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| Morris Area school board (kmrs-kkok image) |
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
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