Certain people who had influence at the time might say "no." But what would you expect them to say, if in fact they were just blindsided by the Coborn's decision? Would you expect them to say "boy, we sure made a big mistake."
Well of course not. They'll practice CYA.
The great Coborn's legend provides the grist for my current post on my companion blog "Morris of Course." I honestly think you could find other items of interest in that post. I invite you to read, to give me a sense of fulfillment in my otherwise limited life. Here's the link:
Nice Homecoming at MAHS
Here's from an email I sent to a friend on Saturday.
Del - Would it be such an unreasonable suggestion for the newspaper website to have a photo at the top of the Homecoming king/queen in their parade vehicle for people to enjoy this weekend? And they don't even have to develop film in a darkroom anymore. I don't want to be unreasonable.
The radio station site only has the "score" of the game. The site has deteriorated badly because of the loss of Brett Miller and Marshall Hoffman. Hoffman would do interviews with state legislators that gave me tips for my blogging.
I hope we don't have any more "Palestinian Sundays" at First Lutheran.
Events at UMM
We all know UMM is showing signs of duress, but nevertheless there are many highly entertaining and enriching events happening out there. Always pay some attention to music. IMHO it would be helpful for a few more people to attend music events.
Sunday afternoon brought one such event, "Connecting Traditions." It featured piano music by Norwegian and American composers including recent discoveries of music by Minnesotan Theodora Cormonian.
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| Monica Tomescu-Rohde |
I am amused because "newly discovered works" instantly reminds me of "PDQ Bach!" Peter Schickele was the mind behind "PDQ Bach." The point was parody. Anything can be parodied.
Music is wonderful but it is often in the shadow of athletics. Consider UMM volleyball this fall. A dearth of fans? Sorry but I have not set an example myself. Thanks to my friend Randy Olson for paying attention to fan interest. Here's from a Saturday email I received from Mr. Olson of Bonanza Valley. He's quite attuned to UMM.
Hello Brian, I am a close follower of the UMM Cougars (of course) via their website and what I find as robust and terrific coverage. They must be a little short handed in the P.E. department, however, as I do not see video interviews of any players like I've gotten used to seeing in recent seasons.
Bud Grant wanted to get Earl Campbell. That was the thinking then. Earl Campbell is in terrible shape today, all because of our entertainment needs.
(Hey, if I can do it, why can't they?)
Anyway this e-mail isn't meant to criticize their website...instead I'm a little disappointed (a lot actually) to see pathetic attendance figures at UMM volleyball. They are a top UMAC team year in and year out and they are drawing paltry crowds.
Example - this weekend! A nice weekend to travel and take in D-III athletics. Yet their match on Friday night had a crowd of just 107!!!!
Saturday afternoon's crowd? Reported attendance was just 59 !!!
Saturday afternoon's crowd? Reported attendance was just 59 !!!
Are you kidding me? That's wicked when the side they have open (they only open one set of bleachers already, as the crowd attendance is nothing like it used to be at home events)...one side can easily seat 1,000 fans.
I would be more interested in attending UMM basketball. It has been years since I bought my two slices of pizza at a Cougar sports event at the P.E. Center. I shudder to think about the kind of price inflation that has likely happened. We see this with everything, don't we? But the alarm bells don't seem to be ringing with the overall public yet. Economics is a science. Constant inflation is a result of the Fed keeping interest rates too low for too long.
Now we're hearing about problems with parking congestion for MACA football games!
Re. alleged parking headache
Is there ever a time when the school doesn't have issues to address? We hear talk about parking congestion for Tiger football games which are otherwise joyous events. Obviously the parking can be thick. Hasn't it always been that way for well-attended events? Here's from an email I sent to Del Sarlette:
I assume you know board has discussed the parking thing in the fishwrap. Maybe this is an excuse to get more money from the public in a referendum? Until a referendum fails, look for the board to still list things that NEED to be done. When the spigot is turned off, then they'll shut up. Is the public starting to feel restless about school district costs? I suppose you'll say "no."
The public is too lazy to deal with the parking situation out by UMM. It doesn't take genius to come up with creative strategies like to park at the school. Oh, but they can't walk that far! It's healthy to take a walk like that.
I have a hard time remembering the name of this other school board candidate. Weird name, Skulan? Skylan? Signs for this individual and Seales are on the communists' properties. [OK, tongue in cheek]
- BW
I'm not done re. parking
An exchange with Randy Olson is always stimulating. I shared with him on the parking (alleged) issue in a weekend email. You'll see a supplementary topic too.
Randy - Our school board is now discussing parking congestion problems for high school football games. Doesn't affect me at all because I walk. You may know I live out by the soils lab, but it's actually no big deal. Of course, I used to run the Twin Cities Marathon. But hey I'm 69 now.
My immediate response on the parking issue is why don't people spread out more for parking like to use the school parking lots which are very close to the stadium. A nice pleasant walk to the stadium and back. Also, the UMM parking lot on east end of campus would not be unreasonable to use and you don't need a permit after 4 p.m. I actually wonder how often campus security checks the lots for permits anymore. UMM doesn't want to alienate people and certainly not their own students. I have heard that the reason there's a permit policy is to discourage students from having cars. Students often park along residential streets close to campus and that creates an issue for residents or so I have learned. Legend has it that some students park at Willie's in the morning and leave their car there all day.
The oven at Caribou Coffee has been "down" all week! I always go to Caribou for breakfast on Sunday but I'll have to go to DeToy's today. What would we do without DeToy's? Don's does not open until 8 so I can't even consider that place. Another wave of inflation could kill off many restaurants. The "Fed" has to lower interest rates. More "QE."
All hail the Gophers!
Well, this not really expected, the U of M football team defeating the great Trojans of USC! I share in the surprise or the elation with my fellow UMM advocate Warrenn Anderson. Here's from an email sent to him Sunday, in which I also express surprise at fans being allowed to storm the field at the end.
Warrenn - So the Gophers can beat the No. 11 ranked team in the country. For most of my life we have considered USC a real marquee elite team, just like Nebraska. Remember John McKay? He got the job for the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then all he did was complain about not having any talent. Remember that? That would never happen today. First of all it was a downer. Didn't they use the No. 1 overall pick in the draft for a runningback? Stupid, as that should be traded to a contending team in exchange for more than one high draft pick. Seattle did this when they came into the league. But then the NFL loosened things and allowed new expansion teams like Carolina and Jacksonville to be more competitive right from the start. When I was young I wondered why new expansion teams had to be so totally screwed.
When a star runningback gets picked by a lousy team, that athlete is going to get beat up badly. And the team will lose anyway. The NFL in the years since has de-emphasized the runningback position. From the days of Walter Payton.
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| Earl Campbell, seated |
Re. the Gophers game, I winced at the scenes of fans "rushing the field." I thought the powers that control college sports were going to crack down on that. Like "taking down the goalposts."
Our high school teams in Stevens County are making it look too easy. Hmmm.
Yesterday the oven was still down at Caribou. I finally inquired to make sure Paul Martin and Jay Nelson know about this, and they do. Very strange for Caribou to be without a working oven for a whole week. So I can't come to Caribou this morning (Sunday). Maybe they don't want to serve hot sandwiches there? I can't go to Don's because they don't open until 8. Before covid they opened at 6.
One more blast of inflation and we'll see lots of restaurants closing down. Larry Summers now says it was a mistake for the Fed to lower interest rates. But low interest rates are a heroin injection for lots of people. There is no free lunch. I used that expression with someone and I got insulted. That person needed the heroin. He said "people who invest in stocks are risking everything." Really? You could have fooled me.
- BW
Maybe there's no money in heaven
Here's from an email I sent over the weekend to Jim Morrison, a pretty astute person with investment and all that stuff.
Jim - From Yahoo! News this morning:
"(Bloomberg) - Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates last month was a mistake after new data showed that US job growth last month topped all estimates."
Again, I think it's crazy for Powell to be making such frequent public announcements about what the Fed is likely to do. He'll make a proclamation and then backtrack, which makes me wonder why he needs to say anything at all. He is not an elected official. The Fed should just hold their meetings and make announcements about what they did, in dry fashion.
Instead we have Powell after the meetings making long-winded statements that everyone tries to TRANSLATE and I'm getting sick of it.
And if Trump wins, he and his treasury secretary will strong-arm their way into controlling the Fed. And if that happens, why even have a Fed? Just let the treasury secretary make the decisions. But of course that's dangerous because short-term political benefits will be sought for incumbent administrations. That's why we have a Fed.
But I'm just some dummy living out in Flyoverland, right?
I was forced into a sad "panic" a couple months ago but what if I had fallen into a situation, again, where I went bank-to-bank and was forced to accept interest of under one percent, maybe just half of a percent. I have experienced this, [name withheld] saying "it could change tomorrow." I now have no savings at Riverwood. That used to be my main bank. Do they even care? I am now leaning on Dakotah Bank and B-Mo and I don't even care about the FDIC limit anymore.
I am 69 years old and I need some assurance that I'll have an acceptable income over the next few years. We just lost Joanie Murphy. Death eventually comes.
If I could relax more I'd do some more home improvements. Contractors could get paid.
- BW
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