Might be a little taboo for me to observe this. We're supposed to be overwhelmingly positive as we note youth activities at all levels. But we know the feelings of fans deep down as they observe their team scoring eleven points in the first half of a basketball game. My argument would be: let's not be in denial. Let's admit our disappointment. That would be step one.
My history in this community is one of not hesitating to ask questions about whether the coaching by a particular individual at a particular time is what we should expect. But simply asking such a question can get fingers pointed at you. Girls basketball in Morris has been through too many down periods in its history. And of course there have been some bright parts too. But the competitive caliber overall has disappointed.
Morris history includes way too much defensiveness on the part of the faculty and certain of their friends out in the community. I am certain that this problem does not exist to the extent it once did. The really negative history dates back pretty far now. In the end we saw pretty considerable pushback against it, as people rose up because of feelings that had become so strong. They asserted themselves even with risks to their livelihoods.
Some had to back off because of the specter that I just cited: retribution. It was a palpable fear. The teachers had too much power at one time. They were incredibly "tribal." They showed traits of clique behavior, quite in spades. They had house parties a lot. Certain non-teachers got drawn into their orbit. It was the kind of phenomenon you might associate with a small community.
I have suggested that a sociologist could have camped here in the 1980s and collected notes for a book.
In the end some heads did roll, one in particular. That person left under the convenient guise of having found some other opportunity. His departure was presented that way by the network of people who had been the problem. And look, if the person in question did in fact find a fruitful opportunity, was able to be productive in a way that uplifted everyone around him, well amen and hallelujah! That's what life is all about.
The negative forces of which I speak tried turning their Howitzers on me. In the short run it failed. To the extent these efforts actually limited my ability to operate as a media person, the kids would have suffered. But the interests of the Morris teachers or at least a considerable faction of them, had to come first. The "insurgency" that came forward against them had success but to a limited degree. The time period here is the late 1980s. The dust sort of settled. Sort of.
None of what I am writing is to suggest that the Morris system has any problem of a comparable nature today. Even though I am well "out of the loop" compared to "the old days," I can feel quite certain that it's a properly directed environment for the kids. The honor rolls are lengthy as they should have been all along.
But I am downcast as you might surmise, prompted as I am to remember the tough sledding that we once saw with Morris girls basketball through considerable stretches of time. While at the same time, the small schools that dotted our area could sometimes do laps around some of our programs. And you'd experience the wrath of God if you simply tried to point out the obvious in your wanderings around town.
The prevailing clique of Morris teachers failed to dislodge me even after they succeeded in getting a toady of theirs appointed as Morris newspaper editor. I was beaten down and belittled over many years but not actually dislodged. To the extent that my self-esteem as destroyed, I could no longer perform up to my potential as a local journalist. So I endured years of simply surviving.
I may have gotten two major reprieves that at least extended my longevity, if longevity was the thing that mattered. One was my opportunity to take over the sports department of the Hancock Record newspaper. With that work I only had to answer to Katie Erdman and Jim Morrison, two people with a grip on things. They were realistic and honest people, quite human.
The second was my step in taking over the work of Howard Moser when he had to leave the company for health reasons. So I became the company's van driver.
The adjusted responsibilities got me though a considerable period of time. And you know what? I loved journalism enough just to be close to it. Can't you tell, if you have paid attention to my online journalism to any extent over the last 12 years?
There was a spell of over three years after I left the Morris paper when I did no writing at all. That shows how beaten to a pulp my self-esteem had become.
The final blow which I could not survive was probably the letter to the editor from Dr. Busian. Not that anything like that was totally isolated. The agenda of the Morris teachers union from the 1980s will always stand out. Such nauseatingly political people. Intransigent. Clever enough to couch their arguments as being "for the kids" which is how any advocates on school matters are going to speak. Really they were always just "looking out for their own," seeking "maximum pay for (frankly) minimal work" - of course that would make their blood boil - and wanting job security for all in their preferred social circle. "Social" should get special emphasis there.
We had a girls basketball coach who should have simply gotten a non-renewal of her appointment after two years. Many people saw this person as immensely likeable. I will not say she was not likeable. Her whole family projected sort of an endearing quality, which might make me misty, but hey there was a job to be done. The appropriate administrator with the appropriate job should have just done the right thing. That comes with the territory for that person's job.
The one coach I cite here was just a case study. We had "systemic" problems of this nature through the 1980s and maybe a little beyond. Because I chose to speak of this in an unvarnished way sometimes, I was vilified by a certain "party crowd," the coterie of "good old boys" you might say. House parties. Get the picture?
Mary Holmberg is an immensely popular person today. But a look at school history would show she was a head girls basketball coach with a mediocre record. And I'd be vilified just for saying that. I have written that Mary had a player named Julie Huebner who I think today would be a Division I recruit as a post player.
People will stomp on me for saying all this - they'd find a reason - because if nothing else it's ancient history. To that I'd say "so what? It's history."
Holmberg left that coaching role in a manner that had no controversy, as I recall. So that was nice. It was one of her successors that reflected so strongly the type of problems I am recalling here.
People pounce on me for so many reasons. Back in the day they'd say "we don't judge success by wins and losses." I actually don't think that has currency now. Most people would think it fair to at least weigh wins and losses. "School is about academics." Again I see this as a quite dated argument. I do not think pure "academics" as in biology courses carries as much weight as before.
I strongly believe in the year 2023 that music, theater and sports are the most important part of school with the incredible enrichment they provide, and that "academics" with its horrible drudgery can take a back seat. Quite far to the back. Teachers can impart some knowledge. But kids can advance their knowledge in so many ways outside of the classroom today.
School should simply be a safe and uplifting experience. Considerable emphasis should be placed on the so-called "extracurricular," even to the extent that we ought to talk about wins, losses and scores. It's sort of the way the games are set up. The teachers of old would want me strung up for the things I am saying here. I wouldn't fear them as much now. I had a career of 27 years. I was able to stay close to journalism. I lived my dreams.
Carry a tune?
As a footnote: Am I the only local journalist who has even insinuated anything negative about the Morris school musical? Of course the Morris newspaper wouldn't touch any such thought, not with a ten-foot pole. But maybe a "reviewer" could have shared with us the suggestion that a lot of the singing was downright terrible, off-pitch.
The newspaper publisher constantly hits us over the head with how we need the paper - pony up, please - as a "watchdog" which means it might step on toes sometimes. But does the paper ever truly behave like that? It's all talk. And if I understand the publisher correctly from his redundant columns, he seems to argue that the government should subsidize newspapers. Well we all would like free money from the government, right? Nice racket if you can succeed with it.
But I would argue that the last thing we need is a symbiotic relationship between newspapers and the government.
The newspaper wants all this support while having a website that is almost totally worthless.
When will the newspaper be reporting on the girls basketball game? When can we see details from this blowout loss? Next Tuesday? The paper used to be twice a week. It gets scaled back while the price of course goes up.
And with Brett Miller having left the radio station, we're left with almost nothing. Obviously something could be done about this in our digital age. And it wouldn't take much.
So our girls basketball team scored eleven points in the first half Tuesday. People need to be asking questions. I think it's safe to at least ask some questions in our present time. In a past time you could pick up a scarlet letter in this community.
The Tigers lost their Tuesday game to Breckenridge 60-28.
No pep band? That's what sources tell me.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
