The first thing I want to mention is the great sponsors I was fortunate to play for. The first was Mr. D’s from Glidden (Carroll, Iowa area). Prior to 1977 only one Iowa team went to the national tournament. In 1977 Mr. D’s finished second to Pizza Hut and played the national tournament in St. Louis. I played basketball and baseball at Buena Vista University and am honored to be in the Buena Vista Sports Hall of Fame. Dan Nurse played on the Mr. D’s team and is the older brother of the NBA coach Nick Nurse. We were the first Carroll area team to finish that high in the state tournament and go to the national tournament. I taught and coached in the Des Moines area before becoming a school administrator for twenty-six years. I played 10 years with Reames Frozen Noodles. We won five state titles and were runner up three times. One year we were an automatic national qualifier and didn’t play in state after getting fourth at the national tournament the year before. That was around 1984. Reames was the first Iowa team to finish that high in the national tournament, and I was on the all-American team. I played with some tremendous athletes on the Reames team. Don Draper was the point guard for Drake University that almost beat UCLA with then Lew Alcinder. Pete Spoden was the University of Northern Iowa career rebound record holder at the time and actually had a sniff from an NFL team. He was 6’7” and around 260 with great power. Duane Miller was a football Player at Drake and participated in a training camp with the New York Giants. Ron (Reggie) Wilson played wide receiver with Western Illinois, and I believe got a brief sniff with the St. Louis Cardinals football team. The next great team I played with was Graphic Edge and coach/sponsor John Reglein. We also won five state tournaments and had numerous top ten finishes. The highest I think was 5th place. Had the honor of playing with another Hall of Famer Angelo Alesia . One year I played with Kirk Huen, Brad Van Meter, and Tim Walker on that Graphic Edge team. All three of those guys are national hall of famers. I played for around 30 years and most of those years I played either left field or center field. As I got older, I played catcher but always batted in the top three spots on every team I played on, even at age 45. In 1999, I became very ill with pancreatitis. I spent 40 days in intensive care, had surgery, and then got staph infection. In all, I spent 112 days in the hospital which put an end to my softball career. I owe so much to the sponsors and players I was fortunate to share success with and also to my family. My wife Marsha was so supportive of the 16” game. Next year will be our golden wedding anniversary. I guess she has staying power! lol The great sponsors I had allowed me to bring my family alone and the competitiveness rubbed off on them! My oldest son played college football, my daughter college softball, and my youngest, at forty years old, still plays in a competitive baseball league in Maryland. One team is a 22 and over league and the other is 35 and over. He plays center field. I wish he could have played this game. My oldest son played with me on the Graphic Edge for one year. I guess it was in their blood! lol Those early teams that ventured to Chicago were an incredible time for me. I’m old enough to have played against the Kelly brothers, Filken brothers against the Bobcats, Whips, 45’s, and so many other great Chicago teams. It was my philosophy that if I was going to get better, I had to play the best. That was the thinking of every team I played on. I loved playing 16” softball and have no regrets. I completed my 33-year educational career in 2009 having taught and coached seven years, I was a principal for 13 years, and a superintendent for 13 years…I received a doctoral degree from Iowa State University in 1995. Thank you so much for the honor of being in the national hall of fame. I’m very proud to be a part of such an esteemed group of players. I hope, in a small way, I was a pioneer for the great Iowa teams that followed.
