Johnny Bright: Drake’s Greatest Legend

Friday, September 3rd, 2010 | Columns, Iowa History Journal | No Comments

by Mike Chapman (excerpt from Iowa History Journal, Volume 2, Issue 5)

When Johnny Bright strolled onto the cozy Drake University campus in the fall of 1948, no one could have realized what was in store for the Des Moines college in particular, and the game of football in general. After his three-year varsity career wound up in 1951, Bright left a legacy of achievement that may never be matched at any college.

The dynamic, athletic young man from Indiana had it all, including a name that lent itself to visions of grandeur. And it is sad that today very few Iowa football fans even know who Johnny Bright was and what he once meant to Drake University and to the state as a whole.

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Tags: Johnny Bright

National Dairy Cattle Congress

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 | Columns, Iowa History Journal | No Comments

Publisher’s Perspective – Volume 2, Issue 5 of Iowa History Journal

When I was a kid growing up in Waterloo in the 1950s, I was a city slicker that didn’t know a darn thing about farm animals and implements. Still, other than Christmas, the most exciting time of the year for me, and most kids I knew, was opening day of the National Dairy Cattle Congress. It was a huge, weeklong show that took place on the western edge of the city, and offered attractions galore, for a very wide variety of people.

It was so much more extravagant than any local fair I had ever seen that it couldn’t even be compared. It was such a big event in the 1950s that the Waterloo schools gave all students a day off to attend it. All the previous week, it was the subject of talk among all the kids in the school I attended. We laid plans for the big day off, and how much fun we were going to have.

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Bill’s and Bob’s Field of Dreams

Saturday, July 10th, 2010 | Columns, Iowa History Journal | 1 Comment

Publisher’s Perspective – Volume 2, Issue 4 of Iowa History Journal

Iowa is well known in some circles as the home of “Field of Dreams” because the hit movie of that name was filmed on a picturesque farm near Dyersville. The 1989 film starred Kevin Costner as an Iowa farmer who saw ghost players come out of a cornfield to play on a baseball diamond he carved out of a pasture.

But in reality, there are two fields of dream in our great state. The first one was developed in the mid 1930s near Van Meter, on a farm owned by Bill Feller.

Through the years, I’ve been to both fields of dreams several times. Shoeless Joe Jackson was the star player of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox team that the Costner film focused on, and I created a Shoeless Joe Jackson poster in 1992 that has sold very well at the gift shop at the Dyersville movie site.

On May 26, I once again visited the “original” field of dreams, the one near Van Meter. I drove there with Scott Havick, the energetic and passionate director of the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter.

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History of the W.I.N. Memorabilia Show

Sunday, March 7th, 2010 | Columns, WIN Magazine, Wrestling | No Comments

Mike’s column from the latest issue of WIN Magazine talks about the history of the Memorabilia Show. This show will mark Mike’s 20th and last show.

He writes:

The 1991 NCAA championships in Iowa City stand out in my mind as one of the most memorable ever, for many reasons.

…It was the scene for an experiment I tried with two friends – Mike DeAnna, former Hawkeye star, and Bob Steenlage, Iowa’s first four-time state champion and an All-American at West Point.

We wanted to develop an event that would offer fans a gathering spot between sessions of the tournament. We were tired of trying to meet friends in smoke-filled bars or crowded restaurants, or jammed into motel lobbies. We felt other fans would embrace the concept of a general gathering spot between sessions, as well.

That tournament marks the debut of what has become known as the “WIN Memorabilia Show.”

We hope to see you there this year!

To read the full article, click here…

Tags: WIN Memorabilia Show