A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT

     In athletics or any other phases of life, things are much different today, than say they were in the 50's/60's.

     Today, opportunities are much more available for financial success or even widespread name recognition. In the 50's/60's, the world seemed much smaller, much more "contained" to larger, more populated areas and with that, came more chances for obtaining the biggest bucks in those areas and, perhaps, only those areas.

     So, what are you getting at Mo? Well, a bit of today and a bit of yesterday.

     Today, I'm thinking of Cooper DeJean, the University of Iowa football defensive back/safety. He's a 19-year old, 6-1, sophomore, who played high school football on a state championship team at OABCIG....the IG is Ida Grove. At quarterback for his high school team, he passed for 3,447 yards and rushed for 1,235 yards. In basketball, he scored 1,832 points in his career and, as a senior, he had the fastest 100 meter time in the state track meet. 

     Despite all these high school accolades, he had very limited collegiate offers. He could vie for quarterback at South Dakota State or for a defensive position at the State University of Iowa. He chose SUI and defense.

    It was a wise choice for this athlete from a very small community. He's made a big impact, the latest, was the MVP award at the recent Music City Bowl when Iowa defeated Kentucky.  DeJean appears to be on a path to even bigger athletic opportunities and with that, better financial success.

    Regarding yesterday, I'm thinking of similar, young athletic success, also from a smaller community, but with far fewer opportunities for a bigger and better future.

    If you were a central Iowan, specifically a Boone Countian, in those early mentioned years, you had heard about the late Loel Johnson of Pilot Mound. Unfortunately, most of Iowa was unaware of this rugged kid who played the game of basketball with great skills, comparable to the more well known Iowa prep cage stars of that era. Despite his location, enough word got out that he did earn second team all-state recognition.

   The Kornerman received an email from Loel's son, Steve, the other day and I was overwhelmed by the memories he provided. He wrote, "I was going through some newspaper articles my Grandma Johnson had put together of dad's games, both basketball and baseball. One of Pilot's big win's dad's senior year was over Stanhope. It says in the article that you did the broadcast of the game for KWBG. I'm just thankful that my grandma put together this scrapbook of dad's games. I know you would, occasionally, write something about dad in the Boone newspaper and his cousin, Janis Anderson, would send me a copy. As a kid, I always enjoyed dad telling me and my brother about his games at Pilot."

    Actually, Loel wasn't the only good athlete produced in this small community. Steve wrote, "dad's first cousin, Bill Caldwell, was a great athlete and his son, Rick, was a multiple state championship wrestling coach at Waverly-Shell Rock. Dad's first cousin, Bill Ingalls, was an all-state football player in 1942 and bypassed a University of Iowa scholarship offer to enter military service. Bill was the second person in the family that was all-state in basketball. His aunt, Maurine Poulson Stark, was a first team selection from Stratford. Then there was Darrell Zunkel who became one of the state's best fast pitch softball pitchers......a Hall of Famer."

    The Kornerman remembers Bill Caldwell as a good fast pitch softball player as well. He was a member of the Boone Merchants team that won the state championship in 1958. Unfortunately, Bill died at age 37 and a teammate, Gary Grove, passed at 19. Steve wrote, "on the flip side, Dr. Don Crouch lives in Storm Lake and is in excellent health and younger brother, Deck, still has that service station in Pilot."

    Time passes and things change. Unfortunately, Pilot Mound's Loel Johnson, who earned well deserved, tremendous recognition locally, performed in a time when much broader opportunities were not as available. 

    Unlike Cooper DeJean,  I guess you could say Loel Johnson was a day late and a dollar short of what "could have been."

K-----K

    Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. Leave a message. To email your stories/memories/comments/death notices.....

kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.