From Six-on-Six to Full Court Press: A Century of Iowa Girls' Basketball

4. From Prime Time TV to Title IX

76 From Prime Time TV to Title IX 1950-1972 DESPITE ITS QUALIFYING AS ONE OF THE SWEET SIXTEEN TEAMS, the Guthrie Center team and its schoolmates and fans were worried about the 1952 state tournament. They all knew that one of the key players, )0 Anne Beane, was scheduled to be a court witness in a lawsuit involving $20,000. The court hearing was scheduled to be held during tournament week. Coffee shop goers fretted, schoolchildren agonized, and school staff let their concern be known. Much to everyone's relief the case was settled out of court the week before the tournament. The accused and the defendants all knew how important Jo Anne was to the team's success . Compromises were made. She played with her team. And, of course, the litigants and the lawyers all made it to the state tournament, too. Come court litigation, blizzard, or muddy roads, players and fans got to the girls' state tournament. In 1963 the Everly team had to be taken by tractor to the main highway the snow was so deep. Sometimes the players and fans stayed in Des Moines longer than planned. In 1959 twelve thousand fans saw Gladbrook defeat West Central of Maynard 76-60. While they watched the game, a raging blizzard with lots of thunder and lightning dumped seven inches of wet, drifting snow. Roads out of Des Moines were blocked. The highway patrol asked the Union to announce that no cars would be permitted to leave Des Moines that night. All Des Moines hotels and motels were filled, so Vets Auditorium, the tourney facility, stayed open all night. Five thousand fans and players spent the night there. The tournament directors asked one of the bands to play dance music, which it promised to do. But when a downtown movie theater said it would show a midnight 77 FROM PRIME TIME TV TO TiTlE IX, 1950-72 movie if a hundred people came, that sounded more fun to the band members, who went to the movie. The players and fans were left with little to do, but Frosty Mitchell came to the rescue.' When Forrest "Frosty" Mitchell, the popular night disc jockey at Des Moines KIOA radio, heard of the predicament, he decided to go to Vets and DJ for the stranded tourney goers. His car got stuck backing it out of the garage, so he trudged the full six miles through the heavy snow to the station to pick up his records and then walked to Vets. Once there, he soon had the place rocking. As Des Moines boys heard about it, they came downtown and joined the fun. As some kids jived, others played cards. A few tried to sleep. They laid on tables, bleachers, and the mats around the baskets. The caterer sold fifteen thousand doughnuts, sixty-six hundred sandwiches, twelve thousand soft drinks, and three thousand cups of coffee . Vets management kept two policemen on duty through the night. There was "not one unsavory incident" the whole night. Finally, at 5:30 P.M. roads were cleared. The weary players and fans left what must have been the largest ever combination slumber party and sock hop. Some of the people from northeast Iowa that same year were again stranded in Marshalltown overnight. The auditorium there was opened for them, but there were no takers when dancing was suggested. They slept that night. 4.1. Five thousand fans marooned after the 1959 tournament, dancing until dawn. (lGHSAU) 78 FROM SIX-DN-SIX TO FUll COURT PRESS The Tournament Mania School administrators dismiss classes so students can attend the tournament. In the 1950s and 1960s bus load after bus load of high school boys and girls and basketball fans filled the highways into Des Moines. Then they formed a continuous yellow line as they parked along the Des Moines River. Parking was at a premium. Some buses had to park a mile away from Vets. Parking places for private cars were just as hard to find. The large parking lots fi lied up early. Fans didn't mind the walk, though, because they knew what was in store. It was a spectacular show of athletic talent filled with color, music, drama, and excitement. Initially, when tournaments were first held in Vets in 1955 it seemed cavernous, but the players soon adjusted. They loved the fact that each team had its own dressing room...