Thinking about this meet reminds me of the long lines of parked cars along the highway outside the golf course. I assume this scene must have repeated itself. It's the same as the long lines seen out by the softball complex. I have written about potential safety hazards with these situations. Little kids could pop out from between parked cars.
We don't even want to think about the possibility of something terrible happening. Unfortunately life has risks. It's like the years of the "earthen pool" for summertime enjoyment out at Pomme de Terre City Park. Tragedy indeed happened there, was likely a factor in the facility being phased out. At its peak it was a neat attraction in Morris. Helped us cope with summer to be sure.
All good things come to an end?
Let's get back on the subject of distance running: the Morris Invite saw Hailey Werk run a 21:01 time over the five kilometers. She was 16 seconds faster than runner-up Laura Ankeny of Minnewaska Area. Ankeny's Lakers were the No. 1 girls team. Three Lakers finished in the top ten. The Tigers were not in the running with a team score, unfortunately.
C'mon, let's get a little more enthusiasm for running here. It can be an exhilarating experience. Fun to watch too. It's fun to compete if you are in top shape. If not, then step it up a notch.
MACA boys were in action too on Monday. So we see Gavin Stallman with an eighth place finish, Matt Giese in 22nd. The male champion was Jack Barney of New London-Spicer. Barney prevailed by two seconds over Maeson Tank of 'Waska. Our MACA boys placed sixth.
The boys champion team was those Eagles of Lac qui Parle Valley. 'Waska placed fourth.
Prep sports underway
It's always refreshing to start following the high school teams for the new school year. The Tigers have always hosted an early-bird cross country event. Tennis has gotten going. And now volleyball has too. I have some personal bad news: I have run into a paywall with the West Central Tribune's sports website. In the past I have often gleaned info from there for my own online writing. Up through last year I was able to use the online "incognito" technique to bypass the Willmar paper's efforts to put up a paywall to block readers.
The paper has now taken measures to really seal off their sports info. I cannot consult with the site to even find out how the Tiger volleyball team did against BOLD Tuesday night. It would be nice to find that report just for the sake of my personal fan interest, even if I did not intend to write anything. But it's no-go, alas.
So for the coming school year, my efforts would appear to be abbreviated. I compliment our kmrs radio station's online efforts to update. I find the reports there to be generally too capsulized though.
When Tiger teams play opponents in the Alexandria area, I can sometimes find updates with the Echo Press. However, the Echo Press is owned by Forum Communications, same as the Willmar paper, so they're probably up to the same tricks. I emailed a friend this morning and expressed my hope that the day will come when coaches get the bright idea of putting sports info online in a place independent of the newspapers.
The coaches take the considerable trouble to call all this in. Then the Forum-owned papers just try to shake loose some money from the fans. No one needs to be dependent on the old newspapers anymore.
Oh, what about the Morris newspaper website? It's hard to get fired-up enough to even check it. Is it improving? As of not long ago, the Stevens County Times site for sports was worse than if the paper had no website at all. The "paper" product only comes out once a week, which is going to be a total loser for timeliness.
Congrats to the "YouTube geniuses" of the high school!
I am looking forward to the first band concert of the new school year. I have been trying to arrange for purchase of genuine "jazz band music stands" for the MAHS band program. I personally consider this a high priority and feel convinced the kids would love them. However, the people involved in these discussions are at an impasse. Doggonit. The Morris Area School Foundation has indicated that it could work with me.
Football? The fewer kids out for football the better, for the obvious health reasons.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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