Metro Sports Report

Prairie Coach James Moses has his favorite pregame treat, an orange Tootsie Pop, before the Hawks' game Dec. 1 against North Scott. Moses' habit has become a tradition among Prairie fans (below). (Photos by Margaret O'Banion)

Lollipop gang supports Moses' Hawks

Mon - 05 Dec Written by Tom Fruehling

First, there was the old Telly Savalas “Kojak” television detective character always sucking on a lollipop.

Now, during warm-ups before every Prairie boys basketball game, there’s the ever-dapper Coach James Moses strolling up and down the court with a Tootsie Pop planted firmly in his cheek.

“Preferably orange,” he says, to match the team’s color scheme.

In his second year at the helm of a resurgent Prairie program, the debonair coach’s pregame ritual has become such a trademark that fans are following in his suede-loafer footprints.

Prior to last week’s home game against North Scott, basketball booster club president Dave Rasmussen passed through stands with a big bag of suckers to hand out. No doubt he'll do the same thing Tuesday tonight as well when the Hawks host Mount Pleasant.

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Around the horn with former Metro preps

Sun - 04 Dec Written by Mark Dukes

One of my favorite pastimes is tracking the progress of former Metro area athletes in the college and professional ranks.

It’s easy to follow someone like Zach Johnson on the PGA Tour. He was squarely on center stage Sunday in the final round of the Chevron World Challenge, locked up with one Tiger Woods in the final pairing. And many of the former local stars are easier to track when they’re playing for Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Drake because they’re regularly on television, on radio or in the newspaper.

You have to work a little to keep up with others, though. Let’s go around the horn with some of the former high school stars and what they’re doing.

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Linn-Mar No. 1 in 1st boys poll

Mon - 05 Dec Written by Metro Sports Report

Linn-Mar was decimated by graduation, losing four starters from a year ago when the Lions won the Class 4A state boys basketball championship.

But voters across the state decided the one the Lions have back is good enough to keep them atop the 4A field in the first Associated Press polls released Monday.

North Carolina recruit Marcus Paige and the Lions hold a four-point margin over No. 2 Ankeny. West Des Moines Valley is third and Iowa City West, the preseason favorite in the Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division, is No. 4.

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UNI cagers put the 'team' in teamwork

Mon - 05 Dec Written by Guy Martino

Iowa State basketball player Royce White is a force to be reckoned with at 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, with quick feet and most of his frame blanketed in tatoos. Intimidation plays a factor in his game.

White pokes his gigantic hand in front of the ball for a steal and tips it to himself towards the opponent’s basket. He proceeds to throw down a thunderous dunk over a helpless Northern Iowa Panther. Amazing athletic play.

The thing is, this "amazing" play was overshadowed by the fact that UNI dominated the rest of the game, stunning the Cyclones 69-62 last week at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Did I say "helpless" Panther?

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Cold playoff game in Montana excites Teply

Sun - 04 Dec Written by Jim Ecker

CEDAR FALLS - Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley tells a funny story about big Jay Teply plopping into a chair and breaking it as a true freshman in college.

The part about Teply being big is true enough. He weighed 340 as a freshman and tips the scales at 328 these days, but he insists it wasn't him. Somebody else broke that chair.

"Every reporter I've talked to has told me this story and I feel bad," he said Sunday. "There was a kid who came in with me freshman year who looked almost identical to me, but weighed 20 pounds more than I did.

"He was sitting right next to me in the meeting and his chair broke. I grabbed the second chair and sat on it. It wasn't me, but it could have been."

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