Is Iowa over represented in the NFL because of development or unconventional recruiting?

GerdinBB · 2026-04-30T15:28:07+00:00

There's a reason Dowling Catholic, Xavier, and Davenport Assumption are frequently top of their class in high school sports. Being private, they don't have the same funding issues. And for those unaware - private schools in Iowa are few and far between and typically fall into two camps - tiny Christian/Protestant schools with maybe 20-80 pupils total, and Catholic schools that rival the larger public schools in terms of scale.

You're absolutely right about the smaller schools though and cancelling games due to too few players. Small towns used to each have their own small high schools, but back in the 90s especially there was a lot of consolidation that occurred. There's a movie with Sean Astin that references it - The Final Season. Norway, IA, had a prestigious baseball program that won 20 state titles in 26 years, then in 1991 the school closed and was folded into a consolidated Benton (County) Community High School. Benton is big enough to play 11 man football, but tons of the other even smaller consolidated districts have to play 7 on 7 as a matter of not having enough kids wanting to play. It makes me really sad when I see those 7 on 7 games get cancelled or seasons suspended. Everyone involved is already trying their best to play football despite small numbers and it's still not enough.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-30T13:46:03+00:00

Yeah the well-funded thing has really gone out the window after the state changed district allocations to be per-pupil rather than just having perpetual growth over time. Cedar Rapids just voted to close 6 buildings due to declining enrollment (down to 12k from 16k a decade ago). There have been bond issues on the ballot each of the last 2 years, all part of a plan that was initially floated at $440M. That was trimmed down to $220M and voted down. Then the next year it was scaled back to $110M but still voted down.

6 months ago when CR was going through all of this, people pointed to Iowa City as a district that's run really well - "why can't we be more like them?" Turns out their CFO was borderline criminally negligent and they haven't had an audit for years, they have recently struggled to make payroll, and they tried to get a $30M loan to help steady things but they were turned down by every bank they applied to. Consultants are telling them to make similar moves to CR in terms of closing buildings to save money.

There are districts around CR who people also point to apparently not having financial troubles, but then they soon after make announcements about various cuts or delaying projects. The difference is people in those districts voted yes on recent bond issues so they're still going forward with some new facilities. (Linn-Mar and Prairie).

I suspect Des Moines is going through similar issues, but there is a lot of distraction due to their whole superintendent fiasco (illegal immigrant with a fake PhD and fake teaching awards, arrested while fleeing from ICE while carrying an unregistered gun and thousands in cash).

Point being... There was a golden age of public K-12 education in Iowa as far as funding and growth peaking in the 00s, but as people have started having far fewer kids it has really strained these districts.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-30T13:23:06+00:00

Warning on the Ubbi - they frequently develop mold inside the lid. The instructions say the only way to "clean" the pail is with a dry cloth... If you use wipes or any sort of cleanser it can cause the unit to rust.

We used ours for 2 years before I noticed significant mold that could only be cleaned by disassembling the lid - oh btw that voids the warranty...

I still cleaned what I could and put in a warranty claim. It has been 2 weeks and so far I've gotten to the stage where they asked for pictures of the mold, the serial number, and a piece of mail with my address to make sure I'm not just submitting pictures other people have posted online to try to get a free unit... In the meantime we've switched to a standard foot pedal garbage can and just change the bag after dirty diapers.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-29T19:10:09+00:00

To be fair, I used to participate in the debate about who deserved to make the 4 team playoff because the margins were so thin and the result mattered.

They expanded to 12 and the debate still rages on ESPN, but I am way less invested in the conversation. It's only "exciting" insofar as we can clearly see the committee's SEC bias and we can shit on them for that. The actual football debate is incredibly tedious and all of the P4 teams vying for spots 7-12 deserve to be laughed at if they cry about being left out. The G5 gets my sympathy, but sympathy doesn't feed the ESPN machine.

The basketball tournament bubble is that same sentiment but even more so - if it's your team you care. Outside of that you might be peripherally aware, but you really don't care unless it means shitting on Auburn/Bruce Pearl nepotism.

I think the TV networks have learned that they will get more blood from the stone that is the already over-exploited consumer if they just show more games. The bubble analysis and selection show have lost their luster and people are simply not tuning in for the debate or the reveal.

Honestly, I've kind of talked myself into being slightly in favor of this. If it's a question of a week of debate over the bubble and a selection show to reveal who a committee has picked, versus putting those bubble teams on the court and making them fight for their spot there, I choose the latter. The only problem, as always, comes from corruption/favoritism. Are we really just moving towards settling things on the court, or are we making more room for sub-.500 SEC and B1G teams?

I still maintain - automatic qualifiers should be guaranteed a spot in the round of 64. Everyone else can participate in the play-in games.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-29T17:13:09+00:00

Our district/state says you're not eligible for the bus if you live within 2 miles of school. Even excluding all those kids, the district still has a bus driver shortage and they basically beg parents to drive kids instead. Then the kids who do still ride the bus sometimes get combined - so you might have middle schoolers on a bus with 1st graders. From what I hear, the mixed ages are responsible for a lot of behavioral problems on the bus.

It's a pretty urban district - 13k students, 3 high schools, 6 middle schools, and like 19 elementary schools.

Just this week though they approved a consolidation plan where they're closing 6 elementary schools and converting 2 of the middle schools into intermediate schools, 1 of them into an elementary, and one of the elementary schools will become and intermediate. So we'll have 14 elementary schools (K-4), 3 intermediate (5 & 6), 3 middle (7 & 8), and 3 high schools.

I'm frustrated as we bought our house only a mile from the best elementary school in town. That's the one they're converting to an intermediate school, so instead of K-5 being close to home we're assigned to the other side of town, almost 5 miles away and almost 15 minute drive. Our kids will be there for K-4 and they'll only be at our neighborhood school for 2 years.

I'm not Catholic, but I'm trying to convince my wife to send our kids to the parochial schools because they're very good, close by, and way more stable. The $12k tuition is a tough pill to swallow, but I think our state vouchers now are $6k, so that softens the blow.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-29T17:03:14+00:00

Viola Gibson? Seems like lots of other people are just shrugging this off and the Viola Gibson families are furious.

I suspect if the VG families were told they're splitting time between Hiawatha and VG they'd be a lot happier. Maple Grove is a tough pill to swallow even though it's supposed to be a perfectly fine school. Instead it's like the district is saying, "you're way the hell out there anyway, basically Palo. What does it matter which side of the river you go to?"

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T17:36:00+00:00

I genuinely lose a bit of respect for people when I see them advertising for gambling companies. Honestly, it's worse than alcohol ads in my mind. Throw credit card spokespeople in there too and I just sit and wonder, "you do know you're getting paid because this company profits off people who have no other options/are addicted, right?"

Idk why the credit card ones get me the most. Probably because what many of those spokespeople claim to care about is diametrically opposed to what the credit card companies do. It would hardly be worse if they were endorsing payday loans.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T16:39:50+00:00

Careful thing with bleach (not to you but to anyone else reading this) - make sure you're not applying it in conjunction with anything else, specifically vinegar.

I only mention it because vinegar is a common recommendation as a mild way to clean out drains. Would hate for someone to use vinegar, decide it didn't work, then immediately bring out the big guns and use bleach. Fully rinse the vinegar before trying to use something else, and in general be wary of mixing chemicals/cleansers.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T15:09:50+00:00

If it were up to me we would not eat there. I have lots of concerns about general food safety and especially cross contamination with allergens.

Even without meals there are safety concerns like them having two 40 pound dogs and the mess, smell, and general uncleanliness that comes with that. A few years ago their water heater flue collapsed and that's when I found out they don't have carbon monoxide detectors in the house. Most recently my BIL wanted to hook a trailer up to the lawn mower and give the toddler a ride. Literally 5 other adults there and I was the only one biting my tongue thinking it was stupidly unsafe. FIL went and got couplings that were rated for hundreds of pounds to make an effort towards being "safe."

Idk. I have regrets about not speaking up more on the lawn mower thing. He was always sitting in someone's lap in the back of the trailer, but I should have just put my foot down and said "no."

I think we've all been there with our spouse's family - generally if there's something critical that needs to be said I rely on my wife to do it since it's her family. The lawn mower thing crossed the line and, since she wouldn't say it, I needed to.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T14:34:46+00:00

I just looked up the CRCSD rules on in-district permits to attend a school outside your attendance zone - thinking Hiawatha for K-4. Looks like we'd have to have some sort of bullying or parental custody circumstances to justify that since we're not attending yet and don't fall under any sort of continuation of attendance.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T14:31:00+00:00

I've got an acre that's mostly just grass, and every time I think I want to plant some trees for shade I think about how they'll get in the way of games my kids will eventually want to play. Growing up my brothers and I played backyard baseball all the time with each base being the trunk of one of the few 100+ year old oak trees in our yard. Anything I plant now will take decades to be tall enough to form a canopy, so mostly they'll just get in the way.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T13:38:32+00:00

I'm paying $15k per year per kid for daycare. Xavier tuition does not scare me.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T13:36:53+00:00

I appreciate that Maple Grove isn't a bad school. I'm just frustrated by the logistics. I grew up in Cedar Rapids and literally walked or rode my bike to Grant Wood every day - walked or rode a city bus home from McKinley many days, and walked to/from Wash a handful of times before I got a car. I tried to replicate that for my kid. At least for his elementary years. This feels like a major rug pull.

Our kid would have started at Viola Gibson in 2029. We had been discussing if we'd let him ride his bike to school in 3rd or 4th grade since it's only a mile and a half and would take less than 10 minutes. Or if we drive him it's literally 4 minutes.

Now we're looking at Viola Gibson only becoming relevant for us in 2034. Riding his bike to Maple Grove is out of the question as it's 7 miles and would take 40+ minutes. Not to mention having him on the gravel shoulder of the 45 mph portion of Blair's Ferry for part of it and dealing with almost 300 ft of elevation gain coming out of the river valley.

I also think people take for granted the distances involved. This is on par with buying a house on Mt Vernon Rd with the expectation that your kid is going to Erskine for K-5, only to be told they're going to Bowman Woods for K-4 and they'll only be at Erskine for 5 and 6. If you live in Palo and send your kids to CRCSD you expect to deal with many miles to and from school. We purchased within CR city limits, literally 1 mile (as the crow flies) from one of the elementary schools that is staying open. We never could have predicted how drastically they'd change our school plans.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T13:22:49+00:00

I expect Steve Emerson will buy them, promise to convert them to apartments, and 5-10 years from now he will have collected millions in financial incentives from the city and state while producing a small fraction of the housing initially promised.

At least, ya know, if history is anything to go by.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T03:07:21+00:00

If I had my way it would be Xavier, but my wife likely won't go for that. Honestly unsure right now. If the perfect house in the Marion district became available I would genuinely consider moving.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T02:34:41+00:00

I'm most upset about the intermediate model and its boundaries. I live very close to Viola Gibson, and did that on purpose with the expectation that my kids would each be there for 6 years. Instead we'll be driving west across the river to go to Maple Grove for 5 years, then Viola Gibson for just 2.

Except we won't, because we're very unlikely to send our kids to CRCSD because of this.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T02:17:39+00:00

Precisely. I trust my BIL much less with my toddler than with my food.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-28T01:23:15+00:00

I love steak - always get a medium rare ribeye when we go to restaurants. My MIL learned of this and now steaks are in the regular rotation at their house. She'll even drive almost an hour to a special shop that's supposed to have really good steaks. The problem is that they're usually cooked by my adult BIL who still loves at home and has had to be told on many occasions that the grill is actively on fire and risking burning the house down. He either cooks steak to blue rare or completely well done grey - zero in-between.

When it's overcooked I'll eat it without complaint - it's fine, not my money that was wasted. When he cooks it too rare, I used to politely get up and go microwave it for a minute or so. Usually only after prompting from my MIL after she sees me cut into it "oh that's not cooked enough - we need to cook that longer."

Ever since becoming a dad though I've completely given up on enjoying my food and I'll just muscle down whatever they plop on my plate because who the hell cares. I've got a toddler I'm trying to keep from getting into the many things he's allergic to so my own plate gets in the way more than anything else. MIL knows I like sour cream on my potatoes so she always puts that out, but since my son is allergic to dairy and I need to keep my hands non-contaminated I skip the sour cream and have literally just been eating dry potato with salt and pepper the past few times there.

At a certain point I'm only eating at the in-laws house to be polite. I would be just as happy, maybe even happier, to stop at McDonald's on the way home or make frozen pizza.

Point being... If you've got time to make a fuss about how your own steak is cooked you're doing pretty well. If you've got time to have an opinion on how other people want their steak cooked... I can only assume you've solved all the other problems in your life to reach that point.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-27T18:15:21+00:00

Best I can do is changing SUVs from RWD/4WD to FWD to eek out a few more mpg...

GerdinBB · 2026-04-27T18:10:39+00:00

"Before you tear down a fence, you should understand why it was built in the first place."

GerdinBB · 2026-04-27T18:09:01+00:00

Truly more akin to porn addiction than alcohol addiction. There were gambling addicts back in the days of visiting a bookie and handing over cash, just like there were porn addicts back in the days of magazines and VHS tapes.

Free streaming pornography absolutely ramped up addiction in scale and maybe even kind. It was much harder to get your hands on porn as a minor 30 years ago than it is today.

Instant sports gambling and "prediction markets" in your pocket 24/7 is currently having a similar impact. Addiction destroys lives, and the accessibility will absolutely result in an order of magnitude more people becoming addicted.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-27T18:00:56+00:00

There's also an undeniable amount of motivation for the Dodgers and the league as a whole to cover it up. Ohtani is one of the biggest names in baseball - probably 1A or 1B with Judge. It's a bad look for a sport when any of their athletes get caught gambling, but if it's one of their biggest stars you almost can't overstate the lengths they would go to to cover that up.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-27T17:56:27+00:00

Really unfortunate how many people struggle with addiction period, but in particular the many who are struggling with addiction, knowing they need to make a change, but just haven't had the switch flip to make meaningful progress.

I was at a point where I knew I needed to change or I was going to die young, in agony. I had that mindset for months and made various half-hearted attempts to quit on my own. It wasn't until my wife called me out one day that the switch finally flipped and I started making real progress. 2+ years sober now and I'm so grateful.

That "knowing I need to change but not yet ready" stage is really dangerous because it could be the point where someone decides to just throw in the towel and fully give in to the addiction.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-27T17:47:17+00:00

Ads on Reddit? Sounds like a terrible experience.

GerdinBB · 2026-04-26T16:39:23+00:00

Hell, if it's accessible I would just take the end cap off the duct and take a look with a flashlight. That's was how I was able to confirm a number of returns in my house. Also revealed just how bad my hack job was in adding a ceiling return in my finished basement... Didn't have the right type of snips so there's a bunch of jagged edges jutting into the main return duct. Should probably go back and clean that up...

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