No, media don't really drive people to corners

Tucker Carlson, once a backbencher

Much is made of the divisions in America. Surely this is not unprecedented. Most people realize that, but then they'll say the nature of the media today exacerbates things.
People choose sides and then gravitate to whatever media sources satisfy them. Myth? I'll suggest that highly ideological people actually like seeing what "the other side" is saying. This is from the standpoint of "seeing what the other side is up to." The opposition's tactics are important. So I'll tune in to Fox News sometimes.
Have we forgotten that Tucker Carlson used to be a backbencher? There was a time when he'd even appear on MSNBC. I believe even on the Keith Olbermann program. We should note that while Carlson has always been conservative, there was a time when his arguments were much more restrained, less strident than today.
If you really want to consider contrasts over time, here's a trivia question for you: Who was MSNBC's afternoon host as the Lewinsky/Tripp matter was unfolding? Well, it was John Gibson! He's quite the opposite personality of what MSNBC offers today. Gibson subsequently had a gig with Heather Nauert on Fox News but I believe the network bosses eventually judged him unacceptable.
Gibson had a little gag called "Ollie Cam" while on MSNBC. It wasn't special technology as he joked it was - it was just a little corner of the screen where Ollie North would speak from the studio of his radio show.
Olbermann was ultimately judged too much of an oddball for MSNBC. Many of his old fans still miss him though. Oh, to get a taste of what Olbermann would say about Donald Trump! Just imagine a script, which brings us to the present: Trump, who if we're all lucky, will end up serving a purpose of inspiring countless - countless, I say - books, movies and made-for-TV movies looking back on the absurdity of it all.
"All the President's Men?" That was the Watergate theme. The new theme, assuming our nation even survives the Trump presidency - I'm not sure - has yet to be coined. At present it is nothing to joke about, quite to the contrary. The TV late shows might seek levity from it. They have an obligation to do that.
It's bad enough when normal Republicans are minding the store. All they do is toss out regulatory controls. And then the excrement hits the fan.
All these whispers about the "repo market" - strange doings - make us wonder if an earthquake type of financial event is coming. Perhaps its impact will be beyond the whole 2008 affair which left us all whistling past the graveyard. Did the problems really get fixed? No bankers went to prison, right? Was the whole thing just sort of papered over? In other words, have we just been buying time? And will the piper have to be paid soon? Are the early cracks now opening up, as we speak and as we have become so preoccupied with the behavior of the occupant of the White House?
 
Ergo. . .
The "real news" might not be what we think it is. "The repo market" thing, as a presaging event might be what's really huge. Trump's payoffs to the porn star and Playboy model might really be ho-hum. And yet Trump's behavior grabs our attention as if it's a soap opera.
Some people say the current dust-up is like Watergate. No it isn't. That was then, this is now, and Nixon at least had a substantial resume of government experience before being president. Maybe experience is important for a reason.
We should be so lucky as to see a litany of books and movies as the main product or residue of Trump's time in office. The coverage of Trump's problems drags on through the myriad media outlets. Cable news has a gold mine with it all, whereas a normal or boring president would leave them groping to try to get an audience. We'd like to think the media movers and shakers aren't gleeful about the scandals.
The likes of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham seem like absolute clowns, beyond parody really, with their nightly histrionics. It's not hyperbole to call it a freak show. Such personalities are intertwined with Trump and the circle around him, as promoting "nativism" as their only reason for being. Their emotions and devotion are so strong, it could cause our nation to seriously erode. Or even collapse?
How in any sane world could we describe Lou Dobbs of Fox Business?

"South will rise again?"
One looks at Lindsay Graham and you really have to wonder: do all of his contradictions indicate mental instability or is there a subtle motive underneath? Senator Graham is from South Carolina. That was the hotbed for secession efforts in the19th Century. If the U.S. were to fracture, to become literally more than one nation, perhaps Graham could then crow that the South won after all! Perhaps this is an outcome he'd be most comfortable with.
I'm sure many southerners only posture when they talk about being such great patriots. They have gnashed their teeth ever since surrendering. There is a track record of southern politicians, e.g. Strom Thurmond with his "Dixiecrats," as they try to assert themselves. They lose.
Maybe the Great Plains states, that sparsely populated swath of America that loves Trump for reasons not readily apparent - oh it's nativism, nothing tangible - could become its own country. Surely the American Southwest seems to have identity of its own. They ought to thank God for the Hoover Dam, courtesy of the U.S. government. Meanwhile "the South could rise again," perhaps bringing a gleeful reaction from Lindsay Graham. Oh, he'd deny that of course.
Losing is in the South's DNA.
What would happen to programs like Social Security and Medicare if America were to fracture?

(wikimedia commons image)

The shoe does fit
If Trump is a catalyst for the destruction of the U.S. as we've known it, we can blame the Christian religion, without which Trump wouldn't have been elected.
The alliance of zealous Christians and Trump and his crowd is bizarre and defies any easy understanding, unless we want to get back to the nativism argument. That's my home base: it's people who feel threatened by change, like the simple change of gay rights which is a cause that has come and gone with the rights basically approved by a plurality now. It was never any big deal! All it was, was an affirmation against discrimination. So, now we can all move on. I expect that's hard for a lot of people in the Great Plains states. It's where senior citizens gather at main street diners to decry their boogeymen of "liberals" or "Democrats."
I cannot predict how all of this will turn out. Hopefully it will be with a huge spate of books and movies about the Trump presidency, and little more. Maybe we can land the plane after all. If we cannot, then heaven help us. But let's not plead for Jerry Falwell Jr.'s heaven, please.
You have probably all watched TV westerns where the bad guys start fighting with each other at the end. As I write this, it seems possible that the coterie of people around Trump might be about to fragment that way. Book authors, take note.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Rep. Collin Peterson cowering in face of red staters

Rep. Collin Peterson (minnpost image)

The cheese stands alone, maybe not in the most commendable way. The cheese is Collin Peterson, who CW has it is dangling by a thread to keep his elected position in a district seen increasingly as "red state." Maybe we're an extension of North Dakota.
We had a newspaper owner in this community from Fargo for some time. Fargo-based Forum Communications has bailed. There is nothing new I could write about that, that would come across as revelatory.
I could tell you today that Forum had intentions of closing the Morris paper. I doubt that suggestion is eyebrow-raising. It does happen to be true.
Morris came close to losing its print media, though we'd still cling to the feature-oriented Senior Perspective. We are blessed to have Senior Perspective. I am blessed to be able to read the larger than usual type. But the true community paper is in theory a bulwark for staying attuned to local civic affairs. Forum turned out to be a disappointment, obviously.
Today I could quote from well-placed sources affirming that the Morris paper was close to being shuttered, that it was a fact. I'm not going to bother sharing the quotes because I don't think any of this comes across as surprising now. And once again, younger folks are likely rolling their eyes over the concern of their elders about the "community paper." Young people live in an electronic world.
I look at the newspaper with its building, its delivery truck and its several paid staffers, and it's obvious the challenges it faces. So much overhead! In a past era such overhead was small potatoes. Today the reality is much to the contrary, so I don't envy anyone today who continues owning and operating a "newspaper." We do wish the new owners good luck. (They'll need it?)
So, the shackles of Fargo-based ownership are gone - PTL - but I'm left to wonder if we're in a North Dakota type zone with our political inclinations. To ask that question is to ask a rhetorical question, I guess.
Often I'll dine at a restaurant early in the morning where the older white guys gather and talk in predictable tones about politics: hostile to Democrats, more than anything. Collin Peterson is a Democrat. He seems rather a fossil in terms of length of service. He looks old now.
Not long ago when Mike McFeely still had his morning show on WDAY Radio, it was frustrating listening to Peterson. I remember vividly because I got frustrated listening, to the point where I switched away. McFeely can no longer be heard in the morning. I think the obvious explanation is that he was left of center politically. It is very hard for such people to survive in talk radio.
So right now McFeely has a podcast. The new guy in his time slot makes a token comment now and then about how "I'm not a liberal," but I can easily sense that he has reasonable inclinations, i.e. that he's receptive to fact-based arguments of the type used by liberals. I just wish he'd admit his reasonable inclinations a little more openly. Mike Kapel?
 
Whiff on a radio show
Rep. Peterson was on McFeely's morning program and he seemed incoherent. My theory is not that the man was showing any mental instability, just that he is forced to defend various parts of the Democratic Party agenda in a region that increasingly tips to the other end. So Mr. Peterson speaks in broken sentences, there were many pauses and he'd say "ahhh" etc., to the point where I just didn't want to listen. It was bad radio. I suspect Mr. McFeely was squirming a little.
 

Sue Dieter (radaris image)

Sue Dieter re-surfaces
And now we hear that the former manager of the Morris paper - I won't use the word "publisher" - has become communications director for Peterson. This individual is Sue Dieter. So now Dieter will walk the tightrope, in my estimation, of having to appeal to a Republican-oriented constituency while speaking for a Democrat. A Democrat! The old guys at our main street cafes are non plussed.
So many among us want to "make America great again." They'll have to explain how Trump's agenda really helps accomplish that.
There is only one Democrat in the Minnesota congressional delegation who has come out against impeachment of Donald Trump. "The cheese stands alone" with Collin Peterson.
I hate to quote Peterson because it's obvious he's just playing rope-a-dope or something like that. He decries the impeachment process as "partisan." He might have added "What do you think I am, a politician?" Partisanship in Washington D.C. Horrors! Of course, Trump and his people aren't partisan-motivated, right?
Rep. Peterson decries impeachment as a process that will "polarize the country further." Polarize? You mean disagreements? Are disagreements somehow inappropriate in politics? What are you suggesting, Rep. Peterson? Does the Trump crowd shy away from disagreements, indeed are they virtuous people who always push for a cozy consensus? Rhetorical question.
Peterson says of impeachment, "I believe it will be a failed process." What a disappointing representative.
So, he thinks it will fail just like Forum Communications (Fargo) ownership of the Morris newspaper. Oh, Dieter was the manager of that.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

MACA football gets third win, 33-13 at ACGC

The ACGC gridiron was the site for Mid State 2 District action Friday. The guests were our MACA Tigers. The guests prevailed in a convincing way, 33-13. Our Tigers were authoritative with the ground game. We rolled up 258 yards that way. Passing made a statement too.
We got a 7-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and were up 15-6 at halftime. We got breathing room in the third quarter with a 12-0 scoring advantage. The fourth quarter was a stalemate. MACA could tuck away its third win of the season, against one loss. ACGC's record: 2-2. Next we'll be home to play Kimball.
Zach Bruns scored our first touchdown, carrying from the two. Eli Grove applied his toe to kick the extra point. Our eight points in the second quarter did not come on a touchdown and conversion. First we got a safety for two points. Then it was Jack Riley taking care of business with a TD run from the three. The conversion was no-go.
ACGC got on the scoreboard in the first half when Luke Trebil passed 37 yards to Josh Kinzler. The PAT try failed. The next two scores were by the Tigers. Riley broke loose on a 21-yard run for six. We tried a pass on the conversion and were stopped. The Willmar newspaper reported that the Tigers scored on a 19-yard pass from Grove to Riley. But Grove's name does not appear in the passing stats, so could be an error. The conversion failed on a pass.
ACGC struck with a 32-yard pass that had Trebil throwing and Dawson Miller catching. Steven Lawver kicked the PAT. The night's final score had Riley carrying from the five for the Tigers. So, win No. 3 accomplished. We had 25 first downs on the night.
Riley had a monster night carrying the football: 140 yards on 19 carries. Bruns covered 57 yards in nine carries, and Kenny Soderberg had 47 yards in eleven. Other rushing yardage was chalked up by Grove, Ross Marty, Colten Scheldorf and Tristan Raths.
Bruns put up effective passing numbers: eight of 16 for 140 yards and no interceptions. Three Tigers each had two receptions: Riley (for 28 yards), Soderberg (28 yards also) and Toby Gonnerman (24). For a long time I associated the Gonnerman name with Benson. We welcome the name in orange and black country. Scheldorf had a big catch for 44 yards. Josh Rohloff made a nifty catch for 16 yards. We recovered one fumble.
Josh Kinzler had 77 yards on 15 carries for the host Falcons. Cael Blom rushed 57 yards on eleven carries. Trebil had efficient passing numbers of five completions in nine attempts for 76 yards and no INTs. The receptions were really spread around with these Falcons having stats: Kinzler, Miller, Zackary Hinther, Blom and Shelby Shoen. Noah Renne had a quarterback sack for the Falcons.
 
Volleyball: Tigers 3, Benson 1
Four MACA Tigers each had two serving aces in the 3-1 win over Benson on Thursday. These four Tigers zeroed in with their serving technique: Courtney Lehman, Kenzie Hockel, LaRae Kram and Lexi Pew. Macee Libbesmeier zeroed in for one serving ace. Here are the game scores: 25-16, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-23. The action was at Benson.
Kram was the key Tiger in setting and she chalked up 26 assists. Pew had one assist. The hitting department was marked by balance. Here the contributors were Emma Bowman (seven kills), Pew (6), Emma Berlinger (5), Hockel (5), Kram (5) and Sophia Carlsen (4). The Tigers showed authority at the net with ace blocks. Pew went up to record four blocks. Kram and Carlsen each performed three. Hockel had two, and Berlinger and Bowman one each. Lehman set the pace in digs with 15. Libbesmeier had eleven, Pew ten and Jaden Ross seven.
For Benson, Abbie Mitteness reeled off five ace serves. Ellie Moesenthin performed 18 set assists. Claire Ricard had the team-best 12 kills. Moesenthin showed prowess at the net with five ace blocks. Mitteness was tops for the Braves in digs with 17.
 
Tigers 3, Montevideo 0
Win No. 4 came in dominating fashion for the MACA Tigers Tuesday (9/17). The four wins compared with seven losses at night's end. The squad strives to close the gap with .500. Monte came out of the night with below-.500 numbers too: 3-7. It was a WCC match.
We prevailed by sweep, scores of 25-10, 25-14 and 25-13.
The dominance was with a balanced hitting attack. Here we see the following stats: Sophia Carlsen (eight kills), Emma Berlinger (5), Lexi Pew (5), Kenzie Hockel (2) and Emma Bowman (1). Pew surged to send three ace blocks back at the T-Hawks. Three Tigers each had one ace block: Berlinger, Hockel and Carlsen. Courtney Lehman set the pace in digs with ten. Jaden Ross had seven and Macee Libbesmeier five.
LaRae Kram filled the setting role and responded with 15 assists. Carlsen got in position to provide one. And in ace serves Hockel and Pew each had two. Fans at the home gym cheered on the orange and black.
Avery Koenen led the T-Hawks in kills with six. Then it was Megan Anderson with four, Livia Gades and Cali Molde with two each, and Lexi Brockmoller and Jasmyn Kronback each with one. Four Thunder Hawks racked up set assist stats, led by Gades with 13. Tenley Epema had five, and Brockmoller and Tegan Marty one each.
Morris Area Chokio Alberta football and volleyball will be showcased this next week for the MAHS 2019 Homecoming. The parade will be big on Friday!
 
Addendum: team PR
My football coverage today includes the suggestion that an area paper, not the Morris paper, could have made a mistake in the scoring summary. We all make mistakes so the point in citing this is not to beat up on anybody. The point is to repeat a suggestion that I have oft made, that sports teams be pro-active and get their game details, stats and schedule info posted on sites of their own creation.
Find a student in the hallways who is strongly interested in communications and set that student up as communications specialist for the team. He/she could work closely with the coach. It would enrich the student greatly and be a good service to fans. And beyond that: public relations and outreach. All these school programs need to sell themselves.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

When politics intrudes on Christian sensibilities

Jerry Falwell Jr. (wikimedia commons)

Faith is a difficult thing to maintain. The word itself means you accept things without a clear empirical basis for doing so. Believing there was a man named Christ who rose from the dead has always seemed a bit of a stretch. Congratulations if you accept this with no conflicts or reservations. It gives you peace, I'm sure, in dealing with the fundamental realities of your life.
My late mother had the most genuine Christian faith. She felt the steadiness that comes with a resolute commitment of this type. Right or wrong, you can feel self-assured. I can't imagine her being any place but in heaven now. She raised me at a time when young people were shackled trying to find faith of any kind. We felt bitter and cynical.
And today there's a common belief that we have done a reversal. But it seems to me that old scars remain. The scars are such that we flail about looking for the same kind of faith assurances that our elders had. We think we have found some answers but then it becomes illusory, like we should have known it was fool's gold all along.
And so we must wonder, years from now when most likely the Donald Trump phenomenon has passed - presumably he will leave power - will the evangelical Christians come to grips with what they did? Will they explain what all they foisted on the Christian faith as a whole, plunging into raw politics with such abandon?
Will they realize that the gospel ought to stand on its own, not shared with a mortal leader who pretends to speak for them? "Speak" is what Trump does every day. He commands the so-called news cycle even on Sunday. He totally has the "evangelical" Christians eating out of his hand. How will the Christian faith reflect on this someday? Whatever faith I may have been able to develop, it is now tested by the Trump phenomenon. If someone like Trump, who is so absolutely amoral and shallow, can come to be practically worshiped by such a large portion of the Christian faithful, doesn't it suggest total naivete? It makes me wonder if Jesus Christ himself might have been someone rather like Trump, able to manipulate the masses, to get them eating out of his hand.
If it can happen now, surely it could have happened in Biblical times.
To have faith, the Christ story must come across as credible. If Christians are eventually seen to have been lemmings or guppies, easily massaged and manipulated by a flim-flam man, we might well wonder if Christianity itself was based on a lie. I cannot resist these thoughts on a daily basis. The Republican Party of America has become an extension of cult leader Trump, the man who has committed notorious acts and assaults on the truth constantly. Is he a modern Jesus Christ himself in terms of being able to cultivate a devoted, unquestioning following? It's a mass of churchgoing people who have suspended the ability to think critically. And it's for reasons I have a hard time fathoming, even though by nature I always try to discern human motivations.
 
A pivotal endorsement
We got to our current reality in part because of a particular evangelical leader endorsing Trump. Once that person declared his endorsement, other leaders took that as a cue that it was OK to do so. The flood of momentum then set in. Jerry Falwell Jr. did this. He gave us Donald Trump as the spokesman for the committed evangelicals.
My mother belonged to a church that is now seen as an island away from the Trump crowd. By extension I'm there too: an ELCA church. It's the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (not "of" America), and in an earlier time, it was seen as being conservative as anything. My mother never cared about the political aspect. She read the whole Bible when young. Today she would be so revulsed by Trump, she wouldn't even want to talk about it, I assure you. Mostly it would be a civility issue with her.
I look around Morris and see some of the more "conservative" denominations - the word requires quote marks - and we can be certain these people vote 100 percent for Trump/Pence. These churches unfortunately project an image of growing momentum and fervor. The "island" of the ELCA seems rather a shrinking island, especially out here in rural America where the Trump lure seems so strong.
We in the ELCA are now perceived, and derided by many, as liberal. I'm sorry that a long-time and revered biology teacher at Morris High School left us. We in the ELCA are receptive to causes that are perceived by many as progressive. And now we want to be generous and caring about immigrants. I assure you that in the future, we will need immigrants to work in our nursing homes and in many other roles. These people want to work and they appreciate the safety and prosperity of America relative to where they came from. So many are people of color which is probably the main reason Trump seeks to impose roadblocks. So, the families get separated at the border and kids are put in cages.
Did we get to this place because of one man: Jerry Falwell Jr.? How much do you really know about this man who is associated with Liberty University? Is he the type of person you really want to have inspiring you? To hold your hand as you make voting decisions? Apparently many Christians have chosen to go this route.
I doubt that a single local Apostolic Christian votes Democrat.
Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed Trump in January 2016 just before the Iowa caucuses. There were 17 GOP candidates. Several of them would appear to have the kind of credentials appealing to evangelicals. Trump has said he has never asked God for forgiveness. Maybe he thinks he is without sin. There is a hint of semi-divinity that Trump appears to be aspiring to. And the maddening thing about this, is that nearly the whole evangelical flock - the "Christian right" - appears willing to go along with it. Questioning Trump is not an option for them.
 
A parallel with Christ?
The phenomenon makes people like me, who know Trump is a flawed and mortal human being - to wonder if Jesus Christ himself was simply a leader of similar persuasive inclinations. How can one not think this?
Falwell Jr. is the president of "the evangelical Liberty University" which I suppose is in contrast with the "godless" University of Minnesota-Morris. And I'm sure that's how the local Apostolics and other zealots see things, tragically. So Falwell Jr. threw his weight and his name - we all remember who his father was - behind Trump, a man described in one media account as "a lewd, twice-divorced former casino magnate who has bragged about grabbing women by their genitals." Sorry Mom.
If a new book of the Bible is ever written, inspired by Falwell Jr. and Trump, would it mention the former pool attendant at the Fountainebleu Hotel in Miami Beach? There's mystery attached to that "pool boy" saga. Might that have been a factor altering the basic course of our nation?
 
Hey, they're on TV
The self-styled religious leaders who have learned to master the media have tremendous power. Some of our local pastors are surely just as articulate and intelligent, maybe more so. But the guys who know how to get in front of the cameras really have reach, and not always with the most pure of intentions, to say the least. It can be sinister. And it plays on the naivete of so many.
So I ask again: Given how pliable so many of us humans can be, is it possible that Jesus Christ was a charlatan himself, perhaps just a philosopher with strong political objectives in mind? Will Donald Trump too "rise from the dead" and be resurrected? I will pass on that.
Trump has advised a fellow wealthy businessman as follows: "If you don't support me, you're going to be so goddamn poor." Yes, I'll pass on such talk too. I'll say this about the local Apostolics: they don't want to be "so goddamn poor."
 
Addendum: I remember when our custodian at the Morris Sun Tribune, Howard Moser, got such a kick out of the elder Falwell making a big deal out of the "Tinkie Winkie" character of the "Teletubbies" cartoon. I guess "Tinkie" gave clues he was gay.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The legitimate second-guessing of sports coaches

The Minnesota Supreme Court

Minnesota high school sports has been in the news for a couple reasons of late. The High School League says it needs more money. That's kind of a drumbeat: schools and their programs needing more money.
The other item comes to us from the Minnesota Supreme Court, a body normally not getting a lot of attention in the news. Our state's high court turned heads with a ruling making it easier for coaches to sue parents and other fans. Coaches are not "public figures," the court ruled, even though their whole purpose is to manage entertainment products - the teams - where the public streams into venues and buys tickets.
Our impulse might be to laugh about how "possessed" sports parents might be more susceptible to being sued. When one gets serious about this, flippant comments are not called for. So I had to think back over my journalistic career, to how I might have cast skepticism toward coaches. Online I needn't feel any inhibitions about this. You can know exactly where I'm coming from.
I started writing about Morris sports back in 1971. I have seen coaching regimes go through shaky times. I have seen regimes get the benefit of the doubt too much, as a result of what I'd call "good old boy power." No one is entitled to a coaching job. While that assertion seems self-evident, I have had to deal with elements of the Morris community who have been inclined to say certain people were entitled.
Was there a natural line of succession from Bob Mulder to Mark Torgerson in boys basketball? To suggest an alternative to "Torgy" - was that sacrilege? I would argue no, but a good number of heavy-hitters in the community would take umbrage with that.
I don't often repeat blog posts from the past, but the rest of my today's offering will be a re-run of a January 2018 post. The post was on my "I Love Morris" site. Here I do suggest shortcomings in our Morris school coaching. Is such an attitude taboo or risky now? I hope not. This post appearing below is about arguably the most staggering loss in the history of Tiger sports.
I covered many significant Morris sports events through the years, like Prep Bowl, but the loss of which I write here maybe ranks No. 1. For every loser there is a winner. So, Staples-Motley was to be congratulated on beating the vaunted Tigers at Concordia of Moorhead. I invite you to read. The post's headline was "The night we lost to the Brylcreem man."
  
Typing Jackson Loge's name brings back memories from when Jackson's father Kevin played. I felt Kevin's peak year was when he was a sophomore. I remember when he was a junior and the very highly-touted player with the top-ranked in state Tigers. We had taken second in state the previous season. We had a two-class system back then. Heck, I grew up when we had a one-class system. No point in being nostalgic about that, even if you liked the movie "Hoosiers." The "good old days" were not really better, Norman Rockwell notwithstanding.
Anyway, in 1995 we played Staples in a game for the ages at the Concordia Fieldhouse. The place was packed. I loved the Polish sausage at the concession stand. I still remember where that concession stand was. That 1995 game is on YouTube for you to see. I haven't watched it because I don't need to - I was there. Most likely you can see me a few feet off to the side of a corner of the court.
Looking back, I find those packed house memories of tournament games to be rather unpleasant: too much emotion. Why do we subject our kids to that kind of pressure, in an activity like basketball where there are no lifelong benefits from the activity? Why do we send these groups of kids out onto a court or playing field as if they're enemies, or to be more blunt, gladiators? In football the activity presents a real threat to the kids' health - unforgivable, IMHO.

Staples coach, player celebrate their win, 1995

We lost that 1995 game to the Cardinals of Staples. Legend has it that the Staples coach, Lynn Peterson, danced on a score table to celebrate the success. I remember him looking like he used Brylcreem in his hair.
The game's outcome was viewed as a monumental upset. I was fascinated as I watched it. Clearly Staples had a strategy to outdo the Tigers. I thought it was plain as the nose on your face. Staples went into these patterns of passing the ball around with their object clear, to set up a drive to the basket where the driving player either got a layup or other high-percentage shot, or would induce a flat-footed Morris player into committing a foul. Over and over it worked for them, wearing us down and maybe even demoralizing us.
MAHS seemed to have an uninspired, disjointed offensive approach. They passed the ball around but not with the same keen sense of mission. A player might impulsively put up a three-point try. As an alternative they'd lob the ball inside to Kevin where he didn't really seem in position to capitalize on his talents. He'd end up flat-footed himself, perhaps putting up a highly contested jumper, falling away from the basket.
I remember one-time MAHS super fan Arnie Hennen getting discouraged about the pass-inside strategy of our team. He said "(this business of) lobbing the ball inside - that doesn't seem to work." It didn't work on that fateful night at Concordia. We lost.
As that realization set in during the closing moments, I remember some of the Morris parents coming over to behind the Morris bench, to send the message "we still love you even though you sure blew this one." My thinking was that we simply should have won.

Adding discouragement to injury, the Morris community was way too accepting of the game's outcome. I produced journalism after that game that implied that based on our returning talent along with Loge's big-time credentials, we really should have won. I didn't editorialize but you might say I was selective with facts. To do otherwise, to be selective in the other direction (as an apologist) would have been dishonest, I felt. I was confronted at least once by fans. "That was a heavy article you wrote," Bernie Wente said. I reacted the way my acquaintances might expect, by immediately looking to Bernie's husband Dave for "support." I'm the type of person who is easily intimidated by women. The congenial Mr. Wente seemed to connect with me but he just sort of smiled and shrugged.
Having observed the disparity in tactics between Staples and Morris in the game, I really wondered: "Was I the only Morris person in that whole building who noticed this?" Was I in some sort of weird Twilight Zone episode where I was the only normal person in a town full of mannequin-like people with eyes glazed over?
My writing affirmed a perception of me that had been getting me dragged down quite badly. The Morris community never benefited from that perception of me. It only hindered my ability to perform journalism. My critics would say I'm incapable of performing journalism. And that was the essence of the problem. We had too much of a good old boy network running things. We had an aggressive teachers union. It appeared that new teachers/coaches would get recruited to join Faith Lutheran Church. A person's choice of church should be private.
I suspect that the Morris school of today is 100 percent more healthy in its attitude and organization. The 1980s were a real backwater and there were still vestiges of that as late as 1995.
I consider myself a journalist in the mold of Michael Wolff. We are undaunted. We don't glad-hand. No matter how much I may have suffered, I can't regret anything.
I remember when New London-Spicer was upcoming on the schedule, prompting Morris people to speculate on who would win "the next matchup" between Loge and Jamie Thompson. Interesting question, given that Loge was a Division I college recruit and Thompson would be headed to our lowly UMM. I considered the question and concluded: We should assume that our Kevin would win the next matchup. Shouldn't that be elementary? Well, it was to me.
I think Kevin regressed after his sophomore year. I felt we didn't have a system to bring out the best in him. I remember UMM coach Perry Ford saying to me: "Kevin is making a better impression with his play in the summer than in the real basketball season." Really? If true, and I'm quite certain it was, it was an indictment of the MAHS coaching staff.
I think we were totally out-coached in that game against Staples. To actually say that "on the street" would have made you rather a pariah in this community. That's ironic because so many of the defenders of the status quo, often said sports was secondary in education and we ought not get carried away with it. So why was Concordia Fieldhouse filled to the rafters? If sports needed to be kept in its place, why would my critics get so wild-eyed with their histrionics? Hey, it's "just sports," right?
Well, the head coach was (and is) a model family man and exemplary teacher, by all accounts. He's a gentleman. I wouldn't argue any of those points. I thought it was time for a change a few years ago when we lost in the first round of the post-season, at home, to the No. 8 seed when we were the No. 1 seed. Last year we trailed lowly YME at halftime in the first round of the tourney, so we flirted with defeat. But we bounced back and impressed. The coach's supporters are quick to cite that, while seeking to ignore the year we lost to the No. 8 seed, or when we did poorly in the post-season with Taylor Witt showing he could score around 50 points. With Taylor we needed double-overtime to win in the first round and then lost in the second. Did we have zero talent around him? I don't think so. Maybe it was even a handicap to have him scoring so many points in a game. That was the first year I was gone from the Morris paper.
The coach has had some incredible talent to carry him through phases in his career. We'll see what happens this year.
As I have written before, the biggest unanswered question in our community's history is how Chris Baxter would have done had he gotten a head basketball appointment immediately. Baxter was the choice of our new superintendent Dennis Rettke. At least that's what Dennis told me.
Baxter eventually got the girls job and although he started out well, he seemed to get nudged toward expedience. "Something happened," my friend Merlin Beyer told me. Beyer was normally a very mainstream person in our town's politics. But regarding the school in the late '80s, he had to take risks and speak out on some things. He was the classic community leader, sensing when something was "in the wind" that would impel him into some controversy. He did what he felt he had to. Eventually he won a write-in campaign for mayor. I had rapport with him. He informed me once that my job was in danger.
I survived for that time and went on quite a while longer, until I had completed 27 years. At the end, a friend told me I should just say "I've had enough of it." That would probably not have been true. But did I really reach the end? Look at what I'm doing now! I think Dennis would crack a grin in heaven, knowing I'm still active at the typing keyboard.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

BOLD scores six touchdowns in win at MACA

The BOLD Warriors were mighty bold in turning back the Tigers of Morris Area Chokio Alberta Friday. It was the MACA home opener at Big Cat Stadium in Morris. The home fans had little to cheer as their Tigers were dealt a 42-7 loss by the surging Warriors.
The Warriors surged to the tune of a 35-7 halftime lead. My attitude as always, is that I really don't care about the score, I just care about all the players keeping their health in this dangerous sport. Odds are high that not all of them will. That is a shame. One of the biggest blessings in my life is that I never had the talent or the interest in playing football.
Anyway, back to the game: Tim Peppel got the first BOLD touchdown on the board with a one-yard run. Braeden Tersteeg kicked the extra point. The Tigers got their lone score of the night in the first quarter. Kenny Soderberg broke loose on a 50-yard run for six. Eli Grove kicked the PAT so for the time being, a very short time, the game was close.
BOLD struck with a 42-yard pass from Jordan Sagedahl to Blake Plass. Tersteeg's toe was true for the conversion. BOLD rolled on. Gavin Vosika found the end zone on a run from the six, and Tersteeg booted the PAT. Plass hauled in an aerial from Sagedahl: 31 yards and a score. The busy Tersteeg kicked. Then it was Vosika making a TD reception: ten yards from Sagedahl. BOLD's final score was a 20-yard pass from Sagedahl to Plass. Tersteeg found the middle of the uprights, and BOLD had its nifty 42-7 victory wrapped up.
Two Warriors flirted with 100 yards rushing on the night: Sagedahl chalked up 99 yards in ten carries from his quarterback post. Peppel covered 95 yards in ten carries. Vosika's stats were 49 yards in ten. Also gaining yards were Plass, David Garcia, Anthony Maher, Joey McMath, Connor Plumley and George Garcia.
Sagedahl engineered a most productive passing game with his 16 completions in 19 attempts for 201 yards and no interceptions. Matthew Moorse had two pass attempts and completed both. Braeden Tersteeg flung the ball also. The cogs in receiving were Plass with six catches for 129 yards, and Moorse with eight catches for 57 yards. Other receiving work was done by Drew Sagedahl, Vosika and David Garcia.
Soderberg is reported as the MACA rushing leader with 36 yards on seven carries. He had a touchdown run reported as 50 yards (by the Willmar paper), so he must have lost yardage on other plays. Ethan Lebrija had 16 rushing yards in four carries, and Payton Larson 12 yards in two. Durgin Decker and Brandon Jergenson carried the football as did Toby Gonnerman. Gonnerman? Isn't that a Benson name? Well it's nice to have him on board.
Jergenson's passing was pretty well contained by BOLD: he had two completions in eight attempts for 34 yards. Gonnerman had one incomplete pass. Jackson Loge had one catch for 27 yards, and Soderberg had the other catch for seven yards. MACA had just four first downs on the night. Our total offense: 78 yards.
The score by quarters report in the Willmar paper was inaccurate. MACA will travel to Montevideo next.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Growing storm clouds with Trump's presidency

Is it still futile trying to ring alarm bells in connection with the Trump presidency? Do barrels of ink still have to be applied as the media focus on the self-obsessed president? To an extent this might have been amusing at the start. However, can't we be entertained by something outside of politics?
Trump has been good for the media. It has been said multiple times that Trump makes the media's work easy, because "he does their work for them."
My point in writing today is to say it's not funny anymore. The "pull" of this president with certain segments of the population is hanging on way too strong. Trump has severely aggravated divisions in our society. We as Americans are supposed to feel more unity than this.
We have the so-called progressives on one side. But who exactly are on the other side? Are they really "conservative?" Conservatives are supposed to believe in a passive and restrained government. The president is supposed to be a calm and reassuring leader who tries to tamp down problems and keep us fundamentally united. He should take the attitude that the other political party is the "opposition" and not some sort of evil force.
All you people who supported Trump because he's "not a politician": are you happy now? Maybe there is a reason why we have professional politicians, people who basically know the rules of the game. One rule for example is "leave the Federal Reserve alone." "Don't fight the Fed." We are supposed to have occasional economic downturns. Recessions are a natural part of the capitalistic system. The stock market is not the economy.
 
Dilemma with terminology
Are conservatives starting to squirm about even calling themselves conservative anymore? Can they live with the growing perception that the GOP has become a big personality cult? When Trump crossed a line by using the term "Obama judge" as if this was a partisan thing, Justice Roberts spoke out. Roberts said we simply have "a hard-working Federal judiciary," and isn't that incontrovertible? But Charles Grassley of Iowa had to get excited. He attacked Justice Roberts. Roberts was hailed as a conservative when he was appointed.
People in the Republican camp today are not satisfied with the identifying label "conservative." They might mistrust George W. Bush simply because Bush, who they'd now see as part of the "swamp," tried describing himself as a "compassionate conservative."
So many of the sycophantic crowd, the wild-eyed bunch, seem to have no time for basic compassion anymore.
It is not uncommon to hear parallels being drawn with 1930s Germany. It has seemed rather an academic exercise until recently. Until recently all of the hair-pulling in the media about Trump's absurdities was seen as a nice little sugar rush for the media itself. Yes. Trump was doing the media's work for them. They didn't have to work. Even on a Sunday morning, Trump might issue a tweet - hell, several tweets - of an absurd or offensive nature - thus the media had their discussion fodder for the day. And people were more likely to watch and read, rather than pay attention to articles on balance of trade payments.
 

Lindsay Graham: Is he OK?

Close to home, yes
Trump is affecting me personally now. The tariffs and trade war are such that we're being asked to absorb pain. Lindsay Graham has come right out and said we'll have to accept pain. However, this is a very non-Republican thing to do. Republicans and conservatives are supposed to trumpet their philosophy as one that always enhances the maximum potential for prosperity.
Remember Jimmy Carter and the downbeat tone of some of his pronouncements? Carter talked about how Americans would have to "tighten their belt." Most famously he cited "malaise" although I believe that was a paraphrase, not a direct quote. Republicans are not supposed to predict gloom and pain, not the way Gramm is now.
Gramm has done such a turnabout with his feelings about Trump, one has to wonder about his basic mental health. I make this comment in a vein not intended to be funny anymore. We are at a truly serious juncture with a president who pushes protective tariffs, a trade war and an assault on the Federal Reserve to try to get the Fed to essentially erase interest rates completely. It affects me because I depend on interest at the bank to complement my Social Security. So I truly have to deal with "tightening my belt" now.
Are you prepared to live with higher inflation? Really? Don't you sense we're seeing "shrinkflation," you know, when you buy a box of breakfast cereal and notice that a third of it is air?
Do I have to remind you that Vladimir Putin is incredibly sharp as a KGB man? Don't you realize his mind is rapier-like in comparison to Trump who had everything handed to him when he was young? Putin wants to bring back the old Soviet Union. He wants to reduce America's influence and does this by pushing division in our society. Don't you see that it's working?
I see the local Apostolics making their rounds, standing out as they do with their appearance, and I can't help but feel real disappointment with these people, their shallowness. It's disappointment because they are brilliant within some particular fields. But they latch on to a narrow range of cultural issues and decide politicians have to meet that litmus test. Abortion. I assume they're suspicious of gay people. "Lower taxes" are not the simple proposition they might think it is. The Republicans' touted "tax cut" benefited those at the very top and has been converted largely into stock buy-backs, a sugar rush that might keep the "green arrows" going a little further.
The media have backed off on their daily obsession with the stock market. The realization has sunk in that the stock market is not the economy. If the day comes when I have to withdraw my money from bank CDs, due to maybe having to pay the bank to even have a savings account, who do I go to? To the stock market? I have to actually start thinking about this now. I may have to just go to a lawyer. I'll need someone who will simply be my advocate. Look at what happened to Kevin Garnett when he hired a "financial advisor." I should insert a profanity here.
Trump uses profanities, doesn't he? He takes the name of the Lord in vain, doesn't he? Do the Apostolics and evangelicals countenance this? They must.
I suppose I could make Lindsay Gramm happy and admit I'll have to start "feeling pain." I'm 64 years old and I do not want to. I am a Democrat.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com