"You'll never get ahead if you don't take care of what you have." - Doris Waddell, RIP

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn
Click on the image to read Williams family reflections w/ emphasis on UMM.

Friday, September 29, 2017

MACA girls looking great in West Central Conf.

Tigers 3, Benson 0
The Tigers got conference win No. 8 with a sweep over Benson. The site was the Benson gym on September 28. We're clearly on top of the West Central Conference. We upped our overall win total to twelve.
Scores vs. the Braves were 25-12, 25-14 and 25-11. Karly Fehr put up 35 set assists. Jenna Howden went on the attack to pound down 15 kills. Jenna Larsen achieved eleven kills, and the list continues with Kenzie Hockel (7), Bailey Marty (3), Fehr (3), Lexi Pew (2) and Jen Solvie (1).
Three Tigers each executed an ace block: Fehr, Hockel and Larsen. The digs list has Riley Decker at the top as usual, this time with 17. The list continues with Marty (14), Fehr (12), Larsen (10) and Hockel (5). At the serving line, Marty and Howden each had two aces. Fehr, Hockel and Larsen each had one ace.
For the host Braves, Zoe Doscher had a serving ace. Courtney MeNeill had nine set assists while Mariah Arndt had seven. Anna Gosson had six kills. Lizzie Staton had an ace block. Abby Mitteness and Gosson had 21 and 20 digs, respectively.
 
Tigers 3, Montevideo 2
Things weren't so routine when the Tigers played the Montevideo Thunder Hawks on September 26, here. The Tigers actually got on the ropes for a time as they dropped the first two games. Scores were 27-29 and 18-25. Could the Tigers get infused with a higher caliber? Yes! Coach Kristi Fehr coaxed her team to victory in games 3 through 5 with scores of 25-9, 25-11 and 15-13.
Kenzi Hockel had three serving aces to lead. Jenna Larsen batted two serving aces at the T-Hawks. These Tigers each had one ace: Karly Fehr, Jenna Howden and Riley Decker. Karly Fehr was all over the court to contribute 42 set assists.
Once again it was Jenna Howden at the fore in hitting, aiding the resurgence with 22 kills. Larsen socked 12 kills. Karly Fehr had seven, and the list continues with Bailey Marty (4), Jen Solvie (3) and Hockel (1). Here's the list for ace blocks: Howden (3), Lexi Pew (3), Karly Fehr (2), Marty (1) and Larsen (1). Marty and Decker were tops in digs with 26 and 20, respectively. Fehr had 12 digs and Larsen had seven.
 
To see the runners more
I saw Tom Carrington this morning and we discussed the rarity of home cross country meets. The Morris Area Invitational was on August 28, a real early-bird meet. You drive out to the golf course and notice cars parked along the shoulder for a long ways. Intrepid parents and fans can walk a considerable distance to get their preferred vantage point. It can be exhilarating if exhausting. The atmosphere is dead calm for a while and then, here come the runners!
The last time I attended a meet, in my post-newspaper time, I had a camera and was able to post a little. But a big headache I had that day was trying to distinguish the Morris runners from the Marshall runners. I'd see the orange and black colors and assume these were Tigers and they were, but they could be either the Morris or Marshall Tigers - same nickname and colors.
I should go out every year for this meet, camera or no. My photography is basically phased out because I haven't gone digital yet. I'm not sure Thrifty White even sends in camera film anymore. Am I hopelessly out of date with my approach? Maybe I am, but I'm sure a digital camera with zoom capability (for sports) would not be cheap. I could buy a lot of camera film for that.
The Morris Area Invitational appears to be the only home meet in the regular season. Tom Carrington and I feel there ought to be at least one more. Why travel all the way to Milaca as the Tigers did on September 23? Why couldn't we have one other home meet even if it was a small one, maybe with 3-4 total teams? Schools such as LQPV and Benson could come. Other MACA fall teams have the benefit of roughly half their competition events at "home." Cross country seems to exist on the road. We need to see these talented athletes a little more.
 
Postcard re. referendum
So, we finally get a postcard telling us the date for the upcoming school referendum: November 7. No way can I predict the outcome of something like this, but I continue to find it unseemly that we are taking a yes/no vote on a matter of essential maintenance, because the problems do indeed need to be remedied.
Why are we voting? What if we vote "no?" Will the work not get done? The local commercial media need to corner administrators and board members on this. Is there an option for getting the work done that would not involve a "yes" vote to vacuum more money from district residents?
Schools always want more money and they always say it's essential. It's up to the public to show some educated skepticism now and then. Everyone wants money. Surely you all know that. Maybe the school will have to consider some cuts. They might say: OK, these are separate budgets. As my old friend Jim McRoberts might say, "figures lie and liars figure."
A guy named Metzger writes in the local media something about how schools have lean budgets. Well, let me reach for my little violin. I wouldn't expect him to say the school has a bloated budget.
I don't want this referendum to dampen enthusiasm for the expected upcoming library referendum. I'd vote yes on the library referendum without doing any research because I trust the people associated with the Morris Public Library, all the way up to City Manager Blaine Hill. My feelings about the public school people are quite the opposite.
Don't let them turn on the vacuum cleaner.
BTW Jim McRoberts also taught me the following: "Talk is cheap but it takes money to buy whiskey." 
  
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

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