Girls get 2-1 edge but fall to Sauk Centre

Sauk Centre 3, Tigers 2

The MACA girls got a good test Monday with the post-season nearing. The Tigers traveled to play the Sauk Centre Streeters.

The Streeters are the WCC-North champions. They had the look of a champion Monday. They defeated our Tigers but they needed the full five games.

The Tigers began weak, dropping game 1 by a 25-8 score, but games 2 and 3 were quite the different story. Coach Kristi Fehr's orange and black squad took games 2 and 3 by scores of 25-18 and 26-24. So, the Tigers were one game away from taking this match.

Sauk Centre had other ideas. Sauk summoned some new momentum and took game 4 by a score of 25-10, so the stage was set for the deciding game 5. It was a hard-fought game and had the host Streeters pleasing their fans with a 15-12 win.

Sauk Centre came out of the night with powerhouse won-lost numbers of 24-3. In conference the Streeters own a perfect 13-0 mark.
The Tigers' W/L numbers remain quite sterling: 15-5 in overall, 8-4 in conference.

Streeter Amanda Weir was an obstacle for the Tigers Monday. Weir fueled her team's win with 23 kills and five ace blocks. Aleah Gerhartz came at the Tigers with ten kills. Greasing that hitting attack were setters Amanda Kulzer (25 assists) and Katelyn Durbin (18 assists).

Beth Holland had the only serving ace for the Tigers. Beth's good/attempts numbers were nine of eleven. Haley Erdahl was 13 of 13 in serving. Other Tigers to be acknowledged in this department: Hunter Mundal (11 of 12), Terianne Itzen (10/10), Sydney Engebretson (19/20) and Chelsey Ehleringer (14/14).

Ehleringer raced around to perform 18 set assists while Erdahl had seven. Lacee Maanum went up to get three ace blocks while Engebretson had two and Kayla Pring one.

Itzen led on the digs list with 24, followed by Holland (18), Ehleringer (15), Mundal (9), Erdahl (7) and Engebretson (7).

We're saving hitting for last. Here it was Itzen showing the most force, producing 15 kills on 40 of 50 in good/attempts. Paige Schieler showed force in this five-game match, getting 11 kills on 34 of 45 in G/A.

Lacee Maanum and Engebretson both had five kills with Maanum going 23-for-27 and Engebretson 25-for-34. Pring had four kills on nine of ten in G/A, and Nicole Strobel had three kills on eight-for-ten.

This is the week when regular season play ends for the volleyball and football student-athletes. The volleyball finale is tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 15) at Montevideo. The football Tigers will travel to YME tomorrow (Wednesday) in a game where the odds of victory appear to be high.

I remember the days when Granite Falls, before YME, was a tremendous power in high school football. Granite Falls was the "Kilowatts." I also remember a time in the 1980s when Monte was a feared power. This year the football Tigers took care of business pretty routinely at Monte. Change happens.

 

Pheasant hunting starts

Change also happens with the change of seasons. We are seeing the steady arrival of more chilly temperatures, and this coincides with the pheasant hunters getting out and around. This was impressed on me Saturday when I was at Casey's and mingling with guys who were wearing vests full of shotgun shells.

As a kid I joined in the hunting pastime because my father always had.

It's interesting how pheasant hunters can look like an advancing army as they go across a field seeking to "flush" those ringnecks. The hunting dogs can get obsessed. The hunters advance the way "skirmishers" did in the old Civil War formation. Today of course we're shooting birds and not people, unless you're Dick Cheney (LOL).

My father and I used to hunt ducks at Frog Lake which also goes by the name Gorder Lake. Frog Lake is a nature bonanza, or at least it was then. There weren't many geese then. We'd be awestruck seeing any geese fly over. And our heart would skip a beat if they actually flew close enough to consider shooting at. Most often they'd still be too far away.

We often saw the "blues" and "snows" (blue geese and snow geese) fly overhead. There were more canvasback ducks then.

We anticipated the "northern flight" and those tightly-grouped flocks of bluebills speeding along like a jet plane and making that brief thundering noise to match.

Flax Lake is next to Frog Lake. Hunting ended up not being my cup of tea. Lifting bloody ducks out of ice-cold water is not something I relish.

Pheasant hunters aren't expected to fare real well this year, according to Minnesota Public Radio. The pheasant population is down about 30 per cent from 2012. The extended winter and cool wet spring are factors. Minnesota farmers have been plowing up more grassland to grow corn and other crops because of high prices.

The trend is likely to continue. Governor Mark Dayton was in Madelia in southern Minnesota for the opener.

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

Late surge comes too late vs. Melrose

Melrose 18, Tigers 14

Bo Olson was almost a miracle man Friday. We could use the word "miracle" if Olson's Tigers had actually won. We could use the word anyway, but any number of other adjectives would do justice. Like, "stupendous."

Friday, Oct. 11, saw Olson's Tigers square-off against the Dutchmen of Melrose. It was a rough night at our Big Cat Stadium for trying to enjoy football. Weather was acting up. From my booth at DeToy's Restaurant, I saw at least one big streak of lightning cross the sky. There was a tornado watch. The wind was oppressive.

Still, I'm sure many enthusiastic fans turned out. Congrats on the enthusiasm, but I passed on this week in order to attend the jazz concert at the University of Minnesota-Morris. No weather issues for me. The concert was terrific. Be sure to put UMM music events on your calendar.

The Tigers have found points hard to come by through stretches of this season. Against ACGC it was zero. Against Melrose on Friday, there was a goose egg on the scoreboard for each of the first three quarters.

Would the Tigers be shut out again? Melrose was seen as a beatable foe. Back when the Tigers were 1-4, many sports insiders locally said the odds were high of the team finishing 4-4. The Tigers did take care of business against Montevideo. They did not against Melrose.

Bo Olson thrilled fans with two late touchdowns but the Tigers came up shy. Melrose was the 18-14 winner at Big Cat.

The Melrose fans had to be plenty nervous at the end. But they did go home happy, motoring along I-94 to the east. When I was a kid, Melrose's Mark Oldberding was one of the best basketball athletes in the nation. He had a pro career.

Did the Friday loss dampen hopes for a home playoff game? I'm not sure, but so many fans seemed to assume we'd finish the season 4-4. Never assume in sports.

A knowledgeable source told me before the season that new coach Kevin Pope "wanted to try some new things." Considering the offensive slumps and the collapse vs. Sauk Centre, I'm not sure those new things are working all that well. I wonder if we'll hear suggestions for Jerry Witt and Lyle Rambow to come back. Hmmm.

Melrose's Friday win pushed the Dutchmen's record to over .500 at 4-3. They scored in three of the four quarters Friday. They seemed in a position to just cruise the rest of the way. As it turned out, they did have enough points to win.

First it was Blake Gerads scoring on a 15-yard pass reception from Matthew Beste. The point-after kick try failed. Seth Noll scored in the second quarter for the Dutchmen. This young man with the same last name as the famous Pittsburgh Steelers coach scored on a one-yard run. The Streeters failed on a two-point conversion run try.

Melrose's third TD came on a Gentry Middendorf five-yard run. The PAT kick try was no good.

The Tigers broke loose late but it was too late. First, Bo Olson scored on a 91-yard kickoff return. Then there was a successful two-point conversion pass: Bryce Jergenson to Trent Wulf. (The Willmar newspaper spelled the name "Wolff.")

Finally there was a 28-yard TD pass from Jergenson to Olson to close out the night's scoring. The conversion run try failed.

Time was against the Tigers. They needed to show more of an offensive flourish earlier in the game. Where was it? It must have been frustrating for the orange and black fans who also had to contend with the ferocious wind.

Such a storm must cause lots of people to hold their breath - those people who just recently had their roofs and/or shingles replaced. We have even had some small hail in October. We're not supposed to get hail in October here. Global climate change. More extreme weather.

 

Stats from Friday

The Tigers had 13 first downs vs. Melrose compared to 11 for Melrose.

Isaac Wente had a good rushing total again, 95 yards, but he needed 29 carries. He represented nearly the entire MACA rushing attack. Three Tigers had negative yardage, and Nathan Anderson picked up nine yards on one carry.

Jergenson in the passing game was hurt by three interceptions. He hooked up with receivers for seven completions in 17 attempts for 100 yards.

Olson made waves as a pass-catcher with four catches for 71 yards. Trent Wulf had two catches for 16 yards, and Corey Storck had one for 13. (The Willmar newspaper omits the "e" in "Corey.")

Noah Grove was the punter and put his foot to the ball twice (31.5 average). The tackle chart standouts were Nathan Anderson, Isaac Wente and Gage Backman.

Zach Pierskalla of Melrose surpassed 100 rushing yards in his 14 carries. Quarterback Matthew Beste didn't have to pass the ball much.

Melrose had three fumble recoveries. Seth Noll sacked the QB once.

If the stats are correct, the Tigers lost three fumbles and had three passes intercepted. A big handicap.

The Tigers will now play in the annual mid-week game, what we used to call the "MEA week game," Wednesday night vs. Yellow Medicine East on the road. The YME game ends the regular season.

Click on the permalink below to view my Flickr photo album of the Tigers' 2013 season. Thanks for viewing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcminn/sets/72157635812109256/with/9901886244/

 

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

Girls prevail on back-to-back nights

The MACA volleyball girls soared up to win No. 15 with two successes at the start of this week.

The success started with a hard-fought win over a stubborn Wheaton-Herman-Norcross team at Wheaton, Monday. That win went into the books 3-2.

Then came Tuesday (10/8), when the home gym was the site for a match vs. Minnewaska Area. The Lakers proved to be not so stubborn and this win went into the books 3-0. The Tigers enter mid-week with a 15-4 overall record, 8-3 in conference.

 

Tigers 3, Minnewaska 0

Game scores in the success vs. Minnewaska were 25-23, 25-14 and 25-19.

Haley Erdahl put up 16 set assists while Chelsey Ehleringer had 14.

Nicole Strobel had an ace block. Terianne Itzen led on the digs list with 24, followed by Beth Holland (18), Hunter Mundal (11), Ehleringer (10), Erdahl (8), Paige Schieler (6) and Kayla Pring (6).

Four Tigers each had one serving ace: Mundal, Itzen, Ehleringer and Pring. Here's the good/attempts rundown on the four: Mundal (14/16), Itzen (10/10), Ehleringer (13/13) and Pring (6/7). Holland put up 16 serve attempts and was good on all. Erdahl was good on all of her ten. Sydney Engebretson was two of two.

We'll wrap up this report with hitting. Here it was Itzen setting the pace with her 13 kills on 34 of 36 good/attempts. Schieler came through with 11 kills and 24/33 good/attempts stats. Engebretson slammed down eight kills on 20 of 28 in G/A.

Three Tigers each slammed three kills: Strobel (eight of eight G/A), Erdahl (15 of 16) and Pring (14/16). Lacee Maanum added a kill to the mix, going six of seven in the process.

Minnewaska Area came out of the night at 9/12 in overall W/L, 3-8 conference. Emma Middendorf and Ariel Ostrander both had seven kills for the visiting Lakers.

 

Tigers 3, W-H-N 2

The Tigers traveled west for non-conference action vs. the Warriors of Wheaton-Herman-Norcross on Monday evening. W-H-N was going to give the Tigers a good test. The Warriors are way over .500 in won-lost. Their win total surpasses the Tigers.

On Monday the teams looked very evenly matched, and the full five-game match developed with neither team able to firmly seize momentum.

The deciding game #5 had Morris Area Chokio Alberta in good position much of the way. But the Warriors made a game of it before MACA was finally able to put finishing touches on the win. The game #5 margin of success was four points.

Here's a complete review of the night's scores: 17-25, 25-19, 25-19, 12-25 and 15-11. The Warriors had lost for just the third time this season.

Meanwhile coach Kristi Fehr's orange and black squad stayed very much on a roll. They had enough left in the gas tank to polish off Minnewaska in three games the next night.

Chelsey Ehleringer put up 17 set assists in Monday's five-game marathon. Haley Erdahl put up 15. The stamina of setters means a lot in five-game matches.

Beth Holland had two serving aces while going 20 of 23 in good/attempts. Also performing two serve aces was Erdahl whose G/A stats were 14 of 15. Hunter Mundal had 16 good serves in 17 attempts. Terianne Itzen was a flawless 12 of 12. Sydney Engebretson's numbers: 9 of 11. And Ehleringer's: 16 of 16.

Maanum led the way in ace blocks with four. Engebretson had three ace blocks, Nicole Strobel two and Itzen one.

A five-game match will have lots of players on the digs list. Itzen topped this list Monday for MACA with her 28. She was followed closely by Holland with 25. Mundal came through with 12, followed by Erdahl and Ehleringer each with eleven, Engebretson with eight, Strobel with six and Schieler and Pring with five each.

In hitting it was Schieler leading the way with her 15 kills on 36 of 45 in good/attempts. Itzen pounded down eleven kills on 46 of 51 in G/A. Engebretson came at the Warriors with nine kills on 31 of 35 in G/A. Kayla Pring's numbers were eight kills and 23/25 G/A. Lacee Maanum went 16 of 21 and had six kills. Strobel's numbers: 14 of 19, five kills.

 

A theory on coach Kill's absence

Is it possible that coach Jerry Kill of the Gophers didn't really have a seizure Saturday morning? It was reported that his health situation acted up again over the weekend, preventing even his appearance at the U of Michigan stadium where the Gophers were playing football.

The Gophers and Michigan Wolverines played for the Little Brown Jug. As the Gophers have been weak for all of the adult life of Minnesota's boomer population, there has been little suspense or drama over where the jug is going to go. In a bygone age there definitely was suspense. But the Gophers faded once the pro Vikings became the darlings of Minnesota's boomer sports fans.

So, should we buy the fact coach Kill had a seizure Saturday morning? Is there room for a conspiracy theory here?

Here's my theory: Coach Kill may in fact have been as stable as he normally is, but the powers-that-be at the U of Michigan may have had concerns.

Over 100,000 fans can show up for Michigan's home games in Ann Arbor. It's hard to visualize such a turnout. I don't think I've ever seen one over 50,000. At our old Metropolitan Stadium, the place looked like it was full any time the turnout was over 35,000. My God, over 100,000 fans? Can they all get a decent view?

Anyway, the U of Michigan administration may have become concerned about the possible spectacle of coach Kill having a seizure during the game. We all understand this is an unfortunate health circumstance. We all feel sympathy and empathy and all those warm qualities.

However, the sight of this man writhing cannot be described as pleasant. A large portion of those 100,000-plus fans would have no background knowledge.

Not wanting the fans to be unreasonably traumatized - after all, this is an entertainment event - the U of Michigan leadership may have asserted itself. Maybe they said that in order for Kill to come, a large statement would have to be placed on the front of the game program, stating that Minnesota's head coach had a handicap and to be aware and advised of such. Perhaps the Minnesota administration then balked at that.

At loggerheads, maybe everyone concerned decided it would just be best that Kill not be there.

Sometimes conspiracy theories are correct, Kemosabe.

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

MACA boys show superiority on the road

Tigers 18, Montevideo 7

Friday night was not a pleasant time for watching football from a weather standpoint. MACA fans were able to push weather considerations aside as they enjoyed a big road win.

Coach Kevin Pope's squad prevailed over the Thunder Hawks of Montevideo, 18-7.

Some expert fans told me the Tigers had a good chance to close out their regular season with wins. The first of those hoped-for successes came Friday (10/4). 

The Tigers scored one touchdown each in the first, second and fourth quarters. They now own a 2-4 record and apparently have a good chance of finishing the regular season 4-4. Let's not assume any success will come easily.

Monte also came out of Friday at 2-4. Monte's lone touchdown was scored in the fourth quarter.

Isaac Wente was a huge part of the MACA success. Time and again he'd get the football and grind out significant yardage. In all he had 35 carries of the football. He plowed through lots of daylight in the Monte defense. Isaac had 256 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

As a team the Tigers had 344 rushing yards. The defensive crew held the T-Hawks to 198 total yards. The MACA stat in first downs was 18, compared to ten by Montevideo.

Passing had no impact for the Tigers. But it didn't matter considering the authoritative tone of the running game. A bruising running game always puts a smile on the coach's face. A fan told me in pre-season that running the football was going to be a priority for coach Pope.

Quarterback Bryce Jergenson did his part running the football Friday, with 63 rushing yards in just six carries. He did not have positive yardage in passing. For the record, Nate Vipond had one pass catch but it was for negative yardage.
Bryce had no interceptions. I suspect the weather held down passing opportunities.

Trent Wulf had 28 rushing yards on five carries.

Noah Grove punted the ball three times for an average of 24 yards. These Tigers are cited on the tackle chart: Riley Biesterfeld, Corey Storck, Nathan Anderson, Nate Vipond and Alec Gausman.

Monte highlights: Markus Kranz rushed for 73 yards for the T-Hawks. Troy Diggins completed four of 14 pass attempts for 61 yards, and had none picked off. Bryce Maurice and Spence Sulflow each had two pass receptions.

Scoring: The Morris Area Chokio Alberta scoring began with Wente finding the end zone from ten yards out in the first quarter. The conversion run attempt was unsuccessful.

Next it was QB Jergenson scoring on a three-yard run in the second quarter. Again the conversion run try was no good.

Monte kept close with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, scored by Dazhown Coleman on a 16-yard run. Austin Hiepler kicked the point-after.

Wente ended any doubt as to who would win this game, as he crossed the end zone stripe on a 25-yard run. The conversion pass attempt was no good. I'm not sure why the MACA kicking game was no-go. Was it the weather and conditions? To the west of here we had an all-out blizzard.

Click on the permalink below to view my Flickr photo album of MACA Tiger football, 2013. Thanks for viewing. - B.W.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcminn/sets/72157635812109256/with/9901886244/

 

McDonald's not enough?

I'm healthier today than I should be. I attempted to have my evening meal at McDonald's in Morris on Thursday and Friday nights, but I had to depart. Customers were crowding there. As I left on Friday, I noticed cars backed up for what seemed like a block from the drive-in window. Had I waited to be served, the wait would have been too long and uncomfortable.

I have noticed that sometimes McDonald's has only one cash register going when they should have two. A customer waiting in line behind me pointed this out once. Sometimes a customer will be at the counter being served a large and complicated order. It takes time.

So, maybe there should be benches for waiting, or maybe the place should operate like a traditional restaurant where you take your seat and get "waited on." At least you could sit and relax.

But McDonald's is "fast food." Problem is, fast food establishments are not as fast as they used to be. One reason is their menus have gotten larger. It's a trade-off: Do you want to emphasize speed of service or variety of selections? I don't know, but the glut of business that sometimes happens at our McDonald's is calling for some sort of remedy.

It was kind of sad Friday night, seeing this little oasis of a business with bright lights on the north end of town attracting such a crowd of people wanting a service, while the rest of the town seemed deader than a doornail. Something is out of whack in terms of supply and demand. 

Either we need a second fast-food restaurant, like we had for a while with Burger King, or McDonald's needs to expand or otherwise adjust its service for those "runs" of business.

A bus pulled in while I was there on Thursday. Buses are to be expected from time to time. Like any business, McDonald's should strive to serve all its customers in an effective way all the time. It's a community or Chamber of Commerce issue.

Bring back Burger King? Is it true our local McDonald's pulled certain strings to see that the Burger King would leave? That's fine as long as McDonald's can handle the demand henceforth. I'm not sure it can.

If anyone associated with our local McDonald's reads this, don't cuss or gnash your teeth. You should be thankful for people like me who care about your business.

"I'm lovin' it?" Well, not all the time.

Oh, what did I end up having for supper on Thursday and Friday nights? A bowl of Grape Nuts Flakes and whole wheat toast.

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

Girls get big win over Melrose at home

Tigers 3, Melrose 2

MACA volleyball won with a dramatic flourish Thursday night (10/3) at our Morris Area gym. The foe was Melrose, a team with winning credentials who had beaten the Tigers earlier this season.

Melrose was several wins over .500. Coach Kristi Fehr's Tigers entered the Thursday competition on an impressive roll, winners of six straight! The Dutchmen too had won six straight. These were two premier volleyball teams.

Not surprisingly, the match extended beyond the minimum three games. It went the full five.

MACA needed to carve out a two-point advantage at the end of game #5. This was done with Hunter Mundal at the serving line. Hunter executed with poise to deliver those final two serves, and for the last point we had Terianne Itzen ending it all with a spike, delivered on the edge of the Melrose defense. The Tigers won!

Here's a review of the game scores in this 3-2 win: 25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 22-25 and 18-16.

Morris Area Chokio Alberta came out of Thursday with a 13-4 season record, 7-3 in conference. The Melrose numbers: 11-4 overall, 8-2 in conference.

Mundal ended the night eight of ten in serving. It was Beth Holland with the most powerful serving arm as this Tiger performed five aces and was a flawless 29 of 29 in good/attempts.

Sydney Engebretson was a serving force with two aces on 15 of 17 G/A. Courtney Giese had eleven good serves in as many attempts. Haley Erdahl was nine of ten. Itzen's G/A stats were 10/11. Chelsey Ehleringer was a perfect 23 of 23.

A five-game match is always very demanding for the setters. Here we have Ehleringer performing 22 set assists followed by Erdahl with 12.

Engebretson and Lacee Maanum were the major forces in blocking, finishing with seven and five ace blocks respectively. Nicole Strobel, Itzen and Kayla Pring each had one ace block.

Itzen and Holland led the way in digs with 30 and 29 respectively, and they were followed by Ehleringer (14), Erdahl (12), Engebretson (11), Giese (10), Strobel (7), Paige Schieler (6) and Pring (5).

Itzen's triumphant spike at the end of this win was part of 41 of 49 G/A in hitting with 15 kills. Engebretson led the kill list with 19 and her G/A stats were 46 of 48.

Schieler was a force to be reckoned with, and her hitting stats were 41 of 45 with ten kills. Maanum had six kills as part of 20 of 23 in G/A. Pring came through at 14 of 17 with five kills. Strobel had two kills to go with 14/16 in G/A.

What a memorable evening of volleyball in Tiger country of MACA! It was a memorable week. Fans are beginning to anticipate the post-season.

In other Thursday volleyball, BOLD beat Benson 3-0 and Sauk Centre beat Montevideo 3-0.

The Tigers are scheduled to visit Wheaton on Monday (10/7). A home match follows on the next night, Tuesday, with Minnewaska Area as the foe. The rest of the week is open - a well-deserved respite from competition.

 

What's in a name?

The Washington D.C. team of the National Football League has always given us interesting stories. The current one has to do with the nickname. 

That name has the same unsavory air as the "Charlie Chan" movies. You know, those Charlie Chan movies that now appear to have been blackballed, all because a certain cable movie channel once announced plans for a "Charlie Chan Marathon." There was a tempest of a reaction, just like when Trent Lott opined that America would be better off if Strom Thurmond, the old Dixiecrat, had been elected president.

Old westerns are treading rough water in terms of still having circulation among the public or getting on television, "marathon" or not. The Washington D.C. team of the NFL is of course called the "Redskins." The name is right out of an old John Wayne type of western, right in there with other terms like "pale face" and phenomena like smoke signals and "Indians lining up on the hill" (ready to charge and scream).

No doubt there was conflict and misery in the old west. But to take a term like "redskins" and attach it to a contemporary sports team, making Native Americans a sheer mascot, is unacceptable in the year 2013.

I remember when Charlie Berg, a long-time politician from West Central Minnesota, used the term "smoke signals" in a quote of note. Berg has an uncanny talent for delivering the quotable quote. He even continued that during the big local protest vs. the proposed jail in Stevens County.

He once talked about how his constituents might get lost trying to find a big league sports stadium in Minneapolis. Dick Guindon of the Star Tribune did a cartoon on this, showing Berg delivering this statement not in the capitol but in a nearby church cathedral (i.e. with dome), because he had gotten lost.

Remember Guindon? He did the famous cartoon of Minnesota kids "walking to school backwards" against a wind in mid-winter, part of the panorama of our (beloved) Minnesota lifestyle.

"Redskins" should be ushered aside. The new name for the Washington D.C. franchise should be "Red Tails," honoring the Tuskegee Airmen. This suggestion is being put forth strongly vs. the stubborn owner of the team.

When I was a kid, the Washington NFL team was known as the "over the hill gang," a group of older players who were more than the sum of their parts, coached by the eccentric George Allen. I believe Allen eventually got blackballed from the league because, legend has it, he made a coaching decision based on the (gambling) pointspread for a game. That's an utter no-no.

The Redskins also gave us the ungodly sight of Joe Theismann experiencing a compound fracture in the leg on national TV.

The Redskins also made it clear through Doug Williams that African-Americans, lest there be any doubt, could man the quarterback position with 100 per cent capability and acceptance. It took a while.

Today the Washington quarterback is the African-American "R.G. III" who has found himself in controversy not because of his skin color, but because he was likely exposed to unreasonable risk of aggravated serious injury in last year's playoffs, perhaps jeopardizing the rest of his career.

The "Redskins" name might be the least of the NFL's problems now, as the revelations keep coming on the unacceptable health risks all players have playing the game.

Go Vikings? I couldn't care less.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Tigers get win No. 12 in volleyball, here

Tigers 3, Benson 1

I got fooled. I normally would have posted about the MACA-Benson match on Tuesday. That's if I had known the match was going to be played Monday.

Our Morris Area school calendar had this match down for Tuesday, Oct. 1. I guess we can't accept that school calendar as gospel.

The MACA girls took to the home court on Monday to face those Braves of Benson. Our Tigers, buoyed by success in the weekend Hancock Tournament, showed more of same in terms of quality of play. Coach Kristi Fehr's orange and black crew turned back the maroon Braves 3-1.

Game scores were 25-14, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-16.

The success got the Tigers' win total pushed up to 12. Everything looks upbeat for the Tigers.

Chelsey Ehleringer picked up a couple serve aces while going a perfect 15-for-15 in good/attempts. Terianne Itzen had one serve ace to go with 14 of 15 in G/A. Other Tiger servers: Hunter Mundal (15 of 16), Beth Holland (10 of 10), Haley Erdahl (16 of 16) and Sydney Engebretson (14 of 16).

Ehleringer raced around to put up 22 set assists. Erdahl raced around to perform 14.

Lacee Maanum came through with three ace blocks.

Itzen stood out in digs with her hefty total of 32. Holland came through with 22, and the list continues with Mundal (15), Ehleringer (14), Erdahl (11), Engebretson (9) and Maanum (6).

Let's wrap up our stat report with hitting. Here we had Itzen and Engebretson showing authoritative play. Both came at the Braves with 12 kills. Itzen had 36 of 40 stats in G/A while Engebretson had 29 of 34. Paige Schieler was a force with her nine kills achieved on 30 of 35 G/A.

Maanum was poised at the net and pounded seven kills while posting 25 of 31 in G/A. Kayla Pring had six kills to go with 12 of 14 G/A. Nicole Strobel had three kills and five of six in G/A. Holland picked up a kill while going four-for-five.

Taylor Laumeyer had seven kills for Benson followed by Bethan Erhardt and Krista Motzko each with five.

Morris Area Chokio Alberta owned a 12-4 overall record coming out of Monday.

 

Marathon weekend coming up

The Twin Cities Marathon is this Sunday. A mass of runners will take off from the Metrodome and head toward the state capitol. The event now has a long history.

I remember being among that mass three times. The first was in 1984 when, not coincidentally, I ran my best. My body was still fresh. I nearly finished the 26.2 miles in under three hours. I remember straining over those last six miles thinking I could do it.

The historical record shows that I finished that marathon in three hours, one minute and eleven seconds. Given that I'm fairly large of stature, it was a performance bringing satisfaction.

My second participation in the TC was in 1987. I had recently gotten a hamstring problem. I was never medically diagnosed but I'm certain that's what it was. I had to stop running completely for a week or two. Then, as I was getting rather desperate to resume, an acquaintance suggested I try a "thigh support." I went to the drugstore and acquired one.

A lot of times, drugstore remedies fall short of one's hopes. You're really just buying hope sometimes. But in the case of the thigh support, the remedy was incredible. It felt like a miracle as I found I could actually run again. I joined my friends for backyard volleyball over by the Morris Dairy Queen.

I resumed running. I showed up at the starting area for the Twin Cities Marathon wearing my long-sleeve T-shirt with "New York City Marathon" on the front. No, I hadn't run it, although I had visited the Big Apple as a tourist a couple times. Spectators along the route acknowledged my apparent connection to the NYC race.

It was wonderful I could even be participating, given the hamstring problem. The thigh support did give some resistance that kept my speed less than optimal. My time dropped off about 15 minutes from 1984. I could have been sad about that.

I interviewed several runners for feature articles through the years who would have given their right arm to have a time of 3:15. So looking back, my thoughts are warm regarding the 1987 experience.

Today I gather that runners aren't motivated as much by time. The idea today is to have a manageable and reasonably enjoyable experience.

The Twin Cities Marathon has aesthetic pluses. You wind through parts of the Cities you'd never visit or see otherwise. Each year I participated, the sights and sounds were invigorating, such as having TV helicopters hovering overhead at the start! You certainly wouldn't experience that at the Barrett 10K.

I have always felt strongly that you needn't train specifically for a marathon. I'm quite the contrarian with this view. I believe that if you simply run four or five 10K races over the summer, hard and focused, you can take off for the Twin Cities Marathon and feel confident. I ran a 10K every other weekend in getting ready for the 1984 Twin Cities Marathon. I got a little extra rest leading up to marathon weekend.

I attended the U of M Gophers football game, vs. Ohio State, on the night before the marathon. Lou Holtz was coaching the Gophers. I had a Polish hot dog for supper. Everything clicked the next day. It doesn't seem so long ago, but oh my it is.

Good luck to all the runners this Sunday. I'm a spectator now, apt to have two Polish hot dogs rather than one, for supper.

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

Goulet, S. Aanerud lead runners at Sauk

The MACA runners took their energy and stamina to Sauk Centre on Tuesday, Oct. 1. (Oh to be young again.)

The cross country Tigers ushered in October with their appearance in the Sauk Centre Invitational. Rocori had the top boys team. St. Cloud Cathedral topped the girls standings.

Derek Werner was the first boy to the finish line as he covered the 5K in 16:21. He's a Thunder runner from Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. Ben Burgett of the Community Christian School was No. 2, clocked at 16:22. A Rocori runner, Josh Peterson, entered the finish chute No. 3 at 16:52.

Nine schools had their runners in action in Streeter country. Aaron Goulet of the Tigers made the top ten, covering the 5K in 17:42, good for ninth. Other MACA boys were: Ryan Gray (28:43), Jon Jerke (19:12), Eric Staebler (20:43) and Travis Ostby (20:44).

Rachel Eickhoff helped her St. Cloud Cathedral team to No. 1, as she took No. 1 as individual in the girls race, clocked at 15:27. Kristin Mehr of Rocori was No. 2 at 16:06. Then we have Paige Danielson of St. Cloud Cathedral at No. 3 with her time of 16:10.

Savannah Aanerud was the highest-achieving Tiger with her time of 17:06, good for 15th place. Other Morris Area Chokio Alberta girls were: Lauren Reimers (18:05), Becca Holland (18:37), Anna Grove (19:26) and Rebekah Aanerud (19:28).

The MACA girls finished in sixth place and the boys in seventh. The Willmar newspaper had "Beth Holland" among the MACA runners, but isn't she a volleyball player?

  

Shall we restore the name?

I invite those of you who are not familiar, to visit my companion website which is called "Morris of Course." (Catch the rhyme?)

Someone mentioned to me Sunday that she had discovered it. I am proud of the photo at the top of that site now, a photo taken at dawn. This person who engaged me in conversation liked the photo but was puzzled, at least momentarily, by one thing. The name "Lake Crissey" didn't register with her. I can't blame her.

The "Lake Crissey" name has faded from general use through the years. I don't think it was ever cancelled. It's the name for what we would otherwise call "the Pomme de Terre reservoir." You know, it's that body of water out at Pomme de Terre City Park. It was once a state park. It once had a popular "earthen pool" right next to the river.

You see, "Lake Crissey" is a wide spot on the Pomme de Terre River. So is Pomme de Terre (or Perkins) Lake north of Morris, along with "Middle Pomme de Terre" and "Pomme de Terre North."

I have suggested before that "Pomme de Terre" gets used too much and thus we can get confusion. Whatever, the city park has wonderful aesthetic qualities that attract campers, walkers, bicyclists and everyone.

Our city park out there once had the name "Riverside Park." The local Kiwanis coined that name in the mid-1930s. The dam was not yet fully constructed. Oddly the name didn't catch on. Once the dam was fully up and running, the lake and beach became a magnet for people.

The lake (or reservoir) took on the name "Lake Crissey." It was named for A.D. Crissey who was the region's state representative and who supported the creation of the dam and park. It's a nice name, isn't it? It rolls off the tongue easily. It's nicer than "Pomme de Terre Reservoir," wouldn't you say?.

I first heard the name when I was doing an article for the local print media on the biking/walking trail. I was handed a map that had "Lake Crissey" on it. I was intrigued, asked a question or two, and got some background.

It turns out "Lake Crissey" had faded from popular use years earlier. Perhaps one reason is that this lake doesn't really seem like a lake. It doesn't seem quite big enough and it hasn't been used for swimming in a long time. There was some swimming there when I was a kid, enough to justify a diving raft. Today the feeling you get when visiting there, pleasant as it is, is that it's just a wide spot on the river.

So what? I would like to suggest here and now that "Lake Crissey" be fully restored as the name for this body of water. It's a reminder of our history. The City of Morris should put a sign up. How about it?

In the meantime, I invite you to visit my "Morris of Course" site and view my photo at dawn of this lake, with a cloud of mist rising off the surface and the wind turbines in the background (and reflected on the water).

Here's the link to the site:

www.morrisofcourse.blogspot.com

 
God bless you all.

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