The Moline Morons

Looking for beefcake in my home town of Rock Island,Illinois has proven fruitless.

Too little, late.












But Moline, the town next door, is a beefcake paradise.

It literally abuts Rock Island.  Five blocks from our house, 18th Avenue in Rock Island instantly became 19th Avenue in Moline. 

But the two towns could not be more different in structure and ambiance.

Rock Island was the poorest of the Quad Cities, with 15% of the population under the poverty line. Moline was richer.  Not as rich as Bettendorf, across the river, but only 5% of the population under the poverty line.

Rock Island was about 20% black.  Moline, almost all white.

When I was in college, Rock Island's main employer, J. I. Case Company, closed.  Many young adults left  town.  Some of the grade schools were demolished, no longer needed.  Rock Island became a town of the past.

Moline's main employer, John Deere, is still around.

Look at Moline High -- all glass and steel, sleak and modern.  We were going to high school in a relic from the 1930s.


Of course, Rock Island had the Arsenal Island, Augustana College, the Centennial Bridge, the Hauberg House, and Harris Pizza. What did Moline have? A mall.

Their high school team was the Maroons (the color),but of course we called them the Moline Morons. 








They had better training facilities and high-end coaches, so they usually won the games.






Looks like they still have excellent fitness facilities.









Ok, what's with the proliferation of beefcake photos of the swim team? It's almost as if they are bragging.
















Plus wrestling, track, football, tennis, and even powerlifting.

Ok, Moline athletes are buffed.  I get it.












But at least at Rocky High, we weren't all blond.