MACA set for challenge vs. Jackson County

MACA boys basketball heads into mid-March not only still standing but undefeated! Now we're looking at a Thursday game against Jackson County Central to determine the section champion. Will the Tigers carry the 3AA banner into state? I for one feel confident. 

Three games are history in the section tournament. We took care of ACGC at the home gym on Feb. 27. Next it was New London-Spicer as the opponent and we handled business pretty easily. We beat the Wildcats 69-37 at the Willmar "Big Red" gym. 

On to Southwest State! That is where the climactic section games are played. The score was 74-44 as it was really "no contest" against Minnewaska Area. 

One game remains for the Tigers at the "R/A Facility" of SSU. On Thursday we'll play the Huskies of Jackson County Central. Unfortunately the game's starting time is late for the folks who drive home to Morris. It's 8 p.m. Everyone had better make sure to be well-rested beforehand. 

I'm always reminded of the years when lots of important post-season games were here at UMM. Memories drifting away. 

Rich memories are certainly being formed with the ascent of this year's Tigers. Incredible how the Tigers have gone through an undefeated season! The numbers stand at 28-0 now. Next we'll be facing an opponent that has a 24-6 mark. Most of you would know that Jackson County Central is located down south. The JCC Huskies sport a 24-6 record. 

Might the Tigers be considered a strong favorite if not prohibitive? If our coach Torgerson is typical he'd discourage such talk. 

Jackson County Central lost its final game of the regular season to Belle Plaine, 90-83. They went on to defeat Pipestone Area in round 1 of the post-season. Score of 62-48. 

The JCC "Huskies"

Next the Huskies took on Fairmont and prevailed 70-52. And then it was Montevideo that took the court to challenge the Huskies. Huskies came on strong to win 77-63. 

The story of the 3AA title game is yet to be written. 

JCC faced Montevideo in last year's section title game. Monte scored the final eight points in the last minute. This pushed the Thunder Hawks to an advantage of one point and the victory. 

Fast-forward to the present: JCC appeared on the ropes for a time in this re-match of the two squads. They were down 30-19 late in the first half. It was rally-time as they had a ten-point run. It's anybody's ballgame now. 

The Thunder Hawks righted their ship to score the last four points of the half. They extended their momentum to score the first five of the second half. JCC looked to be in trouble again, down 39-29. 

Roman Voss of the Huskies put on his cape, as it were, and went on a scoring binge. The binge totally got JCC back in the game. a deficit of a mere one point. Lots of suspense and back-and-forth in this game. MACA coach Torgerson will surely know that you can't get complacent facing the Huskies. 

Voss executed a three-point play and fellow Husky Sullivan Hall made a basket. Now the Huskies had their first lead since an early 15-14 advantage. 

Monte had the moxie to keep challenging hard. Monte achieved a 54-50 lead.  The back and forth nature of the game then vanished as JCC ruled. My, the Huskies ruled with a 27-9 run the rest of he way! A string of eight straight points really made a statement for JCC. Voss accounted for four of these, Hall for the other four. 

The scoreboard showed 58-54. Monte scored a basket. Then Weston Rowe sank a '3' for JCC. Voss made a basket and the score became 63-56, JCC looking good with the advantage. Blaise Rowe made a '3' to further stoke JCC's fortunes. This dramatic long-ranger was the start of a 14-2 run. It was over. 

The stat sheet shows Voss in a prominent role with 33 points, 22 of them in the second half. Voss also contributed six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Winston Rowe finished with 19 points, 12 of them in the first half. Hall scored his game total six points in the second half. Blaise Rowe had nine points, four rebounds. 

Ben Gallagher had three points but was probably more important with the defense he played on Monte's Griffin Epema. Standout Epema was held to ten points. Let's acknowledge the bench as Carter Buhl came through with six points. 

Please note: the Huskies have won 16 of their 17 games since a regular season setback vs. Montevideo. 

We're all set here in Motown to watch the Asmus boys and their confident mates take on the dangerous Huskies of Jackson County Central, Thursday at 8 p.m. Get your rest beforehand, guys.

Quite the milestone for Alex Asmus and the Tigers. A thousand career points for Alex, an undefeated record for the Tigers.
 

- Brian Williams - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Tigers will now seek 3AA crown

Tigers 74, 'Waska 44

MACA fans are in a four-day rest now until the curtain opens again for post-season play. Each step takes us to a higher level. Each new level brings increased interest like from the media. 

Confidence was high for MACA success going into the game of this past weekend. It was another of those games at the place called the R/A Facility. It's in Marshall of course. On the Southwest State campus. Lots of high-level section competition has taken place there through the years. And it's going to happen again on Thursday. What's at stake now is the 3AA title. 

On Saturday the Tigers turned back the Minnewaska Lakers by a comfortable margin. Thus they achieved No. 1 in 3AA-North. I have to concentrate hard on the terminology sometimes. The subsection title games could just as easily be called the section semis. But we'll go with how the High School League describes things. The Tigers defeated our friends to the east Minnewaska Area 74-44. 

A very nice thing about this game was that it was played in the afternoon. A fun day with no suspense for the MACA faithful to deal with. Just watch the orange and black do their thing with an emphasis on defense, it would appear. 

How much suspense will present itself on Thursday? It gets hard to figure at this point because now we're against a southern Minnesota team. Might be considered an unknown quantity. When you're playing Jackson County Central, you're getting to a high level of tournament play. So fans will gather at the "R/A" again on Thursday night to see how the teams match up and who can prevail. 

I personally would say odds look good for the Tigers. The JCC Huskies are coming off a 77-61 win over Montevideo. 

Another win means state! And my goodness, the Tigers under Jacob Torgerson have done nothing but win all season! This is truly history. The Tigers are 28-0 and are ranked No. 1 in state. The latter distinction might be assumed! 

We beat Minnewaska three times this season. Those Lakers finished the campaign 18-10. Boys and girls hoops are doing well in Minnewaska country (even if referendums are such an uphill battle). Referendums always pass here in Motown. 

The 'Waska BBB coach describes MACA as "phenomenal" in the defensive phase. Of course the Tigers have guns who can put points on the board too. We shot 59 percent from the field Saturday. It was a 29-for-49 performance. In 3's our numbers were 8-for-20, 40 percent. 

 

Riley Asmus top scorer 

Writing about the Tigers means you always use the first initial or first name with the Asmus last name. Senior Riley Asmus had the most productive day for us on Saturday. He had a hot hand in the first half with 19 points. His game total of 26 was team-best. He's a 6'3" presence. MACA was up 36-22 at halftime. 

Riley is actually a baseball specialist! He did not play football in the fall, as a means of avoiding injury. Not that injuries don't happen in basketball! But everyone knows football is worse. 

Alex Asmus, a junior, put in 16 points. The Tigers outscored the Lakers 38-22 in the second half. 

Our coach Torgerson is quoted in Sunday's article on the WC Tribune website. Is this a first for the season? I think it might be. 

I was hoping to see a full stat review for the Tigers also, something beyond individual points and 3-point shooting. No such surprise. 'Waska gets the full treatment that includes rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. We'll take what we an get. Another win and we'll start getting attention in the Twin Cities press. 

The Asmus boys - brothers, incidentally - were complemented by these teammates on the scoring list: Ben Tiernan 9, Jack Kehoe 8, Tyson Grove 7, Tanner Friesen 4 and Jonah Huebner 4. Alex Asmus and Tiernan each made three 3-pointers. Grove and Riley Asmus each made one. 

Marc Gruber was the standout for the Lakers with 19 points. He was one of three Lakers who each made a '3'. The other two were Tristan O'Neil and Connor Erickson. 

If 'Waska has a trademark it is 3-point shooting from an array of players. But on Saturday the Tigers applied the defensive resistance and 'Waska had 3 of 14 numbers in 3's, 21 percent. 

 

The JCC "Huskies"

On to face Huskies 

Let's take a look at those Huskies of JCC: they have a 24-6 W/L, 13-3 in section and 12-2 in conference. They're a perfect 13-0 on their home court. So far in the post-season they have turned back Pipestone (62-48), Fairmont (70-52) and Montevideo (77-63). 

Get ready to rumble on Thursday! The curtain will rise at 8 p.m. Unfortunately, a late starting time. Be careful driving back home.

 

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

The next MACA opponent: 'Waska

Today (Thursday) is surely the epitome of the "crappy March day." Every year I go through this, thinking in mid-winter that surely, as we go beyond the winter solstice, weather will get more pleasant. Then every year I get the realization that March can be truly forgettable. Look outside today: wet, overcast, patches of dirty snow. On days with wind it's even worse. 

But we have basketball! We are in the heart of the most intense stretch of basketball. Slowly the teams are getting thinned out. Morris survives! In fact, Morris Area Chokio Alberta is the cream of the crop, the way it looks. It is easy to envision a climb all the way to the top of Minnesota AA! 

R/A Facility at SSU

A "down" aspect of that is that fans have to travel a long way through the section phase. In the "old days" the Tiger faithful might go out to our UMM P.E. Center for games at this level. No more. The norm for some time now has been to make trips to this place called the "R/A Facility" on the SSU campus. That's to the south of here in Marshall. 

I get concerned about fans having to drive home late at night. But we're in good shape for this Saturday's game. Presto, a 2:30 p.m. start for the sub-section finals! We're in 3AA-North. We're coming off a win over New London-Spicer at Willmar. My blog post inspired by that game is on my companion blog "Morris of Course." Here is the permalink and thanks for reading.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2026/03/tigers-take-it-up-to-eleven-vs-new.html 

  

The Saturday game in Marshall will have us squaring off against Minnewaska Area. Those Lakers are the No. 3 seed in the North. And the Tigers? Can there be any doubt? We are No. 1-ranked in Minnesota so we are certainly the favored kingpin in the North. 

While the Tigers won in a rout over the NL-Spicer Wildcats to get where they are now, 'Waska had to survive a close game. The score was 60-56 as the Lakers turned back Litchfield. 

Drew Bleick is a name that I have not typed often for the Lakers. Any obscurity he had, he shook off in the closing stages of the Litch game. He is a senior guard. A captain, his playing time has nevertheless been limited. He was a clutch performer on Tuesday as he scored all four of his points when these points could serve as a dagger. The points were on freethrows. And these came in the last two minutes of play. 

The game was played in Willmar. 

My final post on he 'Waska girls  basketball team is on my companion site "Morris of Course." The 'Waska girls lost to New London-Spicer at UMM here in Morris. Here is the link and thanks:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2026/02/nl-spicer-overcomes-injury-burdened.html 

  

The Litchfield boys were seeded second in the North. Litch was way down on the scoreboard at halftime, 33-17. They turned on the jets to make the score 57-55 (trailing) with under a minute left. 

The West Central Tribune has quotes from both of the game's coaches in its coverage. As for the Morris vs. NL-Spicer game, the Willmar paper only got quotes from the NL-Spicer coach, even though MACA won the game by 32 points. 

It's hard to say what exactly is wrong with the WC Tribune these days. Strange. At some point they might suddenly act like they are interested in MACA. This wouldn't matter so much if at all, if our own Stevens County Times could produce some dynamic timely coverage on its website. I make suggestions but nobody listens. 

'Waska now has an 18-9 record. The smart money is on Motown! Have a good time y'all. I have never been to a basketball game at SSU. Do the Morris fans fill the bleachers? 

 

Gruber with hot hand 

Let's look at the 'Waska individuals. Marc Gruber was a headlining player with his four 3-pointers and 24 total points. Luke Danielson supplied punch with his 13 points. And Caleb Kath scored ten. Other totals: Tristan O'Neil 5, Cavin Thorfinnson 4, Drew Bleick 4. 

Gruber's four 3-pointers were complemented by one each from O'Neil, Thorfinnson, Danielson and Kath. Kath's eight rebounds was tops. Thorfinnson showed some nifty passing and picked up six assists. O'Neil had three steals. Kath blocked a shot. 

 

A dark backdrop 

We're bathing in March basketball excitement while the weather outside is just "blah." But that's not the worst of it. The hoops joy has to be dampened now by how Donald Trump has taken the U.S. into war. This will cause an uptick in the cost of living for us all. So much for the "affordability president." 

I am amused by how Jay Thomas of WDAY Radio gets right on board with war jingoism now. Sounds like he fully supports Trump. But people like Thomas have for years been beating up on people like the Cheneys - Dick and Liz - for being war mongers. Human nature is strange. A guy like this just has to get on the cult bandwagon for the Orange Man now. It's a business/professional decision. 

Conservative commentators put their fingers up to the wind. They appeal to all the souls who fill the pews at churches like our Good Shepherd in Morris (to name just one). 

But you won't even hear a famous quote from Jesus Christ in such places: "Blessed are the poor." A minister would be engaging in self-destruction if he were to say that. Trump is the priority over Jesus Christ among many souls in rural outstate. I take sides with Jesus.

 

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

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