SORRY, YOU'LL HAVE TO PUT UP WITH ME

     I've received no memories, no stories, no comments since Wednesday's edition from you out there in Kornerland so I'm going to personally bore you this time. Its all your fault.
     I surely have mentioned briefly some of the things I'm going to bore you with but this time I'm going "all out."
     A granddaughter has been visiting and I wanted to show her that, at one time, I really did have a job. So, I dug into the the archives and showed her some things I've been proud of.
     First off, for 30 years as an employee of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, one of my duties was to be a spokesperson for that organization. Part of that responsibility was to represent the association when dealing with the media.
     So, at all of our state championship events....football, wrestling, basketball, baseball, track etc.........I did any microphone work that was required and it was usually on statewide television. It was not on the local channel's......5, 8, 13 etc.......but was on the public television channels because they do cover the entire state.
     I did lots of halftime presentations, including Hall of Fame introductions and also made comments and presented trophies to the teams at the completion of the contests.
     In my 30 years, on behalf of the IHSAA, I personally honored many more individual Iowans than all the state's governors or anyone else combined.
     All states have an organization like the IHSAA and Iowa Girls High School Union which govern high school athletic, music and drama events. Each of those state organizations combine to form the National Federation of High School Associations.
     For eight consecutive years, in the 1980's, I was fortunate to be asked to be the Master of Ceremonies at the National Federation summer meeting Hall of Fame banquet which was held at various U.S. cities.
     The National Federation Hall of Fame has a main objective of honoring outstanding High School athletes, coaches etc. However, many of those standouts do go on to become collegiate and  even professional celebrities.
     With those M.C. duties, I had an opportunity to meet with and, eventually, describe the accomplishments of these super athletic heroes. They all  seemed to appreciate my recitation of their outstanding achievements and even favored me with pictures with them and autographs from them.
     Just to give you an idea, following are some of the super athletes I met with.
     Arnold Palmer,  One of the best golfers ever. Four time Masters winner.
     Johnny Bench, One of the best baseball catchers ever. Hall of Famer.
     Bart Starr, Green Bay Packers quarterback, Super Bowl MVP twice.
     Tom Landry, Third winningest NFL coach, his Dallas teams won two Super Bowls.
     John Wooden, His UCLA basketball team won 10 NCAA titles, including seven straight.
     Pat Summerall, One of the top TV sports announcers of all time.
     Len Dawson, Quarterback spent 19 seasons in the NFL, including time with the KC Chiefs.
     Ralph Miller, Coached collegiate basketball 38 years, including time at Iowa City.
     Paul Hornung, Star gridder at Notre Dame and then Green Bay. NFL MVP twice.
     Crazy Legs Hirsch, Star gridder at Michigan and for the Los Angeles Rams.
     Lynette Woodard, At Kansas, became the most prolific scorer in women's college basketball.
     Nolan Cromwell, Starred at Kansas and as a defensive back for the L.A.Rams.
     Rafer Johnson, In 1960, won the Olympic decathlon event.
     Don Kessenger, 13 year major leaguer, 11 with the Cubs. Six time all-star.
     Ron Waller, Started NFL career by becoming all-pro as a rookie.
     Joe Ferguson, Was quarterback at Arkansas and then with the Buffalo Bills.
     Chandra Cheeseborough, Two Olympic gold medal winner as a sprinter.
     Jim Taylor, Star nine-year NFL running back with Green Bay. On three title teams.
     Kim Mulkey, Played on Olympic championship team. A top ladies cage coach now at Baylor.
     Cliff Hagen, Two-time All American cager at Kentucky. All-pro six times in the NBA.
     Randy Matson, Won shot put gold in the 1968 Olympics. Set a world record.
     Billy Mills, Distance runner who won Olympic gold in 1964. Set world record in six-mile run.
     Cheryl Miller, Top cager at USC. Top scorer for U.S. Olympic team that won 1984 gold.
     Jerry Lucas, Led top Ohio State cage teams in the 60's. Played for three NBA teams.
     Milt Campbell, Won decathlon gold in the 1956 Olympics.
     Bob Mathias, Was a two-time Olympic decathlon champion, 1948 and 1952.
     Bronko Nagurski, First inductee in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
     Bart Conner, A gymnast, Conner was the first to win gold in every level of competition.
    P.S.  In those eight years, of course, there were many other athletes/coaches who were honored for high school achievements alone.
     Sorry you had to endure all this but none of you viewers offered anything in recent days.
K-----K
     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Gregory Wells, 50, West Des Moines. Boone area survivor is a step brother, Gary Mickle, of Boone........Bill Roberts, 79,Washington, IA. BHS-57. Worked for Fareway for 42 years. Retired in 2001 as meat department manager in Washington. He married Myra Nelson in 1960 in Boone. His wife and daughters survive.
K-----K
     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa  50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments.....
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.