"Rush" of winter sports will leave us quickly

Let's not fool ourselves, regardless of the weather of the past few days. I'm writing this on the last day of January. Yes January, so we are still technically at the height of winter. We're straining, aren't we, to think we may be seeing early hints of spring. 

The height of winter gets harder to handle as you get older. I turned age 70 this past Tuesday. My health situation calls for a fair amount of exercise if I can get it. So I certainly avail myself like on days of the last few which have been so mild. I must continually remind myself "Brian, this is still winter." An experienced Minnesotan should have no trouble internalizing that. But it's amazing how often we must remind ourselves. 

Maybe an illusion gets built up with the days getting a little longer, so it seems there's more sunlight which there actually is. But the cold and potential snow of winter hover over us most definitely. I will still strive to get exercise. 

What else might help with our state of mind? Well at this stage of the calendar, it would most surely be high school sports. Shall we call it an elixir of some sort? I mean that in a positive way. And then when we get into mid and late March, the "rush" is over. And there really can be a sense of "withdrawal." "How can we get along without this," we might ask ourselves. I know I have. 

 

A turnaround

And you know what I find sad? Spring high school sports comes along and it is absolutely no substitute. It is a pale reflection, literally depressing as fans are forced to huddle in small numbers wearing jackets to deal with the frequent cold and wind. Mud often underfoot. We absolutely do not subject ourselves to this kind of discomfort in winter. It's all indoors.

Winter is a bonanza of fun and anticipation. I look at those little clusters of bundled-up fans/parents at spring sports and get quite the different impression. You might suggest they are there only out of obligation. And I commend them for doing that. It just seems like a night-and-day contrast with winter sports and the "March madness" mania. Is this contrast really necessary? Should we have more indoor sports in the immediate aftermath of the winter season? Pile into the gym bleachers again? 

 

Suggestion

I have tried to make a "cause" out of suggesting an inflatable cover for Big Cat Field here in Morris. St. Cloud State has been able to accomplish this at a stadium that seems just like Big Cat. St. Cloud State as an institution gives the impression that it is collapsing, with a stream of bleak headlines. Tearing down the Performing Arts Center? Tearing down the high-rise dorm "Sherburne Hall" which stood out on the city's "skyline?" Tearing down the education building at a place that was once known for developing future teachers? 

I am familiar with the now-closed SCSU education building, and I immediately think of its design which was avant garde at one time. No conventional classrooms, you know, as rooms closed off with walls and doors. The planners of the time went for "open space" where classes would meet. Just minimal barriers best described as partitions, really. 

So you could hear what was going on in the next room, or "space" as it were. Oh my, revolutionary and innovating just like a lot of concepts in education itself. Faddish I guess.

 

Hear the disco rhythm?

I'm afraid I have vivid memories of the 1970s. We can have fun recollecting the decade as with considering disco music and the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. The latter had the suggestion that we should poke fun at the local sheriff. I recall a serious op-ed about how Jackie Gleason should not have lowered himself to play the sheriff. Silly rabbit, he wanted the gig as a professional actor. Just like Burt Reynolds. 

Movies reflected what the public wanted, as they always do. 

The 1970s were the apex for St. Cloud State having its unfortunate image with partying, drinking and overall frivolousness. Years later I think all that came home to roost, as new generations of young people came along who realized that if they attend college, they should try to make it count for their future, choose a school with a good reputation. 

 

The image shows the St. Cloud State performing arts center which is suggested as "first on the list" for demolition. Seems shocking. Seemed like a nice building with performance halls. Interim president Larry Dietz says the demo will clear out an area in the middle part of campus. Seems like a cruel joke: open space as preferable to a building like this? It was opened in 1968. I bet it was a big deal when it opened, probably had a celebration.

 

Would anyone argue that St. Cloud State did not have a challenged image? Hah! Today it seems half the place is being torn down. The irony is that the school's athletic facilities have been built up steadily. I'm having a hard time reconciling that frankly. I'm sure there are reasons. 

I'm sure there's a reason why SCSU got a new football stadium for itself in 2004, even though a few seasons later the football program itself would be axed. It has still not been restored. So how do they justify the football stadium? They must have a way as with high school teams coning over to play on some sort of contract basis. I really don't know. But didn't those high schools already have their own fields? Oh, I suppose the fancy artificial turf place was seen as so much more desirable. I guess that's the way our Big Cat Stadium in Morris is perceived too. 

I think one of the biggest blessings of my life was that I never played football. Our culture lures boys into doing this. I suppose we still tell our boys that it builds character or whatever. I will repeat that I am 70 years old now. I don't have to worry about cognitive decline as a result of having played football. I don't have to worry about outright dementia as a result of having played football. 

Think of the tragedy for the men who are affected, and add to that the considerable burden for their family members who must in many cases become caregivers. Oh and the anxieties and sadness. 

Television drew us into football madness. 

We recently lost Bob Uecker

We can be nostalgic about the Bob Uecker Miller Lite commercial. "I must be in the front row." He was at a baseball game but certainly such commercials were stuffed all around football. 

"Don't just play football, young men, drink lots of beer too. Drink our brand, spend lots of money."  

Then along came Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 

 

Softball in March

But look at the inflatable cover for the St. Cloud State football field. I tried hitting various people around Morris over the head with my suggestion a few years back: "Think what that could mean here." Softball teams would be lined up to come here for games as soon as basketball ends. Perfect conditions all the time! Maybe some people have looked into the possibility. So maybe it's just not practical here? Out here in our prairie outpost of Morris? Where we can hear coyotes? 

But I think it would be oh so neat. It's a long-term goal perhaps. Just like it might be considered a long-term goal now for the MACA girls basketball team to be competitive with Minnewaska Area. I get in trouble sharing such thoughts. 

Oh by the way, the Tigers have to play 'Waska again this season: It's on Feb. 18 here in Morris. My goodness: We're justified worrying about that game, but maybe there is some discomfort at 'Waska too over whether their team should "let up" vs. us. Will their coach be under pressure? I would actually hate to see that happen.

 

Sydney Dahl

Minnewaska 76, BOLD 53

How about those Minnewaska Area girls? They continued their winning habit on Tuesday for the home fans, score of 76-53 over BOLD. Familiar names turned up as stat leaders. So it was Sydney Dahl and Megan Thorfinnson each with at least 20 points. 

This is a surprise: the game was tied at halftime! It was tied at 26-all. Something ignited the Lakers for second half play where they had the 50-27 advantage. Remember how our MACA Tigers trailed at halftime against Minnewaska? 

Dahl led the Lakers' scoring with 24 points. but it was Thorfinnson standing out in the 3-pointers department: four makes. Thorfinnson's point total was 20. Others scoring for 'Waska: Lauryn Ankeny 9, Addyson Kath 6, Alia Randt 5, Olivia Danielson 5, Jayda Kolstoe 3, Lauryn Stryhn 2 and Kendall Danielson 2. 

Thorfinnson was joined in the long-range shooting department by Kath (two 3-pointers), Randt (1) and Ankeny (1). Dahl led rebounds with seven. Uh-oh: The West Central Tribune has "Danielson" leading in assists with three. There's more than one Danielson! Oh well. 

Kath set the pace in steals with five. Ankeny who always seems to be all over the court had five blocked shots. 

BOLD's top scorer was Lainey Braulick with 14 points. Layla Pfarr made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points for the Warriors. 

Move over for the Lakers: they are 17-2. How can the Tigers fare against them next time?

  

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Minnewaska surges forward, MACA ponders future

The Minnewaska Area girls are staying right in sync with the kind of standards they have established season-long. Quite the winter of success over in Laker country, quite close to our Morris. 'Waska hired our activities director away from us and look how they're doing. The word on the street is that he left here for salary considerations. That's the All-American reason for a move, right? 

In terms of girls basketball at 'Waska, standards have been set optimally high. Congrats to our neighbors over by Lake Minnewaska. I have family connections to Glenwood. 

Those Lakers really punched down the accelerator in their recent game versus our MACA Tigers. Holy cow, a halftime lead of 58-4! I have seen this kind of struggling in Tiger girls basketball before. And I do think it is unfortunate. I talked to an old friend just this past week whose memory is as good as mine. And we both experienced the stress of trying to speak out about it. He recalled for me the coach of his daughter, a coach who he said was known to just tell the girls to "go out and have some fun." 

Could you imagine a boys coach being guided by that impetus? "Go out and have fun?" 

Well that particular coach had the position for three years and it was like pulling teeth to effect any sort of change back in those days. My recollection tells me that his third year was when the C-A kids first came over. That infusion of talent could not help his performance. Because, I don't think anything could. 

It would be nice if that coach were just a transitory bump in the road in our GBB program. But we should not countenance any mediocrity for any length of time. I would try suggesting as much and be totally beaten down by the town's "intelligentsia." They'd scold me for being such an alleged Neanderthal for thinking that a well-disciplined program seeking wins was to be cultivated. 

So it as a philosophical clash. Conflicts based on philosophy or ideology are always very intense and unpleasant. I treaded rough water. 

 

Explain this

Here's the irony: the progressive women's liberation advocates of the town, who by nature disliked me with great intensity, should have been on board with me. Odd, because while those people insisted on equal funding and resources for girls sports, they were indifferent about real competitive standards. So, "just go out and have fun." 

There's no reason I can't share the name of the coach I'm talking about: Steve Harter. Oh and there was another coach in the program's history that I could almost write a book about, or at least a chapter. That individual formed a very effective circle of friends/advocates from the "intelligentsia" that I reference - this was good for getting her a third year as coach. And then wouldn't you know that group got energized for an attempted fourth year. 

Keep in mind that the program's performance was mediocre - and without a doubt we had kids with athletic talent and potential. I should have been complimented for being the positive and optimistic one. But oh no, not in Morris MN. 

The community can be toxic in some ways. This other coach who was a woman forced the school board to go on record with a vote before it was all over, and I had a board friend who absolutely hated that. It was a divided vote. But it was in fact a thumbs-down. Oftentimes these changes are like pulling teeth. 

And now in 2025 we have a girls team that trailed Minnewaska 58-4 at halftime. Not 58-14 but 58-4. No typo there. And I don't think this should ever happen against a comparable-size school. I'm suggesting there is no excuse. 

How will my critics attack me now? Because certainly they'll find a way, all these people who form their networks of personal friendships which might be based in a church. They'd say you're being negative toward the players, embarrassing them. Well I'm trying to stick up for the players actually. But hardly anyone ever sees it that way. 

My birthday is this coming Tuesday, Jan. 28, and I'm trying to build up my own self-esteem some. Hope you understand that. 

The Minnewaska Area girls haven't paused to look back. Instead "the future is now" in Laker country unlike in Morris. So the Lakers - I don't even know who their coach is - won on both Thursday and Friday. They beat Montevideo on Thursday 66-45. Then on Friday they dispatched Wadena-Deer Creek 62-34. They'll play our Tigers again on Feb. 18 at Morris. I do hope we do better. But I wouldn't want to set the pointspread for that game.

Lakers 62, WDC 34

The Lakers are ranked eighth in Minnesota in AA. They plugged away against the Wolverines, assuming a 31-14 halftime lead. They had three big guns on this night: Megan Thorfinnson 19 points, Sydney Dahl 14 and Lauryn Ankeny 13. These three were complemented by: Addyson Kath 8, Olivia Danielson 4, Kendall Danielson 2 and Jayda Kolstoe 2. 

Thorfinnson was quite the shooter from long range: five 3-pointers. Kath had the other '3'. Alia Randt with her five rebounds led there. Kath led in assists with four while Ankeny set the pace in steals with four. Ankeny so often seems all over the court to get steals. On this night she also blocked two shots.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Another blazing first half for Lakers at home

Minnewaska Area girls basketball sails forward. Can anyone stop the Lakers? The Silverstreaks failed to do that Tuesday night. Fans gathered at the 'Waska facility overlooking beautiful and frozen Lake Minnewaska. The Lakers took care of business again. They handled the Silverstreaks of Osakis in the 69-42 final. 

This game followed the romp over MACA which was by an 82-25 score. Very clearly the "future is now" for the 'Waska program while our MACA is trying to fight out of some adversity. We can speculate on what Morris might need. IMHO Morris is a big enough school to be stable in athletic contests all the time. I'm especially discouraged by reports that players are leaving the program. 

It's so much more fun to be in a position like where Minnewaska finds itself. No diagnosis needed for any problem there. Quite the 100 percent opposite with a won-lost record of 14-2, 5-1 in section, 5-1 in conference. The Lakers have treated their home fans to an 8-0 record at the home gym. And fans will be gathering at the 'Waska gym again tonight (Thursday). The assignment is to face Montevideo. 

The 'Waska coach really prepares his team for a strong first half. As they did against MACA, the Lakers took total control in the early stages, this time to assume a 45-17 halftime lead over the Silverstreaks. (I love the "Streaks" nickname BTW.) 

'Waska backed off in the second half which turned into a stalemate. 

Tuesday was a night for Megan Thorfinnson to shine for 'Waska. She led the charge with 22 points. Sydney Dahl and Lauryn Ankeny each scored 11. Olivia Danielson contributed eight to the effort. Continuing: Addyson Kath 7, Jayda Kolstoe 7, Amber Peabody 2 and Berlynn Green 1. We saw three Lakers each making one '3': Kath, Ankeny and Thorfinnson. 

Ankeny attacked the boards for seven rebounds. Dahl and Thorfinnson each had three assists. Top steal producers were Thorfinnson 5, Ankeny 4 and Kath 3. Adding to Thorfinnson's well-rounded night was three blocks while Ankeny had two. 

Montevideo defeated Benson 70-46 on Tuesday.

 

'U' coach Dawn Plitzuweit

Setback for 'U'

Well, it was quite the closely-watched game at the home venue of the U of M Gophers Wednesday night. How about a matchup of nationally-ranked women's teams? Can't beat that for getting your mind off the cold temperature outside. The Gophers entered the game ranked No. 23, Michigan No. 24. 

It was a close game but Michigan carved out the narrow advantage by the time of the final horn. The advantage was five points, 70-65. Our top players did fine led by Amaya Battle who put in 25 points. She also produced six rebounds and six steals. Annika Stewart was sharp with her 16 points, two steals and two blocks in a bench role. 

Mainstay Grace Grocholski came through with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Good contributions from the nucleus but not quite enough. We had the rebounding advantage on the night, 37-36. We forced 17 turnovers. Our 13 offensive rebounds were an impressive stat. Heyer exceled in rebounds with her seven. 

Lots of pluses, just not quite enough against a fellow nationally-ranked team, those Wolverines. 

I should note that Michigan has one of these super-prodigy young women's basketball players, following in the footsteps of Caitlin I guess, and this Wolverine is Syla Swords, freshman. And what a neat name. I was worried that Sword's prowess could be a threat for our Gophers. I was right. She scored 23 points Wednesday, eight in the fourth quarter. 

Another top Michigan freshman happens to be from New Hope MN. Turncoat! Just kidding. Olivia Olson - nice Minnesota name - scored 19. Olson made a jumper to start the fourth quarter to put her team up 55-53. Swords followed that up with a 3-pointer. 

Still another freshman for the Wolverines, Mila Holloway, scored 12 points. It's quite the freshmen core but you know how it is now with the transfer portal. It's hard to count on much.

 

Addison O'Grady

Iowa bounces back

I love the Iowa Hawkeyes in addition to our Gophers. When the two teams finally meet, I'll have to root for the Gophers and we will have a chance. You know what Iowa did the last couple years with Caitlin Clark and others. That legend will never fade away. 

In the present the Hawkeyes have a notable transfer player this year in Lucy Olsen. Olsen had been in a drought going into Wednesday. Great to see her snap out of it in Iowa's much-needed 85-61 win over Washington. Wow! Olsen was a perfect eight-for-eight in shooting. Her point total was 20. 

Inside presence Addison O'Grady put in 17 points on eight of 12 shooting. The Hawks shot 72 percent from the field. 

Iowa was on a five-game losing skid going into this game. Things get tough for anyone in Big 10 play. Go Hawkeyes! Go Gophers!

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Watch those Gophers! Pray for our MACA Tigers?

Annika Stewart of the Gophers

Girls and women's basketball has made such strides since a year ago. One individual was the catalyst for this uptick. Riding the wave of this burgeoning popularity now is our University of Minnesota. The Gophers! What a wave of success has been building up for our "beloved rodents" as Patrick Reusse has called our U of M teams. 

I can now pronounce our coach's name correctly. I got a little tutorial from my fellow U of M advocate Warrenn Anderson. He suggested to think in terms of "Plitz-U-Wait." A little cumbersome but I can handle it. 

The Whalen era for coaching was a lesson in how we can make no assumptions about former superstar players as coaches. The U could have asked me about that. I have had my own experience albeit at a small town level with teams coached by "big names" from their playing past. 

"Whalen" may be easy to pronounce compared to the new one, but she left her U role in an uncomfortable state and has now landed with the Lynx. Certainly not as head coach with the Lynx. She will no doubt help with marketing. Whalen never came across in the endearing way that Caitlin Clark has, at least in my estimation. Supremely talented, yes. Some of these kids need time in their post-playing career to find a new role. We wish Whalen well of course. 

You can't argue with winning. So let's heap praise at present on "coach Dawn" of our Gophers who has her team at 17-2, 5-2 in the Big 10. I'll use her first name now because the spelling of her last name still throws me. Coach Dawn inspired her team for a thrilling fourth quarter comeback vs. Northwestern. I'm sure that had I been watching during our low point, I would've said "it's over." 

The Gophers trailed by eleven, 76-65, with 6:14 left to play at Evanston, Indiana. The Wildcats have been hovering around .500 in overall but have not been able to win in conference. They sure flirted with victory on Sunday afternoon. 

Nice to see Tori McKinney of the U finding her stride following a concussion absence. She showed no signs of being hindered as she put in 13 points. She had four assists too. A friend asked me: "Do you think she'll enter the transfer portal?" Tori is a freshman. Oh that's right, we always have to think about the transfer portal now. Well, I certainly hope we can retain Ms. McKinney. 

We sure couldn't have won without Grace Grocholski. Grocholski turned heads with her 27 points and ten rebounds. Yes a double-double. Amaya Battle was pretty instrumental too with her 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. Annika Stewart scored nine. 

Don't accuse me of forgetting to report the final score. It was 87-82!

Closer to home

Here in Morris there is concern about the immediate future of our MACA girls basketball team. Simply losing, even losing badly sometimes - ahem - might not signal that it's crisis-time. A final score or halftime score is not the end of the world, I can assure you. But there are reports coming to my attention that the program is losing players. 

I asked a fairly knowledgeable person if we can even count on the MACA girls program finishing the season. I might have expected a smile and a statement to the effect "oh it's not that bad." But maybe it is. This individual said 'I don't know." 

I know nothing about the coach who is in his first year. A good bet that it will be his last year. That is, if he and the team can even finish it out. Prepare for the worst? Hey, we always have to prepare for the worst. And, not just in sports, that's for sure. 

Look at the inauguration of the new president. Look at how the president comes right out of the starting gate doing drastic things. So much for the theory he was just bluffing. Zero bluff at all, the way it looks. He'll do it all, name it. Deregulation of the banks to the point where money in the bank could get wiped out? Promotion of "crypto" which I have about as hard a time understanding as how to pronounce and spell the U women's coach's name? "Coach Dawn." 

Trump will get involved with the Federal Reserve getting interest rates pushed as low as possible, maybe even into "negative" range. So many ideas that can only boost inflation. Restaurants everywhere will have to close. So we'll "hunker down" and just try to survive. 

The J-6 rioters

The J-6ers are all freed now. Such is DJT's ever-growing power, he'll influence future history books to make sure the J-6ers are heroes and people like Liz Cheney and Joe Biden are totally demolished. These two and others could quite possibly be thrown into prison for the rest of their lives. DJT will have all his own people in place like in the Justice Department and FBI. They can twist and manufacture any kind of case against anyone. There are now no limits. 

But most of us out here voted for Trump and absolutely love him, perhaps have even begun to worship him, literally. I guess I won't. I'm not sure MAGA would ever want to exact actual vengeance against such a small-timer as yours truly. 

 

Affecting UMM?

With DJT doing everything he now can to wipe out "DEI," what might that mean for our U of M-Morris which has its own "multi-ethnic building?" Can we escape the glare of the Feds? I mean, with our policies giving advantages to Native Americans? DJT appointed a Supreme Court majority that wiped out "affirmative action." 

The new regime in Washington totally means business. Oh, and what will that mean for all of Minnesota as a "blue state?" Most of you won't care, even if you lose your Social Security - a "socialist" program - because you'll just go to one of your "conservative" churches on Sunday and have your MAGA loyalty reaffirmed. 

Go ahead and buy your Bible from Donald Trump. I cannot stop any of this. May God have mercy on your souls.

 

Back on hoops

Was I on the subject of MACA girls basketball? Well. . . Looks like we're supposed to play a "big school" tonight, Tuesday. It's Willmar. Of course, school size does not say it all when it comes to competitiveness. But if Willmar is tough, look out. If this is a tough team, their coach might hear a whisper or two before the game about how the Cardinals should "let up some" vs. MACA. 

MACA trailed Minnewaska 58-4 at halftime last Thursday. I know that no team can be "up" all the time. But wouldn't MACA fans prefer seeing their team on the "up" side? What would it take? 

There was a time in this community when I'd be scolded for talking like this. "We don't judge success on wins and losses." Well, there is no sin in talking in terms of wins/losses. Or just being competitive. 

There was a time in this community when the "women's libbers" - a very liberal or progressive lot - would scold me for talking the way I do. And then I'd point out the paradox to them which they hated me for: liberals frowned on the sports ethos of "winning" as being rather Neanderthal. And I'd shout back at them: What would make women's liberation look better than for girls sports teams to be coached aggressively to play with the maximum competitive caliber? 

But I never won any popularity contests. Lose to Barrett in the first round? (Yes, Barrett by itself.) I'd say something and be upbraided. Now it looks like people such as me need to start speaking out again. 

Does our Morris school administration fundamentally not understand girls basketball? Let me clarify: it's just like boys basketball.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

MACA boys counter the weather blues

Feeling stung by how the MACA girls' game turned out on Thursday? There's some compensation from the boys' side. The MACA boys really took care of business Thursday against Paynesville. The Tigers were in a homestand that would carry into last night (Friday). Weather conditions were such yesterday that I felt the game at Tiger Center might be called off. No, the teams took to the court: MACA hosting Sauk Centre. 

What a successful homestand it was. 

Meanwhile the girls experienced quite the down note at Minnewaska Area. It is difficult to write about this. The MACA girls were held to four points in the first half. I have heard that Minnewaska is good. No one can deny that. 

I sure cannot observe with a coach's eye. However it is totally the fan's prerogative to try to offer analysis. Maybe I should put "analysis" in quotes. But hey, seems to me almost anyone could offer a constructive thought or two after a favorite team loses. Loses the way we have against Mayer Lutheran and Minnewaska Area. 

Ahem, I will say this: were I to be in charge, I would retreat back to basic conditioning. When all else fails, drill the players until they are totally winded, tongues hanging out as it were. And in this sense I might recall the movie "Hoosiers" with Gene Hackman. A wildly successful movie but it's from the 1980s, maybe getting a little lost in time. This guy who has been kicked out of college coaching gets a new chance at an Indiana high school from the superintendent who is an old college friend. "Buffalo State Teachers College." He takes over practices and makes clear from the get-go that the players will end up "in the best shape of their lives." 

The townspeople are befuddled at first. Of course the movie paints a rosy scenario for the whole thing. I think it overdid the "town drunk" character. But we see "coach Dale" lay the foundation for success with sheer conditioning. I hope the MACA girls can right the ship pretty soon. Had the game been at home and on YouTube, the announcer would have been beside herself trying to describe while saving face for Motown. A 58-4 halftime score? 

I know nothing is guaranteed in sports. People have been known to lecture me in the past about that. But like I say: It's a fan's prerogative to share basic theories. All that said, let's look at the Thursday night boys game: Tigers versus Paynesville at Tiger Center. A one-sided score favoring the orange and black. 

 

Boys: Tigers 80, Paynesville 42

We cruised up to 80 points with Alex Asmus providing 18 of those. Drew Huebner pumped in 15. 

The parade continued with Tyler Friesen scoring 14 and Jack Kehoe 12. We were up 49-21 at halftime and we outscored P-ville 31-21 the rest of the way. Ben Tiernan and Tyson Grove each scored seven points. Riley Asmus was held to four points. Jonah Huebner contributed two and Charlie Hanson one.

This helps us think spring!

The West Central Tribune has "Asmus" with three 3-pointers and we can confirm it was Alex - that's because Alex scored 18 points and Riley four. Just have to do a little arithmetic. A sportswriter has to have a careful eye for where siblings play on high school teams. It is so common. A rule of thumb for me is that I distinguish with full first names rather than just first initials. 

Tiernan and Grove each made one 3-pointer. Obviously a nice overall performance by coach Jacob Torgerson's crew in front of the home fans. 

Oh, the final score was 80-42!

Paynesville had one player creep his way into double figures and that was Matthew Hemingson with ten points. Otherwise it's single digits: Sam Brunner 9, Carter Flanders 6, Brayden VanderBeck 6, Elias Vig 3, Reed Johnson 2, Caden Long 2, Derek Mergen 2 and Esau Nelson 2. Hemingson made two 3-pointers and VanderBeck one. 

 

The Friday story: 57-49 win

Home wins on back-to-back nights was a treat for the locals. The Friday story was the 57-49 win over the Sauk Centre Streeters. Fortunately MACA did not have to go on the road on this blustery unpleasant evening. It's "polar vortex" time. I'm content in my house for the day. I keep my brain active writing this stuff. Oh it is a pleasure. 

Sorry I cannot find details online of the Sauk Centre game. I complain about this dearth of timely info quite often. It does no good.

 

Behind closed doors?

I wonder if the Thursday girls game at 'Waska resulted in any sort of private meeting or discussion at the administrative level at Morris. You can't blame the players. The players would be the first to deserve compliments since they are making the commitment. I just wonder how any MACA basketball team on any given night playing a reasonably comparable opponent - Minnewaska surely is - could be held to four points in a half. 

Any team that simply runs aggressively up and down the court should be able to do better. 

Again: conditioning. I think my words would be echoed by the old coach of the Hancock girls team. Regardless of how his career turned out, he created memories for the ages in his Hancock tenure. Try to strip away what happened at the end. You might say that's impossible. I demur. History is what it is. 

Hancock and Wheaton back in that era could be breathtaking with their quality of play, often exhibited at our UMM P.E. Center. Wheaton fans would fill half the place, nearly all dressed in red! In my newspaper articles I sometimes called that assemblage the "sea of red." Man how the P.E. Center could get crowded in those days. 

Today, I think the UMM administration would be concerned about the sheer wear and tear there. All the time for custodians to clean up and close down the place afterward. Today colleges are in such intense competition for students (read their money, or the money from their parents), the whole campus is managed like it has to be in mint condition! And I really think that's sad. 

Campus facilities are at their best, most useful when there are mass participation events. Example being the old UMM Jazz Festival. That would be in the legendary Jim Carlson years. We didn't know how good we had it.

UMM music today would appear to be in a state of rapid deterioration. I can underscore that with empirical facts. I like to use words like "empirical" to try to impress UMM faculty. As if I could succeed with anything in that regard! But UMM faculty are far more pleasant to interact with now, compared to the days when there was an irritating effete element out there. 

 

Breath of fresh air

The people who remain as UMM faculty now in our challenged times are relatable folks. But will UMM even survive? That is now the question. 

Perhaps the best defense we have is that Minnesota continues to be a blue state. But now with Trump taking charge again from D.C., will the screws be turned on Minnesota along with other blue states? Because, Trump is a totally political animal who believes in all-out retribution. If Liz Cheney is put on trial, I hope and pray she does not get the death penalty. But prepare yourselves, y'all.

Addendum: Back in the years of Wheaton and Hancock preeminence in girls basketball out here, nobody even talked about Morris as being a contender for anything, ever. You might have a hard time believing that but it's true. So I tried speaking up about that and got all sorts of enmity directed at me. Hoo boy. The effete element of this town put a target on my forehead for a prolonged time. Another term I have used for them is "intelligentsia." "All we care about is academics." Well, go sit under a cow.

I'll name-drop with the old Wheaton and Hancock coaches: Earl Steffens and Dennis Courneya, Courneya being the one with the ignominious exit. Let's be frank: prison time. Sin is a trait of the human condition, n'est-ce pas?

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Was it the flying clipboard? Cherry turns back our Tigers

Cherry 78, Tigers 64

The headline reads "Tigers run the table in back-to-back games." Would that this headline was referring to the MACA Tigers. It's in reference to our opponent. Our opponent of Saturday: Cherry. Our Tigers would have liked to be cherry-pickers but it was the Tigers of Cherry who prevailed. 

The dateline of the article indicates the game was played in "Iron." That rings a faint bell with me. I've heard of "Mountain Iron-Buhl." But silly rabbit, this game was played in Perham. I had to consult an alternative source. I did a check and found there is no MN town simply named "Iron," not even on the Iron Range! So I don't know where that came from.

Strong start by MACA Tigers

For a time in the Saturday game, things looked good for the MACA version of the bengals. Indeed we were up by eight points at halftime. Thanks to the "Newsbreak" site for providing this background. The coverage reports "the Cherry Tigers boys basketball team had to dig deep." And they had to deal with potential fatigue, as this game was their third in three days. They are highly-touted in Minnesota class 'A' these days, indeed ranked No. 1! They are unbeaten. They upped their season record to 15-0 with a 78-64 win at the expense of MACA. 

It was our Tigers who looked fatigued in the second half. Our halftime lead was obliterated, yes. 

"The Tigers (of Cherry) dug in," the "Newsbreak" article reported. 

 

Animated, yes

Cherry senior guard Carson Brown was quoted: "Coach was not a happy camper when he came to the locker room. It was my first time in three years I saw a clipboard flying." 

Ah, the "flying clipboard." To be honest I am not amused about this. It's excessive emotion especially at the high school level IMHO. 

I credit the Cherry squad for finding the tools and drive to surge so convincingly in the second half. I do not care to give credit to such a volatile coach. 

Cherry outscored our bengals 40-18 in the second half. What got into them? Or, what happened to our MACA squad? Looks like Cherry went to a 1-3-1 zone defense that injected momentum. It's not normally the Cherry style. 

Cherry was coming off a Thursday and Friday regimen that could have left them with dead legs or diminished focus. Let's consider: traveling more than two hours in poor road conditions Thursday that got them to their appointment for playing Little Fork/Big Falls. Outcome was 92-64 win. 

The Friday appointment was to play Esko, a team known to be physical. Again the Cherry boys looked like the top-ranked team: an 82-70 win. 

My, another game assignment on Saturday. Now it was our MACA Tigers' turn to square off vs. the Class 'A' juggernaut. Prospects looked terrific at halftime for us. But it's just half a game. Cherry clamped down in second half play. They roll forward with top-ranked status most intact. Congrats to them. Certainly our Tigers impressed with first half shooting. Looks like the Cherry zone got to us subsequently. 

Cherry showed its resilience in last year's state tournament with three games in three days. 

 

It catches on

The idea of throwing a clipboard may have gotten lodged in the Cherry players' minds! Because after the win, senior Noah Sandquist made a toss in the locker room. I remember the old story of Minnesota Viking Carl Eller throwing a blackboard in the locker room! You'd have to be careful disciplining Carl Eller. Oh, those Vikings of yore! Seems like almost a fairly tale to be looking back. 

I once pondered with a friend about why Carl Eller seemed so intimidating as a lineman. My friend suggested it was because Eller's arms just hung down as he made a charge toward the QB or anyone holding the ball. A TV commercial got done in which QB John Brodie expressed fear of Eller when Eller was on the screen with him. They were advertising a kids' football simulation game. 

In their demo, Brodie called a screen pass and Eller called a blitz! The screen pass is a perfect call vs. the blitz, so when the play was done, Eller rears up and says "I'll see you Sunday, John!" Brodie feigned being terrified.

The Cherry Tigers gave a perfect example of the sheer resilience of youth with their recent stretch of success packed into a short timespan. Plus, dealing with the winter elements. Oh to be young again! So I don't credit the clipboard-throwing. I appreciate finding the game coverage on this Wednesday morning. It's hard finding coverage of our MACA Tigers on a timely basis. I wish that could be remedied. Morris can be a pretty sleepy community. 

Well, maybe the incentive could come from Chokio-Alberta. I know that community can get energized. I spent many years covering the C-A Spartans. I'll never forget it. On most mornings I see Neal Hofland at DeToy's Restaurant in Morris. Popular as he is within MACA sports circles, let's never forget what he did in C-A. I often remind him of his stock-in-trade football play: the toss-sweep. If the Tigers have a big game coming up, I'll say to him "use the toss-sweep." Memories of Jon Hallman and others. 

Cherry's second half surge, impressive as it was, may have taken something out of them. Let's consider that before the game, "everybody said we could play another one on Sunday," Brown was quoted saying. "But afterwards, it was 'no, thanks.' " 

Three games for Cherry in three days, two on long road trips. Not facilitating weather either. They had a three-hour bus ride to get to Perham for a 2:30 start. On the trip home after the Morris game, the bus lost its windshield wiper, it was noted on "Newsbreak." It looks like the Newsbreak coverage originated in the Mesabi Tribune. Way up north, yes. 

The Cherry coach is Jordan Christianson.

 

Riley Asmus at the fore

The kmrs-kkok website doesn't give us much these days in the way of Tiger coverage. We're lucky to get "scores." But this morning I see they have our two top scorers from the Cherry game: Riley Asmus 15 points, Ben Tiernan 14. We also see that MACA has a 6-5 record. We do obviously continue to miss Brett Miller at the radio station.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

'Waska girls pummel Litchfield for 11th win

Everything is coming up roses for the Minnewaska Area girls basketball team. It is a pleasure for yours truly to stay on top of the considerable success. The recent scores have me wondering how they have lost any games at all. A glance at the "Minnesota Scores" site shows they have in fact lost two: to New London-Spicer and Sauk Centre. I'd bet on the Lakers for any re-match. 

Just take a look at how the 'Waska squad has been taking charge in the recent contests. The scores are the type that get me wondering if there's some discontent from opposing fans re. alleged "running up the score." That's always a difficult issue to process. I mean, the players are out there on the court to try to execute the game properly. If the second-stringers are out there, they want the opportunity to show what they can do. 

A game's score is just a couple of numbers. Get over it. It just fades into the historical record. If you think the opposing team is being too intense, take that as a challenge to see if you can stop it. And then everyone shake hands at the end of the game. 

Look how our girls team in Morris got mashed by Mayer Lutheran. Holy cow. Perhaps it was a mistake for MACA to be put in the situation of having to play that high-powered private school. Usually I'm scared of the Catholics! The Lutherans can have their own firepower, n'est-ce pas? Shall I assume they are ELCA Lutherans? But let's not get all religious here. A team might want to say an extra prayer when taking the court to play the Minnewaska Area girls. I know the MACA Tigers would be advised to do that. Not exactly a scintillating season for our Tigers. 

I need to emphasize that I would prefer writing my post today about MACA, as I live in Morris and try to support Morris Area High School, especially our instrumental music program. Alas, I have difficulty finding game info from other media about the Tigers. I have much greater access to info about the 'Waska Lakers. So it is a pleasure for me to share an update about those Lakers. They are 11-2 now.

I have family connections to Glenwood.

The "Minnesota Scores" website is a super reference generally speaking but you cannot take all the game scores to the bank. They have a 55-25 score for the Litchfield game. That's one-sided enough. But the reality is that the Lakers turned on the jets to defeat the Litch Dragons 73-25! Reminds me of the game scores with the old Hancock GBB regime under a coach whose name ended up buried in infamy. That's a fact: he ended up serving prison time.

A Twitter page ("X") informs me that the 'Waska Lakers in the image are Olivia Danielson and Megan Thorfinnson. The photo, dated June 9, 2024, was taken after the two led the Lakers to a win over Northome-Kelliher at the "BreakdownUSA" Summer State Invitational. The Twitter caption did not specify left/right. I wish I could recognize these kids myself.

 

Minnewaska 73, Litchfield 25

The game was played at Litch. The Litch fans were troopers sitting through this one. The halftime score was 36-16. The Lakers turned it on even more in the second half, to the tune of 37-9. 

Three Lakers were at the fore in scoring with double figures. Sydney Dahl poured in 19 and made a 3-pointer. Lauryn Ankeny followed with 17 points. Megan Thorfinnson put in 11. The rest of the list shows Jayda Kolstoe 8, Olivia Danielson 7, Addy Kath 3, Kendall Danielson 3, Alia Randt 2, Amber Peabody 2 and Phemie Oeltjen 1. 

The West Central Tribune reports that "Danielson" made a 3-pointer but it doesn't say which one. Since both the Danielson girls scored at least three points, we sure can't assume. I know it's tough as a writer being on top of all this. It is common for siblings to play on teams. You have to make a mental note about all these things early in the season. And it's still hard. 

Thorfinnson also made a 3-pointer. Litchfield alas did not have anyone in double figures scoring. Isla Dille had the team-best with nine. She made a '3' as did Kelsey Palmer. 

 

Boys on the short end

The 'Waska boys hoops team is also coming off a game versus Litchfield. The Lakers did not fare so well in this contest: a 63-57 defeat. 

Here's a rundown on the 'Waska scoring: Tenzin Dahl 15, Levi Johnson 13, Tristan O'Neil 9, Marc Gruber 7, Connor Frey 6, Kaiden Harvey 5 and Owen Meulebroeck 2. Johnson made three 3-pointers while Frey and Dahl each made two and O'Neil one. 

Dahl was top rebounder with six. Palmer and Meulebroeck each had four assists. Palmer and Harvey each had two steals and Luke Danielson blocked a shot. 

'Waska has been blessed with "Danielson" student-athletes. I notice Dahl with both genders too. 

Litch was led by Matthias Bruning with 25 points. He made five 3-pointers while Alex Medina made one.

Out and around

It is Sunday. I shall have to see if the Caribou Coffee oven is working yet. I like to grab a couple hot sandwiches on Sunday morning. Caribou Coffee at Willie's has a long history of problems. Many weeks have passed since their oven went down. I could list other issues from their past too. Maybe it would help if Willie's had more competition. 

It is Sunday so I'll have to consider church at First Lutheran. We just got word of our pastor's impending departure. He was an interim to begin with. When will the issue finally get forced for First Lutheran and Faith Lutheran to come together? There's really no reason for a division in the first place. It's not like there is philosophical separation. Both are ELCA. We are the gentle Christian denomination, not so distracted by political matters or MAGA devotion. And that actually hurts us. 

America's Christians have swung rather wildly in favor of the whole Trump thing. Might that be fading now? Are more Americans waking up to how Trump is really a dangerous fool? Weren't you almost embarrassed to see him at the Carter funeral? I hope he wasn't defecating into his pants that day. 

OMG look out, the Trump tariffs are going to push the prices of everything much higher! Will our military be sent to try to take over foreign countries? Do you care about this? Can I persuade anyone? Are you comfortable with the Christian faithful being on board with this man? Found responsible for sexual assault? And y'all don't care? I pray to God.

Glenwood Lutheran Church

So it is Sunday and I think Glenwood Lutheran is doing much better than our Morris ELCA churches. Morris has been hurt by having an institution in town, UMM, that can get unhinged with political opinions sometimes. And the main flashpoint has been gay rights. It is quieter now. But for a time the school burst forward with gay advocacy to a degree that alienated many local residents. 

The ELCA approved of gay ordination but that matter got blown out of proportion. There was a flow of people from our local ELCA churches, with many "refugees" landing at Good Shepherd. Glenwood has no local institution behaving like UMM. Truth be told, UMM is humbled now. It has to concentrate on its very existence. 

IMHO the UMM administration should have done more through the years to tamp down political talk, to tell the students "you are here to seriously pursue your studies in preparation for the rest of your lives. You are not here to politically crusade from right or left or wherever." 

I felt many students were treating this like a "game" anyway. Choose up sides, in effect. You aren't going to change the world. Now we'll see if UMM can survive out here where the coyotes howl.

Oh, there was this little matter of the "Northstar" publication on campus too. Was anyone minding the store? And don't talk to me about "First Amendment." I know mass communications law.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

We can root for Gophers, long way from California

Amaya Battle, 21 points Wed.

A beautiful sight of snow falling down on this Thursday morning on the prairie. It's especially beautiful when you realize what is happening in California. We have always felt a tendency to be envious of those in California. "Endless summer" or something close to that. But earthquakes. And now fires. 

We look at the snow falling in Minnesota and realize it's mid-winter according to the calendar. Are you feeling a "letdown?" I mean, with the holidays receding? We might look for a special inspiring spark in the world around us. 

So for me as I surveyed the news this morning, how about the Gophers women's basketball team of the U of MN? That's it! A bright shining light to maybe make our winter a little shorter. Last year we were all riveted by Caitlin Clark. This year the wellspring is right within our Minnesota. Feels more appropriate. Iowa is still good but I'm certain the Gophers can give them a run for their money. 

Dan Sayles and I have been waiting for the Gophers to become ranked nationally. We haven't exactly been prominent over the past few seasons. We don't have "rep" (reputation) going for us, not like Iowa. Looks like the situation is in the process of being remedied! 

Good luck to the people dealing with the California fires. That's a long way from us. We can feel heartened living here in Minnesota with no such menace. We might get the occasional blizzard. But we have quite ample snow removal means. Cold? We certainly are knowledgeable about outerwear for dealing with that. 

Now, on to focusing on basketball. Such a reliable sport because it is played indoors. An intense sport but certainly safe when compared to football. It has been growing on the women's side over the recent past. Let's admit the trend was started by one person: you-know-who. 

Today part of the focus is on Paige Bueckers, a Minnesota native. Maybe she would have committed to Minnesota if the program was where it's at now. But she dissed this state and went to Connecticut. Now she's hurt. She didn't even suit up last night. UConn spokesmen have been a little vague addressing her status. That signals to me anyway that she's probably hurt worse than we might have thought. 

Meanwhile let's say "Ski-U-Mah" for our Gophers. I still don't know what that means. And I still can't handle the last name of our U women's basketball coach. I can't handle it for spelling or pronouncing. So I refer to her as "coach Dawn." Looks like she deserves lots of credit for how the team is doing now. Our Gophers downed Rutgers 76-50 on Wednesday night. 

Our record of 16-1 would seem to call for national recognition, n'est-ce pas? 

 

Viewpoint from Morris

I find it so therapeutic to be enthused about something in connection to the U of M. The mood cannot be bright here in Morris where we have our U branch. Lots of discouraging things happening with our U of M-Morris. How do we turn around this trend? When you stop and consider that we're in such a sparsely-populated region? 

The woes of our UMM have compounded our post-holidays letdown (at least mine). My mood may be more fragile because I live alone. 

There has always been some turbulence in my relationship with UMM. Right now I have had to deal with such unwelcome news: the virtual "death" of the symphonic winds program. That is UMM's "band," to use the more commonly accepted term. The other term has always gotten me to thinking about Spinal Tap's "Break Like the Wind" tour! 

Well, that levity aside, let's think about the unthinkable: the demise of UMM's "band" or "symphonic winds." There will still be a band but it will be a combo of whatever students are left and "community." Crookston has done it this way for some time and I always figured "well, that's Crookston." We are a notch or two better than that. 

It's "new" all right.

A "community band" or "community choir" is fine on its own terms outside of the U's walls. Our community band should have been featured all through the years at the Killoran facility at East Side Park. It hasn't been? That's just more stupidity and short-sightedness on the part of our Morris community. Years and years have passed. Does anyone care? Put "Does anyone care?" on the water tower. 

Now we have ensembles put forward at UMM that are a combo of students and "community." And I'm sure nearly all of these "community" members will be upper-crust financially, i.e. like lawyers' wives. Well good for them. Maybe they'll have fun. But I no longer see why my personal family fund for UMM music should continue to exist. I put my toe in the water recently for changing it, to have it transferred to the "big boys" at the Twin Cities campus. 

Oh heck let's call it the "main campus." Jack Imholte is deceased now. I wonder what "The Silver Fox" would think of the demise of "symph winds." I have a shirt in my closet with "symph winds" on the front. A collector's item now I guess. 

I got word that a UMM rep wanted to speak to me about my considered change to the Fund. I had to back off. I live here in Morris and I have to co-exist with the pushy and pretentious community leaders, many of whom actually treat Morris like a way station. I felt that I could not turn my back, not that this stance will win me any points locally. I have made generous $ contributions to Morris Area High School instrumental music. I have set up the family fund for UMM music. But I cannot shed the image of being rather a pariah. 

A lot of this goes back to ugly community controversy of the 1980s. Self-interested fools and cliques all over the place. To this day I have to watch my back. My only incentive, ever, was to try to look out for the best interests of the young people in our local institutions. People would suggest to me I was being "drastic" or they'd say "this isn't the time to be saying this" or "you're not the one to be saying it." Jim Tanner looked me in the eye and said I was "negative." But I don't think anyone ever told me to my face I was "wrong." 

Today I am marking time at my residence out on Northridge Drive. Watching the snow come down gently through my picture windows facing north. And being thankful we're not in California. We're in Minnesota where we can proudly root for our Gophers women's basketball team. Way to go, coach Dawn! And "Ski-U-Mah!" 

Way to go Amaya Battle who led the Gophers in scoring Wednesday with her 21 points. She also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals. So much talent. Can we overcome Iowa? Iowa must be nervous because they know the standards they have to try to live up to. Too much pressure on student-athletes sometimes.

Addendum: Remember the big dust-up with the Don Imus radio/TV program and the Rutgers women's basketball team? I wonder if Rutgers has the same coach now.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com