Would 115 degrees shake some local attitudes?

How would God advise us on climate change? He created such a beautiful world for us.

 
The sun is hot, as we were reminded in the sequel to "Airplane." Remember? William Shatner and Sonny Bono in the cast? We lost Sonny in a skiing accident. Shatner does commercials for sleep disorder remedies. 

People in the Pacific Northwest are being reminded how hot the sun is. Can the heat crisis out there convince some political conservatives to ask more questions about their fearless leader? Donald Trump? Who says climate change theory is a "hoax?" 

Is this what it takes? The heat crisis could easily visit us out here in the Upper Midwest. When it does, will some members of the local Trump element have their faith shaken a little? 

Would it help if the property or basic welfare of such individuals become threatened? When something like this hits close to home, it ought to shake the most rock-ribbed of attitudes. Shaking that would seem to be a herculean task now. 

I take it personally because the utter zealousness of the Trump-oriented Republicans - are there really any other? - has gotten so wrapped in the Christian faith. Is this what God and Jesus had in mind? Well I certainly don't think so. But the public image of Christianity has gotten ensconced with the most rabid reactionary element. 

Perhaps that's the best word: "reactionary." To say "conservative" is misleading because conservatism is a body of well-defined, most rational ideas. They command respect. I'm thinking of the ideas as dispensed by William F. Buckley and Russell Kirk. They are rational in the sense that they are not merely seat-of-the pants. Adherents can document their soundness even if dissenters might point out, effectively much of the time, that the "real world" can't be managed this way. 

Or as my old college friend Brad would say, "Republicans don't care about people." He's differentiating between ideas and people. 

Intelligent conservatives are always so great at debating. They can "win" debates with their foes so often. This is no guarantee that their ideas can create a reasonably content populace, to ensure that the interests of "people" are truly served. So this is where Democrats come in. Democrats have their own faults or excesses but they care about people at a relatable level - consider Bernie Sanders. Would you trust Sanders to look out for your interests, or William F. Buckley? 

The National Review crowd has become cowed in its feelings about Trump. I'm referring to the intellectual conservatives, the ones who can win debates. This crowd is too willing to accept the bad with the good. Mitch McConnell, the curmudgeonly fossil of a U.S. Senator, found contentment with getting judges approved as if nothing else mattered. See? 

What about caring for the people? Is it only about ideas? 

The likes of Ben Shapiro and Peter Schiff would like to give yours truly a good slap, as they would say the ideas themselves guarantee our best shot at happiness. Would that they could, I'd be a fan. Alas, such is not the case, and now the precious conservative philosophy is at great risk of being tainted by its tolerance if not outright support for Donald Trump. 

Trump is cruel, he is dangerous, he is vain, he is unfeeling and he is dishonest. He has (or had) an attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who appears handicapped by cognitive issues although some new light was shed recently: excess alcohol consumption. We see Rudy on TV and we'd have to conclude we wouldn't want him representing the law profession in our own town of Morris MN. He might get a visit from Human Services. But in the Beltway such eccentricity or dysfunction seems to go along with the norm. 

These people show up on cable TV news programs. Meanwhile we out here in Flyoverland have people in responsible positions who mostly behave like normal human beings. Why do we countenance the aberrations in the so-called "Beltway?" Yes, we might react with amusement. But look at the heat out in Portland OR. Temperature hovering around 115 degrees. 

(accuweather image)

It will reach a point where your property and basic welfare are endangered. And this is while Trump would in no way modify his pronouncements about climate change? Trump admit he's wrong? 

Why do you think Trump's attempt at blogging failed? That's because with blogging, you don't just write a headline, you have to write some body copy. People click on the headline and then they read the body. The problem with Trump is this: he'd have to develop his thoughts beyond the mere one line of the heading. That would take work, would take a modicum of research. It would take self-discipline of the type I am displaying right now. 

Trump loved Twitter because he could "spit out" impulsive thoughts or rants, one little phrase at a time. And then he could put "sad" at the end. It is beyond belief how people who call themselves "Republicans" all across the country still wish to be fawning toward him. We imagine that many are gnashing their teeth. Yes, they might be influenced by "Stockholm syndrome" but it's not just their problem, it's a problem for all of us as Republicans continue to wield so much power with the filibuster in the Senate. 

So the media report on Marjorie Taylor Greene and various other nutcases while the intelligent and restrained folks hunker down in the background. 

Once the 115-degree temperature afflicts out here, affecting us all directly, maybe it will be the wakeup call that is so belated. 

And then, maybe our area Republicans and evangelical Christians, the Jeff Backer crowd, will be scared into realizing there are higher priorities than putting up roadblocks to gay rights. Such silly folks. But we let them lead us so much. We are too easily intimidated by them. 

Backer spoke out against the vaccine by saying he personally wouldn't get the shots. People have died locally who may have been influenced by such statements. The statements come from the Fox News/Tucker Carlson crowd. Will this be an isolated episode in history? The time when Fox News led so many around as if shepherding? And Fox begat OANN which begat Newsmax. Could our Good Lord please intervene at some point? Or maybe William Shatner?

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

This man symbolizes Christianity in the U.S.?

Softball complex tests stewardship with public money

Morris Area school board (kmrs-kkok image)

The softball "complex" on east end of our community is sprawling. There was much activity there on Tuesday night. There was even a game at the most undeveloped of the fields, the one closest to the water treatment plant. I pay close attention because my daily walking route goes past the place. 

I have read all along about developments with this "complex." No doubt it's good to see a substantial number of kids using it. So we wonder how much more money really needs to be applied to it. Sometimes the public really needs to apply the brakes to spending that is recommended by the school. 

You wonder how these things can go wayward? In 2004, St. Cloud State was proud I'm sure to unveil its new football stadium. I'm sure the stadium was "sold" to constituents as filling a "need." It's a given. Today St. Cloud State has no football program. Seems stranger than fiction. But it shows how a skeptical eye can sometimes be called for. 

In Morris we have Big Cat Stadium for football which seems the cat's pajamas for such things. Dark clouds are looming for the sport of football. Its negative and frankly disturbing health consequences for the young players get ever more attention. We should root for this health consciousness or awakening. But whither our fancy football field? 

 

Ski-U-Mah, eh?

We have the power and money of the University of Minnesota behind such things. Oh, we consider it quite the blessing, logically so. Problem is, our purely local government entities are not really so blessed. 

So we have the softball complex that is a merging of three entities: the University, the public school district and the City of Morris. I would prefer that the State of Minnesota take over with such things, as opposed to local government officials who can be pressed with resources. A City of Morris spokesman has said "we are facing some very difficult budget decisions," and thus the decision was made to turn off the spigot or a second infusion of money for the softball project. 

I'm sure this creates stress for the officials who answer to the public. And now the city manager has had to go on the record making clear the "nay" stance. The city runs the risk of alienating the very emotionally-driven youth sports crowd. I know all about that, believe me. A zealous sports parent once had a letter to the editor in the Morris newspaper that described me as a "miserable failure" with my media work. 

And after the infamous UMM goalpost incident of 2005, I was pilloried again in the local public print. Again I was assailed as not very hard-working. I was supposed to "pick up the phone" and pester the UMM football coach in the immediate aftermath. I would have had to do that on a Saturday night or Sunday. The Morris paper published twice a week then, quite the difference from today. As for the UMM sports web-based reporting, we might forget that it was nascent compared to today. 

I had people contacting me who were simply trying to contact UMM's sports information director. On several occasions I briefed these people on how the AD went by two different last names: "Brummond" and "Curtis." Why did this burden fall on my shoulders? It was assumed I worked on Sundays. Imagine trying to get a contractor to work on Sunday. 

 

It's never finite

People in outstate Minnesota communities tend to think of their local public school as a "money pit." OK that's not my description - I read that once. People get older and realize more and more that sober and restrained judgment is called for. 

The most entrenched skeptics or contrarians are probably off-base some - I'm remembering Ken Johnson and Warren Luebke in connection to the new school vote - but we disregard these people at our peril. They must be listened to. We had a conservative local public servant, Laura Carrington, who has passed on, who I'm sure would be scrutinizing the "softball complex" with at least a partially skeptical eye. Maybe more than partial. And it's not because her grandchildren were track and field athletes! 

Don't you feel a little sorry for track/field now, after it has gotten bowled over by the mountain of attention garnered by girls fastpitch softball in Morris? Ironic, because our MACA boys track team just won the state championship. Kudos to the track/field sport as exemplary in what it provides to our youth. It's also nice that the sport depends less on coaching than other sports - it's more of a raw test of the kids' talents and commitment. No one has to worry about "throwing to the wrong base!" 

But now we have softball in such a burgeoning state here in Motown. 

Jim Morrison once wrote an editorial in which he wondered if Morris was trying to become the "gymnasium capital of western Minnesota." It was a cogent point. Give these school administrators a chance and they will endlessly weave arguments for how facilities must be expanded. "It's for the kids," we always hear. Then let's cancel football if we really care about the health and welfare of the kids. 

It's such a strange world: girls varsity sports didn't even exist until the early or mid '70s, and today the progress has been such, you can argue that girls have it better than boys. 

A triumph? Or excess? 

Girls are not drawn into the sport of football. How fortunate for them. The testosterone-fueled world of football is becoming ever more a relic. It is losing its cultural relevance faster than we might think. So there sits Big Cat Stadium. 

 

Primacy for Minnesota?

We may be a candidate for "gymnasium capital of western Minnesota" but I think we can assert that Morris is youth softball capital for the whole state now, based on what I saw in my Tuesday evening walk. It is out of proportion, unfortunately. Are there any organized music activities for Morris area youth in summer? Any use of the outdoor stage at Eastside Park? That's another thing the City of Morris got suckered on. It requires maintenance. 

So sports is absolutely king - we worship at the altar of it. Meanwhile the Appleton Summer Concert Series continued Tuesday evening at their Riverview Park Bandstand, North Hering Street. People were encouraged to "bring a lawn chair, blanket or cushion." The rain location would be the Appleton '52 wing. Congrats to Appleton which may have more basic vitality as a community than Morris. 

Morris has vitality with softball but softball is not life. Maybe now our Tiger softball team might win the sub-section? We were seeded No. 1 this past spring but we disappointed. We lost twice at the end at our new varsity field, the place with such lousy fan accommodations. 

Oh, and on Tuesday night I noticed the barricades had been removed for fan parking in the unpaved area between fields. A dispute must have arisen over that. The public school activities director Mark Ekren had expressed alarm with safety issues. Maybe the powers-that-be finally decided it was just as dangerous having cars parked along the long stretch of Prairie Lane. 

 

Change in the sofa cushions?

A June 18 posting on the kmrs-kkok site announced that the school board would be acting to "set aside an additional $207,000" for the softball complex. By magic I guess, the amount morphed to $223,000 by the time of the radio station's June 22 posting. Well, what's an extra $20,000 or whatever. 

The school board vote was not unanimous Monday. It was 6-1. I congratulate the dissenter, Kurt Wulf. I have too many questions and concerns. And why is the school board listening to a presentation from a UMM administrator on this, as if UMM is applying basic guidance? Let me insert here: the "Brians" of the world who spell their name that way are more intelligent than those who use "Bryan." It's a fact. 

The UMM administrator explained to the board that $977,000 has already been spent on the first three phases. Ah, phases! What are we to make of it? 

Mr. Herrmann informed the board that "current construction prices are not favorable to the project." Huh? Isn't this rather a bombshell? So, now is not a good time to be moving ahead? 

There are two ball diamonds right on the public school grounds. Are those being used for organized kids softball in summer? For that matter, couldn't they be spruced up for actual use by our MACA varsity and 'B' team softball? Like I said, ask questions. The money amounts seem to lose meaning after a while. It's just numbers. 

The school board voted Monday to "approve the funds independent of any other parties agreeing to pay for it." Huh? Do I smell some controversy now? Is the statement prompted by the City of Morris stance showing restraint? The city needs to focus on things like trying to keep our streets in good shape. That's a novel suggestion, right? 

 

Voice of wisdom, again

I can't quote enough my friend Chuck Spohr, former school board member and possessor of great wisdom, who once said "if you give us the money, we'll just spend it." Morris area people once got fired up for researching the proposed county jail. Similar scrutiny is called for now.

 

Addendum: I'm sitting here wearing socks with my sandals, which I learned recently is uncool and a very "boomer" thing to do. I was born in 1955.

 

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

Track and field in spotlight as MACA boys top state!

The MACA track and field boys reached the pinnacle with their Friday performance. Their excellence was at Hamline University, St. Paul. They captured No. 1 as a team in Minnesota Class 'A'. Our score of 42 did the job. It's compiled over 25 events. 

The charge was led by two individuals winning the titles in their events. Kenny Soderberg won the 300m hurdles with his 39.14 performance. And Ethan Lebrija was No. 1 in the 200m dash, clocked at 22.20. 

Soderberg also had impact in the 100m hurdles challenge: a runner-up showing, time of 15.10. The only faster hurdler was Jayson Ekiyor of Providence Academy (14.51). 

Lebrija accelerated in the 100m dash where his time of 11.22 put him in seventh. Soderberg and Lebrija were on the 4x100m relay team that took fifth with its 43.92 clocking. The two were joined in that effort by Derek Waldbeser and Trey Hunt. 

Our girls team had Lydia Fynboh place No. 9 in the 100m dash, timed at 12.64. Kaylie Raths was No. 13 in the 300m hurdles with her 49.02 performance. Then we see the 4x100m relay team of Fynboh, Olivia Lebrija, Ruby Swenson and Crystal Nohl placing sixth. So a hearty congratulations is certainly in order for the Tiger track/field athletes in this spring/summer where their sport got so upstaged by softball locally.

 

More re. softball project:

The softball development project on the east end of town has been presented to the community as a big deal. The softball coach's career win milestone got lots of "pub" too, along with how the new field was named for her. Unfortunately our MACA softball team which was seeded No. 1 in sub-section did not make it out of sub-section. 

The money continues to gush out of public coffers toward the softball undertaking. Our community showed sensitivity about this sort of thing when the new jail was proposed. Remember that? Doesn't the new project deserve the same type of scrutiny, perhaps with some skepticism? 

Naturally we want good programs with good facilities for our youth. It's a given. That does not mean that just any new proposal with any pricetag should be approved, just because it might "sound good." 

We have seen just partial completion of the softball project. A huge issue emerged early-on with the parking. Maybe that will be remedied if a new parking lot is in fact constructed. Is this a certainty? Is money set aside for that? Will it be considered a UMM parking lot? Will it be a permit lot? 

Fans discovered in the post-season that they had to pay for admission even though a lot of public money has gone into the project. 

The worst issue has to do with the design of the new field. There are serious fan seating issues along with an overall quality issue with sight lines. I am not a lone voice with this. Will this situation not be remedied? Might we consider dismantling the place and starting over? 

Promoters I'm sure are the type to crusade for women's equality. Mary Holmberg would be at the forefront of this. And yet we're supposed to accept the inequality of a varsity softball field with horrible fan accommodations compared to our established Chizek Field with excellent accommodations for baseball? Isn't this an affront to girls sports? Fans mean a lot for the players. 

Our Morris Area school board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the media center. There will be a motion to set aside an additional $207,000 to include phases 3 and 4 of the softball complex. OK, so it's $207,000, so let's just keep the spigot open, right? What of the ongoing maintenance costs out there? This was an issue that helped sink the county jail. MACA softball has performed on quite good facilities all through the years. 

Our City of Morris made an initial contribution to the softball thing but then put on the brakes. The city should have stayed out of it completely. Too late now, but the city did say "no" to a second request for money. I wonder if the city will be punished for that in some way. The high school sports crowd can get pretty mean on these matters. Their emotions can be scary. 

Remember, about 2/3 of the limited seating on aluminum bleachers at the new field does not even afford a complete view of the playing field. There will be times when fans of the visiting teams will come here and they'll go away mad. They'll expect a place to sit down. I would advise Morris fans to show courtesy and let the visiting fans have the few precious seats in the middle of the aluminum bleachers. Fans who try to watch from the sides of the field get an obstructed view through the fence. 

A huge problem is the length and size of the dugouts which include storage space. Many fans set up their own lawn chairs way out by the outfield fence. Do you think any of these people would normally choose that vantage point? It is all so disappointing. 

It would be nice to see some citizens show up at the school board meeting and advise the board to hold on to the $207,000, to apply it to another more worthy purpose. Are there any organized music activities for our Morris youth in summer? 

Well it's just $207,000. And when it's gone, it's gone. As my friend Chuck Spohr once said when he was on the school board: "If you give us the money, we'll just spend it." 

These matters can be reversed. The jail was nixed in spite of all the bureaucratic talk promoting it. We've been deluged with bureaucratic happy talk on the softball thing. And if it was a truly fine facility, I'd be much more receptive to it, might have even given some money for it. But this is not the case.

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

The great American single-family home: endangered?

("yardibreeze" image)

Owning your own single-family home is supposed to be the American dream, right? We learn that millennials are having some issues with this, due to the daunting cost of maintaining one's home. The general thinking on all this appears to be changing some. For one thing, our culture no longer assigns high status for owning lots of "stuff." 

We must ponder why these changes happen. They don't come about from a vacuum. Perhaps we are finding that apartment living is more practical in some key ways. Take a look at the big unit on the old school property in Morris. Might this be the wave of the future? 

 

Outmoded way of life?

Consider the seemingly endless rows of small homes in the south part of Morris, near Green River Park. One might argue that the houses are just too close to each other. Generally speaking, older neighborhoods are like that. Perhaps in long-ago times, like when I was growing up, the congested arrangement was practical because we were less mobile - our vehicles were less able to handle the wear and tear of regular commuting. We all stayed closer to home. A trip to Alexandria then might be considered a big deal. In recent years we've seen people commuting daily over distances that seem quite long, at least through the older lens. 

But change has become such a constant, hasn't it? 

Here's another point to be made: technology has helped us overcome boredom so convincingly. We have overcome it with such triumph, that the opposite problem has emerged, that of distraction. Just think of the South Dakota attorney general and the circumstances that appeared to lead to his tragic incident of striking and killing a pedestrian. It appears the AG may have been reading a conspiracy blog about Biden and China. The AG is a Republican who is quite in line with the typical mindset of that species today. He faces charges but not in direct connection to killing anyone. South Dakota does not have a negligent vehicular homicide law. 

The law has needed time to catch up to the hazard of distracted driving, has not caught up fully yet. 

So to finish my point about the lifestyle of today: all the entertainment we require is available from a simple online device, 24 hours a day. Has it dawned on you what a revolution this is? It didn't happen overnight, so it might have been hard to appreciate the gravity of it all. 

As an amateur sociologist, let me opine that because of this overwhelming triumph over boredom - over the ennui of life that used to bother us so much - we no longer care about the old status symbols. Like, a nice single-family home with noticeable amenities. Such amenities might keep you one step ahead of your neighbor. But it hardly matters in an age where communications have become so revolutionized. No one has any excuse to be bored, ever. 

We retreat into our own world which we set up through online access. Online Christian worship is not merely a supplement to the in-person experience, it can be fully its own experience. Extrapolate from there. 

 

Insights from the big screen

The Clint Eastwood movie "Gran Torino" gave us a look at the phased-out generation. My late father was exactly like the Eastwood character. The Hmong boy neighbor was mystified by all the tools in the garage. Eastwood as "Walt Kowalski" explained to the boy about the "trowel." My father had endless tools and stuff, including an emery wheel, and why in the year 2021 would I want to have an emery wheel in my garage? 

The father character in the TV series "The Wonder Years" was like this too. He had gained so much knowledge about household maintenance matters. He explained to his son about the difference between latex and enamel paint. 

What does a "trowel" do? I have no idea. Living in an apartment relieves you of virtually all obligations to master such things. 

I would argue that it's risky for a homeowner with novice knowledge of home maintenance to do a lot of stuff anyway. You can do more harm than good. What if I misuse a trowel? 

It used to be a badge of masculinity to understand such things. Just like it was a prime badge of masculinity to "pop open" the hood of a car to diagnose a problem and maybe fix it. Alan Jackson wrote a sentimental song about his father in which he said "people came from miles around to have him look under the hood." 

Remember "Gomer and Goober" from the Andy Griffith show who would talk about a car needing "a new set of rings?" Remember "grease monkeys?" People my age do. It seems gone with the wind now. 

And you can find stories online about men "wanting to act like men" to fix their own car troubles, when they should just take it to the dealer or qualified service person. Some of these men have caused terrible damage! 

 

Once the norm, now not so much

What is the future of the single family home in America? Is it actually imperiled? Will the cost of upkeep just be too daunting? Millennials appear to be shaking their heads. Should we judge the dense housing of south Morris and elsewhere as just plain inefficient? I can't help but think of each home having an array of assets for property maintenance - e.g. lawn mower, air conditioner - whereas a large apartment unit would consolidate all this. 

And is living in one's own single-family home really that much more pleasurable? I don't think it is. 

Perhaps millennials are discovering how expensive it is to have any sort of contractor show up. Should we be bitter about this? We need to understand: part of the problem with contractors' prices, I would argue, has to do with how they are probably required to buy a lot of insurance. And isn't this a good thing? Ah, insurance. Can't live with it, can't live. . . 

The list of things where you're expected to have insurance gets longer and longer. Pet insurance? I never heard of it when I was a kid. If you took your pet to the vet, it was a nominal cost. Oh, just like getting a routine filling at the dentist. Let's not even get into dental expenses! Hoo boy. But where does it all end? Thing is, people have finite means, especially I presume millennials. And they are taking a long look and wondering if single-family home ownership is even practical or desirable any more. It may cease to be a "status symbol" at all. Maybe it will grow into a liability. 

The government's urge to regulate more and more doesn't help either. Here in Morris the city government put out an onerous edict on water softeners. This is the way of the world now, and not even Republican politicians can stop it. Not even the South Dakota attorney general. 

I am hesitant to get another pet. I wouldn't want to get insurance for it. Here's a key problem: a dog can grow very old today because vets are capable of doing so much, and they surely charge well for it. But it's only an animal. And though we love them dearly, once a dog gets into its mid-teens, frankly it's a burden. And then the dog probably will require surgery at some point. We still love them but this is primarily based on our experience years earlier when the dog was younger. We don't stop loving them but honestly, they become a burden. I have experience. 

We're supposed to buy "vision insurance" too. Hell's bells, where does it stop?

 

Addendum: The manner in which Eastwood as "Walt Kowalski" spoke to his barber was stereotype, just like how Minnesotans were portrayed in "Fargo" and a couple subsequent movies. The crusty older men would in fact not be that disagreeable with each other. 

 

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

The mixed bag of disco from the 1970s

Failure can induce withdrawal, right? When all else fails, just dance? Was this the statement of our collective U.S. culture in the 1970s? Have fun doing something that has no potential for screw-ups? So, we soaked in disco music with a pulsating beat that at least created the illusion that it was all very exciting. 

It was loud. Dancing expended energy, yes. But the whole disco thing seemed like empty calories, enjoyable in the moment, nothing to give your life new depth. 

Understanding disco calls on a certain understanding of the decade of the 1970s. It has been called the Murphy's Law decade. There was failure and a general descent into bad taste. 

Should we try to develop a more charitable attitude about the music? Did it become a victim of its own popularity? Anything popular in America gets seized upon for commercial purposes. I suppose we wouldn't have it any other way. Disco started with some real merit. We might forget that it changed or really revolutionized social dancing. No longer was it assumed that a man and woman would dance with each other. On came the "freeform" approach. 

Dancing was done in the form of crowds! This was hugely impactful for gay liberation. Disco became a means of expression for various aggrieved elements of the population. Disco picked up energy and momentum from all such people. African-American female performers found a very welcoming platform for their talents. Who could forget the likes of Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor? They'd sing about triumph in the face of legacy hurdles. Gay people gravitated to the themes. 

The liberating message should have appealed to all, but progress in America is never achieved so methodically. Regressive forces loom, wary of any over-arching change. It is also an American trait that we like to take down our heroes. The burgeoning popularity of disco came to invite naysayers. 

Popular culture has always had some problems in academia, for one thing. But America simply wants to examine its naval sometimes. I'm reminded of the Woody Allen movie "Zelig." People enjoy sniffing for scandals, to cut our heroes down to size sometimes. 

Anything that is popular invites heavy commercialization. And with that comes oversimplification. It's like how we oversimplify today about understanding "Christians." The media has decided that "evangelicals" is more or less synonymous - of course it isn't. 

  

Art vs. reality

So while disco's early years reflected originality and a diverse approach, our big bad "mainstream culture" wanted shorthand, a structure easily recognizable for all. Television through the 1970s was like this too, under pressure to develop a homogeneous product. So when Newton Minow talked about "vast wasteland," he was assessing that fact. People called TV the "boob tube." Remember that? Wouldn't that sound odd today? But in the days before niche programming, TV seemed to flail about artistically, never mind there were many highly talented people behind it. 

Disco's popularity planted the seeds for its decline by the end of the 1970s. As with Zelig, we wanted to see some warts, maybe to be assured that our own failings were fully typical of the human condition. The obvious fun of disco with the freeform dancing and bright lights wasn't good enough for us in the end. 

Commercialization can be like a tribute to an art form, right? But it tarnishes the art form by pushing aside any and all subtleties. Our popular media and culture decided to run disco up the flagpole with the general floundering of the decade, as if it was all one big package. It is distillation in a misguided way. 

Disco had its "run" like all popular art forms. At the end, its artistic merit started to get overlooked. Our attention span had gotten maxed out. All popular entertainment has this problem, of getting stale and having to be put on the back burner for something new. 

Radio DJs got tired of the Bee Gees and their disco, so what happened? Chuck Mangione burst onto the scene with his big hit "Feels so Good" which made DJs feel good because of its departure from the droning-on norm of disco. A small combo featuring of all things a flugelhorn? Mangione got his "run." Meanwhile the Bee Gees were able to sock away what was surely a fortune. Congratulations. 

Disco waned, became even the butt of jokes, and then we decided it symbolized the flailing-away nature of the '70s itself, i.e. the questionable taste in clothes, the colors, the elevator shoes. But the music itself? The best disco music always had the essential strengths of good music. People in the business know this. 

But to the extent people today remember disco, we might well remember the nadir that was climaxed ignominiously by "Disco Demolition Night" at a major league baseball game. A music form must be pretty good and successful to end up in such a phenomenon. 

Imagine anything like "Disco Demolition Night" happening today in connection to anything. For years we have been so much more optimistic, expecting things to turn out well, compared to the '70s. I have suggested that if a typical young person of today were to step into a time machine and go back to the '70s, we're talking profound culture shock. Things moved so slow. We expected so little improvement in our lives. Cynicism was common. Cynical wisecracks were mainstream, whereas today they're dated just like "boob tube."

"Think I should care?" said the jaded soldier in "Bridge At Remagen," when told that he wouldn't want the Russians to beat the U.S. to Berlin. 

 

A decade of misfires

In the '70s we had Comet Kohoutek. Scientists touted the comet's coming as if it would turn night into day! In the end it barely showed up on powerful telescopes. Jimmy Carter called for the rescue of hostages in Iran but what happened? The helicopters broke down. So 1970s! A scientist proclaimed he had photos of the Loch Ness Monster. In the end, he had photos of muddy waters and only thought we could make out a "fin." 

When one of the biggest names of the decade was a guy who did breakfast cereal commercials by saying the cereal reminded him of eating "wild hickory nuts," well, you know. The best understanding of 1970s cynicism comes with TV's "The Gong Show." I shall not elaborate. 

And all along we got the mechanized beat of disco music, churning away, while lyrics spoke to the yearning of aggrieved classes. Everyone join in on the dance floor. Everyone! It really seemed an egalitarian revolution. Which I suppose became a problem, just as today's Trump element of society feels threatened by inroads from outside of traditional white or Anglo-Saxon society. We're talking "backlash" of course. And it happened with disco. 

Disco has not gotten buried in the ashes. We can largely thank disco for our contemporary dance music culture. You might say that the term "disco" faded because of the overcommercialization thing, but its elements have remained most viable. And, who cares what a crowd of baseball fans thinks? 

Would you believe that up until 1971, it was illegal for two men to dance with each other in NYC? We have come a long way, aided in no small part by disco and its "freeform." Thank you Donna Summer et. al.

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

Litchfield softball one win away from state

Image of Taylor Draeger pitching from "Next College Student Athlete"

 

The Dragons of Litchfield kept climbing after their recent win over the MACA Tigers. MACA was unable to overcome the fine junior pitcher for Litch, Taylor Draeger. St. James could not overcome Draeger either. Litch and St. James met in continued post-season action Tuesday in Marshall. 

The venue was Schwan's Regional Amateur Sports Complex. Draeger worked from the pitching circle as her Dragons took another step forward. It was a hard-fought game, score of 2-1. Draeger fanned seven batters in this Section 3AA action. She scattered six hits. 

MACA fans will remember Draeger as the winning pitcher twice vs. our Tigers in 2021 action. She'll be back for her senior year. 

The Litch success vs. St. James left the Dragons one win shy of a coveted state tournament berth. One more win! That's what the green-themed Dragons will seek later today (Thursday). Game-time is 5 p.m. in Marshall. Now the opponent is Pipestone. Teams from southern Minnesota have a reputation for premier fast-pitch softball. Can Draeger and her mates overcome this obstacle? Surely a large number of fans will be present. 

The Dragons carry an 18-6 W/L mark. One win gets the Dragons to state, whereas Pipestone would have to win twice in the double-elimination format. 

 

Decisive hit by DeWolf

A key batter for Litch in the win over St. James was Emma DeWolf. DeWolf rapped a single in the eighth frame to get the winning run in. 

We wouldn't have seen extra innings if the Litch defense hadn't been up to the test in the bottom of the seventh! Litch flirted with defeat as St. James had runners at second and third. This was with nobody out! Draeger bore down to strike out the next batter. Liv Holmgren then caught a blooper to left. The St. James runner at third misjudged and thought the ball would drop in. She headed home. The bang-bang play saw Holmgren, a sophomore, throw to third to complete the most timely twin-killing. Inning over! Litch fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. 

The Dragons had new life and would get the winning run in the eighth. Victory by the score of 2-1. Now the goal is one more win to reach state! 

DeWolf was a big offensive standout with three hits and two RBIs. Her first RBI was in the first inning when her safety drove in Grace Braaten. Her most dramatic RBI hit which was in the eighth was on a hit to left field. Sydney McCann was the baserunner at first, having walked, and she was able to race all the way around to score. 

The last Litchfield appearance in state was in 1995.

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

Hot day and cold results for MACA softball Tigers

The 10 a.m. starting time for the MACA vs. Litchfield softball game helped on Saturday. The temperature was headed upward. Seems incredible, after the seemingly endless string of cold weather months. Why are we tested so severely here in Minnesota? Is it getting worse or is it just a case of yours truly getting older? 

We were teased with a couple super days in April where the temperature was around 80 degrees, sun was shining, wind was minimal and I was able to bike the whole route east of town. The weather then did a prolonged turnabout. 

We crept into June with anticipation, finally, of true summer. But then the pendulum went in the complete other direction. 

So, fans of the softball Tigers had to breathe a sigh of relief about the early start time for Saturday's 3AA-North action. The format was double-elimination at this stage. Fans are still getting accustomed to the new softball facility. It's called "Holmberg Field" which was proclaimed as such a seemingly endless number of times by Saturday's radio announcer. No one has an excuse for not knowing the name of the field. 

I did not make it out to take a look on Saturday. I assume there was an effort to charge for admission again. That appears not to be an easy task, because fans arrive at the place from a variety of directions. A freeloader could easily pull it off. Maybe now we'll hear a suggestion for a fence to surround the place so there's only one entry point. That would ensure that everyone would pay. 

Maybe these games could be free admission? Government entities have poured lots of money into creation of the field. That's money from the people like the $150,000 from the City of Morris. I personally question that. 

MACA is done with serious competition at the place now, until when? Next April? And that's if the weather accommodates. I question the whole project but mine is a voice in the wilderness, if that's the appropriate expression. Or as Alex Karras once articulated: "Mongo just pawn in game of life." 

Oh, and if additional fencing is done there - money would have to come forth for that - is that the end of it? Oh heavens. We'll probably then hear that the place needs sidewalks. 

Was MACA softball so bereft of facilities for its first 40 years? I'm not a conservative curmudgeon. We want good facilities. We must proceed with reason and weigh priorities accordingly. It wasn't necessary for the City of Morris to be distracted or bothered by this project. 

So MACA lost twice Saturday. That's a punch to the solar plexus. First it was a setback vs. nemesis Litchfield, score of 11-2. Then the final nail in the whatever was with an 8-5 loss to Dassel-Cokato. 

Were cars parked all along the shoulders of Prairie Lane, going to the east? Oh, we need a parking lot. "Need, need, need." 'Til hell won't have it. Better yet, we should have just left everything the way it was. Or, develop soccer assets more. 

It's bad enough that football is in decline everywhere now. Could our Big Cat Stadium be re-purposed? The best thing that happens there all year is the rehearsal of the Irondale marching band. St. Cloud State erected a new football facility in 2004 and now there is no football program there. How to rationalize the mis-allocation of money? Hey, it's just state money I guess. Once it's spent, once it's gone, we just have to forget about it. Some of us don't want to forget about it. 

You know what'll happen here in Morris: Voices will be raised about how a parking lot is absolutely essential, then the wheels of government will have to cough up the money from some level. Maybe it will be the City of Morris again. Why can't people ask more questions about these projects? Why is the local commercial media such a winking partner in the overbearing "sell" job for such things? That's a perfectly apt question.

The media could ask one or two questions that would put promoters on the spot and force them to explain dodgy aspects. Like, if it's a $1.4 million project, how much of the money actually exists and how much only exists in theory? What about the prospect of cost overruns? What about the prospect of additional needs being perceived - an example is sidewalks - that will impose further expenses?

How much of the promotional talk is from people who simply have a vested emotional interest in high school sports? The emotions of such people can absolutely bowl you over. I have personal experience. If you get these people ticked off at you, your business or profession could suffer. Such are the ways of the world. 

Weren't the Tigers the No. 1 seed in Section 3AA-North? Well, the new field certainly did not help us live up to that.

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