Baseball: Tigers begin strong, beat ACGC

MACA came out of the starting gate with punch Friday, rallying for five runs in the first inning. The baseball Tigers ended up with a winning total of ten runs in this May 9 game at ACGC. The Tigers prevailed 10-5 at the home of the Falcons.

I will remind you that some of my Tiger sports posts are on my companion website, "Morris of Course." Click on the permalink below to read about the MACA softball split of a doubleheader at Montevideo on May 9.

http://www.morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2014/05/maca-girls-nearly-gain-sweep-settle-for.html

  

And, you may click on the link below to read about these other recent Tiger games: the doubleheader sweep by MACA softball over Sauk Centre on May 6, scores of 1-0 and 2-1; the 8-4 baseball triumph over New London-Spicer on May 5; and the softball loss at the hands of Marshall on May 5, score of 4-1. Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://www.morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2014/05/girls-sweep-sauk-centre-boys-prevail-vs.html

  

Eight hits vs. the Falcons

Bryce Jergenson scored three of the MACA baseball runs vs. ACGC on Friday. He went two-for-five. The Tigers had eight hits in this winning performance. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City matched that total.

What really worked against the Falcons was errors: six, compared to one by the smoothly-executing Tigers.

Following that five-run first, MACA went on to score three runs in the fourth, and one each in the fifth and seventh. ACGC scored one run in the third and two each in the fifth and seventh.

The other Jergenson in the Tigers' lineup, Brady, went two-for-four with two RBIs. Noah Grove had a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Ethan Stahman and Corey Storck each had a hit and an RBI. (Only seven hits are accounted for in the individual listing, not eight, but that's how the Willmar paper reported it.)

ACGC's Jordan Nelson was a perfect three-for-three with two runs scored. Mitch Macik went two-for-three with an RBI.

On to pitching: It was Noah Grove who was handed the ball for starting pitching duties. He was sharp in his two innings, giving up one hit and no runs while fanning a batter and walking one. But the brevity of his stint - two innings - kept him from getting the win. Instead the 'W' got next to the name of Danny Tracey, whose stint covered five innings. Two of the five runs he allowed were unearned. He allowed seven hits, struck out three and walked three.

The losing pitcher was David Kinzler.

The Tigers are slated to host Minnewaska Area today (Tuesday, 5/13). Our won-lost record now: 7-4.

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

First Lutheran Church, Morris, keeping faith

The grass is richly green around First Lutheran Church. (B.W. photo)

One charter member of First Lutheran Church was still alive in 1947, the year when our community marked its 75th anniversary. The name was reported as "Mrs. O.C. Hanson." How quaint. The style of small-town newspapers once required that married women's names be reported like this. The woman's first name would not appear.

This practice continued all the way into the 1970s. I know because when I was researching the Morris Centennial, I found lots of names like "Mrs. Bill Dripps." Arnold Thompson was editor of the Morris newspaper at the time of the Centennial. He gave me my first break, arranging for me to cover Morris school activities as a "stringer." He was a pillar of the community, serving on the board of education. I remember when we learned of his sudden death.

First Lutheran Church, my church, celebrated its 65th anniversary in November of 1944. The horror of World War II was on. The pastor through the WWII years was The Rev. E.S. Ede. I was informed once that it's necessary to use the word "The" before "Reverend." But I'm not sure about this rule. I continue this out of habit. I typed many obituaries with pastors' names through the years.

Today, small-town newspapers don't even have an obituary department. That's because funeral homes have taken over the responsibility of preparing obits. I'm informed by a former co-worker that the paper isn't even allowed to edit an obituary!

Someday I'll write a whole post about the frustrations associated with writing obituaries. More and more I seem like a fossil with my recollections. Oh, and you should know the newspapers get paid for running the obits. Actually the families pay the funeral home which then pays the paper. My two cents worth is that this is unethical. What was wrong with papers publishing obits as "news" (and not, in effect, advertising)?

Mrs. O.C. Hanson was living in Minneapolis in 1947. She had been a member of First Lutheran for many years.

The original First Lutheran Church was a quite charming frame building. It was 28 feet wide, 44 feet long and 18 feet high, and it cost $2500. Keep in mind we're still in the 19th Century.

The commitment to build was in the pastorate of The Rev. P.A. Dietrickson who served First from 1890 to 1896. Construction began in 1891. It was on the same site as today. Formal dedication wasn't held until August 6, 1905.

 

At the inception 

Let's go back to the very outset of church history. The year is 1877, six years after the city's birth. On February 26, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Morris was organized by The Rev. Marcus Koefod, then serving a charge near Starbuck. You can see a picture of The Rev. Koefod near the church office. A whole gallery of former pastors is there.

It looks like we will have another "former pastor" soon. It seems likely Pastor Paul Erdal is leaving. His wife Stacey has taken a teaching job in Brainerd (my mother's hometown). Stacey had hoped to stay here longer, perhaps permanently. However, a teacher who was on extended leave decided to come back, contrary to the expectations of many. Thus the Erdal family had to look at its options, and unfortunately they're gone or at least disrupted. That's a shame. I'm not a fan of the teacher who is coming back.

Pastor Paul gives stemwinding sermons with his authoritative voice, sermons that would easily fit in a more fundamentalist church. He would be a very effective "TV preacher" (and could be just as good at asking for money!). I will miss him when he's gone. He is Korean by ethnicity.
 
Pastor Cliff: pastor to the boomers
I grew up at First Lutheran when Pastor Clifford Grindland was the fixture there. He had a very long pastorate and retired there. He helped bring up the boomers of this community. Our family attended his funeral in Alexandria a few years ago.

Del Sarlette tells me that ol' Cliff had kind of a reputation of being overbearing, perhaps, asking for money. In today's culture, no one is apologetic about seeking money.

I would say that when Cliff was pastor here, and Fred Switzer was school superintendent, money was harder to come by for such institutions. (Fred was the boomers' superintendent, and Wally Behm our principal.)

Apparently it was like pulling teeth getting the high school auditorium built. Fred would later say he "almost got fired" over that. The auditorium really seems rather modest today. It has been upstaged totally by the opulent concert hall. Neither of these existed when I was in high school.

We gave band concerts in the 1968 gym, and actually I think it was a nice place for that! I remember sitting up in the bleachers and listening to an extended flute solo by Renee Schmidt (male), who was one of those prodigy musicians who comes along periodically. Terry Rice on trumpet was another of those virtuosos (who'd make us all jealous).

Looking down from the bleachers, I could actually see everyone in the band. At the high school auditorium, all you'd see is that first row of clarinet players. I have always felt the auditorium develops a stuffy atmosphere whenever a large audience is there.

It is hugely ironic that our public school has such a state of the art concert hall, when the University of Minnesota-Morris has nothing comparable! How much better it would be if the two institutions could have a fully shared concert hall or total humanities facility, rather than that stupid shared football field which sits empty and cold like a mausoleum all winter. Many of us are now shaking our head about football, a brutal sport, anyway.

The best thing to happen all year at Big Cat Stadium is when the Irondale marching band comes there to practice and perform in summer.
 
Sowing the seeds
The first business meeting of the First Lutheran congregation was on May 9, 1879, at which time the first trustees and deacons were elected. The Rev. Hans Johnson served the congregation from that time until 1884. He was succeeded by The Rev. A.J. Anderson who stayed on the scene until 1890. At that time the charge included not only Morris but Nora, Frog Lake, Scandia and Hancock. Services in Morris were held in the old East Side school building.

The exciting building project was under Pastor Dietrickson. Then we welcomed Pastor O.A. Dolven as pastor, and his tenure was from 1896 to 1898. Next was The Rev. Engel Olsen who served until 1915. During this period the parish was revised to include Morris, Reque, Wheaton, Hancock and Donnelly. In 1915 it was again revised to include Morris, Hancock, Alberta and Chokio, and The Rev. J. Thornell served as pastor from 1915 to 1918.

Next in the role was The Rev. Alfred Bredeson. In 1922 we welcomed The Rev. B.H.J. Habel. The parish at this time included only Morris and Hancock. It was in the early '20s that the congregation took steps toward a new brick church structure. There must have been growing pains.

The previous structure, charming and inviting as it was, was going to be insufficient. The new brick structure, which today remains the anchor, was built for a cost of $20,000. The formal dedication was held in October of 1926. The Rev. N.O. Peterson took the reins in 1928.

Trinity Lutheran Church of Alberta was added to the parish. The Rev. Peterson served until 1935, into the Great Depression. During this period, First Lutheran became a parish by itself. The Rev. Peterson guided parishioners through the very arduous challenges of the Depression and "dust bowl." It was quite a time. People learned resilience and to be content with just the necessities - not a bad mindset when you get down to it.

The Rev. H.M. Allison succeeded The Rev. Peterson and served until 1941. In December of that year more adversity would befall America, as we were pulled into World War II by the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Rev. Peterson resigned to become a chaplain in the U.S. military forces.

First Lutheran's pastor through the WWII years was The Rev. E.S. Ede. He arrived here in the summer of 1941 and continued through 1947 when he accepted a call to Fort Dodge IA.

At the time of the church's 65th anniversary in 1944, the financial indebtedness of the congregation was wiped out. The mid-1940s saw notable improvements to church property. Actually that's good and bad. Today the church has the image of a series of "add-ons," not the best thing.

The installation of a new oil-burning furnace was a big deal!

The 1950s were a time when The Rev. Lowell Larson presided. His fine reputation was such, he was invited to be preacher for the Morris Centennial in 1971. He spoke at the county fair grandstand. I was a band musician.

Pastor Grindland was the only pastor I knew through my childhood and young adult years. He was synonymous with First Lutheran.

I was confirmed in 1970 at a time when the boomer population was huge, and we assembled in several rows for the official confirmation picture. Years later the group of confirmation honorees had dwindled to a single row, or hardly even a "row." You can see this evaporation of numbers in the group photos in the First Lutheran upstairs hallway. You'll note I didn't have my hair combed straight back, back then!

I sort of broke away from churchgoing in my early 20s, reflecting the rather skeptical attitudes of my generation. Many of us saw church as irrelevant. We observed all the "hypocrites" (as we called them) who attended. Of course, we're all supposed to understand that we're sinful. But we were so idealistic. We saw lots of traditional church values as somewhat anachronistic. We felt the church was too detached from relevant social issues - civil rights, peace etc. Were we wayward? Perhaps we were.

I began attending church again when my parents, because of age needed me. I'm quite happy to be in the habit. It's nice going through the serving line at the traditional basement "pot luck!" Choose your favorite color of Jello.

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

Fergus Falls has quite the story w/ "Kirkbride"

The grand Kirkbride complex of Fergus Falls

The historical annals of Morris should report a standard teasing line of the mid-20th Century.

Part of the purpose of my online writing is to preserve such stuff. A historical organization would consider it too trivial. Not only that, it's shameful for our society.

Today we manage kids like there's no margin for misbehavior. It started years ago with such buzzwords as "conflict resolution." Today we have all the anti-bullying efforts.

My generation, the boomers, was quite on our own. We'd swarm around the East Elementary playground. If you wished to denigrate a peer, here was the standard teasing line (drum roll please): "They're gonna send you to Fergus." I repeat: "They're gonna send you to Fergus."

Today we all know Fergus Falls as a wonderful community of about 14,000 to the north of here. It has always been a wonderful community. It should never have been stigmatized. However, the fact it was the site for a massive mental health treatment facility was seized upon by kids out in this part of the state, as a vehicle for teasing: "They're gonna send you to Fergus."

I doubt this line is going to be preserved through any formal historical preservation mechanism. So, I'll do it here. It's not something we're proud of. But it was reality.

Boomers were largely left alone to be who we were. Teachers did try to discipline us. They intervened when we were being obvious idiots. It was a yeoman's effort. But the kids always felt they had latitude to screw up. You could have a jackknife in your back pocket. Boys in those days played with toys inspired by World War II. Our fathers were strangely indifferent about that. Today I'm sure war facsimile toys would get kids in trouble. You'd better not draw a picture of a weapon in art class. I'm sure I drew stuff in art that would get me in trouble.

I was highly influenced by the comic books of the time. To me it was all fantasy. I wrote a fiction piece in about the fifth grade that had boys defending themselves with giant slingshots. They had run away from home. Hey, it's fantasy!

In the fall in 1964 we saw faux "gang" warfare on the East Elementary playground. The boys divided up into "Johnsons" and "Goldwaters" with the Johnsons having a substantial numerical advantage.

Another focus for conflict among us charming kids was the NFO (National Farmers Organization). You'd better be prepared to give the "right" answer if someone approached you and asked about NFO. The NFO was an attempt to unionize farmers, which always was a futile effort. Society as a whole was much more generous and accommodating about unionization. Union proponents are being highly marginalized today. This coincides, not coincidentally, with the evaporation of the middle class.

The middle class in America was probably at its height when the boomer generation was young. We were much more likely to be in a home with a stay-at-home mother. Did daycares even exist then? Today both parents work and the standard of living isn't any higher. I see these little clusters of daycare kids around town and I can't help but think they'd be better off at home with mom. Women have been "liberated." They have both feet in the workplace. Are they finding any real joy as a result of this?

Men could stay home and take care of the kids too. But someone should.

  

Home of the Otters

Fergus Falls MN is the county seat of Otter Tail County. The "falls" inspiring its name were discovered by an intrepid soul named Joe Whitford, a Scottish trapper, in 1856. The town got named for his employer, James Fergus. Alas, frontier times could be brutal: Whitford was a victim of the 1862 Sioux uprising.

Fergus Falls is a straight shot north of Morris on Highway 59. You pass by a wind farm. The Pomme de Terre River is always close by. The river issues out of Stalker Lake near Fergus Falls. Stalker is known as a deep lake with walleyes.

To look at a map, you'd think a short jog on the Interstate is necessary to get to Fergus Falls. I have been corrected on this. You can stay on Highway 59 the whole way, but I'll warn you: the segment closest to Fergus Falls is in rough shape. Word is, lots of highways around Minnesota are in rough shape. This past winter and spring were hard on our roads. I'm sure glad I don't need to commute.

Fergus Falls High School has the nickname "Otters."

The mental health treatment mission associated with Fergus Falls, goes back to the "Kirkbride" building. The last patients were dismissed in 2006. What's left is a sprawling, breathtaking really, relic of a building/complex. It's massive. It also presents a problem just like what we had in Morris with our old school. What to do with it? Tear it down? Let a developer try his hand?

"From the air it looks like a castle," Boyd Huppert of KARE TV reported.

The grand Kirkbride was built in the late 1800s atop a hill. It's a third of a mile long and 500 square feet in size. Wow! The state turned it over to the City of Fergus Falls. Demolition seemed likely. I'll offer the opinion here that it's still coming. I have grown cynical after seeing what happened to our old school complex. I was probably cynical already. But who knows?

City Administrator Mark Sievert was besieged with questions re. "When are you going to tear it down?"

Grand as the Kirkbride seemed, it seemed too old and too large to be of use in Fergus Falls. An organization called "Friends of the Kirkbride" was born. It opposed demolition. In Morris we had the "re-use committee" which seemed about as useful as a potted plant. In Fergus Falls the realists ran into the dreamers. Do you want to wager on which side tends to prevail in this stuff?

I do admire the spirit of the dreamers. The Kirkbride is a breathtaking architectural relic. But it's truly a relic, dating back to a time when society tried "moral treatment" as an approach with mentally challenged people. In the latter half of the 19th Century, massive structures like the Kirkbride were conceived as ideal sanctuaries. They had trouble maintaining the kind of resources necessary. Patient populations grew. Funding was a struggle.

Within decades of their conception, new treatment methods and hospital design concepts emerged. By the end of the 20th Century, the grand old buildings had been mostly abandoned or demolished. Many are decaying, "their mysterious grandeur intensified by their derelict conditions," it has been written.

  

The man who started it all

Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride was a founding member of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane. The Association was a forerunner of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Kirkbride was a 19th Century physician and asylum superintendent who authored a treatise on hospital design. This treatise and other work had influence on construction of American insane asylums.

"Kirkbride" buildings are characterized by a "bat wing" floor plan and lavish Victorian-era architecture. Here in Morris, the art deco auditorium had that lavish quality that makes it a little heartbreaking to apply the wrecking ball. But that time comes.

The 19th Century was a time of growth in state-sponsored treatment of the mentally ill in the U.S. A greater need was seen, and why was that? It appears urbanization was a factor. Gee, does living in a big city really drive you nuts? We read about "growing populations and stress levels of U.S. society." Thus there was "an intensifying frequency of mental illness."

Maybe we were all better off living in Mayberry. Maybe those TV shows of the 1960s, including also "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres," reflected a pining for the simple life. Eventually those shows faded like the westerns. "Seinfeld" was the triumph of the urban-based lifestyle. Let's bring back Barney Fife!

The Kirkbride model represented the finest of ideals. What preceded it? Oh my, we're talking prisons and poorhouses! Voices rose from activists for humane treatment. This is the ideal represented by the grand Fergus Falls Kirkbride. The heart was most certainly in the right place.

Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride advocated an asylum system based on the tenets of moral treatment. He presented the "Kirkbride Plan" where the asylum was a place of structured activity, seclusion from causes of illness - the big city? - and some medical therapy. Males were in one wing, females in the other. The more "excited" patients were on the lower floors.

The well-meaning advocates sought to get patients away from pollutants and the hectic energy of urban centers. Fresh air and natural light were accented. Self-sufficiency was promoted by farmland on the grounds. Alas, all these good intentions didn't lead to a permanent model. Evidence simply did not emerge that the model was helping cure patients. Society saw no reduction in the incidence of mental illness.

A new direction had to be taken and we saw the rise of psychoanalysis and drug therapy. The asylum became obsolete. Many of the grand buildings continued as part of state hospital systems. The state hospital model then went into decline due to new forms of treatment. Many of the buildings have been torn down.

What is the fate in Fergus Falls? Indeed we see that tug-o-war with realists and dreamers. City Administrator Sievert in Fergus Falls had a vision of just saving the central portion of the building. The City turned to an outside broker. Last June, a Georgia-based developer signed a letter of intent. The goal is renovation, a hotel, a spa, restaurants and 60 apartments. Well, "good luck" is all I can say.

The amount of business needed to sustain that place might challenge (i.e. detract from) the rest of the Fergus Falls business community. Might it be more trouble than it's worth? Time will tell.

The Kirkbride stands as a tribute to the humanitarian aims of its founder.

Us kids were awfully unfeeling in the 1960s as we teased with lines relating to "Fergus" and its asylum. Let the historical record show, though, that the putdown of "They're gonna send you to Fergus" had great currency. I'm not sure we had ever heard of "sensitivity training" then. Teachers tried valiantly to straighten us out. Subconsciously we probably heard their message. Today we consider ourselves pretty well adjusted.

Our children and grandchildren deal with "zero tolerance" policies forcing adherence to the proper attitudes (e.g. no large slingshots). Will they be better off? We'll see.

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

MACA girls score runs in bunches

The weather may not have been beautiful but MACA softball showed resilience and won on Thursday and Friday. Is it too much to ask for some summer-like conditions? We'll see this coming week.

 

Tigers 13, Melrose 3

The homer bats were alive for the Friday (5/2) success. Fans at the home diamond enjoyed seeing the orange and black soar into double digits with runs. Coach Mary Holmberg's squad achieved win No. 9.

I recall Friday as an especially windy day. Wind or no wind, Lauren Reimers and Kayla Pring homered. Reimers was in the zone with her hitting, going four-for-five. Pring's homer was in her only official at-bat.

Coach Holmberg who recently got to the 500-win career plateau, can smile about the 5-0 record her team owns in conference. The overall numbers are 9-2 in this most upbeat spring. Now we'd like to describe the weather as "upbeat." UMM graduation is this Saturday.

Today (Monday) will have the Tigers going south to play Marshall.

MACA came out of the starting gate to score six first inning runs, clearly setting the tone for the game. Melrose managed two runs in the first. MACA added to its run total steadily after that, with two runs in the second, two in the fourth and three in the sixth.

The MACA line score was 13 runs, eight hits and two errors. Melrose put up 3-8-5 numbers.

Two Melrose batters had two hits each: Nikki Zierden and Kayla Austing.

Reimers had her memorable boxscore line for the victor: four-for-five including that round-tripper, and an RBI. Becca Holland socked a triple. Pring had that home run and drove in two runs. Lacee Maanum and Nicole Strobel each had a hit.

On to pitching: Here we have Brooke Gillespie going the whole way and scattering eight hits. She fanned a batter and walked one.

Melrose had three players trying their pitching arm: Emily Revermann (the loser), Sandra Sprenger and Maddie Rausch.
MACA's 13-3 win was similar to the previous day's win. Read on:

 

Tigers 15, Minnewaska 5

Indeed, runs have been scored with great regularity for Morris Area Chokio Alberta. The Thursday story had 15 coming in. This onslaught was versus Minnewaska Area.

The Tigers erupted for ten runs in the fourth. They finished with 15 runs on a whopping 17 hits and four errors. Those four errors were pretty easily overcome by 17 hits. Meanwhile the overwhelmed Lakers scored five runs on seven hits and committed four errors.

Brooke Gillespie only had to pitch five innings due to the ten-run rule being implemented. Gillespie fanned one batter, walked two and gave up seven hits. The losing pitcher was Mady Phillips.

Let's roll up our sleeves for the ample offensive highlights for the MACA Tigers. Becca Holland was a perfect three-for-three and scored three runs. Chelsey Ehleringer went two-for-four with two runs scored. Lauren Reimers had a home run, an RBI harvest of four, two runs scored and a two-for-four line.

Abbie Olson had a hit in her only at-bat. Bobbi Jo Kurtz, Brooke Johnson, Gillespie and Lindsey Dierks each went one-for-three. Kayla Pring had two hits in three at-bats.

Nicole Strobel was a force with her three-for-four numbers, three RBIs and two runs scored.

Indeed the Tigers played in crowd-pleasing fashion here in Morris, winning 15-5.

Rachel Bakko had two hits in three at-bats for 'Waska. Phillips had a triple.
The Reimers home run for MACA was done inside-the-park style in the first inning.

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

Coach Holmberg enters exclusive circle w/ wins

(KMRS-KKOK image)

I was a student at Morris High School when softball wasn't even offered in spring. What a different world we have today! Mary Holmberg was a pioneer establishing softball as a sport on completely even terms with baseball.

Softball is so well-established now, we might well forget the early days of girls sports as it climbed the ladder to full legitimacy. We take it for granted today? It should not be taken for granted.

I look back to my high school class (1973) and wonder which girls might have been the softball stars. They had no such opportunity. Girls basketball was underway but not softball.
Girls basketball was on wobbly legs in those early days. It had to be. Our whole sports culture was gradually changing to where girls would have total acceptance, graduating from "novelty" or "neophyte" status. Girls had to discipline themselves to advance the basketball without traveling. The time and patience were rewarded.

I was naive enough once to think that girls might have trouble making three-point shots. Sheesh!

Well, the full establishment of girls sports was impressed on us on Friday, April 25, when coach Mary Holmberg got her 500th softball win. It's a super milestone. I worked with Mary for many years when I was with the Morris newspaper. I made trips to St. Cloud when the Tigers vied in the state tournament in the mid-1980s. St. Cloud was a nice place for that tournament (Whitney Field).

I remember the McRoberts girls playing. I remember when we all piled into the Ground Round Restaurant in St. Cloud, and I believe Willie Martin picked up the tab! The Martin sisters supplied talent and enthusiasm for the program. I remember making trips with the Rick Lucken gang and facing the challenge of figuring out if games were in Brooten or Belgrade! Rick left us too soon.

The Tigers handed coach Holmberg her 500th career win with a 12-9 victory. It was a conference game vs. Yellow Medicine East, in Chokio - yes Chokio. I remember back when sometimes the team would play at Wells Park if wet grounds were a problem at Eagles. You had to scout around. The current spring has been a nightmare from a weather standpoint.

I'm writing this on Thursday morning, May 1. The weather outside is ungodly. It's good for nothing. In the fall it might be good for duck hunting. I walked to McDonald's this morning and felt like cussing. Then, I felt like cussing again when I went to the counter and found that my usual breakfast had gone from $3.78 to $3.90.

Coach Holmberg is in her 34th season. I first covered her program in the spring of 1979. I think they played all their games at Wells then.

Holmberg is only the sixth Minnesota coach to reach 500 wins.

The Tigers assumed a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Each team plated a run in the third. The Tigers punched through three more runs in the fourth while YME scored one. The game turned wild in the fifth when MACA scored four runs and YME five. The Tigers scored two runs in the sixth, and YME answered with three in the seventh, but YME needed a little more.

Morris Area Chokio Alberta had a line score of 12 runs, 16 hits and two errors. The Yellow Medicine East line score was 9-15-2.

Nicole Strobel went three-for-four and drove in three runs. Becca Holland also went three-for-four and she had a triple. Lauren Reimers was a perfect two-for-two. Brianna Abril had a double as part of going two-for-four. It was ditto for Abbie Olson: a double and two-for-four numbers. Brooke Johnson socked a double and went two-for-three. Abby Daly went one-for-one and Kayla Pring one-for-two.

Three of the YME Sting batters had three hits: Marissa Sneller, Megan Odegard and Allie Zieske. Halley Enstad had two hits for the Sting.

Brianna Abril was the winning pitcher and fanned three batters. She pitched nearly the entire game, getting relieved at the end by Lacee Maanum. Mariah Norell was the losing pitcher. She shared YME's pitching with Jordan Glad.

I assume that the game postponements have been piling up. I really think the state High School League needs to consider gymnasium sports in the spring months. The weather is too much of a distraction now. And yet we have climate change deniers out there. They are nearly all Republicans. Republicans refuse to accept climate change theory because they don't like government, and climate change is the kind of problem that requires big government to solve.

A Republican officeholder recently said "God controls the weather." We need to stop blaming these Republicans. We need to blame ourselves, the voters, for electing them. It's the Republicans who preach about how we need the death penalty, even though the Bible tells us we should be kind to prisoners. How ironic if "Christian conservatives" end up being denied the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today is May 1 which means it's May Day. I remember greeting the St. Mary's kids (with Barb Spaulding) as they went around town, including to the Sun Tribune office, to share their May baskets. You had to brush your teeth after consuming that stuff! I mentioned one year after they left that May Day is a Communist holiday. I was swiftly informed that this was not the context in which the St. Mary's kids were celebrating!

Congratulations to coach Mary Holmberg.

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

UMM has an interest in reining in "Northstar"

April Fool's Day obscured the shock value of the new "Northstar."

The University Register put out its absurd issue in connection with April 1. Meanwhile the alternative "Northstar" presented itself as a mock Register. It called itself the "RegiSTAR." Any casual consumer of UMM media might be confused by all this. For me, the usual unacceptable offensiveness of "Northstar" got diluted. There was so much silliness on printed pages out there, one just wanted to dismiss it.

I have never liked all-out efforts in print to mark April Fool's Day. The best April Fool's Day humor, in my view, is subtle, tucked in with the serious stuff. A friend and I orchestrated one of these many years ago for the Morris community newspaper. All but one item on page 1 were the usual. But tucked in there was a story about a new Runestone having been found.

There was enough humor in the article to make people suspicious early-on. It ended with initials carved on the stone, which, arranged in order, spelled out "April Fool." The article quoted the wayfaring Vikings as saying they had encountered many dangers such as "Lions, Bengals, Bears and Rams." They also noted "There isn't much to do in Kensington."

The April 1 "Northstar" even used the logo of the University Register at top-left. Underneath they put "University RegiSTAR." In theory there's an intellectual property issue there. The University Register would not like to be confused with the Northstar. It took more than a glance for me to get all this figured out.

Should the Register assert its intellectual property interests? It probably won't. The Register has a mild disposition. It's the typical campus newspaper put out by students. I would rank it above average.

I think the Register has learned to quit reacting to the Northstar. Is that good? It's a mixed bag. The mental health of the Register writers is probably best served by not feeling the impulse to rant about Northstar. Northstar has all the refinement of someone farting in church. It's extreme conservatism.

A well-placed source tells me we can look for Northstar continuing into the next academic year. It's a little disturbing that the Register and other campus voices calm down or go silent vs. the Northstar, because this would indicate that the over-the-edge publication is quietly being accepted into the campus media ecosystem.

I am aware of only two student papers on campus, supported by student fees. It is a great privilege to have the opportunity to put out a printed media publication on a college campus. A campus is a marketplace of ideas, constantly alive with intellectual curiosity. It is a shame that privilege is being abused by Northstar. It communicates on a level that might be equated to a junior high cafeteria food fight.

It's dangerous too. It's fine to argue in a reasoned way that white students - we're not really "white" - have been getting the dirty end of the stick, as it were. No one goes out of their way to advocate for white students, one could argue. I wouldn't mind reading a reasoned piece about this.

Is it time to end all affirmative action? It's an interesting question. Has feminism gone over the line to where it grates on people? Good causes can have their excesses. All very reasonable matters to consider. Abortion always hangs around as an issue.

 

Crudeness

How does the Northstar address all this? Page 1 of the April Northstar gives us this huge photo of Andrea Dworkin, the feminist. This might be a tease for an inside essay critiquing feminism. Maybe that would take too much discipline.

How does Northstar present the photo of Dworkin? It's with the caption "Andrea Dworkin, your average looking feminist." OK, so this individual is "ugly" in the view of Northstar journalists, and can be considered a template for feminists.

Do I need to point out this isn't a respectable way to make a point? That it's not consistent with what I assume UMM to stand for? Would a high school newspaper advisor allow something like this to get by? Haven't we as a society gone beyond the criteria for judging women's looks as presented by the "rat pack" of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.?

I heard someone ask if Northstar as a student organization has a faculty advisor. Hell, I don't know, but there's no evidence of such a thing.

UMM students should be encouraged to respect all the adults who lead them and set an example for them in their campus experience.

I hesitate making points like this, because I learned when very young that I was destined to never be able to understand what makes UMM tick. To never understand why the liberal arts weren't just desirable, they were like a fortress to be defended with boiling oil.

I'm concerned that with this new passive stance toward Northstar on campus, having been mollified, the outrageous publication will slide into being part of the expected "scenery."

 

Getting racial

The inside back page is headlined "white student union." An article on page 10 refers to "the newly formed white student union." The article announces that a meeting is upcoming to remember Thomas Edison "as part of White History Month." Is there really such a thing is White History Month? The Northstar constantly tells us to look for satire on its pages, so it's hard to know what to believe. Would Thomas Edison want to be associated with a publication like this?
The article ends as follows: "Edison is only one of many other white figures to be remembered by the (white student union). Other key figures are George Washington, David Duke, John F. Kennedy, Jim Crow, Joseph Stalin, Jesus and Gandhi."

Why would a UMM campus publication wish to cite David Duke as emblematic of anything good? He's the KKK man. "Satire" is not a sufficient cover for this. Jim Crow? Was Jim Crow an actual person? I know the name is anathema to anything considered credible in academic circles.

What's the point? If you have a valid point to make - and you probably do - why not do so on the kind of level commensurate with UMM's intellectual standing? Why bring in hateful names, terms or symbols?

I really hate to even bother making the following observation, but the inside back page has the Confederate flag. Real classy, Northstar. The Confederate flag is not a legitimate symbol for anything good. It really died as a meaningful symbol in the 19th Century. The Confederacy lost. Since then it gets propped up by causes wanting to extinguish centralized authority, the kind of authority that isn't friendly to bigots.

The flag stood for the right to legally subjugate non-white people. Today it's an actual threat when presented - not innocuous or funny. What will visitors to the UMM campus think when they see the Confederate flag symbol, under a headline announcing the "white student union," in a student publication? 

It's absolutely not called for. It's irresponsible.

Abortion is an issue that should be approached delicately. The Northstar is predictably like a bear with boxing gloves, asking "Who needs a baby when WE have a coathanger?" It asks: "Don't wanna wait 'til marriage? Or wear a condom? Come HANG out with us!"

What does the Northstar feel it is accomplishing with its outrageously crude journalism? Why is the door staying open for it to publish next year? Might a new editor come along to "tone it down?" Apparently no one can give responsible guidance. What happened?

I have a theory that maybe the UMM administration got caught off guard. UMM perhaps had some innocent and common sense policies for student publications, which weren't sufficient to prevent the aggressive conservative regime taking hold and abusing their position.

Apparently the Northstar has its own lawyers. What about the University of Minnesota lawyers? On the cover we read that the first copy of Northstar is free and all subsequent copies are $5. At first I thought this was meant to be funny. I am informed that this conclusion is wrong.

If I wanted to pay for extra copies, who would I pay? The worker at the coffee kiosk on the main floor of the Student Center? Where would the money go then? Does UMM have an interest in knowing where the money goes? Isn't it just assumed that a student publication supported by student fees is free-circulation?

UMM can no longer assume anything about the intentions of a faction of UMM student journalists. Maybe policies will have to be made more complicated. UMM has an interest in ensuring that publications on campus adhere to a certain level of civility. Right now, maybe, the U's own attorneys or administration have been cowed by the Northstar's attorneys.

Conservatives pursue their interests like an enraged wild badger. Extreme conservatism may be reaching the stage where it's "jumping the shark," as demonstrated by the Cliven Bundy thing in Nevada. The May issue of Northstar, if there is one, will probably try to make that whole Bundy thing seem cute. And it'll be labeled "satire."

I have never been on the same wavelength as the University of Minnesota-Morris. But if I'm off base with my assertions, I'll eat my hat.

John Geiger is publisher of the Northstar. I wonder if his parents know what all he has been up to here at our "jewel in the crown," the University of Minnesota-Morris.

The editor is Andrew Geiger. Are they brothers? I remember a major league baseball player in the 1960s named Gary Geiger. The managing editor is Rachel Wingenbach. I'm surprised that both a publisher and editor are needed. Usually with a campus paper, "editor" is the top of the totem pole.

Let's get past graduation. Let the flowers bloom on the U-Morris campus.

 

Time of the essence

It could be the UMM administration with University lawyers have a plan to ensure there is no Northstar next year. They wouldn't want to divulge details.

There is actually much at stake. No college wants as part of its environment the kind of language and symbols presented in Northstar.
If Northstar does return, UMM staff might start to accept it. Staff defers to administration. The staff are privileged to work at UMM. They could learn to accept the Northstar as in behavioral psychology's "learned behavior."

Too few people think for themselves today. They certainly did in the 1960s with the war protests. Now it's time to think clearly again. Can you believe that the Morris community newspaper accepted Northstar as part of its own product twice? What does this say about the Morris community paper and its Fargo owners?

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

For want of a "fob" at the old "Met"

They say that a decade begins with the year that ends in "one," and not "zero." Whoever insists on this is a wet blanket. I don't need to consult with "the professor" from "Gilligan's Island" to try to understand what a decade is. If it walks like a duck. . .

I mean, when I look at the year 1970 I think in terms of the '70s. I think in terms of "Happy Days" and not "Gilligan's Island." I also think of our Minnesota Vikings in their most definitive decade.

We have only been riding the coattails of those '70s teams, ever since, right? That was two stadiums ago. Fans could not have rejoiced in the Vikings more, from their seats at the old "Met," Metropolitan Stadium.

A vast parking lot surrounded the Met. You couldn't press a button on a "fob" in those days to locate your car. We lived according to "analog" systems. There were various signs around the lot to help you locate your car, you just had to remember the sign. We had to "think" more back then, rather than rely on tech shortcuts.

Manual typewriters were still standard. "Electric typewriters" weren't much better. We used "white out."

Today those signs around that sea of a parking lot would be sponsored - we'd see names of private entities. "The Met" would be named for a private entity.

To understand how quaint those times were, remember that when the Metrodome was planned, we decided to name it after a politician, Hubert H. Humphrey. It's even more quaint to realize we'd lionize a Democratic politician this way.

We may have a Democratic governor today, Mark Dayton, that toady for the new Vikings stadium, the empty shirt as it were, but remember how close Tom Emmer came to being elected. Emmer was a fire-breathing righty. Had he won, all the divisive stuff that has happened in Wisconsin would have happened here too.

Democrats have a hard time selling their ideas today. I do think that will change, but an economic erosion will probably have to happen first. We'll need a reminder that the private sector isn't interested in taking care of all of us.

 

Unmatched decade

Every Vikings team since the 1970s has played in the shadow of what we reveled in during that disco decade, that decade of "Smokey and the Bandit." We reveled in the "purple people" of Page, Marshall, Eller, Larsen and others.

The nation watched as our Arctic-like conditions became as much an opponent, seemingly, for visiting teams as those "purple people." We embraced the elements as a badge of our hardiness, but at the same time we were worried that we'd be marginalized by how we lived with such conditions, that much of the rest of the nation would think we were simply nuts.

The conflictedness is a big part of being Minnesotan. We escaped it by building the Metrodome, then we decided we needn't shy away from the elements so much. So, we got the "TCF" stadium for the Gophers. And then, Target Field for the Twins. The 1970s seem so very long ago.

It's important to preserve memories of Met Stadium, Bloomington. A nice little museum would be nice. In my mind, the Vikings' first Super Bowl in 1970 kicked off the 1970s, even if "the professor" (from "Gilligan") might say the decade didn't begin until 1971.

In 1970 I was 15 years old. It was a perfect age to be mesmerized by the Vikings. I had no clue about the very deleterious effects of football injuries. We knew about the basic bumps and bruises of the game, to be sure - the "knee injuries" - but we had no idea that Wally Hilgenberg was literally out there killing himself. It wasn't necessary for anyone to do that for our entertainment.

It wasn't necessary for Jim Marshall to be out there playing in the line past the age of 40. I hope Marshall had a skull of rock.

 

Vaulting to first "Super"

The temperature was eight degrees when the Vikings took the field to play Cleveland on Sunday, Jan. 4, 1970, in the NFL title game. The bone-chilling temperature might have been offset some by clear and sunny conditions. A northwest wind of 12 MPH created a windchill of 15 below, not that I totally put stock in "windchill."

"Windchill" is the sort of concept that might be cooked up by "the professor," played by the recently deceased Russell Johnson. Johnson left us in January. Rest in peace.

"Gilligan's Island" has long been considered the epitome of 1960s vacuous popular entertainment. Maybe it's time to re-think. That group of actors might be embraced now as a classic comedy team. They made it look easy like all fine actors do. I wouldn't mind embracing Tina Louise (LOL).

The 1970 Super Bowl stands out in part because it was the only non-Fran Tarkenton Super Bowl of the four. Tarkenton is ingrained in boomers' memories as the Vikings quarterback. But in 1970 we had a fascinating character name of Joe Kapp as the Vikings QB.

The Vikings were the overwhelming favorite. A simple examination of the Kansas City Chiefs' roster shows that K.C. was a team to reckon with.

On January 4 at the Met, the Vikings played one of their defining games of the era, beating the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in the NFL title game, amidst that intense cold.

Kapp scrambled and managed to knock out a Cleveland linebacker name of Jim Houston. You would think our "front four" would dish out such punishment. But it was Kapp, the "man of machismo" (the description of him on a Sports Illustrated cover) who, facing third and four from the Cleveland 47, took off for 13 yards and a first down, pummelling Jim Houston along the way.

The 27-7 win put Minnesota in its first Super Bowl, inaugurating the '70s (in my view) in a stunning way. The Super Bowl! Five years earlier the Twins were in the World Series. And to think that prior to 1961, all we had was the Gophers and a AAA baseball team called the Millers.

Jim Marshall performed long and meritorious service, but he seemed overshadowed by Alan Page and Carl Eller. Marshall was long of tooth, age 41, when he ended his playing career at the Met. Before the December 9 game in 1979, he rode around the perimeter of the field in a classic red convertible. The temperature was 42 degrees.

This would be the iron man's last game at the Met. The fan turnout was 42,239. The sun shone and there was no wind. Marshall played solidly in the Vikings' 10-7 win over Buffalo. Bud Grant said "the weather didn't cooperate. It was the nicest December 9th I can ever remember."

The Dome would make the weather irrelevant.

 
Tarkenton calls it quits

Fran Tarkenton's retirement was not as smooth or predictable. Maybe it's a trait of truly talented people that they don't script their retirement well. Tarkenton, the seemingly undersized QB, left fans guessing after the 1978 season. Finally we learned there would be no 1979 for him.

We were left to remember his last game at the Met, on December 3, 1978, against Philadelphia.

He seemed no different on that day than when he dazzled as a youngster 17 years earlier. The Vikings trailed the Philadelphia Eagles 27-14 at halftime. "Sir Francis" rallied the team to a 28-27 win, throwing a whopping 56 passes on the day, completing 30 for 289 yards. Tarkenton's final, winning drive moved the Vikings 90 yards in the fourth quarter and ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Rashad with 1:49 left.

The conditions? Not so pleasant as when Marshall would retire. Tarkenton's finale was amidst blustery conditions, 20 degrees and snowy, a day that furthered talk of how a covered stadium would be preferable.

Tarkenton went on to be a right-hand man for Tony Robbins, the self-made motivational guy who showed up for insomniacs on TV. Tarkenton was sort of like Ed McMahon to Robbins. 

Fran's reputation was not sterling. Businessman Irwin Jacobs would toss the dart "loser" at the famed signal-caller, after a turbulent period of partnership. It seems that Stu Voight was similarly ill-suited for business ventures. Joe Senser couldn't ride his name through his family's misfortunes.

We can forget that all these guys are human beings. Like O.J. Simpson. All those years of pugilistic football play can leave them literally handicapped. We learn more about that every day. We defer to experts with credentials like "the professor."

"Gilligan's Island" can be placed beside Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges in the annals of classic comedy, far better crafted than we realized at the time. Memories get richer like fine wine.

Let's toast the memories of the 1970s Vikings, whether the decade began in 1970 or not. Let's hope the former players can stay stable with their health. And let's have our sons of today play soccer instead.

The Vikings of the 1970s were "doomed" to lose four Super Bowls, just like the gang on "Gilligan's Island" was doomed never to be rescued. (Calvin Griffith once said Jim Eisenreich was "doomed" to be an all-star.)

And yet those characters on the island seemed fundamentally happy, just as the Vikes fans toasted our "purple people" in the disco '70s. Too bad the U.S. wasn't completely out of Viet Nam before the decade started. And I mean by 1970, not 1971. Hardly "Happy Days." The fighting in "Kung Fu" was better than the fighting in the ungodly jungles of Viet Nam. God seems to have ingrained fighting in our being. No wonder we get visits from the likes of "Klaatu."

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