The leader in points scored was Riley Asmus with 19. He was 7 of 18 in shooting. Drew Huebner was second high as he made five of seven shots good for 14 points. Drew Storck was our third double figures scorer: ten points on five of eight. Three Tigers each added to the mix with six points: Tyler Berlinger, Kyle Fehr and Rylan Larson.
Owen Anderson contributed five points, then we see Charlie Hanson, Max Lietz and Jack Tollefson each with two. As a team we shot 30 for 63, 48 percent.
Asmus deployed his long-range shooting ability for fans to enjoy at Tiger Center. It was bombs-away as Riley made five 3's in seven attempts. Fehr sank two of his five long-range tries. We were 7 of 17 in that department. Huebner made all four of his freethrow tries. Anderson had our other freethrow.
Rebounds! Here the team total was 32, eight offensive. Asmus corralled eight rebounds, Berlinger and Storck each had five. Berlinger had five of our team total 22 assists. Asmus and Berlinger led in steals with three and two respectively. As a team we had seven.
Asmus blocked two shots. The Tigers had eleven turnovers.
The headline on the West Central Tribune site refers to us as "Morris/Chokio-Alberta." They've been doing this for years. I have tried pointing out this careless imprecision in my online writing. Perhaps my readership is too small, or maybe the WC Trib just accepts being careless. Actually that would not surprise me.
We are of course "Morris Area Chokio Alberta" or MACA. If the WC Trib is exercising judgment about this being improper, as the "Area" might be seen as superfluous, that is just their friggin' opinion. As reporters they should put their opinions aside.
I'm able to get past the WC Trib's paywall this morning. So that's nice. Thanks to the coverage I learn that Asmus is just a freshman. What a bright future for the young man. Back when I first started covering the Tigers for the Morris newspaper, Asmus would not have been eligible to play varsity even if he was a sophomore. Times have changed.
I felt concerned about this and some other issues back in the day. But these were hugely touchy subjects for some reason. People might say to me "hey, it's just a game." And that's the exact line I would use back at them.
The Paynesville game was non-conference. The Bulldogs had a 7-3 record coming out of Monday. We led at halftime 38-20. I was going to report some stats for Paynesville but I see "stats not available" in the WC Trib coverage.
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| UMM winter scene (B.W. photo) |
Again I can report a nugget of interesting feedback on my online writing. Someone shared a reaction to my December 16 post which included some UMM fodder. This was the post that began with me reflecting on the old Metrodome sign that read "We like it here." I have not re-read the post but it appears that I touched on the odd fact of UMM having an "executive chancellor" who also runs the Crookston campus.
I wrote several posts specific to that. I stumbled onto the odd fact just by innocently listening to KFGO Radio one day. It was the day when the new NDSU president was announced. The Crookston chancellor had been a finalist. So all day the radio guys were announcing this and saying that the Crookston person was also "executive chancellor of the University of Minnesota-Morris."
Which pricked my ears up obviously. I gave heads-up to a UMM-oriented friend who then turned on his radio and in short order heard this item himself. It's impossible not to have a reaction to it.
So I have wondered what this item might portend for UMM, positively or negatively. I would give more weight to the latter: if everything were going peachy-keen here in Morris, you'd think our own administration could row the boat as it were.
Outside management might suggest some sort of shakeup in the works? Detached and independent judgment needed? Of course I could be wrong. This is what the commenter to my blog post suggested with these words:
Solstice is on the 21st! Crookston Chancellor, having demonstrated zero value at Morris, no longer has any role here.
I suspect this comment is on the mark, just my intuition, and I don't know the name of the source. Of course it's nice to think our own campus-based administration is handling everything. But we have to wonder: why was this apparently empty title bestowed on the Crookston person? Certainly she built up her resume with it. KFGO has a wide listening audience.
I of course should not imply criticism of top U administration because we in Morris should curry favor with the top people in the Twin Cities.
Someone who was trying to understand the administration position suggested to me that the Crookston person was set up as "backup" for our people here. Nice to have a backup of course. But "executive" seems pretty strong word choice. And KFGO listeners could easily have gotten the impression that UMM was being run primarily out of the northern Minnesota environs of Crookston.
Which would seem, well, irregular.
The commenter to my blog post tried straightening me out and I think that was successful. Still we are left with the question of why the title bestowed on the Crookston person. Is this an extension of the U's largesse issue which has gotten media scrutiny? Bob Bruininks is a great guy so I hate being hard on him re. this. But I guess the buck stopped with him when this was going on.
The presence of largesse at least means the institution is doing well in terms of $. Didn't former football coach Jerry Kill get to establish a new lake home in Carbondale IL thanks to the U's generosity? He hasn't been the happiest camper sine leaving the U. He in fact turned into a journeyman coach. He should have been abundantly thankful for the experience given him here in Minnesota given that his health issues probably should have been seen as a roadblock.
Kill was always at risk for having a seizure along the sidelines which could scare the heck out of fans who didn't know the background.
I wonder what top U administration has in mind now for our campus here in Morris. Is it even called "UMM" anymore? UMN? You all know how Steve Sviggum "stepped in it" recently. Awkward as he was, he was trying to shed light on UMM's enrollment issue. His word choice was a monumental distraction.
Everyone will have to get back to the issue at hand. UMM's enrollment has been declining steadily so we wonder if the bleeding can be stanched, and if not, well heaven help us. It will be up to top administration to stabilize things as they are, or to "do something." And it looks like Crookston may not play any role in this after all.
"Zero value at Morris." So what gives? Can Ms. Gabel edify us?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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