Tigers sit at 6-10 after sweep over Benson

Volleyball is coming down the home stretch of the 2023 regular season. Not a noteworthy season for the MACA Tigers. Yes they won last night (Thursday) but this came against a struggling Benson team. I recently reported a 1-12 W/L for the Braves of Benson. Yes the long-time nickname for that school continues in use. For how much longer? 

The Tigers swept Benson 3-0 at Benson. So this was reason to smile for fans of the orange and black. The schedule on "Minnesota Scores" tells us that a big multi-team event is set for Saturday at Alexandria. We enter the event with the cool W/L of 6-10, 4-7 in conference. We are 3-3 in front of the home fans. I hope the coach is doing the best job possible. 

After today we really are on the home stretch. Just three more duals. We'll visit Montevideo on October 10. Monte was known as the "Mohawks" through most of my life, had a nice mural painting in the gym that had a silhouetted Indian. I haven't been there in a long time and I assume the painting is gone. It made an impression on me. 

Benson is being stubborn about the Native American imagery with their school. I have not heard that Benson has gotten a response to its plea to various Native American groups. I see no reason why those groups would say "yes." We'll just have to wait and see. 

 

Checking media

What kind of details might we be able to find about the MACA/Benson match this Friday morning? A cold and blustery Friday morning here on the prairie. I see a forecast low of 32 degrees in the upcoming seven days. Is the kmrs/kkok website starting to fall off a little? Lately it seems they are content simply reporting "scores." We see the word "scores" in the little heading. Which is fine? 

Kmrs has done fairly well over the recent past giving us sports reports with some degree of details. It was nice to see. Not sure if this commitment is going to continue into the future. Instead we might just see "scores," i.e.. the most superficial details. Whatever kmrs does, it can't be any worse than the Morris newspaper website which essentially gives us nothing except for UMM sports. Why can't we hear a little old-fashioned anger over this? Are we all asleep? 

And what's with the paper so often giving superior space and attention to Hancock? Look at this week's paper. MACA played its Homecoming game Friday, an occasion so special it called for fireworks. In my newspaper career I put together countless photo collages on the MAHS coronation and parade plus the football game of course. Oh and myriad other things. It was my lifestyle. I had to leave it much too early. Increasingly the people around Morris do not remember. The paper published twice a week then. We had so much more space available. 

Here's the current top heading on the kmrs sports site: "Area scores from Thursday night." So that's all we get. Plus a little announcement that Tiger football is traveling to East Grand Forks today (Friday). East Grand Forks? You've got to be kidding me! Can't a closer opponent be found? There is no excuse for this. Game-time is 6 p.m. so fans won't be driving into the middle of the night (on I-29) to get home. But this is ridiculous. 

How wonderful it would be to just have another home game. But no. 

We see that our Tiger volleyball team beat Benson 3-0. No surprise with that outcome. Now let's check the West Central Tribune site to see what's up. Nice to see some details of the match there. But with one pretty significant omission from the standpoint of MACA fans: "stats not available" for MACA. The WC Trib has the game scores: 25-10, 25-15 and 25-22. Look at it this way: if you do not report any details for MACA, you at least cannot be accused of any factual errors! 

And the WC Trib does not refer to us as "MACA." They always call us "Morris/CA," technically not accurate. They have done this for years. 

The WC Trib has details for the "Braves" of Benson. Three Braves each had a serving ace: Julia Claussen, Presley Nygaard and Sophie Krusemark. In set assists we see Claussen with seven and Mya McGeary with six. Kills! here it's Kaylin Grube with six to lead. Then we see Madison Osterbauer 4, Gwen Wilcox 3, Alexis Hoberg 2, Claussen 1 and Nygaard 1. Osterbauer and Grube each came at the Tigers with four ace blocks. Hoberg had two and Claussen 1. Here's the digs list: Nygaard 14, Krusemark 13, Claussen 10 and Hailee Ellingson 6.

I would love to be able to type some MACA names.

 

Getting weird out here

Maybe Michelle Fischbach is actually not conservative enough for this congressional district. It is incredible how we have changed our stripes. We had Democrat Collin Peterson in office for such a long time. But Collin was running scared at the end. He saw what was happening out here in the hinterlands: the "red wave." So red, that at present there is a challenge to Michelle Fischbach who may not be "MAGA enough" for some folks. 

Who will the churches get behind? Do not ever bet against MAGA in these parts. You can complain all you want, challenge those people on the facts all you want, it does no good. You can make any point to these people and it does not matter. If nothing else they'll just say "so what?" And I guess you can't argue with that. 

So Fischbach who voted against certifying the 2020 election results - something that even Tom Emmer did not do - is being challenged from the right. A dude from Kensington, right next door to our community. He's a total full-fledger, in other words irrational IMHO.

When all else fails, I just observe.

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

Hey, Benson volleyball gets first win!

Let's see, how did MACA volleyball fare Tuesday? Checking the radio station site, I see a heading for "scores" so I guess that's all I get. I'll get the basic outcome and no stat highlights. So at least I have that: a 0-3 loss for the Tigers against Sauk Centre. The item does have game scores: 14-25, 15-25 and 21-25. A bleak night for our Tigers. 

This is puzzling: kmrs tells us the Tigers are 10-5 and 3-7 in conference. I was instantly skeptical. The Tigers have been struggling. So let's look at the "Minnesota Scores" site which is a go-to place for basic data. "MN Scores" tells us the Tigers have a 5-10 record. The numbers got turned around. Had I done that in my newspaper career, my basic intelligence would be questioned in a number of creative ways. 

Oh my, I am unable to find details from the Tigers' previous match which was versus West Central Area. Again I can only find the basic match outcome. "MN Scores" tells us the Tigers fell to the Knights 1-3. The Tigers have a loss skein of three going. 

I can't find anything on the kmrs site for the WC Area match. C'mon people, just because a team is losing, don't drop the ball with media attention. 

While I can't share a detailed post re. Tiger volleyball on this Wednesday, I can pay some attention to Benson which finally got its first win! Eureka! 

Benson is in the news with its struggle to try to hold on to its long-time nickname and logo, "Braves" with the Indian feathers. Is it true that Benson has not gotten a response yet on whether they can get a pass on this? Benson has reportedly submitted a request to various Native American organizations. But I just cannot see why those organizations would "give" on this. 

Benson clearly steps over the line with what it does. If it gets a pass, then all of the offending schools should have gotten a pass. Why bother with the new state law? Native Americans are not mascots, they are regular people. And it doesn't matter if certain local Native Americans might have said it's OK. They would have been put on the defensive by even being approached about this. 

I wonder if at present, the various Native organizations will simply not formally respond to Benson's request. Maybe they'd fear some resentment by pouring cold water on what Benson is trying to do? My question: Why can't Benson show the obvious good common sense to move on from "Braves" with the feathers. Why be so tone-deaf? It's embarrassing. 

I suggested recently that maybe the Benson administration should prioritize trying to inject a little more vigor into certain sports programs like volleyball. Do that instead of putting forth a display with the "Braves" thing. Well, it's a continuing story. 

 

Benson 3, LQPV 1

It's much more pleasant now to focus on the Braves' volleyball success of Monday night. It's a pleasure to write such material, keeps my morale up in life. So the Braves won at home over Lac qui Parle 3-1. Scores were 25-20, 12-25, 25-13 and 25-18. The Braves own a 1-12 record. Not sure the Native Americans would want to answer for that. 

Benson has some new names that I'm not used to typing. So we see Sophie Krusemark excelling in serve aces with four. She's followed by Gwen Wilcox 2, Mya McGeary 1 and Sophie Hilleren 1. Julia Claussen was the go-to setter and she had 13 assists. McGeary had six. 

Kills! Here it was Kaylin Grube leading the way with 11. Then we see Madison Osterbauer 4, Presley Nygaard 3, Wilcox 3, Alexis Hoberg 1 and Claussen 1. Grube came on strong with ace blocks with her ten. Osterbauer had two and Hoberg one. 

Here's the digs list: Krusemark 19, Nygaard 11, Claussen 10, Wilcox 10, McGeary 9 and Hailee Ellingson 8. 

I have written about Benson sports for a long time, am accustomed to seeing the Staton and Berens names a lot.

Morris media notes

I checked the web Tuesday night and could find no coverage of the MACA football game on the radio or newspaper websites. The game was of course played Friday. Homecoming is always a colorful and interesting affair. I could not find a photo gallery of the coronation on the newspaper site. 

The Morris newspaper website is basically not worth checking. I might suggest it is an insult to us all. Wait, you think that's too harsh by me? Well let's click on "sports" for the Stevens County Times site, see what's there on this Wednesday morning. 

- "Women's soccer shutout by Bethany Lutheran." 

- "Men's soccer bested by Bethany Lutheran 4-0."

- "Happ brings home UMAC Special Teams award." 

 

Notice the pattern here? It's all UMM. Don't we have some "Tiger" teams here too? Didn't MACA just play its Homecoming football game in front of a big crowd at Big Cat? Wasn't there a colorful coronation at the start of the week? The newspaper has a website all set up to accentuate MACA Tigers, or to even present the afore-mentioned photo gallery. There is nothing that you cannot do online. 

When I was still at the paper, our then-manager Sue Dieter was talking big about our website. I was very concerned about overwork with all that was going on, and finally felt I had to take a hike, sadly. The website opened the door to a lot more criticisms that I might take as the producer of sports. There was no way I could stay any more. 

And to think that all these years later, under different ownership, the paper would have a totally dormant, basically worthless website! Amazing. 

The paper has only one print product each week which means that much news will be reported in a very untimely way. I know of a former MAHS administrator who would be hugely upset with this, would actually express himself in a pretty unpleasant fashion. I was tired of being around such demonstrations, finally realized I just had to get out. And it wasn't even easy "getting out." 

The owner of that time eventually decided to just leave town. So cowardly. The tension of my final 3-4 months was a perfect example of how the working life can be a b---h. The management people could have softened a little just for the sake of basic humanity. Do it in the small town spirit of neighborliness. But no. We were owned out of Fargo. 

Today we have the Anfinsons who do many things well. But why the total indifference about the paper's website? We can follow the UMM teams from UMM's own website. Why are the Tigers largely excluded? Can the Anfinsons answer that? With all due respect.

 

Still going

I personally blogged about our Homecoming football on Saturday on this "Morris of Course" site. I'm proud of what I did, did not even consider it "work." I "scooped" everyone else. It would be nice to have my efforts acknowledged in some way. Otherwise I'm just a retired "loner." It is getting old. I love being close to our school system.

  

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

Fireworks but not an MACA win for Homecoming

Say what you want about football, its dangers, but Big Cat Stadium was a beautiful venue for appreciating on Friday. Is there any more impressive spectacle in Stevens County? I'd say "no." So we set up this place for the male student athletes and hope they can stay healthy. 

Each new week brings its wrinkles and surprises because this is after all sports. It breaks up the routineness of our day-to-day lives. It's something to look forward to at the end of each week. Maybe kind of a "sugar high." 

Big Cat was an extra-big spectacle for football on Friday. To begin with, MACA had its climactic Homecoming game in the evening. And surprise, there was a fireworks show! Was this a first for the event? Let me shoehorn in the opinion here that maybe it was overkill. 

We had some natural fireworks on Friday in the form of lightning in the distance. This proved more than a side distraction. It actually ended the game after three quarters of play. Football puts up with a lot in terms of weather/conditions but it does not put up with lightning. 

We can assume that canceling the game after three quarters was not going to be a factor in the outcome. Homecoming 2023 was a downer for MACA football. The visiting team was Detroit Lakes. DL showed a superior caliber of play to defeat the orange and black 41-6. 

DL coach Reed Hefta commented post-game that his team had to "battle" the halftime fireworks show. This isn't something you see very often. I had just arrived home by bike when I was surprised by the exploding fireworks. My mind raced to try to figure out what was going on. Then I linked it to the game. Again I had never observed this before with a football game. A precedent? We'll see. 

Hefta added "I was very impressed with a great team victory from everybody on the coaching staff to everybody out on the field. I was excited to see the kids do a lot of great responding to adverse situations." 

The score indicates there could not have been a whole lot of adverse stuff confronting the Lakers. 

 

Anderson gets our score

The only MACA score happened in the first quarter. It was a running TD, Owen Anderson carrying the football. He covered 12 yards en route to six. The extra point try was blocked. End of offensive highlights for the Tigers. Kind of disappointing on Homecoming night. 

But the Tigers were up against a high-powered DL squad. That juggernaut includes a University of Minnesota commit, name of Mason Carrier. The young man ended up rushing for over 200 yards. And remember, just in three quarters of play. And my, he scored four touchdowns. He's 6 feet-3 and weighs 225 pounds. He complements his impressive size with raw speed. The speed is on the level of a state track finalist in fact. We'll see how these tremendous strong suits get applied in NCAA Division I play. 

The DL defense was imposing too: no first downs allowed in the second half. The Lakers were prepared for the pass-oriented Tigers' offense. They came at us right away with an individual named Cody Bartnes. Playing in the secondary, Bartnes broke up a pass on first down. He kept his engine running. He proceeded to make a tackle for loss, then he intercepted a pass! Then it was time for Carrier to take over. Breaking tackles, the future Gopher covered 39 yards while the Homecoming crowd just had to admire his talent. 

It was more of same as the second quarter began unfolding: Carrier was off to the races on a 29-yard scoring run. The Lakers are now up 14-6. MACA suffered a 3-and-out. Then the Lakers turned on the offensive engines again for a 46-yard scoring drive, five plays. The refs signaled "touchdown" as Caden Strand got into the end zone. Now the Lakers own a 21-6 lead. 

I wasn't present for the halftime presentation in connection to Homecoming. I'm sure it was spectacular. The second half kickoff went to the Lakers. They capitalized but it took them ten plays. Resolved, they overcame a third-and-25 for the scoring play. They were in third-and-25 due to holding penalties. The Lakers overcame their third down situation with a big play pass: Strand to Bartnes. Detroit Lakes is further in control now, up 28-6. 

Carrier scored twice more.

 

Firsthand view

Yours truly stood in my usual spot to take in part of the Friday spectacle. This is up on the higher ground by the P.E Center south entrance. I remember when Big Cat first opened, the powers-that-be (Mary Holmberg maybe?) didn't want people standing there. I remember telling former campus security guy Chuck Grussing "it's a public sidewalk." He responded that there was no issue with this "for the college games." I suppose he could only speak for "the college." 

I told Charlie maybe a "tarp" could be put up along the fence, if the authorities didn't want anyone watching "for free." He sort of shrugged that off. There are various places around the perimeter where you can get a pretty good look "for free." 

I must say, the fan turnout was large and vigorous and made Big Cat look totally like the cat's pajamas. We might want to say "congratulations" to that. But we absolutely cannot ignore the continued inroads in discovering the very serious health risks posed by football. That is front and center in my mind. Sometimes the consequences can show up years after a kid plays. Remember that these are impressionable kids, subject to peer pressure. How can any of them overlook the "glory" that can come to a standout football player? 

Glory is an illusion. The media will stop paying attention to you when you are done playing. Then you might face some stark realities. The "fans" will then start paying attention to the next "crop" of players. Anyone care to dispute this? 

Put aside the football health issues and the scene at Big Cat was something to behold Friday, truly. 

I didn't get there early enough to hear the MAHS pep band. Was it impressive? Del Sarlette says yes it was.

 

Hancock 34, Rothsay 16

I was at Big Cat earlier in the day for the Hancock vs. Rothsay game. The Hancock fans had it mighty good, better than the MACA fans for several reasons. Yes several. Late afternoon brought a total break in the concerning weather of the day. And even the sun came out. The weather was perfect. The fan turnout was robust and everyone had a great time, celebrating an offense-filled Homecoming. 

A daylight game is such a superior experience. I remarked to several people that the Hancock pep band was superb! They have a first-year director. She played electric bass as she conducted and this gave such a terrific "bottom" to the sound. Bass is a very important element. Kudos to her. 

I also made the comment to a couple fans: Why can't MACA and Hancock share this place all fall? One team could play at 3, the other at 7. The lucky team would play at 3. Everyone can see better, be more comfortable amidst a higher temperature. Would seem to make sense. I told a friend before the season: Once the kids experience Big Cat Stadium, they won't want to return to Hancock. Prescient or what? "How are you gonna keep 'em down on the farm?" 

Hancock thumped Rothsay in the 34-16 final.  Does Dave Goltz still hang around Rothsay? 

Hancock has had an interesting season. On September 15 the Owls erupted on offense to win 56-6 over Ortonville. The very next week, they were shut out in a 6-0 final. That was at the hands of Brandon-Evansville. 

The Owls are now 3-2 overall, 2-1 in section and 2-2 in conference. The game against Brandon was the exception to the rule. The Owls have been lighting it up on offense.

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

Michelle Fischbach floats out impeachment

Michelle Fischbach (MPR image)

A comment I placed with a Yahoo News article on Thursday:

 

What is happening to our country? We have survived up until now. Everyone should see that the whole attempted-impeachment circus is a naked attempt to "get back" at Democrats and even our U.S. justice system for "going after" this man named Trump. Trump is a mortal person. If he has erred, let the chips fall where they may. But Republicans fall on their sword for him constantly. "Alice Through the Looking Glass." Actually worse than that.

 

"John" responded:

 

The Southern Democrats from the 1960s and before have taken over the GOP. That dysfunctional group has adopted Trump as their god.

We here in Western Minnesota are quite far north of the Mason-Dixon Line. I fail to see why so much of our sentiment should line up with the people of the "old South." 

The rift that survived the U.S. Civil War was addressed pretty well by the Voting Rights Act. But the Act was struck down. John Roberts felt it was not needed any more. So he was wrong. Supreme Court justices get to their rarefied air level because of their ability to show sound judgment. That is the theory. But look what has been happening with Clarence Thomas, the most egregious, and Samuel Alito. The Supreme Court gave us the Citizens United decision that allows for narrow interests to nullify the public good. 

You might say all of this is a mere backdrop to what is happening with Donald Trump. Daily there are headlines keeping him in front of us. Have we really chosen this path? We here in Western Minnesota chose as our congressperson Michelle Fischbach. Truly she has projected sympathy for the attempted insurrection of Jan. 6. She would not come out and agree with that statement. 

 

It's reflexive

When Trump people read a piece like this and sense that the writer is a Trump skeptic, the reflexive action is to try to s--t all over that person. I attempted to get a statement from Fischbach on whether she still stood by her statements of Jan. 6. I went through the legitimate channel on her website. No response. I mean, no specific response. The response I got was to be placed on her email communications list. 

So on September 15 I got an item from her. Concern about all the legal baggage that former president Trump is picking up? Concern about Trump getting to carry the torch for the GOP again? Some regrets about all the dirty laundry Trump has thrust on this country? Regret about the two impeachment fails? None of that. 

With Trump confronting us as this elephant in the room, with his baggage that is making him seem like a caricature, what does Fischbach choose to comment upon, to solicit support for? This isn't to say she won't get support, because we are blood red out here with political preferences. So, many of the people who surround me each day, like the guys at DeToy's Restaurant, will no doubt applaud that Fischbach is floating the Biden impeachment thing as really big. 

All I would like to tell her is to remember that we are quite far to the north of the Mason-Dixon Line. And to remember that most of the truly disruptive Republicans now are from south of that. And their behavior is largely to disrupt. 

They wouldn't mind upsetting the whole apple cart with the "government shutdown" because they'd still like to stick it to "the Union." To just let everything go to hell. 

To reverse the outcome of the Civil War? No, that is not in the cards. The Confederacy was really doomed from the start. Did that cause ever spell out the real geographic boundaries for their "new country?" Well no. The Mason-Dixon Line was put forward for convenience, sort of theoretical. What about the boundary to the west? 

So you see, it wasn't so much about establishing a new country as it was a vehicle for venting against the Union. Again, to simply disrupt. To dish out pain. The big Civil War battles in the East were partly an attempt to make the North war-weary, to want to sue for peace. 

Look at the "Tet Offensive" in Vietnam. The U.S. and allied interests actually won that confrontation. In this case, the offensive resulted in so much shock and anger for the U.S., it worked in its prime objective. The Battle Of Gettysburg did not accomplish that. 

People who crow about being "conservative" today need to think more about the regional aspects of what's going on. Pay heed to the guy who responded to my comment on Yahoo News. I have suspected this for some time. The Republicans of South Dakota ought to pay heed. 

John Harwood is one guy in the media who brings this up.

South Dakota is well to the north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Maybe we should wonder: Did you see the news item recently about the Denny's Restaurant in Sioux Falls that refused service to African-Americans? Refusing to serve "Negroes" in South Dakota? You mean it wasn't in Alabama or Mississippi? No, Sioux Falls. 

 

Whither progress?

The nation made such tremendous strides with civil rights in the mid-20th Century. It is shocking how much of that appears to be eroding now. And even more shocking how so many among us are mesmerized with Trump. How so many digest "conservative media" and learn to spout certain lines. "Impeach Biden." And now we have our own congressperson from Western Minnesota on the train for pushing impeachment as a priority consideration. To make it "top of mind." 

Of all the issues or problems that Congressperson Fischbach could have brought to our attention in mid-September, she writes about impeaching Biden. Inflation? Well she'd probably just blame Biden and the Democrats for that. But she wants us to think about impeaching Biden, this with the specter of horrible wrongdoing by Trump and his people staring at us right in the face. "See no evil" on the part of Fischbach. 

The Trump supporters would dismiss me and others like me out of hand. They would try to find ways to pounce on me immediately. They would try to get personal if that would help. Anything to prop up "their man," and it does not matter what our justice system is revealing about what he did. Or what Giuliani and others did. We're in a true "Alice Through the Looking glass" world now, never could have imagined it when I was young. 

Fischbach may be an otherwise very nice and rational person if she were to be guided away from her preoccupation with defending Trump. I'm sure she would be a pleasant person to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. Republicans can charm you even while pulling the rug out from under the "common people" with their policies. 

I absolutely take no pleasure in sharply criticizing anyone. But why can't Fischbach choose to focus attention on other issues? Nothing else concerns her much outside of the possibility of impeaching Joe Biden? That's it? So she wants to get in league with all the Deep South know-nothings, those of the thick southern accent? Are those really the stripes here? In Minnesota? Or in South Dakota where maybe Negroes shouldn't enter a public restaurant now? 

Is this what we have become? Is the disease spreading? What hath God wrought? 

A reminder that Congressperson Fiscchbach voted against certifying the 2020 election results. She was at Trump's beck and call. Even Tom Emmer was not like that.

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

Tigers eke out tennis win versus MACCRAY

Tigers 4, MACCRAY 3

We have another MACA tennis win to report. The outcome was 4-3 for the Tigers against the MACCRAY Wolverines. The Tigers had a 2-2 split in singles play. Cate Kehoe at No. 1 showed her winning flair against Tayte Nokleby, 6-2 and 6-3. 

MACCRAY had the winning edge at second and third singles. The No. 2 Wolverine Greta Meyer defeated Chloe Zimmel 6-2 and 6-2. At No. 3 it was Erika Pieper winning in a three-set battle over our Heidi Seales, 4-6, 6-2 and 6-3. 

Our Ellen Reed at No. 4 singles prevailed vs. Mackenna Burnett, 6-3 and 6-2. 

On to doubles, where we took two of three. Our No. 1 unit was a victor. This was made up of Ashley Koehl and Nora Meek. The Tiger pair turned back Alex Dirksen and Ella Kienitz, 7-6 (5) and 6-2. The MACCRAY No. 2 team of Addie Plaggie and Iris Donner downed Grace Hauglie and Izabell Hoffman, 7-6 (5), 5-7 and 6-4. 

Another three-set match unfolded at No. 3 doubles. Here, the Tiger team of Molly Wayne and Ava Breuer stopped Mia Shubert and Ava Janssen 6-3, 5-7 and 6-0.

Hailey Werk a champ

The running Tigers of MACA headed west for Monday competition. Weather remains favorable for the stimulating sport of cross county. 

MACA has a headliner this year in Hailey Werk. Werk ran to No. 1 in the Ortonville Invite. Her champion time was 20:48. The second place runner was Julia Schmidt of Border West. Am I correct that Border West covers Clinton, Graceville, Wheaton and Herman? And they're called the "Buccaneers?" I used to think Ortonville was a part, but I guess no. 

Our Kendal Fischer was the No. 4 runner at Ortonville. The Tigers had a bunch of runners come in after that. Five straight place finishes were recorded by Anya Fehr, Hannah Schultz, Alayna Perkins, Kassidy Vlaminck and Macy Seales. 

Our MACA boys unit had five in the top ten. The charge was led by Ethan Koehler: fourth place. Truett Richards and Grady Stallman arrived at the finish chute fifth and sixth. Then in No. 8 and 9 were Carlos Rivera and Wesley Richards. The champion boys runner was Caden Vanderwal of Ortonville.

 

Volleyball: Minnewaska 3, Montevideo 0

The Minnewaska Area Lakers are sailing along nicely in 2023 volleyball, owner of an 8-5 record. The W/L is reported on the "Minnesota Scores" site, which also tells us the Lakers are 5-4 in conference, 1-1 in section and 3-1 at home. Yes, home is a comfortable place for 'Waska volleyball. The school overlooks beautiful Lake Minnewaska. 

The assignment on Tuesday, Sept. 26, was to go on the road vs. Montevideo. Monte used to have a Native American nickname. They had a beautiful mural at their gym, as I recall, that had a silhouetted Indian. Today Montevideo is the Thunder Hawks? I can never memorize whether that's one word or two. Think I'll just start guessing on that. It's like "Silver Steaks" for Osakis. 

The Lakers not only won versus the T-Hawks, they did so by sweep. Scores were 25-6, 25-9 and 25-12. Hey, a freshman had a major role in the Lakers' winning effort. That's Haillie Schulz who plays right side hitter and setter for coach Michele Johnson. Schulz came at the T-Hawks with ten kills. Plus she performed 13 set assists. Monte is struggling with a 2-12 record. 

We are waiting to see if Benson can keep its "Braves" nickname. Benson is trying to get approval from several Native organizations to see if the old controversial imagery can be permitted into the future. The state has a new law on this. Was it a couple weeks ago that Benson submitted its request for a waiver? I'm wondering why the answer could not have come forward more quickly and routinely. The answer should be "no." 

To be called the "Braves" with a symbol that includes feathers is exactly what the new state laws are designed to prevent. We'll see. 

Schulz was complemented by several teammates in the hitting department Tuesday. Avery Fier had eight kills followed by Dreya Barsness and Dacia Fleury each with seven. Then we see Addy Kath and Miaya Guggisberg each with three. Barsness had an ace block. Emma Poegel dug up the ball 14 times. Barsness and Fier had seven and six digs, respectively. 

Three Lakers each sent three ace serves over the net: Fier, Berlynn Green and Barsness. Poegel and Haley Shea each had one ace. Shea was the setting whiz with 19 assists, followed by Schulz with her 13. Other Lakers with assists were Poegel 3, Barsness 2 and Fleury 1.

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

MACA football has first 2023 setback

The image you see above is one of four that were taken of 1973 Morris High School alums last Saturday night. Thanks to those who made the reunion a success. I share this photo because I'm in it. If you don't know me, and fewer people do over time, I'm at left in the seated row. I have been losing some weight due to the medication I take for diabetes. Specifically I have to adjust my diet in order to be sensitive to side effects. Losing some weight always brings some satisfaction, right? Many people work hard to do it. It can make you a little manic. You'll feel giddy about getting out an old pair of pants that you haven't been able to wear. Fairly soon though you'll sense some of your old cravings. So you might say that losing weight is a matter of negotiating each new plateau. Hope I've stabilized at my current weight for a while. I have a renewed appreciation of fruits and vegetables, that's for sure. I have had to abandon my old "ritual" of having a grilled cheese sandwich and classic chocolate shake (in the metal cup) at Don's on Friday night. The ritual of occasionally dining at Stone's Throw is gone also, assuredly because the place has closed its doors! Too bad. Life goes on. Attending one's 50-year class reunion is a joy largely because you can feel good about simply being alive. I made only a brief appearance for my 40-year reunion ten years ago, because of feeling concern that so many people would come up to me and say "Hi Brian, you still with the paper?" It was foolish of me to think that way of course. We lose our defensiveness as we get older.

 

DGF 42, Tigers 7

So Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton is known as the "Rebels." I find that a little odd because one's first thought might be of the U.S. Civil War. I'm sure this is not the context they are encouraging. The mascot symbol sort of looks like a pirate. But pirates and rebels are not the same. School mascots and logos can indeed become dicey. The safest course is what our Morris teams have done. Call it the "default" choice: "big cats," Tigers and Cougars! 

If you've been to the Morris newspaper website, you might think that "Cougars" are the only teams here. I'm starting to feel offended by that. It is totally redundant and unnecessary for the newspaper and radio station sites to have links that refer to UMM sports, and that is because UMM's own site does this job 100 percent. Hard to figure people sometimes. 

The Morris paper management pushes everyone to "buy" the legacy (outdated) paper product. Inflation bothering you these days? Don's Cafe has raised prices again. Well I'm keeping my eye on it. 

The Friday night game at DGF certainly did not go well for our Tigers. We entered the action undefeated at 3-0. We finally got humbled on Friday. This was to the tune of a 42-7 loss. Sigh. 

DGF erupted in the first quarter to take control: 21 points scored. They followed that up with 14 in the second. My, the score was 35-7 at halftime. A long drive back for the Motown fans. I'm always concerned about so many fans making a long drive home late at night. But that's the way it is. When we get close to 70 years old like I am, you try to avoid nighttime commitments. Although I wouldn't mind to get my chocolate shake again! 

The Tigers' first TD was plenty exciting - it was a 61-yard pass, Drew Huebner to Ryan Asmus. The extra point was added by Riley Saito. But the host team played with a dominating flair. The Rebels scored first on the night on what must have been a thriller: a kickoff return that went into the books as 100 yards! The player carrying the pigskin was Brody Friend. 

The second Rebel score was by Casey Macziewski on an 8-yard run. DGF finished its first quarter work with a two-yard scoring carry by Caleb Johnson. All three of DGF's first quarter touchdowns were followed by a successful extra point kick by Hayden Hauf. First quarter done, score of 21-7. 

The Rebels pulled away more in the second quarter. First it was Kade Swenson breaking loose on an 82-yard run for six. Then the Rebels struck with the pass: Caleb Johnson to Nicholas Waale, 33 yards. Hauf's toe was true for the conversion point on both second quarter scores. 

DGF scored the only touchdown of the third quarter: Bodey Devries broke loose on a 33-yard scoring scamper. Hauf went out for the kick and you guessed it: he nailed it. The fourth quarter was scoreless. Hope everyone was well awake for the drive home. 

 

Game numbers

The MACA rushing stats were quite limited. We see Owen Anderson with seven carries for 21 yards. Grayson Gibson and Huebner rushed for 15 and 12 respectively. 

The DGF pass defense was pretty good. Our QB Huebner put up 33 attempts and completed 14 for 200 yards. He had two passes picked off. Jonah Huebner was 2-for-2 passing, 25 yards. Riley Asmus and Tyler Friesen each had four pass receptions. Andrew Marty had three and Anderson two. Our punter was Jack Kehoe. Riley Saito handled our kickoffs. 

The offensive standout for the host team was Bodey Devries with his monster rushing total of 259 yards on 17 carries. What a night for that young man. 

I wish to thank the coaching staffs of the two programs for posting game data on the "MN Football Hub" website. Very much appreciated by everyone, not just other media. Let's make it a habit, guys. 

 

Plenty full background

You see my school reunion photo at top of this page. I'll remind you that I was covering Morris High School football for the Morris newspaper way back in 1972, the fall of my senior year. Show me anyone else with a more extensive background in covering Morris sports. And for close to 30 years I covered anything and everything in Stevens County. 

Today I have slowed down. Now the countdown begins for the 60-year reunion of the Morris High School Class of 1973! Our class motto was "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." You should know that in 1973, there was an expectation to be unconventional in such things. The opposite of today, really. 

We went against the grain largely because of the need most of us felt to be against the Vietnam war. Today's boys know nothing of what it was like to fear the draft and to be sent over to that hellhole: 58,000 direct fatalities. And we lost the war. Does anyone even care we lost? Look up the scenes from the 1975 "Fall of Saigon." They're on YouTube. You should understand why a lot of us were skeptical about the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

 

Addendum: In the photo you see at top of post, I'm seated next to Sue Dahl-Mohr. So she's second from left in seated row. A few years back she shared an assessment of yours truly that has stuck in my head. We were talking about how I had never been married. And Sue said "Brian, I think you're the kind of person who likes to have his own time and his own money."

 

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

MACA girls fall to NL-Spicer, defeat Minnewaska

The MACA volleyball Tigers had a busy start to the week with matches on Monday and Tuesday. Does the current Morris newspaper have coverage of these matches? I doubt it. I don't care enough to take notes on all the local media behavior. I know my own feet would be held to the fire on matters like this. 

I churned out sports coverage for the (old) Morris Sun Tribune when the paper was twice a week. For the large majority of my career, "the Internet" did not exist. 

Today's Morris paper which purports to represent both Morris and Hancock has a website. The website is set up so that it has the potential to do great things. But the owners hold back with it. You all should know that there are many papers that choose to do fairly dynamic things with their sites. Why wouldn't they? 

Not hard to speculate: The Morris paper wants people to continue to "buy" the old dead-tree product. Money. Well I don't care anything about that. So I have my own online resources for reporting on the Tigers. It's a thrill to still be connected to the orange and black. What a perspective I have: last weekend I joined with old familiar faces for my 50-year reunion of the Morris High School Class of 1973! 

So it was 50 years ago we crossed the stage with diplomas. Did the diploma mean we were changed people? As if right on the spot? Well of course not. Society sets up these elaborate ceremonies as a means of selling our public school model for education. Silly rabbit, you are the same person when you wake up on the morning after graduation. Society deals us such a shock: It wants us to feel thrilled on graduation night, but then on the very next day we are completely severed from the relationship with our classmates. From then on it's voluntary. 

All those years of forced/mandated togetherness, and then surprise! It's over. You'd better move on, find ways to fundamentally reorganize your life. I think it can be a cruel forced transition. 

Anyway, I have the perspective of being both a long-ago MHS graduate and a person who today continues to enjoy writing about Tiger athletics, and of course it's "MACA" today, even if the West Central Tribune never gets it right. We're not "Morris/CA," we're MACA. And couldn't be prouder, of course. 

But our current volleyball team is below-.500. What does our local media tell us about the Monday night match? The heading for the kmrs web coverage announces "scores." The coverage does have a wee bit more than just the score or the raw outcome. The Tigers fell to New London-Spicer on the road and kmrs offers us two sentences of details. Better than nothing. The abbreviated coverage gave us three player names. So we're happy to see that Kaylee Harstad had ten kills, Ryla Koehler had 11 assists and Lauren Hottovy had 12 digs. Congrats to these three. 

But the orange and black was on the short end against New London-Spicer, a school that can always be counted on to be strong in girls athletics. Quite the tradition. 

I don't see game scores in the kmrs coverage. All I see is "3-0." So let's turn to the WC Tribune coverage. The coverage tells us that MACA came out of the night with a 4-6 record. Alas, we see "stats not available" for the Tigers. I don't think we are in the Willmar paper's official coverage territory, not like in past times. A little retrenchment in Willmar. I do think that if the Morris coach called in, the stats would be taken and reported. 

We sure do see stat highlights for the NL-S Wildcats. Oh, and the game scores: 25-23, 25-20 and 25-14. The fans in New London were quite approving. NL-Spicer came out of the night at 10-3. It's more of same in Wildcat country. 

Dakota Rich came at the Tigers with three serving aces. She was also the go-to player in setting: 23 assists. In hitting we see Kendra Gerhardson as the leader with 14 kills. Ava Carlson put up 1 1/2 ace blocks. And in digs, Gerharadson set the pace with her eleven. The WC Trib article talked about the "loud student section" at the New London gym. I really don't like that sort of thing.

Victory over 'Waska

Tiger Center was the place for Tuesday night volleyball action. 

The Tigers' match at New London was the night before - might they show some signs of fatigue? Don't ever bet against high school kids having resilience. Oh to be young again. The Tigers summoned a winning effort Tuesday to the delight of home fans. We prevailed over Minnewaska. Not only were the Tigers resilient, they were resilient through a full five-game marathon match. 

'Waska came here with a winning record. The Tigers are trying to get to the .500 plateau. We took a step in the right direction on Tuesday with scores of 21-25, 28-26, 17-25, 25-22 and 15-11. We seemed to get stronger toward the end - an encouraging sign. Obviously the hard-fought Game 2 was pivotal in our favor. Our record at night's end: 5-7. 

The Tuesday story was upbeat in a big way, however the West Central Tribune's online coverage of the match does not have MACA details. There won't be anything in this week's Morris newspaper about this match. Wait 'til mid-week next week to see the details in print? That's too long to wait, unacceptable. 

I was about ready to click on "publish" for this blog post when I noticed that a nice little summary of the 'Waska match was put up on the kmrs site. I was too impatient on this day, but fortunate now to have some nuggets of information. Give credit to kmrs-kkok. Continue reading.

  

Tigers 3, Minnewaska 2

Yes it was a full five games played Tuesday night here. Maybe the correct term is "sets" not "games" but I got in the habit with "games" a long time ago. Go ahead and call me stupid. 

Game 2 was really key for tipping the "mo" in the Tigers' favor. It could have gone either way. We notched the 28-26 win. It all came down to the fifth "game" which we won 15-11. Ryla Koehler performed 41 assists. Nora Boyle complemented that stat with 26. In the crowd-pleasing kills category it was Kaylee Harstad and Brianna Marty each with seven. Morgan Harstad came through with four blocks.

The WC Trib has details on 'Waska but not on MACA. I really think if the Morris coach or someone she designates were to call in, we'd see the details. Something to work on, I guess. 

The WC Trib informs us that three Lakers each had two serving aces: Brooklyn Noyes, Dreya Barsness and Haley Shea. Two Lakers shared the primary setting responsibility: Shea with 31 assists and Haillie Schultz with 22. The hitting work was real share-the-wealth: Avery Fier (16 kills), Dacia Fleury (15), Schultz (13) and Barsness (12). Fier and Barsness each had an ace block. Leaders in digs were Fier 25, Emma Poegel 22 and Barsness 20. 

The WC Trib has "stats not available" for MACA.

 

Addendum: Obviously one can come away with surprises from your 50-year class reunion! It's expected, so in my case I was thrilled to see Paula Fevold for the first time since graduation! I do believe Paula was a starter for the first-ever girls basketball team of Morris High School. Someone would have to confirm that. 

I wonder if the special five individuals could be located and invited back for some type of recognition sometime. Just a thought. The Class of '73 graduated at a time when girls athletics was fledgling. The girls could struggle mastering the fundamentals. Fully understandable. But the story certainly has a happy ending. Look how proficient the girls are today and we take it for granted.

 

Success in tennis

A tip of the hat to MACA tennis and coach Britney House. Sometime I might slip and call her "Britney Greenwaldt." I am getting old as evidenced by having attended my 50th class reunion. Still kind of blows my mind. 

Our first singles tennis player Cate Kehoe beat Brianna Nelson of YME 6-0, 6-4. The Tigers beat YME 6-1. Our second singles player Chloe Zimmel defeated Abigail Jimenez 6-0 and 6-1. YME's Emma Keller was her team's lone victor at No. 3. Emma defeated our Heidi Seales 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. The No. 4 story: Ellen Reed of the Tigers dominating Carley Redepenning 6-0 and 6-0. 

On to doubles. Our No. 1 tandem of Ashley Koehl and Nora Meek thumped Sarana West and Breea Johnson 6-0, 6-0. No. 2 was pretty one-sided also, as Izabell Hoffman and Grace Hauglie beat Reagan Streich and Annelise Jahn, 6-1 and 6-1. Our No. 3 doubles team featured Ava Breuer and Molly Wayne. They took care of business vs. Brooklyn Howe and Kyla Smith, 6-0 and 6-3.

Cross country too!

The weather has stayed most pleasant for outdoor fall sports. So the running Tigers took the trip down I-94 for the meet at Melrose. The venue was Meadowlark Golf Course. There, Hailey Werk took 18th in the Melrose Invitational. Anya Fehr placed 60th. Our boys team had Truett Richards and Ethan Koehler finishing as sort of a tandem in 64th/65th. Close to them was Grady Stallman in 69th.

Addendum #2: What's going on with our country? Do you all care? Cassidy Hutchinson now claims that Rudy Giuliani groped her on Jan. 6. A pretty pregnant question here: How does someone as maniacally crazy as Giuliani with his cognitive and alcohol problems and just plain craziness come to be the lawyer for the president of the United States?

 

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