What an evening of thrills for the MACA basketball faithful. Unforgettable really. This is the time of year when such thrills prompting high emotions happen. Sometimes the emotions bother me a little. That's just me. As a former community newspaper writer, I know how the parents/fans get fanatical being served up the best possible, most supportive coverage all of the time. As the writer you can stand back and admire your work for a day or two, and then it's forgotten as the pressure rises to do it all again!
But for some perspective, just think how Joe Biden comes out for his State of the Union speech every year. That is the epitome of "balls," wouldn't you say? And I'm so relieved he did well last night (Thursday). Meanwhile we read about what Stormy Daniels has to say about her encounters with the GOP nominee. This in America?
I posted a comment to Yahoo! News just moments ago, wondering if there's still a chance the GOP could put forward Nikki Haley. She's so fresh, invigorating and principled. But we won't see it.
Bring on hoops
A good high school tournament basketball game pushes aside any thoughts of politics, n'est-ce pas? So politics was totally on the back burner last night as fans focused on the sub-section semis tournament game from Willmar. Yes, a neutral court.
MACA fans came away with superlative memories. My, the orange and black came on strong when it counted most. We came from behind. I suppose no one should have been surprised. But we were the No. 4 seed, Montevideo No. 1.
Our Charlie Hanson had a quiet game in the quarter-finals but he emerged as a major standout for the semis, indeed. Charlie excelled in the clutch, helping his orange and black achieve a 65-63 win over the on-paper favorite Montevideo. The Tigers had to work past a six-point second half deficit. Action was at the "Big Red Gym" of Willmar.
The neutral court will continue now. And guess what? It's time for everyone to gas up their vehicles and head to Southwest State, Marshall, a fair distance to the south. We've been doing this for years. In the "old days" so much of the action was at our UMM. Gone with the wind. SSU can be bad news for night games that call on fans to drive home late. The good news coming up is that we'll play at 12:30 Saturday afternoon!
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| R/A Facility at SSU |
Charlie Hanson put up a '3' that found paydirt to tie the score 54-54. The time remaining: 5:48. He kept on finding paydirt, scoring with a layup and another '3' to put MACA up 61-58. Now the time remaining is 2:21.
Hardly a comfortable lead. In the old days I might write "it was sweaty-palm time." Charlie hit a freethrow that gave us some breathing room, score now 65-60. It was our biggest lead up to that point. Now there's 13.8 seconds left.
We're in! In for the sub-section championship game. File these memories away, Tiger fans.
Charlie is a junior standing six feet even.
The first half story was rather different. Monte showed it was seeded No. 1 for a reason. The T-Hawks led for 17 minutes of the half. Alex Asmus led the charge back for the Tigers. Alex made back-to-back 3-pointers. The Tigers enjoyed a 10-4 run that helped put them up at halftime 30-28.
The Monte coach had an interesting post-game quote: "We got out to a big lead, you knew they were going to make a big run."
Really? He was coaching the favored team. I would not have made the assumption that he did. The coach is Derek Webb. Our coach is Jacob Torgerson.
The West Central Tribune continued its practice of referring to us as "Morris/CA" and not "MACA." The paper is in error. Does someone at the Willmar paper "have it in" for us? Forum Communications did leave Morris and it was amidst well-informed talk that they were going to close the Morris paper, as they did with the Hancock paper. MACA is no longer in the WC Trib's coverage territory, unless that has been changed just recently.
Monte beat MACA twice in the regular season. The T-Hawks finished with a 21-7 mark. I would not have assumed, like Webb did, that MACA was going to come on strong with a "run."
Three in double figures
The WC Trib does have the MACA individual scoring stats reported. That's a rarity. So here goes: Hanson led our scoring with 19 points. Drew Huebner closely followed with 17, then we see Riley Asmus with 11. Continuing: Alex Asmus 8, Owen Anderson 6, Tyler Friesen 2 and Jack Kehoe 2.
Hanson and Asmus each made two 3-pointers. Huebner and Anderson each came through with one '3'. Alas, the WC Trib has "N/A" for "not available" for the other stat categories. The paper had all stat categories filled for Montevideo. So we're still getting the short end of the stick.
I'll faint if the WC Trib ever refers to us correctly as "Morris Area Chokio Alberta" or "MACA."
I invite y'all to compare my coverage of this game to what you see on the Stevens County Times website. Please, compare.
More on SOTU
Today on the day after Biden's big speech, I wonder if we'll keep getting dispatches from our 7th District Congressperson Michelle Fischbach that put forward the possible impeachment of Joe Biden. She has been doing this a while. Maybe she has to keep acting super right wing as she tries to fend off her GOP challenger from the right, Steve Boyd.
So, has Biden committed "high crimes and misdemeanors?" Seems to me that Donald Trump has done multiple totally egregious things. Don't you follow the news? But the trials are so slow to arrive. That's our white collar legal system, which may eventually require some re-shaping. Slow as molasses, escape routes for big shots all over the place.
Don't people in the legal system ever work under deadline pressure the way little ol' me once did? I'm just an anonymous soul out in Flyoverland. Do the legal people work weekends? Time drags ad nauseam. The Jan. 6 outrage happened three years ago. Can't we get a sense of finality with the resolution? If not, what is wrong with us?
What is wrong with us for allowing one of our two major political parties to nominate someone like Trump again? Here's a comment I posted on Yahoo! News just a couple of hours ago:
The recent polls showing Trump leading Biden, thus on the doorstep of presidency again, should have Republicans almost intoxicated with a sense of power to come, right? But I'm not sure they really want it! The stumbling in the SOTU rebuttal has me wondering this. Does Rand Paul really want to be Senate GOP leader with the GOP in charge? Republicans know if they really "get in the driver's seat," they will have full responsibility for what happens in America. I think they fear that, terribly. As a rule, Republicans do not believe in legislating to solve problems. But when you're the majority, it really becomes incumbent on you. Deep down does the GOP relish instead being the hyper-critical minority, led by the wailing talk radio people?
"Bruno Bender" liked my comment. Nice to have support from someone named "Bruno Bender."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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