Tigers manhandle Perham in 8AAA semis

Tigers 32, Perham 8

Daytime high school football is so refreshing, it's a shame it does not happen more often. Obviously we can see the action so much better. It's safe for the visiting fans to do their driving home at a reasonable and comfortable hour. I'm surprised more isn't said about that aspect. 

Think of those times when we had a basketball or volleyball team advance far enough to play games at Southwest State, Marshall. That's a fur piece away if I may use slang. You'd better be well-rested when going to a game like that. I doubt that everyone is, plus we all get emotionally drained. 

Well, that's a pretty involved intro to this piece which will shed light on the Tigers' Saturday win over Perham in football. The 32-8 win avenged the loss we'd previously been dealt by those Yellowjackets. Neat nickname and mascot for Perham, IMHO. I like some of the unconventional names. Consider "Vandals" for U of Idaho. A little edgy, that one. 

We're so totally safe in Morris with "Tigers" and "Cougars." No political corrections issues, ever. Contrast that with Benson still sticking to the Native American/Indian imagery. Are we still waiting for answers from the Native American groups on whether Benson can keep its antiquated approach to nickname/imagery? Maybe there will be no formal answer. Maybe Benson is being left to "twist in the wind." 

Benson should have done something pro-active a long time ago just out of basic good sense. Who gives a rip about a school's nickname for sports anyway? Do we even need nicknames and mascots? Is it a little juvenile? 

 

Taking charge in Perham

Well, our football coaching staff wisely drew up a run-oriented attack to remove the stingers from the Yellowjackets. It was a game played in the beautiful daylight hours in Perham. I remember the days when I, as a newspaper rep made trips to Graceville for daylight games. I'd be covering C-A or Hancock. Ah, the glorious days of C-A football with Neal Hofland at the helm calling for his "toss sweep" play. It was like the old "Green Bay sweep," a defining play. I remind Neal of those days when seeing him at DeToy's Restaurant. 

Our rushing attack asserted itself early on Saturday. My, what a different complexion for this game compared to the previous meeting. Our Tigers took charge at the line of scrimmage. Thus the game was a reversal of what happened the previous time around. 

Was Perham out-coached? The Tigers amassed 367 rushing yards in disposing of the Yelllowjackets in front of their stunned fans. This was a Section 8AAA semi-final game. 

MACA truly meant business right from the start, right out of the starting gate. The Perham coach bemoaned ten days with no game for his team, due to a bye. The coach said he noticed a lack of intensity early. The Tigers seized the opportunity and never looked back. We succeeded from the get-go with a drive of eight plays capped by a 22-yard run by our quarterback Drew Huebner. Huebner went to work carrying the football again on the conversion play. Two more points. 

My, things went downhill fast for the host team. Perham's second play on offense brought an interception. Blaiz Schmidt was the QB who got picked. Riley Asmus was the Tiger in the right place to capitalize. Not only did Riley intercept, he was off to the races for 38 yards and the Tigers' second touchdown! 

Only four minutes had elapsed in this game when Tiger fans could look up at the scoreboard and see a 14-0 lead for our heroes. 

The Perham symbol

Perham then punted. There was just no stopping Morris Area Chokio Alberta. This time a drive of ten plays did the job. The ball was at the two for a play that had Mitch Moser clutching the football. The refs signaled "touchdown" again! My, the score stood 20-0 after one quarter! So easy, or so it seemed. 

The Yellowjackets summoned an offensive push but had a drive end with a failed fourth down play. The play went awry with a pass deflection. Our offensive unit trotted back out and was not going to be complacent with our lead. Oh no. 

So our spirited group went to work on a drive of 86 yards! The drive exhausted over seven minutes. Owen Anderson capped it with a TD carry from the one. A failed conversion play left the score 26-0! 

Garbage time now? Whatever, the complexion of the game remained the same with Perham experiencing futility. So there was an interception. Perham did get the ball back pretty promptly due to a Tiger fumble. It didn't matter as the Yellowjackets were forced to punt again. The Tigers worked to find paydirt again. When it rains it pours. 

I'm so happy the MACA fans could enjoy all this in pleasant midday daylight when the temperature is bound to be higher too. I took a walk out along our biking/walking trail, perfect conditions for that. Saw the Rentz's out there. 

MACA fans really enjoyed a big play pass that padded our lead. So it was Huebner connecting with Asmus: 40 yards. We're leading 32-0 with about a minute left in the first half! Did we really lose to Perham previously? 

Perham scored its only TD of the game on an 87-yard kickoff return. Gage Aanenson made the return. Perham got the two-point conversion. 

There's a whole half left to play? Well yes. The Tigers burned up a lot of clock. Neither team scored in the second half. MACA fans could return home at a reasonable hour. 

It is Sunday morning as I write this. What's the top sports story on the Stevens County Times website? Well it's about UMM. I scroll down and I see nothing but UMM headlines. Are these the only teams we're supposed to care about here in Morris? Evidently that's what the Stevens County Times thinks. Does anyone besides me think this is strange or objectionable? Does anyone inquire with the paper about it? What does the paper say about it? What excuses do they have? 

Is this asking so much, to show a little effort to keep people current on MACA sports? Doesn't the paper make money selling advertising? 

The radio station's website is not nearly as effective as it was when Brett Miller regularly typed updates. I am really going to miss his work. The radio station sells advertising too. 

BTW if I was a Perham fan, not sure I'd buy the explanation that the ten-day layoff from games left the team hopelessly deflated. Rest is supposed to help football players. I'd wonder if the coach didn't prepare his team properly.

MACA vs. Perham, October 13 at Morris: Perham 21, Tigers 6

MACA vs. Perham, October at Perham: Tigers 32, Perham 8

Our success puts us in the section championship game. Good news: it'll be indoors. Bad news: quite late starting time. According to the High School League site, we're matched against Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton at 8 p.m. on November 3. The site: Fargodome.

Volleyball advances

Our MACA volleyball Tigers not only won on Friday, it was by sweep. the Tigers advanced in the opening round of Section 3AA-North play here in Motown. We're seeded No. 4. We swept Litchfield who had the No. 5 seed. 

A sweep win ought to bolster confidence for the squad. Scores were 25-22, 25-19 and 25-20. 

Brianna Marty pounded out ten kills. Our W/L now is 9-15. Now we're matched against top seed Paynesville. Match-time is 7 p.m. Tuesday, yes Halloween, at P-ville. Boo!

 

Thanks for reading

Thanks and God bless to all visitors to my journalism sites. A reminder that I have two of these. The other is called "Morris of Course" and sports updates occasionally are posted there. I have two sites to deal with those times when sports gets really busy. I always have an "alternate" site for posting non-sports material, like politics maybe?

Below is the permalink for my post on "Morris of Course" about the Tigers' 21-12 win over the Fergus Falls Otters on Oct. 18. Beautiful "rainbow pass" from Huebner to Asmus in that one. I was there!

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2023/10/dazzling-huebner-to-asmus-pass-in-21-12.html

 

More on the media

Lately I have taken the Morris newspaper to task rather often for not doing more on MACA on its website. It is totally clear that the paper does not even try. You should know that many papers choose to do more on their websites! 

One of the better examples I could cite is by my old newspaper colleague/compatriot Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley. He has some fine sports teams to write about there. Sometimes I "piggy-back" on his coverage, not that I can do any better. But it's fun being associated with high school extracurricular. You could say it has been a lifeblood of mine, now for over 50 years! Yes and I'm quite proud of that. 

Below I quote a portion of an email I received from the genial Mr. Olson this morning (Sunday). It is informative for how newspapers can serve their communities with their websites.

 

Hello Brian, how about that!

Good for MA/CA to get past Perham's Yellowjackets. (That's a fun mascot name by the way.)

Here's a pretty full recap of B-B-E's destruction of the ACGC Falcons today:

https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2023/10/friday-night-lights-ix-complete-game.html 

I have a few more tweaks to add to the post, but that may not happen until Sunday after I do a more thorough review of my game notes.

I don't know why more newspapers don't give better online coverage than they do at least in playoff games. This is absolutely crucial for any media organization. Think about it this way: I don't publish until next Wednesday. This was a Saturday game. Why would I not at least give some type of recap and info of today's game? Why hold onto it for "X/Y/Z" number of days?

My printed paper has plenty of value in it. I can add coach and player interview material plus my best action shots. So much more I do in print...my websites do not compete with my printed version. They are one unit. It all works together to share information with the public. That is how it needs to be done in the electronic communication age.

 

No ESP needed

Obviously the Morris paper ownership wants the public to buy the paper product. But the paper product only comes out once a week, a huge negative.

 

Gophers on my podcast

I reflect on the U of M Gophers' Saturday football win over Michigan State on my "Morris Mojo" podcast. The announcer on kmrs yesterday talked about the Gophers playing "Michigan." Believe me, there is a difference between Michigan State and Michigan! The link for my podcast:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brian1610/episodes/Jordan-Nubin-a-surprise-star-in-Gophers-win-e2b78hb 

 

Addendum: I admit it is totally strange that I feel pressure writing about our Tiger teams online. It might be an old habit from when I actually wrote for the corporate media. Something I cannot unlearn. Right now it's 11:30 Sunday as I steadily assemble today's post, and as always I'm a little nervous: how would the public assess this? Did I screw up anywhere? 

Sports info can be pretty involved to process. Football games can be very involved. But why do I feel pressure? No one expects me to do this. Do you suppose anyone with the newspaper feels pressure on this Sunday to do anything at all? For their website? Click on the sports link there. See what you see. Anyone feeling nervous with the paper? 

I personally feel nervous because I want to do a good and timely job. And none of this is for money, Kemosabe! I have some old detractors in this community who would never say anything positive about me. I was once a well-known skeptic of the public school teachers union. I have no regrets. 

The good news is that the public school system is in far better shape with a far better attitude today. There's still a union but I think it serves more of a constructive function. Also, the school's management people behave truly like management now, unlike 30 or 40 years ago. On the whole I feel very good about our Morris school system. But it hasn't always been like that. The 1980s were a morass of cynicism and defensiveness. I was there.

 

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

Alexander Sperr interception key in Tigers' win

We meet again. So it was with our MACA football Tigers and their opening playoff opponent. The night was Tuesday. Conditions were pleasant for enjoying the game at our Big Cat Stadium. 

I arrived at mid-game when the Tigers had yet to score. That changed pretty quickly. I left the game wondering how our Tigers had ever gotten behind. We proceeded to own this game once I showed up. I'm happy to be of help LOL. 

So MACA won in this very prompt re-match with the Otters of Fergus Falls. Isn't Fergus a quite larger community than Morris? A feather in one's cap to beat the larger town. And we've done it twice with Fergus Falls. On Tuesday the orange and black prevailed in the 15-12 final. So it's on to more playoff conquests. We hope the weather keeps cooperating. 

Tuesday was the day for quarter-final action of Section 8AAA. I hadn't arrived yet when the Otters gained the 6-0 lead on a four-yard carry by Griffin Babolian. The next MACA possession was three-and-out. The Otters' offense was clicking when next they got the ball. But penalties cropped up to dull their progress. The result: a punt. The Tigers were sputtering at this stage of the game. Our quarterback got sacked on third down. The Otters' Carston Fronning got credit on the sack. 

The Otters then showed a flair with the big play. Henry Bethel did the throwing and Isaiah Holmes made the catch. So it was a 40-yard gain. Bethel capped the possession with a four-yard run. But Fergus whiffed again on the conversion play. The halftime situation looked good for the visitor: a 12-0 score with the Tigers having been shut down. 

That would change. But not right away. We did advance the ball to the Fergus 31. We came up shy on fourth down. We stuffed the Otters on their next possession. Another punt. Our offensive woes were about to end! It was Drew Huebner, our quarterback, who found the end zone from a yard out. A successful point-after left us five points down, 12-7. 

At this sage I was watching from my usual perch along the sidewalk leading to the south entrance of the UMM P.E. Center or whatever it's called now. It's kind of nice because you can slip into the P.E. Center and get warm anytime. 

Bring on the fourth quarter. The Tigers advanced the ball to midfield and then gave it up on a "pooch punt." Huebner executed that play. Fergus Falls had fallen into offensive doldrums by this stage of the game. We added to their woes by blocking a punt. Now we're set up in the Fergus Falls "red zone!" Great setup for another score but it did not happen, at least not right away. 

Keep an eye on field position, as it can be a mighty big factor. At first the Fergus Falls defense really bore down, stopping us after we had achieved first and goal. The Otters had a true goal line stand. A few minutes remained to be played in the fourth quarter. The Otters' satisfaction with the goal line stand gave way to the sober reality of terrible field position. 

Fergus dodged a bullet as the ball got loose but Fergus retained possession. But the recovery was at the one yard line, pretty bad news for them. Fergus then sought to get out of the hole with a long pass. Interception! Alexander Sperr was the Tiger in the right place to execute this. Now the Tigers had the ball in the red zone again. Not to be denied this time! Owen Anderson carried the ball into the end zone from the three. Our two-point conversion try was good! 

About a minute is left in quarter No. 4 and we're up 15-12. With backs to the wall, the Otters turned the ball over on downs. MACA fans enjoyed the satisfaction of victory as our team went into the "victory formation." 

Our total offense was 195 yards and it was all accomplished on the ground! Rather a surprise. We do have a capable passing attack. Anderson was a workhorse with 132 yards on 28 carries. He broke loose in second half play. Our W/L record was elevated to 6-3. 

Another re-match awaits the Tigers. Now we're matched against Perham again, the Yellowjackets. The game date is Oct. 28. 

The Fergus Falls total offense number was 246 yards. The Otters' passing was pretty good. Bethel completed 18 passes in 29 attempts for 179 yards. But he threw the interception of course. Fergus ends its season at 2-7.

 

Cate Kehoe in state

I'll have to share some media notes. Unfortunately Brett Miller has left our Morris radio station. We lost Marshall Hoffman prior to that. So much talent going out the door. Miller of late had been posting high-quality sports reports on a variety of teams and individuals on the radio station's website. You can still find info there but I do not find it to be as reliable and polished as it was. 

Miller's posts were a good info source as I continued my online writing about the MACA Tigers. It was not the only source. I can get past the West Central Tribune paywall and so can rely on some details reported there. But there's far less MACA info there than previously. 

We are not officially in the WC Trib's coverage radius any more. No more "All Area Team" eligibility. Maybe the WC Trib will review this position at some point. I do get the sense that if MACA coaches would call in, those calls would be taken and notes taken. Very often these days, if MACA is in a game with an opponent who is covered by the WC Trib, we'll see "stats not available" for MACA. That looks bad for us, discouraging. So maybe we ought to call in from time to time. I have had hardly any opportunity to type names of the MACA volleyball players this fall. I'm quite disappointed. 

This morning I had the "miracle" of discovering that I could get past the Fergus Falls Daily Journal online paywall by using the "incognito" trick. The WC Trib has shut that off. I was surprised that this worked with the Fergus Falls paper, because I noticed previously that their paywall seemed tight. I didn't even try it until this morning. 

A couple months ago I commented to our tennis coach Britney House - I have to be careful not to type "Britney Greenwaldt" - that in my opinion, all MACA sports reports should be on sites that are totally free access. Why should any private business try to make money on these? Let's get with the times. The school's wonderful "YouTube geniuses" operate completely away from the legacy business media. Forget about the legacy business media. That's yesterday. 

I can tell you from consulting with the radio station site at present that our Cate Kehoe has made the state tennis tournament. Cate was No. 1 at the section level. For the section title she defeated No. 1 seed Brooke Lindeman of Montevideo. First Cate won 6-4, then she polished things off 6-1. The state gets going on Thursday. 

I was once a co-worker with Cate's grandmother Janet Kehoe, and for sure Janet is excited about this! Action will be in Minneapolis. 

I have found cross country info to be hard to come by of late. Why can't people in the Morris community come forth and put pressure on the Morris newspaper to do something of value with its website? Many newspapers at least try to do something of value there. Ours does nothing except repeat UMM sports news which is fully available on UMM's own website. Can anyone figure out why this is? I guess not, because this is Morris. The only thing people care about here is "getting away to the lake" on summer weekends.

 

I invite you to compare my coverage of the MACA vs. Fergus game with what you see on the newspaper website today, tomorrow or the next day. Give them a little time I guess. 

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

No firm science with songwriting

I will not have an original Christmas song to share this year. Sorry to those who might be disappointed. This is not to say that my songwriting chops are not being exercised. When I compose verse it is always with a melody in mind. I'll put together a generic country melody and compose poetry that corresponds. 

No way could I consider having even a portion of this material professionally recorded with a "real singer." Cost would get excessive for one thing. And what am I accomplishing? Well it's an avocation. Some people put up model trains. The people who do that rather fascinate me. As with anything else, you can explore YouTube for fantastic examples of elaborate model railroads. 

The incentive for these people? I really don't think it's to see the trains going around in a circle. The incentive is to learn to construct something - all the processes and materials - and then to stand back and admire it. It's a model or example for learning any elaborate system. The hobbyists are guaranteed staying out of trouble while doing all this. As the spouse of one commented on YouTube: "I know he's not at the pub. He's in the basement."

So I write songs. You might say it's a close relative of straight writing or straight journalism. You're grappling with words trying to make them work for you. With songs you have a structure set forth in a "melody." This can obviously take various forms. Some classic pop songs have been written with the simplest of structures - take "Gentle on my Mind." 

A song can be written with verse, chorus, bridge and even a "climb." The contrasts among all these are supposed to make a song more interesting. The song I wrote to honor the great baseball player Rocky Colavito has a "climb." The climb leads into the chorus. I was informed that my song about Rocky was played for a statue unveiling in the "Little Italy" portion of Cleveland OH. A great feeling of reward for a mere hobbyist. 

My late father was a pro. He never encouraged me to dabble in the craft. Maybe that seems strange. Maybe he knew what a "rat race" it could be, like any professional endures, and so he didn't wish to pull me into it? Maybe he knew the ridiculously long odds for having any professional success? 

The odds would appear worse today for the solitary songwriter who would simply like an established performer to sing one of his tunes. The Internet has opened the door for so many talented people to get their material "out there." And that is a totally wonderful thing. But it makes the landscape rather a jungle for someone who wants to break through. So I don't even try to do that. 

It helps to see that some of my songs on YouTube have gotten substantial attention. My "greatest hit" to date is the song I wrote about the First Minnesota Regiment of the U.S. Civil War. I had a good grounding for writing those lyrics. I went through a phase in my life when I was quite into the Civil War. We're called "Civil War buffs." I acquired Civil War magazines. I got familiar with terms for weapons like "canister" and "grape." 

Looks as though the Civil War reenactors of Minnesota became aware of my song and found it stimulating. I'm happy about that. Some of my other songs have done decent too. 

I have been away from regular employment since 2006. That is a shame but it's the kind of hand that life has dealt me. 

 

Miracles never cease?

I was astounded to discover eventually that you could actually put a song online. As with all such breakthroughs involving one's use of the Internet, the novelty wears off! It always does. I am no longer giddy about the sheer existence of music online. We are all so spoiled and it seems we fail to appreciate these gifts sometimes. 

Gifts? Here's an example: the other night I watched the classic movie "In the Heat of the Night" from 1967. I watched it on YouTube for free. There is now no end to the truly classic movies you can watch on your Internet device. I cringe when I notice the old Western movies that present "Indians" in the old stereotyped fashion. They came across as truly "the other" with a menacing air. 

You can watch the movie about Custer that starred Errol Flynn. "They Died With Their Boots On." Makes the U.S. cavalry look totally heroic, right down to the soundtrack: heroic-sounding music for "the troops," mysterious and disturbing music for when we see the Indians. If Custer had just waited for General Terry's detachment, there probably would have been no major battle for everyone to scrutinize endlessly. 

Custer was vain and pugnacious - paid the price too. Evidence now suggests there was no real "last stand." Chaos took over. The soldiers tried to flee but Hollywood would not wish to portray that serious of events. Instead we got Errol Flynn, as Hollywood once again gravitated to the simplistic storyline of heroes and bad guys. 

I often wonder if the day is coming where we'll see a push to sort of extricate the old politically incorrect movies from our consumption. Right now the defenders of Hollywood would say such old fare simply reflected our culture at the time. Therefore it is instructive? That view has some merit. And oh my God, all the old misogynistic stuff. "Dames!" 

Women are shown in so many of the old movies as emotional, needing support of the more steady males. A hug to console. 

I will repeat that I won't have a new Christmas song this year. Not that I don't have three or four in "the bottom drawer" as us songwriters call it. I could perhaps sing one of those myself on my podcast. Hey, maybe I'll do that. Of course this would be a very rough presentation. I do have a sense of pitch. Aside from that, no attributes. 

I tried developing a new Christmas song about a month ago. I wrestled with it for a while. It did end up as a finished project. But I was conflicted. Conflicted between having just a standard sweet Christmas theme and working in some topical/political references. I wouldn't do that, would I? 

The conflicted nature of the song began bothering me. Something that bothered me more: I have friends with absolutely no sense of humor when it comes to some light fun-poking at MAGA and Trump. Wouldn't ever accept this in a vein of levity.  The "cult" members would be nothing but angry at me, seriously. So I felt I ought to avoid it. Safe to just not have a Christmas song this year, I guess. 

Mark Lindsay

But all is not lost. I sent a song to the studio just the other day called "Morris Minnesota." I am very hopeful that it will be received well. A songwriter really truly never knows. Mark Lindsay feared that the Raiders' song "Indian Reservation" would be a dud. By that stage of his career, the group was known just as "Raiders" and not "Paul Revere and the Raiders." This is '60s pop culture. What a decade! 

"Indian Reservation" was a boffo success. 

Songwriting is fascinating partly because there is no science for determining what is going to be successful. This in an age when science purports to have the answers for everything. 

The name of my rejected song attempt was "It's Christmas Once Again." Such a typical-sounding holiday song title. Now I'm working on new lyrics that would not have the political references. Maybe good for next year. But I have other original songs to consider as well. Which accomplishes what for me, exactly? Hard to say. Intangible. 

My father was polished at this. I still think his original UMM "fight song" would work if we re-wrote the second line of lyrics. My suggested second line would be "spike, spike, spike an ace or two," language from the sport of women's volleyball which did not exist when my father wrote his song. If directed by someone who had his heart in it, the song would go over terrific IMHO. 

My father's "UMM Hymn" has no issues that I can think of. Not sure if it would be practical for a UMM ensemble to perform this today, as I get the impression that music is in sharp decline. But hey, let's just try to get enough $ to keep the institution going. Does anything else matter? Can Torrey Westrom help even though he's a "conservative Republican?" Well of course he will because it's "bringing home the bacon." 

When the U finally gets a new long-term president, I hope that individual can take a very hard look at UMM. Don't just buy the usual "happy talk" about the place, please. What is long-term by the standards now?

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

Newspaper pumps up own controversy

(image from "destination small town")

Sat down last night (Tuesday) to write email to friend about the brouhaha involving the Morris newspaper and Donnelly city council. I had just discovered the matter in a visit to our library. My email grew long so I changed the purpose of my communication, opting to make it a blog post. You see it here. I keep the salutation at the start to make it authentic-looking as an intended email. Donnelly in the news!

 

Hello (name withheld) - Just got back from the library, a routine visit to among other things look at Morris fishwrap. So we have a full-blown local controversy in which the paper happens to be a player. I am always suspicious of these. The paper can overinflate its own importance. Would a disinterested person consider this subject so important? Rhetorical question. Reminds of when the paper's then-editor decided the county commissioners' meeting hours were so important or controversial. They were not. 

Such a dominant article in today's Morris fishwrap, jumps off the page at you. And through it all there is the suggestion that the paper is "the good guy." Any surprise there? Maybe a little holier-than-thou sounding? We have to tap our sense of basic logic: Is the paper justified in expecting a city council to tape its meetings in lieu of a paper's rep actually being there? If a rep can't be there on a Saturday, why? Just "time off?" Well heck, you can lump that suggestion. 

I hope the Donnelly city council has consulted with a good lawyer by now, perhaps a lawyer with the preferred expertise. They must have an official lawyer. I have been around the block a few times dealing with newspaper issues. Papers do not have the power to harrumph any more. They stick around as legacy products, that's all. A paper might lecture a government body on how it has the God-ordained right to publish legal notices (and get paid for it). But on the other hand, a paper reserves the right to simply go out of business. Seems like a one-way street. 

There is a legacy effect of newspaper publishers feeling they have a lot of power, which in fact they once did. The Internet has changed all that of course. So a Donnelly person was quoted swearing in article (with abbreviations)? I'm not so much offended by that as I am by the paper devoting coverage to it. I don't really care to fault the Donnelly council at all. But if I were to, I'd say they should have just stayed relaxed and politely said "no" to what the newspaper was requesting, then let the ball be back in the paper's court. The paper was arrogant in suggesting that it could not provide a reporter for the meeting, yet they wanted someone to record the meeting for them. It isn't Donnelly's problem. Maybe the council members would have liked some time off too. 

I remember when a Forum-owned communications property got taken to task by the legal authorities when it thought it had the right to set up microphones on a table in front of where board members were sitting. The media has no right. It is intrusive. But papers have a trace of arrogance left over from "the Watergate years." Nixon today would have a whole apparatus of right wing media ready to do his bidding and to stomp down the pesky news media. Not that Nixon really governed like a conservative - in many ways he did not. He created the EPA. Imagine Trump doing that? 

Ignatius Donnelly

Maybe we should be amused by Donnelly "getting in the news." People in the Twin Cities would be amused by this: a throwback to "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres." I remember playing elementary basketball at the Donnelly town hall. Man if the walls of that place could talk. I remember the Donnelly team had cheerleaders! Now why would I remember that? 

The Donnelly kids had very much of a "group identity" when I was in school. Marv Stoneberg was back for our 50-year reunion about a month ago. Our Homecoming queen was from Donnelly. She was not at the reunion. I should name-drop: Jane Larson (Jane Sassenfeld now). I remember being in an ensemble of Morris High School musicians for the annual ice cream social. 

Getting back to the subject at hand: I think the Donnelly interests need to have a good lawyer available to tell them what exactly they are legally required to do in connection to news media. And do not feel obligated to do anything beyond that. I trust the Donnelly council's preferred system for getting news out about itself. I don't have the kind of suspicion that was common during Watergate and its aftermath. These are good sincere people doing the work. 

The Morris paper should not get so cotton-pickin' excited about its own importance. There was chutzpah bleeding off the page about the paper. The "Times" I guess it's called. Early in the paper's article there was a reference to someone named "Ennen" but with no first name. The paper should try to set an example with its own professionalism in an article like this. Katie Erdman is a 1972 high school graduate and is past retirement age. Maybe she should avail herself. 

Our radio station has been bleeding talent over the recent past. Remember, it does not matter if you feel these are wonderful people doing wonderful work. In many cases they are, but a media business is like any business. It is all about money. Resources get squeezed. It is inevitable in the age of the Internet. The media has gotten fragmented in limitless ways - a trend still continuing - and much of the new media does not operate on business terms. For example, I don't think our school "YouTube geniuses" have any financial incentive, do they? Isn't it just done (up until now) as an outreach service for the school? My own frequent writing on MACA sports delivers no financial compensation for me. Money does not have to be part of the process. 

In the pre-digital days, we all understood we had to pay for a newspaper because of the paper's obvious printing and distribution costs. Much of that seems quite out of bounds from being essential now, even though the Morris paper's publisher seems to preach quite to the contrary. And that is getting redundant and annoying IMHO. Of course he wants to make money. How would you expect him to think? And I get the impression from headlines - I don't always bother reading the text because I think it can be preachy and predictable - that this fellow wants government to subsidize newspapers. On the face of it that is a horrendous thought. We do not want a SYMBIOTIC relationship between government and the press, shudder. 

The old Donnelly school

These days yours truly is completely in the alternative media. Maybe I did not want to leave the corporate media. That was mostly out of my hands, so I have had to live with it, Kemosabe. But journalism is in my blood. The paper needs to cool it a little now. Remember how often Nixon swore? Oh, but that's another world, right? The world of the Beltway. In that world we see this Rudy Giuliani able to put himself forward as lawyer to the president. The cold reality is that Giuliani would not be passable as lawyer for the village of Donnelly. Good luck to the Donnelly people. Bless you in your little town. I don't pass through very often any more. 

If the newspaper really wants to do muckraking, maybe it could find out how much money is being spent for the big crane-like device at East Side Park, hoisting this dude way up high to do some painting on the "Killoran Music Arts Center." Whatever contractor that is, I'm sure it's not cheap. Do you deal with contactors these days? The Killoran Center - and bless the memory of Eleanor Killoran who I knew well - is the epitome of a boondoggle. The extent of use is less than negligible. When the UMM welcome picnic was held a couple months ago, you'd think the organizers could have just arranged for some dude with his guitar to stand up there and sing. No, no one takes the trouble in Morris, Minnesota. We used to be able to try to justify the stage in the days of Prairie Pioneer Days. That was just two or three days. Then PPD just faded away while other towns keep their summer events going. Way to go Morris. Maybe this along with the city's cost for upkeep of the Killoran building are bigger scandals that what happens in Mayberry, I mean Donnelly. The City of Morris just gets the money from the people.

 

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

Palestinian cause has come to First Lutheran

Note the closed captioning in this photo! Take a close look. Isn't modern technology amazing? The photo is a screen shot from my First Lutheran Church in Morris. We're on YouTube. FLC is dealing with the slings and arrows that come with being considered "liberal." That's guaranteed with our affiliation with the ELCA. A whole new church was launched in rural Morris a few years ago in reaction to trends in the ELCA. The ELCA churches seek to hang on. My church had its image reinforced recently with the appearance of the guest you see in photo. The political left in America is most associated with sympathy for Palestinians. I am disappointed that the sympathy or at least empathy cannot be more broad-based. But that's the way it is. First Lutheran has had the man in photo as our guest more than once. I have been totally impressed by him, 100 percent. You look into his eye and you see a wonderful, sincere person. But listening to the Palestinians' plight in a receptive way makes you a "liberal," I suppose. Why? Maybe it's because so many of the "extreme" Christians see Israel as the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy. Donald Trump was totally sympathetic to Israel. Oh wait a minute, that was probably a "transactional" thing as is the case with everything Trump. He saw he was getting the support of the USA's "evangelical Christians." He saw that as an essential part of his base. He held up his finger in the wind and acted accordingly. And by going out of his way for Israel, did he help set the stage for the now-violent reaction by those on the other side in that part of the world? Israel is not a homogeneous nation politically. That counters the perception you'll get here as you consume the Israel lobby-influenced news media. Many Israelis have wanted to see restraint in the name of promoting peace. Certainly to save lives if nothing else. The man in the photo you see above is Michael Zoughbi. The West Central Tribune of Willmar wrote that "Michael and Carmen Zoughbi are among the thousands of Palestinians whose civil rights are being restricted by Israeli government occupation forces." Wow! The Forum-owned Willmar newspaper would allow that sentence to pass as objective news coverage? I personally have no problem with it. I believe it. But man, in light of what has happened recently? And in light of the pro-Israel mountain of media bias toward Israel? I am sick of Israel. I wish it would go away. Jews can live among us everywhere. I couldn't care less that they reject the New Testament. And good luck to our First Lutheran Church of Morris. We'll need it.

 

Just got an email from Michelle Fischbach's office that proclaims in its heading: "Representative Fischbach stands with Israel." It's such a drumbeat. So non-nuanced.

 

Is it legitimate to care about the Palestinians? We are being overwhelmed now with media bias that tells us Israel is the only cause worth advocating for. Is this because of the Israel lobby in America? I believe it is identified by the initials "AIPAC." I have read there is a more moderate (reasonable) Jewish-oriented organization called "J-Street." 

The CW seems to be that the younger Jews don't particularly care for such hard-edged advocacy for this nation called Israel. I must ask: Is it prudent for the U.S. to align itself in such intransigent fashion with a religious nation-state? 

So are Jews a religion or are they a race? I believe the correct answer is both? I do not profess to having encyclopedic knowledge. And I wouldn't even care to plunge into that. That's because I think people should just be treated as people, with caring and empathy all around. So I feel that it is entirely reasonable to care about the Palestinians. Also to "call a spade a spade" when Israel and its military do things that I think are unreasonable and barbaric. 

Even talking like this can get you into trouble. Which I think is a big part of the problem. I don't care to get into the weeds understanding all the conflict in that region of the world. I have the sense that Arabs ought to hold forth there. Let it be their place. Oh to be relieved of all the frantic-sounding headlines about conflict in connection to Israel! 

At a certain point it is just not worth the trouble anymore. 

Democrats and liberals tend to be far more sympathetic to the Palestinians, or so I have read of late. It's impossible to arrive at an opinion these days without being pigeon-holed accordingly. According to this dichotomy that the media loves: "left" and "right." 

And of course the oversimplification can be ridiculous. The right seems to get disoriented more readily than the left. The right has been pro-military intervention so often, as with the Iraq ventures led by the Bushes. But now? The right's leader - you know who - says we ought to stop foreign military intervention. How do these people reconcile that? 

Oh to have had "the right" be more disposed to pacifism in the 1960s, the Vietnam war years. Why couldn't we have just used sanctions and special ops back then? I suppose we could have just sent more money to the causes we supported. But wasn't so-called "South Vietnam" riven with corruption? So I read at the time. We "sent in troops." 

Too many people had watched too many WWII-themed movies. So Americans experienced the violence vicariously, watched the likes of Paul Anka play military "grunts" (in "The Longest Day"). John Wayne and Robert Mitchum were in "The Longest Day." Entertainment based on violence and death totally out of hell. It was vicarious for us all. It numbed us. 

So we were more inclined to be passive about how we were "sending troops" to Vietnam. We felt this was what we were supposed to do. Just like in "the good war" of WWII. What a horrific parallel to suggest. 

And you know what? Despite the overwhelming message from the media now about "supporting Israel" - so emotional and irrational much of the time - I don't think the people would countenance "sending over troops." I could be wrong. 

After so many questionable ventures with sending our young men into harm's way, e.g. Afghanistan, I think reasonableness has finally sunken in. After so long, after so much tragedy coming to American families. 

So what is to become of Israel? I do not believe Israel is even justified as existing. My thoughts are much like Jimmy Carter's, who caused a firestorm when he put out a book the title of which used "apartheid" in connection to Israel. Why the firestorm and why all the hand-wringing? Was it because the fanatical, possessed advocates for Israel thought Carter was onto something? That is often the explanation for such things. 

I have no time for anything that can be considered even loosely analogous to apartheid. Can't we all just treat each other as human beings? Leave the Arab world alone. They will do a fair amount of fighting among themselves anyway. Can the Jews handle being spread out over the world to be accepted as common citizens? Just like Lutherans? 

Well, Martin Luther was actually one of the most notorious anti-Semites in world history. His arguments were based on what? I have a hard time understanding the basis for anti-Semitism. My outlook is the desired one: let's try to put aside all such schisms. I have never felt wronged by a Jew. I'd have a hard time picking out Jews in our population. Mostly they look like regular people. A big nose? Why would anybody care bout that? 

Is the problem that Jews do not accept Christ as the savior, do not accept the New Testament? I can imagine this causes a problem for a lot of people. It means nothing to me. Everyone has a right to their opinions on such matters. Is it any wonder that young people have been drifting away from the organized Christian faith? 

Has anyone suggested dropping the "Lutheran" name from church bodies? I cannot put out of my mind the horrible bigotry that Martin Luther vented against the Jewish people. Why would anyone want to belong to a church that celebrates such a person? It is irrational just like the continuing power of MAGA in America is irrational. 

Our congressional district out here in western Minnesota has become so "red state," we now have a GOP hopeful challenging Michelle Fischbach from the right. And I would not bet against him. So the wild ride continues.

 

The reason I get emails from Fischbach's office is that I contacted her not long ago, asking her if she still stands behind her statements of Jan. 6, 2021. So I'm on her email list even though I never got a response from her. She voted against certifying the election results. So she's more of a MAGA person than Tom Emmer.

 

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

 

Too one-sided? NL-S and BBE thrash foes

Many high school football games these days are a little wild with points being scored in a real flurry at times. This trend accelerated with Covid although I'm not sure of the direct connection, I mean with the disruption of routine. 

I think the people who run these programs like to see offense because it is more appealing for the fans/parents. Football like anything else is a product to be marketed. Sounds a little cynical but it's true. The elaborate new facilities like what we have in Morris must be sold to the public. Considering the public's investment, it really is essential. 

All of this makes an impression on yours truly as I have followed high school sports for a very long time, remember the low-scoring and frankly boring nature of so many games of an earlier time. 

These thoughts enter my head on this Saturday morning as I check area results. Holy cow, we see a score of 62-12 with New London-Spicer winning, St. Cloud Apollo losing. I have always viewed St. Cloud Apollo as a viable school in a most viable community. 

So much for St. Cloud being able to thump its chest all the time. I was going to write "weak sister" but that's misogynistic. Wait a minute, I just wrote it. Have a sense of humor. But alas, people tend not to. 

There is more to be said about the wild NL-Spicer vs. St. Cloud Apollo game: the Wildcats of NL-Spicer led at halftime 56-6. Absolutely unbelievable. Couldn't the second half have been called off, let everyone go home, protect players from being injured? On the latter point, maybe high school football itself should be canceled. But then, where would the colleges get their players? 

St. Cloud State and Ridgewater-Willmar have shown the way forward: they have indeed canceled football. Would be hard to do this in our Morris: we have the bright shiny Big Cat Field. But wait, St. Cloud State put up a new football stadium in 2004. I scratch my head profoundly. 

A 56-6 lead at halftime? What kind of athletes did St. Cloud Apollo have out on the field, anyway? I hate to sound disparaging but this kind of mismatch was not worth the trouble. What kind of tackling attempts did they make? The game must have been cringeworthy at times. 

Can Apollo keep its program going? Do you suppose a lot of parents in the granite city have elected to pull their sons out of football for the prudent safety reasons? Well I'd compliment them. 

NL-Spicer scored 28 points each in the first and second quarters.

BBE 48, LPGE 7

I occasionally go beyond the bounds of our Morris and write about the Jaguars of BBE. My old newspaper compatriot/friend Randy Olson holds forth there. He has had some super teams to write about over the years. Right now is a good example: his BBE football Jaguars. They too poured it on vs. their opponent. They stayed perfect at 7-0 with a 48-7 thumping of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle at Long Prairie Friday. Congratulations Randy. 

Oh my, the final score tells but part of the story. Most significant was how the Jaguars absolutely devoured LPGE in the first quarter. Not first half but first quarter, let me stress, as the Jaguars rolled up a 42-7 lead. I repeat: that's in the first quarter alone. I really have to wonder: whither the future of the St. Cloud Apollo and LPGE football programs? Really seriously, the kids won't want to hang in there performing at this level. How can they keep getting numbers? 

Are we seeing a widening gap between the haves and have-nots? The risk here is that the have-nots may just shrivel up and no longer exist. What was it like for the St. Cloud Apollo and LPGE fans to watch on Friday? Wouldn't they have preferred just keeping their sons at home? Wouldn't it be a no-brainer for the sons to just want to be at home? Are they wired like yours truly? 

I never played football. I can offer all sorts of critiques but I never had to demonstrate any ability. On the plus side, I never risked serious head injuries like from all the sub-concussive hits. Why parents tolerate this I do not know. 

For the short term anyway, the NL-Spicer and BBE players and fans can be quite happy. I guess that's what it's all about. Those are our cultural norms. Baked into the cake. 

So congratulations Randy. Randy Olson is a real trendsetter in the newspaper business by harnessing the potential of his website for truly dynamic outreach. Like even with a video podcast. His philosophy on all this is 100 percent the opposite of what we see here in Morris with our paper. He swears his approach helps his business and I believe him. The Morris newspaper website is so dormant and lifeless, it is an embarrassment. I would like to suggest we are better than that. 

The BBE Jaguars are ranked fifth in Class A. They rolled up 277 rushing yards compared to 41 by the Thunder. 

BBE's first three touchdowns were by Jack Lundberg, Luke Dingmann and Braeden Michels. Then came LPGE's only score of the night, accomplished by Jose Botello. BBE rolled up four more TDs which were by Ryan Jensen, Owen Paulson, Luke Illies and Dingmann. So several different Jaguars were in on the scoring action. 

Lundberg had a team-best 78 rushing yards on just four carries! Dingmann was pinpoint with passing with nine completions in eleven attempts, 59 yards. The receptions were spread around. Kameron Hiltner had an interception. Ethan Mueller sacked the quarterback.

  

I would have preferred writing about the MACA Tigers today. The Tigers fell to the  Perham Yellowjackets Friday at Big Cat. Score was 21-6, so definitely not an "up" night for our team. I could not find any game details online beyond the score. We have lost a great deal with Brett Miller leaving the radio station. And the newspaper is just flaccid with its website.

  

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

"Duck hunter's weather" for football tonight

Early fall is starting to give way to late fall. Last night it was miserable in terms of weather. The nasty stuff stays with us today (Friday), which could limit the turnout for the Tiger football game. The Tigers are hosting the Yellow Jackets of Perham. 

Our last two regular season games are home at Big Cat. I wonder if the schedule-makers like to arrange for home games here late in the season. Our fine facility of Big Cat makes end-of-season football more palatable than if these games were played at the standard type of fields. Such as? Such as what we had here in Morris before Big Cat. We had Coombe Field, receding ever more into the past in our community's collective memory. 

It was a charming place in its own way. Many of you would remember. But it differed in some significant ways from what we have now. Man, if our Morris residents of the mid-20th Century could leap forward in time to see what we have now! I'll have to stop by the game tonight at Big Cat and see how the fan turnout is. I expect it will be decent despite the duck hunter's weather. But I could be wrong. 

 

Still stunned?

The Tigers are coming off perhaps the most exciting win in the program's history. What a story unfolded way up north at East Grand Forks last Friday! Our coach went for the win at the end with a two-point conversion play. And the Tigers did a run up the middle. Failure would inspire some second-guessing. But the Tigers most certainly did not fail. 

It was victory night for the orange and black over the Wave of EGF. 

I am proud to have blogged at length about the game the net day. It was a labor of love. Did either the newspaper or radio station do that in such a timely way with their online resources? It is not necessary for us all to wait for the mid-week print newspaper. Get in the year 2023. Or maybe I should tell that to the newspaper people. 

As for the radio station, it looks like Brett Miller is no longer there. It looks like their website performance is going to drop off considerably. We'll see posts that are nothing more than "scores." I don't want to just see "scores," I'd like a few details and highlights. Aren't you on the same page with me? Well, I never assume that. 

Sometimes I make a point like this out and around, and then I get a reaction like "I don't think anyone cares." I got that retort from a main street business person just this week. So I said "let's put it on the water tower: nobody cares." This is Morris, the town that let our annual summer festival just up and die. We can see the phrase on the water tower along with "We're going to be gone." So often we hear that from our friends, especially in summer. "We're going to be gone." 

It happens in the fall too when people take off for "the Cities." Let's capture the essence of the community on the water tower. 

Brett Miller gone and is anyone going to fill his shoes? We lost Marshall Hoffman a while back - a huge blow for media consumers. Again, maybe "nobody cares." Well I seek to try to provide some dynamic sportswriting when I can. Of course maybe "nobody cares." This is Morris MN.

Volleyball struggles

Not an encouraging season for the MACA volleyball program. The Tigers went 1-1 over this past week. We defeated Montevideo on Tuesday 3-0 at Monte. The Thursday story was a 1-3 loss to Melrose at home. Alas the Tigers are 8-14, 5-8 in conference. There is one regular season match remaining: on Tuesday at Minnewaska. We can't expect much if any post-season run. 

Shoot, I cannot find individual stat highlights for the Tigers from this week's matches. Brett would probably have delivered on this. I can scrape some details about our opponents from the West Central Trib site. The WC Trib removed us from their official coverage territory a couple years ago. I really think they would accept calls from MACA coaches if the coaches were to try. That's my two cents worth today as we look out the window and see "duck hunter's weather." 

Remember the year of the Halloween blizzard? We are on the doorstep. When I was a kid, we heard stories about vandalism out and about on Halloween. Our poor high school principal was reported to be a victim. Today in this new age with video surveillance cameras in so many places, I think there's far less of a tendency to consider pranks and vandalism. 

My neighborhood has not had trick or treaters for a long time. When my generation of the boomers was young, trick or treating was standard activity in nearly all neighborhoods, was considered quite safe and acceptable for everyone. Yes, times do change. A Norman Rockwell painting could preserve the old reality. "Trick or treat." 

Over the years we began to hear more about organized parties for kids at Halloween. Better supervision I guess. Of course, since Covid it seems all social-oriented activities have taken a step back. 

The "Minnesota Scores" website reports our home football games as being at "UM-Morris." But isn't the facility supposed to be 50/50 with the high school? Has our MACA softball program even made use of Big Cat in spring when the weather isn't quite ready for the usual place? The Cougars have certainly played games at Big Cat and I was thrilled when I observed that for the first time. 

Last spring it seemed we ended up with just one month of softball, as the decent weather was so late in arriving. Makes me wonder about all the money that got plowed into the "softball complex" which I still describe as a boondoggle. I'll discuss that with anyone. Don't expect the newspaper to bring up the issue.  The paper only tries to put sweet frosting on everything in this community. "All the kids are above average." Is there room on the water tower for that too? 

The volleyball win over Monte on Tuesday was most enjoyable for everyone with MACA: the 3-0 sweep. The West Central Tribune has "stats not available" for MACA. We do get the scores. The Tigers swept their foe 3-0 with scores of 25-13, 25-19 and 25-12. 

So, "stats not available" for MACA. Well, let's take a look at the host Thunder Hawks who had two players each with two serving aces: Taya Weber and Teagan Epema. Addie Olson performed seven set assists. Avery Williams led kills with six followed by Emmie Koenen with three and Maren Nelson with two. Madison Picht had an ace block. Epema with her ten digs led here.

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