Many years ago, RATCOM Sports burst onto the scene in an effort to cover the great spectacle that is March Madness. The first RATCOM SPORTS March Madness Pool included about 20 people in Charles City. It was a humble beginning in 1991, but RATCOM SPORTS had set the foundation for success in the years to come. In 1993, we borrowed a moving truck from Robert Irsay and moved RATCOM SPORTS Headquarters to Iowa City. Most of our participants were still in North Iowa, although we began to branch out. Then California resident Rick Balkenende became the first RATCOM participant outside the state of Iowa in 1993. Chris Roethler handled the difficult task of acting as a regional coordinator for our "Charles City demographic". Upon Chris's promotion, newcomer Brian Balkenende did an exceptional job handling the participants throughout Floyd County.

RATCOM SPORTS continued to flourish throughout the 90's, and the field continued to expand as RATCOM SPORTS reached out to new territories. RATCOM SPORTS HQ also moved to Algona, then Ottumwa before returning to Iowa City before the 2001 Tournament. In the late 90's, technology became a more important part of RATCOM SPORTS. Most of RATCOM's commentary began to take place via email. A big event in our history took place in 2001 when Dan Tripp, Tom Hoesing, and Adam Penly of Avalon Networks built the crowning achievement: a website for RATCOM SPORTS. New features like the now famous RATCOM SPORTS Message Board were born. After Hoesing retired, Tripp and Penly advanced RATCOM's web presence in 2002. After Tripp and Penly retired, RATCOM SPORTS looked for a new web presence . Chris Roethler, with the help of new addition Paul Zillman, expanded Avalon's vision with a brand new website debuting this season. New features will debut this season, including live game broadcasts and video/audio highlights. Also, talented graphic designer Chris Maage gave RATCOM SPORTS a face lift by designing a new cutting edge logo.

Today, RATCOM SPORTS is bigger and badder than ever complete with a new efficient look for 2019. Last season featured participants from 15 states across 4 time zones and the proud legacy of RATCOM SPORTS will continue for years to come...

Head

Note from Andy Roethler

RATCOM Sports Chief Executive Officer

Andy

RATCOM Chief Executive Officer - Andy Roethler

Since the beginning of RATCOM, when pick standings were handed out on typed paper using a typewriter back in 1991, RATCOM CEO Andy Roethler has been behind it. The inventor of RATCOM Sports has been at the helm for 28 years and shows no signs of slowing down. The braintrust of RATCOM continues to provide new and interesting ideas for sports information to be delivered in a diverse and easy to access manner. Andy provides the main headlines and some of the editorial pieces of the site including the RATCOM Rant.

Chris

President of Basketball Operations - Chris Roethler

Chris was brought into RATCOM in the mid 1990's to assist in heading up North Iowa operations. Around the year 2000, Chris took on one of his current roles of heading up the Web Administration department as Chief Technology Officer. Chris' primary focus is to provide continued innovation and future direction of web applications and contest functions. Chris also contributes with additional editorials when needed.

Other Staff Contributors

Bill Tharp and Andy Schafer have provided advisory roles in regards to delivery of web content, contest rules and function. Both Bill and Andy are valued contributers to RATCOM Sports.