Good Shepherd has defied predictions of some

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Morris

God bless the friend who came over and sat next to me at the free supper at Faith Lutheran of Morris Monday evening. Was a nice event with Chinese food. I'm so glad I got the heads-up about this. 

A few months ago there was a similar free meal at First Lutheran. Faith and First are the two ELCA churches in Morris. That's the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 

Would anyone disagree with the notion we ought to have just one ELCA church in town? That's a tough nut to crack. Blending of the two might be hard emotionally for a lot of people. Some might not come back. I have been arguing that we ought not think of ourselves as being either "First" or "Faith" in affiliation. Rather, we should just see ourselves as ELCAers, welcome to attend a service anywhere in the ELCA name. But these matters are not so simple. 

The friend who sat next to me belongs to Good Shepherd, the church out north of Morris a short ways. Out in the windswept open spaces, epitome of "rural." My friend indicated to me what I had been suspecting, that Good Shepherd is experiencing steady growth with no apparent end in sight, and that it is blessed with an asset that all churches covet: "deep pockets" members. As they say, "money isn't everything but it sure keeps you in touch with your kids." Or, from my childhood reading of Mad Magazine: "Money's honey, my dear sonny, and a rich man's joke is always funny." 

We cannot pooh-pooh the importance of money, obviously. I grow concerned as I try to meet the expectation of an occasional check written out to First Lutheran of Morris. I'm concerned about the practicality of contributing $ to a sinking ship. Any ELCA church might be viewed on these terms now. The news media tells us that the so-called "mainline" churches are in descent. Our Star Tribune of Minnesota has been very up-front about this. BTW I have not accepted "mainline" as the proper term, as I think this has been lifted from its drug use context. My suggested term is "mainstream." But my protestations have proven vain as they almost always are. 

There were doubters about Good Shepherd when it was first created. My family had to put up with a power outage of several hours as the church building itself was literally moved from its former location. It used to be south of Alberta, quite detached from any town. It definitely had its heyday. It was doing fine through the 1960s. The big change in rural demographics came along. 

My family went there for the annual lutefisk supper. We found the supper refreshing compared to some others because we didn't have to wait as long to get seated. You know how it can be when you're handed that "number" and asked to sit in the sanctuary! But the supper at the old rural church was quite fine, quite accommodating. 

But the church could not survive there. Down to just a handful of families, it had to give way to the pressures for change. Very nice that it was not simply demolished. Today it looks most viable, on the upswing in fact with its LCMC affiliation. Of course that is the more "conservative" Lutheran entity. And is "conservative" the answer to everything? 

 

Good or bad with youth?

There is a school of thought that maintains young people are being driven away in droves by the conservative momentum in the Christian faith. If so, how do we reconcile this with the robust health of Good Shepherd, comparatively speaking? 

I believe my own minister has admitted to my church being stressed financially. Unless of course this is just posturing to try to induce people to give more. What? Churches would do that? My late neighbor claimed in the closing stages of his life, when he was in care facilities, that the church was overly assertive in trying to get him to bequeath assets. If he was not exaggerating, then I'm very disappointed in our church. But hey, "money's honey," right? 

I got curious about whether Good Shepherd could really establish itself. I got to wondering if the church was too much attuned to the old values. Many of us equate "old" with "conservative." But here's a revelation: maybe the youth aren't alienated as much as we thought. It appears Good Shepherd is making strides while the ELCA churches are going the other way. 

Is this just a rural phenomenon? Something odd has in fact been happening in rural outstate Minnesota. For sure we did not used to be like this. As an amateur sociologist I must wonder why. So much can be understood with economics, so is that the answer? 

My First Lutheran was once the most mainstream institution you could find. It leaned conservative because churches by nature leaned conservative. We seemed so reverent and proper.

The Good Shepherd Church sanctuary

I remember wondering if the Good Shepherd church in its early days would get a paved parking lot. Many amenities to be weighed. Could this church on the windswept prairie cut it? 

I asked a very knowledgeable member of my church his reading of Good Shepherd back then. He replied with skepticism. He observed "I think the parking lot will be the least of their problems." 

Seems like the passage of time has been very kind to Good Shepherd Lutheran of the LCMC. So shall we say "congratulations?" Well why not? Still we must weigh the background of how this church got so much momentum. 

Surely you can guess the one big catalyst, right? It was the issue of accepting gay people. I mean, accepting them as 100 percent equals. That means eligibility to be pastors, a helluva sticking point. 

My friend at the dinner said "gays are welcome to attend our church but they just cannot be pastors." 

It would be hard to argue that this one limitation is awful to live with. So why not just attend and accept the premise that the pastor is heterosexual with the traditional family with children? Is that such a big deal? You are probably aware that the Methodists have been fighting like hell over that issue, getting fractured. 

 

Here I go

I am going to offer my take on this issue which could offend some people. My impression of gay people is that they are gregarious by nature with a liking for performing in front of other people. I think they take to theater activities quite in excess of their numbers. Therefore I think they'd feel a special attraction to the ministry. Seems to accommodate their nature, based on my lifetime perceptions. 

Yes I'm stereotyping some. And heterosexual people become bothered if they notice a disproportionate portion of the clergy being gay or LGBTQ or whatever the terms are now. I have a hard time keeping up with it. For the life of me I cannot fathom a lot of the "gender" stuff going on now. I read news articles about all the conflict but I have no grasp of why anyone would want to change their gender. And such a fuss over all this, I have no idea what Jesus would say. 

If gays were in the clergy population in a way reflecting their percentage of the overall population, maybe the old traditional Christians wouldn't seem so aroused by the issue. I don't think clergy should be much concerned about sexual activity at all. It's not germane to their mission. And, only heterosexual people can reproduce, procreate. 

I'll get shot down by people crusading for 100 percent equality, that's for sure. Can I be friends with gay people? Well of course I can. I have been, I'm sure. I don't like to see a lot of attention devoted to sexual orientation, period. But such is life in the USA now. 

Again I wonder, what would Jesus say? I'll suggest that Jesus would be totally offended by this man named Donald Trump. And yet, as I conversed with my friend Monday night at Faith Lutheran, I wanted to tell her that I suspected that 100 percent of the Good Shepherd members voted for Trump, and for Dr. Scott Jensen and for Michelle Fischbach. The killer for Collin Peterson was this photo where he stood smiling next to Nancy Pelosi. What's so terrible about Nancy Pelosi? 

So I could not fit in with Good Shepherd, unfortunately. Still I'm left with some unease as I ponder writing out more checks to First Lutheran of Morris. Is the day coming when the building will be closed down? My mother will not have to deal with that, as she died five years ago. She could not have told you what "LGBTQ" stood for. She wouldn't know what a drag show was. RIP Mom.

 

Addendum: Would the Good Shepherd members all approve of a presidential ticket of Trump with Marjorie Taylor Greene? 

First Lutheran Church of Morris MN

Addendum #2: I have mentioned here the free suppers that have been at both Faith Lutheran and First Lutheran. The previous dinner at First had markedly poor attendance. This came up in our conversation Monday, and I suggested that First gets people discouraged 'cause it's on multiple levels. Faith Lutheran is all on one level. 

First has this notorious design that clearly predated any sensitivity whatsoever about handicapped access. Or elderly access. People didn't live as long back then. 

Oh of course there's an elevator now. Just one elevator way on the other side of the building from the sanctuary. Technically it accommodates. I still think the building's design is a turnoff, maybe subconsciously. There are steps leading to the building from the outside. Then once inside, you can choose: go up some steps or down some steps. This is called split-level. You go down the steps to the fellowship hall. Generations have accepted this configuration. But with passage of time, the limitations become more stark. 

So Faith Lutheran is all on one level. I think this promoted the good turnout for the Monday supper. The most ideal situation would be a new church on Morris' outskirts for all ELCAers, designed on the Wal-Mart concept with big paved parking lot. But the ELCA is being held back by the winds of change among the faithful, I guess.

 

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

Our America turned upside down

"Stop the steal," eh?

Am I living in some sort of alternate world or alternate dimension? What has come over all of us, or so many of us? Even people who are not all-in with the hard right Republicans seem to be consuming the day-to-day coverage and just more or less yawning, just "moving on." 

Can you imagine how the serious gatekeeper journalists of the pre-digital era would have covered January 6? There would have been an absolute presumption that what happened was a national disgrace. The presumption would have suggested very harsh punishment for those who went on the attack, attacked law enforcement people doing their jobs. Those jobs incidentally entailed the very elected people including those on the far right. 

For most of my life we have been aware of the far right nutjobs but largely saw them as an amusement. We ought to be scared out of our wits now that the fringe has gotten so much more mainstream. A considerable chunk of one of our two major political parties now seems all-in with the violent uprising. 

Our former state representative Jeff Backer, definitely of the looney-toon ilk, voted against a measure to condemn the capitol violence. So he approves of violent attacks on our cherished form of government here in America? 

You'll miss it when it's gone, our cherished form of government. You'll even miss the "deep state" which in a sense is sort of a necessary evil. 

But the "deep state" was picking on our president from 2016 to 2020? You believe that? Now we see that the individual in question is absolutely, totally mentally unmoored and with a proclivity toward sheer paranoia. The headlines of this past week really should have made us laugh. A lot of us probably did. But we need to speak out against the steadily growing danger from America's extreme right wing. 

Jeff Backer (kmrs image)

Sane people would like to see that element retreat back in the shadows, from where they could dispense their absurd thoughts from county fair exhibit stands. The Communist Party of America does that too. We always knew the Communists weren't going to get any sort of foothold. Still they had free speech rights. 

But now? The right wing nutjobs are not fading away; those like Backer are able to command attention from a surprisingly large segment of the American people. Holy cow! 

A headline this morning (Saturday) is about Republicans feeling sorry for the insurrectionists who are now in jail. In actuality, these prisoners are being pampered compared to other prisoners. That's not good enough for the GOP wackos. Today's article tells us that Republicans exchanged handshakes and "high-fived" with the prisoners in a visit to them. The prisoners in response intoned a theme of theirs, the article said: "Let's go Brandon." That's code for "fuck Joe Biden." I can imagine Backer echoing that. 

I thought conservatives believed in basic civility, in personal modesty. Mitt Romney still does, but the Utah guy is being pushed down. I think Romney could have been elected if he hadn't kowtowed so much to the right wing, like to go on Mike Huckabee's TV show. Why even do that? Why not tell Fox News to just take a flying leap? 

Romney might in fact have been an admirable president in the mold of Ronald Reagan. He went on the Huckabee show where he was asked "Do you support the Human Life Amendment?" In that setting he could not risk saying "no." 

Politicians must gravitate to the real world. Reagan did, but he had actual experience with a union; he got perspective with life. 

Why have the prisoners in D.C. decided it was worth such a huge sacrifice in their own lives to simply protest the election of Joe Biden? It's like a "Twilight Zone" episode where certain people have just gone mad. I have been spared that weird spell. I could see what Donald Trump was up to from the very day he announced his 2016 candidacy. I knew the phony stuff from which he was made. Am I an outlier? 

Here I am in 2023 reading this Yahoo News article about a contingent of Republicans siding with the imprisoned January 6 rioters. Again, have I fallen into some sort of alternate dimension? Do I find myself in a Twilight Zone episode? Think of how Walter Cronkite would be reporting on this, with the absolute presumption of outrage. 

Are you all so ignorant and stupid that you believe Trump when he tries putting himself forward as a champion of Social Security? Better get out your blankets like when you were asked to take a nap in kindergarten. That's where you belong. Trump promised to make payment of taxes easier. Do you find it has gotten easier? It's the working people who pay the taxes in America. Yet we're all supposed to listen to Elon Musk. 

Can't we all just wake up and smell the coffee? If not, what has come over all of us? Will Trump come back as a Putin-style autocrat? Seems very much on the table. And then we'll all be sorry. And do you know what Trump would say when people notice that Social Security and Medicare are in fact fading, contrary to his promises? You do know, don't you? He'll say "the money isn't there." Of course the Trump tax cuts which benefited multi-national corporations would be the reason. 

And you all don't care?

 

Addendum: Here's a reminder that our congressperson Michelle Fischbach voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Where would that have led us? 

 

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

Semis: BBE fails to hold lead vs. MIB Rangers

How hard is it to keep up with covering a team in the state tournament? I shouldn't be surprised, as I am a veteran of such ventures, albeit retired now. 

Here I sit on Saturday morning, digesting information from BBE's state semis game on Friday, and their next game is coming up at 10 a.m. today (Saturday). The game will probably be done by the time I click on "publish." Hmmm, 10 a.m.: quite the atypical starting time. 

I know full well the "rush" of being part of a state tournament climb and adventure. Oh my goodness, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! I often think that roller coaster isn't even worth it. So consider the emotions at the end of the Friday semis: the BBE Jaguars were stopped. We saw tears post-game from the BBE coach, Kristina Anderson. The Yahoo News article also cited "moist eyes" for Jaguar players Abby Berge, Allison Dingmann and Harley Roering. 

Berge said of the game's outcome, "it hurts." But here's the deal: For every team that feels crestfallen at the end of a state game, there is the burst of exhilaration felt by the winner! So let's feel good, frankly, about the feeling of accomplishment felt by the Friday victor, Mountain Iron-Buhl. Their tears were those of happiness. 

 

The image at right shows Abby Berge, point guard for the Jaguars. She'll play in the NSIC next season for the Dragons of Minnesota State University-Moorhead. She is a Class A All-Star. (twitter images)

 

Sadness in BBE country, for sure. Well let me offer some perspective: My MACA Tigers from out here in West Central Minnesota lost their very first game in the post-season. Zip it, it's done. "Turn out the lights, the party's over," as the late Don Meredith would have sung. 

Congrats to the Jags, their coaches and fans: you had a great ride the whole way. 

Mountain Iron-Buhl (MIB) had the top seed for state although I don't place a lot of stock in those positions. They had to come from behind to defeat the Jaguars. Final score: 61-57. This Class A showcase was played at the big-time floor of Williams Arena. MIB faces BOLD for No. 1 in state. BBE's third place game is against Hayfield at Concordia of St. Paul. Concordia University? That doesn't feel like "state" at all, sorry. 

The MIB coach is Jeff Buffetta. The team is the "Rangers." Buffetta's team trailed 48-37 with 9:55 remaining. Oh my goodness, the Rangers got totally "in the zone" for a 14-0 run. The surging was led by Sage Ganyo and Jordan Zubich. Zubich is a University of North Carolina recruit. Ganyo ended the afternoon with 23 points, Zubich with 17. Zubich scored 14 points in the second half. 

Was BBE's Roering 100 percent for the game? The senior guard had been out of action since Feb. 3 due to a second ACL injury to her left knee. "Roering was willing to grind it out despite a bad knee that she originally hurt playing off-season volleyball in May 202!," the Yahoo News article reported. Roering missed lots of practices. Well I don't know - seems to me BBE was hitting on all cylinders even without her on the court. But that's just an armchair fan's judgment. It's our prerogative, isn't it? When you lose, there's hindsight. 

The Mountain Iron-Buhl GBB team (WDIO image)

Congrats to those Rangers, that's for sure. 

Roering has the first of two surgeries scheduled in April to repair the damage to her ACL. She didn't exactly look rusty on Friday as she scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers. I'm puzzled: Roering was asked why she didn't play in the quarter-final state game on Thursday. Her response: "They didn't need me." Well, let's all just file this away. 

MIB took second in state in 2012 and 2017. In all they've had 12 state appearances in the past 13 seasons. 

BBE enters the third place game with a 26-5 season record. Lots of highlights for press person Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley to share. I can just imagine how Randy is going to feel drained after today. I've been there. 

Time for some stats to share here. BBE individual scoring: Abby Berge 18, Harley Roeering 12, Tiyana Schwinghammer 10, Brooklyn Fischer 9, Allison Dingmann 6, Adley Hagen 2. Roering with her four 3's led there, followed by Schwinghammer 2 and Fischer 1. Dingmann with her eight rebounds was tops. Schwinghammer's four assists set the pace. Berge's three steals gave spark. Dingmanmn, Berge and Schwinghammer each blocked a shot. 

Zubich made two 3's for MIB. Ganyo and Anna Neyens each made one. Hali Savela led in rebounds with seven. Ganyo and Zubich each had four assists. Savela stole the ball five times. 

MIB enters the title game with a 29-3 record.

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

BBE girls find groove in second half, win 60-44

The BBE girls typically take command in their games. What a luxury! What an indication that these Jaguars could well be headed to No. 1 in Minnesota Class 'A'. Are they truly the cream of the crop? Take a look at the scores through post-season play. These Jaguars are blessed. And talented. And confident. 

The latest chapter came on Thursday at the state level. The day just happened to be St. Urho's Day. No reverence needed for that, maybe just a chuckle. Or, maybe some reverence if you're of Finnish descent! 

The Jaguars marked the occasion by winning with relative ease over the Rockets of Underwood. BBE got the fifth seed for state. They prevailed over those Rockets 60-44. We can look at the Underwood turnover total of 22 and deduce that the Jags must have played with an aggressive air. BBE put up 13 more shots than the Rockets. 

The game site was Maturi Pavilion. BBE was not dominant from the outset. Underwood was able to grasp the lead at 22-16 with about six minutes left in the first half. At that point, BBE bore down and seemed to say "enough of that!" BBE went on a 15-3 run! So at halftime the Jags were in good position, up 31-25, en route to their Class A quarter-final win. 

Mo Bugbee of the Rockets became hindered with fouls: three in the first half. Her playing time got cut down as a result. The Rockets scored first in the second half. This brought them to within four, but that would be their high water mark. The Jags pushed their lead up to ten at 43-33. It got better for them: a score of 51-36. Fans could relax? Well, it got to where both coaches sent in their reserve players. 

BBE played a capable defense against Rocket of note Liz Lukken. Even so, this Rocket put in 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Bugbee scored nine points and collected seven rebounds for Underwood. Then we see Mia Blaskowski with 8 points/7 rebounds. 

Lukken was quoted post-game saying "it was a very physical game from both sides." 

Let's look at the BBE standouts. Abby Berge led the scoring charge with 18 points. She was poised at the freethrow line with 10 of 13 numbers. Brooklyn Fischer made a statement with her 14 points. Continuing with the scoring list: Allison Dingmann 9, Tiyana Schwinghammer 7, Adley Hagen 5, Bree Thieschafer 3, Ella Halverson 2 and Anna Jaeger 2. 

Underwood actually had a superior shooting percentage: 36.4 percent compared to BBE's 32.1. BBE made 18 of 56 shots. But let's look beyond these numbers: BBE was sizzling at the freethrow line: 20 of 29. BBE also capitalized big time on Underwood's turnover woes. We can document with numbers: 20 points on Underwood's 22 turnovers. 

The Fergus Falls Daily Journal article further tells us that "second chance points were 12-2 in favor of BBE and they also had eleven fast-break points to none by Underwood." 

So the Jaguars are steaming forward in prime form, now with a won-lost of 26-4. 

 

A lump of coal, Santa

The Willmar newspaper is being an ass this morning by having their coverage behind a paywall. Leave it to that cold-as-ice outfit, owned of course by Forum Communications. So if a player's grandma from some other part of the state wants to call up some coverage, they are met by this terse message on the screen that you'll have to pay.

BBE made 4 of 14 from 3-point range. 

Berge was in her fifth state tournament game, and let's note that in her first she scored 18 points, same total as what she had Thursday! Thanks to Randy Olson for that bit of trivia. 

Olson is the Bonanza Valley newspaper guy but he is much more than that: he harnesses the electronic media in an exemplary way. Sometimes newspaper people have reservations about doing that sort of thing. Not Randy, who sees all of media as facilitating his legacy media work. If only our newspaper here in Morris could show such an open and enlightened attitude. No, the Morris-based newspaper is Neanderthal. Put some pressure on them please. My natural incentive would be just like Randy's. 

BBE advanced to play Mountain Iron-Buhl, the top seed. But I don't think the seeds really mean that much. Mountain Iron-Buhl is called the "Rangers." They advanced by beating Minneota 65-50. 

The BBE Jaguars have now shattered the school record for most wins in a season. In 2018-19 the program went 24-6. 

Let's not overlook depth as a strong suit. Randy tells us that BBE went with an eight-person rotation.

(BBE schools social media image) 

 

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

Bud Grant, man of restraint in his manic world

How I remember him

A picture of someone's face covering the entire page 1 of the Star Tribune: who might warrant that? Was this the passing of the Pope, maybe? No, but the person had standing that called for the utmost reverence. America loves a winner. Bud Grant gave us the thrill of winning for so long. Never mind the misfires in the Super Bowls, four of them. 

Losing in the Super Bowl still meant we had to climb a mountain to get there. For every Super Bowl there was a league or conference championship game that had a climactic air. Certainly we all felt that air at the time, but before long we had forgotten the details of those games. The Super Bowl was the big enchilada. 

Grant held the reins of the Vikings over a long time. He was a brass tacks guy, not flamboyant. His essential character was one of maturity, stability and understated wisdom. He must have been the prime "organization guy." He knew how to establish a system where the parts worked in concert in an optimal way. He was like a father figure for my generation of young boys. 

I had the opportunity to meet him once at the entry area of the old Sunwood Inn. That's the hotel in Morris that is now taking on the name "Hudson Inn." I seem to recall the occasion being a Pheasants Forever gathering - most apt considering Bud's sportsman's reputation. I remember the moment when I shook hands with the icon. I remember the ingratiating spark in his eyes. I was there as a press person to cover the event. A nice "perk" of the job: getting to meet well-known people. 

I was only a marginal fan when the Vikes had their first Super Bowl. And that was because my neighborhood on the edge of Morris was not yet getting the TV network for access. For a long time on Northridge Drive we only got KCMT out of Alexandria, an NBC station. No watching "Gilligan's Island." We did watch "Bonanza" and "The Virginian." A 90-minute Western? That's what "the Virginian" was. 

The first Super Bowl was the one with someone other than Fran Tarkenton as quarterback of the Vikings. It was Joe Kapp, a guy with charisma even though he threw passes that were wobbly. I called a friend of mine that weekend, thinking we might do a little snowmobiling together. He was incredulous: How could I suggest such a thing on the weekend of the Super Bowl? Was I not attuned to the mania? I guess I was not. We postponed our snowmobiling for another time. 

The Vikes were supposed to win that first Super Bowl for us. I did not have to share in the punishment of watching the ordeal of that game, a game in which opposing coach Hank Stram was recorded on the sidelines describing our defense as "a Chinese fire drill." Political correctness not enforced as much then. The Chiefs beat the Vikings. 

The Vikings' popularity went nowhere but up in the seasons following. I could finally start watching them on TV. I think the emotional attachment of so many fans became excessive. I was in that category myself. I was like this for the Twins in the 1960s too. It is not good for one's mental health. This is a carefully crafted entertainment product. 

We follow sports to try to erase boredom/ennui. It can sure do the job. But it's an illusion if we think it really makes us happy. Shall we say it's a "sugar high?" There's a letdown after that. And I'd argue this happens even if we win the overall championship. Our real lives are not at all affected by how these teams do. 

The Vikings played in three more Super Bowls after the debacle vs. the Chiefs. We were totally carved up by the Raiders. Is that what you'd call the "nadir" of our experience? Some fans would have a more earthy word. We probably had our best chance to win when we played the Steelers. I remember one play as breaking all our hearts: Bill Brown's fumble on a kickoff. The Steelers had Mike Webster at center, the guy whose awful health repercussions from playing football would inspire the movie "Concussion" with Will Smith. 

The Vikings also lost their Super Bowl against Miami. 

Most of the time the Vikings gave us exhilaration with their regular wins. 

 

Cannot blot this out

I cannot think of pro football today without immediately thinking of the tragedy of players with broken bodies and brains from having played the sport. This is absolutely not something we should have to put up with as a consequence of us enjoying the sport. 

Football exploded in popularity starting in the mid-1960s due to improvements in TV technology. The nice sharp color picture was the catalyst for football becoming a preoccupation for so many. I had my own reverence, would be captivated by the NFL draft for example. I put those days behind me some time ago. 

I wonder to what extent the estimable Bud Grant was aware of the health dangers of his sport. He had to be aware to a degree. Players got taped up and medicated so they could just keep going out there, provided they could still perform better than others on the "depth chart." So Darwinian, football is. 

Money and fame await the young men who can forge their way to the top. They have been hearing the cheers since they were quite young. The adulation can become like a siren song. I covered high school sports banquets where the coach would get up and speak about how he hoped the players would "lift weights" in the off-season. My, these are just high school kids. And we want them to lift weights so as to inflict jarring punishment on opposing players? Well, whatever it takes to win - that's the credo, right? This is America. 

Any doubt about football still having primacy among sports in America? Just consider the Star Tribune front page with the photo of Bud covering the whole thing. We continue to worship at the altar. I won't diminish Bud because if he hadn't done what he did, someone else would have. 

So you might suggest Grant was an example-setter with his character, his values? Simply because he was steady, temperate and measured all the time? Is that such a high bar to achieve? In the manic world of sports, maybe yes. Surely Bud has his niche carved out in Minnesota history. He did his part. 

So RIP Harry Peter "Bud" Grant. I still remember the moment when I met you.

 

Addendum: I cannot buy the strict definition of "ingratiating." Technically speaking there is a negative suggestion about it. In my reading I have sensed a more general or forgiving definition: connecting with someone, welcoming contact with someone. Not necessarily with manipulation in mind. Anyway that's my take. Our language evolves. "Couldn't care less" is technically correct, but through usage we have seen "could care less" come to mean the same thing!

 

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

BBE girls dominate 5A play, climb to state!

Is Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa an unstoppable force in girls basketball? BBE is indeed dominant in Class A play. The Jaguars won with a commanding air through the 5A phase. There was a succession of four impressive wins. All that brings the reward of vying in state. So the "March Madness" mania is infecting Jaguar country this week. 

Of course, we are supposed to be noticing signs of spring for March Madness, right? Ah, that part of the script is missing. As I sit here and write this Sunday afternoon, a look out my picture windows facing north spells "winter." I might add "hellish winter." But the show will go on for state girls basketball. The bright lights of the state venues will be on for later this week. 

BBE has its initial state assignment on Thursday, March 16. They'll take to the court at 1 p.m. The venue: Maturi Pavilion. Their foe will be Underwood, those Rockets who come out of 6A. 

The Jags rolled past all their foes in post-season play thus far. Just take a look: 80-30 over Bertha-Hewitt, 70-44 over Pine River-Backus, 65-26 over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, and 76-50 over Barnum. 

The section championship game versus Barnum was played Friday at St. John's University. Satisfying yes, but the Jags have not been tested with crunch-time pressure. Can anyone challenge them? We'll see. 

 

The image at right shows the six BBE seniors. From left: Tiyanna Schwinghammer, Ella Halverson, Harley Roering, Allie Dingmann, Abby Berge and Bella Buckentine.

 

Certainly this is a frenetic and happy time for my old newspaper compatriot Randy Olson. I know full well all he is dealing with. Forget about the weather, Randy, the Jaguars can occupy your thoughts. Randy is the prime example of a community newspaper person who goes the extra mile using the new electronic media to complement his standard work. In this respect he is the polar opposite of what we have seen from our Morris-based newspaper. I don't intend this as a dig, it's just fact. 

Randy has been blazing a new trail with his work. He indicates to me that all the new resources are just making his legacy business perform better. Congrats Randy! 

Thanks to "Yahoo News" for duplicating the coverage of the Barnum game that was presented by the West Central Tribune. You never know when the WC Trib will have its infernal "paywall" up. 

We learn that the Jaguars have a QRF power rating of "number four." I don't know what that means. 

Hancock was last year's Class A state champion. The Owls are eliminated from the field for 2023. They lost to Underwood 64-50. 

Barnum has the "Bombers" nickname. The Jags came at them with a two-pronged approach of pressure 'D' and an up-tempo style. Barnum succumbed. The halftime score had the Jags in control, up 42-23. 

State play is a familiar environment for BBE. They were state runner-up in 2021. They played in the abbreviated state tournament of 2020, abbreviated due to - remember? - covid. 

Let's roll up our sleeves for a stat review of the BBE vs. Barnum game. Three big guns for the Jaguars: Brooklyn Fischer with 22 points, Abby Berge with 19 and Tiyana Schwinghammer with 18. Then we see Bree Thieschafer with eight, Adley Hagen with six and Anna Jaeger with three. Fischer and Schwinghammer each made two 3-pointers, and Jaeger made one. 

Berge topped the rebounding with eleven - Schwinghammer had nine. Berge and Schwinghammer each had three assists. Thieschafer picked up five steals. Berge blocked a shot. 

Barnum's top scorer was Rayna Klejeski, 18 points. Jacinda Wright made two 3-pointers. Klejeski complemented her point total with eight rebounds. Ella Heaton had two steals. 

Update: BBE has earned a seed for the state tournament. They have the No. 5 seed. Underwood won 6A by escaping a halftime deficit vs. Hancock. Hancock led the Rockets 33-27 at halftime. Liz Lukken of Underwood was game-high scorer with her 24 points. She's a junior guard. The Rockets own a 26-3 record and are on a roll with a win skein of 17. On paper they appear quite similar to the Jaguars. 

We were thrilled by BBE volleyball last fall! It was a pleasure for yours truly to supply some coverage, and I'm pleased to again be a part. My journalistic career is not past tense, as Randy Olson will attest.

They're tops in Section 5A, the BBE Jaguars of GBB! Next: state. (twitter images)

 

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