Nov 09

Three seasons in one weekend

Posted on Friday, November 9, 2012, at 3:35 PM by Jeff

Well, this is, uh, weird. Also, Iowa.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Three seasons in one weekend
Nov 08

How Iowa’s congressmen have exited

Posted on Thursday, November 8, 2012, at 12:40 PM by Jeff


Iowa’s House districts, 1942-60. Compare to the present-day map I put in the Election Day post.

The reduction (again) of Iowa’s congressional districts created a race between incumbents in the new 3rd, which is one of the very few times they leave. Iowans love their incumbents. If you’re asking why Iowa has never elected a woman to Congress, this is a huge part of it. We don’t get new seats every decade like Arizona or Florida.

Since and including 1988, there have been 66 total races for U.S. House seats in Iowa. FIVE were open seats, all caused by the incumbent running for Senate or governor. The winners of those elections — Jim Nussle, Tom Latham, Leonard Boswell, Steve King, and Bruce Braley — themselves went on to win repeated terms. Here’s a rundown, going even farther back:

  • 2012: Leonard Boswell (D) lost incumbent-vs-incumbent by redistricting
  • 2006: Jim Leach (R) lost in national landslide for Democrats
  • 2006: Jim Nussle (R) ran for governor and lost
  • 2002: Greg Ganske (R) ran for Senate and lost
  • 1996: Jim Lightfoot (R) ran for Senate and lost
  • 1994: Neal Smith (D) lost in national landslide for Republicans
  • 1994: Fred Grandy (R) ran for governor and lost in the primary
  • 1992: Jim Nagle (D) lost incumbent-vs-incumbent by redistricting
  • 1990: Tom Tauke (R) ran for Senate and lost
  • 1986: T. Cooper Evans (R) declined to run
  • 1986: Berkley Bedell (D) declined to run
  • 1984: Tom Harkin (R) ran for Senate and won
  • 1980: Chuck Grassley (R) ran for Senate and won
  • 1978: Mike Blouin (D) lost to Tauke
  • 1976: Ed Mezvinsky (D) lost to Leach

We have to go back to 1986 to find an open race that was not caused by the incumbent seeking higher office, and 1978 to find an incumbent losing his district to someone new in a non-“wave” election — but even then, the Democrats lost 15 seats that year. (BTW, those post-1980 Senate races? Harkin 4, Republicans 0.)

Four of six Iowa U.S. House seats changed hands in 1974: two Republicans suffering the consequences of Watergate, one Republican retirement, and one Democrat running for Senate. This is when Grassley and Harkin were elected to the House. There has never been that much simultaneous turnover in Iowa since.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on How Iowa’s congressmen have exited
Nov 08

ISU fans benefit from Longhorn Network

Posted on Thursday, November 8, 2012, at 11:05 AM by Jeff


Longhorn Network-branded camera equipment at the Erwin Center in Austin, January 24, 2012. Photo has been lightened.

The Iowa State at Texas game was picked for the nearly-mythical Longhorn Network a while ago, probably as the least-desired conference home game on Texas’ schedule. (Or maybe because after ISU’s win in 2010, Texas didn’t want anyone to see it.)

While nearly no one in Texas will be able to watch this game, Iowans will be able to see it for free on ABC stations. This is certainly an odd turn of events. Will the graphics be LHN’s or ESPN’s? We’ll find out.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous, Sports | Comments Off on ISU fans benefit from Longhorn Network
Nov 06

Election Day

Posted on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, at 1:15 AM by Jeff

Iowa officially loses a U.S. House seat today, now on a peer level with Arkansas and Utah. This is technically the fifth set of Iowa U.S. House districts in my lifetime. Also, we are now as far from the 2000 election as 2000 is from 1988.

UPDATE: A presidential election is always a big reminder of the passage of time, isn’t it? Suddenly your stuff seems that much older.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Election Day
Nov 05

Death, taxes, and Iowa State losing to Oklahoma

Posted on Monday, November 5, 2012, at 2:09 PM by Jeff

Oklahoma’s 70th win in the Iowa State series Saturday is another notch for the Sooners, but it’s not the highest total for either team. Oklahoma has beaten Oklahoma State more times (82 through 2011), and Iowa State has lost to Nebraska more times (86 according to the NCAA, 85 according to ISU).

In fact, 70 wins over one opponent barely makes the top 15 in raw wins. The difference between OU-ISU and the many above it is that the underdog has been able to pull out more wins along the way. For example, through 2011 Tennessee has beaten Kentucky 74 times and Vanderbilt 73, but both losers have about two dozen wins to their credit.

The top five raw win totals, based on numbers from mcubed.net: Nebraska>Kansas (91), Nebraska>Iowa State (“86”), Oklahoma>Oklahoma State (82), Alabama>Mississippi State (77), Texas>Texas A&M (76)*.

*There are some bowl projections with a meeting in the 2013 Cotton Bowl, in which case the entire state of Texas will spontaneously combust.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Death, taxes, and Iowa State losing to Oklahoma
Nov 01

Two longtime Iowa TV personalities leaving

Posted on Thursday, November 1, 2012, at 10:51 AM by Jeff

WHO’s John Bachman is leaving at the end of November and KCRG’s John Campbell is retiring Dec. 14.

Posted in Iowa Miscellaneous | Comments Off on Two longtime Iowa TV personalities leaving
Oct 31

Stewart Mandel scares ISU fans for Halloween

Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at 6:13 PM by Jeff

AAAAAAHHHHHH!

I’ll say the same thing I said a few weeks ago: Somebody is going to hire Iowa State’s Paul Rhoads and look very smart for doing it. Why not Auburn, where Rhoads worked for one (albeit disastrous) season as defensive coordinator in 2008?

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on Stewart Mandel scares ISU fans for Halloween
Oct 31

A longstanding error corrected

Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at 1:33 PM by Jeff

A decade ago, when I was making a new map for Wapsie Valley for a directions booklet, I erred in the directions from Traer. I wrote “US 20 W” instead of “E”. While a minor thing, I feel it’s only right to fess up to such a long oversight.

I had occasion to revisit the issue because North Tama plays at Wapsie Valley Friday. The school isn’t at Fairbank, but at the intersection of county roads V56 and C50 southeast of Readlyn. (In addition, I reversed the order of direction alternatives on the page. There’s little need to take US 63 through Waterloo when US 20 and V49 are much faster.)

The entire booklet, detailing locations of dozens of schools in eastern and central Iowa, can be downloaded here.

Posted in Maps | Comments Off on A longstanding error corrected
Oct 30

Dateline check

Posted on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, at 1:03 PM by Jeff

KCRG has the lead wrong but the writeup right:

TAMA, Iowa – Jacob Wrage completed 13 of 19 passes for 240 yards and four touchdowns as the Redhawks moved on to the A quarterfinals with a win at Traer.

(Mostly unrelated note: South Tama is still alive in the 3A playoffs.)

Marshalltown article about NT-Starmont here. This is the first time the two teams ever played. The Starmont school is centralized in the district at the intersection infernal roundabout of IA 3 and IA 187.

Posted in Sports, Tama County | Comments Off on Dateline check
Oct 29

The impossible dream

Posted on Monday, October 29, 2012, at 11:51 AM by Jeff

They are the yin and yang of college football. One is in the top 10 of BCS teams for all-time wins, the other in the bottom 10 for all-time losses. From before the Great Depression until the mid-1990s, they played every year, and now they are again.

Iowa State has beaten Oklahoma five times out of 76 attempts — the most lopsided 50-game-plus series in Division I-A. The Cyclones’ record in the past half-century is 1-40-1.

Oklahoma’s historical record means its fanbase sincerely asks questions like “Would you consider 11-2 to be a failure this season?” and says “The season is lost” after losing to two teams in the BCS top five.

Iowa State’s history of futility is too big for a blog post, so I wrote a much longer piece here, picking out a handful of games that were notable points in the series.

Paul Rhoads has done many things as Iowa State’s coach, but beating Oklahoma is not one of them — yet.

Bring on the windmill.

UPDATE: It already wasn’t likely to happen, but Jake Knott being out for the season doesn’t help matters any.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off on The impossible dream