So, it appears Kim Gullickson has committed for mayor along with Kevin Wohlers here in Motown? Prediction: I think Kevin will find that the Morris Police Department was not as popular as he thought it was. Do you miss having the Morris police hover over you? I mean, looking for the real minor stuff? All the while with guns at the ready in their holsters? We'll see with the election.
When I was a kid, we considered the "mayor" term dorky.
We can certainly celebrate the start of the new school year at present. I stopped by our library to try to stay informed with the Morris newspaper. Oh, here's a picture of the new teachers. Reminds me of one of the lines that can be spoken about how "you know you're getting old when. . ." So, I once read in one of those forwarded humorous emails "you know you're getting old when you ask 'when did they start hiring kids to be policemen?' "
Have rather the same thought now about new teachers.
I compliment the overall Morris school system on how it operates today. The teachers union has a role which is legitimate, because I like to see all working people have some advocacy, but it's nothing like the early and mid-1980s as I recall that time. The Morris teachers acted like a political bloc to intimidate people in this community. I will never forget that. I saw it so vividly from my perch with the Morris newspaper.
I began writing for the Morris Sun Tribune newspaper in the fall of 1972. Hey, that was exactly 50 years ago! So many people have come and gone since, obviously. People in the media and people on the front lines of community matters. Some of the people in the latter category put themselves forward as guardians of the community's interests, yet they'd be sending resumes around to try and get the heck out of here. I butted heads with some of these charlatans.
The school district issues became severe and problematic. Many of the people who opposed me just had their fingers up in the wind. They might have been personal friends of some of the problematic and assertive teachers. We dealt with the "good old boy" phenomenon so much.
Today? I find it refreshing.
When the Morris school district recently hired a new activities director - a very important position - it appeared to call for a totally professional search. We got this Karas fellow - a friend and I refer to him as "Alex Karas" based on remembering the old football player/actor, whose last name was spelled "Karras." So the school board went about this in the entirely proper way.
As opposed to? Well, as opposed to just hiring someone with close association to UMM and who had made some key friendships. I have seen this dysfunction in the past. We hired a girls sports team coach in the mid-1980s who had been a UMM superstar. She made friends in the proper places, so - wink wink - she was the ballyhooed hire to come on board to be head coach in one sport, assistant in two others, possibly to become head in another.
The athletic director at the time, Robert Mulder, told me "the girls basketball job is hers for as long as she wants it." Mulder became (shall we say) a lightning rod fixture as his years advanced. He called me up to the old school to interview the ballyhooed one, which of course I did with total dedication and a sense of trust about the wisdom of the hire. Who says I have always been cynical?
Let's not dwell too much on the outcome of all that. The ballyhooed one from UMM was unsuccessful and not only that, made it painful for the board to remove her from the GBB position in the end. Something about a "consent agenda" item that was erased at the last minute.
I do not savor reflecting on the unpleasantness of those times. They do appear to be in the rear view mirror. I suffered professionally because of those times, never shook all that before my departure from the paper in 2006. I'm still standing: I can still write about the Tigers, 50 years since my auspicious start!
So on Thursday night I became aware of the MACA football team playing its opener here. I saw the game was "televised" by our YouTube geniuses - hats off to them. Upon discovering this, I walked toward Big Cat Stadium from my home out by the soils lab, along Northridge Drive. Ahem - this is not a routine walk now, due to road construction. It looks like fall is road construction season here in Motown.
Iowa Avenue by the old Heartland Motors is all torn up, so bad it's almost impossible to even walk along the edge. I found my own workable route to get into town, then I headed toward the noise from Big Cat. I arrived during the second half. I stand along the sidewalk to the north of the field, where I used to bump into Sean Cady. Sad to say, Sean has passed away.
Football is always a spectacle at Big Cat. For so many years I took in football at Coombe Field. You might remember Coombe Field and if so, you have visions of a big "social event" where most people gathered in clusters for conversing, rather than to seriously watch football. A school board member during those years told me it was like a "town square." Today the configuration of Big Cat is such that there's an assumption we are all there to seriously watch football. What a change.
I try arguing against football as much as I can, based on the increasingly well-documented serious health issues with the sport. This isn't to rain on anyone's parade, it's just to share the facts. I believe I read that boys volleyball has come very close to getting approved by the High School League. Eureka! When this finally happens, it will be the beginning of the end for football. What we should all pray for.
Walking home from the game was an adventure. It was so damn dark out. I found myself momentarily in some tall grass. I didn't wish to proceed further out of fear of walking into a skunk or raccoon. Finally I found the shorter grass. Maybe next time I'll find a longer but easier-to-follow route.
The radio station website tells us it's "Winstead" but I believe the correct spelling is "Winsted." I always had to adhere to high standards when I was with the Morris newspaper. One little mistake and I'd be called "stupid." That was really about politics. I was not stupid.
Fans were treated to a fourth quarter comeback bid by the orange and black. Alas, time was not on the side of the Tigers. The end must have been excruciating for the parents/fans. The clock ran out on us, not without apparent dispute by the MACA coaches. But that's the way the ball bounces. So we were on the short end of the 26-24 final score.
It didn't help that we fell behind 14-0. We got going with a one-yard touchdown run by Owen Anderson. The first half was nearly done. Alas, the visiting Lakers surged in the third quarter. So they assumed a 26-8 lead. Drew Huebner put six on the board for the Tigers with a one-yard run. Then he connected with Tyler Berlinger from the four with an aerial. Now we're a hair's breadth from taking the lead. Alas we got no closer in the approximately four minutes remaining.
Huebner put up pretty good passing stats: 17 completions, 32 attempts, 195 yards, plus he ran for 38 yards. Berlinger was a favorite target with nine catches, 132 yards. Mitch Moser carried the football eleven times for 41 yards.
The next challenge for the orange and black crew: to play Montevideo on the road.
I invite you to compare my coverage to what's on the Morris newspaper website.
Addendum: "You know you're getting old when you no longer know when Taco Bell closes."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment