Alamo myth reflects common distortion

The Alamo, San Antonio TX

So the MAHS band and choir kids are getting back from the Texas trip today (Thursday). That is my understanding. They had a hectic departure day, what with having to support the Tigers with pep band along with general fan support. I considered it an unfortunate convergence of obligations. But the school parents are probably in unison saying everything was peachy-keen. 

It is exciting that the kids saw the Alamo in San Antonio. It was built as a Spanish mission. 

Walt Disney hated communism! He hated it so much, he invented a fairy tale in connection with the Alamo. And so there it was for all the wide-eyed boomer kids to take in: the scene of Fess Parker as Davy Crockett swinging his rifle, named "old Betsy," at the Mexican troops who were overwhelming the place. 

The Disney story was a TV mini-series, perhaps the first one ever. With the "killing off" of Crockett, Parker could no longer portray the character. He ended up being Daniel Boone in a later series. 

People with high education and who have strong political beliefs invent fairy tales. Dana Milbank has shared an interesting take on Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Milbank of the Washington Post says well-educated people with entrenched political views have a very hard time - nigh impossible - accepting the facts behind any assertions made by the other side. 

When all the lawsuits failed that challenged the 2020 election's validity - just one succeeded that was not exactly germane - it did not impress the MAGA crowd. You follow the news, don't you? Ginni got drawn into a fantasy world just like Disney's Alamo because she was entranced by Trump and his aspirations. From my perspective, these are autocratic aspirations. Ginni bought into the most fantastical, absurd arguments for keeping Trump as president. 

Now that the obvious ethical issues are being pointed out, in terms of the influence she had as spouse of a Supreme Court member, the political right wing fails to be objective at all about the matter. Mitch McConnell had to make a formal statement to defend a Supreme Court justice. 

We have all been clinging to the Supreme Court as a last bastion for staying free of the partisan dark clouds. The people on the right hate the "leftist" ideas just like Disney hated communism. It's natural to an extent that very wealthy people, who in many cases have had disproportionate good fortune, would fear ideas from the so-called left. A desperate McConnell had to depart from normal objective, reasonable thought and resort to the "boogeyman." He trots out the political "left" who I guess are out to get Clarence and Ginni Thomas. 

That's all there is to it, in his eyes. Can you blame him for talking like this? Something like 40 percent of the American people will fight for any arguments made by the Trump crowd. Dispense with critical thinking. 

Communism is bad, yes. But the U.S. didn't need to go into Vietnam and sacrifice the lives of something like 60,000 young men in order to fight something called the "domino theory." So much paranoia with such great cost. And after a long reprieve in the country, in which we seemed to come largely to our senses, it creeps back. 

Can you imagine Clarence and Ginni Thomas expressing any contrition whatsoever? Could these two in their deepest private thoughts genuinely think there are no ethical if not legal problems with how they've behaved since the 2020 election? No, not a chance, and then McConnell speaks for the crowd that just wants to go on the offensive. Not for a second do they feel their political adversaries have any facts to offer. There's no chance to find a bridge here. 

Walt Disney's fantasy about the Alamo wasn't enough. John Wayne chimed in most strongly with his 1960 movie. All these heroes were fighting for "freedom." Game, set, match, I guess. 

The Mexicans were brown-skinned people, right? We know what kind of stage was going to be set by the likes of Disney and Wayne. Wayne actually became pro-war on Vietnam. We have all these well-heeled people ranting and raving about "communism" or "the left." Nobody likes communism per se. Pure socialism does not work. However, all advanced industrial nations are a combination of free enterprise and socialism. Yes, socialism. 

We ought to tax the rich a little extra to have good schools. The government needs to invest in things like infrastructure (where we're drastically overdue) and fighting climate change. So fearful is the political right of the need to do the latter, they have come at us with attacks on climate change science. Of course Trump called it a "hoax." And this doesn't raise a red flag in your minds? 

There are things that only government can do. Medicare and Social Security are obvious examples of "socialism" that we already have. 

Powerful people in entertainment can weave stories to show that American freedoms are so unique/distinctive. And freedom is undoubtedly a virtuous thing. But we have a collective responsibility to take care of all our people and the world we live in, our environment. Listen to Bernie Sanders. We will probably get universal basic income (UBI) because people need their basic needs met. Automation puts more people out of work all the time. 

It's not as if the richest people don't like cozying up to government. Where did all the naked capitalists of Wall Street go in 2008, when they panicked because of the "crisis" we all heard about? They went to the government. If government has to bail out Wall Street, do we need Wall Street at all? Let's just have the government take care of all of us. Where else does one go when there is a "crisis?" The government is the place, like it or not. 

So in the aftermath of the 2008 "crisis," the seeds of which I'm still confused about, we got Hank Paulson in the news holding three sheets of paper with his hands trembling. I thought the right wing felt the government "never has the answers." Well, government was sure the repository on that one. 

We have a debt-based system around the world now that could eventually suffocate us all. Maybe we're not seeing the forest for the trees. And all along, the right wing and super-rich people will warn us all about the boogeyman of the "left." 

You can't blame them. They have 40 percent of Americans eating right out of their hands. We all may fail to understand this diversion until it's too late. My generation when young got snowed by the Disney and John Wayne versions of the Alamo. We are so human an animal.

 

Thoughts on a gray Thursday

My, the wind of late has seemed like a rumbling train past my house on Northridge Drive. I'm happy to own my own home. However, it still feels like I'm paying a fee to live here, when I look at my property tax statement, just received. N'est-ce pas? Think about the "softball complex" when you look at yours. The people applying this money can smile in such a smug way for group photos. So benevolent-looking. It's not their own money they're spending - it's OPM, "other people's money." A piece of cake for them. And we're left scratching our heads with property taxes. 

There was pushback with the proposed county jail, remember? We need this kind of vigilance more often.

So on this depressing day weather-wise, I'll share an email sent to a friend where I touch certain bases with topics macro and micro. I invite you to read.

 

Hello (name withheld) - Randy Olson informs me that Cougar baseball team is now playing at Chizek Field. All through the years I assumed that Cougar baseball would want its own facility. Their long-time field has always seemed desolate. I wonder what it means they're now playing at Chizek. Has to do with $ probably. I am getting the sinking feeling that UMM is on downslide across the board. It's nothing like the "salad days" when there were so many pointy-headed elite faculty people who acted so special in community. The people who are fortunate enough to teach at UMM now are humble, probably scared. All the old arrogance seems completely gone. Agree? No more "weird" stories coming out of UMM either. But then again, maybe it's just because there's less life out there, period. I wonder if we could be looking at temporary closure of the institution. Remember Thorson?

The weather is getting scary strange. The wind has sounded like a train going by for about three days now, and it's just worthless and miserable outside. I'd say climate change but you'd probably reject that.

I suggest that you look at newspaper website. Check sports in particular. I realize of course that it's easy to criticize a newspaper. But the paper is just dropping the ball with its website to an extent that makes me wonder what's going on. The fact that it's so packed with UMM sports is strange because UMM's own website handles this with 100 percent quality. Sue Dieter was going for the moon with her newspaper website goals. And now this?- BW

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

Debbie Downer: weather, tournament

Don't you agree? Don't you think that a temperature around freezing in late March feels just as miserable as ten-below in mid-winter? And the cotton pickin' wind! 

Truly, this is the time of year when weather "teases" us. We'll get a hint of the pleasant stuff (though not much yet, in 2022), then get walloped for a period where we won't even consider taking a walk outside. The latter description applies to the stretch we're in now. I woke up this morning and could hear the intense wind, did not have to step outside. These days just blur together, we have to endure them. 

We only pretend not to be fazed by a period like this - we are Minnesotans. Howard Mohr's book revealed so much about us. It's a far better reference than the movie "Fargo" or the subsequent movie "North Country." Those two movies gave us exaggerated stereotypes. I still wish we'd seen a character in those flicks kick "car clumps" off the side of their cars. You approach one of these in a parking lot and have no idea if it's soft or hard, so you have to avoid them. 

Potholes get bad this time of year. We need work on Iowa Avenue where it goes past the old Heartland. Patching with gravel doesn't cut it. The City of Morris could spend its money more wisely. The city got sucked into the "softball complex" and then had to announce it would not make a second $ contribution. Perhaps the city was of the understanding that the first contribution was all that was expected. Wrong-O. 

The sports-driven crowd is so insistent, so assertive. Maybe we can understand this by looking at the local media. I just got home from downtown on this Tuesday morning, having purchased another chocolate bunny at Willie's. At Willie's I saw a stack of the new Morris newspapers. Oh my, the top headline tells us "Tigers are fourth in state." Really? I had no idea. Of course this isn't "news" reporting. It's puffery. Lay it on thick for another group of athletes - shall we reverentially call them "student athletes" - who were able to win some games. 

I'm not sure I'll even offer the token congratulations. We get so carried away with this sports gravy train all the time. Very soon it'll be "softball" as we wonder how the hell this new "complex" on east edge of town is going to pan out. "It's not done yet." Well certainly it isn't. What's the timeline? Will parking ever be ironed out? 

Our school activities director has warned us in a stark manner about the safety issues posed by parking. Mr. Ekren said "someone's gonna get run over." With that as background, let us hope truly that some kid doesn't get hit and hurt by a car. 

Sports, sports, sports. I assure you that many people would agree with me on how I assess its out-sized importance. Very few would come forward and say it. So now we get the new Morris paper which is going to do absolute cartwheels telling us the obvious: the Tigers took fourth in state. Taking fourth means you lost your last two games. 

I think it would have been a blessing for MACA to lose to Minnehaha Academy. The school's music crowd could have prepared for the spring Texas trip unencumbered by any obligations related to sports. Those obligations included pep band, which CW asserts is not the favorite obligation of your average high school band director. 

The kids made it to go south, but only after fulfilling their obligations for the third place game. That game had to be a total downer from the get-go. We had lost the night before. Then we had a noon game the next day away from the prestigious basketball venues. Don't tell me it wasn't downbeat. And we lost too. 

And on the same day, we learned of the offensive message from the C-A kid. I was at church coffee Sunday morning trying to argue that "we all know kids do stupid things." I was trying to cut some slack for the kid. I remember how foolish I could be once. Our U.S. criminal justice system is set up to emphasize "rehabilitation" for underage kids. 

Two friends have pushed back at me and my attitude on this - they say "we're in different times now," and they think the kid's message crossed all lines. I'm sure it crossed lines but I'll still suggest it was just a kid, and he did not physically harm anyone. We can all overcome words, can't we? The kid can be made to think and reflect on what he did, to learn and to grow. 

Am I wrong with that argument too? Just so we all know what I'm talking about, below is the screen shot of the offensive message.

The local media can get carried away with youth sports. Jim Morrison offered some perspective on this at the paper once. Jim wrote that the problem with sports, in terms of our inclination to puff it, is that it is "structured." The structured nature means there is a framework for writing extensive game reviews all the time. Never-ending stat categories etc. I have been around the block many times on this. 

So, why are there no organized music activities for high school-age kids in the summer? Why do we in Morris not even have a summer outdoor music series of some sort? I attended a concert at the Appleton park last summer. To boot, take a look below at what is planned for Alexandria this summer. And to think we have the big, hulking, worthless presence of the Killoran stage at East Side Park. I'm sure the city has to pay for upkeep, just like I'm sure the softball complex will require ongoing maintenance and management. 

Shall we always get out of the way for Alexandria? Is Alex like "Mount Pilot" in the old "Mayberry" TV series, from our angle here in Motown? Does it have to be like this?

Addendum: Some of our friends are saying maybe the C-A kid with the horrendous words might have been influenced by what he heard at home. It's possible but no way should we assume that. At this time, I truly feel empathy is called for. Aren't we living in an age of "second chances?" That's how people lectured me when the MAHS principal of a few years ago got in such horrendous trouble. If he could climb his way out of that, the C-A kid should be given a like opportunity. And, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. 

When I was in the eighth grade, I spoke on behalf of George Wallace in a classroom debate. I bought Wallace's lines about how the racial issues were just about "states' rights." Hey, I was just an eighth grader and I was impressed by Wallace's ability to make politics a "performance art." His ex-wife would later say "he didn't want a marriage, he wanted an audience." My behavior in no way reflected my family. My family has always tended toward Democratic Party leanings, which I say unapologetically in this "red state" time for West Central Minnesota.

 

Addendum #2: Remember the big basketball fight started by Corky Taylor of the Gophers vs. Luke Witte of Ohio State, back in early '70s? Second chances? Atonement? A few years ago there was an article in the Strib about how the two later formed a friendship and continue to visit each other today. Did our society's "sports monster" create a system where the two entered into conflict because of an unreasonable sense of competition and rivalry? Should we all have hung our heads? Should we continue to do so today?

 

Addendum #3: Breaking news out of South Dakota is that Jason Ravnsborg will not be impeached. Extreme Republicans were the winner while Gov. Kristi Noem is the forlorn-looking loser. What a cesspool of politics in our neighbor to the west. And I think most Republicans there are primarily happy that the victim in the Ravnsborg car accident, Joe Boever, was a Democrat. Our Lord will pass judgment on all of us for this.

 

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

Disgusting epilogue for state tournament

Let's look at "Fox 9 News" out of the Twin Cities this morning (Sunday). Oh my: "North High basketball player receives racist message after semi-final win." 

How terrible, how unspeakable. Can't say I'm totally surprised, after the severe coarsening of our U.S. culture through four years of the Trump presidency. We have seen the dissolution of the Voting Rights Act. Justice John Roberts said it wasn't needed any more, that America had progressed so far. 

Can you believe it: There was a time when Republicans actually said positive things about the Voting Rights Act? We can now easily surmise that they only said those things because for the time being, they couldn't do anything about it. Increasingly, the Republican Party of America in the year 2022 looks like a major fountain of evil. The real agenda of the Republican Party is to assist the richest one percent, maybe just a portion of that, to get incredibly richer. And those people have the resources to be influencers. 

So now we get the news that a North High School "Polar" basketball player got a racist message after the state tournament semi-final game. Maybe we should not be surprised, what with all the goings-on in the U.S. macro picture. 

From what school district would an ugly racist message emanate? Maybe some outstate rural district full of rubes, hayseeds, reactionaries, ignoramuses, "MAGA" people? What part of the state would be a candidate for that? Oh, this is disconcerting: I wince as I scan down to read the "Fox 9" article. Is this what we all signed up for when we had a basketball team make the state tournament? 

I honestly think we ought to regret that the Tigers made it that far. I was already inclined to think this because of the disruption and inconvenience caused for our wonderful music program. Musicians had a fantastic trip to Texas on the slate, several days duration. We got the unfortunate convergence of state finals day with trip departure day. 

Some might say we had a happy ending: the musicians were able to leave the Twin Cities Saturday directly en route for Texas, following the third place game. Let me state unequivocably that the third place game had to be a downer. I have been around the block a few times. I mean, an afternoon game after a hard-fought semis game when we were still in contention for No. 1. The third place game not being at a "name" venue like Williams Arena or Target Center. This is a recipe for being in a funk. But the MAHS band took pains to play for the Tigers. 

I am sure the music faculty acted like they were happy doing all the special cartwheels to accommodate the sacred cow athletic program. Because athletics really does rule the roost. I will suggest that the privately-held feelings of music faculty and many of the music boosters/parents were likely to the contrary of brimming with sports enthusiasm. They can't say that, would be a faux pas. 

Did you know there's an old saying in a light vein, about how "the two happiest people at the end of a high school playoff game are the winning team coach and the losing team band director?" 

That little aphorism or whatever wouldn't be out and around if it didn't contain truth.

 

Cold day, cold story

Well, time to face the reality of the "Fox 9" article this Sunday morning, when the cotton-pickin' thermometer told me it's 15 degrees. I was going to walk to town for breakfast. No-go. I wonder what people are talking about at the local diners. Or, at church coffee. Should I go to church today? According to Mark Meadows and others around Donald Trump, I cannot be a Christian because I voted for Joe Biden. 

So should I quit church? Continue giving church my money? Well, I belong to an ELCA church anyway, a denomination that America's conservatives would decry as non-Christian. And there are still Catholic clergy who do not want to give communion to Biden. As if the Catholics don't have bigger fish to fry with all their clergy misconduct with children. (We had to have a priest spirited out of Morris, even.) Children! It's despicable. 

While we're on the subject of despicable, let's consider the Fox 9 article further. The story is being reported in many other places too. A Minneapolis North "Polar" basketball player received a "profane and racist message on social media" after the game against. . .who? Oh, they played Morris Area Chokio Alberta. 

The message contained the n-word and other derogatory language. More: "The Minnesota State High School League says school administrators from Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Schools had the student remove his message after they found out, and say the district is holding the Chokio-Alberta student accountable for his behavior." 

To get technical, there is no "Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Schools." C-A still has the K-12 thing going, but they piggy-back with us for sports. C-A used to be the "Spartans." 

As of Sunday morning, our school has not announced what disciplinary action it will take. Well, it's Sunday. North coach Larry McKenzie issued a formal statement re. the incident, and I'm wondering if our coach Mark Torgerson has done the same. Maybe he has but I haven't seen it yet. 

Holy mackerel, who the heck even cares how the state third place game ended? I guess we lost. Maybe it's poetic justice. I think a whole lot of people would have been relieved if we had lost Tuesday to Minnehaha Academy. If we had, the music trip could have been carried out with no special distractions. 

I say "hurrah" for the music program. As for sports, the emotions it engenders often do not reflect our best. 

 

Keeping the faith

I have decided maybe I will go to church today, even if it's at "woke" First Lutheran of Morris. Fuck you, Tucker Carlson. Hey, Donald Trump uses that language, so it's no big deal, right? He called U.S. General Mark Milley a "fucking idiot." Trump will not even talk down Putin. 

When will we all come out of this nightmare? When can we get the Voting Rights Act re-instituted, so we can all just get on with life in a nice temperate sort of way? 

If our nation crashes and burns, it won't be because of politics anyway, it will be because of the central bank, the Federal Reserve. 

Think spring? A reminder here that my new post on "Morris of Course" has renewed thoughts about the "softball complex" which I continue to see as having major issues, even safety ones. You may click to read:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/03/attention-will-turn-to-softball-and-new.html

 

A further thought: You know what? I think it's entirely possible that the student guilty of the racist thing has no regrets about it. OK, even if he says he's sorry, I wonder. Does his attitude reflect his family's? Don't rule any of this out. They may be MAGA to the core.

My late parents wouldn't recognize the America of today. Our U.S. Supreme Court has now slipped into the horrible partisan abyss, what with the news about Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginny. How can we rise up to stop all this? It's a firebell in the night.

 

Working hard, yes

I have worked hard writing about MACA hoops through this past season. Demands during state get intense. Am I still up for it? What about the Stevens County Times on its website? Timely, thorough updates? Are those people rolling up their sleeves? Take a moment to judge what I have done, compared to what you now see on the paper's website. People once thought I was a lost cause. How am I doing?

 

Addendum, shared reluctantly: In the last couple hours I have had forwarded to me the actual offending message that is in the news. I told my source I really wanted to see it, since I hate to take someone's word about the extent of offensiveness. As a journalist we just have to judge the actual content, the actual facts. So, unpleasant as it is, you may look below. Word is, the kid used a school computer. - BW

 

Addendum No. 2: From my newspaper compatriot of Bonanza Valley, a good friend, R.O.:

Your blogging prowess is very important right now. It will be interesting to see how the legacy media deals with this in Morris. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks so much, Randy. And a hearty congrats to your BBE Jaguars!!! 

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

 

Boys' champion dreams end in state semis

We can sure get a "rush" this time of year, following basketball. The entry at DeToy's Restaurant had a "go Tigers" sign. I needed an extra cup of coffee to get primed for a new blog post. Sure hope more than a handful of people check in with my online writing on the Tigers. 

I have actually written about Tiger sports since 1972. At the very start, it was the newspaper that approached me, not the other way around. I suspect Darrell Wetz gave the paper a referral. That was all very exciting and I wish I had foregone college to expand my "real experience." I'm age 67 and prone to looking back and doing some second-guessing. Too much free time on my hands too. 

Such a blessing that the boys of today do not have to worry about getting drafted and sent to a place like Vietnam. You must stop and think about this sometime. 

It is fun to see the Tigers do so well in 2022. I always temper that thought by encouraging some perspective. The boys who make it to state are not "heroes." When it comes to state-level play, let's just say "many are called, few are chosen." Let's not diminish the experience of the young people on teams that fail to climb in the tournament. 

More importantly, let's lift up the young people who prioritize band and choir. The MAHS musicians head directly to Texas right after the Saturday game. Obviously the trip was planned before we knew there'd be basketball today. More on that down below. Thanks so much for finding this blog and God bless.

 

Minneapolis North 71, Tigers 63

Well, the Tigers played the big city boys for the second straight time on Friday. They already knew the big city boys put their pants on one leg at a time: we beat Minnehaha Academy. There was some skepticism about our chances for the Minnehaha Academy game. But my, the Tigers surprised the skeptics. However, the orange and black really had to hold on for dear life in the second half. We survived and won. 

So, bring on the state AA semi-finals at Williams Arena! What a thrill for all. The Friday affair did not have a happy ending for coach Mark Torgerson's boys. This time the big city boys had what it took. Surely a quality team: Minneapolis North, the Polars. 

Minneapolis North has a long background of state success. They built on that background with a 71-63 win over our No. 5 Tigers. The Polars were seeded No. 1.

The game had a hard-fought look. Jackson Loge was a force for the orange and black as he so often is. He brought a smile to the Augustana crowd (of SD) with his 37 points and 14 rebounds. Jackson is headed to Augustana for his college play. I wrote about his father Kevin when Kevin was a leading force for the Tigers. That was in the two-class tournament days - more challenging, more obstacles. 

The Tigers made second in state during Kevin's career. Torgy was the coach then too. 

Looks official that Torgy is hanging it up after this season. Thanks to Torgy for the trouble he took getting game stats posted on "Maxpreps" during this hectic schedule. He reports that Jackson Loge made 14 of his 26 shot tries for 54 percent. Alas, Jackson was alone in double figures for the Tigers. 

Here are the other totals for the Mpls. North game: Thomas Tiernan 7, Cole Wente 6, Tyler Berlinger 4, Brandon Jergenson 4, Sam  Kleinwolterink 3 and Durgin Decker 2. We shot 43 percent on 24 of 56. Loge was three of six from 3-point range. Wente made both of his long-range tries. Tiernan struggled with his one-for-11 performance. Normally he's a leader with this.  I wonder if the Polars put special pressure on him outside. 

Kleinwolterink made one of two in 3's. So our team numbers were 7 of 22, 32 percent. 

Loge made 6 of 11 freethrow tries. Jergenson was 2-for-2. I hope fans at state did not see Jergenson's name in the program and start chanting "let's go Brandon." You know how kids can be. We are learning today, Saturday, that the stench of Donald Trump has now infected our U.S. Supreme Court, with the revelations about Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginny. It is profoundly sad and troubling. Existential for America? Maybe it will be. 

When people of the obvious educational attainment of the Thomas's get sucked into a cult, what in the world could be more disturbing? So, that's a cloud that hangs over everything now, plus inflation. What did the state tournament tickets cost? Seventeen bucks? How much were the hot dogs? 

Continuing with game stats, we see Loge with 14 rebounds to lead, three offensive. Decker was No. 2 with his six boards. We had 30 total, ten offensive. Decker and Tiernan each had five assists to lead. Four Tigers each had one steal: Decker, Berlinger, Tiernan and Loge. We had 14 turnovers. 

I feel regret that the MAHS band/music program is going to be distracted by today's (Saturday) game. The music parents are probably reluctant to state this opinion because we're all supposed to be consumed with basketball enthusiasm. I really wish to depart on that. From an email I sent to a friend yesterday (before the Mpls. North game):

 

Well, Tigers take to the court at 6 p.m.

 

A final thought on what we've been discussing, because something about all this bothers me: the convergence of the tournament and the trip. If the Tigers are in the third place game, I think a lot of the band/choir parents will think it was a mistake to even go down there. It is such a distraction for the kids, and these events really drain you. By the end of the day Saturday, those kids will have been run ragged. I think it takes some excitement away from the music trip.

Just think, they'll see the Alamo, where Fess Parker met his end swinging Old Betsy.

When they get back, ask Wanda for me what it was like to see the Alamo.

Related: This situation is a reminder of how sports HOLDS SCHOOLS HOSTAGE, in the sense that scheduling must always be done on the possibility that a team will be advancing in the tournament/playoffs. It's such a long shot for making the title game, but if you make it, those darn sports parents expect everyone to roll over for it.

I'm going to Stone's Throw to waste some money now. I do that every 5-6 weeks. I do it for Anne Barber. I will not be in church Sunday, as I have still not written out a check.

There, I've made my case. I'm sure Wanda is managing everything brilliantly, but it's so hectic and involved. A week from now there will be nothing going on.

Did you order this weather (wind)?

- BW

 

Footnotes: Fess Parker was of course the actor who played Davy Crockett for Disney. Boomers grew up with the strong image of him swinging "old Betsy." We were misled, just like we were misled about the Vietnam war. It was said that Walt Disney's No. 1 motivator in life was his hatred of communism. Well, that's what was behind the Vietnam war too. Nearly 60,000 dead American soldiers, young men. 

The Mexicans were actually fighting against slavery at the Alamo. Sam Houston would later claim that the Alamo defenders "bought time" for his army. The truth is that Houston just wanted to cover the fact that he failed to send reinforcements to the Alamo. Can we say that slavery is even bad? I mean, what with the huge push against "CRT" by a certain element in America now? The Trump element?

Footnote No. 2: I like Stone's Throw Restaurant but of course the prices are a little steep. 

Footnote No. 3: I suppose I could ask Wanda myself, what it was like observing the Alamo. Would be easy? For me, as easy as climbing Mount Everest. 

 

Hey, think spring already!

With spring sports will come renewed attention on the "softball complex." OK, a troubling subject for me. Not a pleasant place to go and watch softball. Very limited viewing angles at new varsity field, plus parking-related safety issues, plus others. Sigh.

I write on this subject on my new "Morris of Course" post. Here is the permalink to that:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2022/03/attention-will-turn-to-softball-and-new.html

 

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

Morris school juggling sports, music!

It is Friday and quite the big day for the Morris school. I ought to add "Chokio-Alberta" of course. I miss the days of the Chokio-Alberta Spartans, such a rich experience for so many. But today it's "MACA" although the Willmar newspaper refuses to use that term. 

Time after time Willmar refers to us as "Morris/Chokio-Alberta." It's probably their opinion that this ought to be the term. Why do we need the word "area" if the name also includes Chokio-Alberta? By including Chokio-Alberta, there is the clear suggestion that we cover an "area." Logic, yes, but a formal name ought still be recognized. Newspaper people ought to know that. 

MACA does not get as much attention in the Willmar paper as it once did. The overall fortunes of the Forum-owned Willmar paper have been rapidly fading. So is its relevance, certainly compared to a few years ago. 

The MAHS pep band will not be performing for tonight's (Friday) state game, I'm told. Yours truly has been mighty curious about how MAHS is balancing its basketball commitment with the music program's spring trip south. There's an amazing little resolution to it all. Maybe I should not be surprised, due to the well-known resilience of youth. Would you believe the pep band will perform at the Saturday game (championship or third place) and then leave from the Twin Cities en route to Texas, no stop back here? 

Even the basketball players who are in music can join in. Sounds like a very hectic plan. I have known for a couple weeks that the music departure day is Saturday. I have assumed - never safe to assume naturally - that the music party would be leaving in the morning, maybe quite early. But no! No, no no! That wasn't the plan. The departure time was actually going to be later in the day. I scratch my head: wouldn't the group want to cover as much ground as possible on the first day, before spending the first overnight? You'd be wrong thinking that. 

So now, amazingly I'm told the group will head south from the Twin Cities ahead of the original timetable. Amazing, amazing. I still think the whole rapid transition from basketball to music is going to be stressful. But maybe I should not assume anything at all. I think I can assume that Sam Kleinwolterink of the Tigers is in choir?! 

If the kids are up for all this, then I really congratulate them. 

I had been wondering if the Chokio-Alberta band could serve as the MACA pep band. My enthusiasm about this idea grew when I learned that Chokio-Alberta won a "superior" rating in the recent "large group" contest. Hey, congratulations to the Spartans! In getting superior, C-A out-performed Hancock and West Central Area. 

Keep in mind: Hancock is a school that still has its own full-fledged varsity athletics. We're certainly aware of that, with Hancock's girls winning No. 1 in state. We might suggest that the Hancock girls have stolen some of the thunder from Morris. Between the two teams, it seems we've almost been O.D.ing on all this stuff. I have argued previously that it gets out of proportion. 

I think it would be fun to see C-A take over with pep band. C-A has no stand-alone varsity sports any more. Yet its band out-performed Hancock and West Central Area. I think that's neat, rather an underdog story. A "superior" rating clearly means the C-A pap band could handle it. Aren't ready with the school song or National Anthem? One intensive rehearsal would take care of that. 

MACA will end up playing three games in state. Based on what I hear about price inflation that the fans will face, I really wonder if people are going to be up for all this. Prices only go up. At a certain point, people simply have to start changing their behavior, don't you think? 

So tonight (Friday) the Tigers will play Minneapolis North. It's a big city team which might seem intimidating, but remember they're Class AA. Many fans were skeptical about how the Tigers would do against Minnehaha. The Tigers were undaunted and won. So, a repeat tonight? I wouldn't want to hazard a prediction. 

I will predict that the music group will have a fantastic trip to San Antonio. I hope they aren't too tired or distracted by the sports goings-on. I think maybe they will be, though they won't admit it. Band director Wanda Dagen is called upon to do yeoman's work now. Didn't the C-A director used to be involved in Morris music? What happened there?

 

Attention Morris businesses

It is 9 a.m. Friday and there is no coverage of the Minnehaha game on the Morris newspaper website. We ought to feel a little flabbergasted by this. I remember a Morris school administrator who'd have a cow if we didn't have a Tuesday night game thoroughly and perfectly covered in Thursday's paper. And those were just regular season games. 

So now we're in the state semis and I see nothing on the paper's website. The paper edition only comes out on Tuesday. The Tigers will have played two more games by then. 

So, what would the paper say if you complained? I'll make a prediction: The paper will say "we have a special section coming out after the state tournament." They'll make it sound so peachy keen. Special section means this: the paper will hit up all the local businesses to buy advertising, spend money, on the section. But, why couldn't the paper just cover the state games in their regular issue that comes out? Surely they'd have room, because winter sports is over and spring hasn't started. 

So beware, local business owners. There's another fleecing coming your way.

(image from twitter)

 

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

Tigers like the Energizer Bunny

Tigers 71, Minnehaha Academy 67

Success marches onward for the MACA boys basketball team. Over and over the Tigers take the court and win. They do it against their normal foes out here in outstate, then they roll past the big city boys. So the MACA boys are in for the state semi-finals now. A historic season. 

We'll have until Friday night to catch our breath after the state quarters. 

Already our basketball zeal was sky-high after what the Hancock girls did in state. Hancock is still thrilled about the Owls' season. And now the MACA boys are at centerstage. If "March madness" is intended as a cure for the "blahs" of the long winter, well then my goodness, it is serving its purpose perfectly. 

The Tigers took to the storied floor of Williams Arena on Tuesday night. Their quarter-finals opponent was the big city guys of Minnehaha Academy. This school has a background of being a power in AAA. Now they're AA. So, they're able to "clean up" at that level? Not so fast. 

The outstate boys beat the city boys in the state quarters. Coach Mark Torgerson's crew prevailed 71-67. A close final score, yes, but the Tigers were actually in command halfway through, or appeared to be. We were up 36-22. My sense was to think game was wrapped up for us. So then I wondered, is there going to be a problem with the apparent conflict with MAHS music? The band and choir have an exciting trip to Texas planned, beginning Saturday! 

And now the Tigers are guaranteed a game on Saturday, if not the title affair, then the third place game. Consider also that the MACA fans would be getting back home very late on Friday from the semis. Hmmm. We have to hope that everyone ends up reasonably satisfied with whatever happens. Will pep band be affected? Well it certainly would appear to be affected Saturday. 

On Friday? I'm just an observer. I covered the Tigers in the state tournament for the Morris paper when Jackson Loge's father Kevin played. I know what the "adrenalin rush" is like. 

Minnehaha Academy had an enviable record of success at the state level: multiple appearances, multiple climbs to No. 1. Now the Tigers have demonstrated that the Redhawks are mortal. The Redhawks fought hard to make the game interesting in the second half to be sure. The orange and black had to "hold on." 

The Tigers displayed a diversified brand of play as they seized the first half advantage. We never trailed in the game. Six different Tigers scored in the first half. 

Our lead swelled to 17 points with a little over 13 minutes left in the game.

Watch out for the full-court press. Brett at kmrs-kkok reports how this tactic came on strong for Minnehaha. He called it "tenacious." It resulted in MACA turnovers. The Redhawks flirted with gaining a tie with 1:45 left. Our margin now: three points. MACA fans breathed a sigh of relief as Minnehaha faltered at the freethrow line. Praise the Lord, eh? 

At the same time, Torgy coaxed his charges to deal with the press better. Brett reported how we "converted fast-break layups." Plus, got freethrows. The final horn sounded. We win! And I immediately wondered: how is this thing going to go with the band and choir leaving on Saturday? Oh well, people in the proper positions of authority will have to deal with it properly. 

The Tigers overcame the offensive tools shown by Prince Aligbe of those Redhawks. Aligbe was a scoring machine with 36 points. He did this despite foul trouble. He also grabbed 14 rebounds. Rolyns Aligbe had eight points and six rebounds. Mateo Cortes-Weiss came off the bench to score eight. 

Would you believe, Minnehaha had a 15-game state tourney win streak going as they entered this game? The Tigers were not intimidated by any of this. The state tournament is familiar territory for Minnehaha, whether in AA or AAA. 

Mark Torgerson

Oh my, apparently it is official that Torgerson is in his last season as coach. I haven't seen this made official until now. His team sports a 28-2 record at present. 

Now we're going to play another squad of the big city boys, from Minneapolis North. North is the No. 1 seed. Again, "the Barn" will be game site. 

Will we have a pep band? Wonderful if the answer could be "yes." Game-time is 6 p.m. Friday.

 

Game statistics

The Tigers prevailed Tuesday with a 59 percent shooting performance from the field. We made 27 of 46 shots. 

Five players carried nearly the whole scoring burden. So we see Thomas Tiernan with 20 points leading the way. Jackson Loge was right up there with 18. Brandon Jergenson put in 13 points, Durgin Decker 11 and Cole Wente 7. It sure didn't hurt that Toby Gonnerman supplied two. Every point had impact as fans battled the stress. 

Tiernan made 7 of 12 shots, Loge 5 of 12. Tiernan is known as a 3-point shooting whiz. He came through in this crowd-pleasing department as he sank four of his seven tries. Wente made his only '3' attempt. The Tigers were 5 of 13 in this department, 38 percent. 

We made half our freethrow attempts: 12 of 24. Loge was a frequent visitor to the freethrow line: 8 of 17. 

Loge was at the fore in rebounding with his 16 total, four offensive. Gonnerman was in position to grab five boards, one offensive. We had 26 total rebounds. Loge showed his unselfish brand of play with eight assists. Tiernan led in steals with three. Our turnover total was 15. Loge blocked two shots, Jergenson blocked one. 

Well, let's all catch our breath now. The MACA student athletes are indefatigable, like the Energizer Bunny. Ah, the resilience of youth.

I invite you to compare my coverage with what you see on the Morris newspaper website.

The hoops enthusiasm

We can say nothing but good things about the success of any local students. As I looked over a "house paper," the Morris paper, that was at the restaurant this a.m., I had to wonder if sometimes it gets a little excessive. I mean, this obligation the local media feels to just go crazy when some of these teams do well. 

There are only five players in the starting lineup for a basketball team. The student body is diverse with students in an array of interests and pursuits. Are we giving the athletes an unrealistic sense of the importance of their accomplishments? I mean, winning games? 

The Morris paper is full to the gills with stuff on MACA and Hancock basketball. Meanwhile the MACA girls basketball players have had to retire to becoming fans quite some time ago. Are they disconsolate about that? They'd probably say "no" but I wonder. I wonder often about all the non-athletes at school. 

Music has no equivalent to the hyper-mania that can grow about basketball. Is that fair? I repeat: Is that fair? The musicians are "useful" - that's all - as pep band members, and the athletes step into the limelight as heroes. Yes, they really do. I offer congrats to them. 

It has been a pleasure for yours truly to try to offer something journalistically over the course of this and other seasons. I can do it just as effectively online-only as I did when working for the "dead tree media." The late Steve Cannon once called us "ink-stained wretches." It's a whole new media world now, as we see "YouTube geniuses," as a friend calls them, ply their interest at our high school. Congrats to these enterprising souls, in spades. Nothing like that existed for most of my life. 

I used to take photos of Tiger and Owl basketball and then "develop film" in an "analog" darkroom - messy, mistake-prone and expensive. Nothing like that today. It's all great but it requires adjusting, especially for people my age. I have not received any thanks or congrats for all the writing I have done on this year's Tigers, and that's fine. Let's just keep fingers crossed we can win on Friday, Saturday too! 

And congrats to the band and choir kids on having such a wonderful trip opportunity. Maybe a good thing it wasn't New Orleans after all. Did you see reports of the awful tornadoes there? 

  

Further reflection, please

A final thought on the Morris paper being so full to the gills with basketball stuff: don't we have to wonder if maybe we're being "suckers" for the State High School League's machinations in developing a system where teams can advance to the maximum extent? I mean, four classes, sub-section finals games which are really section semi-finals, but I suppose the sub-section champ gets a trophy. Yes, perhaps our "everyone gets a trophy" culture being evidenced. 

Like I said, congrats to the athletes (because if I don't I'll have the parents screaming epithets at me) but consider too the many other valuable pursuits of kids in school, as they find their potential. The cheering in the gymnasiums will end. There are only five starting players for a basketball team. Is the mania out of proportion? Rhetorical question, Kemosabe.

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

(image from twitter)

Tigers are matched vs. Minnehaha Academy

So, it's Minnehaha Academy. That's the round 1 opponent for our MACA boys in the exciting state tournament. 

I hope the fans realize how complicated these state events can become for casual fans. The casual fan can try to grasp it all, but might need a hint of help sometimes. There are various levels of tournament play. There are the different enrollment categories. 

The number is thinning away of people who remember the one-class tournament. We're supposed to get sentimental over that from the movie "Hoosiers" with Gene Hackman. Hollywood is the dream factory. In reality the one-class tournament was profoundly unfair and perverse. A region title game in the Twin Cities could have been considered the true state championship game. 

I remember a year when Edina played Hayfield: a romp for the Hornets of Edina. Us kids could get let out of class at school to watch TV in the cafeteria. 

We should never forget our 1955 Morris High School team that made state in 1-class. It does not matter that the team got dismembered by the big city kids - Minneapolis Washburn - in state. Legend has it some of those Tigers may have seen their accomplishment a little out of proportion. Know what I mean? I don't care, those guys deserved 100 percent credit. Yours truly was born in 1955. Did not come to Motown until 1960. 

So we're anticipating state for our MACA Tigers in the year 2022. The 4-class system means there isn't quite the general hysteria as when I was young. But hey, there's still hysteria! 

I had breakfast at Caribou Coffee this morning and mentioned all the basketball enthusiasm in the air. The employee thought I was referring to Hancock! That's OK as we certainly share in the feeling of congratulations. I confess I did not follow Hancock much - my attention was on the Tigers of MACA. 

There was a time in my life when I wrote sports for the Hancock newspaper. "A time" was 15 years. There is no Hancock newspaper now. Time rolls forward. We have the "Stevens County Times" today, just once a week, and the post-season for high school sports is more complicated and multi-layered than in an earlier time. 

 

Get ready to rumble, again

Now to the business at hand: Our Tigers are seeded No. 5 in Class AA. That's in the middle. Uh-oh, looks like we're matched against a private school! Does that ring warning bells or set off sirens? Private schools can sometimes be a steamroller, but not always. Tiger fans are hoping we'll play the mortal kind of private school. 

Minnehaha Academy is seeded No. 4. Action will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at Williams Arena, U of M. Williams Arena is where the storied one-class tournament games were once played. A place steeped in memories and tradition. 

The top seed in AA is Minneapolis-North. The semi-finals are set for Friday, March 25, at Williams Arena. Game-times are 6 and 8 p.m. The AA championship will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at Williams. 

I found information online that indicates there is a third place game on Saturday also. So we must wonder: Is there in fact a conflict with the MAHS band/choir music trip to Texas? It's my understanding that they'll depart on Saturday. This is the current info I've been able to glean, presumably reliable. Hey, all my sources are good, aren't they? 

So, what if the Tigers play in either the title game or third place game? The third place game would be easier to miss, right? Maybe not. I shared some concerns about all this in an email to a friend over the weekend:

 

Hi to (name withheld) - Great excitement with state basketball of course. There appears to be a complication: the band and choir kids are set to depart for their Texas trip on March 26. That's the day of the state championship and third place games. A matter of concern, because:

- we'd need the pep band

- we'd need all those kids to provide fan support and make our turnout look good, and

- the music kids themselves would obviously want to be there.

I hear the music trip was originally set for New Orleans and then was changed to San Antonio due to vaccination requirements in one place vs. the other.

 

It is always hard for music to co-exist with sports because sports can just smother everything, or so it seems sometimes. I wish Wednesday would be opened up for regular school activities.

My "I Love Morris" blog has been on top of the Tigers' climb. I checked newspaper website yesterday and they had three sentences on the Redwood game. Well, whatever. . .

If Tigers lose in first round, will be moot point for music trip.

 

On Sunday morning I got at keyboard again with further musings or whatever:

 

Hello (name withheld) - Well, another Sunday. I lay half-awake in bed this morning, realized that scheduling a music trip is difficult because you have to "wedge" it in between sports seasons. I'm sure Wanda or whoever did the scheduling was trying to do this. But the state championship game is at such a late date, and I'll bet spring starts right up if it hasn't already. So the music people are well-intentioned, but you have to "bet against" your team making state title game, Kemosabe.

 

(Naturally no one is going to root against Tigers!)

What all will transpire? Regardless, such an exciting week, on the heels of what Hancock accomplished, we might all have to work at floating back down to Earth again. Take some pills maybe? 

Another question: What would have happened if I had arranged for a rose and balloon to be delivered to MAHS band director Wanda Dagen on Valentine's Day? Would I still be standing? Such a nebulous activity to consider.

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