Heartbreaking end for 2025 volleyball

Is it late fall or early winter? There is a dreary atmosphere with a chilly temp, occasional raindrops and overcast skies. Something else that's dreary: reporting on high school volleyball. I awoke this morning with hopes of good news regarding our Tigers of volleyball. Our stock was high. We were aiming for the title in 3AA-North. 

My goodness, we owned the top seed and had a win skein of four going. I was actually surprised our season won-lost was not better. So the Tigers had shown vulnerabilities. While I hoped for a win, I was not really surprised to see we were defeated by New London-Spicer. The Wildcats had the second seed. 

Mention "New London-Spicer" in girls athletics and it brings respect always. In basketball especially the Wildcats have been a perennial power. And of course, there's often a carryover from basketball to volleyball. Look at Minnewaska Area: fourth in state hoops last year and undefeated until Thursday this fall. 

Until Thursday? Say it isn't so! The Lakers were defeated by Albany. We sure had been anticipating seeing those Lakers in state. We can never assume anything. The great ESPN commentator Chris Berman is known for saying "that's why they play the game." 

The heartbreak among the MACA fans today (Halloween!) is probably made worse by how close the match was. Let's report the scores from this sub-section finals match played at Willmar's Big Red gym. The MACA scores are first here: 23-25, 28-26, 16-25, 25-11 and 14-16. 

Look at the shift in momentum between games 3 and 4. And the fourth game saw the Tigers come on so strong. So the heartbreak must have been enormous when the pendulum went the other way for the deciding fifth game. It's impossible to predict these things. 

The Wildcats had been picking up steam heading into this match. While the Tigers had a four-match win streak going, NL-Spicer had put six consecutive wins together. Sometimes I get confused by the sub-section and section terminology. The sub-section finals are the same as the section semi-finals. That means that just one match remains in section and it's for the title. And, the state berth. 

The Wildcats go on to face Jackson County Central from out of the South. The two teams will battle at 5 p.m. Saturday at Southwest State of Marshall. NL-Spicer now owns a 16-10 record. The JCC Huskies upset the top seed in the South. 

The Wildcats had a mixed record in five-game matches going into Thursday. Early in the season they were positively snakebit. They dropped a five-set affair to our Tigers on August 28. The Wildcats' fortunes improved at the start of this month. And on Thursday when it counted most, NL-Spicer surely bore down in the deciding fifth game. 

I feel bad for two of the MACA players who I happen to know: Morgan Harstad and Addie Cihak. This pair presented height as an attribute. Morgan carries on this tradition from her sister Kaylee.

 

What a Game 5!

Fans were surely on edge of seats in the fifth game on Thursday. The Tigers led 14-13 and were one point away from finishing off the Wildcats. A Mylie Fehr tip put us in this position. After a timeout, NL-Spicer rolled together three points. A Katelyn Delzer kill sealed the deal. I can just imagine the heartbreak for the orange and black. 

The Wildcats have a state track record that would appear to take no back seat to basketball. They made state last season. And, in 2009, 1998, 1995 and 1993. Indeed this year's Wildcats are showing their mettle in overcoming the loss of key seniors on last year's team. 

The final record of our Tigers is 14-10. I'm not sure our coach is really the best. 

 

Wouldn't you know?

The West Central Tribune is back at it with "stats not available" for MACA. I am tired of expressing anger over that. What slipshod work by the Willmar newspaper. Remember it is owned by Forum Communications which failed in its ownership of our Morris paper. 

 

Here's a segue

Speaking of the Morris paper, I finally went to the library last night to see the article I'd been advised about, focusing on the UMM discomfort of late. I really wasn't expecting to learn much of a revelatory nature. The article quoted our outgoing chancellor and the U of M president. They were together for a meeting here. 

I couldn't help but think it was depressing to even see a photo of Ericksen. A question was asked of the U president Cunningham: was Ericksen asked to resign? Cunningham would not answer. So it's pretty obvious what the background is: We are being reminded that UMM is just a division of the U of M and that the latter can involve itself here as much as it wants. 

The U or the "main U" is obviously not trusting UMM to supply its own guidance now. There is no pretense as with a "search committee" for a new chancellor. That would be giving UMM too much of a sense of self-guidance. And after the recent sensational and hugely negative article in the Star Tribune about UMM, the Twin Cities people are overseeing us quite directly. 

I remember when Ericksen was inaugurated here amid the usual fanfare, flattery and you know what I mean. We were all led to think she was this brilliant leader for us. We were supposed to assume it. In Morris the "party line" thinking is hard to resist. But alas, now we have the U president being asked if Ericksen was forced to resign and there's a non-answer. 

At the same time, Cunningham is wise enough to know she shouldn't come down real hard on Ericksen. Erickson is lucky really because she keeps her teaching position with the pay and perks that are commensurate. She may have been "fired" but there won't be any holes in her shoes. 

I remember when all the headlines said Steve Sviggum had "resigned." I know people who took that at face value. Hey, Sviggum only resigned as vice chair of the Regents, he'd still be on the Regents. People in education rarely get fired lock, stock and barrel. Those of us in the real world can face a stiffer fate. 

So, now that the Twin Cities administration is really in the driver's seat, whither UMM? Now I'll speculate. Cunningham named the successor to Ericksen immediately. This fellow will take over pretty soon. I think he and Cunningham are both responding to a firm mandate now, if not from the Regents then from the legislature. Maybe the legislature sees a five-alarm fire here. 

Hey, don't scold me for saying that. I think the new guy has instructions to fine-tooth-comb through everything at UMM. No regard for personalities or networks of people who have grown close. Maybe UMM had a problem with the latter. And I sure am familiar with how such insidious things can develop. The new guy won't hesitate to cut anyone or anything that stands in the way of UMM fulfilling a mission that would satisfy the state. The state rules. Don't you think that's the way it should be? 

My goal is for UMM to someday have a Homecoming parade again.

I'll be attending the UMM Cougar volleyball match tonight (Friday, Halloween). Do you suppose we'll see costumes among the fans? It starts at 7 p.m.

   

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

Volleyball success in sub-section semis

On to the sub-section championship match! The MACA Tigers rolled forward with their success over the ACGC Falcons. Fans at Tiger Center enjoyed this 3-1 triumph by the top-seeded Tigers. Our record now is 14-9. 

And what lies ahead is the challenge against New London-Spicer. At stake will be the sub-section title as the teams take to the court at Willmar's Big Red gym. Match time is 7 p.m. Thursday. Might we see some Halloween costumes in the crowd? 

ACGC closed out its 2025 season with a 12-13 mark. 

The West Central Tribune has "stats not available" for MACA. That is so unfortunate. MACA teams so often play opponents that are in the newspaper's coverage territory. And so often we see the "stats not available" blunt statement. But they do report the details for the ACGC Falcons. So I'll go over these with you. I enjoy following high school athletics - always have. 

Kenlie Blom looks like a top player with the Falcons. She sent four serving aces at the Tigers. Avery Bierwerth had one ace. Bierwerth is the setting specialist for ACGC. She performed 30 set assists in the losing effort. Julia Rosenquist had one assist. 

Kenlie Blom

Blom is clearly at the fore in hitting with her 14 kills. Oh look there's another Blom in the ACGC attack and her name is very similar to her teammate's. A journalist like me has to be careful. So let's distinguish Kelsie from Kenlie! I wonder if they are twins. Kelsie pounded down eight kills. Ruby Klinger had seven, Makenna Skindelien five, and Haley Johnson three. 

In ace blocks it was Johnson at the top of the list with four. Three other Falcons had impact here: Skindelien 3, Klinger 2 and Kelsie Blom 1. 

Bierwerth and Kenlie Blom co-led in digs with 21. Then we see Kelsie Blom 19, Rosenquist 15, Sophia Iverson 11, Taylor Frericks 6 and Klinger 6. 

The game scores were as follows, MACA numbers first: 25-23, 17-25, 25-20 and 25-18. Now go get 'em on Thursday, Tigers!

 

Berlynn Green

Minnewaska 3, 

Sauk Centre 0

The 'Waska Lakers have historically struggled against Sauk Centre. This season brought a most pleasing turnaround. The Lakers downed the Streeters in both regular season matches and prevailed again Tuesday in the sub-section semi-finals. We're talking 6AA. Maybe there's a re-match of MACA and 'Waska lying ahead. What anticipation there would be for that. 

Our Tigers are the only team to have pushed 'Waska to a full five-game match! Now the Lakers are focused on the sub-section title match which will have them facing Albany, the #2 seed. Match-time is 7 p.m. Thursday at St. Cloud Apollo. 

'Waska volleyball has never before made state. My, look at the Lakers' overall season record now: 27-0! There is no other undefeated team in Minnesota. The Lakers need not look upon Sauk Centre as a nemesis anymore. The Lakers owned the Streeters this season. Fans watched the minimum three games as 'Waska prevailed on Tuesday. The scores: 25-21, 25-22 and 25-20. Sauk Centre was seeded fourth. 

Turning to the stats, Brooklyn Noyes and Eliana Marthaler each sent two serve aces over the net. Piper Barsness had one ace serve. Haillie Schulz was at it with her setting specialty as she performed 38 assists. In kills we see Mya VanLuik with special impact as this Laker produced 15. Berlynn Green had eight and she was followed by Avery Lewison 7, Emma Hellermann 6, Taylor Schulz 5, Haillie Schulz 3 and Marthaler 1. 

VanLuik got into the zone with her hitting at a key juncture, when 'Waska trailed by three points. Mya put together four consecutive kills to wrest momentum back. 

Here are the Lakers who performed ace blocks: Lewison 2, Green 1, H. Schulz 1, Hellermann 1/2 and VanLuik 1/2. Turning to digs we can report Emma Poegel 21, Green 20, Piper Barsness 19, H. Schulz 15, Marthaler 8 and T. Schulz 6. 

The Sauk Centre kill leader was Elly Herickhoff with 14. Sauk's top assist producer was Lindyn Anderson with 16. Herickhoff had three ace blocks. Nora Thieschafer led in digs with 19.

 

Thumbs-up or thumbs-down?

Are people in 'Waska holding their breath over the upcoming school referendum? Well it's in the hands of the 'Waska voters and I don't live there. But I'm always skeptical of school referendums. We all may be seeing considerable inflation again soon. Looks like the "Fed" will lower interest rates again. And look out for the tariffs. 

Many Americans will not mind paying more for everything because of the tariffs. Those people support Trump and everything he wants to do. Oh, they'll also support Trump in his harassment of the Federal Reserve board of governors. Whatever Trump wants, his supporters will be clearly behind him from their church pews on Sunday. Whatever he wants. 

Get ready for considerably more inflation. Trump just blames it on Biden or the Democrats or both. Well, go ahead and support him if you want. I cannot argue with such devout Christians, I guess. And just look at our congressperson Michelle Fischbach. Totally behind Trump on everything, blaming the Democrats for everything. That's bad. 

Such a simple world view. It relaxes the brain I guess.

 

Ella Johnson

Remember the UMM Cougars

It's great entertainment here in Morris: the UMM Cougar volleyball team! Many of us might overlook it. We have a fresh win to report on. Not only that, this win pushed the Cougars' record over .500 to 11-10. We're 5-4 in the UMAC. 

The Cougars disposed of North Central in a sweep. Scores were 25-16, 25-14 and 25-21. This success was in the big city of Minneapolis. It came on Saturday. North Central University is known as the "Rams." There was a fan turnout of 110 at Clark-Danielson gymnasium. 

Mary Cate Ziembiec was our leader in kills with eleven. Ella Johnson was tops in aces with five. The blocking department had  Ziembic and Braxtyn Meyer co-leading with three. Clara Holden led in assists with ten. And in digs, Lexi Coon had main impact with eleven. 

This Friday is Senior Day for the Cougars at UMM. The Oct. 31 matchup will be versus Martin Luther. Match-time is 7 p.m. Here's a "plug" for Cougar volleyball as great entertainment. I have been to three matches and have seen no admission charged. 

Hey, isn't October 31 Halloween! Maybe put on a costume for the occasion.

 

(photo by B.W.)

More on UMN-Morris turmoil

The volleyball enjoyment might be seen as a nice little "release" to get away from the wave of anxiety. I mean, "Everyone knows something big is coming and it will be bad." That's to quote a quite respected faculty source. 

You can't blame UMM employees for watching their backs right now. 

Having had the chance to reflect a little more, I'm theorizing: I think the outgoing chancellor might have made the mistake of thinking she could assert UMM's "autonomy" to a degree. There were communications between here and the big bad "main campus." Oh, I was told long ago to never say "main campus." The time for levity is passed. 

The Twin Cities campus which is surely the hub has the right to assert itself here to whatever degree it wants. And now it surely looks like the top officials will see that certain things get done or adjusted here. And they won't tolerate any UMM-based official second-guessing anything. So the problems or issues must be serious. 

Did Ericksen think she could get by asserting herself for UMM's interests? In one sense, it's laudable, "sticking up for your own." And that might work if the matters at hand were not urgent. And let me add this by way of historical perspective: I think there has always been tension in how UMM ought to relate to the Twin Cities administration. Is our campus to be seen as having a quite distinct identity? To what extent should we pump the "Morris" part of our name? And to what extent should "University of Minnesota" predominate? The recent events suggested strongly that the latter prevails. 

The top administration does not even trust us to select our next chancellor! The top administration is saying "don't bother, we'll handle things." 

Like it or not, there may be some tough pills to swallow. In the meantime, let's gather at the P.E. Center for more exciting volleyball! I have been to three matches myself. See you there! I'm at an age now where I have to show special care walking down the bleachers at the P.E. Center. Will the bleachers never be open on both sides again? Oh, the memories of big high school tournament games where the whole place was packed or nearly so! Sometimes it overwhelmed me. I'd think "don't the kids who play the games think maybe we're getting a little carried away?"

 

It's Wednesday so it was "biscuits and gravy" day for breakfast at DeToy's Restaurant in Morris! They also had quite the turkey dinner special for lunch! 

 

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

Tigers sweep to start 3AA play

We're off and running in the post-season for fall sports. An adrenalin rush for a great many of us. Our MACA Tigers are seeded first and so hopes are high. The team lived up to that status Friday night here at Tiger Center. The Tigers swept Montevideo. Monte was at the bottom of the heap. 
So now it's on to the next round of play which is presented on Tuesday. Tiger Center will be the site again. Match-time is 7 p.m. for the Tigers vs. the Falcons of ACGC. 
The overall MACA won-lost actually isn't as good as what I would expect. We're 13-9. We can put those numbers aside for the post-season anyway. 
We would not be the No. 1 seed if we were in the same sub-section as Minnewaska Area. The 'Waska Lakers have yet to lose a match! But the Tigers have shown potential to seriously challenge the Lakers. We're the only team to have taken the Lakers to the full five games! Without a doubt there is potential for an upset. Maybe I wouldn't put my money on the Tigers. But there is potential. I personally know two of the team members. 
The Tigers swept Monte Friday by these scores: 25-19, 25-14 and 25-20. What does the West Central Tribune report about this match? It has the scores. It's always nice to get more than that. The WC Trib gives stat details about the Montevideo Thunder Hawk players. As for MACA, the WC Trib has "stats not available." 
Over a period of many years I was able to blog with a fair amount of details about MACA teams. Not only was info available from the WC Tribune, there was the very nice service provided by Brett Miller of kmrs-kkok. All of that is gone now. I lack access to timely info about the MACA volleyball team. 
At least I can report on the Monte T-Hawks from Friday. I enjoy staying connected to high school sports. It's sad that I cannot report on my friends with the MACA volleyball team. Is it asking too much? 

Taryn Stenson

Taryn Stenson had six serving aces for Monte against the Tigers. Janie Miller had three and Reagyn Glady two. Miller put up nine set assists and Stenson had four. Then we see these T-Hawks each with one: Jillian Magnuson, Anika Brown, Ellie Steinbach, Jenna Schultz and Cali Janke. 
On to hitting: Here we see Magnuson clearly standing out with 15 kills. Megan Koosmann had three and Glady two. Miller performed two ace blocks while Magnuson and Schultz each had one. The digs list: Glady 20, Olivia Sachs 19, Anika Arends 12, Magnuson 6 and Payton Howell 5. 
Is the kmrs-kkok site helping us out this morning? As I complete this first draft of the post, the answer is "no." Brett Miller is gone but we have DeeDee there.
 
Minnewaska 3, St. Cloud Cathedral 0
No surprise here: The high-flying Lakers of Minnewaska dominated St. Cloud Cathedral to begin what they hope is a quite extended run. Fans at Minnewaska enjoyed seeing their team take care of business by these scores: 25-14, 25-21 and 25-20. The Lakers now sport a 27-0 record! Fabulous. 
All this excitement comes as the 'Waska school district readies for another referendum for $. 
I am happy for the Lakers, football too. But I do not root for the referendum. No prediction here. But I will say this to the "vote no" crowd: Even if your side wins, expect the other side to scheme by lobbying the state so the system changes and these things don't have to go to a vote anymore. Hell, they'll just bypass public sentiment. Anything to just get the money! I think y'all know how it is. 
School districts will never claim they have enough money. Here in Morris, it seems automatic for referendums to pass - it has been that way for years. I'm age 70 and I remember when the situation was the complete opposite: the 1960s. 

Let's do a deep dive on 'Waska. So we see Eliana Marthaler and Emma Poegel each with three serving aces. Piper Barsness had two while Berlynn Green and Hallie Schulz each had one. 

It was Schulz propelling the Lakers in the setting department with 33 assists. She was complemented by Barsness 2, Green 1, Marthaler 1 and Poegel 1. 
Avery Lewison and Mya VanLuik supplied prime fuel in hitting, each with nine kills. Here's the rest of the list: Green 7, Taylor Schulz 6, H. Schulz 4, Marthaler 2 and Emma Hellermann 2. 
In blocking we see Lewison, Hellermann and VanLuik each with an ace block, and Green with 1/2. The four leaders in digs: Poegel 17, Marthaler 10, Green 9 and Barsness 8. 
A final reminder to the referendum skeptics in Minnewaska: You may win this time, but watch out for certain "tricks" that might be played down the road. Do schools ever have enough money? I think it's especially hard for the Minnewaska school to get true community support because the school does not represent a community, it represents a lake! And I heard long ago that lakeshore property owners get screwed in matters like this. Also remember: "Figures lie and liars figure."

 

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

Miracle of high school sports "on the screen"

The high school football playoffs did not exist when I was a young person. We had a coach who I interviewed in his retirement years. This was Stan Kent. He did not believe in the football playoffs. He said the teams should just play for their conference title. Sufficient incentive. 

Also, he pointed out that nearly all teams would lose their last game of the season. Such is the nature with playoffs. A loss at the end is kind of a downer. Well that's what our MACA Tigers experienced on Tuesday night. 

People during the day must have figured it was going to be a downer night for football. I mean with the weather. Of course the temps are cooling off now. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the cotton pickin' wind. It can be a scourge on the prairie. 

I considered walking over to the field for at least a part of the game. But I was too much of a softie. Or, getting older makes me more reluctant to walk or ride bike. I do walk for recreational purposes. Somehow I feel the enthusiasm for that. Walking to town feels like more of a chore. 

Of course we have YouTube for high school sports. Talk about something that didn't exist when I was a young person! Try explaining YouTube to someone from my young years and it would come off like something out of the "Jetsons." Even after YouTube was created, we could not have imagined how far it was going to go. Live telecasts of local high school sports. 

Not only that, it has gotten so sophisticated, just like the regular TV coverage. It will only get better. We see the score at the bottom of the screen. The announcers are pretty sharp. And with time we'll take it for granted. 

There is a novelty aspect to all the new stuff we discover on this thing called the Internet. One by one these things become developed and then you know what? They become old hat. The novelty fades. We'll start becoming picky about how the telecast is handled. The advances are so steady, we hardly recognize them as advances. 

Looks like the high schools are getting $ from sponsorships of the telecasts. We'll get ads and "plugs" just like the big boys do. A polished telecast is no longer the province of Division I or pro football. It's everywhere. High schools can "ape" how the established sports systems have been functioning for a long time. Just like ESPN? 

ESPN has been taking slings and arrows for being "woke." All around us we sense this political schism. I remember when ESPN itself was a tremendous novelty! All sports all the time. I'm 70 years old and so I'm aware of the long breadth of media history, e.g. being able to watch live Atlanta Braves baseball on TV in the mid-1970s! Believe it or not, fans could be awestruck. I'm serious. 

Prior to those days, we'd see an occasional Twins road game on TV, very often without even the benefit of the center field camera position, and it would be sponsored in yawning fashion by "Midwest Federal."

Harold W. Greenwood

They ran the same commercials all game - yawn again. And there sat their patriarchal spokesman, Harold W. Greenwood! He would honor various people for helping build community. 

And then in the end, wasn't old Harold convicted of a serious crime or two? I thought he had such a bland persona, frankly dim-witted. 

Cable TV was going to come along to revolutionize sports media. And that was surely not the end of it. Through each stage of media evolution, for example Web 1.0, we as a society might have felt we had reached the apex. I caught myself thinking that a few times. You've heard the old phrase "you ain't seen nuthin' yet." 

These thoughts cross my mind as I recall last night and the opportunity to watch the live telecast of Tiger football on YouTube. High School sports available to watch just like the old days of Gophers and Vikings. Well, probably provides competition for the big boys. 

 

One and done 

The football playoffs did not last long for our Tigers this year. Where was our regular quarterback? I did not watch the whole game so I probably missed the explanation. Ozzy Jerome hurt? So common in football. Whenever I hear of a high school football injury, my first thought is to hope the injury does not have long-lasting effects. 

The fans can assume sometimes that when a player is "activated" again, he can spring right back is if nothing happened. The player himself would want to look "game" about his return. This would follow the old "manly" model for being tough. Sports is not equated with manliness anymore. Girls and women went from being discriminated against in sports to where today, they actually have it better than men. 

Women's sports is totally established and respected now, but there's no football or wrestling with their downsides for health of the participants. Football is self-evident and with wrestling it's unreasonable weight loss - always bothered me greatly. 

I think wrestling grew as the alternative to basketball mainly because it was a cheap sport to offer. Wrestling became a haven for a lot of the "troubled" young men frankly. Another haven for such boys was in "industrial arts" classes. And what the heck happened to industrial arts in high schools? When I was in high school, industrial arts was a whole sub-culture: boys wearing denim jackets and pants and with thumbtacks on the bottom of their cowboy boots. We had to admire their sheer talent with making things. I wonder what has taken over now in the absence of the sub-culture. My how times change. 

The Tigers lost to Thief River Falls last night 21-7 at Big Cat field. Must have been kind of a dreary night for fans. My, what a long trip home in the night for the Thief River Falls fans. Too long IMHO. 

I hear Hancock won, that's nice. Minnewaska won big. The Minnewaska school district is getting ready for the big referendum. It takes a lot for me to endorse a school referendum. I just don't trust most of the people promoting these things. Give schools more $ and the teachers will just end up demanding more. So I would vote "no." I hope that is the outcome at 'Waska.

 

More on our UMN-Morris

Last week gave us more drama than we'd care to handle, regarding our "jewel in the crown" UMM. Forget the jewel, we ought to just think survival now. I'm not sure we'll survive. Below is an email I shared with my fellow UMN-Morris benefactor Jim Morrison of the high-profile Morrison family. Would he listen to me? Well I give money and so anyone ought to.

 

Jim - Weird week last week for people associated with UMM. Seems there's no way to spin things in a positive way. All of sudden Janet is simply out as chancellor. I assume this was announced as a resignation because it wouldn't be cool to announce it as a firing. But I sure heard from a good source that it was a firing. I'm taking this as fact.

On Sunday morning [name withheld] said the following to me at Caribou Coffee: "We all know something big is coming, and it's not good."

So the story is this: Cunningham told Janet about cuts that will have to be made and Janet responded "No, I can't do that." Maybe Janet's intent was to just "protest" a little or to hesitate, but you know how it is when you get marching orders. So then maybe Cunningham started breathing fire and said "well, you're dismissed."

Janet had a good gig: chancellor of a college within the prestigious U of M. Even if she was being asked to do some uncomfortable things, I wouldn't think she'd want to walk away from that. Well, the cuts will be made one way or the other, so what difference does it make if Janet announces them? So Janet is leaving in middle of school year with no explanation of reasons for this irregularity. If it was health or family reasons, that could have been reported. I have actually lost some respect for Janet.

Looks to me like the new guy is going to move in here without any of the usual pomp or fanfare. He'll just move into an office and go to work. That's what it sounds like.

People at the Twin Cities offices were flummoxed I'm sure by the recent Star Trib article on UMM with such a large headline and blunt language. It was embarrassing for them. What happens in Morris reflects on the Twin Cities campus. Morris has lost a lot of its pretense for being such an elite place. Maybe that's all gone now. Hey, no "search" for the new chancellor? Well no. Isn't that interesting.

If you have any information that is more positive than what I am typing here, please communicate to me. But I'm afraid my sources are pretty good.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly74@yahoo.com 

Out of the blue, chancellor leaving

Maybe we're looking at fallout from the recent unflattering article re. UMM in the Star Tribune. 

Unflattering? It was rather like a bomb dropped here. I wonder what Steve Sviggum thought upon seeing this article. Maybe vindicated some? He's the former legislative big shot who was on the Board of Regents. I used to be awed by the Regents but I'm not any more. Sort of a ceremonial group charged with puffing up the U of M all the time and trying to get as much $ out of state coffers as possible. But I'm not sure these guys are as good at that as Mark Yudof. 

They come and they go, these U of M administrators. And now we're saying goodbye quite abruptly to our UMM chancellor. Shall I say "UMN-Morris?" As a matter of policy I'm not sure "UMM" is still acceptable. 

I got word from a friend yesterday morning on the chancellor's planned departure. I guess one should never be surprised. Remember when Joan Gabel became U of M President? You might have forgotten about her already. I personally attended public functions "welcoming" her. When Cunningham came along I sought no such involvement. 

I attended a reception for Gabel in winter when I rode bike out to the campus because I don't have a parking permit. I'm sure I could have assumed that campus security would not be checking the lots that day. But I hate to assume. How embarrassing if I were to get a ticket. I'm at an age now where I should not consider riding bike in winter. 

Do not dismiss me as "negative," because I do support events on campus. I've been to three volleyball matches of late, plus the jazz concert. Right now the HFA "recital hall" is apparently not in use because of the floor "buckling." Jazz was at Edson which you should know was the home for for all music and theater events in UMM's earliest years. If there's a problem with "acoustics" there I sure don't notice it. 

The jazz director commented favorably on Edson right during the concert. Why not? The Morrisons poured money into refurbishing the place, right? It is most pleasant and accommodating. However, I do not know the distinction between Edson Auditorium and the "Morrison Performing Arts Center." I'm not refined enough to understand. 

 

The big news 

Boy, I sure am beating around the bush here, as the purpose today is to make note of the chancellor's announcement of departure. Later in the day yesterday, someone with UMM delivered the standard official announcement that was dripping with "company line" language. It's to be expected. As an old Watergate era journalist I'm quick to recognize such releases for what they are. OK what's the real story? 

Is "hell coming to breakfast" because of the Star Tribune bomb that got dropped on the institution? Because the article wasn't just embarrassing for UMM, it made top U of M administrators squirm I'm sure. We can't get out of this one by pointing fingers at the Star Tribune. Thank goodness for some media institutions that still have some balls. 

 

Remember Ralph, Martha

I am attached to UMN-Morris because of the family fund that I established for music. The whole purpose is to keep the memory of my parents alive. I'm on my own to form opinions of the place outside of that. For example, the opinion that we should not be like U-Crookston and openly have music ensembles billed as "campus/community." Hey, we're not Crookston or at least we didn't used to be. 

Music comes at us openly with the "COMMuniversity" term. It's ugly. Not sure I can get myself to attend a concert that is billed this way. The jazz concert was NOT billed this way, so maybe that was a deciding factor for me attending. I was most pleased with the concert. 

We all had time to reflect on the chancellor news last night (Wednesday) as many of us followed the MACA Tigers in their MEA week game. Another milepost on the calendar: "MEA weekend." I walked to the game and stayed a while. A friend informed me this morning we won.10-3. Hooray! My friend said "New London-Spicer was on the one, ready to score at the end of the game, but the runningback fumbled into the end zone for a touchback."

There are no game details in the West Central Tribune coverage this morning. That is surprising because NL-Spicer would normally be a priority for them. I would have expected a West Central Trib article full of details on the NL-Spicer players but with "stats not available" for Morris. How can the paper keep doing that to us? Well, Forum Communications failed in its try to own the Morris newspaper. Remember that? 

 

Pondering UMN-Morris

People are wondering what's up with the UMM change. I'll quote two friends by name here because their thoughts are totally reasonable. 

From Warrenn Anderson: "I will be most interested to hear 'the rest of the story' on the Janet Ericksen matter. Why is Rodriguez scheduled to have the job through 2028?" 

From Del Sarlette: "2 questions I was curious about as well. Her departure in the middle of the school year is highly unusual. And it sounds like her replacement isn’t “interim” (?).

 

Michael Rodriguez

We're curious

Aren't we always supposed to assume an "interim" replacement? Not sure we'll ever hear more background about it all. I'm waiting anxiously to see how well UMM retains its students from one semester to the next. Will this Rodriguez fellow get a full-fledged "inauguration?" Or is there no time for such frivolity now?

Here's from the email I sent to Warrenn yesterday: 

 

NEWS FLASH THIS MORNING: Janet Schrunk Ericksen is leaving in December! OK what might this mean? Remember how UMM got raked over the coals in the Star Tribune? Maybe Ericksen senses that something bad is on the horizon for UMM. She's "getting out of Dodge?" She had it pretty good here as the chancellor of a college in the prestigious U of M. Does it get any better than that?

But here's the deal: I just read an article yesterday on Yahoo! News about how Trump and Stephen Miller and others are REALLY going to start cracking down on "woke" tendencies of colleges/universities. Regarding this, I fear UMM might still be a sitting duck, even with our Native American policy. I keep asking if the policy is based on a "treaty" and I can't get anyone to say "yes." So I'm assuming it is not. Whether or not it is a "good thing" is entirely beside the point. Trump and Stephen Miller are on the way, it looks like. The problem might be at central administration with the U of M because they certainly would not want Morris to drag them down. Would they really mount a "fight" against Trump? This is the question they might have to answer. It is hard to resist self-preservation.

 

Busy day for communicating yesterday. Here's from an email I sent to Del:

 

I think the Star Tribune article on Morris was like a bomb dropped on the whole U. Huge headline containing such sharp words. After the article Janet fumbled along trying to claim the numbers are getting better. This just made me want to ask: why did the dip happen in such an extreme way? Someone's big foul-up? Well, you know how it is, the buck stops at the top. 

UMM went through such uncomfortable times with the political stuff, the gay rights and then the right wing kids creating such an unpleasant atmosphere. Well, the top adm. probably felt "that's your problem, Janet, it's your responsibility to do something about it. Whatever it takes." 

And like I wrote on my blogs: Students need to be told they are "not here to push political causes. They are here to take their studies seriously in preparation for the rest of their lives." You cannot tolerate the group called "gay devil worshipers." That story got into the Twin Cities media. It's not funny now. 

The lack of a Homecoming parade is significant. Not that it has to be super fancy. The problem now is this schism between campus and community which has grown worse. So Janet needed to be told, "do something about it." And as far as the "Northstar" publication was concerned, Jacqueline Johnson was wrong in citing "the First Amendment." Those kids had their own attorneys outside of UMM, as I discovered. UMM should not have been forced to allow the distribution of that paper on campus using campus newsstands. It wasn't just "conservative," it was tasteless. 

Bring back the Homecoming coronation on proper terms and enforce those terms. "You have to show who's boss." I know UMM does not like to restrain the students - my mother told me that - but there's a time when things have to change. UMM was "cute" with some of its characteristics in the past, but now it needs to roll its sleeves up. 

The very existence of UMM is probably threatened by what's going on in Washington D.C.

When I think of it, Janet was a little confrontational in her response to Steve Sviggum. I remember her saying in effect "our students would be shocked that you think that." It's like she was taking sides and you don't want to take sides against a Regent who had quite the legislative resume. 

UMM has always been able to push a lot of people around right here. But there comes a time for humility, a trait that has not often been exhibited in the rarefied air of UMM.

I walked to Tiger game. 0-0 at halftime, boring. Didn't stay long. Wore winter coat for first time this season. It was a "damp" cold.

- BW

 

I sent not one but two emails to Del. Inquiring minds want to know I guess. So here's from the other missive I sent to him:

  

Del - What? No "nationwide search" for a successor? Sounds like just the standard bumping someone upstairs. What might this mean? Is UMM set to just sleep-walk for a time until something drastic happens? Last year there were rumors of lots of students not coming back for the second semester. We'll have to see this year. If the central administration is scared of what Trump/Miller might do, they might come down hard on UMM. 

Central adm. isn't real fond of the "coordinate campuses" anyway, or so I've heard like from that "Peach" writer a couple years ago. Central adm. is not going to let UMM be a hindrance to the system, that's for sure. We haven't let go of "DEI," have we? What about the "women's studies" major? The guy on that podcast talked about our "grievance majors" taking over. Trump and Miller have NO TIME for that stuff. Our best hope might be that we're so small and remote out here, not worth the trouble. "Indians lining up on the hill." 

 

Janet Schrunk Ericksen

Del responded and began with a quote from one of my emails:  

"Students need to be told they are 'not here to push political causes.' " That’s like telling a dog not to bark. That’s what college kids do, they feel it’s their right or responsibility.

I really wonder why Janet chose the timing for her departure – between school years is always the norm. Maybe health reasons? “I’m quitting for health reasons – I’m sick of this job.” 

I’m sure the pressures are immense, I know I couldn’t handle it.

  

Another milepost

Well, maybe we can all relax over Thanksgiving. Is "Black Friday" dying out? I sense that more and more businesses are using Black Friday as an excuse to set up a four-day weekend. We could have predicted this. 

Final note: I will never forget how UMM singers performed my father's "UMM Hymn" for Janet's inauguration. Thanks Yulene.

 

Just before I published this blog post, I got word thanks to Erin C. at UMM that Lucy Imholte has passed away. RIP Lucy. 

 

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

'Waska undefeated but watch those Tigers!

Minnewaska volleyball has one last assignment in the regular season. And what a regular season it has been. A winning habit all the way. Their last assignment before post-season will be to play in a tournament at Fergus Falls tomorrow (Thursday). The Lakers will be at it bright and early at 9 a.m. Right now they are bathing in the satisfaction of having a perfect 12-0 record in the West Central Conference. 
Their most recent success was Tuesday at Barrett. Barrett is of course home to the West Central Area Knights. And the Lakers were able to take care of business in the minimum three games. The Lakers swept the Knights 25-22, 25-11 and 25-18. Now they're ranked sixth in Minnesota AA. 
They may face an obstacle in our Tigers of MACA. MACA is the only team to take the Lakers to the full five games. I haven't been to an MACA match but I know our Tigers have height as an attribute. One of these tall girls is my next-door neighbor. The other one I have come to know at DeToy's Restaurant. Actually both of them put in weekend hours at DeToy's. We're talking about Addie Cihak and Morgan Harstad. 
I have been writing about Minnewaska regularly this fall as if they were my "home" team. It's not hard for me to have that attitude about them. Actually the reason for this is that I have access to timely match details for 'Waska but I do not for my own MACA Tigers. And I bemoan that very much. But I make lemonade out of lemons by "adopting" the very talented Minnewaska Area Lakers. 
Well it's Wednesday morning on this day when signs of fall are surely advancing. A very gray morning this morning, you might say dreary. But let's try making lemonade. I strive to do that even with the dark clouds hanging over this nation with the government shutdown. 
How can the Federal government shed so many employees without having it affect us in a damaging way? The shutdown rolls on. A big Republican leader is John Thune from right next to us in South Dakota. Interesting how Minnesota can be such a blue state and South Dakota is totally contrary. And here in West Central Minnesota, it seems we really blend in with the flat-Earthers of the Dakotas. 
I fear we may be on the verge of seeing really bad things happen as a result of the prolonged shutdown. Actually what I fear most is a surprising new burst of inflation due to the Federal Reserve "cutting rates" over and over under the great pressure from DJT. The president is supposed to leave the Federal Reserve alone. DJT breaks rules and norms all over the place. 
If the USA literally collapses, will y'all have misgivings about how you let the GOP have so much power? I have had a fundamental respect toward Republicans all my life, but today's Republicans are not the conservatives of old. They are radical and dangerous and built on the aspirations of one man who reportedly shits in his pants, and who has been found responsible for sexual assault. His supporters don't care about any of that, so why would we think they'd care about what's in the "Epstein files?" All they have to do is call it a "hoax." What does all this say about our educational system in America?

Let's move on to a review of the 'Waska Lakers' most recent success.
  

Lewison with eight kills

Minnewaska 3, West Central Area 0 
Two of the Lakers came through with three serving aces against the Knights. These were Avery Lewison and Berlynn Green. Eliana Marthaler had two and Emma Poegel one. 
Haillie Schulz is the Lakers' cog in setting and on this night she put up 27 assists. Kyra Nelson had two and these Lakers one each: Green, Marthaler, Poegel and Mya VanLuik. 
The crowd-pleasing hitting category saw Green at the fore with 11 kills. Here's the rest of the list: Lewison 8, Emma Hellerman 6, VanLuik 4, Schulz 2, Marsthaler 1, Michela Johnson 1, Piper Barsness 1 and Taylor Schulz 1. 
On to ace blocks: VanLuik 3, Hellermann 2 1/2, Lewison 1 1/2, H. Schulz 1 and Green 1. Poegel led in digs with ten followed by Barsness 9, Green 7 and Marthaler 5. 
What a sterling W/L record the Lakers own with the tournament so near. It is 21-0! All the success coincides with the referendum talk in the Minnewaska school district. I heard many years ago that lakeshore property owners get a little excited about these, like maybe these people carry too much of the burden. I'd be surprised if a referendum ever passed easily in Minnewaska Area. Things might go better if they had a "Glenwood High School" instead of "Minnewaska Area High School." 
Does anyone care much about the old Glenwood-Starbuck rivalry or schism anymore? Or is that seen as petty and dated now? I remember a friend saying back when Minnewaska was being planned, that it was a case of "the tail wagging the dog." In other words, Starbuck had too much power. I know a lot of people saw it that way. 
Who cares any more about the "power" of one community vs. the other? Seems depressing. 
"Minnewaska" is not a town or community, it is a lake.
 
Tigers 3, Montevideo 0
Yes those Tigers of MACA where I live have shown they can challenge the 'Waska Lakers. A post-season showdown would be most interesting. I would not attend a match unless I was with someone. A 70-year-old man with white hair sitting alone would not be cool IMHO. 
We can congratulate the Tigers on their 3-0 win over Montevideo Tuesday. The success ended our regular season. The West Central Tribune of Willmar is nice enough to inform us that Janie Miller of Monte led the squad in hitting with ten kills and two ace blocks. Also, Raegyn Glady had 14 digs and two ace serves for the T-Hawks. But the West Central Tribune does not report any details about MACA. What jerks. 

We do get the scores: 25-23, 25-21 and 25-17. You can see that Monte could put up a challenge. 
I just looked up the Tigers' W/L record on "Minnesota Scores" and it's 12-9. I thought it would be better than that. But, keep the faith! And I'll repeat that the Lakers are a world-beating 21-0! You might think they can roll past our Tigers. But as ESPN sports personality Chris Berman is known to say, "that's why they play the game."
 

Mary Cate Ziembiec

UMM Cougars 3, St. Scholastica 2
I learned a new term from the UMN-Morris sports website just now: "reverse sweep." That's how the UMM volleyball team won on Saturday here. I'm pleased to say I attended for much of the match. I will repeat: UMM volleyball is the best-kept entertainment secret in Morris. I have seen no admission being charged. 
I'm proud to say I was present but I did not stay through the end, sorry. I left when the outlook didn't look that great. It seemed St. Scholastica had the advantage. But no! Our Cougars surged to thrill the home crowd and notch the win. Super! Here are the scores: 22-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-15 and 15-8. 
The success pushed our W/L to over .500 at 9-8. 
Mary Cate Ziembiec had 21 kills, one serving ace and one block. Anna Molstad had 12 kills and one block. Tori Scheler had six kills and one block. Ella Johnson had six kills, two aces and one block. 
It is Wednesday morning so that means I have been "fueled" by the Wednesday morning breakfast special at DeToy's:  biscuits and gravy! I dine at DeToy's twice on Wednesday.
I encourage y'all to attend a UMM volleyball match at Cougar Sports Center.

 

Addendum: I encourage you to look at my post on "Morris of Course" about the very exciting UMN-Morris football win Saturday. It was way down in Missouri! Kind of a fur piece away, n'est-ce pas? Such is the nature of athletics nowadays. The Cougars won with a walk-off field goal as time expired. This was over Westminster College of Fulton MO. Never heard ot it? You're forgiven. In my post I give background about the school, how it was the site for a Winston Churchill speech that gave us the term "Iron Curtain." Pretty fascinating. Here is the link to my post and God bless.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/10/cougars-win-where-iron-curtain-term-was.html 

 

Addendum No. 2: I just learned significant news about our Morris, how our UMN-Morris chancellor is leaving in December! Actually these things happen very often. Thanks to Del Sarlette for sending me this "tip." I shot him a response:

 

I'm about to leave for DeToy's so I'll get in touch later as well. As far as Janet "Honey I Schrunk the Kids" Ericksen leaving, it is upsetting and disruptive, it has to be. Not sure I'll go out of my way to meet the next one, just like I never went out of my way for Cunningham. Never met her. I paid lots of attention to that Gabel person and then she left pretty pronto. I'm jaded. Amazing how the Morris paper misspelled Schrunk's name in the headline for her inauguration. I would have been tarred and feathered for doing that.

Yesterday I saw article about how Trump and his people are really clamping down on colleges with the woke tendencies, so they really mean business, Trump and Stephen Miller. Sounds like it isn't just talk. 

So I would not be surprised to learn that UMM is in big trouble, mainly because the main U will not want Morris to drag down the whole system. Nothing is just "talk" with Donald Trump, so he's trying to get James Comey convicted etc.

News about Janet should be demoralizing here.

I had biscuits and gray this morning. God bless Karrie.

- BW

 

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