Home Town Beefcake, Part 1: The Illinois Side

When I was growing up in the Quad Cities, I didn't think of it as a beefcake paradise.  I rarely went to a sports match.  I saw hunks in the locker room, of course, but it was always clandestine, a furtive glance here and there, since they perceived other boys looking at them as a threat.  They would yell "What are you looking at?" or "You got a problem?", or simply attack.

Now, 40 years after I graduated from Rocky High, I thought I'd check out the contemporary beefcake.  The Quad Cities is comprised of four main cities: in order of prestige, Rock Island (Illinois), Davenport (Iowa), Moline (Illinois), and Bettendorf (Iowa).  Plus there are about a dozen smaller towns that claim the right to be admitted to the Quint Cities or Sex Cities: Milan, East Moline, Silvis, Green Rock, Carbon Cliff, and so on.  It shouldn't be hard to find a lot of hometown hunks.


1. A modern, tattooed, ethnic minority Rocky High wrestler, quite a change from the endless Petersens, Jensens, and Svensons of my childhood.















2. A Rocky High swimmer who's missing a leg.


















3. Alleman, the Catholic high school, offers this provocative wrestling photo.












4. I couldn't find anything good from my alma mater, Augustana College, so on to Moline, the town next door and our arch-rival.  We thought of Moline High students as rich snobs.  Not as bad as the Betten-Dorks, but still looking down on us. The Bulldogs are still looking good, I see.
















5. Moline swimmers.

More after the break.











6. The town just east of Moline, called East Moline, naturally, was the site of the state mental hospital.  "You belong in East Moline" was a common insult.  But East Moline High also has a swim team.













7.  After East Moline comes Silvis, a good 9 miles from Rock Island. I don't believe I ever had any reason to go there. but my fake girlfriend was from Green Rock. 

Silvis, Carbon Cliff, and Green Rock students all go to United Township High School, but I didn't find any beefcake photos except this one of a track star recovering from shin injuries.














8. South of Rock Island is the town of Milan, which has the airport and the movie theater, and beyond that Coal Valley, which has the zoo.   Students go east to United Township, or south to Sherrard.  Here's a good pic of a Sherrard Tiger.









9. Even farther south are Preemption, Matherville, and Aledo, but those are more farming villages than part of the Quad Cities.  I found this photo of an Aledo shot putter, but I never heard of his rival school, South Hills, so it might be another Aledo.













10. The only community college on the Illinois side is Black Hawk, where I taught literature one semester long ago.  It only offers baseball, lacrosse, and golf.  But some students were kind enough to pose shirtless.

Not a bad beefcake showing.

Next up: The Iowa side of the Mississippi.