Transitioning to fall ever so slowly. Are many of us actually looking forward to the colder weather months? Get past the rain? The mildew? But will the precipitation carry into the next seasons? Overcome with snow maybe? But our last two winters have been quite snow-free. Didn't Donnelly have to do some difficult negotiations for snow removal a few years ago? We're relieved of the hassle as we get minimal snow winters.
The transition into fall means we can enjoy high school sports again. There is bad news on this front. A guy who is one of our top athletes, possibly the very best, is not going out for football. Part of me wants to celebrate any kid not going out for football. That was the decision I made as a kid. And I would have had no ability anyway.
I was a close observer of football and ended up writing about it for the Morris newspaper. That was as early as 1972. The first coach I worked with was Jim Satter. I would have enjoyed working with Stan Kent.
On the sidelines I never risked getting hurt in a way that could have long-term effects. Sometimes these effects do not show up right away. Consider all the sub-concussive hits to the head that players take.
Aw, I'm spoiling all the fun. I'm being "negative." I have always just sought to be honest and caring. We know so much more about the health consequences of football now. I'm age 70 and have dodged that bullet in life. I'm glad to think I have never been in position to be accused of "mortgage fraud." Maybe I should suggest a rimshot after that comment.
Our president is using the mortgage fraud accusation to go after people. But should there be legal convictions first? Whatever happens, we can be sure our congressperson Michelle Fischbach will support DJT 100 percent. She'll wave pom-poms for him.
We have chosen this. There is a risk of a big tidal wave of inflation coming at us. It creeps along steadily now. But the Federal Reserve feels suffocating pressure to be dovish and that's in order to benefit the stock investors and billionaires. At age 70 I won't go into the stock market. I just want $ to get breakfast at Caribou Coffee the next morning. Leave me alone.
MACA Tiger football
It's one of the Asmus boys who is passing on football for this season. That's the word from indisputable sources. When I was with the paper I knew the details of all community drama. Today I'm fortunate to pick up the salient details. The late coach Perry Ford of the Cougars teased me on using the word "salient." Well, I could use "kerfuffle" too.
I have long maintained that Chris Matthews of MSNBC, when he had his daily show, elevated the word "kerfuffle" from near total obscurity.
So a friend emailed me yesterday with an update on what he called the "kerfuffle" with our Morris Public Library. Can you believe that this complicated matter has been going on for several months now? I breathed a sigh of relief when the newspaper supplied a thorough update recently. The new SCT came out yesterday (Tuesday) but I haven't seen it yet. My place to go for looking at it would be the library. But I'm very hesitant to go in there now, what with this institution being at the vortex of controversy.
Ah, controversy in a small town. Would have been nice to get this ended before the end of summer. But no. Don't our top elected city leaders have the authority and the leverage to deal with this and to do so post-haste? What kind of operation is this? Are the elected city people just abject total fools? I'm beginning to think that's a possibility.
Will our community be alert enough to clean house? This community? Maybe not. We're talking real money, real largesse. Largesse is $ that has just been wasted, right? It's city taxpayer money. Here's the email I got yesterday:
I heard on the KMRS local news this morning that the library board is questioning why the City Council is charging the $23,000 legal expenses incurred by the city in the Anne Barber kerfuffle to the library budget. (The board's) response was that a simple conversation between the city manager and Ms. Barber would have solved any issues.
Early-on in this mess it was easy to get the impression from lots of people that the city manager was simply the "bad guy." If that was true, though, we had to feel puzzled as time went by and the council did not "rein her in." Rein in Ms. Schrupp. So it appeared the council was standing behind her. If she was resolutely against the library director, well then maybe the council should have acceded to her judgment and just fired Anne. Don't tell me the council doesn't have the flexibility to do that.
My own opinion is that we don't need the library, not in our advanced age of electronic communications. Maybe there are council people who agree with me on this.
Anne's friends are pretty tied in with the local academic crowd. I have sensed this crowd losing its clout over the past few years. Maybe they're having a hard time dealing with that.
"Make America Great Again" reflects anti-intellectualism. And West Central Minnesota is assuredly "red" with its political complexion. Fischbach will keep her congressional seat for as long as she wants it unless she gets displaced by someone like Steve Boyd.
So let's keep those cuts to Medicare and Medicaid coming. Let's force more rural hospitals to close. People apparently want that.
Game at 'Waska
Our MACA football team will open on the road Thursday against Minnewaska. When we play our home opener on Sept. 5 vs. Monte, looks like the orange and black will be without Riley Asmus. I learned that Riley is a senior while Alex Asmus is a junior. We will be sans Riley Asmus because he has a nice baseball scholarship and he wants to avoid risk of a football injury.
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| Big Cat Stadium |
Many community people will take the trouble to attend the games even when it's cold. But Riley is choosing not to play. That's the word I get. One of my sources said this Tiger will play basketball. Well, a kid can get injured playing basketball too.
First of all I cheer any kid who chooses not to play football. But as a general philosophy, I'd say you're only in high school once and it's a precious chapter in one's life. You should savor everything it offers. Yes, live for the moment. Our nation may be getting destroyed by Trump and his people. Tariffs, deporting of cheap labor and strong-arming the Federal Reserve: all factors that contribute to inflation.
And the way Trump disrespects people and shatters norms should make us furious. I observe. I cannot change anything. He defecates in his pants these days.
Addendum: It is counter-intuitive to think our city council people would stand idly by why so much largesse is happening, i.e. wasted money. All of this might serve as an excuse for the council to say "the library is too much of a burden on this community. It is obsolete. People have new channels to enrich themselves."
Hell I don't read "books" anymore. Or magazines. I only look at Morris paper at library, don't buy it. But the library is in thick of controversy and unpleasantness. Should I feel uneasy there? Not good for image of the city. But the council people may have a method to their madness: usher library into obsolescence. Lock the doors.
And whither the big building once known as the "senior citizens center." Another city burden or problem. And people are not delighted with the property taxes they're paying. Maybe that's the sentiment that our city manager is really sensitive to now. Maybe that's a really good thing. But I have a hard time believing that our council and manager are just hopeless fools. No, it can't be.
Hey, I'm getting patches of mildew on some of my clothes. I've never had this happen before. Please, let's get back to temperatures around freezing!
The Three Stooges had a short that was set at a fictional "Mildew College."
If a kid wants to minimize injury risk in football, he could play wide receiver. You know this is Morris when you end a conversation about something like this and the person says "don't quote me." Candy asses.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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