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LONGFORM FEATURE STORIES
INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
On Oct. 21, 2004, nestled in the heart of the Gateway City for Game 7 of the National League Championship Series vs. Houston, Scott Rolen found himself in a mindset that only manifested itself two or three times in his entire career.
There’s a feat in baseball that is so rare only 18 have achieved it since the late 1800s. First it was Bobby Lowe of the Boston Beaneaters on May 30, 1894. Then there was Ed Delahanty. Lou Gehrig. Chuck Klein. Pat Seerey. Gil Hodges. Joe Adcock. And then, on a Wednesday night in June 1959, there was Rocky Colavito.
If you’re a fan of baseball, especially the kind of small-town, hot summer, true America’s pastime that can only be found amid miles and miles of Midwestern corn fields, you probably recognize this common misinterpretation of a line in a famous 1989 film about a man who hears voices while working on the family farm.
If you build it, they will come.
LEADING THE ROOM
THE DAILY IOWAN
In Tom Brands’ head coaching office, a photo is tacked behind the desk. In it, he is staring at a hawk perched on his arm, and the hawk is staring right back. The toughness shown in that photo combined with leadership, compassion, and accountability are all needed to lead men to the top of NCAA wrestling are traits that Brands embodies.
The Iowa wrestling program has been built on accountability, and Brands has been at the core of that for 33 years. Whether that mindset continues from the bottom up, from 125-pounder Spencer Lee to last year’s heavyweight Sam Stoll, or from something that runs deep from decades earlier with an icon at the helm, there’s one thing that remains true: competing in a black singlet that features a gold IOWA on the left thigh turns boys into men.
“I don’t believe in senior leadership either, just by the way,” Brands said. “I believe in leadership — period.”
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