The parade and game climax Homecoming week

Such pleasing sounds from the MAHS pep band Friday. Photo by Del Sarlette, thanks. There was concern during the day, maybe the temperature would be too cold for the band. There's an understanding that sub-40 degrees means no-go. But "the band played on," directed of course by Wanda Dagen. We are blessed having her as our director. She's also a very attractive woman.

 

The weather smiled on the MAHS Homecoming parade. Shifting to football, we have the "MACA" initials for Morris Area Chokio Alberta of course. 

I did not encounter a paywall with the West Central Tribune website this morning. Nor did I encounter one for the Sauk Centre cross country meet. Do you suppose they might be getting a flood of objections to the paywall? Oh, I know it's cheap. But why the bother then? Leave it to Forum Communications to think of "tricks" like this. 

So I was able to check out the WCT's "football roundup" this morning. The MACA vs. Minnewaska high school game was not reviewed there. Doesn't really surprise me. We were taken out of their official coverage territory last year. Still, I found a decent amount of MACA info there, not totally consistent but helpful at times. We may be out of their territory but I suspect they'll still take calls from MACA coaches, if those coaches are so motivated. 

The willingness and enthusiasm of coaches to cooperate with the media can vary from person to person. 

So, I consulted the "Minnesota Scores" site to gain the score. It was 28-14, MACA on top. I am not in the mood to write any sort of summary. Let me explain: my only priority now is to feel concern about the health of the 'Waska quarterback who was thrown down on the turf with about four minutes left to play. The Tiger involved in this had the last name of Gibson. The QB's name: Johnson. 

I was watching live on YouTube last night when it happened. The scene did not grip me enough initially. As I lay in bed the possible gravity began to dawn on me. I called up YouTube this morning for the replay. Since then I have not been able to find the YouTube post. The volleyball match vs. Benson is there - I see the link to that on the screen right in front of me. 

As a 67-year-old person, am I lacking the sophistication to navigate properly? Liz Morrison told me once that older people "just aren't intuitive" about a lot of the new things. I was forced into the Internet when I was with the Morris newspaper. Otherwise my skills at present would be greatly stunted. 

It is nothing short of a miracle, what the "YouTube geniuses" of MAHS are doing. I am considering writing out a check to the Morris Area School Foundation before the end of the year - maybe I'll have a suggested prioritization of the "YouTube geniuses." My goodness, they're employing "drones" now! I think back to the lack of amenities when I was in high school. How did we get by? We just did. 

I began covering Tiger football for the news media in 1972. Fifty years later my faculties for doing this still seem sound, knock on wood. Maybe I ought to credit the fact I never played football. Seriously. The irony is that I have written about football for so much of my life. Life is strange. It doesn't hurt me a bit to write about it. 

So I'd like to know: did the referees even consider throwing a flag for "unsportsmanlike conduct?" I am not going to accuse the Morris player of doing something deliberate to hurt an opposing player. Maybe that's true, maybe not. If not, let's just say he might have been consumed with the intensity of the moment. Winning is everything, don't let anyone tell you any different. Wins and losses are all that gets remembered. My, if only this thinking would become an anachronism. 

This injured 'Waska quarterback lay prostate for a time, attended to. He walked off, accompanied. I'd like to watch one more replay of this to confirm anything, but I'm out of luck as of 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. 

Concussion? 

I'd like to be a little hard on the game announcers here. They should have acknowledged the violence of the take-down and suggested it was over the line. The moral of the story: trying to prevent a "first down" is never worth the risk of serious injury to anyone. I guess 'Waska was facing third-and-one. But the Tigers seemed to have the game in hand. Actually, who cares about the outcome, next to the priority of keeping everyone healthy? 

I wonder what Blake Karas thinks of this series of events. One of the announcers just said it was a "bear hug." 

"You have to give Hunter (Gibson) a sack on that," an announcer said. As if the "stats" mattered more than anything. I might suggest this is contemptible. 

The problem with the announcers is that they have their own sports background and they just get consumed with the standard analysis. I guess Torgy commented that the quarterback "got banged up pretty good." But these words still don't do justice IMHO. In the old days an announcer might say that a guy "got his bell rung." Doesn't really tell us anything, but it's cute. 

There is nothing cute about football. High school football ought to be outlawed everywhere as expeditiously as possible. The "pros" need this as a "feeder" system. Well to hell with all that, in spades. You object to what I'm writing today? Well, that's your problem.

The scene Friday night at Big Cat Stadium. How about that big "paw print?" The Tigers played at Coombe Field back in my young, halcyon days. You wouldn't recognize that location as having been a football field now. Let us never forget. The games there were more about socializing among the fans, rather than being focused on football. Big Cat is all about watching football. The sport should be outlawed.
 

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