The teams supplied no shortage of highlights through the course of the fall. But the volleyball team played but one match beyond the regular season. It was a loss to New London-Spicer. Football? Well, we won a home post-season game over Montevideo. Very satisfying. After that we went on the road and got overcome. This was at the hands of the Albany Huskies Saturday.
The football Tigers were on the short end of the 31-20 score. We got into a 25-0 hole by the end of the third quarter. We righted the ship to a degree. Our surging toward the end came up shy. So our final W/L is a quite respectable 6-4. We saw the exciting development of super soph QB Drew Huebner along with others.
For the time being, let's ponder the upcoming winter sports season. We'll have a wait obviously. Let's celebrate Halloween tonight (Monday).
The football Tigers' Saturday game was in the Section 6AAA semi-finals. Super soph? Check out Huebner's passing stats from Saturday: 24 completions, 41 attempts, 317 yards, one TD, two picks. Quite a level of proficiency for the young man. He carried the ball 12 times for 16 yards and had a rushing touchdown.
Our running game was clearly set up to complement Drew's passing. It was minimal: 21 carries, 35 yards, two TDs. Owen Anderson and Mitchell Moser had rushing yards to complement Huebner. Moser carried for a score. Clearly it was passing that made a statement from the orange and black side.
Need better balance? One could ponder that. The high school game seems much more wide-open than in a past time. Some games are so high-scoring, I wouldn't even want to summarize the scoring.
Riley Asmus has been spectacular as receiver. He was a marquee performer again Saturday with 11 catches, 139 yards. Tyler Berlinger was an effective target for Huebner also: seven catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Andrew Marty had two catches for 30 yards and Dan Travis had one for 13.
Meyer began the scoring with a touchdown run from the four. This was the only first quarter scoring. Albany picked up steam in quarter No. 2. First it was Panek scoring on a one-yard run, then it was Meyer with a 24-yard catch from Hutchinson. Albany was unsuccessful in its first half conversion plays. The Tigers had yet to score. So at halftime it's 18-0.
The second half saw Albany build its scoreboard edge. Panek caught a 24-yard TD pass from Hutchinson. Evenson kicked the PAT.
Finally the Tigers broke onto the scoreboard: Huebner carried the ball in from the two. MACA scored the next TD - this was in the fourth quarter. Huebner threw to Berlinger, 46 yards. Albany answered as Panek had an eight-yard TD carry. Moser scored for the Tigers on a two-yard run. Scoring done for the day. Season over for coach Kevin Pope's Tigers. Albany moves on.
We're 6-4 on the season while volleyball ended up 11-10. So it's unfortunate we could not have prolonged the season a little more.
I observed that the pep band was not present for the football win over Montevideo at Big Cat. Sometimes I think band directors are scared of getting obligated to too much pep band stuff, like when we have teams advance a considerable ways. That would not have happened this year. Our pep band would have had just the one post-season commitment: the Monte game. I personally would have liked to see the band there. That's a bias of mine: I think pep band is important and I actually consider it to be an art form, really truly.
I'd like to see the band with a "trap" drummer and for it to impress so much, it competes with the sports for attention! The director should look for arrangements that are off the beaten path. I don't know about "Centerfold." When I hear the band do that, I hear the sound "in my head" for the next several days. Ear worm.
Cross country: section meet
New London was the site for the 6A cross country meet Friday. Kendal Fischer took 17th with her performance at Vintage Golf Course. Hailey Werk finished 18th. I wonder if Hailey was injured? Our boys team was led by Gavin Stallman in 21st place. Our girls team was sixth, the boys ninth. Staples-Motley was the champ in both.
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| Jim Carlson |
By the time yours truly retired on Sunday night, I was in a funk. I could not bring myself to attend the Carlson concert Saturday night. A mixture of feelings prevented me. There would have been a rush of memories reminding me of when my talents meant something in this community. The historical record will show that I had such talents.
The concert would have revived a raft of memories both from music and journalism. I was in the original "All Stars" band for the Jazz Festival as this famous institution got off the ground. At the start there were no alumni for an alumni band. Were we a motley crew? Maybe. Jim Carlson announced one of the tunes as a favorite from our "nightclub" days. The tune had the perfect sound for this.
I'll never forget Hubert Grosland with the sax solo on "You Don't Bring Me Flowers."
I was at the Jazz Fest party to meet the first-ever clinicians for the institution. Randy Purcell was a trombone player who I remembered hearing with the Maynard Ferguson big band at the St. Paul Prom Ballroom. The other clinician in year one was a guitarist name of Rick Cornish. Years later, Del Sarlette had a hard time finding a photo of Mr. Cornish. I hope he's still alive and well.
What a succession of clinicians through the years. Eventually my contributions with the program were from journalism. You might say I went out of my way to give attention to all of Jim's programs. OK, unapologetically. The more enthusiasm the better. The more the merrier.
Today UMM appears to emphasize marketing and PR over exciting programs.
No one could dispute that Jim brought an infectious brand of enthusiasm. I'll argue he built up UMM more than any other person. You might say that at the end, he was sort of pushed aside. It's no secret he was bitter. Jealousies, turf battles and back-biting in academia: administrators are supposed to prevent these from negatively affecting the institution.
Instead we have a state of affairs now where the suggested decline of UMM has gotten so bad, Regents are thrashing around trying to explain it, even getting into trouble. Maybe the Native Americans here need to send smoke signals to the Twin Cities people. And hey, aren't we wrapping up a wonderful "Indian summer" now? These references are probably non-P.C. but I grew up watching "F-Troop" and the movie "Texas Across the River." Joey Bishop played an Indian in the movie.
Hey, I really do respect Native Americans. The famous Native American porn star of the 1980s, Hyapatia Lee, responded to a communication I sent her a few months ago. I may be a non-entity for my overall life now, but getting that communication puffed me up, made me smile.
So, I wasn't present for the Carlson concert or the reception that preceded it. I know there were people there who would have enjoyed seeing me. I assure you. Life marches on. We have to accept that the past is dead.
Del Sarlette sent me a nice little wrap on the Saturday doings at Edson (Morrison Performing Arts Center). Thanks Del.
The Doc Carlson Tribute show went very well. The concert went about 3 hours, but didn’t seem that long. The 2 UMM jazz groups (big band and sextet) were actually pretty decent. There were 2 alumni combos, then the Alumni big band played after the intermission (about 65 alums showed up, Buddy had to rotate personnel like in that Chase Revisited concert). Not a sell-out, Edson maybe 2/3 full, but a vocal and appreciative audience. A slide show and videos interspersed throughout the concert. Your name was even mentioned in one video (an interview with Marty about Jim’s golfing – he talked about the photo you took for the fishwrap after Marty and I beat Jim and Clyde in the PDT Men’s League championship in ‘82 – the photo with the “Swingin’ Musicians” caption).
Jim Carlson addressing the audience during Jazz Fest. (Del Sarlette photo)
You
know, if UMM had approached me first on the Edson re-naming, how could I
have said anything but "yes?" Could I have out-bid Helen Jane Morrison?
You laugh? After laughing a few seconds, calm down and look me in the
eye.
In
the future as my life devolves more in a wasteland, I know that
Hyapatia Lee will still know who I am. Oh, she's a quite intelligent
woman. She has a "Native Strength" YouTube series.
Addendum: The Prom Ballroom (or Prom Center) is no longer standing. On the site there now is an ABRA Auto Body center.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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