Officially we are no longer in the WC Trib's coverage radius, unless they have made a decision at this time to change that. We'll see. I am unable to influence the affairs around me. But you have to admit: I am still "media."
The BOLD coach described the game as a real battle. He cited his team's second half defense as a factor leading to victory. BOLD is into a challenging stretch of its schedule.
Alex Asmus supplied thrills for the Tigers with his four 3-pointers. He used these to build his team-leading point total of 12. Hey, the 3-pointers provided all those 12! My arithmetic is good enough.
Our other Asmus, Riley, made one 3-pointer as did Ben Tiernan, Tyson Grove and Tyler Friesen. Alex and Riley finished with 12 and 9 points respectively. Tiernan and Grove each finished with seven. Friesen and Drew Huebner each posted five, and Jack Kehoe put in two.
BOLD's top scorer was Jack Gross: 20 points. He and Will Penkert, the latter with 18 points, carried the load for the victorious Warriors. Here's the rest of the list: Tyler Ruschen 5, Daylan Weber 4, Hudson Vosika 4 and Owen Baumgartner 3.
Penkert was sharp from beyond the 3-point arc: four makes. Weber and Ruschen each made one '3'. We have the other stats for the Warriors, so we see Gross with eleven rebounds followed by Penkert and Weber each with five. Vosika had five assists and Weber three. Vosika stole the ball three times and Gross had one steal. Baumgartner had one blocked shot.
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| Donnie Eich |
We lost Donnie Eich recently, who among other blessings was a super local sports fan. He didn't need to have kids in the programs to have intense interest. I know he had opinions, not always approving of how certain programs were going, but I wasn't aware of him ever coming across as unpleasant.
I should explain here that his interest spread to the UMM Cougars most enthusiastically. I'd show up for women's basketball games in the 1980s and '90s and see him up along the top row of bleachers. He didn't have to sit so far away but he just liked that spot.
Women's basketball still showed some signs of growing pains in the 1980s. Indeed it took quite some time before it was really on equal footing with men's. People back then probably would have been skeptical about the women's version gaining full parity.
We all know what eventually happened: Women's basketball took its final steps to achieving equal status due to one individual from Iowa. You might assume that such a player would have to be big or tall. "CC" does not stand out by either of those yardsticks.
You can argue that it's unfair we had to wait so long for one individual to really be the catalyst. Many things in life are unfair. The satisfaction now should be ample given how the women's game has totally "arrived." I can tell you the won-lost record of the U of Minnesota women's team. Prior to this season I could not have done that.
The Gophers beat Illinois. Illinois beat Iowa yesterday. So my goodness, what anticipation for the early-February game of MN vs. Iowa! It will be at Williams Arena.
A dispassionate eye
Mr. Eich would clutch his game program and he'd take notes on it. People will remember him as being so supportive. But he was fully capable of expressing discontent when the high school programs were maddeningly struggling. He was aware of the background.
Through the various vicissitudes, Donnie Eich had a great time following MAHS and UMM athletics. And special kudos to him for following the UMM women. He was ahead of his time. I always found him to be fundamentally pleasant. I would have visited him at West Wind Village if covid had not come along. Carl Moser too, most definitely. Because of covid I still do not go out there. I don't want to take any chances for the sake of the brittle residents.
I hope to see Donnie in the next life if I end up in the same place as him. The UMM P.E. Center? It would have to be like that. He'd be happiest there. Don and his "butch" haircut with hair. Jerry Witt once said to me "we're all aware of each other" (those with this haircut). Ah, the "Sergeant Carter" look (from 1960s TV).
Donnie told me he once attended a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball game at the storied Ebbets Field. He did this while being in the service. Ebbets came to be so romanticized. So I asked him his impression of the place. "It was a dump," he said. Well, landmarks on the East coast tend to be overrated, although this is not as true as it once was.
Donnie Eich RIP. He was a denizen of Pacific Avenue in Morris. Pacific Avenue shows signs of wear and tear but it has personality. Morris was originally planned for Atlantic and Pacific Avenues to be totally equal. Didn't quite turn out that way. I wish the LaGrand Hotel had been left standing.
I once heard that when Donnie was young, the ladies were quite enthralled with him!
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| Ebbets Field, Brooklyn |
An update re. UMM
I'll share here an email I sent to Jim Morrison this morning, Friday, and initially I talk about the "jobs report." Oh, "good news," righr? Actually no, from the standpoint of the stock market. So I comment on this with Jim and then I move on to a subject of great local pertinence: the status of UMM which cannot be described as real encouraging. At some peril to myself I ask you to read:
Jim - So, a good jobs report is out this morning and it's a DISASTER from the standpoint of the stock market which is the only thing we are supposed to care about. Strange times. And I am sick of hearing every day these reports on the ODDS of what the Fed will do next. Every friggin' day. Oh, the odds are now such-and-such of a certain Fed decision. Like it's a big casino which maybe it is. Again, WHY DON'T WE JUST WAIT to see what the Fed does and then deal with it? Jerome Powell himself is a terrible offender with his sweeping projections of what the Fed is likely to do. He could just stay quiet. What difference would it make? When we were young, the Fed was about the most boring subject out there. I don't get it.
I'm getting in trouble again locally because now I'm expressing concern about changes in the UMM music dept. In this town we're supposed to just shut up unless we want to praise all the administrators. Starting this next semester, UMM music ensembles will be a combo of students and COMMUNITY. Crookston has done it like this for some time, but THAT'S CROOKSTON. They only offer a music minor. Looks like UMM is headed that way too. And we have this huge cavernous HFA building on campus which feels more empty all the time.
What a surprise for all this to be happening. I have inquired about becoming a benefactor for music at the Twin Cities campus. I have communicated with a "big city" U person, the land of George Floyd. But the locals got wind of that and now I'm shutting up about it. I still live here. Morris, where never is heard a discouraging word.
- BW
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