Looking for the 2/14/89 DM Register that coined Hilton Magic

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JunoSosa

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Oct 7, 2007
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Hi everyone:

Huge favor to ask-- does anyone have the February 14, 1989 edition of the Des Moines Register that was the origin of the "Hilton Magic" wording? I quote cyclones.com:

The now famous moniker for Iowa State’s home basketball facility was coined by Des Moines Register writer Buck Turnbull on Feb. 14, 1989, after the Cyclones stunned third-ranked Missouri 82-75. The morning newspaper included a headline that read “Hilton Magic Spells ‘Upset’ One More Time.â€￾

I would like to see an image of the front page with that exact headline if anyone has one laying around? I would possibly be interested in purchasing it. Thanks so much.
 

Cycsk

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The Parks Library has microfilm of Registers in the basement. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to find. Just give them the date and have them show you how to spool it on the machine.

P.S. Probably also an online digital archive way to access it.
 
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CycloneErik

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Hi everyone:

Huge favor to ask-- does anyone have the February 14, 1989 edition of the Des Moines Register that was the origin of the "Hilton Magic" wording? I quote cyclones.com:

The now famous moniker for Iowa State’s home basketball facility was coined by Des Moines Register writer Buck Turnbull on Feb. 14, 1989, after the Cyclones stunned third-ranked Missouri 82-75. The morning newspaper included a headline that read “Hilton Magic Spells ‘Upset’ One More Time.”

I would like to see an image of the front page with that exact headline if anyone has one laying around? I would possibly be interested in purchasing it. Thanks so much.

Wasn't it back in 1983 when we beat Missouri a different time?

Cycsk is right, check the microfilm collection. Otherwise, the paper would probably sell you one.
 

JunoSosa

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Oct 7, 2007
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Wasn't it back in 1983 when we beat Missouri a different time?

Cycsk is right, check the microfilm collection. Otherwise, the paper would probably sell you one.

Sadly the DM Register only has online archives going back to 2002. I checked. Has anyone tried to make a copy of microfilm? Is it legible?

(By the way, I'm in California, so its a bit tough to saunter into Parks.)
 

Cycsk

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Sadly the DM Register only has online archives going back to 2002. I checked. Has anyone tried to make a copy of microfilm? Is it legible?


Yes, it is legible. Not a perfect copy, but quite readable. You just pick the frame you want to print and it puts it on paper for you. They may have some machines that have better quality for viewing and some better quality for printing. They may even have an option now to send it to yourself digitally.
 

00clone

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I have several gigabytes of images from microfilm. Very legible.

Just take a flash drive to the library. If you find the image, you just click and save. Good to go.


Now Erik, don't take this the wrong way, since we're clearly in different fields, and everyone's different, but honestly, if I had gigabytes of images of microfilm, I'd feel like a gigantic dork.

(wait, unless the old Playboy's are on microfilm, then I'd be okay with it)
 

CycloneErik

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Now Erik, don't take this the wrong way, since we're clearly in different fields, and everyone's different, but honestly, if I had gigabytes of images of microfilm, I'd feel like a gigantic dork.

(wait, unless the old Playboy's are on microfilm, then I'd be okay with it)

If you're a PhD student and you're not a gigantic dork, that's when there's a problem.
 

ruxCYtable

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Wasn't it back in 1983 when we beat Missouri a different time?

Cycsk is right, check the microfilm collection. Otherwise, the paper would probably sell you one.

I agree with you. The phrase Hilton Magic was coined WELL before 1989. I don't know how this guy is getting the credit.
 

HFCS

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Even if they were replicas, a really cool "man cave" thing would be to frame a newspaper like that and also an old Chicago Tribune that coined "Cyclone" ripping through Northwestern.
 

Wesley

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I agree with you. The phrase Hilton Magic was coined WELL before 1989. I don't know how this guy is getting the credit.
We know when Hilton was built. It had to be after that Dec 1971 inaguration date.
AMES - James H. Hilton Coliseum (14,356) - SkyscraperCity

OOVCDPQJFHNLGBP.20090630184603.jpg
 
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bgprest

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A poignant side note... my dad was a huge Iowa State (and Iowa) basketball fan - ironically, he died in the early morning hours of 2/14/89. I guess he never got a chance to hear the moniker, "Hilton Magic." The Des Moines Register was sitting on the front lawn waiting for him to read it.
 

JunoSosa

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Oct 7, 2007
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I agree with you. The phrase Hilton Magic was coined WELL before 1989. I don't know how this guy is getting the credit.

Thanks ruxCYtable, CycloneErik, and everyone else--that's interesting. I pulled out my ISU basketball media guide and confirmed that the official story from ISU is indeed the Des Moines Register column on 2/14/89 by Buck Turnbull. However, it seems the spiritual start may have been the '83 Missouri game. I also looked up ISU wins vs. Top 10 opponents at Hilton and found these notable games in the 1980's sorted by date:

ISU 73, #10 Missouri 72 - OT (2/8/83)
ISU 72, #10 Kansas 70 (2/16/85)
ISU 77, #4 Kansas 74 (1/28/86)
ISU 73, #5 Oklahoma 70 (2/8/86)
ISU 102, #7 Iowa 100 - OT (12/19/87)
ISU 82, #3 Missouri 75 (2/14/89)

Prior to those upsets, the last Top 10 upset was: ISU 78, Kansas 72 - 2OT (1/13/69). So ISU went over 14 years without a major upset before the Barry Stevens game that earned him national player of the week honors from Sports Illustrated. Just for fun, I looked through the SI Vault for that exact article. Here it is:

View attachment 17518

Does anyone have anything else-- maybe a Daily article, or Ames Tribune that might use the word "magic" or "magical" (not necessarily in conjunction to Hilton) in reference to that '83 game? Thanks again!