Streaks Alumni Profile- Rich “Hawkeye” Kinney 1985

Today’s “Streaks Alumni Profile” features Rich Kinney from the GHS class of 1985. 

I had the opportunity to coach Rich in cross country. There were two things you could always count on with Rich, he was always go to work hard and you could have a great sports conversation with him. Whether it was practice or a meet, Rich always gave everything he had. A lot of cross country runners had little interest in football or basketball but with Rich, I could count on having good conversations. 

Sadly as Rich has aged, he does not appear to have gotten wiser. He is still a huge Hawkeye fan. 

I enjoyed him sharing his memories and sharing what he is up to today!! Rich is definitely one of the good guys!

GHS Sports / Activities

9th grade football, 10th-12th x-country, 9th-11th track, 9^th grade band, school paper

Favorite Teachers/Classes

Larry Diemer in Rhetoric, Hal Devore and Joe Patterson in American Studies, Dolores Ford in Journalism , Ms. Pennington in Spanish.  I'm sure Coach Massey would have been my favorite had I taken Psychology:).

Some of Best Memories of Growing Up in Galesburg/GHS

We played pickup basketball all over town. I was never big enough or good enough to make the Galesburg team, but we had a blast. One time, I got invited to play at Eric Johnson's backyard court. I was way out of my league but it was pretty cool. 

I was not a very good runner, and with asthma, my performances tanked when the weather got cold. But it was a great team and I loved competing for Coach Massey. 

I played one year of football in 9th grade for Coach O'Malley, weighing all of 95 pounds. He was a great coach as well. The practices were my games and I remember getting mentally geared up during last period. One time I ran a wingback counter through a gaping hole and got clocked by linebacker Brett Villarreal. I held onto the ball and my faculties, but the collision ripped my football pants open from crotch to knee. 

I did stats for the boys basketball team for a few seasons, working under the guidance of head statistician and Silver Streak legend Jay Redfern. 

My best buddy Barney Olson hosted a yearly "Masters" ping pong tournament.

Education After GHS

I went to THE University of Iowa and graduated in January of 1990 in Journalism and Mass Communication. This is where I met my wonderful wife Jennifer. Our dorm flag football team won 2 championships and I got to play in Kinnick Stadium and the indoor practice facility. Later, I went back to Western Illinois for 2 years and got a 2nd bachelor's in Geography (Meteorology) in May 1996.

Career

After graduation, I started in the lucrative world of small-town radio in Knoxville, IA, the "Sprint Car Capitol of the World", as News and Sports Director. I enjoyed doing Play-by-Play for sports and race night updates. I then moved on to WG(e)N in Chicago Geneseo, IL, where I was News and Sports Director for about 4 ½ years. My travels brought me to Galesburg several times for GHS-Geneseo football and basketball games, and it was a thrill to return to the alma mater. Some other highlights were broadcasting two consecutive state championship football games with the Green Machine, and a Geneseo super sectional basketball game in Rockford in front of 8,000 fans. 

I eventually realized that small town radio was not quite as lucrative as I initially thought. Finances, coupled with my general lack of talent and ambition, led me to abandon my dream of becoming the voice of the Hawkeyes. So, we headed south to Macomb and WIU.  I packed 72 credit hours into 4 semesters and eventually graduated with a Meteorology degree with some of my faculties intact. 

After graduation, I landed another non-lucrative job at a private weather company in Omaha. After 2 ½ years there, I was able to get into the National Weather Service in Davenport, IA as an entry level meteorologist. Within the NWS, we moved to Ankeny, IA, and Bismarck, ND, before eventually transferring back to the promised land in Davenport in 2014. 

In 2017, I was promoted to management as Warning Coordination Meteorologist, ending a 20-year stretch of working overnight or rotating shifts. Along the way, we had 3 sons and a daughter. 2 are Iowa alums, and our daughter will graduate from Iowa in May. All of our kids have jobs helping people or animals, which makes us very proud as parents.

It looks like an Iowa State shirt on Rich?

These Days

I was being hounded by the big, bad DOG(e), who was hunting for inefficiencies by lazy, entitled, federal employees (sarcasm added). So I opted to retire a couple of years early. My wife and I will be traveling, thrifting, and going to wonderful Daglum, ND to relax. Eventually we hope to be corralling some grandkids. 

We go to numerous Iowa sporting events each year (many with fellow Galesburg and Iowa grad Barney Olson). I also like to fix Lawn Boy mowers and other lawn equipment, and play the harmonica through my homemade tube amp. 

Early this year, my wife got me a fancy fitness scale and I've been working out for 2.5 months. After decades of mostly inactivity, my metabolic age was initially 67 (a tad high), but I'm down to 58. 

My older brother and I are training for the Quad City Senior Olympics on May 30th(sprints, football toss, and basketball shooting). When we're not working out, we often sit in the garage and discuss lawn equipment, grill technology, fire ring construction, and other high level topics.

Advice for GHS Students/Athletes

Don't worry if you are a late bloomer and you don't have everything figured out at a young age. Keep plugging away and you will eventually figure it out. Your day to day and year to year track record is very important. That includes your work and your relationships with others.