Back-to-back days of special distinction

Martha Williams opens Christmas gift, mid-1960s

My late parents had an anniversary date of December 26. That was yesterday (Thursday), the day after Christmas of course. The date did not promote a high degree of festivity, considering it was right after all the Yuletide celebrating. So it was rather soft-pedaled over the years. Yes, kind of an afterthought.
We never talked about the wedding ceremony much, hardly at all really. The wedding was so small it seemed private and indeed maybe it was private. There are no photo souvenirs that show any more than a single other couple standing in with them. I heard the names of this couple over the years but we were not close to them. I can't remember their names.
Information is scant in the newspaper item. There are three sentences under a photo and I can tell you the wedding was in Brainerd, Mom's hometown. It was a company town with the railroad then.
Mom sang in the Washington High School choir in Brainerd when my father directed. I believe Dad was in Brainerd for just one academic year, then Uncle Sam intervened. Dad served in the Navy in World War II. He was a lieutenant in the Pacific Theater. This was "the good war" which was exactly the opposite of what we followed on the news when I was growing up. The soldiers looked the same in Vietnam. But the "cause" could not have been more different.
My father was skeptical of the Vietnam war. His most common comment was "that war is a bad deal." But consistent with his most temperate generation, he wasn't inclined to assert himself in a meaningful way. In other words, to write his congressman or something like that. I was a little kid who I'm sure my peers felt was more naive than most. And yet I remember all my instincts telling me that the Vietnam war was nothing but awful.
This presented a problem: in order to "vent" meaningfully against the war, you had to present yourself as a person rejecting authority. As time went on, so many young people decided it was necessary and proper to extend this attitude to a range of things. Why listen to older people hectoring us on drug use, for example? We gave ourselves a pass on numerous behaviors where our better judgment should have suggested more maturity. "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die."
Well, for many young men growing up in the 1960s, they faced the real specter of death before their time, due to war. Bob Hope presented his annual TV Christmas special from Vietnam over several years. A check through the online world shows that these specials had an ignoble end. Indeed they just ended. No more Mr. Hope sauntering out onstage with his golf club, glibly going through his vapid lines in front of a captive assemblage of young men experiencing hell on earth. Legend tells us he once asked "what's that smell?" It was marijuana.
My generation shook off all inhibitions about marijuana of course, as the drug became a prime badge of assertiveness for us.
Marijuana was trumped up with far too dangerous an image. It has taken much time for a realistic view to set in regarding it. No one should stand in the way of its medicinal use. The recreational use is a tougher question. Would you believe I feel some defensiveness to this very day, in saying I never got a kick out of it? Was I not inhaling properly? Seeming ignorant about "weed" was a disgraceful stamp of being a "dweeb" or whatever other unflattering description you wished to offer.
I ought to stand firmly today and just say "it's not my thing, sorry."
 
As different as space aliens?
The generation gap was no myth. Could you imagine my late parents having any time for marijuana? Of course, we all have peccadilloes and who knows what kind of secretive behavior lies in the background of anyone. I once had a psych professor (at St. Cloud State) who said with emphasis: "Each generation thinks it's the first to discover sex." I can't imagine my parents ever discovering sex. But they must have. They sure didn't let on about that with me.
I grew up with the subject of sex being the most forbidden thing in the world. Marijuana use? Even if it were to be broached with them, they would find the subject silly and irrelevant, hardly worth the trouble to even condemn. They were focused on having their life's needs met, as they had grown up in the Depression.
My father spent most of the war assigned with a crew to guard a merchant ship, a tanker in the Pacific, according to what I recall him telling me. Toward the end of the war he served on the USS Appalachian. We were invited to crew reunions through the years but did not attend. He received a memento one year, an ashtray - now there's a dated memento - inscribed "USS Appalachian."
I can see it on our living room mantle as I write this.
Dad was never one to be focused much on war memories. If I could go back in time, I'd encourage him to put aside his pastimes of hunting and fishing and get involved with the local VFW and American Legion. He was close personally with many of those people anyway.

Dad (right) w/ Brainerd friend Owen Foss

I never asked how exactly my parents began their relationship. Mom was a 1942 high school graduate in Brainerd. They were married in 1949, not long after my grandmother Carrie, Dad's mom, passed away. She was only 63 years old. Her cause of death was given as a stroke. But I always heard reserved comments about some sort of household mishap, a fall. She would have been young to be victim to such an incident.
She and her husband Martin did yeoman's work raising their family of five sons. Dad was the youngest. He graduated from Glenwood High School in 1934. This was after Martin passed away due to cancer. Martin was a plasterer and perhaps he came into contact with substances through the years that led to his demise.
 
Our family plot here in Morris
The date of my parents' wedding is inscribed on our family monument at Summit Cemetery. It's a black bench monument in the new portion of the cemetery. Please stop by, take a look and by all means "sit a spell." I figured we ought to make it useful in some way.
It may be nice but I strongly question the future of the traditional cemetery. I can't help but think this institution ought to be phased out in an age where we can create such dynamic online memorials for people. Many of us stroll through the cemetery on Memorial Day weekend. That is the big time of year for such places, American flags adorning so many sites. What I find discouraging is to walk through the old portions of the cemetery: names of people once very important in the community, but whose light has dimmed.
Worse yet is the bad erosion on many of the older stones, so bad you can't read them in some places.
Frankly my opinion is that we don't need cemeteries anymore. I found out belatedly that I could have had Dad buried at sea because he was in the Navy. I don't know what if any cost that would have been entailed.
We were the type of family that never wished to acknowledge the subject of death, not even for our dogs. OK, it was taboo. I now realize more than ever that death is inevitable and one might as well prepare.
So, my parents' wedding anniversary seemed like an afterthought right after Christmas, through all the years. We spent the day after Christmas still focused on that holiday and the gifts exchanged.
 
Don't worry, Dad
I'll never forget one December after my parents had shown signs of slowing down quite a bit, my father became concerned: a light bulb seemed to go on over his head and he said: "Are we going to be celebrating Christmas?" What he meant was whether we'd celebrate Christmas in the full traditional manner, like in our heyday as a fully active family. I made a point to drive to Alexandria by myself, walk through Wal-Mart and pick up a number of items that we could share from under the Christmas tree.
So I gathered the three of us together on Christmas Eve and we went through the items, feeling joy at every single one, just like when Mom and Dad were in their prime. We were a family that was quite blessed with material things. So it was hard finding gifts with real utility. But a stroll through Wal-Mart definitely gave opportunities for decent gift selection even if some items seemed, well, superfluous.
Shop in Morris? Why show loyalty to stores here if they won't necessarily show it back? Look at Shopko.
There is an episode of TV's "Adam Ruins Everything" where the host interviews a book author who argues we're just wasting money on Christmas gifts. Well silly rabbit, it's probably true. I appreciate the guy's insights but sometimes we just have to give a pass to tradition.
I can close my eyes and conjure up the warmest memories of Christmas time in years gone by. The memories by themselves give joy today at a time when I live alone and don't celebrate much. The extent of it, really, is to use the boundless resource of music on YouTube. There are certain Christmas items I call up, such as a Chris Rea tune that I consider No. 1, and all this fills my plate nicely for the Christmas spirit. Our old Christmas CDs stay in the basement. Such a changing world.
And did you know the Monkees have a Christmas album recorded in contemporary times? You should listen to their song "What Would Santa Do?" Well, all that is now put aside until next Christmas. So until then, pray for the stability of our nation.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Mom thought the last of our three dogs, "Sandy," could be "a little wild." But Dad and I sensed there was nothing but unconditional love. We'd look at this photo and say "when in doubt, just look at this picture."

Not a real island, but MACA boys fall at Bird Island

BOLD 75, Tigers 62
Bird Island was almost guaranteed to be a lion's den for the MACA boys basketball team on December 20. Drew Sagedahl was a player to watch for the vaunted BOLD Warriors. Indeed, they are ranked No. 2 in Minnesota Class 'A'.
Buoyed by their home court and a hot hand by Sagedahl, the Warriors prevailed over our Tigers 75-62. They got up 38-28 at halftime. The Tigers really had a competitive look through the first half. But the lion's den atmosphere would be felt. The Warriors ran with abandon. Sagedahl is a junior guard in their arsenal. On this night he poured in 30 points and collected 11 rebounds.
Wait, there's more than one Sagedahl. So, game reviews like this one must always differentiate! Drew is the "little brother" to Jordan, a BOLD senior who plays forward. Jordan's point output was 16. Gavin Vosika is another important cog in the wheel for the smoothly humming BOLD squad. Gavin added to the mix with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. BOLD appeared to take charge as halftime neared.
The Sagedahl boys and Vosika were joined in the scoring list by Matt Moorse (six points), Blake Plass (4), Trenton Ziesmer (2) and Max Marks (2). Drew Sagedahl found the range to make four 3-pointers. Jordan made one '3' as did Vosika. Rebound leaders were Drew Sagedahl with eleven and Vosika with eight. Vosika with his eight assists led there, and his name also topped steals where he posted six.
Jackson Loge of the Tigers made six of nine field goal tries along with both of his freethrow shots. The 6'7" sophomore scored 14 points. He wrapped up 22 rebounds and produced seven assists. Toby Gonnerman was right behind in scoring with 13 points. Jaden Maanum made three 3-pointers and scored eleven. Thomas Tiernan and Durgin Decker each made two 3's. Decker's point total was ten and Tiernan's was six. Cade Fehr scored six points and Brock Peterson two.
Loge and Tiernan had seven and five assists respectively. Maanum, Tiernan and Loge each had one steal. Loge blocked two shots.
Can you imagine how much press attention Loge will have received by the time he graduates? Just like his father Kevin. One has to wonder, really, if this is disproportionate. Do we lavish too much attention on basketball talents? I'm not sure why we do this. Certain kids are being rewarded a lot just for being big and strong. I wonder if they realize this in their own mind. Oh, I'm sure they do.
MACA had a 1-4 record entering Christmas week. BOLD cruises at 5-0.
(Remember the bumper stickers of the 1970s? "Where the hell is Bird Island?")
In girls basketball play, MACA was in the Eden Valley-Watkins Tournament. Friday action had the Tigers falling to Mayer Lutheran 71-52. There was a big individual plus in the otherwise losing evening: Malory Anderson scored her 1000th career point. She and Meredith Carrington made the all-tournament roster.
 

Boys hockey: Storm 4, Luverne 3
The MBA Storm enjoyed a winning evening in boys hockey action Friday. "Home" was Benson on this night. A hard-fought game developed on the Benson ice. The Storm skated versus Luverne. And for a time, it looked like we might have a cake walk. We shot up 3-0 in the first period.
But whoa, Luverne was able to answer that in period #2. So the game was going to be decided in the third period. Our defense bore down to skunk Luverne. And our offense got a goal, the game-winner, from Zach Bruns, junior forward. So we won 4-3, a nice Christmas present to fans.
Chase Engebretson was goalie and he saved 26 of 29 shots. Luverne's goalie was Colton Schutz (27 saves, 31 shots).
Kaleb Breuer started our early momentum with a goal at 10:36, assisted by Tim Blume and Matthew Tolifson. Bruns put us up 2-0 with a goal at 10:48 that had a Jack Riley assist. Riley got the puck in the net at 12:14, assisted by Will Breuer and Bruns.
The Luverne surge in period No. 2 started with Nathan Nekali who scored unassisted at 4:15. Colby Crabtree got the second Luverne goal with a Tyler Roberts assist (10;40). Then it was Easton Braun striking at 14:13, assisted by Cooper Arends. The Bruns game-winner in the third period was unassisted (at 9:46).
 
It's Christmas Eve Day
I am writing this post on a day most people set aside as a (nearly) total holiday. It's the day when my family used to open presents in the evening. It's Christmas Eve Day and even though I'm alone now, I'm pleased to share the Christmas feeling by having colored lights on tree branches in the front of the yard, right by Northridge Drive. Drive by and take a look.
I'm happy to put up some Christmas-themed items in the home too, decorative items with their own understated charm. No one but me sees these now. But maybe Mom in heaven sees them. Over the past few months, I pledged to my mom in heaven, in case she could hear me, that I'd get an old winter-themed jigsaw puzzle from the basement and put it together for this Christmas. It is mission accomplished. The puzzle is a winter scene of three red cardinal birds on tree branches with a big church and its steeple in the background. You could not find a more appealing picture.
It's Christmas Eve Day but I do not consider it "work" to be posting online about the Tigers. Why would I consider it work? I'm delighted to still be involved in this, even though I am no longer in the corporate media. Corporate-aligned journalism is no better or more virtuous than anyone's writing, anyone who cares and is skilled.
Back when I was a working person, I'd go to the Met Lounge in mid-afternoon for my free Tom and Jerry drink. Atmosphere was so lively and cheerful there. The memory stays crystal clear.
Our family always had a wonderful time opening Christmas gifts. Every year someone wrapped up some peanut brittle and chocolate-covered cherries for under the tree. Our dog - we had three - would get a chew bone, "from Santa" of course.
For years my father would wrap a 12-pack of Mello Yello soft drink for me. That's what Christmas is all about I guess: family memories.
To go to church today, or not? It is getting harder to even try to consider myself a Christian in light of how the faith in America has become so aligned with our current president. Sometimes people get asked "do you hate Donald Trump?" in a finger-pointing way. I'm at the point where I have no problem simply saying "yes."
Many Christians in America now seem to be putting Trump at the center of their faith. I fail to understand this and I wonder what the future holds. We never had "political" thoughts about Christianity when I was a kid. It certainly never bubbled to the surface. There was a universality of joy at Christmas. We'd get goose bumps tuning in to the annual Andy Williams Christmas special on network TV. His parents were in the cast! The Bob Hope Christmas specials from Vietnam are haunting to remember now. So much pointless tragedy over there.
In the years of my youth, some people were Republicans, some were Democrats. It seemed like an equilibrium for the most part. Today the Trump-oriented crowd assails the people left of center as being allegedly in league with Satan. Franklin Graham is speaking this way. The problem for me is, if I walk away from Christianity, I'm not sure how or where I'd fill the void. But I do wish everyone a merry Christmas.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Here's your blog host at our wonderful Christmastime of about 1958. Our family lived in St. Paul. I was pre-school. These were the best times of my life.

 

Six different Storm players score on Benson ice

Boys hockey: Storm 6, Prairie Centre 3
The skates glided along the ice and MBA notched a satisfying 6-3 win over Prairie Centre on Thursday. Wow - six different players scored our goals in this share-the-wealth evening. MBA fans cheered at the Benson Civic Center.
Our fortunes took off after the 1-1 first period. We got the night's first goal as Tim Blume did the job unassisted at 10:03. Eli Fletcher of Prairie Centre answered at 10:14 of the period, assisted by Zach Deters and Andrew Bick.
MBA seized the momentum in period #2. Mathew Tolifson scored the first of our three goals. He got the puck in the net at 8:33 with assists from Blume and Brady DeHaan. Then it was Reece Kuseska putting the Storm up 3-1 with his goal at 10:18, assist from Kaleb Breuer. The surge grew as DeHaan found the net at 13:03 assisted by Blume. Prairie Centre's Brady Cline scored at 15:50, assisted by Jacob Zollman.
We finished up business in Period #3 with a 2-1 advantage. Will Breuer scored assisted by Jack Riley and Brady Goff at :46. Prairie Centre's Jacob Zollman scored unassisted at 11:10 on the power play. The night's final goal put the victorious Storm up 6-3. Zach Bruns enjoyed this success and it had a Will Breuer assist (13:22).
Congrats to the Storm boys who had Brady Backman wearing the goalie mask. Brady saved nine of 12 shots. Prairie Centre had Isaiah DeFoe working in goal and he saved 23 of 29.

Girls hoops: Tigers 47, Montevideo 25
The MACA girls sure shut down the Thunder Hawks of Montevideo Tuesday (12/17), holding them to an anemic 25 points. A stellar defensive effort in this 47-25 Tiger triumph at the orange and black court. The tone was clearly set in the first half: a 25-9 scoring advantage. The Tigers applied finishing touches in the second: a 22-16 edge.
Meredith Carrington and MacKenna Kehoe each made two 3-pointers. Emma Bowman made one shot from beyond the three-point stripe, and this Tiger topped the team's scoring with 15 points. Carrington had ten points to show for her night's work. Kehoe's 3's made up her scoring as she posted six points. Malory Anderson and Kendra Wevley each put in six. LaRae Kram and Kylie Swanson each added two to the mix.

Anderson with her eight rebounds led in that category. Wevley came through with six boards. Carrington dished out five assists. Bowman had four steals, and Kehoe blocked a shot.
The Thunder Hawks didn't have much impact on the offensive end of the court. Avery Koenen and Greta Rongstad propped up their scoring, each with eight points. Livia Gades put in five points while Tenley Epema and Rose O'Malley each had two. Gades and Rongstad each made a three-pointer.

Boys: Tigers 74, New London-Spicer 47
Jackson Loge was the main story in the MACA boys hoops win Tuesday (12/17) at New London-Spicer.
Loge and his mates ensured an upbeat holidaytime mood for the orange and black crowd. Indeed, this 6'7" fellow with the superlative basketball lineage scored 44 points - fantastic. Plus he used his rangy frame to pull down 15 rebounds and block two shots. He put on a clinic for fans of both teams to appreciate at the Wildcats' court. Ho ho ho!
All those pluses helped widen the margin and create the final score of 74-47.
Loge is just a sophomore. Not sure if the word "just" is needed but you'll have to consider my historical bias here: When I first started writing for the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper, the Morris athletic department had a policy of no one younger than junior playing varsity. I confronted the coach once about a very promising sophomore who seemed sculpted to play basketball, last name of Libbon, and the comment I got about his prospects of playing varsity were: "We don't do that here." We obviously do now.
I began making comments about this and the various policies or decisions at the time, and thus I ended up becoming branded as a troublemaker in the eyes of many. Let's just say our athletic program through many of those years, lacked the best accountability to its constituents.
Ahem, let's move on with our game summary for the 74-47 win. It feels nice to type that score. And now let's stay in the year 2019. Oh, soon to be 2020. Soon to be Christmas and New Year's. We're living in impeachment times. Loge made 18 of his 22 field goal attempts, 82 percent. He focused close to the hoop, nothing outside the three-point line. He complemented these stats with eight-for-12 in freethrows, 67 percent. He helped us build a 33-23 lead by halftime. We poured it on with our 41-24 advantage the rest of the way.
Both our three-point makes were by Cameron Koebernick.
I'm getting in the habit of associating "Gonnerman" with Morris rather than Benson. Benson's loss is our gain as Toby Gonnerman scored nine points in the win. Durgin Decker scored seven points and Koebernick had six. Jaden Maanum put in four followed by Bradley Rohloff and Brandon Jergenson each with two.
Loge's 15 boards put him on top there. Decker and Jergenson each dished out four assists. Thomas Tiernan stole the ball twice. Loge was boss in blocking.
I'm not quite old enough to have covered Jackson's grandfather. His grandfather would have played in the old gym that was part of what came to be known as the "old elementary auditorium." It's now razed. We didn't call it "elementary" in the old days. I did watch some varsity games there: the Paul Kelly days. His body was mainly sculpted for football.
The New London-Spicer scoring was topped by Peyton Coahran with 15 points. (We have an impulse to think "Cochran" but it's "Coahran.") Christian Lessman and Mason Toutges each scored eleven points. Levi Streich scored seven, Jaden Zylstra two and Nick Hubbard one. Coahran built his point total with three 3-pointers while Lessman and Toutges each made one. Three Wildcats each had six rebounds: Coahran, Wolzen Holland and Toutges. Streich set the pace in assists with five. Toutges was tops in steals with three. Lessman and Jaryn Ommodt each had a blocked shot.
Christmas is nigh but first: the winter solstice. Don't forget St. Lucia Day.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Friday action at Sauk: 59-54 loss for Tigers

West Central Conference basketball was on the plate for Morris Area Chokio Alberta on Friday. The boys hoops contest had the Tigers on the short end by five against the Streeters of Sauk Centre. The Streeters enjoyed this win at their home court. They improved to 3-2. Meanwhile our Tigers were left still in search of their first win. They slid to 0-3.
We were down at halftime by the same margin as the final. The halftime score was 31-26. The second half was a 28-all stalemate, and in the end the scoreboard story was 59-54..
The loss was not for lack of three-point shooting. Here it was Jaden Maanum impressing with his three makes. He was complemented by these teammates who each made one: Durgin Decker, Brandon Jergenson, Thomas Tiernan, Jackson Loge and Cade Fehr.
Loge wrapped his arms around the ball for eleven rebounds. Indeed this Tiger had impact in all stat categories. In assists he came through with eleven. In steals, he and Fehr each had two. And in blocks, Loge swatted the ball aside twice. But in spite of all that, the host Streeters had just enough firepower to prevail. They held on in the second half.
Maanum used his 3's to vault to the top of our scoring list with 16 points. "Eleven" was the magic number for Loge as this was his point total too. Decker contributed nine points. Tiernan had six, then we have Fehr (5), Toby Gonnerman (4) and Jergenson (3).
The MACA girls were also stopped shy of victory in the Friday action. The outcome of the girls game was 45-38 with Sauk Centre winning. The Streeters have impressed thus far in the young season - they owned a 5-1 mark entering the weekend. Our Tigers have a 2-4 record. We miss seeing Maddie Carrington play for the Tigers.

Girls: Minnewaska Area 60, BBE 55
The home court was therapeutic for the Lakers of Minnewaska Area as they shook a four-game loss streak Thursday. The Lakers vied with the Jaguars of BBE at the 'Waska court. The margin of victory was five for a buoyant Laker team led by Emma Thorfinnson.

Thorfinnson put in 18 points in the 60-55 Laker triumph. She accelerated to the top of the scoring list with four 3-pointers. Maddie Thorfinnson made one '3' as did Michele Stai. The Lakers outscored the Jaguars 28-26 in the first half and 32-29 in the second. Emma was joined in double figures scoring by Alexis Piekarski (12 points) and Maddie Thorfinnson (11). Other point producers were Stai (9), Makena Panitzke (6), Isabella Ortendahl (2) and Elizabeth Murken (2).
Piekarski with her six rebounds topped that category. Maddie Thorfinnson and Stai each had three assists. Avery Hoeper blocked a shot.
BBE is having a .500 type of campaign to date. Their scoring was led Thursday by Karissa Jones (12 points). Jenna Dingmann and Alissa Knight each put in nine points. Karsee Kampsen, Jacqueline Gossen and Brittany Berge each had an output of six. Josie Knutson produced five while Grace Illies had two.
BBE did fine in three-pointers where four in their ranks made shots, led by Dingmann with three. Gossen connected for two long-rangers while Knutson and Berge each made one. Knight was the top Jaguar rebounder with six. Gossen had two assists. Gossen and Berge each stole the ball twice. Knight blocked a shot. This was a non-conference affair.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Tigers succumb to Josh Kinzler's '3' in overtime

ACGC 89, Tigers 87
It isn't over until it's over. The MACA boys looked to be in good shape during overtime of their Tuesday game. The Tigers were in action against ACGC at Grove City. We owned a five-point lead during overtime.
But the determined Falcons shaved the difference down to one point. The clock showed 3.8 seconds left when Josh Kinzler made a 3-pointer that sank our orange and black. The Falcons came away with the 89-87 win.
We were fortunate getting the game into overtime. Credit for that goes to Toby Gonnerman. For a long time I associated the Gonnerman name with Benson. We're happy to have this name in our fold now, and it was exciting to see this Tiger sink a shot as regulation time expired. So, the score was 78-78. But the Falcons righted their ship to outscore us 11-9 in the OT extension.
The loss for the Tigers took some luster from an otherwise monster night for Jackson Loge. Loge poured in 35 points. At first I typed "Kevin," Jackson's father, so you can feel amused by that, but it reminds me of the late Andy Papke who had a stint as Tiger basketball coach, and the genial fellow was known to sometimes mistakenly call a player by the father's name! Coach Mark Torgerson is on his second generation of players now, and maybe someday it will be his third.
Durgin Decker made noise with his 19 points. Gonnerman's last-second dramatics contributed to his point total at ten. Then we see Jaden Maanum with eight points, Cade Fehr with seven, Thomas Tiernan with five and Brandon Jergenson with three. Five different Tigers made 3-pointers led by Decker who had two long-range successes. Maanum, Jergenson, Tiernan and Loge each had one. ACGC led 43-31 at halftime.
Our second half advantage was a pretty impressive 47-35.
ACGC has impressed in early-season play and now sits at 3-1. The Tigers meanwhile still seek win No. 1. Kinzler made two 3-pointers but he was outdone by Steven Lawver who made four. Dawson Miller made two 3's and Shelby Shoen made one.
Lawver's 3's helped vault him to No. 1 on the scoring list with 30 points. Kinzler scored 21 points and Miller 19. Other Falcons on the list: Shelby Shoen (14), Zack Hinther (3) and Ethan Lilleberg (2). Lawver was all over the court and led in rebounds with eleven. Miller snared six. Lawver had the team-best nine assists and Shoen had five. Kinzler and Shoen each had five steals. Lawver and Miller each had a blocked shot. Lawver indeed came through like a marquee player. Any re-match of these teams will be anticipated with excitement.

Girls: NL-Spicer 61, Tigers 43
New London-Spicer is always a formidable opponent in girls basketball. The new season continues the norm. Tuesday saw the MACA Tigers on the short end of the 61-43 score. The Wildcats improved to 4-0. The orange and black hosted the game. Our record slipped to 2-3.
MacKenna Kehoe's name keeps showing up on the three-point shooting list. On this night she made two long-rangers from beyond the stripe. Meredith Carrington also made two 3's. We surely miss seeing Maddie on the court.
Malory Anderson was our top scorer with 14 points. Meredith came through with 12. Other scorers were Emma Bowman (8), Kehoe (6), Kendra Wevley (2) and LaRae Kram (1).
Anderson collected the team-best eight rebounds. Bowman and Kehoe each had two assists. Three Tigers each had two steals: Carrington, Bowman and Anderson. Anderson blocked two shots.
New London-Spicer raced to a 40-29 halftime lead. A very balanced NL-S attack had Erin Knisley scoring 13 points. Grace DeSchepper and Mackenzie Rich each scored eleven, and Emma Hanson had ten. The rest of the list includes Ava Kraemer (7), Payton Mages (4), Avery Rich (4) and Izzy Schmiesing (1). The Wildcats made just one '3' and this was by Hanson. Rebound leaders were DeSchepper and Hanson with ten and eight respectively. The Rich girls each had six assists as did Mages. Mages had seven steals and Avery Rich five. Mages blocked two shots.
 
BOLD 67, Tigers 54
The MACA girls fell back to .500, at 2-2 on Friday. They were dealt defeat on their home court by BOLD. The Warriors were road warriors on this night as they turned back our Tigers 67-54.
A big night for Warrior Makayla Snow indeed as she reached a thousand points for her career. She's a most familiar name from Central Minnesota hoops. She poured in 20 points, helping carve out the advantage for her talented team. Ashley Trongard showed talent too with her contribution of 13 points. Snow and Trongard helped lift their team to an early-season 3-1 record.
However, that superiority was certainly not evident in the first half. The home court fans admired our orange and black doing awfully well in that first half. We assumed a 35-30 lead. Did the Warriors make adjustments for second half play? Did we fail to make adjustments? Who knows, but in the second half the Snow/Trongard crew turned on the jets. They outscored the orange and black squad in a big way, 37-19.
I'll have to consult with Tom Carrington to find out what happened. He doesn't always have full faith in the coaching staff. Well, if we can't banter a little about the coaching, it's less fun, right? For the time being let's just laud the fired-up Warrior crew who sure found the formula for the second half. Congrats to them and their coaches.
Lanie Mages and Brenna Weis each scored nine points for the Warriors. Mari Ryberg put in eight points while Leslie Snow and Abby Meyers each scored four. Mages led the 3-pointer charge with three makes, while Weis nailed two from beyond the stripe.
For MACA, MacKenna Kehoe has shown in early-season play that she can be sharp from long-range. She made two long-rangers Friday. Meredith Carrington and LaRae Kram each made one. Kendra Wevley was our scoring leader with 15 points. Our other double figures scorer was Carrington with 13. Then we see Kehoe with eight followed by Emma Bowman (6), Kram (5), Malory Anderson (5) and Kylie Swanson (2).
Anderson and Swanson led in rebounds with six and five respectively. Anderson provided three assists. Wevley was the steal leader with seven followed by Anderson with six. Wevley had a fine all-around night as she blocked three shots.
 

Boys hockey: Storm 9, Willmar 3
Beating Willmar is always cause for satisfaction. I mean, they're the bigger town. And Tuesday action had the skaters of MBA looking mighty good at the Willmar Civic Center. The hat trick by Zach Bruns led the charge. I've always enjoyed that hockey term. I first learned it watching the North Stars of Bill Goldsworthy on TV. Let's not forget Ted Harris and J.P. Parise too. Ah, "The Gumper," Gump Worsley, playing goalie without a mask!
Bruns had two assists to go along with his hat trick in MBA's 9-3 win over Willmar. Will Breuer came through with two goals and two assists. In goal we had Chase Engebretson performing 32 saves. The win was our fourth against one loss.
We gained a 3-2 lead in period #1. Brady Loge scored our first goal, assisted by Parker Klemm at 1:48 of the first. Willmar answered with an Elbridge DeKraai goal, unassisted at 2:23. Willmar then got up 2-1 as Devin Sankey struck with assists from Isaiah Cameron and Tanner Bauman (5:21). MBA's Breuer put the puck in the net with a Klemm assist at 5:40. Then Bruns showed his scoring flair at 1:18, reaching the net with a Jack Riley assist.
We picked up lots of momentum in period #2. But first it was Willmar scoring as Adam Dejong succeeded with an Aidan Donelan assist at 1:17. MBA's Matthew Tolifson scored with assists from Breuer and Bruns at 6:29. Bruns scored at 7:07 using assists from Breuer and Riley. Breuer worked deftly with his goal at 12:37, assisted by Bruns.
We skunked Willmar 3-0 in the third. Riley scored with an unassisted flourish at 3;40. Bruns came through unassisted at 6:25, and finally Tim Blume scored with a Brett Hanson assist at 12:22, getting us up to nine goals. Impressive work on the night.
 
Wrestling: MAHACA 37, New London-Spicer 35
A very hard-fought dual vs. New London-Spicer ended with the MAHACA wrestlers having the advantage, 37-35. The action was Tuesday, part of the NL-Spicer Triangular. We were 1-1 in the Tri with the loss coming vs. Annandale-Maple Lake, score of 38-32. So we were quite competitive throughout, and the remainder of this post will review the win over the Wildcats of NL-Spicer.
Beating NL-Spicer is always rather satisfying, wouldn't you say? At the start we faltered as Tyce Anderson (108 pounds) and Dallas Walton (113) were defeated. Luke Knudsen beat Anderson by fall in 1:02, and Ty Bisek downed Walton in a 2:45 pin. Caden Rose of the Tigers decisioned Adam Sandau 10-4. Dylan Rose won by fall in 1:01 over Jace Neal.
Ethan Lebrija was a major decision winner over Luke Ruter, 16-3. At 138 pounds, Davin Rose of the Tigers was stopped in a 5-0 decision by Blake Vagle. Lots of well-known wrestling names coming up here, like Vagle, Bisek and Rose! At 145 pounds, our Dain Schroeder lost by decision to Brody Lien 16-13. The 152-pound bout had Hunter Messner losing by fall to Reid Holmquist (4:25).
At 160 pounds, our Noah Amundson pinned Tim Thein in 5:12. Our Jacob Boots at 170 won by fall over Lucas Tuchtenhagen in :49. Hunter Gibson and Tristian Raths gained forfeit victories. Our 220-pounder Dillon Nelson lost by fall to Nick McKenzie in :53. The battle of big guys at 285 pounds had the Wildcats' Marshel Johnson winning by technical fall over Carter Gibson, 17-2.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

City of Morris water treatment plant: conundrum

What to do with these now? ("water geeks" image)

The new ownership of the newspaper tells us, in a manner that might seem like preaching, that the press is essential for reporting on government. It's the "watchdog" meme. Without doubt it has merits.
The young-uns who say "OK boomer" should know that people my age have insights from Watergate. Disco isn't the only thing we cared about in the 1970s. "The press" was a defining feature of Watergate. That must have made the legal profession jealous. Or, "making the flowers jealouth" as the great composer/humorist Peter Schickele once penned. (He composed as "PDQ Bach.") "My bonnie lass she smelleth."
I offer this attempted levity so as not to make this post overly depressing in tone. But we're talking about depression in connection to government and its machinations. Right now what we have going on in our Morris MN is this water treatment plant thing.
What a grand building out on the eastern outskirts of town. Well it's a building. I couldn't care less. But now we're thrown into limbo for understanding how to proceed with our water. We're supposed to depend on the newspaper? In situations like this frankly I'd like to depend directly on communications from our City of Morris. The sense of limbo has become frustrating.

Who to listen to?
There is an apparent tug of war between the area water quality companies and the City. The water quality companies are private business. This is not to assume they would do anything untoward to make money. Not that that sort of thing should be ruled out. To quote the guy who runs the "Pawn Stars" place: "It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust anybody."
I take no pleasure in saying "I don't trust anybody." But I guess that's true. The paper would like to think it's the most virtuous party, "pure as the driven snow" I guess. I was shocked in my visit to our public library Tuesday where I always glance through the new Morris paper. Some quite stark language was on page 1. It was directed at people with "old" water softeners, and how old is old?
What's wrong with something being old? We had an old Kinetico water softener in our place but as I explained to a city official recently, it was built like a brick outhouse and worked fine. I use the past tense "was" because on Thursday I had it replaced by a water quality company. I want to be a responsible homeowner. That's why I acted when it seemed the pressure was great to act, sort of like having a gun pointed to my head.
 
My, sounds dire
A front page article in the Morris paper proclaimed there would be legal consequences for people with old softeners. So I asked a city official if the city would dispatch people with law enforcement credentials. Would citations be issued?
Even before I had my new softener installed, I had been through a pretty maddening process of trying to find out what the heck to do. Call it an odyssey. Time and again I called people. I thrashed around. Our softener was Kinetico so I thought it best to contact Kinetico at some point. I got online and communicated with someone in an office who knows where. Was I naive in assuming this "pro" would come and assess and simply make sure my softener was "adjusted?" That's what I thought was in store. Very routine.
So often we find out things are not so routine. The guy looked at the softener and said he couldn't really evaluate it. He seemed stumped. IMHO he was not impressive with his grasp of things. Finally I filled the void by saying "should I just leave things the way they are?" He did not dispute that and so after I paid the bill of about $100, it was over. "It was over" until I saw the front page article in the Morris paper. Very sharply worded in regard to legal ramifications. I figured I better well take action again.
So I called the local water quality company and I cannot fault them, based on any and all information I have gleaned. But I feel insulted by the City of Morris pronouncements about how we'd "save money on salt" with the new treatment plant. Problem is, this benefit is negated in spades if you have to buy a new water softener, an up-to-date "on demand" softener.
I shared a concern with a city official about the tone of the newspaper article. He responded pretty bluntly by saying this was not the city's position. He did this by saying "I don't write the newspaper articles." The suggestion is that the article lacked credence. So much for the platitudes about how we have to rely on the paper as a "watchdog" or whatever.
The city official came right out and questioned what I had been told by the water quality company. So then I contacted the company and implied some pretty obvious skepticism. Fortunately the company spokesman came across as very knowledgeable and sincere, and I must say I cannot feel skeptical about what she told me. Our water was perfect before, she said. It would no longer be up to those standards, had I just chosen to disconnect the softener, she said. We must take proper care of our hot water heaters.
I have an on-demand softener installed and cannot express regret at this point. But it appears a lot of local residents are taking the plunge and just disconnecting. Are they throwing caution to the wind?
 
City has its own agenda, yes
Are there any "bad guys" in this confusion? I'm an old press person and I never rule this out. Might it be the City of Morris itself? You see, the city does have an agenda here that might be described as narrow. The city is having to "sell" its water treatment plant. I think it's a more difficult process than they expected. I suspect some frayed nerves. "I don't write the newspaper articles." Flat-out contradiction of the advice given me by water quality professionals.
Looking to the city's side of things, it is under pressure to get pollutants down in the river. I guess we're talking about chloride. And they must meet a certain standard for this - a bar is set - to get considerable financial help from the government. So yes, there's an "agenda." At some point they could simply plead for as many city residents as possible to simply disconnect their softeners - whatever it takes, as it were. However, is this really the most prudent thing?
Based on my experiences and communications re. this, I think there's a nebulous area. It's a pretty personal matter because we're talking about managing our homes properly. And the big bad government is involved. Shudder.
The city official indicated that if the pollutant level isn't adequately reduced, people might start getting real directives on how to proceed. They will be given time, so it's not as if onerous legal sanctions are looming, not like what was so sharply implied in the newspaper's page 1 article.
The point I'd like to make here, is that the city should have communicated better all along. Why wouldn't it? Hmmm. Maybe because the city is scared to just outright tell everyone "disconnect your softener." Down deep this is what they'd want, I suppose, to get the (expletive) government money. But as homeowners we might wish to exercise caution. I'm upset because of the sheer confusion and head-scratching this process has entailed so far.
City Hall - you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em.
"My bonnie lass she smelleth, making the flowers jealouth."
-Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Riding the wave of past fame is just fine

Paul Revere Dick RIP

"Zonker" of "Doonesbury" broke out crying in all seriousness when told there is no Santa Claus. Hasn't that strip fallen out on the margins? A few years ago when it had something that seemed controversial, a media writer wondered why there wasn't more of a flap. A letter writer in the Star Tribune answered, saying that very few people read the strip anymore.
People my age are well aware of "Doonesbury" as it rings a bell or evokes memories. It was a symbol of the counterculture stuff going on in the 1960s. The music of that era is now "retro" at casino showrooms. The old singers probably can't carry a tune as well as in halcyon days, Bob Dylan being an example. The Strib frowned on Dylan after a performance where his apparent age-related decline was evident. Hey, it happens to all of us.
A part of us wants to think it's "sad," these retro acts still performing long after they had any chance to get "on the charts" again. But stop and think: Back when these people had their heyday as current acts, their fans were primarily too young to spend much money. The kids had to ask for a little money from their parents. Like, to attend the Beatles concert at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965. Organizers of the event weren't wowed by the turnout. But just think of the background facts I shared: Kids dependent on parents. It's not surprising. Years later when the Met was the site for a performance by long-established rock acts, the turnout was tremendous. The previously pubescent fans now had discretionary money!
So today we can sense an irony with retro acts, what cynics might call has-beens, actually "cleaning up" with money to be made at the likes of casinos. And the money comes from people who were once young and without monetary independence. All those young people who ate up "Paul Revere and the Raiders" now have money to spend at prestigious venues like in Las Vegas.
Back in that earlier time, you'd go to Las Vegas to hear the likes of Frank Sinatra.
"Paul Revere and the Raiders" were big in my neighborhood. Mark Lindsay left the group and the real "Paul Revere" kept it going, increasingly as one of those retro acts fueled by nostalgia.
"Has-beens?" Oh heck, that is absolutely no way to look at it. Music industry insiders know full well the truth. And that is, if you are blessed enough to have your "run" like the Raiders did in the '60s and early '70s, it is wholly legitimate to capitalize on that success in subsequent years, to parlay it. Respectable, yes. If you appreciate the principle of making money, yes.
There are countless young and talented musicians who fall short of having a "run" of success. The word "run" implies something finite. Oh yes, it most certainly is. Let's say the odds are prohibitive against having a lifetime run of being always current, always relevant.
 
Vicissitudes, yes
The best example of how a "run" can end in ignoble fashion was presented by John Denver. This is famous. He was arguably at the top of his game, apparently doing super for RCA Records, when he was cut loose after a "greatest hits" release.
Silly rabbit, in the music world it's well-known that a greatest hits album or a live album can be a sign the run is winding down. Another problem is the pressure to constantly come up with good new material. Song creation is not a science, though there are many accepted rules. Rules can notoriously be broken. The public is always looking for something new and there is no science for anticipating this.
Chuck Mangione and his flugelhorn had a nice little run after radio DJs across the U.S. decided they were sick of the BeeGees. Amazing but true. It's ironic to say "sick of" because these guys spurred commercial radio for a long time.
 
Horse's asses? Well maybe
Hey, want to know why people in the business end of popular music can be so famously rude and unfeeling? Remember the music industry guy at the end of the movie "Eddie and the Cruisers?" I almost wondered if this part of the script was written as sort of an inside joke to make a statement. The executive, having previewed some stuff that would really have been cutting-edge if it were released, sat there with his suit and tie on and scoffed: "A bunch of jerk-offs making weird sounds." The incident set the stage for an embittered "Eddie Wilson" to retreat from society, to fake his own death.
Rejection in the commercial music world is a constant but it still drives people nuts. Didn't Charles Manson have his music rejected? The Beach Boys actually did one of his numbers but the lyrics were substantively changed. It went from "Cease to Exist" to "Cease to Resist." Even this change can offend a vain songwriter.
John Denver was offended by being tossed by RCA. "Tossed," yes, but Denver had climbed to heights that can only be dreamed of by most musicians. No cause for the man to really be disconsolate, but he surely was. And yet he must have been fully aware of the cold nature of the music business.
Popular local chef George Haugen was a huge fan of John Denver. Remember him in the kitchen of Don's Cafe (Morris MN)? I always picture him there. Connie told me he got nervous working the till. Can't blame him. I once did an article on George after he was called up on the stage by Don Rickles in Las Vegas. George got a bottle of champagne courtesy of the comedian afterwards. I photographed George with the souvenir bottle. George is Korean by ancestry, so I'm sure there was something there for Rickles to mine.
I took in a Rickles show in Las Vegas once. I was not picked on by the comedian. I once shook hands with Paul Anka when the singer proceeded into the audience while singing a song in Las Vegas.
 

The Raiders during their original run

Ah, Paul Revere and the Raiders
Paul Revere's full name was Paul Revere Dick. He passed away a couple years ago. He kept the group going right to the end and always wore the Revolutionary War hat.
Looking back, the Raiders had as long a run as they probably could have expected. These things are destined to end, and later people second-guess as if mistakes were made. No, you just can't fight the hourglass. Lindsay left the group but he seemed to stay on amicable terms. It could be confusing because he was the featured singer but he was not Paul Revere. The Revere guy played the keyboard.
SCTV had a neat satire on the group in the 1980s. The show had Revere by himself playing just the organ part to Raiders tunes at a nightclub.
Unfortunately the Raiders are not as well remembered today as the Monkees. We all love the Monkees but they were primarily a made-for-TV phenomenon. A lot of the Raiders stuff on YouTube today is of highly "archival" quality, so much so, it can make you wince. By contrast, old ABBA videos are very sharp.
We remember Zonker and Santa Claus because I'm writing this post in December. The hippie motif of the original "Doonesbury" would seem strange today, but if the cartoonist can keep mining these characters in some way, all the more power to him. Stay in the salt mine.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Evidence keeps mounting and now: Mark Pavelich

Can we overlook glory of sports?

Has all the news about head injuries in sports had an impact on you yet? I began weighing 4-5 years ago if I should start withdrawing sports interest. That's easier said than done. The sobering thoughts about head injuries were in the back of my mind. But it took time to break some longstanding habits.
For a time I was trying to proclaim it was mission accomplished, yet I digested sports news with a fair amount of interest, for the standard reasons. It is so tempting to be entertained by the fast-moving bodies on the TV screen.
The famous doctor behind the initial revelations about CTE admitted there was a beauty in these sports - "like ballet," he said. Will Smith played the doctor in the movie.

Perspective: words and intent
People used to boast about how they'd ignore Howard Cosell or turn the sound off when he was on. To refresh: Cosell was the guy with a rather bombastic image who graced our TV screens for Monday night football. Monday night football became nothing short of an entertainment rage in the 1970s, those disco '70s. Football entertainment was not as readily available then. That's why the weekly Monday broadcast became such an absolute sensation, and there was the verbose Cosell holding his microphone.
So, people claimed he was irritating and all that, but the truth really was that he was part of the winning entertainment chemistry. People claimed to be trying to ignore him, to be turning the sound down or even off! They might claim to be throwing objects at the TV screen in protest. Hardly any of that was true of course, maybe none of it. It was a pop culture notion.
By the same token, fans today might say they're trying to pay less attention to football or hockey. They try to convince us that the health risks in these sports aren't worth it. And they are so right. But when you come across these events on TV, the events seem to have all the luster and popularity they always had. So when we hear talk of how the football Gophers might be Pasadena-bound, hey, we feel the "rush," right? Don't we feel like pinching ourselves, even.
I mean, when I was a kid, the Gophers weren't in the discussion of Rose Bowl candidates. I remember the sober and scowling faces of father figure coaches Woody Hayes of Ohio State and Bo Schembechler of Michigan. St. Paul newspaper columnist Don Riley joked about "the Big 2 and the Little 8" in the Big 10. Didn't seem like much fun. The Gophers were a step or two below, in position to be buried most of the time by the national powers. So today we see a quite changed complexion with Minnesota in the upper tier while Nebraska - gasp! - is among the pedestrian group.
Yes, "they don't win because of the uniforms." That expression always amused me. When I used to tune in and see the crimson-trimmed Nebraska uniform, there was a sense of awe. These were the "big boys." The U of M seemed often to be an also-ran, at least in terms of competing for the Rose Bowl. Now that we're up there, I feel a tinge of sadness because I can no longer admire or really follow Big Ten football any more. It has become unconscionable. And truly I have succeeded in accomplishing this. I'm not just posturing or pretending.
I'm only generally aware of the Gophers' successes because I continue subscribing to the Star Tribune (which I buy for our senior center in Morris) and I can't help but notice the headlines. Am I at least happy? No, because the physical price paid by the young men in these games is too much. There is no longer any doubt about the conclusions to be drawn.
You insist on portraying me as a stick in the mud? As someone who takes certain things too seriously? Who can't let his hair down and just enjoy the Gophers' new-found glory? How can I not jump up and down? Well, in perusing the state news section of our venerated state newspaper, we see another big and scary exhibit of what sports does to people. Some of these injured souls can be a hazard to other people.
It isn't enough to tell parents to show caution or just "be informed." Keep your sons out of these activities, let them harness those energies in other things. Don't be blinded by the shallow entertainment value of players sprinting into the end zone or scoring a goal in hockey (although I have never been entertained by hockey, nor have I ever understood its appeal at all).
  

Mark Pavelich (WTIP image)

Very fresh news
The news in the Tuesday Strib was about Mark Pavelich. He was one of the "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey players. Remember the movie about that, starring Kurt Russell? Russell played coach Herb Brooks who I got to know when he came to Morris to promote hockey's expansion in our community. I'm amused to remember how he gave me a hard time when he realized I was "press." He saw me taking notes! By the end of his stay, we had an amicable relationship.
Brooks ended up dying on our highways in what I believe was an accident caused by falling asleep at the wheel. Incredibly sad.
Brooks and Pavelich helped give us an amazing chapter in sports history. But we're saddened at present to learn of the price Pavelich is now paying for his time in the rugged sport of hockey. A badge of manhood? Forget all that. With what we now know about the health dangers of football and hockey, we might well cite a badge of stupidity or ignorance. Keep your children out of these Neanderthal games. Don't be tempted to watch them on TV, even if they exude a "siren song" appeal. I once felt that.
Pavelich is just 61 years old. I repeat: just 61. He might be civilly committed to a mental health facility. This results from a determination that he is incompetent to stand trial. Should this "Miracle on Ice" guy be judged "mentally ill" or "mentally ill and dangerous?" Those are the questions being weighed.
Sports agents often tell their clients the reality about their position in life. In other words, don't be fooled by the cheers and adulation. The fans know nothing about you, the realities of your life and how you'll get by the rest of your life. Pavelich played hockey hard while fans screamed their approval, reinforcing the commitment to the game.
And where is Pavelich's life at now? Are the fans truly concerned about him now? Are we willing to make any sort of investment in him now, like how we once bought tickets and watched TV broadcasts full of ads for things like beer? All that commercial activity, just because so many of us ere entranced by those fast-moving bodies on the TV screen - men seeking "victory." So what? Who gives a hoot now?
Just look at Pavelich's life now. How will he spend the rest of his days? Look how Pavelich hurt another human being: he beat James T. Miller with a metal pole after a day of fishing. Miller suffered cracked ribs, a bruised kidney and a vertebrae fracture. The criminal case has been put on hold. Cook County Social Services entered the picture. The agency wants the court to commit Pavelich to the state as "mentally ill and dangerous." There will be a pricetag for the care and treatment of both Pavelich and Miller.

The cost of playing a game
Pavelich's family members assert that Mark suffers from CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, after repeated concussions and blows while playing in the National Hockey League. He began showing evidence of this condition several years ago. The family sought help for him but he refused.
The NHL has been accused of moving too slowly on adjusting the game to make it safer. You might say football is in the same position, but how can either of these games really be made fundamentally safe? A realistic assessment would suggest they can't be.
So where do we go from here? It's just a long slog toward eventual phasing out of these sports, if you can envision that at all. Maybe Howard Cosell with his voice of gusto could persuade us. He was a very intelligent man. He'd understand.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

MACA girls edged in season debut at Benson

Kaitlyn Berreau was a major force for Benson in the Friday game that had our MACA Tigers on the losing end. Our GBB season debut ended in a 65-64 defeat at the hands of the Braves. Berreau is a senior guard. She came at the Tigers with 29 points including an onslaught of seven 3-pointers. She was a force that enabled Benson to escape a halftime deficit.
The Tigers had the 37-27 halftime advantage. The final moments of this contest had drama. The clock showed four seconds left when Benson put the wheels in motion for what turned out to be the decisive play. It was a baseline out-of-bounds play. Claire Ricard got the ball in her hands and put up a successful shot. The fans at the Benson gym cheered for the home team success.
MACA fans watched as there was just one Carrington in action instead of the two that we might have expected. MACA athletics was dealt an injury blow during the fall when Maddie Carrington experienced a torn ACL in a Homecoming exhibition event. So we now see Meredith Carrington gamely carrying the family banner in hoops exploits for the new season. Meredith had impact as she made two 3-pointers as part of eleven points scored.
Two other Tigers made a pair of 3's: Emma Bowman and Mackenna Kehoe. LaRae Kram added one '3' to the mix. Malory Anderson was the major contributor in the orange and black offense: 17 points. Meredith was second-high, then we have Kram with nine points, Bowman and Kylee Swanson each with eight, Kehoe with seven and Kendra Wevley with four.
Benson's Berreau highlighted the stats with her 29 points. We can just see the scouting reports developing on her. Ricard made noise offensively with her 20 points including the clutch shot at the end. Benson's other scorers were Abby Lundebrek (5), Abbie Mitteness (4), Marissa Connelly (3), Sarah Brandt (2) and Kimmy Pagel (2).
Berreau's barrage of seven 3-pointers was complemented by one '3' by Connelly. The Braves surged to outscore the Tigers 38-27 in the second half. Our coach Dale Henrich might have to work a little harder with halftime adjustments! The game was the season opener for both teams.
 
Hancock 63, Dawson-Boyd 43
The home gym was the site for the Hancock GBB opener Friday. It was a night to celebrate a winning outcome. The score was 63-43 versus the Blackjacks of Dawson-Boyd. (I've always enjoyed that nickname.)
Hancock breezed with a 35-21 advantage in the first half and kept going with a 28-22 edge in second half play. Four Owls each made one 3-point shot: Kaitlyn Staples, Jenna Kannegiesser, Alexis Staples and Morgan Kisgen. It was Kisgen leading the way in scoring with 14 points. Two other Owls got into double figures: Rylee Hanson and Alexis Staples each with eleven. Six other Owls scored: Kannegiesser (9), Tori Pahl (7), Kaitlyn Staples (5), Lindsey Mattson (2), Jordan Hausmann (2) and Misti Zempel (2).
Pahl topped the rebound list with eight followed by Kannegiesser and Kisgen each with six. Kisgen picked up two assists. Kisgen and Alexis Staples each had two steals.
The Bartuneks led the Dawson-Boyd scoring, Avery with 15 points and Laney with eleven. Other Blackjacks with points were Chelsie Husby (7), Alexis Breitenstein (5), Amelia Olson (3) and Rachael Lund (2). Husby had the only '3' for the Blackjacks. Their rebound leaders were Avery Bartunek with ten and Olson with five. Olson dished out three assists. Steal leaders were Avery Bartunek with nine and Olson with three.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

"And Every Day You Take Another Bite" - L. Merchant

"And Every Day You Take Another Bite" was the name of a 1971 book by Larry Merchant, about the sport of football. The author looked behind the pretensions and axioms.

We all know what's coming in the next Morris newspaper: a huge splash of attention, glorifying-style, on the Hancock football team. This is not to be taken as criticism. The paper is just doing what it's expected to do. There is nothing like sports, believe me, for supplying grist for a community newspaper's product.
I get a sense of the glee surrounding Hancock football as I visit a local restaurant in the morning. One feels obligated to go along with it. I would wager there is no more talent on the Hancock football roster than on the Morris roster. I think a lot depends on what enrollment classification a team is in. It looks like Hancock played a team Thursday that had no defense. Maybe the smallest schools are in an environment where many members are just hanging on to keep football. You would think that at this advanced stage of the playoffs, games would tend to be close. People who follow the scores year to year know this is not the case. Perhaps there is a "haves vs. have-nots" phenomenon.
As the enrollment size gets bigger, maybe there is more of a sense of healthy parity.
State sports tournaments are tailor-made to accommodate the needs of local media.
 
Pause to look deeper
OK, you sense all these observations are needlessly contrarian. Why not get on the bandwagon, you probably ask.
Surely you sense this analysis gets too "deep" and seems depressing. There's nothing wrong with thinking a little deep sometimes, as followers of our President Trump ought to realize and learn from. We have never seen such anti-intellectualism. We live in a congressional district that is taking on a strong "red" tone, where people simply depart from critical thinking skills. It's all emotional on behalf of Trump. It's all finger-pointing at the "socialist" Democrats. Yes, socialism that might free you from having to deal with private health insurance.
How might I justify the contrarian stance about high school football? No need to grope here. There are probably buses rumbling down to the state playoffs. Some pretty full carfulls too, no doubt. Boys and girls will join the parents. But what kind of takeaway is there for the girls? They are jumping up and down and cheering for a team in a sport where girls are not even allowed. What gives? Girls are too delicate? That would have to be the argument. But we are fully into a new age in which girls are not considered delicate for doing anything. So how does one rationalize the males-only sport?
Let's grope: It's dangerous yes but males have this distinct quality that makes them willing to risk and sacrifice their body? Women are not programmed to do this and would not want to do it, the argument goes. There is a word for this: bias.
Quite obviously the solution is not to open the door for girls playing tackle football. In Morris there is quite the history with the Homecoming powder puff football game, which started out non-sanctioned as a tackle game. It was controversial. Hey, all the girls were doing, was playing a game in the same manner as the boys had legally done for a long time. The school finally got its hooks into this event and transformed it from tackle to the seemingly more tame flag football. But Morris cross country lost one of its finest all-time performers this past fall, Maddie Carrington, due to a torn ACL in the powder puff event.

Bite after bite, indeed
What's with the lure we all continue to feel toward the sport of football? I never played it, and I sense no void in my life. I faced no risk of a torn ACL or concussions that science shows can be quite impactful later in life.
The sport of football got a big boost in the 1960s when the increasing quality of color TV drew fans to the tube more and more. Nothing like this phenomenon happened in the 1950s. Football was somewhat marginalized and we actually heard more talk about how the sport was unreasonably violent. By the mid-'60s due to the TV element, football took over as truly entrancing and almost addictive.

The Owls at left in photo from "Maxpreps"

High school football in Minnesota had no playoffs in an earlier time. Teams just played for their conference championship. That was good enough. Football mania pushed things further. We now have the extended post-season where players on the winning teams get exposed to more chance of injury. The fans innocently go crazy as they follow the winning teams in this sport where girls are not allowed. The young boys get fired up about wanting to play football someday.
The winning communities give the impression that everyone in town is totally transfixed and entranced. I would suggest this is an illusion. Many people are probably quite content going about their normal lives and paying only passing attention if even that. Not that they would want to diss what is going on, right? But maybe they should.
Football mania strikes me as an escape from a mundane day-to-day world that often depresses us. The student athletes are the pawns or to be more blunt, the gladiators. No exaggeration intended. How would you argue that this description is off-base? The players get no lifelong benefit from the experience. They have serious risk of injury to body and brain. So society, even in this age of supposed total gender equality, decides things are really not that equal after all. "Girls don't play football." It would be unwise, I guess, because of a chivalrous attitude about how girls require more protection from the pain and injuries? But what about the boys? Shouldn't their interests be served in the same way? Why not?

Well boys are boys and they must be ready, after all, to join the military and go fight in a big foreign war somewhere. We just celebrated all that with Veterans Day. Well, heaven help us all if we end up in a big conventional war again. War is nothing but bad. A new movie is out about the battle of Midway from World War II. Odd how we get entertained by such fare. We feel entertained because we feel no risk ourselves from our seats in the movie theater. Just like we feel no risk as we sit in our U.S. Bank Stadium seats to watch state championship football. Let's hope nobody gets hurt.
We all know what next week's Morris newspaper is going to look like. Few people will read the actual articles. The coverage will be there as a tribute to our cultural addiction to football. Never mind trying to really learn about the specifics behind the impeachment move for President Trump. Just cry out "fake news!" and you'll fit right in, in this Seventh Congressional District.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Ken Fisher gets blowback for simple candor

Ken Fisher

Political correctness is a complicated and dangerous thing. Once a politically correct assertion is made, you disagree with it at great risk.
We are all aware, I'm sure, of how P.C. can fly in the face of reality. Were it to be enforced 100 percent, we would no longer see the old cowboys and Indians movies. The old Charlie Chan franchise has probably not recovered since a cable channel planned a "marathon" of movies. One of the issues was that non-Chinese people were playing the roles of the heroes. In the same way, many of your basic white guys put on Indian accoutrements to be extras in the old war-whoop movies. Hollywood probably holds breath and pleads for us to give a pass to the older stuff.
I have viewed a couple of the old "Amos 'n' Andy" episodes and I actually think they portray black people in a better light than a lot of the hip-hop-ish stuff today. Don Imus did what I saw as a parody of hip-hop culture, and the P.C. explosion was viral. You knew the writing was on the wall right away - that's how these things go. Imus did make a mistake: he drew college student-athletes into his ad-libbing one morning. Actually it was a co-host that drew him into it. Hip-hop culture/lingo is ripe for parody or even criticism. The movie "Undercover Brother" was loved by many as parody without any intent of prejudice.
 
A fresh dust-up
Let's move to the present and the subject of Ken Fisher. Now, this is a textbook example, one in a long progression of how P.C. outrage develops a life of its own. You have probably seen plugs for Fisher's investment services as you scan the day's news. He's one of these people who'll be happy to take your money and invest it. I don't have the stomach for it.
Fisher has been dinged because of a comment made with intention of levity at a conference. He used an analogy. Uh-oh, be careful with your analogies. There was no intent of anything going public from this conference of investment people. But someone feigned outrage and that's all it takes. I say "feigned" because I'm certain this individual was not personally offended. Maybe it's someone wanting to take some wind from Fisher's sails.
Fisher manages billions of dollars. He steers lots of money into stocks. That's great as long as stocks keep going up. It's not my cup of tea. He said something which if heard around a water cooler would be considered normal patter. He compared the process of wooing a client to a man seeking amorous attention from a female. OK we're talking about "hitting on" a girl. Let's make it more earthy and imagine a bar setting. In the pre-digital era, men pursued females in this manner, very often around alcohol.
Men pursued females? To this day, isn't that how it happens? Surely you won't suggest that gender equality has made totally obsolete the model of men hitting on women. It's hardly ever the other way around, and in situations where it is, it might open the door for slut-shaming. There, I have now made a statement that exposes me to outrage.
Except that, can you really argue that my assertions are untrue? Men pursue women and they learn to become hardened by rejection. Women don't experience anything like that on a personal level. Maybe men become better salespeople because they are more prepared to deal with rejection. Fisher's language got more earthy than I would care for. He used the expression "getting into a woman's pants." I don't like the expression, not because I'm holier than thou, I just don't like it. Aesthetics.
I cannot speak as the voice of experience on courting! I have not gotten close to having a special or social relationship with a particular female. I learned long ago that if I even broached the possibility, I get laughed at. It is a reality I have come to live with. So I cannot speak from true experience when it comes to assessing Fisher's remarks and the odd little firestorm that resulted. Once the P.C. alarm gets sounded, yes like a flashing light, it easily takes on a life of its own. That much I know.

All it takes is a spark
I had my own relevant experience with outrage here in Morris MN, when I was in the corporate media. I learned that no matter what defense you mount, once the alarm bell sounds it cannot be muffled. I ran a photo in the Morris Sun Tribune sports section, a photo taken at the state cross country meet. The photo was taken by the coach. I am certain that the coach thought the photo was not only proper, it was amusing and maybe even charming. It showed two young kids on opposite sides of a spirit banner. The banner proclaimed "Morris Area cross country, like a bat out of hell."
And you know what? "Hell" wasn't even spelled out in full - hyphens were used. I'm not sure that even matters. I'm not sure the word "hell" is even profane if used in this context.
Critics of my work needed to realize that I plowed through an awful lot of material on a given day, thus I wasn't going to get too focused on any one thing. And even if I did, I would not have cried "foul" on this photo. And just like those people around the water cooler, 99 percent of us would think nothing of the photo, were it not for a P.C. siren going off.
So an aggrieved parent took umbrage and wrote a little letter to the editor that might be described as incendiary. It was highly personal, directed at me.
Just think: "Like a bat out of h--." Doesn't that leave you speechless? Most likely it doesn't, just like a young male rambling about "getting into a woman's pants" would be no big deal, would probably prompt a smile or two. Oh come on, you know.

We understand roles
Again, would even the most ardent feminists argue against the notion that we still live in a culture where men are pursuers and women are the pursued? You can't argue with that, can you? So if you don't, how do you reconcile this reality with one of your main tenets: that men and women ought to be seen as totally on the same plane, no stereotypes? Well of course the two genders have differences.
Fisher was making light of how men from time immemorial have pursued women like they are a coveted quarry. There's no revelation there. The guy who "revealed" Fisher's comment to the world, as if he was opening the curtain on a disgusting individual, would probably be amused if he heard the statement in question around the water cooler. So we have the real world, the reasonable world, versus a detached reality where the P.C. alarm bell can ruin people.
Don Imus showed some questionable judgment, in bringing in student athletes with his parody, but was it prima facie disgusting? A meme took over that it was. Imus was forced out of his morning time slot on MSNBC. That paved the way for Joe Scarborough. Scarborough later talked very respectfully about Imus. Imus established the model for what Scarborough took over, according to Scarborough. No dissing of the man. But at the height of the P.C. firestorm, there was no room for Imus to breathe. (Remember his fellow panelist who did such a fine impression of Ray Nagin, the New Orleans mayor?)
 
Cool your jets
Fisher is a normal heterosexual male and not a sexist. How on earth would this be sexist? The language is irreverent and a little raw, yes.
Oh, I should end my anecdote about the cross country picture, with how a school board friend of mine reacted. She actually felt there was cause to be offended by the photo. I considered her a pretty sage person and capable of knowing better. She bought into the alarm bell suggestion - in the letter to the editor - that we ought to summon outrage. I assume certain kids or kids with their parents made the spirit banner. If it was so offensive, was any consideration given to suspensions or any other special punishment? Well of course not.
If people could put aside the dust storm of outrage, caused by one bitter parent, they'd know better. Well, they know better anyway but had to act concerned. And from my standpoint, it put me on the defensive. The letter writer was my family dentist. He wasn't any more.

Amos 'n' Andy

Speaking of Amos 'n' Andy, remember how the characters talked in a particular vernacular that might suggest in the minds of some, "ignorant?" Isn't this why the show eventually vanished? Well I remember a big shot on the Morris school board speaking at a formal event at the old Sunwood Inn. He told a joke that had a black character, someone I presume in a menial occupation. The joke teller gave lines in Amos 'n' Andy fashion. It was quite marked, and people laughed. If someone felt affronted or at least wanted to pretend to be affronted, that person today could use electronic media to make a big deal out of it. But the banquet I'm remembering was in the 1980s, cave painting times compared to today.
The joke-teller's initials were R.L. It was a school-related event or fete but I'm not certain trying to remember the specifics.
People my age, when we were young, observed lots of non-P.C. stuff. We let it be like water off a duck's back.
Oh, remember the "Wa Tan Ye" girls from the musical "The Music Man?"
I wouldn't personally use the expression "get in a woman's pants" but I'm not going to condemn someone over it. Men talk about sex. Yes, and the Pope is Catholic.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Not a profile in courage: Congressman Peterson

Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District

Our fossil Congressman Collin Peterson of the Seventh District has disappointed his political party by turning thumbs-down on moving forward with ground rules for the House impeachment inquiry.
Maybe it's a case of Ol' Fossil having stayed at the dance too long. Do you suppose he believed Donald Trump, when the president said Mexico would "pay for the wall?"
The House voted Thursday to approve the ground rules. Peterson calls himself a Democrat. A rather expedient one, it seems, as he can sniff that his rural district might be tilting the way of so many rural districts.
The so-called red states seem rural in complexion with many pickups making the rounds still with their "Hillary for prison" stickers affixed. Some of these pickup drivers are known to block electric charging stations as a political statement. I guess it's anti-tree-hugger or something like that. It's in line with the Trump attitude of being as anti-intellectual (or anti-fact) as possible. Peterson does not wish to take on this crowd.
Only one other Democrat voted like Ol' Fossil and that's Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey.
We're in the "wild west" of Minnesota I guess. Lots of open, non-descript land. The last election was likely too close for comfort for the veteran handshaker Peterson. Now he's up against a 100 percent Trumpite, last name Fischbach. Trump buried Clinton in the 2016 voting out here. Peterson would be scared s--tless, I presume, trying to contradict that mandate. But why can't he tap a simple sense of conscience? Just asking.
 
Echoing the GOPers
Of all things, Peterson voiced a "process" complaint about impeachment. That's incredibly weak and just reflects leading Republicans' language at this time. Such complaints mean you're groping. But he said at the same time he wants to see all the facts. Isn't that what the current process is about?
One could gag when reading the quote attributed to Peterson about how the impeachment process is "hopelessly partisan." There is no hope for Peterson gravitating to logic. As if the mad dog GOPers are not partisan. GOPers say the current efforts are aimed at invalidating the 2016 election. But wait, if Trump is removed, he'd be replaced by another Republican, right?
We continue to be in "Alice in Wonderland" with the Trump presidency. Sue Dieter who mysteriously disappeared from the Morris newspaper recently, is at Peterson's side now. She's "communications director" though I'm curious what her job really entails. So she has to speak for the congressman's edgy position on the impeachment process.

Ol' Fossil

Republican senators in North Dakota and South Dakota are urging Democrats to end the probe. But what about getting the facts that Peterson says he wants to weigh?
 
Just like the soaps
America has become literally sick with the cacophony of outrageous news reports coming out about Trump every week. You can get drugged watching it all on MSNBC. It's like what people used to say about watching soap operas: you can cease watching a particular soap for a couple weeks and it doesn't matter - you tune in again and it's like you didn't miss anything. Likewise with watching MSNBC throughout the day, or CNN if that's your preference.
The Trump supporters on Fox News seem like total clowns. It seems like "performance art" on Fox. All these channels now know they have a gravy train. I'll turn it on at mid-afternoon on any given day and think, "wow, this is big breaking news," a sense of revelation. Curious thing, though: nothing comes of it, and eventually it becomes a day-to-day drag of nothing happening or getting resolved.
So the Democrats are now seeking to move forward with a meaningful process to get facts that are not tainted by the truly corrupt Trump and his crowd, obfuscating, creating diversions etc. Peterson evidently thinks Trump needs more of an opportunity to do his thing with polluting the process, gumming up the works. Quite the talent for doing that, Mr. Trump has.
Curious how we in West Central Minnesota are so quick to be skeptical of Democrats, to just treat them with a broad and skeptical brush. If you were to sit down with Adam Schiff and others on that side, you would connect with them so much more genuinely than with the Fischbachs of the world. It would be good for you.
The red staters applaud as Trump "tweets" about impeachment as "the greatest witch hunt in American history." A tweet from the greatest cad in U.S. politics, a guy who should have been written off after the "Access Hollywood" tape. BTW has Mexico offered money for the wall?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com