alexandriacardinals

As usual, it was all about the “D” again.  The Cardinals tenacious defense led to a lot of easy baskets in their win over Sauk Rapids-Rice last night.  (We had to miss the St. Olaf choir on PBS – does anyone know if they replay it?)

We interrupt this report for . . . yup, what the heck is the deal with this weather?  I left for the “Y” this morning and was surprised to discover that, on the first day of winter, it was raining – at 27 degrees!  I thought, bright guy that I am, this isn’t going to be good.  Yet I continued on.  By the time I got in the vicinity of the “Y” an attempt to enter a turning lane almost turned me into a ditch – that sideways slide convinced me to head back home, joining the other traffic going no more than 20 mph.  I made it!  The good news is – hey, the days start to get longer now!  The bad news is – our living room TV isn’t working this morning (we’re getting just snow, unlike the weather!), so now we’re waiting for the cable guy.  As we say here in the middling part of America, if it’s not one thing, it’s another!

[Last year’s frontline.]

The game featured the first appearance of the season by Robo and Walleye Willy – as well as usual Super Fans, Ruth and Bud (who similarly prefer the girls game), and Alice and Rollie.  And Beth and Myrt were also there.  Also present, home for the holidays, was last year’s entire starting front line of Sam Trumm, Alli Haar, and Joie Warnes.  Meanwhile, back at the game . . .

[OK, first the JV’s wrapped up a nice win.]

[OK, second it was also parents’ night – class of 65er, Bud Bruzek (black vest, center) was there on behalf of sophomore daughter, Sarah.]

[We have to gig Bud here (photo from 2 weeks ago) – it appeared he left the game early last night when the outcome was no longer in doubt.  Sarah played the last several minutes and scored 6 points!]

[Emily Thul – as you can see, my vantage point was not conducive to complete coverage of all the parents.]

[8:00 am, KXRA is reporting that school buses have pulled off to the sides of the roads and will wait for icy road conditions to improve.]

[And to think we always call the Detroit Lakes teams the “All-Blondes.”]

[Searching for signs of potentially offensive fans!]

[Grandpa Jack Trumm on the lower right – always admired his tonsorial splendor!]

[Whitney]

[Amanda, otherwise a good free throw shooter, missed her first 4 last night?

[Her reaction to that (as previously advised, this photo will have multiple applications)!  To her credit, she proceeded to hit several shots from the left base line, including a 3, and finished the game with 21 points!]

[Amanda inbounding.]

[ . . . and she hits one.]

[Lauren hits two.]

[At the half.]

[Schools are closed.  Cable TV guy came and fixed it in two minutes.]

Secretary of Defense:  Seems a good time to feature LT at the top of the 1-3-1 defense – you can hear Robo and I discussing such in the 2nd video (where I called Amanda, Angela, her older sister’s name – just another old guy ooops).  Here are the two videos from the start of the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW0hqfK4oaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HH20qwNxds

Lauren starts her “D” at three-quarters court, keeping herself between the two opposing guards.  In that position, she can pick off any bad passes between the two.  Once they make it to the front court, by being in the middle she funnels the dribbler to either side which allows the wing defender on that side to join her in an immediate double team.  The team does an excellent job in that defense of always being able to flow as a team and immediately double-team whoever has the ball – yet keeping full coverage in the passing lanes by the other three players.  It’s certainly no fun for the loyal oppostion!

[I was able to capture one of her “punts.”  The fans love it when she launches one into the stands – often several per game.  Last night one of her kicks hit the backboard – almost a field goal field goal!]

Readying for the 2nd half, the team looks for pointers from the Sauk Rapids dance team.

[Trumm family]

[Amanda leaps out of the frame.]

[Cara – looking for her offense more, scored 6 points on feeds while she was cutting to the bucket.]

[Whitney]

[Jess and Whitney head up court.]

[Kalli]

LT finished with 26 points and 9 steals, Kalli had 10 and Whitney 9 for nice balance.  The Storm had an excellent player in a Ms. Becker, who had a good all-around game with over 20 points, and we think she swished every free throw – in fact, we recall the Storm only missing one free throw the whole game, possibly making something like 19 of 20, or better.

In other games last night, the girls’ hockey team lost 3 -1 at the St. Cloud Icebreakers.  It sounded like a lot of the games this year – we had territorial and shot (31-22) advantages but couldn’t score.  Kalley Kragenbring got our goal on a power play with an assist from Shelby Iverson in the 3rd period.  The boys team lost 3-2 at St. Cloud Apollo, but I don’t have details.  The boys basketball team won rather handily at Detroit Lakes – it sounds like they are improving with each game.

One last thing:

This is Erica Fulghum, Alex class of ’09.  She is a senior at North Central University in Minneapolis where she is majoring in journalism.  She is interested in journalism because she is interested in people – and wants to go all over the world in pursuit of stories that interest her.  She is in Alexandria as an intern with Definitive Women Magazine, and also to help School District 206 with the Alexandria Alumni Magazine.  It was in that latter capacity that she was assigned, for some reason, to interrogate . . . er, interview me.  We met yesterday at Dunn Bros.  Her boss, Jill Johnson, was going to join us to get a “head shot.”  She apparently decided she already had way too many photos of me.  The alumni magazine has a publication date of April 2012.  I took the photo of Erica at Dunn Bros. because I have blogging responsibilites.

p.s.  No snow – but fish houses out front last night.  Heard from my walking partners this morning:

Both “Weakie” and I were there.  I left home about 7:25, the rain had stopped but it took at least 10 more minutes to get to the Y.  I had driven out to get the paper at 6:10, no rain and roads were fine.  Left the house and slipped and almost fell on the steps.  Just
got home now, roads have been salted and it’s not too bad.  See you tomorrow.  After the time at the Y, no ice on the car. ~ Rock

Wimp.  No, you were smart.  Terrible ice.  Big accident at 4-way stop by Y.  I had a helluva time walking from car to entrance.  I walked on grass as much as possible.  Car was not iced up when I left.  I was lucky when I left that there was a guy putting down salt.  I asked him to put salt down to my car, which he did.  Had a tough time on road to my house.  Car moved all by itself.  Scary.  ~ Weakie

[But first, from local impresarios, Skilly & Duff.  Try it, you’ll like i!]

Regarding the subject title – no, not a new consecutive free throw record (though I’ll be working on that this winter).  But yesterday the blog received an incredible 183 hits, smashing the old one-day record of 144 set some time last February.  So, give yourselves a standing ovation . . . well, OK, maybe a golf clap would suffice.  It is unlikely, however, that I will ever again attempt the THREE posts in one day standard in an effort to break the new record!

Yesterday was our first opportunity to visit the latest local phenomenon, Grand Arbor.  We had been hearing terrific reports about the place and were looking forward to a viewing.  Grand Arbor is a new complex that includes regular apartments, assisted-living apartments, and apartments for those needing 24-7 care.  It’s quite a facility with a fabulous great room, a dining room, a bistro, a movie theatre, a swimming pool, a library, a chapel, meeting rooms, and nooks and crannies all over the place.  And it is right across the street from where the new high school will be built, so we would certainly consider it as a future destination (we would require a couple thousand square feet with a penthouse view, of course).

[Editor’s note:  I’ve now reached that stage in life where it is impossible to pour a carbonated beverage without it fizzing over the top.]

We were there for a Community Ed meeting – and below was our substantial meeting room with all the amenities:

An object of some concern for the attendees was the wall-mounted TV – directly behind a post?  Jim Pohl gets a good chuckle out of that – we ulitmately discovered that it did indeed swing out.]

The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.  On the way to the meeting, we had to drive by the hockey arena where we noticed the Alexandria Blizzard, of the North American Hockey League, were hosting the Russian Red Stars – we had totally forgotten about the game, as we are wont to do.  Anyway, we mentioned such at our Comm Ed meeting, and the aforementioned Mr. Pohl offered us his tickets because he had a scheduling conflict.  Thanks again, Jim!

So after the meeting, the supervisor and I bolted for the RCC where we enjoyed a hot dog in “The Warming House” overlooking the ice.  The arena was packed, of course – when we arrived the parking lot was packed beyond any previous observation.  The Red Stars are an all-star team from Russia’s top junior league, composed of players in the 19-21 age range.

[A Bucket List item:  Standing for the Russian national anthem.  😉 ]

[Alexandria’s-own, Thomas Williams (17) – was the Blizzard’s leading scorer but has missed some games with a shoulder injury.]

[I believe this is when Thomas got boarded late in the first period – almost lead to fisticuffs – the Russian got a 10-minute major penalty.  The Blizzard had some good scoring chances then but came up empty.]

[Known to have spent a major portion of their lives in hockey arenas.  Abby and Martha, of course, are Thomas’s sister and mother, respectively.  We also visited with Ashley Holmes from the 2008 girls’ state championship team.]

[We left after the 1st period – our excitement meters had pegged for the day.  Good game – the Russians got a couple of loose goals on shots that were taken from behind the goal line – but their other was a Russian-classic long pass up the middle breakaway.  Thomas had at least 4 of the Blizzards’ 13 shots-on-goal.  As of this writing, we do not know the final score.]

[Later addition:  The final was 5-1 before an RCC record crowd of 1,166!  Thomas had the Alex goal.]

Yesterday was the annual Jefferson High School Choir and Orchestra Christmas Concert.  But before we go any further, we have to first discuss the always number one topic of conversation in Minnesota – the weather.  As noted in the above photo, the supervisor arrived at the high school – sans jacket, coat, boots, or other seasonal accoutrements!  This was December 18th!  In Minnesota!  There is no snow!  People actually came to the concert wearing shorts!  What’s happening?  (We now leave our bizarre weather rant for the rest of the story.)

Choir director Steve Dietz and orchestra leader Brad Lambrecht once again led their musicians through a terrific show before a full-house of somewhat warm mostly older people.  We are always amazed how they are able to herd (er . . . possibly “shepherd” would be a better choice) their performers through the confines of the high school gymnasium for the different numbers.  As Class of ’65 principal, Wayne Elton, noted on the way out – about a third of the student body must be involved in the various bands, orchestras, and choirs, and yet they are somehow able to keep it all coordinated within limited space.  And at a mere $6.00, it is, as we say around here, “Such a deal!”

[We arrive for the 3:00 performance – they also did another @ 5:30.]

OK, the videos, to include narration by Bob Hines, who volunteers his great voice for this every year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfssTElCgYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF1d8Xovqow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrIa0E9nX1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqWLytanUHY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4XS2ZLjz78

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHrgkTKQkcI

Then it was off to the cafeteria for apres concert punch and cookies!  🙂

We lost a classmate two weeks ago – Richard Steinmetz.  His twin brother, Robert, forwarded his obituary to our class website – www.65roundup.blogspot.com.  The Steinmetz brothers were good friends through high school – we tended to share the same classes.  Our sincerest condolences go out to the Steinmetz family.

It was a reminder that as the calendar year turns over, the Class of ’65 turns 65.  And even more frightening, it means our 50th reunion is only three years away!  Accordingly, to my classmates, and our educators, I wish good health and a happy new year.

[The Victoria Heighters]

[Editor’s note:  The photos contained herein were randomly selected constrained by my limited abilities to find them in the copious blog archives.]

Where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.