The Universe is Saying to Watch Softball
The journey to the geographic center of men's professional arena sports in North America this spring is all about pioneering women
For a while in New York, this felt like it could be a revival of 1994, when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup and the Knicks went to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. After the Knicks went down in the second round against the Pacers, there was still a chance for Dallas to be the center of men’s arena sports in North America with the Mavericks and Stars in the conference finals.
The Mavs did make it to the NBA’s championship round to face the Boston Celtics, while the Stars fell to the Edmonton Oilers, who will skate against the Florida Panthers for the Stanley Cup. But what of that phrase, center of men’s arena sports in North America?
The midpoint between Edmonton and Sunrise, Florida, is the town of Indianola, Iowa, about 15 miles south of Des Moines. Indianola is the home of Simpson College, the alma mater of Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan, who was an assistant coach there after graduating, but they do not have an ice hockey team. Simpson’s most recent trip to an NCAA Division III tournament in any sport was in women’s basketball in 2022, while the softball team went to the 1971 Women’s College World Series, where they were defeated by Illinois State.
The winner of the 1971 WCWS was John F. Kennedy College, which shut out Iowa State in back-to-back games for the title. If you’ve never heard of JFK College, that’s probably because it opened in 1965 and closed in 1975. Their women’s basketball team gained the school’s most acclaim, appearing in the 1974 Sports Illusrtaed swimsuit issue, which once upon a time was a thing, and even more once upon a time had articles.
JFK has never been accredited. Indeed, its one claim to distinction is its women's basketball team, which in a way it can credit to its close proximity to Iowa. No state in the U.S. turns out more good women players than Iowa. Of the 12 JFK Patriettes, eight are Iowans.
Fifty years later, Iowa is still pretty well known as a hotbed of women’s hoops, yeah?
JFK’s “proximity to Iowa” was its location in Wahoo, Nebraska, a town with a funny name, and famous for that when it became part of David Letterman’s Late Show. It’s 40 miles west of Omaha, which is on the Iowa border.
The geographic center of the NBA Finals is further to the east, in Peaks Mill, Kentucky, a place so in the middle of horse country that the next town over is called Stamping Ground. Go west a bit, and there are the neighboring towns of Simpsonville and Shelbyville, from which the Bed & Breakfast Association of Kentucky would like you to draw conclusions from and consider when choosing which state you visit for a bed and breakfast.
The horse angle gives the clear edge to the Mavericks, but the bed and breakfast part has to make you think New England has something cooking. Maybe it’s that breakfast. Celtics in five.
But what is the center of the North American men’s sports universe for these next couple of weeks?
Halfway between Indianola, Iowa, and Peaks Mill, Kentucky, is the village of Warrensburg, Illinois, whose Wikipedia page lists two “notable people,” 1970 Belmont-winning jockey John L. Rotz and Hall of Fame softball coach Margie Wright… who was part of the 1971 Illinois State team that beat Simpson College in their Women’s College World Series opener.
So, let this be your reminder to check out the Women’s College World Series? The NBA and NHL might be resting up for their finals, but championship sports are still right there to be watched.