The MACA thing is so firmly established today. It had to go through a sort of experimental period. Oh I remember this: a pairing that was supposedly firm, but then the C-A folks thought they could go ahead and establish their own JV basketball schedule. No, the nature of the pairing was such that it was ongoing, forget the "C-A" teams.
The communities would be together. It caused discomfort among some folks over a stretch of time. You might say "progress was halting." The smaller communities really wanted to cling to their sense of identity. And I suppose some parents are always going to be pretty single-minded: "how much playing time will my kid get?" Or, "I don't want my kid lost in the shuffle." I remember the latter quote coming from a Hancock father who was in my office. His son ended up the QB of the Owls for a time.
We cannot blame parents for wanting the best experience for their kids. So maybe now we can hope for MACA girls basketball to fare a little better? The outgoing coach is a fine gentleman. Maybe he seemed like a no-brainer for the job because he was tall. Tall people have special mastery with basketball? Well, I'd say they can have mastery when playing the game.
Morris has a history of basketball coaches who stood out with their height. Was this deliberate? I mean to be entranced with someone who has such stately stature? When you're close to the hoop you have advantages, n'est-ce pas? But from the coaching bench? Not sure there's any correlation there. Do people listen to my opinions? Historically not really.
We can go back to the '60s with Andy Papke being coach. Back then it was just "basketball" and not "boys basketball."
Girls? They were candidates for cheerleaders. That's just the way it was. The cheerleaders had to fit a certain mold for cuteness too. We all knew that. We all knew there were girls who "need not apply." No one on behalf of the school would have come out and admitted this.
Subsequent to Papke whose performance I guess was not scintillating, we got Roger Schnaser. Schnaser was well-known from playing for UMM. Great to incorporate a person with a UMM background. I was a little biassed for liking the guy but I eventually learned from credible friends that his acumen was not that impressive. Truman Carlson did not like him. Truman told me stories about that years later.
Schnaser is well-remembered among my generation of Morrissites. We had the town Centennial during his heyday of involvement. His name was announced during a Centennial program of some type. A fellow student of mine shouted "Hey Shorty!" Charming.
Man, the Centennial in 1971 was a much bigger deal than the Sesquicentennial of a couple years ago. The people of 1971 would be shocked to learn that the Sesqui was not going to be observed in real grand fashion. Our culture had changed. In 1971 we at least had vestiges of Norman Rockwell's America with mom-and-pop businesses. Today? Seems so much more impersonal.
But the old days were not necessarily the good old days. Plenty of real blemishes. People didn't understand alcoholism. If you learned of a husband physically abusing his wife, the attitude was "hush hush." But there was plenty of good to offset the bad or the unenlightened.
Schnaser moved on in his life. I was pleased to write a reverential blog post at the time of his passing. The only photo I saw circulated at the time of his death had him holding up a fish! Charming. Roger Schnaser RIP.
Papke has left us for the basketball court in the sky too. When I think of the "in the sky" expression, I think of Glendon Rose. He used it colorfully. Man don't I sound like an old-timer? I don't feel like one but I guess I am.
I have a good memory of when C-A tried to have its own JV team after the formal pairing with Morris. Some of my memories are vague all these years later but I do remember the essentials. So, I know this did in fact happen. I remember discussing it with Mark Torgerson, so he could probably confirm that if he would care to. Not a huge deal, just a footnote, a historical curiosity.
Today it seems we're all comfortable - no questions asked - about the "MACA" thing. Quite the norm. But my, change always happens. Boys soccer is here? So some people are no doubt concerned about what this will mean for football. I am too, in the sense that I am concerned too many boys will feel they have to "stick with football." Under parental pressure? Or will parents encourage their sons to leave football for soccer in order to better guard their health? I hope that's the direction it goes.
Then there were four
I have cited Dale Henrich, Andy Papke and Roger Schnaser as examples of Tiger basketball coaches who loomed over the rest of us. Well the list can continue, would y'all believe? Let us add a former UMM female basketball superstar who took over the girls program in the mid-1980s. Was going to be a savior for Tiger girls hoops if not the broader girls athletic program. She would do UMM proud.
Well it really didn't work out.
Tiger girls basketball now has a long history which does have a highlight period or two. It was bound to. But overall it has greatly disappointed. I would include this past season, getting demolished by Minnewaska Area among other things. Strange. We had a standout post player in Kaylee Harstad. And I'm sure some other talented players. But we lost our first tournament game.
So we simply could not stand pat with that, pilgrims. In the old days like 30-40 years ago, the school faculty would fight - absolutely fight - for the incumbent coach no matter what. Strange. It's just a game y'all.
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| Justin Daly, new coach of Tigers |
Am I ahead of the newspaper in announcing this? I made the announcement and use a photo of Justin from Facebook on the current post on my "Morris of Course" companion blog. I put up the post yesterday (Wednesday). I got the photo from the Spaulding's Sports Bar of Chokio Facebook page. A more reliable news source than the paper?
My post is actually inspired by the whole Iowa women thing: my point is that GBB coaches everywhere are going to feel more pressure to win. Iowa has greatly elevated appreciation for the women's game. You may click to read my post and thanks:
Addendum: How about the Arizona Supreme Court? Taking us back to the mid-19th Century, to before the Civil War ended? It almost isn't enough to say it's "stranger than fiction." And the Arizona Republicans in the legislature feel they need more time to mull this over, to consider if it's really a good thing?
Well, here in Morris we have so many people who just vote Republican automatically.
Based on the direction suggested by the AZ Supreme Court, what next will we discuss? Whether women should have the right to vote? That's not out of bounds at all.
Should Michelle Fischbach even be allowed to hold her Congressional office? She's a woman. But she supports Republicans. She voted against certifying the 2020 election results. She implied sympathy for the insurrection attempt, for the attempted violent overthrow of the U.S. government. What if Mike Pence and his family had been killed? Had their throats slashed? Fischbach good with that? Make her smile?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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