On Thursday (not Friday), MACA boys fall 63-62

The best-laid plans for covering MACA boys basketball got thrown for a loop on Saturday. I was of the understanding that the Tigers played the night before against ACGC. That's because the MAHS school calendar informed us that the MACA boys would play ACGC on Friday night, Dec. 5, here.
On Saturday I expected to get the game info from my usual media source. For a few moments I wanted to scold that media source for its apparent negligence, failing to cover the game. I had budgeted space on my blog to write about the game. I would also report on the MACA girls basketball game played on Thursday. I did in fact compile a report on the MACA girls, but for the second straight game, the individual point totals as reported in the Willmar newspaper did not add up to the team total. That is a pet peeve of mine. I asked coach Dale Henrich for some help after the first game but got no response.
Maybe the coaches feel they needn't respond to communications from media writers who are not corporate-connected. No one buys advertising on my websites - I have two. The Morris newspaper, by comparison, gets absolutely drunk, figuratively speaking, filling its product with a pile of paper advertising, much of it for businesses located outside of Morris. In fact, the Morris-based advertising gets lost in the shuffle. One just wants to heave the whole pile into some sort of waste receptacle, instantly.
Let me put it this way: Even if I did a lot of shopping, I wouldn't be interested in paging through even a portion of all that. . .crap. When I shop, it's because I need certain things, not because I see a picture of something in an advertising circular. I'll go to Eul's or Ace Hardware if I need some sort of hardware item, like a caulking substance. I shop at Willie's for daily food needs but I just buy what we need. When you study ads or assemble coupons, you just end up 1) buying things you don't need, or 2) buying certain varieties or brands of things - items not in line with what you really want (e.g. "low cal" or "sugar free").
So, the MACA boys basketball team did not play on Friday as was announced on the school calendar. They played Thursday. A source tells me the change was because of an issue with ACGC, not here.
I think it's important for the MAHS school calendar to be adhered to. I remember last spring, I took the family to MAHS for the jazz band concert. I was going by the school calendar which said the concert would begin at 7 p.m., so we arrived at about 6:40 or 6:45. Halfway to the entrance, we came upon a school district employee who was a friend of ours, and got informed that the concert would be at 7:30. That was going to be too long to wait. We went to McDonald's for ice cream cones and then went home. This was before the McDonald's parking lot got restricted by that fence.
Why was the band concert changed? I can only go by talk "on the street": Apparently because of all the re-scheduled spring sports events, the sports schedule had gotten clogged, and too many kids weren't going to be back in time for the 7 p.m. concert.
So, it was sports. Should we be surprised? Sports takes precedence. It takes precedence over a one-time concert by a program that has infrequent concerts. I suppose kids were off playing golf, running track or whatever, like they do four days a week, and sometimes on Saturday, and so the band program had to adjust. It's never the other way around. Sports takes precedence. That's the way it is, and always will be, apparently.
 
ACGC 63, Tigers 62
So, the MACA boys basketball game was played on Thursday, not Friday. I'm happy to report on the game belatedly. The Tigers lost for the second time against one win. ACGC soared to a 4-1 record with its Thursday success here.
The Tigers led 31-28 at halftime. But the visiting Falcons came on strong to outscore us 35-31 in the second half. The Tigers were crushed at the end when Brody Larson of ACGC completed a three-point play with ten seconds remaining. Noah Grove nearly wrested the lead back for MACA but his 3-point try was unsuccessful.
Alex Hendricks was a nemesis for the Tigers. Falcon Hendricks made four 3-point shots on his way to posting 21 points, a total that led the Falcons. Larson scored just seven points but had the clutch success, along with nine assists for the game.
The Tigers made 26 of 65 field goal attempts. Eric Staebler was prominent offensively as usual. He scored 24 points and snared 13 rebounds. Jacob Zosel put in 13 points and Sean Amundson 12. Noah Grove supplied seven points followed by Ian Howden, Jordan Arbach and Andrew Goulet each with two. Staebler made two 3-point shots and Zosel one.
Zosel had five assists and Amundson had four steals.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run": a 1974 staple

Famous people are often known to live on the edge. It has been said of successful pro athletes that "they have no fear of failure." Perhaps this is a psychological trait really needed to "be in the arena," to perform under those Klieg lights.

The Beatles were the epitome of fame. Post-Beatles, Paul McCartney wasn't about to feel any inhibitions. "Red Rose Speedway" had its own decent impact. "Live and Let Die" totally made the grade as top-tier pop music. We shouldn't be surprised, as the stuff was coming from a former Beatle. But he was "former."
Could McCartney at least come close to the pace and quality of top pop music, that characterized the whole Beatles' reign? Would he be a "retro" attraction, capitalizing mainly on past fame? He surely could have chosen that route. He would never have any holes in his shoes.
McCartney was not about to be so confined. He innately sought to create music that would get in front of the world's masses. What power! I have long been mesmerized by the sheer power that songwriters have. I am in awe of Paul McCartney, even in spite of some of the sloppiness he showed post-Beatles. At his best he was good as ever.
It was after "Red Rose Speedway" that the iconic Paul set out to make an album that would reach higher heights. These heights, he and his associates hoped, would parallel what the Fab 4 did in their glory days. We read that Paul and wife Linda began writing songs at their Scottish retreat. We don't know how much real input Linda had. We have to give her the benefit of the doubt unless shown some real evidence to the contrary. I question whether she had the real background to create music at the highest commercial level.
They say "politics ain't beanbag." Well, to create music at the highest commercial level isn't nearly as easy as it might seem. The songs themselves can seem so simple. Consider some lyrics by Hal David. You might look at that material, shrug and say, "oh, I could write stuff like that." Just try. It ain't "beanbag."
Paul McCartney was the consummate professional who with his fellow Beatles had "paid their dues" in Hamburg, Germany, gaining professionalism that would prove absolutely essential.
In the post-Beatles period, Paul faced a new and awesome challenge. Part of the Beatles' success was that it came from four individuals, each of whom could contribute something special. Remember, Ringo contributed the title for "A Hard Day's Night!" Let's give Linda McCartney the benefit of the doubt, at least in the sense she may have contributed good raw ideas. The "Wings" group had just completed its 1973 tour.
 
Music from when we're age 19
1973! That was the year I graduated from high school. "Wings" was about to ascend to its apex year, and this was in my first year after high school. The popular music of one's freshman college year - or, if you didn't attend college, music at age 19 - is seared permanently into one's consciousness. It is our first year of meaningful independence. We stretch our legs having fun. My friends and I would go to the bowling alley in Morris and hear Wings sing "Jet" on the juke box. Equally popular was the title song from that album, "Band on the Run." 
This was the album that demonstrated that Paul wasn't going to be any retro act. He plunged forward with new music that riveted us. He lived life "on the edge" as he embarked on this recording project. We learn that he had become "bored" with recording in England. Why? I can't understand his thought process. There were times when John Lennon couldn't either.
Paul wanted an exotic place to go and record. He chose Africa: Lagos in Nigeria.
Denny Laine became like "a new Beatle." He was a fixture in Wings. Outside of Paul, Linda and Denny, there would be much turnover in the group. The guitarist and drummer both quit just before the trip to Africa. Why? Were they wary of traveling to Africa? That might be justified.
The core group members arrived in Lagos. A military government reigned. Oh my, there was corruption and disease. The studio had a ramshackle quality. Paul started playing drums and the lead guitar parts.
The musicians could have been killed during this stay. "Living on the edge," Paul with Linda took a walk one evening contrary to advice they'd received. They were robbed at knifepoint. The thieves even made off with some musical material on paper and tape. Did this represent a permanent loss of valuable musical material? My research doesn't answer this.
 
Why smoke?
The perils don't end here, as Paul suffered a very serious self-inflicted calamity. He began gasping for air while singing. He turned white and complained of not being able to breathe. A heart attack? Would fresh air help? He was taken outside into the hot air. Now he seemed worse and he keeled over. Linda feared a heart attack but it was determined that Paul had been smoking too much! The diagnosis was a bronchial spasm. Why would a singer engage in this filthy habit at all? He's lucky he can still sing as well as he does.
Which reminds me: I should check Paul's discography and try to catch up on what he's been doing. At his age, he can't expect to captivate the mass (primarily young) audience anymore. The time to have "your run" as a popular musician is when you're in your 20s or early 30s.
Undaunted by all the scary and perilous stuff, Paul and Linda hosted a beach barbecue to celebrate the end of recording. They would be thankful still being in one piece, when they flew back to England in September of 1973.
The single "Helen Wheels" got released but at that time, it was not tied to the new album. My generation was of course notorious for thinking the name of this song was "Hell on Wheels." Whatever. The song was soon placed on the album against Paul's wishes, although I can't imagine why this was an issue. People in professional music can get into the most intense and sometimes unfathomable arguments. Remember Paul vs. Phil Spector on the "Let It Be" project?
 
Listening to "Jet" at the bowling alley
The "Band on the Run" album needed some time to gain traction commercially. I'm not sure why. McCartney was no diamond in the rough, he was simply a diamond. In 1974 this album really flowered. The music projected from boomboxes and juke boxes everywhere. And, at the Morris bowling alley. Unruly and somewhat crude boomer youth poured in and out of that place. The intense song "Jet" serenaded us.
The album came out during 8-track times! We learn that the 8-track tape version of "Band on the Run" is one of the few 8-tracks to be arranged just like the vinyl album.
Remember "quadrophonic?" This dinosaur was still walking the earth at that time. "Band on the Run" got released in quadrophonic. In 1996 it was released on 5.1 Music Disc.
The album's four singles were: the title song along with "Helen Wheels" (not "Hell on Wheels"), "Mrs. Vandebilt" and "Jet."
"Jet" was so popular, the Maynard Ferguson big band decided to record it, seeking (cynically, I guess) to get on the McCartney bandwagon and sell a few more copies. Maynard Ferguson fans (like myself) learned that the band did "Jet" purely as a studio project, not having their hearts in it, and the arrangement was never played again. It really was a pretty good arrangement. Some ambitious college jazz band instructor should try to track it down.
Maynard Ferguson played the trumpet. Paul when a boy received a trumpet as a birthday present. How this might have changed history! Paul wasn't about to play music without words. He traded the trumpet for a guitar. I played the trumpet myself but I wish I'd picked up the guitar. The guitar is a lifetime instrument. With the trumpet you're just a "slave" in a band where the director is dictator. If you're lucky you escape that setting for jazz.
At age 19, I enjoyed listening to the "Band on the Run" album with friends like Scott "Scooter" Long and the Cruze boys of South Street in Morris. "The South Street kids." I have suggested before that this would be a good name for a movie.
We never forget the music that was popular in our first year out of high school. It occupies a place in our brain where it can never be replaced.
I greatly liked some of the non-singles on "Band on the Run." I remember selecting "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-five" on the juke box at the Pizza Place, several times. The Pizza Place was located out near where Jerry's U-Save is now. Many of us raved about that place but I just thought it was an ordinary pizza restaurant - nothing wrong with that. I remember the juke box with its highlighted singles in a display at the top, including "When the Snow is on the Roses" by Al Martino. Anyone else remember that?
Just now I checked the lyrics for the "1985" song and was going to paste them here, but they have a weird start. It is not a typo. If I wrote such lyrics, people would wrinkle up foreheads. "On no one left alive in 1985." "On no one left?" I double-checked in other places and this is right. I remember Scott Long was just amazed at how Paul's voice seemed to morph from his normal for this song. (What I remember most about Scott is that he couldn't control himself laughing at the Bill Murray character in "Caddyshack.")
I liked Paul's song "Mamunia." I liked "Bluebird," "Let Me Roll It" and "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)". Still, it wasn't as if the Beatles still existed. Paul and John had a chemistry that would never bless the world again. We all moved on. There was plenty of music to serenade us. You're only age 19 once. And, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-five" was a long time ago! Back then we could be "Hell on Wheels." We're more stable today - knock on wood.

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

A quite blustery day as we near Thanksgiving 2014

I'm looking out the back picture windows at our home, looking north, and seeing the fury of winter. It's 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning. We're in Thanksgiving week. It might just as well be Christmas or New Year's.

"The weather isn't fit for man or beast," to quote "Yukon Cornelius" from "Rudolph and Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Jay at Willie's told me school is on like normal. I was a bit surprised at that.
Thanksgiving was a special stand-alone holiday when I was young. Today it's paired with this curious phenomenon called "Black Friday." For a long time I groped finding the words to express displeasure with the term "Black Friday." It just didn't seem right. It didn't seem to connote any joy. Finally, last year, John Stone, the newspaper guy to the east of here (in Pope County), helped me out with the terminology. Mr. Stone suggested in a column that "Black Friday" was a "somber"-sounding term, not really apt for a supposedly upbeat occasion.
Thanks to Mr. Stone, I can now express my displeasure appropriately.
Thanksgiving by contrast is a holiday felt from the heart.
I'm not sure where we'll dine for Thanksgiving 2014. The Morris community once had a community meal for Thanksgiving. It was well-promoted and attended. It was held at the bottom level of Assumption Church. I can still visualize the assortment of pies (with toppings) we chose from. We always "paid our way." I hope the event wasn't canceled for financial reasons. I can also remember when Prairie Inn advertised its Thanksgiving buffet. That too has bit the dust.
Last year I could find no place that offered a Thanksgiving meal. I was advised later that when all else fails, the hospital has a cafeteria where one can obtain a meal. I appreciate knowing that. I don't have the skill to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving meal, to prepare a full turkey in the oven etc. I would not be a candidate for a Norman Rockwell painting portraying such a scene. And even if I could do it, we are a mere family of two. We couldn't consume all that food.
If I remember correctly, I got a couple frozen dinners for us to have for Thanksgiving last year. It did the job. We will feel anxious for things to return to normal the next morning.
The Pilgrims reached Plymouth in December of 1620. They had rejected Cape Cod. Plymouth Rock itself is only five feet square. Tourists there are known to ask strange questions. "Was the first Thanksgiving served on top of it?" "Did Christopher Columbus drop off the Pilgrims?" Truth be told, exploration was pretty vigorous between 1492 and 1620. By the time the first English people settled, other Europeans had already reached half of the 48 states.
Spanish conquistadors examined the interior of the continent in 1542. They rafted the Mississippi River. They showed horses to Native Americans who had never before seen them. The Spanish gave thanks and dined with Indians 56 years before the Pilgrim Thanksgiving at Plymouth.
In 1602 a band of English built a fort on Cuttyhunk Island. Were they driven by a passion for religious freedom? I'm afraid the explanation isn't so romantic. They came to get rich digging sassafras, prized in Europe as a cure for the clap.
Let's tip the hat to Giovanni da Verrazzano. The intrepid Italian toured the Eastern seaboard in 1524. At one point he directed a crewman to swim ashore. What would the gawking natives do? They took the man to a fire, not to roast him but to warm him! Verrazzano went north and admired a wide bay, later to become New York Harbor. In 1528 he met his tragic end, getting seized by cannibals on a Caribbean island. Verrazzano deserves to be more famous than he is.
Of course, us Norwegians know the full story of how the ocean was traversed for settlement here. It's a fact that the intrepid Vikings established the fishing village of L'Anse aux Meadows on a grassy plateau. Radiocarbon dating pinpoints the year of 1000 A.D. Pretty impressive work by my forebears.
The Sagas tell us about the Vikings. They are based on reality but have been embellished to include weird, paranormal twists.
Did the Vikings come to Kensington MN? The top proponent of the Runestone suggests it was actually post-pagan explorers that came here.
It was the English stock of New England that molded the new nation's memory. We have the iconic image of the Pilgrim fathers - men with those guns that looked like a trumpet on the end - seeding the new land with their piety and work ethic. If only the whole early history of America could be so tranquil. Nevertheless we have our ideals.
The bottom line: History is written by the winners.

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

My song about Harmon is salute to early Twins years

Harmon Killebrew hit two home runs in the first game we ever attended at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington. It was a night game against the Baltimore Orioles. I was eight or nine years old.

I felt a distinct thrill seeing those Minnesota Twins warming up in pre-game. There they were, real people, in the flesh: Zoilo Versalles, Rich Rollins and "The Killer," Harmon Killebrew. I had read about them, seen them on TV, but here they were on that beautiful, expansive green grass.
The idea struck me this past summer to write a song about "Hammerin' Harmon." I call it "The Ballad of Harmon Killebrew." As a ballad it tells a story. I insert the word "boomers" in the first verse because the Twins came into existence as the wave of baby boomer children was really starting to have a presence.
"When boomers were young and we sought our fun. . .under that Bloomington sky."
I invite you to listen by clicking on the YouTube link below. The song was recorded in Nashville TN at the studio of Frank Michels. The singer is David Ward. Thanks guys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaQZZfYpDKM
 
I haven't visited Nashville since 1998. I miss it. I'd go straight to "Tootsie's Orchid Lounge" on Broadway. Maybe some of that old songwriting genius could rub off on me there. Music created in Nashville is truly from the heart.
Jeff Arundel has written the best-known song about Harmon Killebrew to date. Jeff's song isn't just about Harmon, it's about father-son relationships and the maturation process. The best songs give us "sub-plots" like that. My song is a little more superficial and I don't mind. I really wanted to work in several names of the very early Twins players. I accomplished that, plus I gave special attention to the 1965 World Series which was the apex of the early Twins years.
Friends of mine might say "man, that happened so long ago, would anyone care?" I feel it's vital we always be reminded of that storied 1965 season, a season that may have become a little buried in our memories due to the accomplishments of the 1987 and 1991 teams. We all went gaga in '87 and '91, me included, but all that left me with a little sadness as I remembered the '65 team came up just shy of the world championship. We won three games in the World Series of '65. We lost to the Dodgers and their superstar pitcher Sandy Koufax in Game 7.
Sandy Koufax! I even inserted his name in my song, quite respectfully. The Dodgers' manager had to alter his pitching rotation for the Series because of Sandy having to observe a Jewish holiday!
How heartbreaking Game 7 was! But remember, '65 was the year that the storied New York Yankees' dynasty of that era died. The Twins had a lot to do with that. The key date was July 11. The Twins trailed by one run going into the bottom of the ninth against the Yankees. Killebrew hit a two-run home run for the win! It was like a knockout punch vs. those (damn) Yankees. Mickey Mantle was in the ranks.
My song talks about how "The Senators came" (to Minnesota) - indeed we were not a "new" team in 1961, we were a transplant! Calvin Griffith brought his struggling Washington Senators here. The franchise picked up steam upon coming to the Bloomington prairie. What heroes those early Twins were, in the eyes of the young "boomers," the kids who watched the Casey Jones TV show. Killebrew became an icon. I hope my song contributes something in terms of remembering him and the early Minnesota Twins, the chapter with Earl Battey, Zoilo Versalles and Vic Power!
Harmon has left this life. The chorus of my song ends with me pointing out that Harmon is now "out on that heavenly field" (playing baseball in heaven of course). I'm reminded of the 1951 movie "Angels in the Outfield."
Harmon was the first of four batters to hit a ball over the left field roof at Detroit's Tiger Stadium. He was like a god out of Green mythology.
Click on the link below to read a post I wrote not long after Harmon's death, called "The ball sailed off Harmon's bat." Thanks for reading, and listening.
http://ilovemorris73.blogspot.com/2011/06/ball-sailed-off-harmons-bat.html

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

Kirby Puckett, "that bowling ball," thrilled us in past era

How strange it seems, writing about the Kirby Puckett era in Twins baseball as "the old days." A check of the calendar shows, indeed, that the storied '87 and '91 teams are getting buried in time. Puckett was a symbol of all that success.

I wrote a song in 1997 in honor of this fantastic athlete. At the time of doing this, I mentioned the project to a photographer acquaintance who worked for the Fergus Falls-based advertising shopper. He instantly smiled and said "oh, that bowling ball!" What a nifty reference to "The Puck's" physique. It was made with reverence.
Regardless of the physique, Puckett put up numbers that would be the envy of any ballplayer. The physique might be useful for knocking over a catcher or breaking up the double play. "That bowling ball" brought endless loud acclamations from fans who filled the Metrodome. Now the Metrodome is being retired into the distant past. I remember all the discussions leading up to the Dome, and its unveiling as a facility so different from its predecessor.
BTW here's a link to the song I wrote about Kirby Puckett, now on YouTube. Listen and enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDQjIVH735A
 

We revere superstars like Kirby Puckett. Presumably we'd love trading places with them. Realistically we would be foolish having such thoughts. Call those guys gladiators. Many of them end up with chronic health issues related to the sport they played.
The biggest hazard in baseball is getting hit by a pitched ball. September 28, 1995, was a fateful day in Twins world. Puckett, poised aggressively at the plate like always, was hit in the face by a fastball. He expected the pitch to break. It did not. The blow shattered his jaw and put him out for the rest of the season.
When the following spring training came along, he at first hit well. But on March 28 he woke up unable to see out of his right eye. Glaucoma was discovered. Four surgeries followed but the problem could not be corrected. A connection to the hit-by-pitch incident? Puckett "had lost his career to an errant Dennis Martinez pitch," wrote Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.
That pitch "smashed his jaw and blurred his vision," Passan continued. "Puckett never was the same after the beaning." Passan described the ugly aftermath in the moments following the incident: "Blood pooled on the ground. When Puckett stood a few minutes later, a towel colored crimson by blood covered his mouth." Teammate Chuck Knoblauch commented post-game: "I still can't believe how much he was bleeding."
Knoblauch would be forced out of the game by a psychological issue, when he was playing for the Yankees. Knoblauch could no longer throw the ball to first base. You are truly in a fishbowl playing major league baseball.
The 1987 story of the Twins seemed like a fairy tale. Few expected our team would reach such heights. Even after it was over, there were skeptics. But the historical record shows we were "world champions." We did it.
Sometimes I think Midwestern teams have to do more to convince people. Any team on the East Coast wins accolades for an accomplishment - there's never any asterisk. The elite East Coast media never seem quite convinced we deserve to be No. 1 out here. We did it again in 1991: climbed to the top. That was the Jack Morris year. Puckett was essential in both campaigns.
Puckett broke into the majors in 1984. He batted over .300 for his career, won several Gold Gloves and graced the diamond for ten All-Star Game appearances. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, in 2001. His sheer exuberance was praised. He wore one uniform his whole career. We'll never forget his leaping catch against the wall at the Dome.
Kirby was the youngest of nine children born into poverty in a Chicago housing project. He got four hits in his first major league start. Would that have been good enough to keep Gene Mauch from platooning him, had Mauch still been manager? Mauch was notorious for the approach. I remember Lyman Bostock complaining.
Puckett's best year was 1988 when he batted .356 with 24 home runs, 42 doubles and 121 RBIs. He anchored the No. 3 spot in the Twins' batting order. He looked like a fullback in football. Still I gravitate to my friend's term: "bowling ball."
Kirby employed a leg kick as he prepared to swing. Close your eyes and I'm sure you can re-create it all in your head. Pretend you're waving a "homer hanky" all over again!
Puckett's post-baseball story was sad - he ballooned up to 300-plus pounds. He died in March of 2006 at the age of just 45. A stroke was the cause. He came from a family with a variety of health issues. Two brothers died very young. Glaucoma was part of a circulatory disorder present in Puckett's entire body.
Today, Puckett and Hrbek and the rest of the gang are a chapter that is receding further into the past, just as the Dome itself is. Man, I remember when the Dome was brand new. As if by magic, we wouldn't have to worry at all about uncooperative weather any more.
Fans always get restless and they want something new. So we got Target Field. I have yet to visit there. I'm not sure the Twins can capture my interest anymore. But how I revere those memories. Truth be told, I cherish more the memories of the Killebrew/Oliva team. But what a blast we had in the late 1980s. It makes me want to recite the title of my song: "I Wanna Be Like Kirby Puckett."
Kirby Puckett, RIP.

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

San Mateo CA: wonderful place, Mediterranean climate

Spectacular San Mateo Bridge (Richard Eriksson photo)

First I invite you to click on the link below to hear a song I wrote in 1982, inspired by the community of San Mateo CA! It was recorded as a "demo" when I had a chance to submit some material to recording artist T.G. Sheppard. The song was recorded in Canoga Park CA. Enjoy! 
- Brian Williams, Morris MN

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSdIzpngX_0
 
My sense of the macro world was driven by a hobby in my youth. I subscribed to a publication full of contributions from youth who lived all over the U.S. Such an experience can be like a geography lesson. Where is San Mateo, California? What a wonderful name for a community. It's where the co-publishers of the hobby journal lived. Those guys weren't much older than me. They were two brothers, last name of Gaydos.
I learned that San Mateo was a sunny community in California. I might suggest it's a wonderful place to live, but I suppose earthquakes are a worry. It's in the San Francisco Bay area. The Golden Gate Bridge is breathtaking. There's another bridge with the San Mateo name that is quite the impressive structure too.
San Mateo doesn't seem like a famous city but it's certainly substantial. It has a population of just under 100,000. It's in the high-tech enclave of Silicon Valley. It's one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco peninsula. The Mediterranean type of climate would seem quite pleasant. The typical weather fare calls for warm, dry summers and mild, damp winters. I could certainly pine for such a setting given that as I write this, we're on the cusp of another Minnesota winter! Our last winter tested our resilience for living here.
I can close my eyes and think of wonderful San Mateo CA. They do deal with winds there, due to a gap in the mountains west of the College of San Mateo. Wind? I would be quite acclimated already. The wind brings fog toward San Mateo in late afternoon through early morning in summer.
I saw an update on the Gaydos boys - Ron and Len - a few years ago in the dying days of the publication they founded. Dying days? Well of course, silly rabbit, the Internet has wiped out the need for most hobby-oriented print publications.
The Gaydos boys launched their adventure, their publication, in the days well before desktop publishing, therefore they had special hurdles to surmount. And of course, the publication had a crude (quaint, viewed from today) look. Oh, but it was charming and appealing to the hobbyists. OK, what was that hobby? It was APBA simulation baseball, a tabletop game using dice and game boards. Far out!
Madden Football wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eyes yet. Those were the "analog" days of using systems that could be cumbersome, slow and taxing. We didn't know any different. We loved it. I think we learned discipline that might escape the youth of today, who take so much for granted. APBA baseball was slow. But we vividly saw how the whole system was set up. We saw its underbelly. It made us analyze mathematically. It complemented our formal education. Certainly we had to be astute with numbers. You needed an organized mind. The only "electric" component to the game might be a table lamp.
The APBA Journal connected the community of APBA baseball hobbyists from all around the U.S. I bought my game in 1970. I only played it for 4-5 years, then I moved on to other interests, but I have never forgotten about APBA, the "APBA Journal" and the Gaydos boys. The Gaydos boys of San Mateo CA.
"San Mateo" is Spanish for "Saint Matthew." By car - the car has almost divine importance in California - San Mateo is 30 minutes from downtown San Jose and 25 miles from downtown San Francisco.
You'll probably get on State Route 92 which might be the "San Mateo Freeway" that I write about in my original song. State Route 92 traverses the spectacular San Mateo Bridge. It meets State Route 35.
San Mateo has one of the larger, well-developed, more prominent suburban downtowns in the San Francisco Bay area. You'll want to visit Hillsdale Mall to be sure. The economy of the city is diverse with jobs in tech, health care, financial services, government and retail trade. The College of San Mateo has over 10,000 students, and is located in the western foothills, affording a panoramic view of San Francisco Bay. The chorus of my song ends with a reference to glorious "San Francisco Bay!"
San Mateo cares about its overall environment and has 15-plus parks scattered around. "Coyote Point Park" is a rock outcropped peninsula that juts out into San Francisco Bay. What a place!
How wonderful it would be to visit San Mateo CA, assuming no earthquake is looming! I hope the "Gaydos boys" remain happy and healthy. Good luck, guys. I'm happy to have written a song about your stomping grounds!
"San Mateo Freeway. . .It's taking me where I want to be. . ."

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

Redwood Valley ends MACA volleyball season

First, let's correct another error from the Willmar newspaper: This is in the sport of cross country where MACA has two student athletes in for the state meet. Savannah Aanerud is a sophomore, not a freshman as reported in the West Central Tribune article reviewing the section meet.
A cross country parent gave me the heads-up. This parent also said "Savannah's 16th birthday was the day of the section meet." Well, congrats and good luck in the spectacular state cross country meet which is held in Northfield (Jesse James' last stand).
I have the error corrected on my blog post. My credibility is all I have as a journalist.
 

Redwood Valley 3, Tigers 2

The Tigers of the volleyball world were hoping to get through round 2 of post-season play. They were the slight on-paper favorite.
MACA met Redwood Valley on a hectic night at our local public school. The resource expo and community meal were held Tuesday. Originally those events were supposed to be on Monday. Our family got fooled. Yes, I realize the change was well-promoted, as several people have told me. Some of us are a little isolated. Whenever I turn on the Morris radio, as during a bad storm or tornado watch, it seems we're subjected to rock 'n' roll music from the '50s and '60s. It's not a favored fare of mine, especially blaring through the speakers of a cheap radio.
Who's Joe Schmidt or Joe Schmitt or however it's spelled? Evidently the resource expo was re-scheduled in deference to him. That's according to word on the street. I would suggest that the school calendar not be changed so cavalierly.
The volleyball story on Tuesday night was one of back and forth. The Tigers were second-seeded in sub-section, Redwood Valley third. A look at the won-lost records makes me wonder why MACA would be favored. Redwood Valley owned 23 wins coming in, MACA 18. But hopes were high among the orange and black faithful at the Morris Area gym.
Game 1 showed this would certainly be no easy night for coach Kristi Fehr's Tigers. Redwood turned us back 25-22. But MACA fought back to win by the same score in game 2. The pivotal game 3 saw Redwood Valley wrest the momentum back, via a 25-18 win. Now we're on the ropes.
MACA had what it took to prevail in game 4, albeit in a squeaker. MACA won 25-23. Bring on game 5! Alas it was the third-seeded Redwood Valley athletes who prevailed, 15-9, so MACA had to accept the end to its season.
Redwood Valley came out of the night with a glittering 24-5 record. The final Morris Area Chokio Alberta mark: 18-9. It certainly was a memory-filled season.
Karly Fehr was in her usual role as the setting standout. She had 114 good sets in 117 attempts and 32 assists.
Lacee Maanum had the top total in kills with 14, and her good/attempts numbers were 50 of 55. Two Tigers each had 12 kills: Kayla Pring (53 of 58 in G/A) and Brooke Gillespie (41 of 44). Tracy Meichsner had one kill on six of eight G/A. Fehr had a kill on a perfect seven of seven. Haley Erdahl had nine of ten stats in G/A.
Five Tigers each had one ace block: Maanum, Erdahl, Pring, Fehr and Meichsner.
Kourtney Giese, the "libero," was mighty proficient in digs and posted the team-best 36 total. Gillespie had 19 followed by Erdahl (12), Lindsey Dierks (10), Pring (9), Fehr (8) and Meichsner (6). Two Tigers each had one serving ace: Erdahl (17 of 19 in G/A) and Dierks (15/15).

 

Erratum, part 2

As long as we're correcting errors in this post, let's make note of the band concert program which a friend tells me had a reference to "University of Minnesota-Moorhead." There actually were visitors from the Moorhead campus performing on Monday.
I don't report this to point fingers but mainly to express amusement. If I had slipped up like this in my newspaper days, I would have been burned in effigy on Morris' main street by a howling mob bearing torches. Obviously it's "Minnesota State University-Moorhead," which I have always seen as a cumbersome name. It was so much easier to say "Moorhead State College" or "St. Cloud State College." Who cares if the word "college" or "university" is used? Such vanity.

Morris people are offended by the mixup because we're obviously so much superior, being aligned with the U of M, to those mongrel state colleges, right? My tongue is in cheek.

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