Fleck vs. Kill in a post-season bowl showdown?

P.J. Fleck (Daily Gopher)

Saturday was an opportunity to watch the Gophers football game live on YouTube for free. So I was watching near game's end when our quarterback was taken down hard, very hard. The play might not have made a big impression on the casual viewer. Might have seemed more or less a routine play. 

The casual viewer was focused on how this game was going for his/her favorite team. 

I could have written " 'their' favorite team" even though my first reference was in the singular. This appears to be acceptable use of the English language now. Did not used to be. Indeed our language is fluid. 

We have been wrestling with the different pronoun questions. The accepted default approach is "they/their" as opposed to any kind of gender-specific reference. So that's that, the new rules of the English language. At age 68 I am bothered some. So I used the cumbersome reference of "his/her." One could always write the whole sentence over again with fresh wording of some kind. 

 

Ingrained interest in the game

A part of me feels interest in football like always. Buried in me is that childlike enthusiasm for something that creates excitement in our lives, a sense of suspense about the unpredictable. Added to that are the quite common human interest angles. And boy, there is one that could emerge with real robustness soon: a possible meeting of the current and former U coaches. 

Jerry Kill (KVIA image)

I guess this possibility might have dawned on all of us. Now it's being postulated in the national press. So, the odds look decent for a meeting of our disappointing U of M football team and the upstart contender New Mexico State. The Gophers were underachievers. New Mexico State is quite the surprise. What special rivalry am I talking about? Well it would be the U of M coach P.J. Fleck and a predecessor of his here, Jerry Kill. 

Kill showed us he had chops for coaching big-time football. His hindrance here was his health as you probably recall. He was always at risk for having a seizure during a game. I expressed concern at the time that fans in other cities would be traumatized, thinking they might be seeing a man literally dying along the sidelines. 

We want to accommodate people with health limitations. But there is a limit to that. So Kill's tenure ended here and he went on to "bounce around" in college sports, going here and there and at least being able to perform in subordinate or administrative roles. But his instability made him seem rather forlorn, object for some pity maybe? I know I felt that. 

One thing about sports: it can be full of surprises. The drama of such things captures our imagination, fuels our continued interest. "Pointspreads" and predictions can be oh so theoretical. So we enthusiastically "tune in," position ourselves with our snacks on weekends. For the people who broadcast these games, it is a sweaty and demanding profession. For the viewers it's "off" time and escapism. 

 

Right in front of us

The sad part is that viewers fail in a big way to see the physical injury risk to its proper extent. We should ask for forgiveness when our first thought upon seeing an injury is: What impact will this have for my team? The Gophers of course lost to Wisconsin in the game for that stupid "ax." 

It's one of those seasons where the fans of our "beloved rodents" are left stewing. Skepticism builds about our head coach. Coaches are paid to win. They survive losing seasons only if they can show they are building something. My late father who was in college academia said "what a way to make a living." 

Looks like U of M coach Fleck will live to see another coaching day in this season. A bowl game is always better than no bowl game at all. Put the date on your calendar, talk up the game with friends and then wait with anticipation. Nice little nugget for the holiday season. Just put aside our regular season won-lost record. 

 

Could be very serious

My rather grim thoughts are with the Gophers quarterback. Near game's end versus Wisconsin he was taken down to the turf and he smacked his head very hard. I have seen documentaries about football head injuries where some of the particularly dangerous incidents happen precisely like this: contact with the ground. It probably does not look all that serious in real tine, Many fans may not even notice much with the replay. I think my eyes are better trained than that. 

As of Monday I saw no medical reports of our QB failing a concussion protocol. But I think there's still a chance of that happening. Stay tuned. Am I concerned about what this might mean for the Gophers' competitiveness? Not at all. Our QB wasn't doing that great anyway. But seriously I'm concerned about his future welfare. He lay on the ground and called for some special attention. He held his head! Definitely some clues of something serious afoot. 

And yet the nation's young men continue to be attracted to this Neanderthal sport. What were you expecting? For football to disappear? So we continue to have the breathless announcers and sports commentators doing their thing. The norm continues. 

It is of secondary importance to me that the Gophers might meet up with New Mexico State in the bowl game: Fleck vs. Kill. I can still write about this as if it's just an entertainment diversion. I know the routine, can pull the right strings. 

I used to trap gophers

I do have an interest in the University of Minnesota generally speaking. The U really seams leaderless now, has been through phlegmatic times. I don't know why. Basic incompetence? Ouch. I don't even understand this whole Fairview Hospital thing. Media articles should do more to background us - the articles presume we know. 

But let's get to the "fun" of football! The escapism, the popcorn. I hesitate to try to type the quarterback's name. Of course I could look it up. I won't do it right now. 

New Mexico State is called the "Aggies." Looks like the Gophers could meet the Aggies in the New Mexico Bowl. The date would be Dec. 16. The site: Albuquerque. I cannot spell "Albuquerque" off the top of my head either. 

 

Resilient Jerry Kill

Kill has absolutely risen from the ashes. The team made its biggest statement with its win over Auburn, yes THE Auburn. The Aggies have surged to a 10-3 record. The Gophers? My, our beloved rodents have lost four straight, hardly the prelude to a bowl game appearance. Bowl invites were much harder to get in my young years. Today it's all about money: if a bowl event can justify itself with the bottom line, go for it. Losing records aren't that big a deal. 

A pretty determined guy, eh?

Kill ended up most bitter at Fleck and presumably by extension the U of M itself. Grudge match: fans salivate. 

Kill accused Fleck of being all about himself, and my goodness he even brought up "Fleck's first wife." Mercy. 

It appeared Fleck did not go out of his way to treat Kill's holdover subordinates with respect. That's a tough one to assess because a new head coach has total latitude once he takes over. And there's just no job security in sports coaching, face it. 

Fleck responded to all this by just saying he was "saddened." The two have already met once from their current positions. No contest: the Gophers swarmed over the Aggies 38-0. That would appear to mean nothing now. 

So, it's not a fact (yet) that a re-match will occur in the upcoming bowl game. But such fascination to speculate! And, to speculate on whether the two coaches shake hands! You have to wonder when you realize that past wives are not off limits! 

New Mexico State has played an easy schedule. But don't assume anything from that, due to how the Aggies almost manhandled the Auburn Tigers 31-10. Bring it on! My thoughts will not drift away from the Gophers' quarterback - name is Athan Kaliakmanis - and the possible serious head injury he experienced against Wisconsin. News about him on Tuesday is that he has entered the "transfer portal."

It will be hard to root against Jerry Kill. His story could lend itself to a movie.

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

Coins of the realm? Their diminished value

They used to mean more: our coins

We of course will accept the harshness of winter as it sets in. We may have freedom of movement but we choose to stay here in the Upper Midwest. How to cope? An embrace of the Christmas season is an obvious thing to do. 

Most people will start doing the obvious things to recognize the holidays. Decorations go up. We see the appropriate ads in the media of course. We have just experienced "Black Friday." Was Black Friday all that big a deal for you? Hasn't the media with its advertising just pushed along that "phenomenon?" For America's smaller communities, I doubt that Black Friday means a whole lot. Maybe you'd have to drive to the nearest city that has a "big box store." 

I never heard the term "big box" when growing up. Here in Morris we shopped in the "business district" otherwise known as main street, and pushed coins into parking meters. Parking meters? Getting ever more obscure in our collective memory. Better be paid up or risk a ticket. 

Was the Parade of Lights a success in Morris? 

I see where the Morris newspaper is raising the price of its product. In the old days when the paper was considerably larger - coming out twice a week - people could be very sensitive about a slight price rise. A rise amounting to small change. Hey, people bought the paper with "coins." How often do you make a purchase with just coins any more? We'd leave tips in restaurants with "coins." 

I remember the adjustment to the new assumption that you would tip with paper bills. It felt odd at first. Also felt like I was separating myself from too much of my money. And if you thought I was disturbed in that regard, think of my late father! He was the youngest of five boys growing up in the Great Depression. Graduated from high school (Glenwood) in 1934. John Dillinger times. Tip with paper bills? Would have seemed very foreign to him. Maybe some people thought tipping itself was foreign to him! Well, not quite that bad. 

I remember a Morris businessman who occasionally joined me for breakfast at Don's Cafe, who left a coin tip long after the practice had been abandoned due to inflation. Quaint. In his mind he was still being generous. Takes time for some people to adjust, move forward. As with me adopting debit cards and electronic bill-pay. My goodness, what might be coming down the road? 

Well, one thing that seems likely is higher prices. And now interest rates have been pushed up. So this is reportedly causing stress. Time to buy gold? Just kidding. Ah, those "gold bugs." 

 

Not a knockout punch

Seems that so many of us just absorb inflation as if we have a secret money printer in the basement or something. People skate along with credit cards. But certainly a day of reckoning comes along, doesn't it? Will people pay steadily more for this product called a newspaper? Will they pay more even with the amount of service being scaled back due to the ravages imposed on the industry by the Internet? 

Whatever service is provided by the paper, can it not be duplicated by the world of online? I could have asked this question a dozen years ago. We haven't made as much progress with the transition as I would have expected. No, no. 

I see the weekly Morris paper at our public library. I remember when color photos were a brand new novelty. Was a thrill to merely see them at the start. Total norm now. Maybe the main service of the Morris paper now is the injection of feel-good positive morale each week, positive coverage of nearly everything, puffy pieces on kids and others - mostly kids - who appear to be accomplishing so much, getting awards. We have always had young people getting special recognition. There are always things to trumpet like new businesses, dynamic people doing dynamic things. But it's all packaged as weekly "news." 

I could joke that it gives me an inferiority complex, as one who is largely a "face in the crowd," about whom the old Thoreau quote applies: "The majority of people lead lives of quiet desperation." 

A preponderance of us live lives that will never put us in the spotlight for the newspaper. But we seek out the newspaper to notice which people are, which people rate, which organizations rate. Most of us get through our daily obligations in a pedestrian if not desperate way. How many of us are really ready to absorb a price increase for the paper? 

 

Does it dawn on you?

In theory the Morris paper could do so much more. It would only have to use its website more. It's right in front of their nose. Their website. It's right in front of all of our noses, given that Internet access is basically a given for all. A dozen years ago maybe that wasn't the case. People once felt stressful competition to get access to a public library computer! Those times are now faded. In my occasional trips to our library, I sense no stress in getting access to one of the six computer stations. The only thing I need these for now is when I need to print something (like a receipt). 

Does anyone bother giving the Morris paper a hard time over its mere token website? I wonder how the publisher would respond to concerns about this. Or is Morris just too apathetic to mount concerns at all? That is always a possibility. 

The Morris newspaper website has a "sports" link. What an easily available resource. Just click and skip through the headlines. Would cost the paper nothing to put valuable and timely items there. You should know that some newspapers do avail themselves of this. Morris is not the model. However, the Morris paper does something that adds insult to injury, really truly. Have you noticed this or thought about it? Well, maybe not. I am prodding you. I glance over the links/headlines on "sports" and it seems nearly 100 percent UMM. 

A large majority of the UMM athletes are not from this area. Furthermore - and this is most important - UMM has its own website that satisfies 100 percent of the needs of those following UMM sports. And that is terrific. 

You needn't have any special brainpower to know what's going on. The paper fears that if it provided reasonably dynamic, timely coverage of Tiger sports on the site, people would feel less of a need to buy the weekly print product. When a Tiger team plays on a Tuesday, when might we expect to see coverage in the print product? Well, answer is easily ascertained. 

I know of a former Morris school administrator who would vehemently object to waiting so long to see this coverage. He would lose his temper, which incidentally I would not think was cool. And there sits the website with all of its potential. "Buy the paper." And now prices are going up according to the notice I saw in the current edition. 

Well, prices are climbing up for everything, right? The question is, to what extent can we all absorb this? Will we start cutting things out, like the paper? Let's spare ourselves this weekly showering of articles/photos that show all the brilliant people and kids climbing the ladder with their success. Leave me alone. Leave me to my struggles of just presenting myself as a normal person. 

The Morris paper adheres to Garrison Keillor: "All of our kids are above average." Would seem rather implausible. But the paper comes on strong with positivity. (How about a "review" of the recent school musical? Someone could write that "a lot of the singing was terrible.")

The grit

Reality for a lot of us is not puffy white clouds. We wrestle with the vicissitudes of day-to-day living. Look at all the people entering/exiting Willie's at any given time. They are sticking to the nuts and bolts of daily living. 

It is monumentally disappointing that the radio station website has lost so much ground, so much quality. First Marshall Hoffman leaves. Now it's Brett Miller having left too, and his work was so promising for keeping up with MACA Tiger sports. Gone with the wind. Maybe the station has concluded that there's little monetary potential with the website. 

But here's the deal: the sports parents and more broadly the school parents - not to mention many other people - have a need for reasonably timely updates on school doings like sports. The YouTube geniuses have offered so much - a bonanza - but we could use a little more. It will be a long winter for yours truly if I cannot find a media outlet that provides reasonably timely sports results with some details and stats. 

We used to get a fair amount of this from the Willmar paper. That asset is now basically gone for us. Is it possible we are just sinking as a community? If you think the Morris paper should be doing its work better, you should talk to them, apply pressure to them. If not, then it's an ossified situation. Life just plods on, we'll just pay more. Indeed, some people just "throw money around" these days, in ways that would have been unheard of in a previous time. My dad could weigh in.

 

Addendum: Some big shot on Yahoo! News today advised on how people waste so much money. He talks about coffee from specialty places. We could make our own coffee at home, he argues. Well of course we could. He talked about professional people who buy lunch downtown but who could bring a lunch from home instead. The guy giving advice is probably well-to-do. He is trying to advise people who are not ignorant, who really understand what they are doing, and they want the things that they are paying for. One solution might be to reduce the gap between rich and poor! But oh my God, the big shot would find that anathema to every bone in his body! He feels threatened. He thinks the regular folks just need to "economize." Well, he can go sit under a cow.

 

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

Some of us are outside Thanksgiving traditions

(wiki fandom image)

The guy on KFGO Radio this morning gave a special thanks to those who were tuning in on this holiday of Thanksgiving. There's a presumption that everyone is focused on the family gatherings with the mountains of home-prepared food. Is it a mere myth that we all observe the holiday in this fashion? 

Thanks to the KFGO personality for apparently recognizing that we don't all fall into the same pattern. Because all of us certainly do not. 

I thank Caribou Coffee along with the Fargo radio station. Caribou can be a godsend when the alternatives are closed up. Yes I could get food off the shelves at Willie's and bring it home to eat anytime. But it's nice to get out and be around some other people for at least a small part of the day. Our restaurant choices in Morris have become more limited. DeToy's has been closed in the evening hours for a long time now. One gets the impression that is permanent. It is closed for Thanksgiving but not for Easter. Closed! 

You should realize that the slowdown for holidays creates an inconvenience and can even be a source of depression for many. We can get depressed when we realize this holiday "ideal" of how things are supposed to be: big family gatherings and home-prepared food. It's not an option for many of us. 

I was lucky this morning getting to Caribou at about 7:15 before anyone was ahead of me. Their breakfast sandwiches were in stock. That is not always the case. I was fortunate and got an early-morning meal. That gets me through the day. I am not complaining. I feel fine. I am blessed by having had a very good doctor visit on Tuesday. My numbers from "labs" were good, better than I might have expected. Praise God. 

But Thanksgiving with its assumptions about how to spend the day can weigh on a lot of us. I saw people in the line at Caribou that likely were in a position like mine. Just finding the means for a little sustenance outside of the "model" of the big family gathering with turkey in the oven etc. And bless all these people. 

 

Faith Lutheran Church

A super service

I attended the Wednesday night church service at Faith Lutheran. What an eye-opener that was and I am not exaggerating. Such tremendous vitality in that church, congratulations to them. It is one of two ELCA churches in town, whereas we only should have one. 

ELCA churches have been through shrinkage and duress over the last period of our history. I'm sure you are aware of the catalyst for that: gay rights. And this is nothing but unfortunate because the community benefits from strong churches. 

My ELCA church of First Lutheran had some very feeble attempts at a Thanksgiving service - a mere handful of people showing up, a token effort from the front of the sanctuary. So we bailed on this for 2023. Our bulletin of last Sunday made clear we'd be welcome at the Faith Lutheran service. 

I expected Faith's service to be better than the one we had been attempting at First. But I was shocked at how much better it was, the total commitment and enthusiasm, the substantial turnout, all the young families with children. Amazing. So to the extent that the ELCA has been on the ropes - and it still is - Faith Lutheran in Morris is surviving it all quite nicely. 

Is the ELCA making adjustments to try to survive, to get its ship righted? I can only speculate. I would guess that behind closed doors, people are saying "of course we recognize gay rights and absolutely do not wish to countenance discrimination. How could a Christian possibly be hard on someone for a trait that they appear to have been born with? But let's put on the brakes: Let's acknowledge that sexual orientation of any kind should not be up-front in our church doings. Let's 'zip it' and focus on the truly spiritual things, or as they say, 'the gospel.' "

 

Put it on shelf

We don't need ELCA pastors even reminding us of what the ELCA has been through, this acknowledgement of "gay rights." It is simply an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people, most of whom project a good grasp of fairness. People needn't retreat from our ELCA churches to find "refuge" in places like Good Shepherd Church, a church that appears to have been created in reaction to gay rights and other "liberal" impulses. 

So, Good Shepherd and so many other churches of its ilk have pews filled with the kind of people who consume Fox News. They enjoy watching TV with Donald Trump speaking at one of his "rallies," lashing out with so much ferocity at so many people, even people who formerly worked with him. Some of these people may have their lives endangered, may need special security precautions. This is what Christianity has stooped to in the year 2023? 

And our current congressperson Michelle Fischbach may not be "conservative" enough? Say it ain't so. But I think it may well be so. She is being primaried from the right. The guy challenging her has made less than generous comments about her, a fellow Republican. Maybe people will vote for him because he's a man. Just saying. So let's have a nationwide abortion ban? And this is more important than the gospel? Is this more important then reading Jesus Christ's own words? These are words that often have a "liberal" quality. 

Some pastors are now scared to even quote Christ in certain ways. They do not want to be accused of running a "woke" church. They've been influenced by Tucker Carlson and others. I have actually followed Carlson for years, noticed early-on that he is nothing but an opportunist. Loves the TV camera. 

I can't expect everyone to pay as much attention to the media as I do. I don't have cable or satellite TV but I have access to all the shows through YouTube. I have friends or former friends who reject me out of hand with insults if they think I like a single program coming from MSNBC. MSNBC has a liberal reputation but I find their opinions/analysis to always be grounded in demonstrable fact. 

On the conservative end of things, it's obvious that emotions rather than facts rule. 

I can state this in today's post here without fear of being called names, in effect spit at. 

So I try to cling to my First Lutheran Church of Morris even though we're in the fragile and weakening ELCA. Maybe Faith Lutheran is emerging as an outlier. The pastor there Wednesday night shared totally wholesome and uplifting messages, nothing political and nothing about "rights" for aggrieved people. There is a place for that. Basic gay rights is really a no-brainer. But it is not the place for church leaders to talk it up so much. 

 

First Lutheran Church

Days numbered for First?

Does my First Lutheran actually have a death wish? I'm serious here. We became known a while back for being 100 percent supportive of the Palestinians even as those people were making arguments about Israeli "oppression." Maybe I actually agree with some of these arguments. But if you want a church to fade fast or to be wiped out, just keep talking up the Palestinian position from over there, or talking up gay rights at length. 

I can't complain about First Lutheran recognizing climate change.

Maybe we should just go ahead and close our doors. My late parents were active in First Lutheran Church when it was the most mainstream institution you could imagine, even conservative. This was conservatism in the days before Fox News and certainly before Donald Trump and MAGA.

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

Troubled community, troubled church, troubled USA

The Norman Rockwell ideal

Wednesday is Thanksgiving eve. It's a stepping-off point for the Christmas holiday season. We used to have a community Thanksgiving meal at the Catholic Church, was a grand event for a long time. What happened? Well, what happened to Prairie Pioneer Days? We no longer deem community events as being worthy of continuing. People "get away to the lake" in summer and "go to the Cities" for outings the rest of the year. 

People associated with UMM can be so transitory. I question whether it's good to even get to know these people. We had two choir directors at First Lutheran Church over the past few years who were a delight to get to know, then "poof" they're gone. UMM is like a way station for these people - fine in the short term because of a lack of options at the time. Then they move on. 

I used to think it was OK to start listening to Christmas music right after Thanksgiving. Later I moved the timetable later. Is there less Christmas spirit now? The Christian faith is not so dominant now. The Christian faith is being tossed and turned by what has happened in politics. That trend never abates. 

My church of First Lutheran was very up-front in showing sympathy for the Palestinian people for a long time. While I would not put this forward as a high priority for church, I would not really object to it. I mean, if facts clearly show the Palestinians are suffering because of Israel, there ought not be countering of facts. None of us should feel content about the persecution of a people. Or am I off-base here? 

The turbulence surrounding Israel creates arguments that are unresolvable. I wish Israel would just go away. Why are so many of us so eager to have a bond with a religious-based nation, the "Jewish state?" Oh, I'm anti-Semitic, am I? Not only am I not anti-Semitic, I don't understand what the basis for anti-Semitism is. Only in vague terms might I understand that, like with the idea that Jewish people are good with money? They're very smart and ambitious? They value education? Is it the naive part of me that asks "aren't these in fact good traits?" 

I have written previously that I would love to be accepted as a "Jewish intellectual." There is a cynical but very honest base to their thinking, rather in line with how I am reputed to think. I love honesty, candor and a keen insight. Thus we see Jews engaging in satirical humor a lot. Yours truly appreciates the attitude. But I cannot accept the religious nation-state of Israel. 

I agree fully with the late famous journalist Helen Thomas, a pioneer for her gender, who said of the Jews of Israel that they should "go home." "Go back to Europe," she pleaded. 

 

Adjustment?

I am guessing that some of my fellow congregants at First Lutheran have insisted that we at least tone down our sympathy for the Palestinians. I would guess there's a push to eliminate that priority of ours. Maybe it's already too late and we've lost even more viability. It's challenging enough that we are in the ELCA which has gone through great adversity generated by gay rights. 

What about gay rights? I think most of us think reasonable gay rights is most defensible. Just on the basic moral criterion. We want fairness and non-discrimination. But the issue surfaced and "metastasized" at one time. Became an overzealous cause? Well, such I am implying. 

We are all being judged. Gays are not perfect people just as none of us are perfect. They can "come out of the closet" but they can also make an effort to blend in with the rest of us. 

I will wager we don't hear any more pro-Palestinian thoughts at my First Lutheran Church. I could be wrong so I shouldn't wager. It has gotten so bad now that if you espouse any sympathy for the Palestinian people, there are people out there who will point fingers and call you "terrorist sympathizers." 

People my age are sick of hearing about Israel and its problems. 

The muppets' take

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) is one of those rare occasions where my First Lutheran will have a joint event with Faith Lutheran. These are the two ELCA Lutheran churches in town. The separate churches would never be created today. But the two are working to survive today in a time when the ELCA has lost so much ground. We are "liberal" or so the image gets presented. And I guess we are, based on how most of rural western Minnesota has taken on the tone of conservatism or beyond conservatism. 

Our congressperson is going to be primaried "from the right." Do not bet against any Republican that mounts a challenge from the right. Any Republican's biggest fear is being challenged from the right. 

So we have the challenge here from a guy who openly talks down Michelle Fischbach, who herself is an election denier, or who has at least shown behavior that would indicate she's an election denier. She voted against certifying the 2020 election results. And that's not good enough by the standards of western Minnesota now? So we're an extension of the Dakotas? 

Fischbach's challenger says the incumbent has done certain things merely for "keeping her job," the insinuation goes. So I take that to mean Fischbach might work across the aisle just a little sometimes. I mean, for the sake of getting things done for the people. That objective has to be figured in sometimes IMHO. But the steamroller of MAGA makes itself felt increasingly. "Nationwide abortion ban." That sort of thing. And this must sell from the pulpit of most Stevens County churches. 

 

Schools, pay heed

Again, our public schools should stop designating Wednesday as church night, if the objective of church now is pure politics. Pure right wing politics or MAGA politics. Open up Wednesdays for regular school activities like sports and music. Oh what a breath of fresh air that would be. 

Pastors are learning that it's risky to quote Jesus Christ himself sometimes, like from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus could sound a little Bernie Sanders-ish sometimes. Most people out here are more infuriated by that than anything. 

Republicans like Mike Lee want a literal end for Social Security. So what's to become of older Americans? To be taken care of hopefully by their adult children? That is how it used to be. Senior citizens used to live in fear. So we want to resurrect that? Is this what the older parishioners of our western Minnesota churches really want? Do you think Lee really cares about you? Or might his priority be to keep taxes low for wealthy Americans, for multi-national corporations? Wink. Don't you see? Well, I don't think you do. 

Most of you are still so upset over gay rights, you have allowed our ELCA churches to almost die - you flock instead to churches like Good Shepherd. And because this is an issue you have never been able to handle, you have signed on to the whole Steve Bannon agenda. I see no reversal in these trends out here. 

So for that reason, I am feeling zero Christmas spirit in 2023. I have had a good life. I am prepared for the U.S. as we've known it to devolve into a full-on Fascist dictatorship. You all seem to want this. You may vote out Michelle Fischbach. I'll just try to get by for as long as I can.

 

Addendum: So the Pentagon cannot account for $3.8 trillion? Where did the money go? And yet if I ask for an appointment with a dietician when I visit SCMC today, I may end up getting a letter from Medicare saying the claim is denied. Well, this is the kind of USA you apparently want, even you older Americans who need some assistance. Just keep waving your MAGA flags. Go get those "libs." You are lemmings.

 

Addendum #2: I must have guessed five times at spelling of "metastasizing" before I looked it up.

 

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

Photo reminds of the caregiving/watchfulness

Bittersweet to look at the photo above. Shows my late father Ralph as he was coming down the home stretch of life. Maybe taken at Prairie Pioneer Days? I was made aware of the photo just recently. The person who shared it says it's from a YouTube post called "Morris Minnesota - Our Town." He said it's about 15 years old. So yes my father had entered the final stages of life. You see me in photo getting close to communicate with him, something I did for both Mom and Dad. I was probably unaware of the photo being taken. Pleasant surprise to see it now, although yours truly doesn't look the best. That's OK. I probably had untreated diabetes for a long tine. 

 

Both my parents lived out their lives at our Northridge Drive residence. Both passed away at home with me very close by. Mom had a stay of about five weeks in a nursing home toward the end: in Barrett. Dad never stayed in a nursing home although looking back, he certainly had to have been considered. 

I have abundant time to reflect now. I realize I was taking more risks than I realized - risks that something bad could happen to my parents where I might be suspected of negligence. People around age 90 become so frail and vulnerable. Dad was 96 when he died, Mom 93. Mom nearly made it to 94. So both of them did very well on balance. 

I remember one day our church nurse called to sort of feel me out on how things were going. She wanted confirmation of whether my parents were getting enough to eat. Well without a doubt they were, so in a very relaxed way I tried explaining that to her. Mom got thin toward the end and it wasn't for lack of available food. At the very end of her life I was getting a chicken spread sandwich from the Willie's deli almost daily. I knew she would eat that, or at least half of it. She'd hand me the other half and I would object to no avail. So I'd finish it for her. 

A diet with "variety" for Mom would have been ideal on principle. Only in principle. She avoided eating many things, for example ham. We'd be at a funeral where ham buns were served. I did get a little upset at her reluctance. I'd be thinking "Mom it's free food." But I had to accommodate her. 

Both my parents liked cold cereal in the morning and that made my job pretty routine. Dad liked Raisin Bran while Mom had regular bran flakes. My parents were loyal to our now-defunct Morris Senior Citizens Center for many years. So that most certainly took care of lunch except for Saturday and Sunday. Soup and sandwiches often did the job for the evening meal. I liked to get canned pears and peaches too. 

 

A throwback?

So we had a "church nurse" back then. I was questioning the need for such a thing even then. While I spoke pleasantly with this person, I was a little taken aback by the phone call. The only "nurses" we need are those working with our health care system IMHO. Nurses who come forward from churches can come across as busybodies. 

Our home hospice nurse said of Mom that she maybe had a distended stomach. Mom did in fact have a variety of health issues which I guess should have concerned me, worried me more than they did. And I say that from the standpoint of looking out for my own interests. Not that that was top-of-mind. In fact I'm only realizing now that it was not a paramount concern of mine. 

I realized that my parents would want to stay in our precious home indefinitely. I was able-bodied and able to look over them quite well. But nobody lives forever. Many of us break down in ways that call for extraordinary intervention. In Mom's case, five weeks or so at the Barrett facility. I was a little unhinged for some of that time, frustrated over how her condition had come to that, wondering what all I could do, if anything. 

 

Resliience

Mom always claimed she was a "tough Swede." So I figure that's how she climbed out of that calamity and was able to come back home for a full year in fact. God bless Knute Nelson Home Hospice.

Dad as seen in UMM's first year

Because I lived full time with both parents, I had a hard time noticing their rate of decline. I saw them all the time. I do know I should have acquired a wheelchair sooner. It's tough to accept that, but you need to be tough and take the step, i.e. the loss of pride your parents might feel. Obviously I should have ignored that thought. 

But a wheelchair did eventually come on the scene, first for Dad and then after his passing, for Mom, who used to be "famous" for her rapid gate as she crossed the UMM campus doing business as the campus post office manager. 

Ah, the days of mail before electronic communications! Imagine living without electronic communications. Young people might ask "how did you do it?" To which people my age say "we just did." 

Our wheelchair was actually a "transport," the kind with the small wheels where someone else does the propelling. My father never took to a walker.

Mom lost strength after a bout of pneumonia. She lost mental sharpness at the same time. A loss of mental sharpness can show itself in many ways with variance of severity and consistency. 

People who thought Mom's condition was really grave should have been around her at about 10 a.m. when she was pretty relaxed and lucid. Then I learned the term "sundowning." Because Mom quite definitely showed the condition, apparently common among the elderly: restlessness and unease toward the end of the day. Then in the tranquil morning, everything was quite fine. How exhilarating as I awoke to such mornings. Then the daily "routine" awaited. 

I'm told that when you're in a nursing home, everything is on schedule every day like pill-taking. Same thing at every time each day! 

I remember looking Mom in the eye toward the end of her stay in Barrett, asking her if she wanted to go home or to maybe stay longer. She most definitely responded "yes" on going home but at the same time, said she'd miss all the people at Barrett. I'd miss them too. But spending a lot of time in a nursing home is a difficult thing because of the deteriorating and precarious condition of so many. Well that's the way it is - that's why we have nursing homes. I have suggested that it's impossible to present a comfortable life for so many of these people. 

My biggest concern about Mom staying longer in Barrett was that she'd refuse food because she had objections to so many kinds of food. The "variety" in the dining room was great in theory, not advantageous for Mom. I knew if I brought her home, I would carefully select certain food items where I knew the odds were high she would eat, like the chicken spread sandwiches from Willie's. And only half the sandwich. She would eat a Hostess cupcake if I offered it. 

 

Inevitability

In the end despite our best efforts, our bodies do fail us. It's just a question of when and how. Caregivers take substantial risk because we'll have to answer for everything we did. Maybe I knew the risk but forged ahead anyway. So I figured "if you want to blame me for something, go ahead. I'll be at your mercy, I don't care." 

 

The legacy

I keep the memory of my parents alive with a fund named for them at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Dad was a founding faculty member at UMM and was the only music faculty in the institution's first year. He directed the first-ever UMM concert which was at the Morris armory, where the public library is now. The concert was for Stevens County 4-H. Dad had the band perform his own "UMM Hymn." 

The numbers for band were higher than what the institution expected.

We have a family scrapbook that shows Dad was really kind of a big shot in Twin Cities music in the 1950s.

 

For want of some pills

Mom and Dad could have gotten in trouble because they didn't supervise me well enough. They had a neighbor girl babysit me just once, as I recall. It was Janet Holt. There's a good chance she told my parents I was too much to watch over. 

Today I would be put on behavior meds, no doubt about it. The kind of meds that basically work as a tranquilizer. But such pills weren't a common thing. We lived with each other's shortcomings more. In school the problem kids got "mainstreamed." Get them through the system and hope they can hold their own in the world that awaits. 

Do I resent having been mainstreamed? Well I guess to an extent I do. But I did not get drafted and sent to Vietnam.

 

Signed, sealed, delivered

I recently added a thousand dollars to the Ralph and Martha Williams Fund at UMM. I shared an update on the Fund with a friend:

 

Warmed my heart yesterday to get a nice big envelope in mail "report on endowments from the U." Nice big sheet of paper headlined Ralph and Martha Williams Fund. So we are not forgotten. The principal value as of June 30, 2023, is $30,743. "This fund provides support to the Music Discipline at the University of Minnesota Morris to enhance the experiences and opportunities available. It was established to honor and extend the Williams family's deep ties to the U of M Morris community and generations-long belief in the importance of music."

 

Headwinds

I realize these are not hearty days for our UMM. Quite to the contrary based on available evidence. I feel the school can hang on if for no other reason than it serves the Native Americans. 

The Williams Fund is devoted to music. So I certainly hope that aspect of campus life hangs on. But I do wonder a lot these days. 

 

Hey, the public school too!

I try to be a benefactor for the public school music program too. I owe something to that. I was able to see the world at age 17 thanks to my involvement in music. Was able to perform at Royal Albert Hall, London, England, in summer of '72. It doesn't get more exciting than that. 

I met with our high school band director Wanda Dagen Tuesday afternoon, supporting the planned spring trip with a $ contribution. My plan is to visit the school office on Friday to submit a 4-figure check. Looks like the destination will be New Orleans. I encourage others to chip in, reduce the burden on the kids some of whom might face $ stresses. If we can't help a project like this, what is there?

Wanda said the preferred destination might be Washington D.C. but a problem with that is the possibility of a government shutdown. So many Republicans in Congress (my comment). 

Some people might think I'm contributing because I have some personal affection for Wanda. I can categorically deny that. Well, maybe not categorically.

 

Consider attending the MAHS school musical! Here's the poster. 

 

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

U of M needs nudge to get more fired up?

Ken Powell: not thinking on his feet

It feels odd thinking back to how standards were set so high for my work in my old Sun Tribune days. 

Do you still remember the Sun-Trib name? From the days when the paper published twice weekly? And I was never given a sense that my performance was good enough. 

I remember having a chat with a fellow Morris native who I'd known in school here and was in the newspaper business, Southern Minnesota. This gentleman's name: Seth Schmidt. The two of us played French horn together in school band. 

Seth shared with me a distinguishing trait of having an occupation like ours: "It feels like your work is never done."

I eventually left the Morris paper because too many work pressures were building up. It was an unavoidable decision. My angle for bringing this up today? It is not to make a point about the newspaper/media field. Rather, the point is irony. We in Minnesota have the highly important institution called the University of Minnesota. We have dozed into complacency in the sense we accept unstable or "interim" leadership so much. The periods become extended. 

Common sense suggests that leading the U in an effective, hard-nosed manner is elementary. A person is at the top who should be invested in the mission. The last "permanent" president of the U was permanent in name only IMHO. I shouldn't have to add "IMHO" but it's my old journalist's impulses (cover your back). 

The U board of regents has been through an obvious shakeup which makes us wonder why it came to that. The chief Minnesota newspaper could not come out and say "shakeup" but the conclusion seemed rather to shout at us. A fellow last name of Powell did not pass muster. 

Many of us in Morris were shocked and taken aback when Powell did not have an immediate proper rejoinder to the inappropriate Sviggum comment. Why did Sviggum stick his neck out at all? My, it was because of our little ol' U of M-Morris campus. Called "UMN" now? 

I have said all along that Sviggum had a valid point he wanted to make. But he chose language along the lines of racism - really truly he did - instead of merely talking about how a good idea - diversity - can get gummed up by Byzantine guidelines. 

We're hopeless if we don't all agree that "diversity" is fundamentally good. But we needn't talk about it so much! Or, like academicians are wont to do, "preach" about it. Talk down to the regular people, who really do have more good sense than academics think. 

So all the preaching we once heard emanating from UMM on gay rights caused a backlash. Not that people out here in the hinterlands really want to see gay people in the closet or marginalized. No, it's a matter of personal modesty, how people don't want matters of sex in our faces. 

So I think Sviggum and his constituency would have disapproved of the crusading nature of it all. I have posited that basic gay rights was on its way whether UMM made a fuss out of it or not. 

Torrey Westrom? I think he is totally kin with Sviggum on these matters. 

I will suggest that Sviggum is fundamentally smart and wise. But he sees a college's mission in a different way from many in academia's rarefied air. Let's look at it another way: UMM has shifted its priority toward "grievance majors." Again, is it necessary to assume such a proselytizing tone with the implied suggestion that the outside world needs straightening out? Because, people can obviously be offended by that. Offended more than the academic types might realize. 

Westrom would be more guarded in his words than Sviggum. 

So the U board of regents had some turbulent times. Powell is out. 

The headlines screamed that "Sviggum resigns" but at the time he did not actually resign - I mean he did not resign from the board, and shame on the state's media for misleading us all. Sviggum resigned only as vice chair. 

Powell? He should have felt the immediate obligation to assert that Sviggum's comment on UMM was out of school. Nothing to be taken personally. It simply had to be said. Sviggum could have crafted an appropriate apology, one of those where he says "what I really meant. . ." 

Maybe he ended up saying something like that, I don't recall. I'm not going to hold his comment against him because I think in his own mind, he was oriented in a different way. 

 

UMM and the Natives

Maybe we don't need a collection of policies related to diversity. Well, one very pregnant one at UMM is the free tuition thing for "Native Americans." Surely if the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action is to be interpreted properly, this policy should be immediately overturned, unless it's based on a real "treaty."

If UMM gets a pass on this, how much teeth does the court's decision have? Academic people would be great at doing end runs around such things - sleight of hand with the language, wink. 

We'll probably stick to our status quo here at UMM because it's in line with the "grievance majors." Such majors might have been cute for a time. Times change. 

 

It was anathema

The founders of UMM fought tooth and nail against the idea of a "community college" here, then called "junior colleges." What's in a name? Realistically not very much. But remember the big push by so many colleges to shed the "college" term to become "universities?" They thought the marketing would be more effective, pilgrims. But today? A sage friend of mine asserted that "college" might be a preferred term to "university." 

We'd like to see more activity here

And what of the community college concept? Would that be any less desirable than the state that UMM is in now? 

I'll be blunt: the campus seems almost dormant at times. It's not just me thinking that. I overheard some guys at the restaurant just yesterday. They talked about how we once had students all over the place. They talked about how UMM's athletic teams once seemed so impressive, and how today "we're playing the Little Sisters of the Poor." 

Why in all of God's creation are we having to schedule football games against a little no-name liberal arts school from way down in Missouri? Contradicts basic good sense. Missouri? We used to play the likes of Moorhead State and St. Cloud State and others of that standing. We know all about those places. We had teams that could beat these schools. Our football team beat Northern Iowa. I personally went out to Ithaca NY to cover the Cougars in the NCAA Division III playoffs. 

Maybe we didn't know how good we had it. 

I will share here an email I sent to a friend the other day. It sheds more light:

 

I had my fingers crossed behind my back when I stated that I was done with the U of M Foundation. I will be mailing a $1000 check but I'll mail it to the Twin Cities address, because I don't trust the keystone cops here in Morris. My envelope is all prepared. I do this because blood is thicker than water - it's the family fund. If I get a tax benefit, authorities must assume the $ is going to do some good. If not, we have a lousy system.

In the last 4-5 years I have made a smaller contribution to the WCROC Hort. Garden. I was prepared to do that also, but I just read their fundraising letter that they send out this time of year. Very, very strange: they more or less admit things are going to heck out there and they cite lack of finances as a reason! If you are trying to raise money, don't ever admit that things are going to heck. I could show you the letter if you like. I was pretty well set to write my usual check but now I just can't. I wonder if the letter is more evidence that the U's operations in Morris are really on the skids! What do you think?

 

Public school becomes germane too

Sometimes I get my point across better in emails than straight journalism. So in the spirit of that, I will share also a portion of an email I sent to Mary Holmberg of our public school. There is crossover between the school and UMM with our athletic facilities. I start out talking about my raison e'etre, the media.

 

I won't be able to blog quite as much about Tiger athletics now that Brett Miller has left the radio station. He put a lot of helpful info on the station's website. We don't get any details in the West Central Trib anymore. When the Tigers play a team that the WC Trib covers, we always see "stats not available" for MACA. I have the belief that if our coaches would call in, the paper would accept them and take notes. The Morris paper does not use its website at all for timely MACA sports coverage, instead it's all UMM and I mean almost 100 percent. I find that strange.

That day when I saw you and Mary Ashe outside the softball complex and we talked briefly, that was the day when I began to sense that the complex was not shaping up like I expected. The complex is on my daily walking route.

When I see fans sitting out by the outfield fence, I wonder if this is really where they want to sit. Everyone has to bring their own chairs. This after all the hype of the new "complex?" There's only a small space behind home plate where fans can sit and see whole field.

I feel sorry for fans who try to watch from outside of third base. Not a quality view from there at all. I assume it's the same on the first base side. The old UMM field had a lower fence so an adult of average height could see over the fence from anywhere around the perimeter, as I often did.

I wonder if the new higher fences are required to protect fans from getting struck by hard-hit foul balls? Especially in this age when people are looking down at their phones? Always worries about liability.

I have blogged with great emphasis on how Morris should try to get an inflatable cover for Big Cat Field like St. Cloud State has. If we had that, the softball games could start right after basketball, guaranteed. I think that would be very nice. I have seen the softball Cougars play at Big Cat the way it is now, and I asked my UMM contacts if the high school could do the same. I was told "yes" but I don't know about that. I was surprised how effective Big Cat was for softball, would be neat to see the Tigers there for 2-3 games. Super for fans too!

 

Don't be caught napping

People say I'm "negative" when I really just feel I need to be straightforward. So I'll share further: I notice that the little dirt parking area for the softball complex has a sign at the entry making clear it is to be considered a UMM lot with the permit required. Really? I thought the complex was a joint venture in which UMM was just a partner. But UMM gets to put up this sign which indicates it expects money from people parking there? 

Maybe the revenue should be divvied up some. See? The athletic facilities out by the UMM campus come to be seen as UMM facilities. That's why the "Minnesota Scores" website announces upcoming Tiger football games as being at "UM-Morris." Big Cat is a joint facility. I have inquired with my main UMM contact person about whether MACA softball has equal access to Big Cat in spring. I have seen Cougar games played there very successfully. My contact person replied in the affirmative. What else could this person say? "No, we're stiffing the public school." 

No, I'm not betting that Tiger softball would really have access for spring games when the "complex" has too much snow and mud or whatever. The high school softball season can get compressed down to as little as one month. I am greatly disappointed that our Morris Area school board suckered for the softball complex. The City of Morris at least got smart when the promoters came around asking for more money. The city said "no" and I assume they have stuck to their guns on that. 

 

U should be gung-ho

The U of M needs a leader who steps right in with enthusiasm and a long-term commitment, to work very hard to ensure that UMM has its best mission. The standards for performance ought to be at least as high as for me when I was at the Morris newspaper. Don't hold your breath on that. 

The UMM goalpost incident of 2005 proved to be my downfall at the Morris newspaper. 

I will quote from one more email I sent yesterday:

 

To (name withheld) - Did the Morris paper publish a correction on the spelling of the chancellor's name?

I put check in mail this morning for $1000 to support Ralph and Martha Williams Fund. UMM has an address on the Twin Cities campus and that's where I sent it. Check is made out to U of M Foundation like always.

Maybe the main reason I did this was it increases the odds I'll get a Christmas card from the U. I hardly get any other Christmas greetings, maybe none at all. The last two years, I emailed my cousin Debbie in Hawaii and she did not answer. She's from the family where we got separated from them for many years, due to ugly divorce of parents. My aunt could have gotten killed. Debbie is my age.

Well, at least I send her Xmas message. She is not on the island that had the big fire. I emailed her brother Kenny right away about that.

So if I get a Xmas card from the U, I can prop that up on my main table in the house. That might be the extent of my celebration of Xmas this year. 

However, I am cheering up rapidly because yesterday's elections turned out to be a big loser for the MAGA crowd. I have been waiting for America to get over that. If I see more encouraging signs, I will have a Christmas song recorded next year.

Overheard the gang at DeToy's this morning - Dean Monson et al. - talking about how strange it is that UMM has become so dead. Dean was saying "there used to be students everywhere." I walked over to those guys and told them about how "real" enrollment is only about 500. Dean said our sports teams used to be so impressive, but now "we play the Little Sisters of the Poor." That is very true.

In the letter that I sent today to the U, I included a note about how I hope that the new long-term U president will take a hard look at UMM. It's a nice campus and it ought to amount to something.

I'm getting sick of all this "interim" leadership, both for the U of M and for First Lutheran Church. We haven't even found an interim pastor yet. 

 

Addendum: I don't have a prayer for typing "proselytizing" without having to look up the spelling. Give me five guesses and I still can't nail it. It's the same for "hemorrhaging."

 

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