We're still early in boys tournament

Well, are we just getting warmed up in the post-season? In Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys basketball? Many fans are anticipating a long climb. A quite reasonable expectation. What an array of weapons our BBB Tigers possess. So are we just in the early phases? Could well be. The most devoted fans had better start budgeting lots of time and have gas $ ready. I know all about this. 

Today I follow Tiger basketball by staying put. I do put up blog posts like you're seeing now. Perhaps I need to concentrate a little harder. I had to make a correction in my previous post after it had been up for 4-5 hours. At least I can make a correction. In my newspaper days this option was not available. Print is permanent. I wouldn't want to enter that jungle again, not if I had to try to be all things to all people. So many teams, sports and fan constituencies. Such intensity on the part of the fans. 

The mood was milder in the days when I first entered the field. I can offer one theory on that: many people smoked cigarettes in "the old days" and cigarettes are a sedative. 

I'll share a mea culpa here: my blog post on the Tigers the other day temporarily referred to "Lac qui Parle" in a couple places where it should have been "Atwater Cosmos Grove City." I can offer somewhat of an excuse: Both those athletic programs are often identified by four initials. For Lac qui Parle it's "LQPV" and for Atwater Cosmos Grove City it's "ACGC." I think the whole post became ship-shape after I made the corrections. 

I re-read my post after a "sixth sense" told me something might be wrong. 

Is my mental acuity OK? I am now 71 years old. I began writing about Tiger athletics back in 1972. It certainly has been a long run. I took much of the 1970s off from this. As a boomer generation member I was too distracted by fun-seeking activities. Remember the old "Tip Top Tap" in Morris? It was where the Old No. 1 Southside is now. 

In the 1970s many people associated me with the 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado that I drove. My family got it from Bill Dripps. A dazzling and unique automobile. I spent much of the 1970s in St. Cloud. Frankly, I was spinning my wheels and I'm not proud of it. But societal values have evolved. 

My generation had the drinking age lowered for it. We later reversed course. DWI penalties were not yet life-changing. If a cop was suspicious late at night, he might come up to the window of your car and ask "are you sure you're OK to get home?" "Drunk" humor was common on TV. 

Today we have cleaned up our values almost too much. We don't accept our kids just "screwing around" with their time like in the past. We all have cheeks sucked in: it's "tight." 

Sometimes I actually pine for the more relaxed older days. Hockey used to be a "sandlot" type of sport in Morris. A more informal air. No indoor arena. No gymnastics or swimming in the public school. Today the pressure is massive on anyone covering "sports" in the commercial press. Maybe today's publishers have found ways to adjust to this, somehow. 

Am I correct in assuming that the Morris community is comfortable with the Anfinsons? If so, the Anfinsons have learned the tricks for keeping constituencies of sports parents happy or at least restrained! The paper only comes out once a week now. It was twice in my "heyday." 

The paper has a website which it quite obviously under-utilizes. But maybe the public thinks it's no big deal. If Mike Martin were still here, would he have twisted arms with the new ownership? Get richly-compensated for writing sports? Would he be able to push around or threaten the Anfinsons? I couldn't see it. 

Well, today the Anfinsons have the embarrassment of riches with our boys basketball team being ranked No. 1 in the state. How about that? And we're just one game into the post-season as I write this. So much history yet to be made. That is, if we don't run into a giant-killer. 

 

Today vs. the Wildcats

Today (Tuesday) we are playing New London-Spicer. NL-Spicer does not have an aura in BB like it does in girls hoops. Let me see if I can get all this right: NL-Spicer is seeded fourth and they just beat No. 5 Paynesville 60-55. Obviously a very contested game. We're talking the 3-AA North playoffs. 

NL-Spicer has a quite mortal won-lost mark of 13-14. The smart money will be on our Tigers. Action is set for 5:45 p.m. today (Tuesday) in Willmar. Keep an eye on Zachary Lageson of the Wildcats. The junior guard scored 19 points and had two steals in the win over Paynesville. Keep an eye also on Gavin Vick the 6'4" junior center. Vick put in 13 points plus he snared nine rebounds and stole the ball five times.

 

Hectic spring underway

Well we're getting into spring which means school activities ramp up and not just in sports. I remember well the pace of things from when I was in the press. Today I support music as a booster. A couple years ago I cut a check for $2000 to help the band with its trip to New Orleans. 

Attending concerts can be kind of a problem. There seems to be a  strange "custom" at school music events at our concert hall. If you arrive about 15 minutes ahead of time and you want to sit in the front section, even if you see seats available it might be "no dice." Why? Here's what I learned the hard way, starting with the Barb Wilts retirement concert of the choir program. No matter where I tried to sit down, I'd be told "these seats are saved." 

I got bailed out that night by a friend who was seated higher up and who waved to me. He could see I was getting exasperated. "These seats are saved." I find it odd. I felt that the Barb Wilts choir concert should have been divided into two concerts - the place was too crowded. 

Since then, I have been at a band concert where I again had to confront "these seats are saved." One obvious remedy is to not go to the concerts. Band had a concert on Monday and I did not attend. It's easier to spend the night at home anyway. 

Will I open my checkbook again for band? Well, maybe. I got a nice letter from the school administration signed by all the board members the last time. Give me a break, I still try to be relevant.

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

Boys begin playoff road with ease, 89-29

First round of sub-section: Was not expected to be any kind of hurdle for our Tigers. We're talking boys basketball. Unfortunately the girls are done. Had the girls won one more game, they would have played at our Cougar Sports Center in Morris. That would have been neat to see. Fans here got to see New London-Spicer play Minnewaska. NL-Spicer won. 

Let's shift our focus now to the boys. What a historic season the Tigers have had up to this point. I mean, no losses whatsoever! Should we pinch ourselves? 

Well, the first round of post-season is now done for the boys. We could have expected such a routine win. And it sure was routine. The Tigers dominated the Falcons of ACGC. Fans at Tiger Center saw our orange and back prevail 89-29. 

Obviously this was a 1 vs. 8 game in terms of seeds. Sometimes a game like this can be contested. I remember when No. 8 Paynesville came to Morris and defeated our top-seeded Tigers. But this year the script was pretty well set. We are a dynamo. 

And so fans watched as Alex Asmus the junior guard scored 19 points. And as Tyson Grove put in 17. We're 26-0 now! ACGC had a 5-22 campaign. ACGC loses five seniors. 

The Tigers' task now is to face New London-Spicer which has the fourth seed. We're talking the 3AA-North semis and game-time is 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. The site: Willmar. 

We can be happy that the West Central Tribune reports our individual scoring totals and 3-point shooting for the ACGC game. But that's all. Meanwhile ACGC gets the full meal deal. (I believe "full meal deal" is an expression that originated with a Dairy Queen promotion.) 

The West Central Trib reports the whole variety of stat categories for the ACGC Falcons. This includes rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. The Willmar newspaper continues to essentially take a dump on us. Just watch, they are going to try to improve things from now on. That's because we're a big winner. They will want "in" on all that. 

Everyone wants to be close to a winner. So while we don't rate in the regular season - even though we should - we should get more attention henceforth. Maybe we'll even see rebound leaders reported from now on. Will the Morris coaching staff decide to be cooperative with those front-runners in Willmar? They really shouldn't. But they probably will. 

Watch for the big spread that the WC Trib will do if we win the state championship. 

So Alex Asmus and Tyson Grove scored 19 and 17 points respectively. Let's look over the other contributors: Jack Kehoe 12, Riley Asmus 11, Ian Grove 8, Ozzy Jerome 7, Jonah Huebner 6, Ben Tiernan 3, Tanner Friesen 2, Bryce Hardy 2 and Mason Koehl 2. 

Tyson Grove brought waves of cheers with his five 3-pointers! Ian Grove and Alex Asmus each made two. Tiernan and Jerome each connected once from 3-point range. 

ACGC had no one score in double figures. Gage Degner scored seven points.

 

Going for our wallets

Well, I planned on attending the UMM men's Saturday game at the P.E. Center. Great way to get out of the house and spend quality time when the temperature was too cold to do anything outside. It has been a fun pastime all winter as I arrive at the P.E. Center with my $5 bill handy. Five dollars is the standard charge for senior citizens. Should I feel offended by never being asked to verify that I'm a senior citizen? Just kidding. I know full well I fit the part. Hair turned white some time ago. 

Well, I arrived at UMM with two $5 bills as my second was earmarked for a slice of pizza that would serve as lunch. Sausage pizza. Exact price for pizza is $4. 

But this was a playoff game. A playoff game in the UMAC. So I'm informed at the entrance that the charge for senior citizens was going to be DOUBLE what it was in regular season. In the regular season I can watch a whole women's/men's doubleheader on $5. 

The UMAC is low-level college basketball. For many years I followed UMM basketball and covered it sometimes for the Morris newspaper, when we were in the NSIC. That's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The NSIC is a higher-caliber conference. UMM did not have the means to stay in the Northern Sun, unfortunately. I've been told it cannot be revived for us. But I keep thinking that we're part of the mighty U of M which ought to have the resources to lift up its Morris campus. Let me add "beleaguered Morris campus." The campus where an emergency type of mid-year chancellor change was engineered. 

We play in the low-status UMAC. At that level we often play religious-themed schools like Martin Luther where the philosophy is rather anti-Catholic. The Pope is the antichrist? 

UMM's athletic director told me at the time we switched to the UMAC that if we "just stick to sports, we'll be fine." Ignore the extraneous philosophical stuff. I'm the kind of person who can never ignore philosophy. I admire the Catholic Church now for how its Pope is willing to not tow the line with our nation's Republican political leadership. 

On Saturday afternoon as I confronted the elevated admission price - the DOUBLED admission price - I decided not to stay and attend. It would have been ten bucks. Maybe in a few years, as we keep adjusting to inflation, such a price won't raise eyebrows. At the present time I think it still does. 

The price for non-seniors was 15 bucks. This was for just one game. There's a sucker born every minute? Well, to each his own. 

Sadly I exited from the P.E. Center, went back out to the parking lot and went home. So I sat in my recliner and listened to Fargo radio. Caught the updates on the new U.S. war with Iran. This started by the president who campaigned on no more Mideast wars. The president needs a distraction from the Epstein files. Those files are reaching a head now as even Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana says all the files should be released now.  He says they'll be released anyway. 

But wait a minute,  I thought Congress passed a resolution recently to mandate the release. I shake my head. 

Today is Sunday and I'm sure all the poor lemmings who worship Trump will be filling the pews at churches like Good Shepherd in Morris. What hath God wrought? They would be anti-war if Trump told them to be. 

Incidentally UMM lost its playoff game on Saturday. Maybe I should be glad that UMM lost. But no. I'm afraid our women's season is done also. I pine for the days when we were in the Northern Sun league.

 

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

What? Fischbach not fawning over Trump?

Michelle Fischbach

Are you on Congressperson Michelle Fischbach's email dispatch list? I received a new communication from Ms. Fischbach Wednesday morning. Not at all a fan of hers but I elected to check. To check the state of her attitudes. Is this an indefinite thing for her to constantly sing the praises of Donald Trump? To buy into that whole batch of sheep dip coming out of Washington D.C.? The rise of a pure autocrat whose daily behavior and pronouncements I find totally offensive and scary? 

Nothing I say or demonstrate will matter of course. Nothing I say will sway our congressperson from her unswerving devotion to Trump and by extension Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House who represents a state of the old Confederacy. 

One thing jumped out at me upon looking over Ms. Fischbach's Wednesday missive if you want to call it that. Remember this was the day after Trump's State of The Union (SOTU) speech. I just assumed Fischbach would start out with absolutely effusive praise of the speech. To help glorify the Orange Man with the highest praise. And then in the next breath, maybe criticize Minnesota's Democrat-flavored political leadership. 

Every nuance in Fischbach's writing points this way, so nauseatingly political: Republicans are the nation's heroes. Democrats? To be condemned. She probably attends a Christian church on Sunday where all this gets reinforced. But actually, Christian worship across America is declining because of the stance of most churches. 

You know, the Lutheran ELCA thought it might benefit by becoming an outlier. Following the gay ordination vote and the direction it portended, the leaders thought "young progressives" might start flooding the ELCA churches. Heavens, it did not turn out that way at all. 

Who would have ever expected Morris' grand First Lutheran Church to go from being a leader in the faith to a virtual death spiral? That's what has happened. Two Sunday services during its heyday? Well-known (affluent) community leaders going there? A truly big "UMM Sunday" with its crowded potluck meal in the fall? I try pointing this out to some of the people I once knew there. They just sort of stare blankly. They don't want to think about it. Out of sight, out of mind. Maybe it is the well-known Morris MN apathy. 

No, Congressperson Fischbach did not mention the SOTU in her Wednesday email dispatch. I could have fainted. Trump gave a speech so long it reminded of Fidel Castro. His followers everywhere are mesmerized. 

But might that be falling off some? Fischbach despite her effusive statements in the past is, after all, a politician! Maybe this can actually trump severe and rock-ribbed political biases sometimes. You see, a true politician at some point has to reflect the will of the people, lest that pol be taken down at the polls. 

Of course, Trump and his people are showing strong signs of neutering the election process anyway. Maybe the will of the people will no longer prevail. And let me rather shout in your ears: you will miss it when it's gone. Even the old guys who gather in the middle section of DeToy's Restaurant in the morning and glorify Trump and poke fun at Dems: they will miss it too. 

DJT clearly wants to be an autocrat. We should be on pins and needles as we await to see if he can succeed. 

I was not going to listen to the SOTU at all Tuesday. I fell asleep for a while in my recliner with the radio on, tuned in to a Fargo station which is all I consume from the radio. I woke up. And this was with the dangerous Trump's voice blaring at me. So I listened for a few minutes out of (morbid) curiosity. 

And what did Ms. Fischbach say the next day about this? Incredible, absolutely incredible: she was silent. Does she as an insider know something that the rest of us don't know yet? Oh, and has she spoken out about the continued retribution by Federal authorities (under Trump's direction) toward Minnesota? Now it's the withholding of Medicaid funds. So a great many people in Minnesota will have a harder time accessing health care. What did they do wrong to deserve this? 

You think "fraud" hasn't happened in other parts of the country too? Of course it has. But we're Minnesota which has a governor who was on the presidential ticket that opposed Trump and Vance. Has Congressperson Fischbach who was elected to be an advocate for Minnesota spoken out about this? She has made a statement about how Joe Biden "was found to be in possession of classified documents." Yes she made a point about that. BTW some of the documents had Biden's own handwriting. 

But Congressperson Fischbach wanted to make clear that we should leave Trump alone. Leave him alone so he can keep rising to dictator status. I suppose that would make Fischbach's job easier - congressmen would have less of a decision-making burden and they'd still get the fantastic pay and perks. 

But Fischbach was strangely silent on the Trump SOTU speech when she sent out her dispatch on Wednesday. I had expected her to use superlatives. 

Many Christian churches already act like they think Trump has a divine element. I am flabbergasted. It makes me grow more skeptical about the Jesus Christ story. If so many people can be bamboozled by Trump and his minions today, who's to say the whole Christ story didn't grow in the same way: get the masses of rubes just wrapped around your little finger. 

Of late I am inclined to think that Jesus Christ was not even a real person. He was a composite, a product of mythology propped up for political purposes by a ruling regime, and then it took on a life of its own. 

I do believe in God. I have had conversations with God ever since I first became sentient. But the MAGA Christians will say I will spend eternity in hell. I suppose all the human beings on Earth before the crucifixion went to hell because they had not had the chance to accept Christ as their savior. Would a just God behave like this? 

 

Real spirit of Easter 

Let me just say, I will celebrate Easter with a chocolate bunny. 

To repeat: Does Fischbach "know something?" Does she have knowledge about what will come rolling out of the Epstein files? Will Trump experience a "fall?" Well, so did Jesus Christ. So people will draw parallels. And then the literal worship of Trump will start. 

I may be sent to a concentration camp.

 

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

MACA girls fall in North semis

Quick heads-up here: Because of continued concern about my declining eyesight, I may suspend my blogging indefinitely. But I'm not making the decision today. Think I'll follow the MACA boys basketball team as best I can. Then we'll see. 

Today (Wednesday) the focus is on the girls team. New London-Spicer has had a powerful girls program for as long as I can remember. MACA went into Tuesday's playoff game against the Wildcats with reason to hope. And we were in fact competitive. I mean, the final score was within bounds for being competitive. 

Maybe someday - who knows when? - we'll really have equal footing with NL-Spicer. These things change. Someday the NL-Spicer school should have a statue erected of coach Dreier. Just think if we had had that program here in Morris. 

This past season has been encouraging for MACA girls hoops. We'll see if the way forward stays that way. I have never met our coach. I knew his father when I wrote sports for the Morris paper. The Morris girls program has had long drought periods. 

I never like to point the finger at "talent," never. That makes me a more optimistic person by nature than psst MAHS school faculty groups (or cliques). A friend of mine who was on the school board said to me once: "One thing you have to realize about this school, the coaches come first." In other words, their survival interests come first, and if we have to put down the kids based on talent, well then we (the teachers) will do that. I got really scarred trying to put up a resistance to that. 

Well, this morning the headline on the West Central Tribune website describes the Tigers as "feisty." Struck me as odd at first but I guess it's OK. Is the WC Trib trying to imply that even though we wouldn't have a chance against NL-Spicer, we were at least "feisty?" I mean, in a cute sort of way? 

Someday this all might change and we might even be favored vs. the Wildcats. For now we're accepting a 66-51 defeat at the hands of Dreier's team. 

Merriam-Webster defines "feisty" as "having or showing a lively aggressiveness." The article said our team "gave NL-S everything it had." And, that we "stuck with them." Doesn't really serve as consolation. I'd prefer that we be straight-up competitive with them. Not just "feisty." 

NL-Spicer is on to the 3AA-North finals. 

The Tigers trailed by four at halftime, 26-22. Action was at Willmar's Big Red gym. The two 3AA-North semifinal games were played Tuesday. In the other one, Minnewaska breezed past KMS 67-50. So now it's NL-Spicer vs. 'Waska for all the section marbles. Hey! I see where the title game will be played here in Morris at UMM! That's kind of a surprise. Game-time is 7 p.m. Thursday. 

NL-S is ranked first in state. My, they look overpowering with a 27-1 record. The "Waska Lakers are 22-6. On Feb. 14 the Wildcats beat the Lakers 59-52. 

  

A telling stretch 

Our Tigers faded as the Wildcats surged with a 14-point run on Tuesday. At the end of that, NL-S was up 53-36. The MACA season is done with a won-lost showing of 13-12. 

All was "Fehr" in this game: Our top two scorers were Mylie Fehr and Chloe Fehr with 20 and 13 points. Mylie's 20 was the game-high total. Samantha Konz put in 11 points. Complementing this core were Mia Lu Aschje 4 and Addie Cihak 3. 

Addie is my neighbor up on Northridge Drive. Man we're looking forward to the snowdrifts receding! But just think of all the slush we'll have to contend with. I'm happy to see that Addie made a 3-pointer. Konz likewise made a '3'. That's it, no more stats from the West Central Tribune. NL-Spicer gets a thorough stat review.

 

Four 3's by Rutgers 

The Wildcats had four players in double figures: Paycen Rutgers 17, Korbin Tanner 15, Taylor Munsch 11 and Ayla Caskey 12. Rutgers made four 3-pointers and Caskey made three. Rosanne Klein led in rebounds with 11. Caskey led in assists with four. Caskey, Tanner and Munsch each had four steals. Tanner and Rosanne Klein each blocked two shots.

 

Addendum: Some follow-up on my eyesight/health situation: I just finished typing this post from my notes and found that some adjustments helped. I got eyes closer to my notes and tried typing slower. And it went better than I expected, better than yesterday when I typed on the MACA boys. I certainly will not want to miss the excitement when the boys start climbing. 

Yesterday I got discouraged about my ability to write and type, but right now I feel better. It'll be day-by-day I guess. I have suspended taking my "meds" because of problems with side effects, unacceptable problems. This too will be a day-by-day or week-by-week thing. 

Anyone who has read this far, bless you. Without being able to write, don't know where I'd be in life. 

At my best I was an extremely fast typist. I learned the skill on the old "manual uprights." I took classes from Mr. Roberts at Morris High. We couldn't have dreamt of today's computers/word processing. I kept up with tech advances for a long time, then I started falling off. I am 71 years old. My old peers like Rob Eul are passing away. I'm thankful I can receive an occasional "blessing" at a Catholic funeral! Really, it means a lot.

Rob is in that big quonset building in the sky now. 

 

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

Four 3's from Tyson Grove in MACA win

MACA rolled forward in boys basketball Monday night with a 65-40 win over the KMS Saints. The game was played at Kerkhoven, home of the "clock tower." The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in Minnesota AA. And so now with post-season so close, anticipation is high for what fans expect to be a quite exciting climb.

The Tigers are perfecto with W/L, 25-0! 

The West Central Tribune has coverage of the KMS game on its website this morning (Tuesday). MACA only gets in there when we play an opponent that is in the paper's coverage territory. Morris was removed from there several years ago. We very often play teams that are in the territory. So we can at least read references to MACA or as the paper calls us, "Morris/Chokio-Alberta." I have tried advising them a hundred times or so that we are "Morris Area Chokio Alberta."

Frankly I think in the future our board should weigh going back to just "Morris." Everybody knows we take in students from a wider area. IMHO the C-A folks could just take this in stride. All the home games are played in Morris. If we're "Morris High School" again, the school song could be sung the way its composer Bob Schaefer intended. The chant at the start would be "M-H-S." This matters. 

Well, look at what the West Central Tribune has this morning: individual scoring totals for the Tiger team. Also the 3-point shooting data. This is better than what we usually get which would be "stats not available" - a slap in the face. 

The WC Trib wouldn't want to give us a slap in the face now, as we're headed for significant post-season success, maybe the state championship. These rubes in Willmar will suddenly want to treat us like they think we're special, just watch. Winning sure matters. Watch us lose and we'll get "stats not available" every time. 

Win? Well I'll bet at some point they'll start trying to get quotes from our coach. There have been recent articles that quote the opposing coaches but not our coach Torgerson, and this in spite of how we win convincingly. It just looks odd. 

I'd like to see our coach just diss the Willmar paper now. My guess is that he'll be cooperative. Maybe the WC Tribune will start shoveling all sorts of attention on us. But then watch next season, we'll probably be treated like a non-entity again. The WC Trib is owned by Forum Communications. That's the company that had a failed venture trying to run the Morris paper. I don't think that's coincidence. 

Tyson Grove showed his long-range shooting chops with four 3-pointers. He scored 12 points. Our leading scorer was Alex Asmus with 16. He made two 3's. He's reported just as "Asmus" under 3-pointers but it would have to be him rather than Riley Asmus. Riley scored four points. As a sportswriter you have to try to be keenly aware of situations where siblings are on a team, and it's common. 

Jack Kehoe scored 12 points and Jonah Huebner 11. The cast is rounded out by these Tigers: Ben Tiernan 5, Riley Asmus 4, Tanner Friesen 3, Ozzy Jerome 2 and Bryce Hardy 1. Tiernan made a 3-pointer. 

There, this is the extent of the stats that I can report on MACA. KMS gets superior attention from the Willmar paper -  KMS has stats reported for rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. KMS gets the superior treatment despite losing to the Tigers by 25 points. 

But just wait until the Tigers start climbing very high in the post-season. The West Central Tribune at that time will want to get in on it. Ah, being close to a winner! Getting some gold dust off our saddlebags! Just keep winning, baby. Not sure if that should really be our recommended ethos. But we're in America. 

KMS scoring was led by Gavin Mulder, 13 points. Wonder if he's related to the famous Mulder from Morris school history, the activities director. 

 

Image shows the big curiosity in Kerkhoven, the "clock tower." (InForum image)

 

I invite you to compare my coverage of this game with what you see on the Stevens County Times website.

  

Girls play tonight (Tuesday)

The MACA girls won their opening game of the tournament and now they face a major challenge for round 2. Indeed, it is always tough to face the New London-Spicer Wildcats. The site will be Willmar. Hope the Tigers can be a giant-killer. 

I don't even have to look at New London-Spicer's record to know how competitive they are. A lot has to do with the coach. Someday there should be a statue of Mike Dreier over there. I wrote about the Wildcats when they played the Hancock Owls in the state tournament, back in the two-class days. 

I hope it's an exciting game tonight for our MACA fans to watch. They're lucky because they will be spared having to watch Donald Trump in his State of the Union. Trump says it'll be a long speech. Fidel Castro was known to make long speeches. 

The Morris area has been hugely in the corner of DJT and similar politicians. Look at our congressperson Michelle Fischbach. She is totally reverential toward Trump. She even comments on Minnesota state government which should be outside her concern. But we've had a Democratic governor. A Democrat! Mercy! 

Fischbach is of the stripe of politicians who lambast Democrats, want them all driven out of influence. Well, I suppose Minnesota could become a state like Alabama or Mississippi. Republicans rule there. But Minnesota has been an awfully prosperous state with Democrats in key leadership positions. Maybe "fraud" is a concern but we have it pretty good in Minnesota. 

If we were to become like Alabama or Mississippi, what would this mean for our U of M? I'm concerned enough, what with the disruptions caused by the ICE police invading here, literally killing people. Well, most of y'all don't care I guess. The Morris area is "red." Our churches have led the way with that. Christianity and Donald Trump are intertwined out here. I vigorously oppose that but my opinions have not mattered. 

My church of the "liberal" ELCA has been rocked. We essentially have ceased to exist. I use the word "we" even though I have withdrawn my membership. A part of me will always stay there, I guess. A friend is aware of my attitude and sent me the image you see below. "Hi ho Silver!"

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

Music proceeds in UMM's hour of trial

Jazz musicians under Dustin Retzlaff perform at the HFA recital hall. Thanks to NDSU which provided our trumpet section! A totally enjoyable evening of music, "Americcan music" I might add. I loved the bass trombone sound! The concert was on Thursday. Thanks to Del Sarlette for taking photo. The stage floor has been repaired after an issue of "buckling."

 

Well it's Friday and surely any hopes we had of spring coming forth are rather dashed. We have so many kinds of weather in Minnesota. We think we have seen it all and then a day comes along with a distinct trait. Everything looks white on this Friday morning from the ground up through the sky above. 

I might want to imagine music from the movie "Fargo." The movie springs to mind because of a reviewer who made note of a Minnesota trait. And that is, looking to the distance and barely making out where the horizon is. I believe the reviewer described the horizon as a faint blue line. 

Meanwhile in Morris we're getting into a new semester of the U of M-Morris. And it's not exactly routine times. Another "splash" in the Star Tribune is a follow-up on the previous little "gem" that may have been revealing though not heartening for us. Mercy. So the sky is falling? We might have thought as much after the first article. 

Erin Adler was the writer of both. I had a pleasant email exchange with her after the first one. I had to admit to her I was not a subscriber. She tried nudging me to become one. I explained that I had subscribed in the past. An issue now, I further elaborated, is that the paper's re-design has resulted in smaller type size. In my 70s now, my eyesight has unfortunately declined. 

Hope Erin has my name filed away as someone who might help her with "background" sometime. Journalists salivate over getting "background." I should know. I corresponded also with a predecessor of Erin at the Strib and that would be Maura Lerner. Not sure what she's up to now. I fed Ms. Lerner the "tip" that the chosen new chancellor at our jewel in the crown, Rodney Hanley, had abruptly withdrawn within a couple weeks, as I recall. Was very irregular, obviously. 

If Hanley withdrew because of a mere "whim," I might expect him to be "blackballed," to not be trusted by other institutions. This did not happen. I wrote about the guy. He was with Fisk University. I researched about how that college was promoted and lifted up in its earliest days by a singing group, the "Jubilee Singers." So then I drew the parallel with our UMM and how our little instituti0n got going with its "men's chorus" that traveled to World's Fairs. The chorus performed as part of Minnesota-themed days at those fairs. 

UMM was joined by other music groups from across our state for those days. So the practical value was largely with making an impression on the other Minnesota musicians. Step one was just to assert that UMM was in existence and getting off the ground! It was mission accomplished. My father happened to be the director. 

The original boosters of UMM were nervous about the institution's footing in its earliest days. Anxious. Could this place really "fly?" What about our "brand" of liberal arts education? Was it practicable or risky? 

Today it appears fact that the liberal arts are struggling. Whither UMM? Good question. And the first Star Tribune article by Ms. Adler might have suggested that the sky is falling. Well, look at the word "nosedive" right in the headline! Subtle as a sledgehammer. To confirm our fears, we read in the article that UMM was changing horses in midstream. This was with our chancellor position - the top person. 

In mid-school year the leadership reins were being transferred. We might have expected that if there were problems, they could have been smoothed over in a less panicky way. Instead we sensed panic in conjunction with the word "nosedive."

 

Turning the page 

Within weeks we had a new head person in place and I got to meet him at TMC on campus (which I think has a new name). What a pleasant night at TMC! Students assembled around the room for "student government" which I have learned to expect is characterized by conflict. This has been a burr in my saddle through the years: conflict in UMM student government. If this was a "lab" for the students to experience government, it certainly was not an uplifting one. 

Voila! The students at the meeting I was present for, were most pleasant with amicable spirit! A new day has dawned? 

Not only that, I started attending UMM basketball games where I was impressed by the very firm message pre-game about how standards for fan behavior were going to be enforced. The day must have come when UMM leaders realized we could not countenance the coarse stuff anymore. I had witnessed a lot of that through the years. And a lot of it appeared to reflect the feeling among UMM students that they were superior to the kids at other schools. But today it's all very civilized, thank the Lord. 

UMM has fallen into survival mode - we cannot risk getting kicked out of our conference. We're making a "last stand" in the UMAC. I now enjoy watching UMAC competition more than I thought I would. If we can maintain our current situation, all is right with the world. We need to hope the UMAC stays viable. And we can just "look the other way" with regard to the "oddball" or cultish traits of some opposing schools. Try to ignore it. 

Martin Luther College is affiliated with the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church - that synod believes the Pope to be the antichrist! 

A former athletic director explained to me that "as long as we just stick to sports, we'll get along fine." 

I'll be attending a Catholic funeral in Morris on Saturday and so I have the opportunity to get a blessing from a Catholic priest! The Pope is courageously trying to hold the line versus Donald Trump. Is the Pope powerful enough to stand up to the Orange Man? We may stop laughing about Trump soon - it won't be funny anymore. 

 

Always joyful music

I have enjoyed attending two UMM music events in the last few days. The photo of jazzers at the top here captures the excitement. Earlier in the week I attended the Mardi Gras singalong at the dance studio downtown. Thanks to the UMM choir program for this. 

I wrote a blog post inspired by the Mardi Gras event for my companion blog site. I am an incurable "long-form journalist." A dinosaur maybe. Kids don't like reading dense text, so how can we expect them to read the Bible! Here is the link to the post which is on "Morris of Course." Thanks and God bless of course.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2026/02/umn-morris-gets-another-splash-in-star.html 

 

Tom Grosland

Addendum: A long-time member of the "West Central All-Stars" for Jazz Fest has passed away. This is Tom Grosland. Talented musician and a lively personality. He came to Morris also to direct the Wheaton pep band for tournament basketball at the P.E. Center. He was the nephew of the late Eleanor Killoran for whom the bandshell at East Side Park is named. Tom Grosland RIP. 

   

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

Boys win big, girls show promising sign

The intense basketball action carried over from Presidents Day into yesterday (Tuesday). The thrill of following the MACA Tigers can help offset the dreary mood caused by today's weather. I think this is the way the whole winter is in Missouri. 

So today in Morris we have weather with no redeeming quality. Fortunately our prep sports is all inside! And what a show the MACA boys have been putting on. On the heels of defeating Annandale by ten for Presidents Day, MACA came on even stronger for the Tuesday showcase. It was right here in Motown. 

Can this be? I mean, the Tigers entered the game ranked second in state AA, while our opponent Monte was similarly at lofty heights. Ranked No. 4? That's what the West Central Tribune tells us. But the score of the game did not reflect the expected hard-fought battle. Our crowd must have gotten quite excited as we won 59-35. Margin of 24 points, yes. The 35 points by Monte was their season low. 

The WC Tribune has quotes from the Montevideo coach. No quotes from our coach Torgerson. The article notes when Monte's next game will be - no such note about MACA. Why the disparity in treatment? Why do our Tigers get the short end of the stick? 

There's more: the stat review includes only individual point totals and 3-point shooting for MACA. For Monte the paper is far more generous. The summary includes rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. It's pretty naked how the Willmar paper favors Monte over MACA. 

They also continue to refer to us as "Morris/CA." They either don't read my blogs or they couldn't care less about what I write. Probably the latter. I have made the point on program name many times. "Morris Area Chokio Alberta," whether you like it or not. What would the WC Trib say if confronted about this? What would they say if confronted about the disparity in treatment of our Tigers with opposing schools? This has been going on for a long time. There was a time when when we got equitable treatment. 

Of course we shouldn't have to depend on the Willmar paper. The Stevens County Times has a website with a "sports" link. Well, I think you know how that goes. And they have a person paid to write sports. I don't get paid. 

The radio station has a website too. It used to be better. It basically just reports "scores" now. Can you imagine if that was all I did, back when I was in the Morris commercial media? 

I'm proud to share a headline today about the MACA boys' success. Where else on the web can you find that? I'm happy to do it. I think if you asked around, you'd find there was a "grudge" held by certain people associated with Forum Communications. The company reportedly was planning on closing the Morris paper.

 

MACA 59, Montevideo 35

The Tigers led the T-Hawks 33-19 at halftime. Our scoring advantage was 26-16 in the second half. 

Our big gun offensively was Riley Asmus with 24 points. Alex Asmus had a total of ten. Then we see Jack Kehoe 8, Tyson Grove 8, Jonah Huebner 4, Bryce Hardy 3 and Tanner Friesen 2. Grove and Hardy each made a 3-pointer. 

Monte's scoring was topped by Griffin Epema, 15 points. He and Caleb Koenen each made two 3-pointers. Koenen led in rebounds with six. Epema supplied two assists. Koenen had two steals and he blocked three shots.

 

Girls: Minnewaska 57, Tigers 54 

If there's a "moral victory," this would count as one for MACA. That's because we really made a game of it against Minnewaska Area. 'Waska rolls over a lot of opponents. They were fourth in state last year. Last year they led the Tigers at halftime in a way that was embarrassing for MACA. 

The story was quite different coming out of Tuesday. The Lakers won by the minimal margin of three points at Minnewaska. The WC Trib says "at Glenwood" but that doesn't seem precise. 

I am far more familiar with the Minnewaska players' names than for MACA. That is very unfortnate. The Tigers do not get good media attention, not as good as the Lakers. I'm sure MACA is in the Stevens County Times, but that paper only comes out once a week. When will this MACA vs. Minnewaska game get covered in the SCT? 

How does the WC Trib treat our girls program on this day, Wednesday? They have "stats not available" for the Tigers. No names to report. The paper sure gives some 'Waska highlights and names. So again I can type the name of Lauryn Ankeny who scored 13. She recently reached 1000 points for her career. 

I can report that Allie Mrnak scored 13 too. The WC Trib announces when 'Waska's next game will be. No such courtesy for our Tigers. 

Berlynn Green and Olivia Danielson each scored eight points. Then we see Nori Song 7, Kendall Danielson 6 and Jayda Kolstoe 2. Three Lakers each made two 3-point shots: Mrnak and the Danielson girls. Song made one '3'. 

The very active Ankeny with her nine rebounds led there. She also led in assists with four and in steals with seven. Olivia Danielson blocked two shots. My next-door neighbor is Addie Cihak of the MACA team. Hope she had a good night.

 

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