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

Lakers crush another opponent: Rocori

Minnewaska Area continued a pattern of fairly destroying opponents on Monday. A string of games has developed like this. A high compliment to the Lakers and their coaches for molding such quality. Maybe as time goes on, they might want to play their reserves a little more! Because, look how things went on Monday: a 79-22 score. 

So much for private schools having an advantage. We always hear that comment around tournament-time. Look how Mayer Lutheran handled MACA recently. "Manhandled" would better describe. But on Monday the private school Rocori could not hold a candle to the vaunted Lakers. 'Waska pummeled Rocori to keep their streak of overwhelming success going. 

Rocori even had the home floor in Cold Spring. There, Addy Kath led the Laker charge. This she did by making four 3-pointers and finishing with the team-best 25 points. Sydney Dahl continued her positive play by putting in 22 points. Dahl also had five rebounds and three shot blocks. Lauryn Ankeny joined these two in double figures with ten points. 

Oh, and Ankeny was at it with her specialty of gaining steals! A thrill for the fans to see. With cat-like quickness Ankeny had eight steals, plus she contributed four assists. 

Defense? Well what about this: Rocori scored a mere four points in the second half! The Lakers outscored Rocori 40-18 in the first half and 39-4 in the second. Again, maybe have reserves take over sooner (wink)? 

The top three Laker scorers were followed by these teammates: Alia Randt 5, Berlynn Green 4, Olivia Danielson 4, Carly Jergenson 3, Kendall Danielson 3 and Jayda Koilstoe 3. I have had to keep track of several 'Waska "Danielsons" over the recent past. A real active family. Many towns have certain names that you can associate with them. Benson: "Staton." 

Kath with her four 3's was followed by a parade of mates each of whom had one: Randt, Green, Dahl, Jergenson, Danielson and Kolstoe. Uh-oh! the West Central Tribune does not specify which "Danielson" had the '3'. Olivia scored four points and Kendall three so it could be either. Hey, I know as a former newspaper writer how easy it is to be caught in a situation like this. You have to try to make a mental note of the teams with more than one of the same last name. And it is common! 

Three Lakers each snared five rebounds: Randt, Dahl and Megan Thorfinnson. Ankeny and Thorfinnson co-led in assists: four each. Ankeny and Danielson (first name not available) had eight and six steals respectively. Dahl blocked three shots. 

'Waska is 9-2 now.

I remember when MACA girls basketball had the two "Holland" sisters and both had the same first initial: "B." Normally in newspaper work you separate the siblings with the first initials. In the case of the Hollands it was best to just type out their full names all the time. 

 

I'll bet on 'Waska tonight (Tues.)

The Lakers are not only successful, they are busy! Action resumes tonight (Tuesday) at home against Benson. I'm sure betting on the Lakers. Is Benson sticking with their "Braves" nickname? Well, they are holding out for state money, I guess. Human nature. Ethics of the nickname be damned I guess. 

A member of my church, Bryanna Wiebe, has been student teaching with Brock Duncan in the Benson band program. Wiebe is a UMM student and I think she's "going places." 

I once wrote about Mr. Duncan that it was super how he prepared his pep band for playing the opposing schools' fight songs. I wrote that in the Morris paper. Not surprisingly it got Duncan's attention and he made a copy for the supt. to appreciate! I wrote in Morris paper that Benson's band performed our school song just as well as our own Morris band! And I was subsequently advised that our Morris band director would probably not appreciate the comment! 

Hey, everything about high school activities is fun!

 

Girls basketball: MACA 65, Wheaton 64

This was one of those games you could appreciate on YouTube. I'm age 70 and we could not have imagined anything like this service for much of my life! How transformative. I have to confess I was rooting for Wheaton because guard Addison Blume is a weekend server of mine at DeToy's Restaurant. 

Wheaton had a slow start, seemed futile for a time. I went to bed. I noticed next morning that Wheaton really made a game of it, nearly won. So there was a one-point difference at the end. MACA survived. But I would bet on Wheaton for the re-match. Go Addison! 

I am very impressed with the YouTube production for Morris Area High School! I shared with a friend this morning via email:

 

I was watching girls basketball on YouTube last night and the quality of these broadcasts has come so far!!! I'm amazed. They even had a real entertaining game announcer, just as good as the big-timers. She knew all the cute expressions like "splash." And there are graphics at bottom of screen to follow the game, just like the big time. People must be getting paid for all this. Different camera angles.

When Sue Dieter was at the paper, she thought the paper was going to get in on shooting video at games. And the paper did that for a while after I left, just little snippets. I was afraid of a staggering workload. I already had one. Once I got committed to the Hancock Record, I think that spelled doom for me. There is a saying "don't volunteer to do anything at work." Now I realize it's true.

 

Addendum: I have become very cautious using images from Twitter (X) pages. I'd have to be totally certain of the subject matter - sometimes this is ambiguous. I have seen a couple that I would like to use. You have to make sure these photos are timely too, not dated!

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwillh73@yahoo.com

Lack of snow makes the cold seem colder

The initials "OMG" would have brought puzzlement in an earlier time. "Oh my God." Well that's how we're likely to react on this Sunday morning as we glance at the thermometer. Speaking of changing times, most of us probably would not glance at a thermometer, rather we'd look at a "screen." In my case, my laptop. 

I have been so shocked by changing times that I did not even want any "TVs" in my home anymore. So I purchased a new sofa at Unger's a couple years ago and used that occasion to have the two strong guys from that place haul away my TVs which were the type that had the big back. I could barely carry two of those TVs myself. Now at age 70 I'd withdraw from such activity. 

The low temperature aggravates my overall feeling of depression in this early January. It's not clinical depression so don't fret. It's a general feeling of depression or "malaise" if that term seems apt. And I'm inclined to think "malaise" because of the recent death of Jimmy Carter. He rather popularized the term. The "Onion" humor site had a headline not long ago about how "Jimmy Carter getting concerned that he will never die." 

I suppose there's no harm done in living to a very advanced age, is there? You only go around once in life. And if we go to heaven, will we see our friends and family there? Reminds me of the classic historical novel by Michael Shaara, "The Killer Angels," based in the Civil War. So a general is pondering death, his mortality, a quite logical thing to do when you're surrounded with death as in the Civil War. He's wondering about seeing friends and family in the afterlife. And then he had a curious thought: "What age will they be?" 

That kind of stuck with me. 

 

Snow is scant again

I feel depressed partly because of what the weather has foisted on us. Yes it's cold but the cold seems more of a letdown than usual. My curious mind goes to work: Why the deep funk? I think it's because we're missing the commensurate amount of snow. 

Unlike Missouri and that general region of the country, we're used to a true "winter wonderland" with drifts around us: nice crisp dry snow. Of course this can impose a burden with snow removal and its costs. But the winter recreation enthusiasts can get out and about. We'd hear the "scream" of the snowmobiles. 

I was in the elementary grades when snowmobiles took off in popularity. 

The vintage "Scorpion" snowmobiles. Black-themed.

I learned about the various lines of snowmobiles, headed for a long time by the "Ski Doo," so popular it almost became a universal term like "Kleenex." Popular, yes, but other lines of the machines quickly muscled in. They all seemed built the same way, they just had different shapes and colors. 

I guess for a long time you could say that about cars too. I heard a critique of "classic" cars once, to the effect that all that makes them special is the "shape of the metal." I had a friend who had a 1980 Ford Mustang that he put forward as a "classic." It's nice he felt so proud. But someone noted to me that the 1980 Mustang was really not a well-built car. 

Me? I drove a 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado through the 1970s! I could not have been prouder of that. My family acquired this true classic from Bill Dripps. Remember Bill's Oldsmobile place in downtown Morris? I sure do. Was close to the present-day Don's Cafe. Time goes on and we have to preserve these memories. 

Dad and I developed devotion to the Polaris line of snowmobile. They always did so well in the annual "Winnipeg to St. Paul" race. It was a company priority for Polaris. But as time passed I could sense that Polaris was being surpassed by "Arctic Cat" with its "patented" Torsion bar suspension. 

So much time has passed and I know that considerable engineering strides have been made with snowmobiles. I have not paid close attention in a long time. 

 

Sad but it's reality, at UMM

Why else might I be depressed on this arctic-like day in January? Well I simply have to be depressed by what is happening to our University of Minnsota-Morris. How could I not be depressed? C'mon, don't point fingers at me. Don't be blinded by such parochial thinking that we must be constant cheerleaders for UMM. If UMM were to warrant that kind of support, well terrific. 

But take a look at what is happening right at this time: "Symphonic Winds" in the UMM music program has bit the dust. That one example is enough to cite. So I won't belabor the overall point. 

Symphonic Winds is dead at UMM? To never present a concert again? It is absolutely true, not some delusion. The book is closed for what could be termed "UMM's band." My father directed the original UMM band in 1960-61. He obtained hand-me-down uniforms from the Twin Cities campus. I have heard the central campus also sent us instruments that were, shall we say, sort of worn out or "discards." But they meant well. The instruments just needed a little work, so I was told. 

My own photo of UMM in winter

And the UMM band made its first proud appearance at our armory in Morris when the armory was at the center of town. It was where the library is now. We were witnessing the birth of something new and exciting. The Morrison family greatly appreciated what this meant for Morris. 

When the Morrison family stepped forward as benefactors for UMM, specifically in connection to "Edson Auditorium," I felt I had to do the same and I did. And so did this lift up my reputation some in Morris? I had a flicker of a thought that maybe it would. 

But I grew doubtful. I had longstanding grievances about our public school system. I have zero regrets about that, how I came to despise the organized teachers union and how it behaved. So clannish, paranoid and scheming. Many years passed before these problems got tamped down. Today I'm quite comfortable with our public school. I have an active partnership with the instrumental music program. Sports has its bumps in the road but the overall attitude within the system seems healthy. 

Believe me I can remember a contrary tone. I could have gotten run right out of town. The worst scenario never happened. And I have the pride of my principles which supersedes everything, Kemosabe. 

But on this arctic-type day of early January, let me just say that I have no choice but to adjust my commitment to the U of M. And I will be speaking on the phone with a U person in the Twin Cities (Gotham) campus Monday. I wish I was not having to do that. But it's a no-brainer. 

 

Erosion

UMM music ensembles are henceforth going to be a combo of students and community. So we're in league now with Crookston. No more "symphonic winds." Say it ain't so. It most certainly is so. The kind of community people who will be in these groups have substantial personal wealth. They are upper-crusters. And so NO WAY do I need to be subsidizing this anymore. 

The purpose of the Ralph and Martha Williams Fund for the U is to support STUDENTS. And I most certainly will continue to point the family fund in that direction. But the focus will now be the Twin Cities campus. Good luck here in Morris where we can hear the coyotes out east of town. I tried hanging with UMM for as long as I could. Give me credit.

The red "Rupp" snowmobile

Addendum: I remember the Kussatz family had a "Rupp Sno-Sport" snowmobile. The Euls had the fairly rare green "Skiroule." The Bruns' had the Bolens "Sprint." The Pearsons were all-in with "Ski-Doo." We all had fun but as I look back, a lot of what I did was dangerous! I can even remember the TV commercial "jingles" for some of the snowmobiles. For Rupp: "Wake up your winter with fun." The Sno-Sport was red! I remember our old police chief Henry Hull saying to me one day at the restaurant: "We get more complaints about snowmobiles than anything."

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

New year, new assessment of our Morris?

The image shows Neil and Linda Schmidgall of Superior Industries. I had the great pleasure of getting a personal tour of the extensive Superior operation from Neil recently. So eye-opening. You might say humbling also. Man, the work and sense of organization behind all the elaborate things there! The bottom line is that there's a passion for "making things." It makes the world go 'round.

 

First morning after the holidays so now we should look at an extended time of normal life: the "routine." One little complication is that we have this little thing coming up called Martin Lutheran King Day. It's hard to know to what extent we really should move over for it, wouldn't you say? 

The holiday became created when our U.S. government had quite different leanings. Hoo boy, there is no way our national government in D.C. would create it now. Not with the political winds blowing the way they have been. The purpose of MLK Day seems to have shifted from one of simply paying homage to the man, to a "Day of Service." A "Day of Service" is always something to be celebrated. So if you have a problem with the basic principle of MLK Day, well you can be happy with how it has evolved. 

And why would you have a problem with the basic purpose? Well, MLK came along to crusade for things that our society should have been able to take care of on its own. We're honoring this iconic person who made us aware that Jim Crow was an unspeakable abomination along with discrimination and prejudice in general. The idea was to lift up the "black folks" or the ":African-Americans." 

No doubt laudable but in the years since, a real rainbow of races and ethnicities has characterized America. It's a "melting pot." Asians make up an important element. But if you really respect the "melting pot" as I do, we should put aside such pigeon-holing. "MLK Day" is a reminder that the black folks needed a concerted effort to get liberated, freed from the earlier shackles. It is a reminder that the "whites" had a lot to answer for. And it is so true. 

The main thing is that the legal levers got applied to guarantee success. That's what it takes, even though we have seen a pullback with the Supreme Court's erasure of affirmative action at colleges. College people are oh so clever so I'm sure there are ways of tweaking the old programs. I am quite certain that our U of M-Morris still offers free tuition to Native Americans. I don't think the policy is based on an actual "treaty," rather it's just old law or policy. 

But the Supreme Court's judgment was enacted to supersede mere laws or policies, wasn't it? I am not intending to criticize the policy. I am not addressing its merits. Heaven knows UMM needs help now, Lordy. Man, I could never have anticipated this years ago. I feel like I've been bludgeoned. Morris was once a "company town" with UMM. Well, today we may still be a "company town" but now it's with Superior Industries and maybe Westmor too. 

The Superior Industries commitment

Remember when Westmor was "Kleespie Tank?" Kleespie Tank seemed like the 800-pound gorilla here for a long time. You never know what's going on behind the scenes with businesses. I heard someone say at the time of Kleespies' demise "well, when your outgo is more than your income. . ." I guess it always comes down to that. 

UMM appears to have suffered a severe blow - perhaps existential? - when the DJT presidency decided it wanted to get rid of the foreign students. As my friend Michael Lackey points out with his keen expertise, "the foreign students were UMM's cash cow." So if you voted for Trump, you were pointing things in this direction. 

And yes, I have at least a couple personal friends who will pounce on me with every skeptical reference I make to DJT. These people have turned to DJT to fulfill all their hopes and dreams. They are in a (expletive) trance. Sad. 

So if UMM is fading into the sunset, whither our community of Morris? 

Can Superior and Westmor take the reins in a totally commensurate manner? I think actually they can. In the meantime I think it's quite sad seeing the trends at UMM. Consider the changes to the music department now. I addressed this in an email I sent to friend Warrenn Anderson yesterday. I will let that email do the rest of my talking here today, the day after New Year's Day. God bless and thanks for reading.

 

Warrenn - I sent email to Del Sarlette today wondering if he knew when the first UMM music concert for next semester is. I can't count on this info being online, at least not in an easily accessible way.

I was a little shook by Del's answer:

"There won’t be any UMM band concerts next semester – that  'CommUniversity Band' is replacing the Symphonic Winds."

I was aware of this transition but it still slipped my mind. So are we seeing the slow death of UMM music? What about humanities as a whole? Michael Lackey says they're all in the same boat. If the big hulking HFA gets closed, what about the gallery with the Morrison name on it, for which the family donated $? And what about me with my family's contributions? The idea is to support UMM students. Should I ask to have fund shifted to Twin Cities campus? Well I won't do that, at least not now. 

The HFA at UMM (my photo)

How could this not be disheartening for me? Do you have any encouraging comments to offer? Well, my relationship with UMM the past few years has given me a sense of purpose and reward. I can't regret it. 

I am also wondering about any future contributions I might make to First Lutheran Church. You may know that FAITH Lutheran is losing its pastor, so both ELCA churches will be rudderless. Unless there's a miracle, both churches will suffer looking for leadership. This whole big decline got started with the gay rights thing, where UMM got so involved being pro-gay rights. This caused so much irritation. I witnessed it out and around.

So strange recently to see the UMM men [basketball] playing Oak Hills Christian. You couldn't find a more anti-gay college anywhere than Oak Hills. And, you could not find a more pro-gay college than UMM! Amazing. I think there was a time when an element of UMM staff would have risen up to insist we cancel the game with Oak Hills, to not have that game here at UMM. Remember when Carthage College football came here with Native American nickname? I think that game was endangered. A big fuss was made. I didn't hear anything about Oak Hills, and I think that's because UMM people are scared now, anyone on the payroll. The last thing they'll do is stick out their neck on anything political. So different from past times at UMM! I think administration has just laid down the law now: NO FUNNY STUFF, nothing stupid to get headlines for here. 

U of Iowa has dropped all the "diversity" stuff from their programs. I just saw headline the other day.

SPEAKING OF IOWA. . .Maybe I will shift my charitable giving to the Caitlin Clark Foundation, seriously. Of course that $ would go to Iowa-based causes. But I think so highly of CC.

Is there a chance UMM would not open for business next fall? Maybe we'll just have some research-based stuff here, no more undergraduate activity.

- BW

 

Addendum: When the MLK Day was first proposed, I was amused by Barry Goldwater's response. The then-charming old conservative from Arizona said "it's just another day when the mail won't get delivered." Barry was ahead of his time back in 1964. Remember? "In your heart you know he is right." Lyndon Johnson defeated him overwhelmingly, the guy who escalated the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. It was Johnson's war and Nixon had a chance to be a hero and end it. Alas, no dice, at least not for a very long while.

 

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

Oh for a hot sandwich on this early Sunday morning

Yawn. We are into the netherworld of the period between Christmas and New Year's. I believe "post-Christmas letdown" is a thing. I attended public school in a time when we really relished "Christmas vacation" or any other type of break actually. And that is because we were subjected to way too spartan a regimen. 

Today schools have to be more customer-friendly. The customers being both the parents and the kids. Accommodative, pleasant, not miserable. Public schools had a sense of monopoly when I was young. That is always bad news. Bad things are guaranteed to happen. 

My point here is that kids today really won't mind getting back into their school routine. It makes too much sense really: to have school be reasonably enjoyable for the kids. Well I'm happy for them. My generation grew up with the boys petrified with fear over being forced to go over to Vietnam. You parents of today: I hope you appreciate how much better you have it. Like night and day better. 

Anyway, it is Sunday morning of this netherworld situation where we are between Christmas and New Year's. It isn't enough for life to screech to a halt for Christmas itself, we find excuses to keep going slow. If it's for the sake of spending more time with family and relatives, that's quite fine. Many people like me are subject to a feeling of isolation. We feel disrupted when our normal routines cannot be followed. 

 

Oven gremlins?

One of my routines is to go to Willie's early Sunday morning and get a couple hot sandwiches for breakfast with coffee. There's guaranteed repartee with others at the "cafe" there. For the second Sunday in a row I struck out on being able to get the hot sandwiches. Last Sunday I settled for a cold one. Not this time. 

It's a short walk over to DeToy's. Sometimes that restaurant gets a bad rap. I consider it a blessing and a very reliable blessing, although I think the exterior of the building needs some work. I'm enough of an old-timer to remember when it opened as "Country Kitchen." It was a franchise. 

I am puzzled why Caribou Coffee at Willie's has had a non-functioning oven for so long. Many weeks it has been. I can't help but guess, like to guess that maybe Paul should have bought a service contract and did not. I have witnessed this kind of thing at a business where I once worked. Ahem, you might surmise. That's the way the ball bounces. I don't think the Morrisons were ready to enter an age where you're expected to plow $ into one generation after another of tech stuff. 

I wonder if Willie's Super Valu is just in a slowdown between the two holidays. We see this sort of thing all over. Last Sunday there was just one table of people for church coffee when I arrived at my First Lutheran. Upon commenting, I was told - you guessed it - that it was so close to Christmas Eve. My purportedly logical mind did not just accept that. Christmas Eve was two days away, Christmas Day three days away, so why would people be leaving early to visit relatives? Wouldn't they leave on Wednesday morning? 

A friend responded to my funk by saying there's an apparent implicit assumption that everyone would be leaving Morris. In contrast, would we not expect this to balance out with local people's relatives coming HERE to visit? We laughed. 

My photo of Morris water tower

We end up assuming that there is always an outflow, never an inflow. A cynic might say "this is Morris." 

I have joked in the past that our water tower should have the words "we're going to be gone" on it. Ask about people's whereabouts in the summer and on holidays and you'll year they're "gone." 

Odd way of expressing it really, as "gone" does not specify any actual place or destination. It really only means that you will NOT be somewhere. 

But we all get the message: so-and-so found something better to do than to be in Morris or to attend church here, especially the "bland" churches of First Lutheran, Faith Lutheran and Federated. We do not exist to promote Republican politics and Donald Trump. 

 

Another "netherworld"

Speaking of "netherworld" we are in the half-ass period between the election and the inauguration. ABC News has "donated" $15 million to help pay for the inauguration. Isn't that nice? We cannot stop the "Trump train." It's a matter now of just hunkering down to prepare for the so-called "shit show" that the second DJT presidency will bring. It wasn't enough to elect him once. 

All I can do is observe. I'm ready to observe another wave of inflation which would be guaranteed from Trump's policy suggestions. Unless it's all just talk which it well could be. The media actually acts naive. Or maybe they are happy just to be fed so much sensational stuff by the Orange Man. Most of us act indifferent now. 

A large majority of us churchgoers out in western Minnesota voted Trump. I have to hope that we can survive this.

 

Right on cue. . .

After Christmas we get reminded of the netherworld between holidays by certain news stories. I can't help but be depressed by these: the "year in review" stories, the galleries of famous people who died in the past year, the item about the "hot new word" that became fashionable in the past year. 

"Mr. Blackwell"

And in past times we would get "Mr. Blackwell's List." My do you remember that? Why did the media go for this? "Mr. Blackwell's list" was the notoriously sexist list of "the worst-dressed women." The list just happened to be of the most famous American women at the time. The story has been retired to historical annals so that people like me might bring it up. "Mr.  Blackwell's list." 

Sports slows down but if you're lucky your favorite local basketball team will be in a holiday tournament. I got a good start writing online about the MACA boys basketball team this season. But of late I have been stopped in my tracks: the coaching staff decided not to bother posting game stats on "Maxpreps." I might have to fall back on covering Minnewaska Area girls basketball. I'm always happy to write about area prep sports. Keeps me feeling relevant. 

 

The quest for breakfast

I should mention that the Willie's deli often offers hot sandwiches in the morning that are separate from Caribou. It's been no dice the last two weeks. This morning I simply had to leave and take the short walk over to Detoy's. Bless Detoy's for helping this isolated soul: me. 

So here's this big store, Willie's, with "Foods" in its name and I have to walk out and go to DeToy's. Sometimes these days I wonder if Willie's is starting to cut some corners. People in the food business I'm sure are seeing their prices go up, then they have to wrestle with whether they should raise prices on their customers. 

I have a problem with Willie's in that it's a monopoly for the county, it really is. And I will assert that no monopoly business will perform as well as one that has to stay sharp with competition.

Happy ending: I had a nice omelette and toast at DeToy's, so to be sharp for writing this blog post hopefully. 

A wonderful family Christmas photo, what the holiday is all about! This is the family of our beloved Morris Area High band director Wanda Dagen who you see at right. Don't miss the dog! The Christmas tree in back makes clear the spirit of the season. Yours truly is happy to be associated with the MAHS instrumental music program and to make an occasional financial gesture. I helped with the New Orleans trip, took some of the pressure off for the "fund-raisers."
 

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