Swinging For the Love Of The Game

A common phrase that is used a lot is “numbers never lie.” Sports and media critics uttered that line a lot during The Masters Tournament in April. The ratings were down significantly for The Masters due to Tiger Woods not participating in the tournament, due to an injury and surgery. It’s not surprising a majority of sports…

What Is The Hype?

On Wednesday, Whole Foods, a popular national organic natural food grocery store chain, announced that they are opening their first Iowa store in West Des Moines.  Similar to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods is a niche grocery chain that is popular everywhere else. But in order to visit those stores, many from the Des Moines metro area have to…

A Letter to the Mayor of Waterloo

Dear Mayor Buck Clark, Over the last several days, I have watched with intrigue the controversy over the Waterloo t-shirts that were printed by RAYGUN (all in capital letters) and their owner Mike Draper.  I will disclose that I know most of the staff that works for RAYGUN and they are respectable and fun-loving individuals…

There are other reasons than a “Brain Drain”

Pete Jones, the “brains” behind the locally celebrated popular blog, “Des Moines is Not Boring,” wanted to pull his hair out.  He was interviewed by Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa on Monday about a term that is starting to wear thin on him and on me as well: “Brain Drain.” That term is no…

The Crown Jewel of the East Side

The headline on the sports page of the Waterloo Courier says East Waterloo won the Class 3-A state title on March 17, 1990.  That was the formality.  But when you ask anyone from Waterloo or who played on that team about what it meant 20 years ago today to win the title, it has a…