MACA softball climbs to 8-1

The MACA softball express rolls along. Following the three wins the team notched on April 20, it was more of same for April 25 action. The Tigers took to the diamond Thursday to face Benson. Shall I assume Benson is still the "Braves?" Not sure what I should assume. If Benson still goes by that, it would contradict the spirit of state law. So I wonder if the P.A. announcer for Benson home games still uses the long-established nickname. 

The argument against such a name is that "Native Americans are not mascots." The matter appears to be bogged down now. Remind you of anything? Donald Trump's legal escapades maybe? Never any light at the end of the tunnel? 

People my age remember the "light at the end of the tunnel" expression from when the U.S. was involved in the Vietnam war. Don't ever bet against cynicism. I am a cynic and not necessarily proud of it. When I gather evidence to change I will change. Right now the daily headlines are an endless mish-mash about Trump, making him front and center still. 

And he would not be in this position if a whole lot of grassroots support was not available for him, like what we see in our Morris area. The current Trump trial news appears to have the MAGA crowd more agitated than usual. Will they become prone to violence? Will these people continue to fill our local church pews? Good Shepherd Church? What is all this going to do to the long-term image of Christianity? 

I happen to care about this. I write more about the political mood I sense around Morris on my "Morris of Course" companion blog site. Here is the link. Oh and thanks so much for reading, for checking in here. - BW

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/04/trump-trial-makes-local-supporters-ugly.html 

 

Tigers 15, Benson 0

I shall just refer to Benson as "the Benson softball team." Actually that's a nice way to do it, isn't it? Do we need "nicknames?" 

Benson was no match for MACA softball Thursday. Coach Mary Holmberg's Tigers took care of business most decisively. The score was 15-0 in abbreviated action. They'll go on the road next Tuesday at Litchfield. 

One-sided games are nice, right? Not so fast. Because, maybe the Tigers would benefit from playing more challenging competition. Sharon Martin told me once "we're in a weak conference." The Tigers have a pattern of doing so outstanding in the regular season but then, too often, their climb seems to be stopped prematurely in the post-season. 

The Thursday game was a perfect example of the Tigers not being tested well enough. 

Remember all the years when Benson was with Hancock in softball? I remember back in my earliest years with the Morris paper, so much talk "on the street" was how Hancock was on its last legs as a school. Such dispiriting talk. And now today, business is booming over there! 

Back when I started with the paper, the Democratic Party was strong out here. Just think! Today it is risky in the Morris area to even be known as a Democrat. "Make America great again." We'll see the flags on the back of pickups driven by the Apostolics again (the Apostolic men). All I can do is observe. 

The MACA softball Tigers scored 13 runs in the very first inning Thursday. You know what? Maybe the Benson school administration has bigger fish to fry than to fight for their school nickname. Can't their AD push for a little higher standards? 

The Tigers scored their other two runs in the second. Whew! We played errorless ball. The West Central Tribune reports that the game was played "in Morris" but I have seen the paper make mistakes with this kind of info before. 

Nora Boyle was a prime individual in our win. She pitched a three-hitter. She was only required to pitch four innings. She struck out seven batters and walked just one. The losing pitcher was Presley Nygaard. Oh, just six of the 15 runs that Nygaard allowed were earned. She struck out two batters and walked four. 

Let's move on to the hitting category. The Tigers had ten hits in all. We can count on Lauren Hottovy for pretty solid hitting. She came at Benson with two-for-two numbers. She drew a walk, scored two runs and stole two bases. 

Brianna Marty had a hit, scored twice, drove in a run and stole a base. Amaya Raths had a hit, drew a walk, stole a base, scored two runs and drove in three. Cate Kehoe hit a home run as part of a two-for-three line. She stole a base, scored two runs and drove in four. Boyle walked and drove in two runs. 

Makenzie Konz socked two triples plus she scored two runs and drove in two. Piper Swanson doubled and drove in a run. Haley Kill had a hit, stole a base, scored a run and drove in a run. Sophie Anderson stole a base and crossed home plate twice. Kaylin Steen walked, stole a base and crossed home plate twice. 

What a parade of offensive contributors! 

Benson's hits were by Mya McGeary, Paige Wrobleski and Megan Wrobleski. 

The MACA won-lost mark is a sterling 8-1. We're 5-0 in section, 5-0 in conference and 6-1 at home. I'll bet our "softball complex" is a mighty wet place today (Friday).

 

The macro picture

"Fake electors" for Trump in Arizona? Now they're indicted? When it rains it pours? Here's a comment I posted with a Yahoo! News article in the last 24 hours:

 

The Arizona news pushes all of the developments with Trump to a new level, a disconcerting and embarrassing one, as if it wasn't bad enough before. Gerald Ford responded to a situation like this with his pardon of Nixon. I feel something comparable is coming and it will be sudden, leave many people breathless. Could happen in next couple weeks. Trump will be guaranteed a reasonably comfortable life for the rest of his life. He will not be able to run for office again or even give quotes to the media again. He will agree to this if it serves his own interests, and he has always put his own interests first. A wide swath of wrongdoers will simply be set free or forgiven, the idea being they were just following Trump's wishes from the top. Outlandish? It will be interesting to see if I am right. Anything to put this whole national mess behind us. The deep state will get it done.

 

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

Tigers thump "Braves" or whoever they are

Is Benson still the "Braves?" Do the P.A. announcers there still intone that? Braves? It's contradicting the Minnesota legal intentions at the present time. But who knows? I am only wondering, asking questions.  

"Braves" or no, the Benson athletic cause was quite futile on Tuesday. Native Americans would not have wanted to answer for Tuesday's athletic performance. The action was in Benson. Their opponent was our Morris Area Chokio Alberta Tigers.

This game marked the start of a road stretch for the baseball Tigers. "Minnesota Scores" reports that we're in a series of four road contests. Sauk Centre is the foe for April 25. And then, Melrose for a doubleheader on April 30. We own a 4-4 record but are 0-4 in section. Conference play has the orange and black sitting at 2-2. At home we are 3-4. We're all hoping for continued cooperative weather. 

Click on link below to read about the MACA softball team's 14-0 win over KMS. This post is on my "Morris of Course" companion blog. Thanks for reading.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/04/lauren-hottovys-bat-packs-punch-in-14-0.html 

 

Success vs. Benson

The "Minnesota Scores" site has the MACA Tigers defeating Benson 20-0. But the West Central Tribune reports that we won 21-0. Brings back memories from when I was in the community press and I'd get game information from two different sources sometimes. And of course in many cases their information was not going to match. 

It gets to the point where you'd feel shocked if the information did match! And of course readers can be so unforgiving. Writing as I do today, online-only, if I feel I really have to make a correction, I can do it by just going in and making a change. With print it's a whole different story, so for example if you write "Human Society" instead of "Humane Society," it is there forever. 

The West Central Tribune of Willmar tells us that the Tigers had 20 hits in beating Benson. We displayed a constant onslaught of scoring runs. So let's review: three runs in the first, one in the second, two in the third, eight in the fourth and seven in the fifth. We complemented our offensive onslaught with a mere one error. 

Oh my, not only did the "Braves" have zero runs, they were held to three hits and committed seven errors. Looks like maybe the Benson school administration has bigger fish to fry than sports nickname. 

Our winning pitcher was Alex Asmus who worked 3 2/3 innings. He gave up two hits, walked no one and fanned five. Ozzy Jerome finished up with 1 1/3 innings. He was mighty effective as he set down four batters on strikes. 

The pitcher of record for Benson was Alex Claussen. 

The Tigers had a parade of offensive contributors. Let's start with Andrew Marty with three hits in four at-bats, two runs, two RBIs, a walk received and a stolen base. Riley Asmus had a two-for-four boxscore line with both his hits doubles. Riley drew a walk, scored three runs and drove in one. 

Jerome came through at two-for-five with two runs scored and three ribbies. Alex Asmus was a major force at the plate at four-for-four including two doubles and a triple. Alex scored two runs and drove in one. Also batting a thousand on the day was Owen Anderson at three-for-three including a double. Owen scored three runs, drove in one and stole a base. 

Kleindl (first name not available) scored a run and drove in one. Justin Giese had a hit in his only at-bat, plus he scored a run and drove in one. Jackson Hallman delivered two hits in as many at-bats, one a double. He drew a walk and stole a base. He scored two runs and drove in three. 

Landen Gibson had a hit, scored two runs and drove in one. Ashdon Hacker was two-for-four with a run scored and an RBI. 

Hey the individual hit totals add up to 20! Sometimes things do go right.

Benson's hits were by Alex Claussen, Garrett Lenz and Noah Grossman.

Addendum: Just to remind, the main argument against Native American-themed sports nicknames is that they suggest Natives should be mascots.

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

When grandparents depart too early

Carrie Williams

How many of you never had the opportunity to meet one or more of your grandparents? Doesn't it sort of gnaw at you - the mystery. Would I feel a true family bond with that person or not? Would it be like oil and water? Or like we're best friends? 

How would grandma or grandpa judge me? My friends know that I'm always worried about people judging me. I have to wonder if I'd click with my grandma Carrie. That's the grandma on my father's side of the family. An air of mystery has always pervaded in my head because I never got to meet her or her husband, my grandpa Martin. 

Martin and Carrie Williams of Glenwood. Actually they lived along the shoreline of Lake Minnewaska outside of town. It was not a lakes recreation type of place. My family could see the old house on many trips to Glenwood. In Glenwood we visited my uncle Howard and his wife Vi. 

My father Ralph and Howard were among five sons of Martin and Carrie Williams. Carrie obviously deserved a medal for guiding five sons to adulthood. This period of time included the Great Depression. It included the John Dillinger gangster period. Dillinger was tracked down and killed in the summer after my father's graduation from high school, 1934. Hardscrabble times for all. 

Martin was a plasterer. He died too young of course, in 1933. Upon seeing the doctor at the onset of symptoms, the doc first responded "how's your soul?" So much less that medical science could do in those days. 

Carrie lived until 1949. She was felled by a stroke. I was born in 1955. So, my father was a Depression kid and I was a boomer kid. Such a huge contrast in the tenor of the times. I was able to grow up with TV. 

The house where the Williams boys grew up is no longer there. I think I could pinpoint the place if I drove to Glenwood. There was a lot of swampy land on the other side of the highway. 

My father got attracted to music and built his professional life around that. There were many elements to it outside of his involvement here at UMM. I think he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I was not cut out for that. If I were to live life over again, I would want to try the most menial occupation beginning at age 18. Experience normal maturation and development. I can only imagine how this would have gone. A psychologist would have greatly pushed me in that direction. 

 

Haunted, perhaps

I think Martin's death was hard on my father. I had no recollection of ever visiting the cemetery in Glenwood until 2018, shortly after my mom's death. Perhaps Mom didn't want Dad to go out there. Would have made Dad distraught. Dad wasn't yet done with high school when Martin died. I heard it was a painful cancer death. I think it's likely he was exposed to materials in his occupation that led to his cancer. 

Grandma Carrie was age 63 when she died. I have a couple photos on display in my home that show her in her older years. And she looks older than 63. You might know that people tended to look older in long-ago times. So I am reminded of that. But Carrie looks so gentle and loving. 

Martin and Carrie won the highest respect in their community. But I am puzzled by how I heard such little interesting background about their personalities when I was young. I heard good things but no substantive things. No interesting stories. Outside of learning about how and when they died, there was really nothing. 

And then in communicating with my cousin Robert a few years ago, he shared with me the same observation from his perspective. Robert was the son of the oldest of the five sons, Clyde. And Robert told me that his parents never said very much about Martin and Carrie. No stories to give color to their personalities? Well I guess not. 

So I have formed some resolve, in the event I go to heaven when I die, to meet up with Martin and Carrie and really get a feel for them. Oh but my, what would they think of me? Yours truly, an indulged boomer kid who grew up in the late '50s and '60s. Look at it this way: at least I wasn't sent to Vietnam. My father was a lieutenant in the Navy in World War II. That was a necessary war, at least we seem convinced today. I don't know. 

I think Martin was a young man when his services weren't needed for the military. So fortunate. Man, to raise five sons to manhood during the challenged era that included the Great Depression! It inspires awe. But I never could meet him. Neither him nor his wife Carrie. So I have always just wondered. 

The Williams family lived between Starbuck and Glenwood. Howard's big claim to fame as an adult was to be the well-known banking big shot in Glenwood! With Glenwood State Bank. I continue to have accounts there today. I sure hope CD rates can stay reasonably high through the end of this year. Americans have pushed so hard for low interest rates. I guess they need loans. 

As for me, because I grew up in a family so strongly influenced by the Depression, I have always prioritized saving money and I have NO faith in the stock market. We'll see if my attitude is vindicated, won't we. 

I am pleased to share in the remainder of this post the newspaper obituary for my grandmother Carrie who went to her eternal rest in 1949.

 
A large number of relatives and friends of a long-time resident of this community gathered at the Glenwood Lutheran Church Friday afternoon, June 17, at 2 p.m. to pay final tribute to Mrs. Carrie Williams of Glenwood, who passed away early in the morning of Tuesday, June 14, at the Glenwood Hospital, where she had been brought immediately upon suffering a stroke. 

The master monument

The funeral service was conducted by Reverend David J. Quill. Mr. E.M. Wollan sang two solos, "O Morn of Beauty" and "Abide With Me," accompanied by Mrs. Edw. D. Smith at the organ. The church was beautiful by the many lovely floral gifts. Interment was made in the family lot in the Glenwood Lutheran cemetery. 

Casket bearers were Robert Winters, Carrol Savre, Ernest Pederson, Harvey Ellefson, Vernon Hegg and Herman Quist. 

Carrie Avdem was born in Lesja, Gulbandsdalen, Norway, Feb. 17, 1886. Her parents were Hans and Marit Avdem, who pre-deceased her. She was confirmed in the Lutheran faith in 1901 at Lesja Kirke in Norway. In the year 1905, she came to America and settled in Glenwood. She was employed in Glenwood and in Carrington ND prior to her marriage to Martin Williams of Glenwood on May 15, 1908. 

Five sons were born to their union, namely, Clyde of Duluth, a decorator; Howard, cashier of the Glenwood State Bank; Andrew of Minneapolis, who is engaged in construction work; Joseph, shop foreman of the Wright County Journal Press at Buffalo; and Ralph, one of Minnesota's contemporary composers of choral music and a teacher at the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. 

Mr. Williams was a plasterer and mason and the family made its home north of Lake Minnewaska during all the time the boys were growing up, except for about two years when they lived in the city of Glenwood. Mr. Williams passed away June 22, 1933. 

During the last few years, Mrs. Williams did nursing work in Detroit Lakes, Minneapolis and Glenwood. Besides her five sons, she is survived by six sisters and three brothers, all in Norway except Andrew Avdem of Pekin ND. Two sisters preceded her in death. She is also survived by four grandsons and one granddaughter. A second cousin, Mrs. A. Ellefson, also lives in Glenwood. 

Those from a distance who attended the funeral service were Mr. Andrew Avdem of Pekin ND, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Leonard of Minneapolis; Mr. Albin Sather and daughter Norma of Oslo MN. All of the sons of the deceased were also present. 

In her passing, Mrs. Williams leaves among her family and friends memories of many happy times enjoyed in the hospitality of their home.

"Until at last, when earth's day's work is ended,

All meet Thee in the blessed home above,

From whence Thou camest, where Thou has ascended,

Thy everlasting home of peace and love!"

 

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

Snowless winter, a Caitlin Clark spring!

A friend concluded an email to me, "you order this weather?" We must resist grousing about the weather in this second half of April 2024. Weren't we all blessed by the snowless winter? No chagrin or disputes over snow removal contracts. Our previous city manager advised "if you have a snowblower and your neighbor does not, go and blow out his driveway." 

No such issues for this past winter, no suspense about how much of the biking/walking trail would remain open. A normal winter would have us trying to speculate on when the trail would be mostly open. And then - hallelujah - when it would be totally open. It is a joy to see all the dogs out there. They have frolicked all winter. 

But on this Friday of mid-April the weather is "blah." Zero snow issues, that's for sure. Again I wonder if this is the kind of weather they have all winter in Missouri. You'd think the mild conditions relative to Minnesota would be a plus. We do not hear people raving about weather and climate of the middle portion of the U.S., though. 

I read a definitive op-ed about this once. The writer noted that if you drive through the central U.S. in winter, "you don't see anybody doing anything outside." Conditions are largely wet and with no reprieve from that. That's what we have in Morris as I write this. Dirt trails and roads are muddy. Is there anything you'd want to do outside today? I'd say no. 

The temperature of 40 degrees would be a dream in the middle of February. One might want to celebrate by taking a walk. But 40 degrees right now just has a biting quality. Seems like a no-brainer to stay indoors. 

Staying indoors means we would likely follow media. I can't really help it, as media was the raison d'etre of my active years. So I was amused reading today the comment by someone on the story of the bumbling Indianapolis newspaper columnist. The guy behaved right out of the 1970s. The event was a press conference featuring Caitlin Clark. The writer made what might be called an odd overture toward her. It violated the ethics of our present times. 

An article today shared how the violator was not new to behavior at the edge for such things. A commenter came to his defense in an odd but amusing way: "Reporters can be crazy just like the rest of us." So we're sort of a cross section? Maybe so. 

 

All hail

This indeed has been the spring of Caitlin Clark, the basketball prodigy. I have thought daily about how this prodigy truly got to top of the heap. Talented yes but she was in the NCAA Division I world where top talent is everywhere. These kids are obviously highly motivated. 

College women's basketball has been established a long time. There should have been a list of Clark-like stars by now. Fans who are intensely focused could rattle off names I'm sure. We all need to be proud of all the progress. But Clark simply soared. It was a no-brainer that "Saturday Night Live" would go after her soon after the tournament. She was such an incredibly fresh face in our pantheon of celebrities, made me rather misty, really did. 

Talented as she is, she had to have some circumstances fall in place for her. A friend pointed this out at coffee at McDonald's a few days ago. Regarding Clark's propensity for making the very long shots, my friend Dale Peterson said "her coach let her do it." Even the best athletes need a coach who gets on their side with tactics. "Other coaches wouldn't have let her do it." 

Coach Bluder, Clark ("sportico")

Or, look at it this way: What if she had missed her first 3-4 very long shots - always a possibility? Would she then have been forced into a more normal game routine? She's not particularly tall, at least she does not rely on this quality. Oh yes she's a whiz at everything including assists and having the proverbial "eyes on the back of her head." 

Wonderful. But she was playing in the Big 10. Our own Lindsay Whalen couldn't cut it as a coach in the Big 10. Many of us might now wonder if the U of M might make the climb to the rarefied air of this past winter's "Iowa women's basketball team." It was a team for the ages with players we'll all remember other than Clark. 

But therein is a paradox. We think of the likes of Kate Martin, Gabbie Marshall, Hannah Stuelke and Sydney Affolter among likely others. I'd have a hard time rattling off names of the U of M players - yes the men - outside of one or two obvious stars. And right now I could not even do the latter. 

Of course I don't have cable TV. But in spite of that shortcoming, look how well I do with names of the Iowa women. A "first." Also, a true exhibit of the strides being made by college women's basketball. 

Caitlin Clark could have been held back by a coach that was less than awestruck by her. You know how coaches can be. Persnickety? Following whims, or reacting to individual players based on personal biases not necessarily grounded in talent? Oh, some might resent sheer "star quality." "Hey, we're a team." 

Remember the assistant coach in the movie "One on One" (Robbie Benson) who gave a haymaker punch to the undersized hero player because of a perception of the player being a "hot dog?" I think there's a strain of thinking like that among coaches. "No one player is bigger than the team." Sounds passable in theory. 

But take a look at the Iowa women's basketball team: clearly a superstar and yet there wasn't a hint of internal jealousies. If this existed it was totally masked. I doubt it existed, and I think in fact Clark's celebrity quality became a rallying cry for the team. If the players knew what side their bread was buttered on, then the way was clear for them: support Caitlin, complement her. 

Remember that each of these young women had been notable in high school, a superstar shall we say. And yet they really had to shelve their ambition some when playing around Caitlin. In the long run the reward was for many of them to become "celebrities" in their own right. Kate Martin got drafted into the WNBA. I wonder if this would have happened had she not played beside Caitlin. 

Some men can't resist rating players on their "looks." Gabbie Marshall did well with that yardstick, according to what I've been able to pick up. 

Nice to see a player of color in the top list: Hannah Stuelke. 

How many women's basketball teams have established their presence like this? Iowa the first? We'll remember the players years from now - I surely will. I hope Martin makes it in the WNBA. 

OK how will Clark do? It's not a slam dunk, so to speak, that she'll do a repeat of college. Maybe she'll have to accept being more of a complementary player. 

Clark was very fortunate with her college coach Bluder. Bluder "let her shoot." Bluder let her test the percentages for making the "logo 3's." Shots from the logo on the court? You've got to be kidding. But man, Caitlin let the the ball fly. 

I submitted a comment to Yahoo! News reminding that the women's ball is smaller. I wondered how Clark would do with a men's ball. Someone responded to me by wondering how Clark would do wearing a men's-size shoe! Rimshot. But what rarefied air memories we have tucked away now. It has been the spring of Caitlin Clark just like it has been the spring of Donald Trump's "hush money trial." Only in America?

 

Addendum: On the subject of an athlete benefiting from a supportive coach, think of the exhibit which represents the opposite of that: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and early coach Norm Van Brocklin! 

 

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

MACA softball welcomes spring with 4 wins

The MACA softball Tigers have come out of the starting gate scoring lots of runs in 2024. The only blemish has been a close loss to Marshall 4-3. That game required nine innings. It was played on April 9 here. Outside of that the Tigers have been like a bulldozer getting wins. Indeed our program has a long track record of this. 

Countless highlights from over the years at least in regular season play. Very unfortunately, the Tigers have had trouble parlaying the regular season success into the desired type of post-season success. You know how it is every year around Memorial Day. And frankly I have always been surprised how the action happens on the Memorial Day weekend itself. But prep sports is highly important in the lives of the young people and their parents/fans. 

So when life around us goes quiet for the solemnity of the holiday weekend, one can still hear the cheers out and about for prep sports. A good thing? I'd say yes. 

 

Mary Holmberg

Early-bird success

The 2024 season road began with the Tigers handling Sauk Centre at Sauk. The score was 11-2 as most certainly Mary Holmberg's squad got off on the right foot. The date was April 4. It's an awfully early date to count on for having softball or baseball. This past winter was certainly nothing like the previous winter. Diametrically opposed. 

I assume the UMM softball team has not had to use Big Cat field, although that's a tremendous place for softball - I have witnessed it. I don't think the Tigers have played a game there. I inquired last year about whether MACA softball would be eligible for using Big Cat. I was told "yes." That's nice but I'm not sure I entirely believe it, sorry. 

Big Cat is fantastic for fans also. I'd say 100 percent better than the "softball complex." Of course, it wouldn't take much to outdo the softball complex in this regard. It would take almost nothing. I continue to stew about this. The Morris Area school board should have kept a closer eye on how the complex took shape, was developed. We needed a watchdog.

This issue might be small potatoes for our school board now, based on the absolute tempest we have seen taking place with discontent voiced by the teachers. The presentations go on and on by the aggrieved teachers right in the face of the school board at their meetings. I have always tended to show skepticism about the teachers in such situations. It's baked into the cake with me. 

We have now seen our activities director jump ship as it were. Not sure if he's already gone, but his new gig will be with our rival Minnewaska Area. A friend speculates that this disruption is another reflection of the rebellion and disaffected attitude of our Morris Area school staff. I do not have complete knowledge of the situation. In the "old days" I would. 

A friend tells me there may be "two sides to the story" based on alleged incompetence or confusion with our school's payroll services department. Whatever the explanation, it is highly irritating to read about on a continual basis in the Morris fishwrap. The fishwrap (SCT) needs to be asking more questions about what all is going on. 

Is it a simple story of the Morris Area school board members being cheapskates or jerks? Even if you think they are, well, they are the boss. Aren't the school kids always told to "respect authority" and "follow directions?" What kind of example is school staff setting?

Vietnam war 1960s

I went to school in such different times, when young males had to fear being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight a war. Chance of losing your life was high. Odds high also for having other terrible things happen to you. So I had to wonder when young: why work so hard at developing myself, developing discipline to accomplish things? My life could end up being meteoric. Better to just slack off and have some fun while you can. 

And my generation did in fact seek fun. The drinking age was lowered for us. Was that constructive? No. 

The Vietnam war was anything but constructive as in fact the U.S. lost it. The U.S. lost! Not exactly our tradition. If no one today wants to say anything positive about Richard Nixon, it's probably more because of that than Watergate. 

 

Dominating Monte, WCA

The MACA softball team thumped Montevideo in an April 11 doubleheader. Scores were 20-0 and 17-1. 

The most recent action had MACA downing West Central Area 14-4 on Monday at Barrett. I'd say the weather yesterday (Tuesday) was no-go. 

We have been blessed by the weather but the rain, wind (especially wind) and overcast conditions have not exactly put smiles on faces. I would suggest this is what an entire Missouri winter is like. You won't freeze but you'll want to spend all your time indoors.

 

Baseball: Paynesville 3, Tigers 0

It's about time in today's post that I get around to reporting on Tiger baseball! So if y'all are still with me, let's look at the 3-0 loss to Paynesville. Obviously Paynesville pitching was top-notch. Here the credit goes to Bryce VanderBeek: seven innings, three hits allowed, two walks and six strikeouts. A nifty complete game shutout for the Bulldog. 

The Asmus boys worked on the pitching mound for MACA. So it was Alex Asmus with six innings on the hill, pitcher of record, eight hits, three runs (earned), no walks, three strikeouts. Riley logged one inning, two walks and two strikeouts, no hits allowed. 

The Paynesville line score was three runs, eight hits, no errors, while MACA put up 0-3-1 numbers. The MACA hits were by Kaleb Breuer, Johnny Kleindl and Jack Kehoe. Two Bulldogs each rapped two hits: Isaac Lieser and Esau Nelson. Paynesville scored two runs in the second inning, one in the sixth. MACA had the only error on the day.

The game was played on April 12 here.

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

11-2 win highlights early-season play

Youth sports speeds right ahead in this spring of 2024. It is Tuesday and with the kind of weather not suggesting much of a chance for getting a game in.  April can have unsettled weather. But just compare this year with last year! What a night-and-day difference. 

So MACA baseball was able to get going on a pretty reliable timetable. April 4 was stretching things for trying to play. We see "PPD" on the schedule. Think how much worse it would have been last year! All systems were "go" for the Tiger diamond action on April 9, Tuesday. But it was not a winning outcome. The orange and black fell to Montevideo at Chizek Field. 

Two games were played. The Thunder Hawks of Monte enjoyed the winning edge 4-2 and 6-5. The 6-5 outcome required 12 innings. A long day of baseball for the Tiger crew, good for "getting in the groove" with game action. 

The Tigers did a turnaround with their competitive fortunes two days later, April 11. They took command in an 11-2 win over West Central Area. The next day saw them matched against Paynesville at home. Alas our bats were quiet in a 3-0 loss to the Bulldogs. The schedule shows we're supposed to play Minnewaska in a doubleheader today (Tuesday). But that does not look likely. Rain is coming down steadily as I write the first draft of this. 

 

Blake Karas

A plot twist

Speaking of Minnewaska, our friends/neighbors to the east, what's with this talk I hear of our activities/athletic director leaving us to join the rival 'Waska school? Say it ain't so. Well I guess it is so. This fellow is Blake Karas who I have always referred to as "Alex Karras" based on the football and acting celebrity of yesterday. Alex was in "Blazing Saddles." Imagine if a movie like that was made today. Well, the movie absolutely would not be made today. Cultural taste standards. 

My generation of the boomers was young in the '70s and we were not inhibited by anything. Understand? You probably don't. 

I sought confirmation on the status of Blake Karas with a friend who was in a better position to know of such things. The friend said "yes, Mr. Karas is leaving for a similar post at Minnewaska." I am bothered by the fact that Alex I mean Blake is staying so close to Morris. Looks bad IMHO. 

Did Blake bolt from here because of the money/compensation issues that the Morris staff has been hitting us over the head with over the recent past? Over a series of weeks in which the Morris fishwrap has reported on a procession of teachers showing up at school board meetings to in effect raise holy hell? I think it's tacky and rather crass, as our board should be focusing on what the school is doing for the kids. 

But I have seen this sort of thing a lot in my life. I need to work at restraining my umbrage. I am older and more withdrawn now. Well not completely, as I am a $ benefactor for the MAHS band program. I do monitor things with a fair amount of interest. So did Karas leave in order to get a little bump up in pay? Too bad if a pattern starts to develop with this. His teams at 'Waska will now be competing with our teams. 

The Morris fishwrap did such a fawning article on Karas when he started here. Let's not do that again. These people don't deserve it. 

I have tried to find out if Dale Henrich is departing from just the GBB coaching position, or if he'll stick with other sports like cross country, of if maybe he's retiring completely. As a younger person I'd be in position to know all this. Nada today. I have told friends it's amazing that a member of the old "Mulder clique" would still have a head coaching position today. Henrich was a member of those ranks but I saw his personality as far less confrontational than the others. Not confrontational at all really. 

But Dale's name was on a controversial letter to the editor in the fishwrap from back in the day. Dennis Rettke referred to that letter as "that damn letter" in a private conversation with me. (Private in the sense that this was not a newspaper quote.) 

"That damn letter." This was in the wake of our AD Mulder departing. Mary Holmberg's name was not on the letter. I'm sure she was asked to support it. Wonder what she told them. Let us not forget our school history. 

New GBB coach Daly

The new MACA girls basketball coach is Justin Daly. Neal Hofland confirmed for me yesterday at Willie's that Justin is Paul's son. I worked with Paul a lot back in the day. Oh, and not just with C-A boys basketball, also with Little League baseball! 

Is Karas already gone from here? Already at 'Waska? I don't know.

More to the story?

Regarding the teachers' loud complaints about things at present, they may have a beef with how payroll systems are being handled. A source with a connection to the school informed me of this a couple days ago. 

This assertion came across as pretty credible to me. Maybe I should have taken notes on the details on a piece of scrap paper. But why should I? Reed Anfinson constantly preaches about how we all need the local paper to help us understand the details with such things, right? So why doesn't the newspaper get off the schneid, find a teacher spokesman or two to report the allegations? I think this would be very interesting. 

It appears that maybe teachers are getting shorted some. That would be bad. I could quote the host of a radio talk show from recently: "Money never comes easy." 

Ah, "talk is cheap but it takes money to buy whiskey." (I learned that from Jim McRoberts.) 

 

Standout player

I'm glad I had the chance to congratulate Kaylee Harstad Sunday on her selection as MVP for a post-season GBB all-star event. I have never watched her play in person but she sure looks like an athlete who could dominate. Unfortunately the Tigers were eliminated in the first round of the post-season. And it's not like Harstad was the only talented player they had. 

The Tigers were really dominated by Minnewaska during the season. And now Mr. Karas is going over there. I personally think it would be fantastic if the GBB Tigers under coach Daly could turn the tables on the Lakers. We have incentive.

Addendum: Another note re. "that damn letter" as Supt. Rettke referred to it: He told me that he had told Mark Torgerson that the letter "almost cost you the (boys) basketball coaching position." Such strong emotions were exchanged back then but in terms of actions taken, the incumbent or status quo group really came out pretty well, pretty unscathed. But the bottom line was that it was unfortunate the community experienced all that. It came to include business boycotts.

 

My companion blog

Click on the link below to read my current post on my "Morris of Course" blog with the headline "Spring sports waits for no one." Thanks. I try to cover lots of important ground.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/04/spring-sports-waits-for-no-one.html

  

I have two blog sites because years ago I was more involved in local sports coverage. The information has become a little harder to find. There was a time when I saw a need for a second site so I always had a convenient place to put a non-sports post. I remember being introduced to some people at Oyate during UMM's Homecoming one year. A person at the table was made aware of my blogging. She responded that she thought she had discovered my sites. She said "sports and politics, right?"

BINGO!

 

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

Flat Earthers thumping their chests

It is a fool's errand to argue with local people who wish to just "pile on" with criticism of the U.S. president and of Democrats generally. Not sure really how all the seeds got planted for this. Remember the names Chuck Brown and Collin Peterson? They once represented us. They were Democrats. 

There was a time in America when you could speak for the minority and still hold your head high as you circulated in the community. Have some pleasant debates. But it is a fool's errand to argue with Republicans and to question their big leader nationally, yes it is, out here in sparsely populated America. I should not try. 

My comments tend to be more on media and culture than to take on GOPers re. policy. 

In a normal world I'd have some things in common with the GOP. The GOP has historically been skeptical of unions. But this is a head-scratcher: when police behavior comes under fire somewhere, who do we see in the TV studio with people like Sean Hannity? We see leaders with police unions. And of course they bend over backwards to protect their own members. They seek maximum job security. 

But I would think Fox is not deferential to "unions." So it's puzzling. Oh not really. We know how the mind of someone like Sean Hannity works. "Support the police" is a mantra of the political right. The right permeates our outstate culture here around Stevens County, surely permeates a majority of our churches. 

Churches about went nuts when an element in U.S. spiritual leadership felt gay people needed to be uplifted. And it can be a complicated issue for sure. But this was the real catalyst as we increasingly saw evidence of the culture wars. "The dog caught the car" when the three new Supreme Court members led the way in pushing aside Roe vs. Wade. So now, to complement the still-festering gay rights matter we have abortion. 

I am 69 years old and remember all the old arguments on abortion, arguments that the Supreme Court pretty well put aside with Roe. Because, Roe became the precedent that gave the underpinning for women having fundamental freedoms, like it or not. 

Ah, the "old arguments" like "abortion is murder." And then in the next breath, such a person would have to add "exceptions" like for "life of the mother." As if that's such an easy thing to determine anyway. A rigid pro-life person could argue in a particular case that "the mother's life was not really in danger." Hasn't this already happened in Texas with this Paxton fellow throwing a monkeywrench into the works? 

But would someone like Paxton know how foolish he and others like him would come off? And wouldn't they realize that doctors could be scared right out of their profession? Who would want to risk the life-changing development of losing one's medical license? And to "criminalize abortion" for doctors and maybe even the women? 

If society really was to judge that abortion is a crime, it would in fact make sense to charge the women because women make their own decisions, would warrant respect based on that. Wouldn't they? But the Arizona Supreme Court, it appears, literally wants to take America back to a time when women could not vote. It was the middle of the Civil War. 

Is it possible that the GOP and right wing disrespect women so much that they cannot hold women responsible for their own abortion decision? It would have to be the doctor's fault. But women are self-starters. Oh, at least that's the way I think, but I'm continually surprised at how Neanderthal so many rural people have become. It's getting to the point where nothing surprises me. 

People like me used to complain about Fox News. Forgive them, Lord? They know not what they do? Well they certainly know what they are doing because it's big business. And Fox News has competition.

Sean Hannity

Hannity who has been on TV seemingly forever has competition. Why can't some of these program hosts be "canceled" the way we used to see TV sitcoms canceled all the time? I grew up in the 1960s. Shows were trotted out and "axed" constantly. 

There sits Sean Hannity who has built a gravy train for himself by catering to all the Neanderthals. Oh, I have seen his show where there's a couple of police spokesmen in uniform sitting there all smug and know-it-all as guests. But it comes out that these "cops" are really just leaders of their "union." But I thought unions were anathema for the Fox News leadership. 

"Conservative." Well they don't have much in common with William F. Buckley, that's for sure. Buckley's "Firing Line" TV show, quaint. Remember the piccolo trumpet for the theme music? I imagine very few people in the Morris area ever checked it out. I learned conservatism from Buckley and this was the "real" conservatism. It led to Ronald Reagan. 

Compared to what we have today? We have flat Earthers or people with blank expressions who are just reverential, constantly, to their movement leader, i.e. "cult leader." And why I bother even trying to combat the local crowd in their church pews is beyond me. The way things are going, people like me might not even be physically safe anymore. 

Well I am 69, I've made it this far. 

I hate the Democrats for their affinity with unions, especially teachers unions. Let me count the ways on the latter. Democrats lost the governorship in Virginia because of being tone-deaf on this: the public's general revulsion toward teacher unions. It is hard, very hard, for me to put this matter aside but I must try, in light of how the Republican Party is the fountain for so much sheer mendacity and danger. There's no end to it. 

Nationwide abortion ban? But now the right wing cult leader in America, initials D.T. of course, is trying to engineer a subtle reversal on this issue. I could see this coming. He has to try to win the election to stay out of prison. Why did he have to run for president in the first place in 2016? I don't think he intended to win. He wanted to build up his "brand." But us fools, us lemmings, created our current mess by putting him in office. 

The electoral college lifts up the rural red states. It does not abate out here in western Minnesota. All these people can watch Newsmax as an alternative to their old mother's milk of Fox News. So a Newsmax person just loved recently to pile on against Biden using the trope of feeble-mindedness. So this fellow named Rob Finnerty intoned that "Biden didn't know that Africa was a country." 

Um, I don't think Africa is really a country, is it? I would describe Africa as a continent that is composed of countries. 

Africa is a continent, right?

I placed a comment on Yahoo! News about how many of us out here in what I call Flyoverland are indeed smart enough to know Africa is a continent. Let's give ourselves some credit. 

I got a response from someone who wasn't cutting any slack for us Flyoverland people. The guy who responded was really pretty correct as he laid blame on the red states. So I shall conclude here by sharing both my comment and the response just cited, plus two pithy others.

My comment to Yahoo! News:

 

I am just a common citizen of Flyoverland and I could readily tell you that Africa is a continent. The media people who circulate in the Beltway need to realize we're a lot sharper than they think.

 

"Chris" responded:

It is very unlikely you all are sharper than we think, you keep voting for Republicans. Do any of you ever ask yourself are you better off than your parents or grandparents? If the answer is NO, then thank a Republican. It is 100% Republican policies that have allowed the consolidation of meat packing so you no longer have any control over the prices you can charge. It is Republican policies that have allowed private equity to buy up massive blocks of farmland so you no longer have neighbors operating family farms. It is Republican policies that have led to America's leading export being agriculture products while screeching that USA is the greatest, most advanced economy in the world - HA HA. If you wonder why people think you all are not too sharp, look in the mirror and consider YOUR actions.

 

"Stan W." responded:

Evidently, anchors at Newmax are NOT smarter than a 5th grader. 

 

"PHJ Indy" responded: 

Honestly, you don't have to be sharp to know Africa is a continent! That's common knowledge. 

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