Remembering the fleet of foot Tommy Harper

Look down the roster of the 1969 Seattle Pilots and it seems an interesting team. Interesting, yes, but not winning. Why? As Don Mincher would explain years later, the Pilots were a standard expansion team full of players either on the way up (green) or on the way down (maybe washed-up). Mincher was trying to stick up for the team's manager, Joe Schultz, who he felt was unduly criticized by Jim Bouton in the book "Ball Four."

Mincher was a power merchant in the 1960s. He became a journeyman. Tommy Davis was a big name who batted in the No. 3 spot. Davis had been spectacular with the Dodgers. An injury slowed him. Then we have Tommy Harper. You might say Harper was in his prime for that 1969 season. You might note it was the Pilots' only season. They have been described as an "orphan" team, based on Seattle now having the Mariners and Milwaukee only caring about the Brewers.

The Pilots moved to Milwaukee after the 1969 season. The Braves had a fine run in the brew town before moving to Atlanta.

Harper was a speed merchant with the '69 Pilots. Students of sports journalism will associate the Pilots with Bouton and his writing. I was perhaps too much a fan of Ball Four back in the day. It was a book that had to come out at some time. Journalists were itching to get past the established template for sports books. It was decided that the traditional way was too dry, superficial and predictable. Questioning the orthodoxy in everything was fashionable back then. "Ball Four" fit right in.

We sometimes revise such thoughts. Today I have no problem reading the traditional sports biography. We all know human beings have warts. In '69 I guess it was some sort of revelation. Mickey Mantle was not a Greek god. Roger Maris was a jerk? Well, I really don't think Maris was a jerk. Harper was treated pretty generously by Bouton, as I recall. Bouton tended to be easy on players of color.

I'm certain that Harper deserved generous treatment. His odyssey in the big leagues began in the Reds organization. First he sizzled in the minors with Topeka as he batted .324. He climbed to AAA which saw him play for San Diego in its pre-big league incarnation. Harper batted .333 for San Diego. That's one hit in every three at-bats, my modest grasp of math deduces. He hit 24 home runs. He got a taste of big league ball, getting the starting nod at third for six games.

Harper would develop into a versatile player in the field. He played with the big league Reds on a platoon basis in 1963-64. Mostly he saw work in the outfield. It was in 1965, the same year our Twins won the American League pennant, that Harper blossomed. Playing left field, he batted leadoff, stole 35 bases, hit 18 home runs and scored a league-leading 126 runs. He became a fixture at leadoff. He proved capable at all three outfield positions. He could be tapped as a backup infielder.

But as is so common in baseball, he'd have to move along to another team. It was on to the Cleveland Indians for 1968. His bat lost some of its pop, nevertheless he was drafted by the new Seattle Pilots as the third pick in the expansion draft. He doubled to left as the first-ever Pilot to come to bat. He scored on Mike Hegan's home run.

 

Making mark on the basepaths

It was in stolen bases where Harper really carved out his niche in Pilots/Brewers history. He was off to the races for 73 stolen bases, the most by an A.L. player since Ty Cobb burned up the basepaths for 96 in 1915. The 73 still stands as the standard for franchise history. Harper helped the Pilots with his sheer versatility, making starts all over the diamond.

The Pilots felt they had to pull up stakes after their '69 season. Bouton would say that Seattle at that time cared more for its art galleries and museums than for sports. He meant that as a compliment. We all know that Seattle today is ga-ga for its sports franchises. The interest in the arts probably remains too. The '60s were different times in many respects.

Harper was at his best in 1970 for the new Milwaukee Brewers. Harper made his only All-Star Game appearance that year. He posted several statistical personal highs. He made the 30-30 club by hitting 31 home runs and stealing 38 bases.

Harper moved on to the Red Sox after the '71 season. He became a fixture in center field and at leadoff for those early '70s Red Sox. In '73 he led the A.L. in stolen bases again, with 54. That stat was the franchise best up to that point.

 

A negative specter

We don't like to be reminded of racism in baseball's past. Harper was a target for unpleasant experiences in Boston. He got some satisfaction with a lawsuit. He sued the Red Sox for firing him in 1985 for complaining in the media about the club allowing the segregated Elks Club in its spring training base of Winter Haven FL to invite only the team's white personnel to its establishment. Back in the '70s I played some gigs with a dance band at Elks Clubs. I'm rather ashamed when I read about Harper's experience. There's an incantation in Elks lingo where they talk about how "the great heart of Elkdom swells and throbs" (at a certain time of the evening). That great heart was rather a myth, I might suggest, or an outright travesty. (In an irreverent vein, I might quote my trombone friend Leroy B. who said one night, "it has to swell before it can throb.")

Harper not only succeeded with his suit, he was elected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2010. He coached for the Red Sox in 1980-84 and 2000-02. He would also coach for the Montreal Expos (1990-99). He returned to Boston as a player development consultant.

Harper has been described as "a central figure in the troubled racial history of the Red Sox." He persevered and is warmly remembered today in all cities where he played. That includes Oakland where he had a renaissance in 1975. Joining a contender appeared to give him a healthy jolt. He batted .319 in August and September. He got penciled in at first base. On the basepaths he showed his forte by going 7 for 7 in stolen bases. His versatility allowed a long-of-tooth Billy Williams to play at DH - the former Cub could still hit.

Harper was age 34 when when finally making the playoffs. He batted just once and drew a walk. The A's got swept by those Red Sox. Harper got his release and then had one more stint, an uneventful one, with Baltimore.

I'll always remember Harper as that Pilot who streaked from base to base in 1969. I can put "Ball Four" aside. Harper, Mincher and Davis were standouts in a lineup that could be quite interesting. And Jim Bouton threw the knuckleball.

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

Camden Arndt's 3's have impact but it's a loss to JCC

JCC 80, Tigers 71
I usually think of softball when I think of Jackson County Central. It's a southern Minnesota school that can be counted on to have top-notch softball. Those southern Minnesota schools have been an obstacle for our Tigers, and I'm not sure why because the weather isn't that much more mild in southern Minnesota. But that's the way it is.

And in basketball, we're learning that JCC can make noise too. Our boys basketball Tigers were matched against JCC in the section finals. We traveled south for this game, to Marshall - Southwest State University.
You can count on JCC scoring lots of points. That they did on Thursday, March 16, in an 80-71 win over MACA. So many points, it didn't matter that MACA had five players in double figures. Here's that list: Camden Arndt 21, Tate Nelson 13, Lukus Manska 12, Jaret Johnson 12 and Jacob Zosel 11. Arndt brought waves of cheers with his five 3-pointers. Manska and Johnson each made two 3's, and Nelson and Zosel each made one. Quite the attack in a losing cause.
The Huskies of JCC are now in the AA state tournament. The halftime situation had them up by eight. But they weren't able to go on cruise control for the second half. We got within three points with about eleven minutes left. That was the high water mark for us. The JCC offense was just too much.
The game's opening stages saw Arndt supply fuel as we gained a 19-16 lead. His 3's gave a feeling of real optimism among the orange and black faithful. That optimism got dashed when JCC caught fire on a 15-1 run, lifting them to a 14-point lead. "Their guys attacked the hole, and credit to them," our coach Mark Torgerson told the media.
Looking back, the 15-1 run was really the dagger that did us in. We needed Arndt to have another skein of 3-pointers. That's asking a lot. He's a sophomore with lots of fuel left in the tank.
The Huskies used fast-break layups to get a cushion on the scoreboard. We had an 8-2 run to close out the first half and keep things fairly interesting, score of 45-37. Nelson hit a '3' to make things a little more interesting. A Manska layup also furthered that end. So now the score is 60-57. The time remaining: 11:18. We would get no closer. JCC enjoyed a 10-3 run as our offense went into a drought.
One other Tiger scored in addition to the five double figures scorers cited earlier. Tim Travis scored two points. Jacob Christopher was the big gun for JCC with his 25 points. Ryan Christopher made noise with his 18 points. Nico Feroni put in 15 for the JCC cause. The rest of the list had Easton Bahr with eight points, Rudy Voss 5, Zach Bargfrede 2 and Chris Gumto 7. Jacob Christopher made three 3-pointers while Voss, Bahr and Gumto each made one.
JCC rules in Section 3AA. The Tigers have the consolation of No. 2. Our final season record: 16-13. Lots of nice memories.

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

"Paul Revere and the Raiders": endearing '60s sounds

It was a big enough adjustment for our parents to accept the Beatles in the 1960s. Many of us kids took a step further and decided to be even more edgy (in the face of our parents) and go for the Rolling Stones.
There was tremendous peer pressure in the '60s to be edgy. It was such a distinctive epoch in American history. The "generation gap" wasn't some fanciful thing to be tucked away with other passing cultural distractions. No, it was very real. I have heard it described as just as intense as the U.S. Civil War, minus the physical violence.
The cauldron of discontent did not snuff out our natural human longing for joy. Thus I present another musical exhibit. This exhibit was arguably No. 3 on the list of popular music groups appealing to the young. I'm referring to Paul Revere and the Raiders.
I recently felt a spasm of nostalgia when calling up the song "Happening '68" on YouTube. The irony is that such joy is felt in connection with a time, the 1960s, in which such incredible conflict was fomented. Mark Lindsay sang at the group's peak. The group gave us a string of such tasteful and yet intense songs that were on the cutting edge of popular music. This at a time when the older generation tuned in to Lawrence Welk.
Years later we would engage in revisionist thinking re. those older folks. Tom Brokaw gave us his book "The Greatest Generation." I guess time heals all wounds. The boomers put their parents on a pedestal. But how could we not? They sustained us in our younger years. They had become frail and were leaving us. We loved them dearly but in an earlier time, the bond wasn't quite like that. That greatest generation could have done more to help us with the bothersome issues of the '60s. Like war. Really it was the Viet Nam war that cemented many of our concerns. It reminded us of how dangerous ignorance can be.
Mobilized by the war, we got involved on other fronts like civil rights. Through it all, so many of us were attracted to the innocent, pulsating music of Paul Revere and the Raiders with Mark Lindsay. They were quite my cup of tea. They sprang from the Pacific Northwest. The organist and founder was Paul Revere himself, actually Paul Revere Dick, born in Nebraska. Revere was a restaurateur when in his early 20s. He actually owned several restaurants which indicated he came from an affluent background. He met Lindsay when picking up hamburger buns from a bakery where Lindsay worked. Sometimes I'm skeptical about stories like this - I feel there had to be more to the story. But maybe I should push my skepticism aside.
Lindsay joined Revere's band in 1958. At first they were called "The Downbeats." In 1960 they took on the name that would endear them to us. They had a regional hit in '61 with a song name that was so 1960s: "Like, Long Hair."
 
Dealing with Viet Nam war
Revere also had an ordeal that was typical of what U.S. males experienced in the decade: he was drafted and asserted himself as a conscientious objector. The war, in addition to being tragic on the face of it, impeded our economy because all young men were profoundly distracted by having to confront the specter of the draft. This has been cited as a reason why the British recording industry was ahead of ours. "The British invasion" didn't happen by accident.

Revere was given deferred service and became a cook at a mental institution. Meanwhile Lindsay got a job "pumping gas," an example of outdated Americana now. "Do you want me to check the oil?"
All this would give way to a renewed commitment to music. In 1965 the group emerged with a string of "garage rock" classics. They moved to Los Angeles. Their sound echoed British invasion bands. At the same time they gave us a generous American R&B feel.
These clean-cut lads got their first national hit in "Just Like Me," No. 11 on the charts in '65. The song's double-tracked guitar solo made an impression. Dick Clark took a real liking to the group. There was nothing like TV to vault an artist to national prominence. Carl Perkins would have been a bigger star had he not had car trouble on the way to an Ed Sullivan appearance.
 
Television gives a boost
The Raiders upped their popularity through the Clark TV show "Where the Action Is." This show was succeeded by "Happening '68" with its wonderful theme song, and then an iteration called "It's Happening." Revere and Lindsay co-hosted the "Happening" shows which I well remember watching. Lindsay was a hero to me!
In 1966 the group performed on an episode of the campy "Batman" TV series! The Raiders were the first major band to tour with all members amplified, even the horn players.
Drake Levin left the group in 1966 to join the National Guard. Gee, I wonder why. Why did George W. Bush join the National Guard? Or Rod Carew of our Minnesota Twins? Us Minnesota kids would groan when Carew had to fulfill his National Guard commitment. The National Guard was a famous haven for young men seeking to avoid combat in Viet Nam. Boys of privilege, CW told us, could get gently guided into Guard service by influential family members. I cannot blame anyone for using whatever means necessary to avoid the war. As the colonel character in "First Blood" said at the dramatic ending of that movie: "It was a hard time for all of us." The Raiders' music sort of floated out there as an elixir supplying comfort. We retained the tools for finding joy. Call it the resilience of the human spirit.
Joy bubbled from the Raiders song "Kicks." The song had an anti-drug message but was still totally cool. Other songs flowed like "Hungry," "The Great Airplane Strike," "Good Thing" and "Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be."
"Kicks" became a signature song for the group and reached No. 4 on those charts. The tech of today with its democratizing effect has enabled everyone to find precisely the music of their choice, to the extent that I think talk of the "charts" (a la Casey Kasem) has become quaint. We're not as beholden to the big music industry anymore. The barriers to distribution have come down just like in book publishing (where self-publishing has become respectable). Incidentally, "Kicks" was originally written with the group "The Animals" in mind.
The Raiders had racked up three Gold albums by mid-1967. They were Columbia Records' top rock group.
I found Nirvana when listening to the "Greatest Hits" album. That album, we are reminded years later, was a test for a higher list price for albums! Actually I considered it priceless. Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits was another such test. Of course, the fan base for all the popular new music was very young. You might think those artists made a fortune, but remember that so many of their fans were young and with negligible economic means. Today all these artists can play at the likes of casinos as "retro" attractions and make a true fortune! Well, I'm happy for them.
Tastes began changing in the late '60s. The Raiders were deemed not quite as fashionable. Still they churned out songs of note like "Too Much Talk," a strong personal favorite of mine. My, what a sense of "beat" it had. Also in this rather twilight period we got "Let Me," their first gold record. The group sought a newer sound, something more "relevant" (a buzzword from the decade).
 

"Collage" album: fine art, commercial floundering

The "Woodstock Nation" came along. Were the Raiders with their costumes falling into some irrelevance? Fearing this, no doubt, the group changed its name to simply "The Raiders" in 1970. The new thrust was to sound "heavy" and contemporary. We got the "Collage" album, artistically brilliant but groping for commercial appeal. The name change appeared to cause confusion. The group persevered and then came out with the unforgettable "Indian Reservation." Wow, this song shot all the way to No. 1, their first chart-topper in fact.
But. . . The song could not be parlayed into an overall pattern of success. The vagaries of the pop music industry could be strange. And depressing.
By 1975, Columbia Records had dropped the group. Lindsay and Revere went separate ways. Fortunately we have YouTube today to remember it all. If only we could wipe aside memories of the Viet Nam war.

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

MACA boys escape halftime hole, beat YME

Tigers 62, YME 54

The Willmar newspaper continues referring to us as "MCA," not "MACA." Boy, I sure am losing this argument. I have written about this before and to no avail. Maybe the Willmar paper is exercising its own judgment and concluding that "Morris/Chokio-Alberta" is more logical. Congratulations. But I learned long ago that media people should not cross certain lines when exercising judgment.
I have seen "MACA" on warmup shirts and on billboards here. It's "Morris Area Chokio Alberta." Insert hyphens or slashes if you wish.
Anyway, our MACA boys basketball team won its first-round post-season game Saturday over Yellow Medicine East. We were fortunate to win as we were down by seven at halftime, 27-20. That was rather shocking, considering our won-lost mark was quite superior. You can toss aside the won-lost records for the post-season. We got our engines humming for the second half, giving Tiger fans relief as we outscored the Sting 42-27. So the final score was 62-54 as we advanced to round 2.
Our foe now: ACGC. We'll vie at Willmar.
Jaret Johnson supplied important fuel Saturday with his 17 points. He made one three-pointer. Lukus Manska made two 3-pointers and Tate Nelson made one. Manska's point total was 12. Nelson and Camden Arndt each put in ten points. Tim Travis scored nine. Jacob Zosel added four points to the mix.
Arndt topped the rebound list with ten followed by Travis with five. Zosel supplied six assists while Arndt and Nelson each had four. Three Tigers each had three steals: Nelson, Zosel and Manska.
For Yellow Medicine East, Nick Peterson topped the scoring list with 16. Nicky Lindstrom supplied ten points. Three Sting players each scored six: Cole Richter, Tom Lindstrom and Trent Skjefle. Two Sting players each scored five: Will Jeseritz and Noah Christianson.
YME made a late push that created some suspense. We led by 18 with about two minutes remaining, and it turned out we needed that cushion.
 
Girls: New London-Spicer 62, Tigers 50
The smart money always seems to be on the New London-Spicer girls, right? My, what a long-lasting dynasty. NL-Spicer was the roadblock for our MACA Tigers in the sub-section title game. Our Tigers were buoyed by a somewhat surprising victory over the Minnewaska Area Lakers. Alas, we could not parlay that success one step further. We met the Wildcats and certainly we were not blown out, but we did get defeated.
The score was 62-50. The site was Southwest State University, home of the Mustangs. So the Wildcats, coached by Mike Dreier - toupee or no toupee? - took the Section 3AA-North title.
NL-Spicer entered the Thursday, March 3, game with a win streak of 12. But our Tigers boasted a similarly impressive skein: nine straight. But something had to give. The team with the longer win streak took charge early. But finally, midway in the second half, the orange and black showed new life. We got the NL-Spicer advantage whittled down to seven. But we couldn't overcome the Wildcats and the special defensive resolve they showed on this night.
Coach Dreier complimented the Tigers on being well-coached. Of course, that's easy to say when you've won the game.
I remember writing about Wildcat Shea Oman last year. Well, she's at least as good this season. She's the junior point guard, orchestrating a pretty slick attack. On Thursday she poured in 23 points and had six assists. We outscored the Wildcats 37-36 in the second half.
The Wildcats worked to minimize the damage done by Ashley Solvie in the post. Ashley scored just nine points. Dreier noted that she certainly got the main focus of his team's defense. NL-Spicer conceded some points to Correy Hickman. But all in all his team's defense jelled as planned. Hickman did come through with 19 points.
NL-Spicer advanced to face Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (from the South) in the 3AA final. So, the Tigers' season ends with a record of 18-10.
We need to acknowledge the Tigers' three-point shooting on Thursday. It was most impressive with Hickman making four 3's. Riley Decker made three and Maddie Carrington two. Hickman was followed on the scoring list by Decker and Solvie each with nine. Carrington put in seven points and Malory Anderson six.
Oman was followed on the NL-Spicer scoring list by three teammates each with nine points: Brooke Beuning, Emma Hanson and Morgan Swenson. Then it was Kabrie Weber with seven points, Erin Tebben with four and Michelle Johnson with one. Beuning sank three shots from three-point range. Oman and Weber each made one long-ranger.
Tebben snared six rebounds followed by Swenson with five and Weber and Hanson each with four. Oman had six assists followed by Beuning and Weber each with five. Beuning had four steals followed by Swenson with three. Congrats to our MACA Tigers on their 18-10 season, full of neat memories.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Down for the count? No, GBB Tigers beat Minnewaska!

Tigers 57, Minnewaska 54

The GBB Tigers produced a dramatic victory Tuesday in a game that could have spelled the end of the road. This was post-season game No. 2 for coach Dale Henrich's Tigers. My, we just barely survived our opening game which was against Yellow Medicine East.
The second game would pit us against a higher-seeded team. We were up against a familiar rival: those Minnewaska Area Lakers. But the site was neither Morris nor 'Waska. It was Montevideo. There the Tigers came from behind, finding new life and posting a 57-54 win.
We thus have the right to face those Wildcats of New London-Spicer, a real nemesis team. Our win over Minnewaska Area was our ninth straight.
The situation was bleak at halftime as we trailed by nine. 'Waska scored the game's first four points. A persistent full-court press was bothering the Tigers. The Lakers seemed especially resolved to neutralize Correy Hickman, our point guard. Our offense stagnated in much of the first half. Bayley Pooler of the Lakers scored eleven first half points. The score was 28-19 at halftime of this Section 3AA-North semi-final game.
We were hindered by Ashley Solvie picking up three early fouls. She was advised to play more conservatively on defense and turn up her intensity on offense. The Tigers simply needed her to score. She indeed ended up coming through.
We picked up steam thanks to a pair of 3's close together. There's nothing like three-pointers to pick up that jump start. Ashley Solvie maneuvered to score off an offensive rebound. Her putback shot got the score tied at 52-all. A Riley Decker freethrow put us up by one with less than a minute left. Then it was Hickman sinking a pair of freethrows to account for the game's final points.
"A fun win," a proud coach Henrich commented to the media.
Decker made five of her seven 3-point shot tries - essential fuel.
Coach Henrich is now exuding confidence, but a truly stellar effort and maybe some luck will be needed to challenge the Wildcats coached by the legendary Mike Dreier. Coch Dreier has his team ranked No. 6 at present. Henrich said "we're mentally more aware. We just can't chase them." We now own 18 wins on the season.
Ashley Solvie had a point harvest of 17 in the win over 'Waska. Decker's thrilling three-point shooting performance lifted her to 16 points. Her five 3's were complemented by one by Maddie Carrington. Malory Anderson came through with ten points. Three other Tigers scored: Hickman 7, Nicole Solvie 4 and Carrington 3.
Hickman led in rebounds with eight followed by Anderson and Nicole Solvie each with six. Decker and Hickman each produced four assists, and Carrington with her three steals led there.
Bayley Pooler and Carley Stewart each scored 16 points for 'Waska. Ellie Danielson scored 12. Then we have Abby VerSteeg contributing six points and Emma Thorfinnson four. Pooler made four 3-pointers and VerSteeg made two.
'Waska closes the books on its season with a win total of 20. We're two wins behind that but who cares now? It will be interesting to see how hard we can come at the Wildcats.
 

Tigers 57, Yellow Medicine East 56

Wow! That was closer than it should have been. The MACA girls may have won their first-round post-season game, but there was more suspense than their fans could have expected. The Tigers met the Sting of Yellow Medicine East on Saturday, Feb. 25, at home. The fans went home happy over the fact we simply won. It was mission accomplished.
But it was mission accomplished by a margin of just one point. We got past the stubborn Sting by a score of 57-56. This was a Section 3AA-North sub-section quarter-final game. We opened play as the No. 3 seed. Our win over the Sting was our 17th overall on the season. YME closed out its season with a 10-14 record.
We led 29-25 at halftime. We were outscored 31-28 in the second half. We dodged a bullet. Maddie Carrington and Correy Hickman supplied some most essential three-point shooting. Each of these Tigers made three 3-pointers. Riley Decker's three-pointer ended up most essential too! Three Tigers scored in double figures: Hickman 15, Ashley Solvie 14 and Carrington 13. The other point contributors were Malory Anderson 6, Decker 5, Jenna Howden 2 and Nicole Solvie 2. Anderson and Hickman each grabbed eight rebounds while Ashley Solvie grabbed seven. Hickman was an assist whiz with eleven, and Decker contributed four in this department. Hickman had five steals followed by Carrington and Ashley Solvie each with four.
 

Boys: Sauk Centre 65, Tigers 61

The first half was a disaster for the MACA boys hoops squad on the same Saturday that the girls played YME. The first half spelled defeat in the end for our orange and black, at home. It was our fifth straight home game.
We may have done well in the second half. In fact we outscored the Sauk Centre Streeters 41-28 in the second half. If only those numbers dictated the complexion of the whole game. They did not. Those Streeters crushed us 37-20 in the first half. This 65-61 loss left us one game shy of .500 at 13-12. Sauk's mark: 18-6.
Tanner Rieland was a thorn in our side. This Streeter burned the nets for 19 points. He was one of a threesome of Streeters doing real damage. Cade Neubert scored 18 points and Simon Weller put in 16. Sauk had an "iron man" type of look with only five total players scoring. Isaiah Westby scored seven points and Casey Schirmers put in five. Congrats to this tightly-functioning unit.
Rieland and Schirmers each made a three-pointer. Westby and Weller each had seven rebounds. Weller dished out four assists.
Let's review the Tiger numbers: here it was Jacob Zosel setting the pace with 15 points. Tate Nelson scored 11 points and Camden Arndt  ten. The rest of the list: Tim Travis 9, Lukus Manska 7, Jaret Johnson 5, Connor Koebernick 2 and Denner Dougherty 2.
A total of six Tigers made three-pointers! Nelson and Zosel each made two. Travis, Arndt, Manska and Johnson each made one. Johnson collected six rebounds while Nelson had five. Zosel executed four assists. Manska stole the ball twice.
 

From the memory closet

I remember the days when girls basketball was still climbing the ladder to total legitimacy along with the boys team. What? You mean we weren't totally equitable? Actually no. For a very long time, the bleachers were pulled out on only one side of our gym: the 1968 gym. This state of affairs remained for more years than many of us would want to remember or consider.
This was such a visible gesture of saying "girls basketball isn't quite there yet!" I heard hardly any mention of it. I often thought it would be nice to pull out all the bleachers even if attendance didn't seem to justify it. One problem was that in the 1980s, our girls basketball program was not competitive. Unfortunately there is a correlation between attendance and team performance. The 1980s were when Hancock and Wheaton tended to rule in this area for girls basketball.
Hancock had the aggressive, flashy and unfortunately doomed Dennis Courneya as their coach. He got into legal trouble. He ended up in the crowbar motel for a time. The Wheaton coach in that heyday was Earl Steffens. Nobody spoke about our Tigers in the same breath with Hancock or Wheaton. Maybe I should write a book someday. I have joked with Del Sarlette about what the title of my autobiography would be: "Add Dreams of Glory." (This is a line we remember from Jim Bouton's book "Ball Four.")
Our 1968 gym was a huge deal in this community when it first opened. Before that we used a facility - what would later be called the "elementary auditorium" - that would be appropriate in the movie "Hoosiers." BTW did Gene Hackman really get the girl?
I saw a few games in our old facility, part of a complex now razed. Weeds now grow there. I remember watching the great Paul Kelly. The 1968 gym seemed absolutely glitzy compared to its predecessor. But alas, time passes and now the '68 gym seems downright obscure. Maybe even forgotten? The sands of time cannot be stopped. We're just here to mop and dry.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwily73@yahoo.com