Extremely Average

Three

Alaska-Anchorage: Iowa Record (0–0)

The 1986 season saw a new captain at the helm of the Iowa Hawkeye’s ship. Dr. Tom Davis, who knew a thing or two about choosing a path that included education, came to Iowa from Stanford. Before his four years at Stanford, he had been the head coach at Boston College where he had led the Eagles to an Elite 8 appearance in the ’81 –’82 season. In college, Davis was the point guard at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.  After college, he had several coaching gigs before landing an assistant coaching position at the University of Maryland in 1967 under Frank Fellows. While he was assistant coach, Tom Davis completed his doctorate and earned the moniker Dr. Tom.

As a student of the game, Davis had developed a strategy of using a greater depth of his roster. He believed in teaching the young men to play hard, to keep moving, and to wear the other team out. His frequent substitutions and fast tempo made for an exciting brand of basketball. He was a great teacher, and Roy loved playing for him.

Dr. Tom earned Roy’s respect, and it wasn’t a layup either. His predecessor, George Raveling, had not only recruited Roy, he had brought in two other Michigan players, Bill Jones and B.J. Armstrong. Coach Raveling knew how to recruit and also won over Ed Horton, Kevin Gamble, Gerry Wright, and Les Jepsen. It was hard on Roy when Coach Raveling left, and there was even a moment when he considered following him to USC. But in the end, Iowa City had become his basketball home. Roy loved the town and the people, and the new coach was a good one.

That first night, so many miles from Iowa City, Roy saw the familiar Black and Gold in the stands. Did they come for the games, or did they live there? Hawkeye fans were everywhere. After long hours, hard work, and the music in his mind, his sophomore season was about to begin. Roy was ready. All the Hawks were as well.

On the hardwood floors, on any given night, the best team wins 100 percent of the time. The fun is finding out who will be the best team on any given night. The Iowa Hawkeyes, from the powerhouse Big Ten conference, would have been the easy team to pick. The Hawkeyes had a preseason ranking of number ten in the country. They would have been expected to win the first game of the Great Alaska Shootout. The fans sitting at the Sports Column, in Iowa City, would have been expecting them to win big.

This is the dilemma faced by every coach—to instill a sense of confidence without creating a feeling of cockiness. It is less difficult to motivate a team on their first game. The long practices, running, conditioning, and anticipation make the guys eager to finally start playing. Of course, the young men of the University of Alaska-Anchorage had been working just as hard, and this was their tournament. They also had four games under their belts and were 4–0.

The Sullivan Arena was packed with 4,369 fans, all excited to see the tournament get underway, and they weren’t disappointed. The record for scoring in a single game was matched, but not by a member of the highly touted Iowa squad. The line read 14 for 30 from the field, 6 for 7 from the line, for a total of 37 points, by number 21, Jessie Jackson of UAA.

The first half was an exciting one, and the Hawkeyes went into the break with a slim three-point lead. At 47–44, the UAA Seawolves were a single shot from tying up the game.  Inside the Sports Column more beers were being ordered while the crowd of coaches debated the play. There was excitement and nervousness. The optimists talked about the great plays of their opponent and gave credit to the men in Black and Gold for holding them off. The pessimists were writing off the whole season and quite sure that the apocalypse was at hand. This is the nature of being a fan.

Early in the second half, the Seawolves took the lead. The Hawkeyes stepped up their defense and held the UAA scoreless for 4 minutes.  Brad Lohaus, a seven-footer who shoots like a guard, scored 11 points in the second half, finishing with 15. Facing an opponent who was almost best, the Hawkeyes won as a team. They spread the points around and, when the clock ran down to zero, were ahead 91–81. Roy Marble had 18; BJ Armstrong added 16, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line; Horton had 12; and everyone played tough defense in stopping the Seawolves. That is how the best team won, but just barely. Still, when they went to sleep that night, Dr. Tom Davis’s players had a newfound respect for the Seawolves and their star, J.J. The folks at the Sports Column were satisfied with the outcome and celebrated with a rousing “In Heaven There Is No Beer.” Even the pessimists.

Day one ended with even more excitement: N.C State 69–Texas 66, Northeastern 88–Louisville 84 OT, and Utah State 81–Washington 72. And that is why it isn’t called the Average Alaska Shootout.

Two

1986

Anchorage is a long way from Flint, Michigan, he thought to himself, as he got off the charter plane. It would be nice to get the season started, but damn it was cold. The wind was brutal and stinging, but soon they were inside, and his mind turned back to the games to come.

Run D.M.C. was dominating the hip-hop scene and had crossed over to become the first group from this genre nominated for a Grammy Award. Their King of Rock album ran through Roy’s headphones and into the depth of his soul. Music lifted him up to places he was unaware even existed. The beat made it easy to push, to work, to reach for greatness.

The “Great Alaska Shootout” was an annual tournament in which the Hawkeyes would face three quality opponents, and it was an honor to be invited. The tournament was a great way to begin a season as long as you came away with two wins. Seven teams were always invited to the home of Alaska-Anchorage. It was a solid collection of talent, with the likes of Texas, NC State, Northeastern, Louisville, Utah State, Washington, and the University of Iowa, who would play the host team in the first game of the tournament.

The television was on in the room. Roy sat on the edge of the bed, checking out ESPN but mostly just pushing out the noise. He didn’t ever take for granted the opportunity that basketball had given him. A lifetime love affair with the game had taught him enough to be asked to represent the University of Iowa—as a player and as a person. The school would provide a place where he could further his education, both on and off the court, and as the highlights flashed across the screen, he thought about the off-court lessons.

Earning the right to play Division I sports was an accomplishment in and of itself.  When one arrived on campus, there were dozens of paths laid out before a young man or woman. There were new experiences and challenges every single day. Roy thought about all of the people he had met over the past year in Iowa City. When he first set foot on campus, it seemed that every day there were dozens of new people coming into his life. When you were in the new basketball class, people were naturally interested in getting to know you. They were friendly and engaging. They wanted to be in your circle, and as a young man out of Flint, it was a daily deluge of newness for Roy, which could make seeing the correct path a challenge.

Roy knew where he wanted the path to lead. It was a very exclusive community called the National Basketball Association, and he had dreamed of that day since he started to have people tell him he had “game.” What he had learned after a year in college was that there wasn’t just one path to the NBA. There were several, all with similar basketball requirements, but some with other challenges. Some athletes decided that everything unrelated to their sport was a distraction that wouldn’t help them achieve their goals. Roy saw things differently. He thought about the woman who showed him the value of using all that the University had to offer. She had sold him on the classes, the studying, and the logic of exercising his brain more than just for the game of basketball. The better you were at thinking, she said, the better you would be at thinking on the court.

A knock at the door and one of the coaches yelled, “Twenty minutes!” and moved on down the hall.

Lou Kelly didn’t win him over right away, however. She was his rhetoric professor, and Fred Mims had once told Roy, “Don’t come running to me complaining about Lou Kelly. If you don’t do what she says, you won’t play.” It was a powerful motivator, and she eventually won Roy over. She would demand that he work on his writing or speaking, and he would ask why? She would tell him, and he would shrug. No matter how many different arguments he threw up, she would swat them all into the bleachers. They had this same conversation many times, but like a relentless power forward, she kept driving her point home. Roy was powerless against her full-court press. He loved her for it.

It was a struggle between the comfort zone of what was known and the difficulty in reaching for something unfamiliar. Thousands of athletes across the country deal with this when they reach college for the first time. At home, they are big fish in little ponds.  They have their family, their friends, the comfort of their favorite places to hang out. But suddenly, in one day, it all seems to vanish. It can be hard, and those who succeed figure out how to choose their paths and push the uncomfortable feeling of the newness aside. They embrace the change, the newness, and the excitement of what lies ahead.

It wasn’t until he started to have success in the classroom and realized that he could be a winner there, too, that he came around to Lou Kelly’s way of thinking. The better he got at studying, the easier he found that it added to his basketball knowledge. Roy realized that knowing how to learn makes the task much easier. He could understand tendencies of his opponents quicker. This gave him an edge. Every new team would approach the game differently, and the quicker he could adapt, the more unstoppable he would become.

When Roy decided his path included class work, he knew he was choosing a more difficult route, but he also knew that the life it led to was a better one.

ESPN continued on in the background while Roy checked his bag. Roy had a routine, and once it began, his brain switched into game mode. He was no longer thinking about Anchorage, the cold, the miles between him and Flint, or even a dedicated teacher. He was thinking about the lessons his new coach, Dr. Tom Davis, had taught him. He was thinking about his opponent. He was thinking about winning.

You’ve been enduring a lot of my rambling.  Tomorrow we launch, so I decided to give you all a look at what I’ve been working on.

******

A young boy sits on the edge of his bed. He holds it in his right hand, the movements are measured; the weight is familiar. Just to be sure, he crosses it over to his left hand, and it is undeniably perfect. There is one more test, at least, which is allowed in the house.  A few moments of looking at the seams, reading the words “Official NBA,” and then with the slightest toss, he brings both hands together, violently smacking the ball. The sound is unmistakable, if not indescribable.

It is that singular note that sparks the dream. One thinks of dreams as images flashing through the mind, but it is the sounds that bore deep into the soul. It is sneakers on blacktop, then hard wood. It is the sound of chain, then cord. It is the cheers of teammates, then crowds. It is a symphony when playing in the mind of a boy in Flint, Michigan. It is the sirens’ call.

One

2011–Summer

The sound of the shoes is unmistakable. It is of heavy feet on hard wood and the pounding of the ball being moved up the court. Summer in North Liberty, Iowa, means basketball. People pack the gym to watch present, future, and current college players doing what they love. The passes are crisp and, though it is a summer league, the games are more about the team than the individuals. These kids have grown up in gyms like this one, with coaches and tournaments, just to gain that one extra step. The names on the jerseys look familiar. There is a Marble and a Stokes running the floor and, to watch, one would think time had stood still these past twenty-five years.

Anthony Hubbard, a current Hawkeye, drives the lane, gets hacked, and deftly guides a left-handed shot off the board. He converts the three-point play. They are down by one, with 3 minutes left in the first half. To look at it, one would think it was the NCAA tournament: guys diving for rebounds, making steals, and pushing themselves as they are accustomed to doing. The gym continues to swell with people trying to get a glimpse.

Halftime is considerably more informal than it is at Carver Hawkeye Arena. The players talk with friends and family in the stands. A few rest on the bench while the coaches mingle with the referees. The clock falls below a minute, and people start to take their seats. The second half of the first game is about to begin. The score is 50–52.

People talk about the coming Hawkeye season with summer optimism when it seems all things are possible. Roy Marble sits behind the basket, watching his son as a father, a coach, a fan. Twenty-five years ago, he was playing in the First Prime Time League. He felt good back then, with the same optimism, but nobody knew what was about to happen. Not even Roy.

We are getting some buzz.  This is so exciting.

Though there are just a few people who have had the book long enough to read it, they have had nothing but nice things to say.

The real fun part has been how much fun my mother and aunt Barb have had selling the book.  They have both been out pitching it to friends, relatives, optometrists, secretaries of optometrists, or anyone else who will listen.

Note to authors:  Writing stuff that your mother and aunt like, greatly increases your marketing staff.

For me, I spent the better part of the day, delivering more books.  I have everything sorted for this weekend and all that I have left to do is get the Kindle and Nook versions up.  It seems I’ve been saying that nightly for the last week or so.  Well, today’s the day.  Back to work

It is Wednesday and I’m at Carver Hawkeye Arena watching Iowa play the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Hawk fans were thrilled with the beginning as Iowa jumped to a 17-5 lead at the midway point in the first half. It wouldn’t last.

The Gophers battled back and their defense tightened up until they had the lead going into the half-time break, 27-24. In truth, neither team has a great shooting percentage, but that is mostly owing to solid defense.

On Saturday, I’ll be here again, but my focus will be on selling books. They arrived today, and if I was home, I’d take a picture of the boxes. It was exciting. Two Decades and Counting has not been officially launched, that will take place in front of 16,000 fans on Saturday, and yet, we’ve already started selling to eager fans on Amazon. The last count was 19 sold. That isn’t even the best news, I delivered 73 that were pre-sold today. I can’t wait until people start to read the book and comment.

I’m sure my friends will be kind, but as of yet, none of them have bought a book. So if any of the early buyers should be kind enough to leave a review on Amazon, it will not have any friend bias.

I’m very pleased with the results.

The Hawkeyes and Gophers have started to run again. This gives me time to look at the official Basketball Box Score which was handed to me by a friendly lady. I’ve snuck into press row. Roy said, “If anyone questions you, tell them you are Roy’s writer.” Nobody has asked for credentials.

So, let’s take a look at the official numbers. Iowa is 10-24 from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and has pulled down 17 rebounds. The Gophers are 10-29, 1-5, and also gotten 17 boards. I have no idea what has happened over the first 2 minutes of the second half, as I’ve been typing.

Being a press guy or gal, must be hard. I suppose one gets use to the live action, while composing journalistic masterpieces. Not that this is one, it isn’t. But the real journalists do it all the time. My friend Bryce Miller used to do it all the time, before he became an editor.

There was cheering, so I looked up. Devyn Marble pulled down a board. Sadly, Iowa is behind 31-36. I’m not sure why, but I feel like fans are more likely to want ot read about Iowa basketball history, after a win. Go Hawks.

Later that evening…Iowa Won!  It was great.  Roy’s son made a wonderful play at the end, an assist, to seal the victory.

My new book, which you all have been enduring my lengthy blog pieces about, has started to sell.  Today, we had 15 sales and a guy from Nashville who inquired about getting a signed copy.  My aunt Barb has been pitching it to her friends in Mason City, and my parents neighbor, Frank, an Iowa fan, seemed very keen on getting a book, too.

As I said before, Roy is out doing radio interviews and those may be contributing to the pre-launch interest.  We also had a nice article written about the book and Roy on the Cedar Rapids Gazette site, but Scott Dochterman.

Here is the link:  http://thegazette.com/2012/01/31/roy-marble-book-chronicles-his-track-from-flint-to-iowa-basketball-superstar/

I did talk to my other editor today, about getting rolling on Henry Wood II, the Wrath of Kahn…wait, that doesn’t sound right…oh no, it was Henry Wood:  Time and Again.  Yes, that is it.  I need to send her some more stuff to edit.  I am also going to work on the next chapter of the current book.

That is today’s update.

I actually did write a little bit of Henry Wood today.  I’m not sharing it yet.  Sorry.  I do have a story from my adventures in book publishing.

I’ve been checking online to see if the book has gone live.  The checks have been frequent, because I really want it to be live, before the launch this weekend.  When you get the book approved by the Create Space team, they give an approximate range as to when it will be available on the Amazon site.

Before I get to far into my story, I have to say, the customer service and system they have set up over at Create Space, is AMAZING.  I love it.  I used to think the best reason for self-publishing was that one gets to maintain control and make a bit more money, than if one goes through a publisher.  Those are great, but the real benefit is the fun.  My experience with Create Space has been wonderful.

So, today, I needed an emergency hair cut.  I was getting a big shaggy…and I mean “Billy the Guinea Pig” shaggy.  Before I headed up to Iowa City, I gave a check.  Not there yet.

The hair cut was wonderful and afterwards I decided to lunch at the Hamburg Inn No. 2.  The proofs for the book were in and I called Roy.  He was excited to see the actual book, so he came over and joined me.  We talked marketing strategy while we ate.  One of the owners came in and recognized Roy.  He was very nice and offered to help us promote our book.  I told him that I had written part of the book in his restaurant, and in fact, had written the last chapter there.  He seemed pleased.  He took a couple of pictures of Roy, the book, and me, and then we headed out.

It was very exciting having someone want a picture. 

I got home and went back to work, organizing, planning, ordering, and all sorts of other non-snacking related management duties.  When I checked back in at Amazon, the book was live.  This was very good news, but not the best news.  It had gone live and someone had already bought a copy.  I have no idea who it might be, but I suspect it is one of you fine people who endure my ramblings day in and day out.

I called my mom and then Roy, to tell them about our 1st sale.  By the time I was done, we had a second sale!

Roy has been doing a lot of radio interviews and it is possible that someone in the listening audience got home from work and decided to check it out.  I like to think it is one of you folks, though, because you are super friendly and supportive of my writing.  Regardless, I’d like to give a Bold and Underlined, thanks to you all.

Thanks!

I had every intention of working on another Henry Wood chapter for tonight, but it just didn’t come to pass.  I spent much of the day figuring out how to do a press release.  I don’t like them, not one bit.  It is apparent to me why there are people who do it for a living, because it is definitely a unique skill set.

I have added it to the list of writing chores I would rather do without.  It is a short list.  The other entry is the synopsis.  I believe the synopsis and press release may be wicked step sisters.

It is hard to say why they are so unpleasant to deal with and I’m hopeful that with time I will find them less daunting.  Still, they need to be done.  I did finish it.

Here it is, if you are interested.  Feel free to comment on any aspect.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Roy Marble & Brian D. Meeks

111 W Kohl Martelle, Box 71, IA 52305

515-402-0809

Two Decades and Counting:  The Streak, The Wins, the Hawkeyes, Thru the Eyes of Roy Marble, by Brian D. Meeks, to launch on Feb 4, 2012 at Iowa vs. Penn State, Carver Hawkeye Arena.

The expectations were high, and the results were record breaking.

Before the 1986–87 season began, the pre-season AP poll had the Iowa Hawkeyes ranked tenth. Iowa fans suspected it might be low as they had Roy Marble, whom Sports Illustrated had compared to another number 23, Michael Jordan.

The streak began at the Great Alaska Shootout and continued until they had won more consecutive games than any team in Iowa men’s basketball history. This is the story of that season, the players, the coaches, and what it was like to cheer for that very special team.

The book will be initially available at select Cedar Rapids Hy-vee Food & Drug stores, The Black & Gold Shops in Iowa City and Davenport, University Book Store and Hawk Shop, and Barnes & Noble in Iowa City and Coralville.  It will also be available after the launch online at Amazon.com, for both print and Kindle versions.  The Nook version will be available at that time, as well.

Roy and Brian are currently making arrangements for a book signing tour in the state.  As dates and locations are added, the information will be posted at http://extremelyaverage.com, the author’s website.

Brian D. Meeks is the author of the ongoing Henry Wood Detective series.  The second and third books in the series will be available this spring and be found on Amazon.

From the book:  ” It was hard on Roy when Coach Raveling left, and there was even a moment when he considered following him to USC. But in the end, Iowa City had become his basketball home. Roy loved the town and the people, and the new coach was a good one.

That first night, so many miles from Iowa City, Roy saw the familiar Black and Gold in the stands. Did they come for the games, or did they live there? Hawkeye fans were everywhere. After long hours, hard work, and the music in his mind, his sophomore season was about to begin. Roy was ready. All the Hawks were as well. ”

To place orders for the book, arrange for a signing, or an interview, contact:

Brian D. Meeks

111 W Kohl, box 71, Martelle, IA 52305

Brian@ExtremelyAverage.com

515-402-0809

URL:  http://extremelyaverage.com

Twitter:  @ExtremelyAvg or @TwoDecades

At a writer’s core is chewy nugget is the dream of a life unencumbered.  I realize that now, for I have seen that all my idle musings have turned to a simple notion of what is possible.  If one writes and does it well enough that people pay to read their idle musings, then one is free to become a nomad.

I no-longer rarely dream of world domination, anymore.  Today, I had a near epiphany.  Over the next few months Roy and I intend to do lots and lots of books signings.  Since I stopped writing and turned my attention to marketing, my brain has been going non-stop.  Two nights ago I didn’t go to sleep at all and last night, I only managed half of my usual slumber.  There is just too much to think about.  But then today, at work, doing something mindless, it hit me.

All the math and worry about how I was going to sell a giant mountain of books, vanished like a morning mist in a cliche ridden blog post.  If I do two book signings per day, with Roy, on Friday and Saturday, each week, we will sell enough book that I will make more money than at my job.  Actually, quite a bit more.  This is based upon several conversations with directors of the grocery chain we’ll be setting up our table in.  That’s it.  That is my epiphany.

I don’t need to figure out how to make millions of dollars, though if I did, I could resume my world domination plans, I just need to run with this book signing idea.  Because, if I do, I will have reached the most important goal I’ve set in the last two years, or possibly ever.  I’ll be feeding and clothing myself through writing!

Is there anything more romantic than that?!  I think not.

I believe it was Rene Descartes’ lesser known and somewhat bitter older brother, a sea faring man, who said, “I think knot, therefore I need rope.”  He thought philosophy was for sissies and later, the same evening as the aforementioned quote,  tackled his brother outside a drinking establishment in  Dordrecht, in 1628.  They scuffled for a bit and were both jailed for an evening.

I wrote that last bit of drivel.   It makes me happy.

I had to work today, but sadly, I was unable to go to sleep last night.  So I am a little bit sleepy.  It is hard to write when you are worn out and withered.  It makes one want to rhyme or use a lot of words that start with the same letter.

I don’t drink much, but I’m pretty sure that a sleepy sonnet would be worse than a plastered poem.  I mean, don’t all the cool writers drink?  What is the old adage, “Write drunk, edit sober”.  I know the person who said it, but I just can’t think of his name.  I’m too darn tired.  He was a big guy, wrote about war, lived in the Florida Keys, killed himself…I’m drawing a complete blank.

I hope that someday a tired writer won’t be able to remember my name.  That would be awesome.  I’m not sure why, but it is how I feel, at the moment.  It has also crossed my mind that the last time I ate was about 10 hours ago.  My guinea pig friends will find that shocking and probably a little bit upsetting.

I am so tired I don’t feel like stopping for a nom.  Being this exhausted has one upside.  I will be able to get a massive amount of sleep and be bright eyed and bushy tailed for tomorrow.

It is nap time or nom time.  I’m not sure.  I wish I could sleep snack.