | Comments Off on ‘The exact same measurements’