August 21, 2005: SC 121 at I-26 between Columbia and the I-385 junction. This is just inside Sumter National Forest.
South Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, and Massachusetts could all pool together to buy sign blanks (square/rectangle with the state name on top, except MA).
A day late and a dollar short, but these popped up after my roundup Monday.
State Spotlight: Tournament a grand thing for North Tama’s Kladivo (Des Moines Register) — This ran Tuesday alongside the story of the loss. It’s also a reflection of Iowa’s proud history of high school girls’ basketball.
North Tama’s maiden state voyage run aground by Warhawks (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
Fehr gives North Tama her fighting best for state (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
In addition, ESPN wrote about Bill Fennelly and his Hilton Magic. (caution: autoplay video)
October 6, 2006: IA 9 is the halfway point between Minneapolis and Des Moines on I-35. It takes about five hours to travel between the two.
Today, the Iowa State women play Kansas State for the 77th time. The Wildcats “leap” over Nebraska to become the Cyclones’ most-played opponent. In addition, this is the first time ISU has ever played on Leap Day.
Also today, the Iowa State men play Missouri for the 233rd time. The third game in ISU basketball history, period, was played in Columbia, on Jan. 9, 1909. They lost 53-14. In the early years of basketball, Iowa State played many doubleheaders against Missouri and Nebraska, up to four games a season.
Contrary to the Kansas-Missouri buzz, just like football before it, Iowa State’s loss of not just one but TWO century-plus series mean squat to the rest of the athletics world. As noted above, Iowa State has played Missouri and Nebraska in basketball for the entire existence of the program. If this had been happening to an East Coast school, we would have been reminded each game. (Bitter? Me?)
Here’s the update to table I ran in November, adjusted for the 2011-12 season. Presumed meetings with Kansas State for both men and women in the postseason are not included in this writing but may be reflected in the table later.
| Football (1892-2020) | Men's BB (1907-2015) | Women's BB (1973-2015) |
|---|---|---|
| 105 Nebraska | 252 Kansas | 97 Kansas State |
| 104 Missouri | 235 Missouri | 92 Kansas |
| 104 Kansas State | 234 Nebraska | 76 Nebraska |
| 100 Kansas | 233 Kansas State | 74 Missouri |
| 85 Oklahoma | 211 Oklahoma | 70 Oklahoma |
Barring a meeting in the Big 12 Tournament, Missouri will end one game behind Nebraska on the all-time opponent list. Kansas will reach the top as the most-played opponent in two years barring Conferencepocalypse III.
Today would have been Gleneva Hansen’s “25th” birthday.
UPDATE: The men lost after leading at halftime and a good portion of the game. Iowa State is now 2-4 on Leap Day and 1-2 when playing Missouri on Leap Day.
August 7, 2005: Charleston, West Virginia, on US 60 near the south end of I-79. US 60 still runs right by the state capitol building.
September 17, 2007: West side of Le Mars. US 75 keeps its pre-1984 mile numbering (from Council Bluffs) all the way through the new end of its freeway/expressway alignment, at which point it exits from itself. This is only about 30 miles into the state.
Soon after these signs were put up, the city complained that “Le Mars” wasn’t on them. “Next 3 Exits” wasn’t good enough, apparently.
The North Tama girls on the state’s biggest stage
Turnovers and cold fourth-quarter shooting ended the best season in North Tama girls’ basketball history Monday with a 47-35 loss to North Mahaska. The Redhawks finished 21-5, and this was the only loss to another 1A team.
The game was closer than the final score. The Redhawks had two leads, 2-0 and 20-19, and came within one a couple of times.
Redhawks right in it until late drought (Cedar Rapids Gazette) (w/photo gallery, video)
North Mahaska eliminates North Tama (Waterloo Courier)
North Mahaska rounds out 1-A semifinal field (Des Moines Register)
North Tama girls fall short to #1 North Mahaska (KWWL)
Quoth WHO’s Chris Hassel on Twitter: “North Tama forced to foul because North Mahaska is up 6 and attempting to run out final FOUR minutes of clock. Absolutely brutal.” The problem was, NT didn’t start doing that until there was a minute and a half left.
Although I strongly dislike fouling purely to stop the clock/force free throws, when there’s no shot clock, you have to do something.
So far, the 2010s have brought unprecedented success for North Tama athletics. Congratulations to the girls for adding another banner to the wall.
PS to the scoreboard operators: PLEASE LEAVE THE FINAL SCORE UP AFTER THE GAME. Don’t delete it 10 seconds after the clock strikes zero. Some people (cough) would like to take pictures of the final score before or during the postgame presentation. There’s 20 minutes until the next one, plenty of time to zero everything out.
The North Tama girls’ basketball team plays North Mahaska in the first game of the evening session and last in the 1A quarterfinals. NT is an unranked 8-seed (21-4) and NM is undefeated (25-0). The Des Moines Register notes this is the first year the brackets were seeded after the qualifiers were determined.
Banner Days for North Tama girls’ basketball (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
North Tama point guard forced to lead from the sideline (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
Super sophs step up for Redhawks (Marshalltown Times-Republican)
North Tama, North Butler girls prepare for state girls’ BB tourney (Waterloo Courier)
Monday game preview (Cedar Rapids Gazette) (Note: The Gazette considers NT in the area but NM not.)
Among state qualifiers, North Tama players lead in scoring, rebounds, and assists. (And we’re starting a 5’2″ sophomore! Not going to see that at Ankeny.)
On a side note, North Tama is 1-1 against North Mahaska all-time in the first round of football playoffs (2003, 2008).
Go Redhawks!
September 13, 2011: Leaving-town sign on US 69 at Davis City that does double duty at the junction of J66. This is right by the Davis City post office, one of scores across the state threatened with closure.
August 2002: One of many wrong-way multiplexes in Massachusetts. This particular picture helped me retrace a winding route through the state on a day that resulted in traveling much later than anticipated, ducking in and out of Vermont.
Not only is this location pinpointable in Google, in 2009, the shields were still the same rectangle-and-square arrangement.
