Easter approaches and we cheer for Hawkeyes

Caitlin Clark, U of Iowa (espn image)

Headline from "Hawk Fanatic" on Feb. 29: "Iowa women destroy Minnesota 108-60 as Caitlin Clark surpasses Lynette Woodard in career scoring."

Easter of 2024 is a week away. Our Willie's grocery store is holding firm by being closed the full day. I wonder how much longer this will continue. What does Easter mean most for you? The "correct" answer would be on religious terms. For me, the approaching Easter means we are within a week of the "Sweet 16" for the women's NCAA basketball tournament. Which normally would not mean much for me. In a normal year my interest would be no greater than for the men's tournament. Might be less in fact. 

Women's Division I college basketball is nothing new. But it has taken a step forward in the current season. It's not surprising that a single individual can be the catalyst for this. Look what Mark McGwire meant to major league baseball in helping bring fan interest back after the labor action hiccup. Sammy Sosa was the secondary catalyst. And it worked, as I would most readily admit as someone who became kind of transfixed. 

At present? I'll be saying "happy Easter" with thoughts of the Iowa basketball star dancing in my head. She is surely the prime Easter weekend highlight for yours truly. And if Willie's were to be open on Sunday, I might purchase a chocolate bunny there. The religious component of Easter may well trouble you. Hey, you may not be a Christian. You may be a Christian, as yours truly seeks to profess, but are alienated by the extreme violence of the crucifixion. Who wants to hear about literal torture? Hey, I don't forget. 

I'd prefer my chocolate bunny but you know what? I could not do this because of my diabetes. I have been under that (cloud of a) diagnosis for about a year. But most likely I've had the condition for a considerable time. It was pinpointed when I needed emergency treatment for something else. In case you aren't aware, you're curious I'm sure so I'll disclose an incarcerated hernia. I got through all of that quite satisfactorily. Dr. Sam is a saint. 

 

The dietary regimen

I have adjusted my lifestyle some but not to the degree that it could be declared perfect. I have seen the tongue-in-cheek advice that "the best diabetic diet is to eat nothing." Quite impracticable. I still have not sampled "kiwi fruit" or avocados. My doctor suggests blueberries, but I read that a large percentage of that is simply water. I need sustenance. But I cannot grab the chocolate bunny at Willie's, shoot. 

The late Willie Martin once kept his grocery store closed every Sunday. He said it was "the Lord's Day." Bless his memory. But I'm afraid his principles were rather stuck in Norman Rockwell times. The percentage of "nones" in the population grows all the time. "Nones" have no association with organized religion. I would not brand them "atheist." My own thinking gravitates sometimes to the values of many of our Native Americans. They have faith in "the creator." Hard to deny that. 

Outside of that, we can build our own framework of basic ethics starting with "treat others the way you would want to be treated." 

 

Hard to wrap arms around

Christianity sort of threatens us: Believe in this dude named Jesus Christ who was son of God and sent to "die for our sins." Then, if you find some way to "have faith in him" - not sure how to wrap my arms around that - well then you are set for "eternal life." So all the human beings on Earth before the time when Christ was nailed up on the cross were condemned to damnation? Because Christ had not died for their sins yet? 

I sometimes view the Christ story as "bad science fiction." 

Whiz with the basketball (Wall Street Journal)

But one thing we all know is very real now: the superstar of the University of Iowa women's basketball team has taken the sport to a new level for women. And while we're at it, a tip of the hat to her whole team. We don't sense a trace of jealousy on the Iowa team. Some of Caitlin's teammates like Kate Martin are growing to become household words. 

So let's all focus on the entrancing Iowa Hawkeyes with Sweet 16 weekend approaching. I prefer that term over "Easter weekend" especially with Donald Trump trying to draw parallels between himself and Jesus Christ. Yes he has done that. In ordinary times we would all proclaim that to be a perversion. But in our times of 2024, Trump is poised to perhaps become U.S. president again. He might even be the slight favorite. 

Our congressperson Michelle Fischbach will be championing Trump. Ms. Fischbach voted not to certify the 2020 election results. She showed apparent sympathy for the attempt to violently overthrow the U.S. government. Yes, a Republican thought that way. So much for patriotism. 

But let's put that aside. 

Let's put aside the horrible violent imagery of the Christ crucifixion. Mel Gibson may have given us that problem. So many of us get fooled by Hollywood and by Trump, when we should just have the proper thoughts. Why is that so difficult? 

 

Get behind the Hawkeyes

Maybe you can join me in focusing thoughts on the Iowa women's basketball team. Iowa? A marquee team from Iowa? A state with no big league pro teams? Why yes, and why not? It is a total joy. Caitlin Clark is a sparkling personality in every conceivable way. Her talent is just the base. She is so intelligent, mature and charming. 

In the spirit of candor I must share the following: Some will say maybe I'm biased because she is white, as is yours truly. African Americans are awesome in the sport of basketball. There have been so many superstars. If I'm biased, maybe it's because Caitlin is an obvious female. No one would suspect her of being a "trans." Also, she has clear feminine traits as opposed to the opposite which one might suspect for an athletic superstar. If men were not still considered stronger than women, the women's ball for basketball would not be smaller. 

Such an appealing athlete, personality (espn)

How feminine is Caitlin Clark? There was a time when she might be described as a "tomboy." I suspect that's another term that may have faded. Faded due to the "political correctness" thing. Caitlin Clark would fit the basic mold for what my generation might consider a tomboy. We were not prejudiced against such girls. They simply did not back off from the rough-and-tumble world of boys activities. We could be quite fond of them. 

Maybe that's the point on which I feel rather enthralled by Ms. Clark. A tomboyish girl but obviously a girl. I'll confess to a prejudice that way. 

As for the race angle, I think a part of us is attracted to those "like us" along many lines. This is an admission on my part, admittedly crossing a line with some. I am happy for all of collegiate women's basketball. I am profoundly happy with how Iowa has helped the sport to take another significant step forward in this spring of 2024. The best evidence from me is that I have looked up when Iowa's next game is. They're playing Colorado at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Iowa has been challenged thus far in the tournament. They are beatable. I am praying they get through one more round at least. 

Chocolate bunnies! ("beaverdale confections")

Praying to the Christian God, yes, while trying to forget about the literal torture of Jesus Christ leading up to the crucifixion. Have a chocolate bunny for Easter of 2024. Tune in the Hawkeyes if you can, through some live platform in the Internet jungle. I might just have to watch post-game highlights like I did this morning (Tuesday). 

I shared about this in an email I sent to fellow UMM advocate and friend Warrenn Anderson. I share part of the email below. Some of it I withhold because of well you know.

 

Warrenn - I go to bed early so I did not follow the Iowa women's game to the end last night. I just viewed some highlights on YouTube now. Iowa could well have lost the game but they won. That's great. Women's basketball has been around for a long time but it has not had such a terrific representative as Caitlin Clark. She's even making me a fan of some of her teammates like Kate Martin. I wish them well but as they face steadily tougher opponents, we cannot assume victory. I hope they can get through one more round.

 

I have had the pleasure lately of getting caught up on Alexandria H.S. basketball. Thanks to Mark Torgerson I learned the last name of Heather Lucken now - Scholl - so I can identify her children. At first I discovered the girl and then just yesterday I checked the boys roster and discovered a Scholl on that also. Very belated. I blogged about these teams in the last week but I didn't have all the background information. I went to the "Maxpreps" site to examine the team rosters. Another surprise there: not only is a Witt coaching the boys, there are two Witt players on the team. So I just learned that yesterday.

This has been a tough winter for me to try to blog about the Morris teams. It has been much harder to find timely information. I think that's unfortunate but people tend not to listen to me when I raise issues.

Very unfortunate: I was shocked recently - really truly - by the belligerent language of Morris teachers as they get in the face of the school board. I had thought this sort of thing faded away a long time ago. I thought the system had been fixed somewhat. Looks like the most aggressive teachers' rep now happens to be the football coach. You and I ought to be concerned about this because it hearkens back to the 1980s. I guess the new agitator is Kevin Pope who happens to be the football coach. I have never met him. I had no clue, prior to the recent newspaper article, that he was so aggressive representing the teachers who of course always claim they are underpaid. 

 

I got a kick out of the school board person who suggested paying more attention to "preventative health." I suppose the health insurance premiums skyrocket. Doctors today cannot even instruct patients to lose weight. I remember reading about a lawsuit about that. So the doctors have to treat symptoms.

I am not aware of the new U of M president coming out to Morris yet. I don't think I'm on the list for getting heads-up. Michael Lackey tells me the "Degree in Three" really isn't such a unique thing for us, it's just that it is more "formalized" at UMM. Boy, I don't know - we are literally trying to sell the idea of "less is more." Actually I'm still confused about it. Yes the kids can take classes in summer but they have always been able to do that.

So refreshing this morning to watch Iowa basketball highlights instead of going through all the updates on the Trump legal matters. Why do we as a nation put up with this?

Next year I may blog regularly about Alexandria basketball if I can reliably get the info. Things may be futile for Morris basketball. Charlie Hanson had to miss the spring band trip to New Orleans. I subsidized that trip with $2000, took some pressure off the kids for doing fund-raising.

- Brian W.