Matthew Gruber stymies Tigers from hill

'Waska 4, Tigers 0
MACA diamond play has ended for the 2018 spring. First the curtain came down for MACA softball, now it's over for the boys of baseball too. MACA bats went quiet in the Tuesday Section 3AA game that had Minnewaska Area as the foe. Matthew Gruber was in top form pitching for the Lakers. Indeed he kept the MACA bats quiet.
Gruber struck out four batters and walked none in his full seven-inning performance. He gave up five hits in this 4-0 Laker victory over the Tigers. The site was Montevideo. Brock Anderson was the pitcher for Motown and he fanned seven batters but had control difficulties, reflected in six walks. He allowed just three hits. The four runs he allowed were earned. Neither team committed an error.
Parker Dierks had two hits in three at-bats for the Tigers. These three Tigers each went one-for-three: Kevin Asfeld, Alex Daugherty and Anderson.
For the Lakers, Ryan Christenson had a double and a run scored. Gruber didn't have a hit but he scored a run. Colin Weidauer crossed home plate once for the Lakers. Sean Kelling added to the winning effort with a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Ryan Amundson was hitless but drove in a run. And Jake Hoffman doubled and drove in two runs.
This game was scoreless through five innings. Anderson was certainly hanging in there against Gruber. But in the sixth, the Lakers broke through to score all four of their runs. Gruber handled the Tigers in the top of the seventh. Anderson was reminded of the old saying "walks will haunt." Now let's turn our attention to Legion, VFW and Babe Ruth ball. Bring on summer!
 
The majors in early summer
MLB teams are still establishing their personalities at this early stage of the summer. It's a time when kids have greater opportunity to get down to the big city and see a Twins game or two. School is out. The high school sports teams are winding down. My today's post marks the end of my Tiger baseball/softball posting for 2018.
I might have expected softball to get a little further. Baseball would have surprised me to get further. So the end is reached. Kids can now do what they're entitled to do in summer: have a lot of fun with not a lot of boundaries.
High school marching band was a big deal in Morris when I was a kid. It definitely imposed boundaries. I once told director John Woell I wasn't going to make a particular evening practice because my family was going to visit my uncle and his wife in Glenwood. That date was not arbitrarily set by us. I wanted badly to watch the MLB All-Star Game on TV! So I got my wish, dodged the practice and watched the All-Star Game in which Reggie Jackson launched that very long home run. Harmon Killebrew homered too as did Frank Robinson. I'm not going to look it up but I think it was 1971.
Us kids took marching band so seriously, we could be disciplined, even harshly, and we'd want to continue participating. I never thought about dropping out. I remember once when our drum major Scott Groth, a bravura sort of guy, heard some chatting in the ranks and wanted to cut it out. "Timmons!" he hollered at the top of his voice. After a moment of silence, Peter Timmons muttered "what." Groth answered at full volume: "Shut up!"
I remember Woell kicking out of practice a young lady from a prominent family, I think because she gave him a little "lip." You didn't want to do that in those days. I think it's different today where I'm told "the kids walk all over the teachers." Anyway, that young lady came back for the next practice and life went on.
Looking back, I wish I had sung in choir over band. I'd just go and tell Ms. Hjembo "hey, I want to get a few credits for singing in choir - please, please don't treat me special because of my dad, and do me a favor and don't assign me any solos." I'd just go for a 'C' grade. George W. Bush is perhaps the most famous 'C' student of all time. I'd be happy to be in his company. It takes talent riding a 'C' grade. You have to be just good enough to keep from falling into the D-F disaster area. To be frank, I'd like to see the A-F grading system just be jettisoned. I'm still haunted by that.
Is the Irondale marching band coming back to Motown this summer to practice? That's the highlight of the whole year for Big Cat Stadium - to heck with football.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Graduations, receptions and Memorial Day

A unique serenity surrounds us on Memorial Day weekend. Maybe I feel it more than most. In the "old days" when I was active with the Morris newspaper, in its heyday you might say, we put out a "bulldog" edition going into Memorial Day weekend. It was the Tuesday issue that we put out on Friday, so in theory to get some time off for newspaper staff.
The bulldog issue was our third to produce for the week. You might say it all had a "bat out of hell" feeling for us by the time we were done. There is a former Morris dentist who would object vigorously to the "bat out of hell" expression. Wasn't that a Meat Loaf song?
The weekend had its share of rest for me, compared to what led up to it, but I certainly kept my journalistic engines humming. The Morris graduation on Friday night was a big deal. I only covered one graduation at its present location. I was struck by how much easier it was to hear the class speakers at the new place. It was always a struggle at the "old" 1968 gym. I put "old" in quotes: the '68 gym seemed nothing short of a miracle for the community when it opened in, well, 1968. Today it is an obscure and largely forgotten place.
The 1991 gym seems never to have made much of a splash either. We build these additions and then the school advocates just talk about how we need more. Here's a truism: the reason government is inefficient is that it has no incentive to be efficient. Jim Morrison once wrote one of his sage editorials, wondering if Morris was trying to become "the gymnasium capital of western Minnesota." Silly rabbit, all school-based referendums in Morris pass these days. They should keep striking while the iron is hot, I guess. What a contrast to the 1960s! It was like pulling teeth to get a school referendum passed then. The school got desperate and set up "split shifts" for a time, due to the burgeoning numbers caused by the cotton pickin' "baby boom" (me included).
Oscar Miller was our superintendent. He was a real PR type of superintendent. But I think eventually the board, according to what I've been able to ascertain, felt he wasn't maximizing school resources enough. In other words it came down to money. So exit good ol' Oscar (our neighbor) and bring on Fred Switzer, not a PR man but assuredly an expert with money, so much so, it seemed the teachers never trusted him.
Fred was close personally with board member (and chair) Les Lindor, our neighbor on the other side, who was a salt of the earth person but he carried traits often associated with those alive in the Great Depression, IMHO. My dad was just like that too. Dave Nelson was amazed at how my dad memorized prices at the grocery stores all the time. Bless that generation which has been heading for the exits for some time now.
High school softball has had an odd trait of having major post-season games played right on Memorial Day weekend. It was hit-and-miss for me to try to reach coaches after the end of the school year.
Toward the end of my tenure with the paper, a tenure in which the breadth of my coverage of activities was wider than that for any other media person in the history of Stevens County, I got the heads-up for kindergarten and sixth grade graduations. No one would have suggested this when I was that age. But then, I guess, we entered the age of "everybody gets a trophy." It seems innocuous but superfluous.
Parents really treasure their kids. Just think back to the time when parents had to risk having their sons drafted and sent into the Vietnam war. Parents today really want their kids to have pleasant experiences in school and not to be "pushed" by teachers unduly. The honor rolls have expanded. Oh, I think that's a good thing.
 
Fine time at a reception
I am heartened these days, during the "winding down" part of my life, to get invited to an occasional high school graduation reception. This year I had the honor of being invited to Taylor Clemensen's. So I made the jaunt to Cyrus on a sunny Saturday and had a great time with the likes of Brent Waddell and Keith Davison. Fancy potatoes were the featured fare. I wish the late Glen Helberg could have joined us. Maybe someday we can make a hologram of Glen.
Congrats Taylor!
You might think that I at least got Sunday off during Memorial Day weekend in those bygone times. Oh no, because like clockwork, Chokio-Alberta had its graduation at 2 p.m. on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I'd go over to Alberta and grab a folding chair in the front row so I could hear the speeches well. Lyle Hettver would proclaim "thank God for small schools." It's hard for me to imagine a world without C-A sports teams. I made trips to the Metrodome for the Spartan football team. It's all gone with the wind now.
Blake Knudson grabbed a seat next to me for the C-A graduation one year. Nice to see him so friendly in light of how he'd call me sometimes and practically scream at me about my alleged shortcomings as a journalist. Knudson was softball coach. Maybe he had been drinking too much cranberry juice or something. CAHN softball is gone with the wind.
The retrenchment of rural schools just doesn't seem right.
Let's move on to the Monday of Memorial Day weekend: the services honoring our fallen soldiers. I'm old enough to remember Willie Martin saying "there the ground is hallowed" but he'd always pronounce it "hollowed." Joe Tetrault told me that good ol' Willie was corrected on that but he'd revert to the habit anyway. Maybe too much cranberry juice.
Willie was the epitome of his generation and he practically defined Morris. His funeral was held at the National Guard Armory. That was a "prime time" eulogy for the St. Paul's Lutheran minister to give, to be sure.
The first year I covered Memorial Day, Glendon Rose walked up to me at the cemetery and said "there's beer at the Legion." Glendon too was the epitome of his generation.
I worked at the paper when photography was a very exclusive skill. Not just anyone could take photos on a whim (like these days), unless you wanted to spend tons of money doing so. Even writing was considered specialized in those pre-digital times. I had a degree in mass communications. People respected me. So much of that is now gone with the wind as we see the Morris newspaper having cut back so incredibly far.
I remember walking back to the shop from the cemetery at the conclusion of the Memorial Day doings, feeling such a sense of peace and calm. That's the way it should be on Memorial Day.
Both my parents are interred there now. If you notice that Mom's date of death isn't engraved yet, I'll inform you that this has been arranged and paid for, and will get done presumably soon.
Now let's all slow down a little for summer!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Just four hits but it's enough for softball win

Tigers 7, Benson 2
The excitement of the post-season is on for MACA softball. Tuesday (5/22) saw the winning Tigers square off against Benson. Win is what the Tigers did yet again. They assumed a 3-0 lead in the third inning and went on to prevail 7-2.
Hits were infrequent in this game. Our seven runs came on just four hits and we committed one error. Benson meanwhile was throttled by the pitching of Liz Dietz along with the whole MACA defense. Dietz worked the whole way and allowed just two hits. The two Benson runs were unearned. She set down seven Brave batters on strikes and walked four.
The Benson pitching was divided among three with Emily Miller taking the loss. Miller pitched 4 1/3 innings and fanned three batters. Two of the four runs she allowed were unearned. Zoe Doscher and MacKenzie Kurkosky also pitched for Benson. Benson's line score was two runs, two hits and a costly four errors.
Dietz had a shutout going until the sixth when Benson pushed two runs home. The Tigers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame. The two Benson hits were by Liz Staton (also with a run scored) and Abby Lundebrek (a run scored as well).
All right, on to the MACA offensive story: Jenna Howden doubled in her only at-bat and drove in two runs. MacKenzie Hockel doubled, drove in two runs and scored three. Bailey Marty had a one-for-four line. Abby McNally added a hit to the mix. Dietz and Jen Solvie each crossed home plate twice.
Fans at the home diamond enjoyed this Section 3AA success which advances us to play a game at the Marshall diamond. We're the top seed and we had a bye prior to the Benson game. Our next opponent: Martin County West. Benson actually isn't done - they'll resume in the losers bracket vs. Windom, also in Marshall. It's "destination south" now.  
Click on the link below to read about the Tigers' doubleheader sweep of BOLD on 5/18, here. This post is on my companion blog site, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading. - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/05/maca-softball-sweet-sweep-of-bold-at.html

Baseball: Benson 11, Tigers 9
The Tigers of the baseball world got thrown on the ropes in the second inning vs. Benson. The score stood 6-0 after two innings, then each team scored two runs in the third. The Tigers were hardly down for the count as they scored six runs in the fourth. Benson scored three in the fourth. We added a run in the sixth but were blanked in the seventh, so the outcome was an 11-9 score with the Braves prevailing.
It was a disappointing loss because we out-hit the Braves most decisively: 16 hits off our bats compared to nine by Benson. The fielding category was pretty even: two errors by Benson and three by MACA. Three pitchers shared the workload for the Tigers: Jaret Johnson, Jordan Leuthardt and Trevor Voges. Johnson gave up eight runs but only five were earned, and he struck out four batters. Leuthardt struck out one batter and Voges fanned three.
The winning pitcher for Benson was Hunter Mondor who struck out four batters and walked none. Matthew Goossen also pitched for the Braves, three innings, and got roughed up some (nine hits allowed and seven runs, all earned).
Our Tigers had quite the hit parade. Brock Anderson went two-for-five including a triple and drove in three runs. Jaret Johnson had a three-for-four line with two of his hits doubles, plus he drove in two runs and scored one. Noah Sheldon rapped two hits and crossed home plate three times. Chandler Vogel doubled twice and drove in a run. Tyler Reimers had a two-for-three line and scored a run. Chandler Wilts contributed two hits and had a ribbie. Zach Bruns had an RBI and run scored to go with his hit. Trevor Voges added a hit to the mix.
Sam Lundebrek doubled twice for the Braves. He scored three runs and drove in one. Matthew Tolifson had two hits, one a double, and drove in four runs/scored one. Matthew Goossen had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Dan Lenarz rapped a hit and scored a run. Will Enderson went two-for-four including a double, drove in a run and scored two. Brandon Osterbauaer had a hit and a run scored.

Band concert impresses at concert hall
I had no trouble finding a seat for the May 21 grades 9-12 band concert at our concert hall. You might recall I told a story about having some trouble finding a seat at the choir concert. An acquaintance came to my aid and gestured to an open seat in one of the elevated sections. The choir concert made it obvious that the money spent on the concert hall was most justified. When I was in high school, our concerts were at the 1968 gym which actually seemed to work out nice.
I never liked the MAHS auditorium for band concerts because all you could see was the front row of clarinet players. Frankly I never liked the MAHS auditorium because it seemed stuffy and congested in there for any event. Our old superintendent Fred Switzer was known to tell people - at least he told a fellow '73 alum of mine - that he "almost got fired" over getting the auditorium built. My friend was rather amused because once Fred got on this topic, he seemed rather fixated on it. I think Fred could get a little defensive.

"Mr. K" with Sharon Martin

Another old classmate of mine, initials G.L., told me Fred didn't like hiring Morris natives. I can theorize he held this view because Morris natives might bring old biases with them, but the school leadership of today seems to have no problem hiring people with Morris roots. Tallack Dosdall got hired. Of course, he's now in a new profession, and seemingly everyone knows he's going door to door making "cold calls" as a rep for a financial services company.
Was Fred right?

Wanda Dagen in a dancing mood

The band concert I recently attended was magnificent. Part of the reason for the smaller audience than choir, I'm sure, was that it was grades 9-12 while choir went for the whole shillelagh with grades 7-12. I commented that maybe the choir concert could have been divided into two concerts. The choir concert had the real feeling of "event" characterizing it. The band concert deserved the same feeling - artistically it was superb, so kudos like always to Wanda Dagen, our totally committed director. She is so committed to band, it kind of makes her stand alone on the school staff. We need that. In this age where standardized testing is such a high priority, we need to make sure sufficient time is reserved for music, n'est-ce pas?
The tympani player for the band was totally boffo. I hope she continues her music post-high school at a high level. I caught that her last name is Mahoney.
MAHS no longer has a marching band. That's a big change from when I was in high school. Summer is now a slow time for band. It was quite the hyper time when I was in high school under John Woell who could crack the whip. We traveled as far away as Winnipeg. Scott Groth was a drum major with real elan. Our uniforms would get a little hot sometimes. Peter Timmons got left behind in a town once. I guess Peter's dad rode with John to go get him. Peter came from a political family that was quite progressive. I recall an affinity with Shirley Chisholm.
Morris history always portrays the Schaefer era as our golden age for marching band, but I think that's a little unfair, as I think we were just as good! Sometimes the drums would resonate off the buildings as we headed down a main street, creating a dramatic effect.
Marching bands went into decline because kids developed more diverse interests in summer, e.g. sports camps. My generation had parents who were most proud of what we did. I remember seeing my mom, who passed away a month ago, looking out from the parade watchers.
Parents ought to be at the top of our high school memories.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

What if America had been settled from the west?

John Candy in "Wagons East!"

Any little boy could hum the "Bonanza" theme song in the 1960s. Lorne Greene was like a father figure to our nation. Greene did not always play such sympathetic roles. In the Charlton Heston movie about the Battle of New Orleans, Greene played a civic leader who had cold feet. And in "Peyton Place" - remember? - he played the bad guy lawyer who wanted to portray the rape victim as a slut.
Hollywood re-shaped Greene's image for "Bonanza." He and his three sons on the series became beloved all across the land. It was the days of the "Big 3" TV networks. Any popular show would be known to everyone. It really put the actors/actresses in a fishbowl for celebrity treatment. Today you can be a minor celebrity by being involved in a pawn shop!
TV westerns were indeed big in the 1960s, my formative time in life. We see the later half of the 19th Century portrayed as Hollywood imagined it in the American Old West, western Canada and Mexico. Here's a question: what if America had been settled (by Europeans) starting in the West, and the movement was east? Would TV have shown "easterns" instead of "westerns?" John Candy's last movie was "Wagons East," an amusing premise for a movie although it was a failure.
The stereotyped western cowboy a la John Wayne is overdone. The stereotype was built up for entertainment purposes. The development of the USA West was really a grudging, tedious and dangerous proposition for all, as we saw the evolution of the "territories" into states. Minnesota completed this in 1858. Remember the territorial judge in the Clint Eastwood movie "Hang 'Em High?" He said "until we become a state and there is a court of appeals, I'm the law."
Conflict with the indigenous people - the "Indians" - was inevitable and was bound to be unpleasant. We had an outright war in Minnesota at the same time as the Civil War.
Westerns on television had their apex in 1959. The prime time shows numbered 29. That's a lot of opportunities to hear someone say "all right, draw!" Back around 1970 there was an outright purge of such shows, orchestrated by network leaders, who decided it was time to "de-ruralize." Shows like Andy Griffith and "Petticoat Junction" were phased out in order to go urban with the Norman Lear type shows.
Today the old rural stuff can still be appreciated on obscure cable TV channels like "Inspiration." Oh, "The Big Valley" with Barbara Stanwyck! Such fare can be entertaining even today. But it could never pass for first-rate, top tier TV anymore because the overall tone is too ponderous. The shows need time developing the plots. Many of the plots seem banal today.
 
A genre to teach us lessons
In the background of all the TV westerns was morality. I suppose we'd call it the Judeo Christian ethic. Some of those shows can grate on you, by how they hit you over the head with who "the bad guys" are. There was a series called "Lawman" starring John Russell. Indeed, the morality had an element of respecting duly designated authority (e.g. the sheriff).
Respecting authority became a complicated thing during the 1960s, as our duly elected national leaders led us through the moral abomination of the Vietnam war. Kids got the message that they should not hesitate being non-conformists. TV westerns seemed to become trite and irrelevant in this climate. There may have been overall burnout from the format.
I fondly remember "The Virginian" TV series. It was significant partly because of its 90-minute length. James Drury played the title character but he got upstaged by Doug McClure who played "Trampas." I suspect Drury was happy to keep riding the gravy train of that show which had its run from 1962 to 1971. That perfectly spanned my childhood years. I graduated from high school in 1973. The show ran on NBC which was the only network we got for a while.
Drury plays the tough foreman of the Shiloh Ranch. "Trampas" is his top hand. The series was set in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The ranch was named for the Civil War battle. Season 9 brought a name change for the show, to "The Men From Shiloh." The opening theme song was replaced. (Old fans will always be able to hum the original theme which sounded like it was played on French horn.)
 
My own musical tip of the hat
I have written a song in recognition of the old cowboys, even though such souls may reflect an exaggerated myth. Surely there were some men in the Old West like this. My song has a verse-climb-chorus construction. The part about the "sword pushed in the ground" is out of Stevens County History. Some children at play really did find this near the remnants of the Wadsworth Trail.
I'm happy to share the lyrics here, to my "Cowboys Did Define Us." It fits a melody I originally wrote for a song about Rocky Colavito the baseball player. Thanks for reading.

"Cowboys Did Define Us"
by Brian Williams
 
The Civil War was done
Graycoats on the run
Now our nation sought its destiny
Men would find their path
Through the untamed land
Even though the dangers were supreme
 
Some were seeking gold
Optimism bold
Others simply wanted something new
And through the prairie grass
Wagon wheels were fast
Western vistas beckoned for those crews
 
Hist-ry in the making
People put stakes down
Let's pay homage to the rugged souls
 
CHORUS:
Cowboys did define us
As we stretched our limits
Only in America did cowboys have their place
They defied the long odds
As they did their big job
Cowboys did define us in the western USA
 
 
They cussed about barbed wire
Feared the prairie fire
Forded rivers with undaunted grit
Guns were at their side
So they could survive
Hats and vests were always part of it
 
Out Arizona way
There's a whole new day
Yes I know the heat could leave you worn
Tombstone made its mark
With its violent spark
Still the church bells rang on Sunday morn
 
Trampas on the TV
Showed how it was done
And ol' Hoss was ready with his smile
 
(repeat chorus)
 
A sword pushed in the ground
Was a grave kids found
Near a trail that headed to a fort
A modest resting place
Still it had God's grace
Let's remove our hats and cry no more
 
The women weren't all pure
Hardy though they were
Still their vision matched up with the rest
"Gunsmoke" showed us how
Everyone was bound
See Miss Kitty match up with the best
 
Some of them wore bonnets
Children held their hand
As they crossed the bless-ed new found land
 
(repeat chorus)
 
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Softball: unearned runs give Tigers rare loss

Melrose 3, Tigers 2
Our Tigers were reminded that they are not world beaters on Thursday. The reminder came here in Morris where it was the Dutchmen of Melrose carving out a one-run advantage.
Liz Dietz was the hard-luck losing pitcher for our Motown crew. All three of the runs that Dietz allowed were unearned. She fanned six batters, walked two and gave up just three hits in her seven innings. She fanned six batters, walked two and gave up just three hits in her seven innings. Melrose won the game 3-2.
The Tigers jumped out to the early lead at 1-0. Melrose got the score knotted one-all in the third. Each team scored one run in the fifth, then Melrose got the game-winner in the sixth. The Melrose line score was 3-3-3 while our Tigers put up 2-5-4 numbers. Yes, the four errors hurt the Motown cause. Note that we out-hit the Dutchmen.
Dietz's pitching opponent was Makiya Luetmer. Luetmer retired the Tigers in the bottom of the seventh to polish things off for Melrose. Luetmer had a strikeout total of two. She walked two batters and gave up five hits and two runs (one earned).
Five different Tigers each had one hit: Bailey Marty, Emma Bowman, Dietz (with an RBI), MacKenzie Hockel (a hit in her only at-bat) and Karly Fehr. The three Melrose hits were off the bats of Luetmer, Amy Austin and Allison Pohlmann.
Click on the link below to read about the following: the 11-1 softball win over Benson, the 4-3 baseball defeat vs. Minnewaska, the 3-0 baseball win over Hancock with Parker Dierks throwing a two-hitter, and the girls golf meet at the Minnewaska Golf Club. I also share about the grades 7-12 choir concert, so well attended. This post is on my companion blog site, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading. - B.W.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/05/twelve-hits-zippo-errors-in-11-1-maca.html

 
Baseball: Montevideo 4, Tigers 1
The Montevideo diamond was the site for a baseball clash between the Thunder Hawks and our Tigers on Thursday. One inning saw the host T-Hawks get all the momentum they needed to prevail. That inning was the fifth. Monte rallied for all four of its runs in a 4-1 triumph over the Tigers.
We grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first but were unable to score any more. Monte had a slight edge in hits, 6-5. The Tigers committed two errors compared to one by Monte.
Jackson Snell pitched all seven innings for the host. Snell set four Tiger batters down on strikes. He walked just one while allowing five hits and the one MACA run which was unearned. Parker Dierks was the pitcher of record for Motown. Dierks struck out two batters and walked two while giving up five hits and two runs (earned). Brock Anderson hurled for two innings for MACA. Brock struck out two batters, walked one and gave up one hit and two runs, neither earned.
John Van Ravenswaay doubled as part of a two-for-three showing for Montevideo. Noah Buseman also doubled. Chase Korte had a hit and a run scored. Snell and Colby Buseman each added a hit to the mix. Chandler Vogel was the only Tiger with a multiple-hit game. Kevin Asfeld doubled. Tyler Reimers came through with a hit and an RBI. Colten Scheldorf hit safely.
 
Girls golf at Benson
It was a pleasant day for golf on Thursday at the Benson Golf Club. Minnewaska Area continued its pattern of having a very fine season. Those Lakers topped the standings that included seven teams. Lakers Emily Harste and Madi McGinty led that Laker effort with Harste taking first and McGinty tying for second with BOLD's Ashley Trongard.
Here's how our Tigers performed: Peyton Hennen 52, Hannah Zimmel 41, Miranda Hesse 45, Mackenzie Stahman 47 and Shayla Kill 62. We were No. 4 in the standings.
 
Girls golf at "The Crossings"
It was Madi McGinty putting up the top score at the Montevideo-hosted meet at The Crossings. McGinty shot a 37. Ashley Trongard of BOLD took second with her 40 performance. Again Minnewaska had the top team. The Tigers placed No. 3 among the six teams. Our individuals were: Peyton Hennen 49, Hannah Zimmel 43, Miranda Hesse 48, Mackenzie Stahman 52 and Shayla Kill 66.
 
Boys golf at The Crossings
Melrose had the top team in the Thursday competition at The Crossings in Montevideo. Eight teams total vied with MACA placing fourth. Montevideo's Seth Olson was the top individual with his 36 showing. Here's how the Tigers fared: Chase Engebretson 48, Dalton Koehler 43, Brady Loge 47, Brock Peterson 44, Easton Hacker 48 and Tyler Buss 44.
 
Boys golf at Benson
The busy recent schedule for our golf teams included a meet at the Benson Golf Club, Thursday. This WCC affair saw Minnewaska take top team honors while MACA placed fourth among the eight teams. Melrose's Nate Loxtercamp was top performer in the meet, shooting a 34.
Here's the MACA roster for the day: Chase Engebretson 44, Dalton Koehler 45, Brady Loge 50, Brock Peterson 48, Easton Hacker 51 and Tyler Buss N/A.
 
Boys tennis again, ever?
I'm wondering: Does anyone ever float the idea of MACA again having a boys tennis program? It seems other comparable-size schools are able to offer this. Oh I know, I know, I know, I know. I didn't come into town on a turnip truck. I know what kind of response my query will get: there's insufficient interest. Or at least there was insufficient interest at the time our program got phased out.
Are we just supposed to shrug and accept this as reality, set in stone? I know how powerful the local party line or conventional wisdom can be. I have bucked that for years. I'd like to think we can re-start boys tennis in Motown. The main catalyst naturally would be a coach who is dynamic and willing to promote.
There, easy answer. So let's consider it, eh?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

They were champions: 1991 Minnesota Twins

"See you later Aguilera"

I remember being with friends in Paynesville MN for the start of the 1991 World Series. The first pitch thrown by Jack Morris was a strike - I seem to remember it was a called strike. We jumped off our couches in celebration of that one pitch, knowing of course that in the scheme of things it meant nothing. We laughed. Our upbeat mood proved most apt for the duration of that magical series.
The Twins called the Metrodome home. The memories are receding.
The Dome was built as an essential answer to our sports infrastructure issues. It was supposed to help U of M football recruiting but it appears this was misguided. The state got its money's worth with a heyday of Twins baseball that included the 1987 and 1991 seasons. The Twins had a 15-game win streak in 1991. That stretch of success vaulted us from fifth place to first. In all we would win 95 games in the regular season, good for taking the West banner.
Note that there was a three-year gap between our 1987 and '91 championships. Fans appeared to maintain their enthusiasm even though we finished dead last in the division in 1990. Our '90 mark was a languishing 74-88.
We can easily forget today that Gary Gaetti was not part of the '91 team. His name is such a standard from that era, associated with third base. We might forget that Mike Pagliarulo came on to play a key role in '91 at third. The Twins signed Pagliarulo less than 12 hours after Gaetti left as a free agent for the California Angels. Pagliarulo came here from the New York Yankees. The front office kept on refreshing things by signing free agents Jack Morris and Chili Davis. I never liked the way the Twins P.A. announcer pronounced "Chili." Davis wielded his bat from the DH role. Morris was a top-echelon starting pitcher of course. He was a nemesis of ours when he pitched for Detroit.
We reaped benefits from a trade we made in 1989: Frank Viola to the Mets for relief pitchers Rick Aguilera and David West and starter Kevin Tapani. Didn't Chris Berman of ESPN refer to Aguilera as "See you later Aguilera?" Only seven players were still on the roster from the 1987 team. None of those seven were pitchers.
Pagliarulo was platooned with handsome Scott Leius who we always heard was a friend of actor Matt Dillon. Chuck Knoblauch was in his prime at second base and not yet showing symptoms of the horrible psychological disorder that would prevent him, as a Yankee, from being able to throw the ball to first base. I have always felt the problem was due to obsessive compulsive disorder. The brain takes over where instincts were meant to operate.
"See you later Aguilera" was a fine closer and racked up 42 saves. We had a 1-2-3 punch in starting pitching with Morris, Tapani and Scott Erickson. The fourth and fifth spots weren't as clear cut. We saw Allan Anderson, David West and Mark Guthrie hurling from the mound.
The beloved Tony Oliva served as bench coach. "Tony O." was hitting coach in 1987. And of course back in 1965, when we won the pennant, Tony was in full glory as one of the best hitters to ever play the game.
Kent Hrbek won the Lou Gehrig Award in 1991. Jack Morris won the Babe Ruth Award. Morris was World Series MVP. Kirby Puckett was the ALCS MVP. Knoblauch was Rookie of the Year. We had three players on the All-Star roster: Aguilera, Morris and Puckett. Erickson was slated to be the All-Star starting pitcher but he got injured.
I was 36 years old in 1991. As the years pass, of course, those of us with vivid memories of '87 and '91 will increasingly sound like old-timers. I can never put thoughts of the 1965 team out of my head. Minnesota was so mesmerized by the still-new Twins in '65. Sandy Koufax prevented us from taking it all in '65, though we pushed the Dodgers to seven games. I feel sad that the '65 team is one notch below the '87 and '91 units in terms of accomplishment. Our memories of '65 should be embraced with just as much fondness.
My reminiscing is not to suggest that today I'm a big Twins fan. I'm not. I worry about the players whose bodies are subjected to so many dangers. We hear about this much more for football than baseball but baseball has substantial risk. In the age before pitch counts, pitchers were at great risk of "throwing their arms out." Pitchers came and went in the '60s all the time because of this, and now I find that profoundly sad.
Kirby Puckett probably died as the result of getting hit in the face with a pitch. Back in '64 it was Twins hero Jimmie Hall who was severely beaned by Bo Belinsky. Many have speculated that Hall eventually went into decline due to effects of that. So I feel for those guys and worry about how they face risks. In football the worry is fundamental and profound. Weighing this, I frankly have withdrawn from pro sports interests at this stage in my life.
But I invite you to read the lyrics to my song called " 'Til the Last Out" which is my tribute to the 1991 Twins. Asterisk: Yes, I know the '91 Series did not end with an "out" because it ended with Gene Larkin hitting into the gap. But as a matter of pure principle, those Twins played 'til the last out in terms of their nonstop intensity. So that's the theme. Will I have the song recorded? As always I'll say that I write lots of lyrics and poetry and only occasionally do I have some recorded. We'll see.
 
" 'Til the Last Out"
by Brian Williams
 
Poppy Bush was president in 1991
We would someday pull the lever for his eldest son
Minnesota Twins were in their glory at the Dome
Teflon Roof and plastic grass were part of their dear home
 
Hrbek in his prime with all those skills that made him great
Knoblauch in the days when he could still throw that ball straight
Gagne playing shortstop, handling that pill
Mr. Pagliarulo, makin' plays at will
 
CHORUS:
'Til the last out, 'til the last out
They tested all their fortitude and drive
'Til the last out, 'til the last out
They made us all just glad to be alive
 

Puckett out in center was a jewel of a star
He could bring the house down when he hit the ball so far
Coming from Toledo as the answer to our prayers
Kirby was a bowling ball, goin' on a tear
 
Atlanta was the team we had to face for No. 1
With a staff of pitchers who could put us on the run
Back and forth the Series went, like a tug of war
Then we got Game 7, let's break down the door
 
(repeat chorus)
 
Like a god from ancient Greece Jack Morris took the hill
He was all just steely-eyed, going for the kill
Zeroes on the scoreboard had us gasp all through the night
All we needed was one run and we would win the fight
 
Gene Larkin sent the ball into that open space in left
Gladden came across the plate - fans all cheered and wept
Twins were on the throne just like in 1987
Baseball had our self-esteem lifted up to heaven
 
(repeat chorus)


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

Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley and dated culture

(apple music image)

Country song lyrics of the 1970s did not always elevate us to the highest standards. It was the decade of "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. We did not put authority figures on a pedestal. We might dismiss law enforcement people as sticks in the mud who'd disrupt a good party.
I remember an op-ed that expressed disgust at Jackie Gleason for playing the dim-witted sheriff. We saw the same kind of sheriff character in Clint Eastwood's "Bronco Billy." That sheriff led an effort to rough up someone who had been found to be a draft-dodger during Vietnam. Authority figures were lumped in with the clueless folk who sat on their hands as the Vietnam war escalated. The generation of young Americans had long memories.
Jaded to the hilt after Nixon's exit, the peculiar type of cynicism associated with the 1970s really set in. "Outlaw music" sprouted in the country genre. No high ideals then. Just the opposite. And now I'm thinking about Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley. Perhaps they epitomized the air of resignation, the retreat into beer-soaked hedonism, that I'm suggesting. "Moe and Joe" was a popular reference to these guys who promoted a dive bar motif. Each had a good solo career going before the pairing.
The pairing was launched in 1979 when Jimmy Carter was president. They came out with the album "Just Good Ol' Boys," self-deprecating with the word "just." Indeed they sought an earthy and common touch while of course seeking a mint of money with their releases. Male-bonding came to the forefront. In the age before political correctness, women could be in the background, rather disposable frankly, perhaps worthy of mention only in the context of demanding alimony!
Were the lyrics to be taken at face value? I didn't sense among my generation of young males that we thought there was any sort of put-on. Many of us in fact hung out at pretty nondescript bars. Believe it or not, drunk driving wasn't a worry then. Society even allowed those in their late teens to drink, starting when I graduated from high school. Society was reacting to the war and figured if young men could die for their country, everyone their age ought to have the privilege of drinking too. The habit of drinking has since been thrown on its heels.
The songs of Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley were like a release. These two guys sought pleasure in the most immediate way and didn't much like dealing with any sort of pretense. Peel away the veneer of the music and maybe you'll see something hopeful there, something accenting the best of our nature. These two guys wouldn't want to hurt anyone, although they might if they drank too much. Society seemed to be looking the other way when it came to the dangers of drinking. Natalie Wood and her two male companions were out in that boat drinking a lot "because that's what people did then," a commentator on her tragic drowning once said.
Today we see "Just Good Ol' Boys," the single, described as "a tongue in cheek novelty single." It may seem tongue in cheek today. I'm not sure there wasn't a thread of genuineness in it at the time. Bandy in later years said "I really think my songs are about life." And I'll agree, as I point out that even superficial-sounding country lyrics hit home with us. The best songs would not climb the charts if they didn't.
President Carter talked up "outlaw country music" in a way that would be unheard of today. This sub-genre of country was a reaction to what could be termed "formulaic" country music. The younger folk didn't like the slick approach anymore. Protesting the war required the beating down of comfortable convention. A part of pop music drifted toward a hippie-ish, counterculture direction while in country, a fun-loving anti-intellectualism took hold. Hence, "Moe and Joe."
We saw the glorification of the truck-driving profession. Jerry Reed in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies epitomized this. It seemed for a time that truckers were the last cowboys. Today, trucking is a job not unlike any other. Technology prevents truckers from bending rules and acting so independent. "Smokey and the Bandit" is like a time capsule.
A place we'd like to go back to? Oh no, not at all. Women were so incidental to it all.
 
My own personal ode
I have written my own song inspired by the kind of music that Bandy and Stampley gave us. It's called - ahem - "Loving Her is Like Parking Next to a Two-door." A friend said to me many years ago, "don't ever park next to a two-door." Obviously the door can swing open wide to give you a "ding." Someone mentioned to me the other day that two-door vehicles have become uncommon.
So, hurry up and record the song? I write song lyrics and poetry all the time and I only selectively have one recorded now and then. My "Loving Her" song is such a throwback but I enjoyed writing it just for that reason.
 
Is there a psychologist on campus?
My best friend in college and I once created an imaginary redneck friend who we named "Leroy." Full name of "Leroy Toffel." He had a dog he called "F--ker." "C'mere "F--ker." My friend and I shared how redneck guys tended to have such sweet mothers. We imagined Leroy's friends arriving for a party at his place with several guys standing in the back of a pickup. The driver stopped abruptly and some of the guys would fall down, getting mad as hell and swearing.
We observed outlaw country and didn't really think it was "tongue in cheek" at all.
Today we all have to be more responsible because of stringent DWI enforcement. Oh, but the old days: smoking without much reservation, putting down beers, listening to Waylon Jennings. And, Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley, "good ol' boys" to be sure. Was it all a dream? Now, just imagine some pedal steel.

"Loving Her is Like Parking Next to a Two-door"
by Brian Williams

She came to my attention
In ways I can't explain
I don't know why or wherefore
I had to learn her name
For sure we felt vibrations
A temptress she was true
She toyed away with my hormones
But was it just strange brew?

I got turned on by her smile
Now what world was I in?
It's hard to know when you're wasted
And can't hear through the din
The bar was full of ebullience
Now go and look that up
A friend said better be careful
In case I felt in love
He said:

CHORUS:
Loving her is like parking next to a two-door
You get too close and you find there's hell to pay
Ask her out and you'd better know what you're in for
'Cause loving her is like parking next to a two-door

She said she was from a small town
Now aren't they all alike
A friendly wave at the Co-op
Can make the day feel right
My hand slipped onto her shoulder
And then I felt the buzz
But maybe it was a moonbeam
That came down from above
 
I felt a need to unwind some
And she sure held the key
To find some bliss in the evening
And join that reverie
We saw the light with the neon
And heard the jukebox sing
And then my friend did exhort me
About that woman thing
He said:

(repeat chorus)

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