alexandriacardinals

It’s all about Homecoming 2010:

[Sam Trumm was the queen]

[September 28, 2010]  Congratulations to Sam

A predecessor from long ago!  From the days we actually went to school by covered wagon.  Alex, class of ’65.  Our Homecoming Queen grew up across the street from me.  We’re still close friends today.  The photo of the two of us walking in that enclosed outdoor area off the JHS cafeteria was taken by a photographer from the Minneapolis Tribune.  They did a story about my dad for the Sunday Magazine section – the photo of Kathy and me didn’t make the magazine.  😉 

HQ ‘65’s response on seeing photos of the HQ ’10:  Cutie 🙂

[October 5, 2010]  Maybe one last thing about homecoming and the Hall of Fame . . .

We had our Education Foundation board meeting this morning.  We were pumped.  The Hall of Fame luncheon in conjunction with homecoming is getting bigger and better every year.  Board members relayed stories from first time attendees who said they had no idea what a great event it is – and promised to be regular participants in the future.  Of particular satisfaction was the response from the inductees, who upon receiving their notice of induction and request to participate had no idea what was in store.  According to board member, Tom Anderson, they were “simply blown away.”  Thanks to all of you who worked so hard to put this together.

I relayed the Bev Lohrman Grossman story to Phyllis Hullett, who was a fellow AGC board member a couple years ago.  Phyllis went through the same things as Bev implementing Title IX at the collegiate level.  Here is Phyllis’s response (I hope she doesn’t mind!):

Thanks Tom!  Bless people like Bev who were willing to stand up and support Title IX.  I was caught in that same period and with women from all over the College campus we convinced the administration, based on Title IX, to pay the women coaches small stipends.  Made the male coaches mad as hell!  We had 13,000 students and women were coaching Volleyball, Tennis, Swimming, Badminton, Softball, Fencing and other sports throughout the year without being paid anything.  Title IX was a giant step toward equality, not just for the female coaches but for the students as well.  It was unfortunate that the threat of not complying with the guidelines of Title IX was responsible for the changes made rather than simply doing what was right.

Thanks for reminding me of a difficult but very gratifying time.

~ Phyllis

And finally a note this morning from a hockey mom:

Hi Tom,

I thought you would get a kick out of our football teams dance at the pepfest on Friday.  It’s on You Tube.  In the search on You Tube put in Best Homecoming Dance.  It’s the 6th one down on the page by TheAtownhero.  Sorry I couldn’t get it to copy to this email.  It’s the football team at their best!

~ Marnee’

And here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehFBaTz4e9Y

Hi Tom and Ruth…

Just want you to know how much we appreciate being included in your most excellent e-mails!  🙂

~ Greg and Val Trumm

[October 6, 2010]  A lost tradition?

The volleyball team used to appear such for homecoming [photos courtesy of Greg Trumm, 1908] and aid and abet the cheerleaders during the game.  They would lope around the field, as only volleyballers can lope, inspiring the assembled masses.  They didn’t appear this year, or last year either, as I recall?  [Editor’s note: The first time we experienced this, early in the last decade after moving to back to Alex, was before we had “discovered” girls sports.  When they first appeared, I had no clue what was going on?  Who were these exceptionally tall young women (they were a head taller than the cheerleaders)?  Why were they wearing football uniforms?  Someone finally explained they were the volleyball team.  Volleyball team?]

[October 8, 2010]  It’s a Thriller

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

 

The still photos (by Greg Trumm) are of the volleyball team during the 2008 homecoming parade.  The volleyball had its 42-game conference win streak snapped last night by a fine and undefeated Rocori team, 3 – 1.  The 4th game went into overtime . . . or extra innings . . . or whatever they call it in volleyball.  I was only able to stay for the 1st two games because it was Thursday night date night at SAWA, and we wanted to see Al and Erik play.

[All photos in this missive are from the Trumm files.]

[March 13, 2010]  Stupid refs (and how we grew to hate Sartell!)

Another drizzly, foggy evening that caused some Super Fan wimp outs (though fellow mall walkers, El Holm, and Ruth Helie Anderson and husband, were there).  Undeterred, Ruthie and I headed for St. John’s @ 6:30 last night for the 8:00 girls basketball section final between our Cards and Sartell.  When we got to the campus, we were directed by thousands of young men with flashlights to a parking lot we believed to be in a different zip code from where the game was actually to be played.  (St. John’s is the typical college campus where parking accessibility is the least of its concerns.)  Walking to the arena, we twice had to make stops for water and other provisions.

Once in the arena, we discovered that Sartell had used its higher seed, No. 1 (both teams were 22-5, had split the two regular season games, and the Cards were conference champs), much like the higher seed in hockey having the last line change, to crank up the temperature in the arena to sauna levels.  This was designed to enervate our Cards who have to play a fast, up-tempo game.  It also enervated Ruthie – we had to leave as soon as the game was over because she thought she was going to pass out from the heat!

[Kate Gearman greets a Sabre.]

The game.  Close all the way – as befitting the seedings and their previous games.  In match-ups between teams of totally different styles, it’s a matter of which team can impose theirs.  Alex wants to run and play helter-skelter; Sartell wants a half court game.  We got some of each.  In my totally biased opinion, Alex is much more fun to watch.  We had the better athletes – Sartell had the big center, a capable point guard, and a supporting cast that somehow made every “3” they attempted (ugly looking, off the ceiling, banking them in, etc.).  Our athleticism often gets us into trouble, though – we try to make plays that aren’t there, our turnovers usually are self-inflicted.

 [Gracie Bruzek]

[Sam]

The Cards led 57 – 53 with about two minutes left (with Coach Wendy Kohler addressing the team).  We seemed to have the momentum and just had to hang onto the ball for the win.  Somehow, we managed to turn it over a couple of times – and Angela Christianson, an 80+ per cent free throw shooter who had been swishing them all night, missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have given the Cards a 6-point lead and probably the win.  Still, with 1.9 seconds left in a tie game, the Cards had the ball for an inbounds play under their own basket.  They threw it in – Sam Trumm and a Sartell player grabbed the ball simultaneously – and they called a foul on Sam!  Unbelievable – there was .1 second left.  You just can’t make a call like that to decide a game.  Fortunately, the Sartell player missed the free throw – it should have been a no-call, but if they were going to make one, it just as easily could have been Sam shooting for the win.

The Cards came out in overtime in a bit of a funk knowing they should have won the game in regulation.  Sartell jumped to an immediate 4-point lead.  The Cards fought back and tied the score at 62.  The Cards fouled with 13 seconds left – and the Sartell player made both free throws.  The Cards had time – but two shots at the end refused to drop.  Sartell won 64-62, in overtime.

[It was Angela’s last game as a Card.]

[There were happier hugs this year.]

It was a terrific year – it would have been fun to see how this team would have done in the state tournament.  I think they could have made quite a favorable impression on a statewide audience.  But now the winter sports season is over (OK, Sue – except for Danielle and the fighting Gusties! Ha!).  It was a memorable season in which we came within one basket of having three teams make state tournaments.  Now we look forward to watching Gracie Bruzek and Kate Gearman, our starting basketball guards, as the keystone combination in softball.

For years, the Cards have mostly battled St. Cloud Tech and Brainerd for conference preeminence.  Now comes this upstart, Sartell – the Edina of St. Cloud.  They beat us for the section football championship by one yard (our two-point extra point attempt with no time left on the clock); we beat them for the section championship in boys hockey; and in girls hockey, they combine with Sauk Rapids so have to play in a higher class at tournament time, nevertheless, we split 2-1 games with them in the regular season.

Follow-up:  Ruthie said this morning she’s glad we can return to a “normal” life again.  For today, that would mean going to the winery this afternoon for the Salty Dogs; going to a Central Lakes Concert Association concert this evening (we’ve already missed the first three); and then heading over to SAWA to catch as much of Glory Muse as we can.  The dust bunnies are going to have to wait!

But I’m going to miss such as the two-“man” pick and roll between our “bigs,” Angela and Sam.   A thing of beauty when Angela hits Sam with a bounce pass streaking in for a left-handed lay-up.

Despite a total lack of permission, am forwarding a couple of commentaries on last evening festivities:  From “Crazy” Dave Owen, a/k/a, Dick Vitale (Go Gophers!) in Sarasota, the agent for Ohio State Buckeye football coach, Jim Tressel [Editor’s note:  Let it be known that, to our knowledge, “Crazy” Dave had nothing to do with OSU’s subsequent issues!]; and from Marnee’ Herd, mother of Cardinal hockey player, Shanee’, and former Breck hockey player, Reid:

From Crazy:  Ok now, is this it? Are you going to spend some quality time now at home reading until golf starts? Do you anticipate taking up a hobby? After sports what’s life about — right Tom?

Relax and enjoy the NCAA tournament.

Regards,  Dick Vitale

From Marnee’:  It was a great game.  Alex lived and died by the helter-skelter.  I agree with Ruthie it was too damn hot!  They could’ve turned the heat off with that many people there for 2 games!  I think you had to park in Reid’s parking lot at SJU.  It’s for freshmen and of course the farthest from anything!  We parked in the staff lot right across the street by Reid’s advice!  🙂  We’re headed down to the X today to cool off.  Casey V told me last night Reid was on the jumbotron a bunch so we thought we might as well go see it. 🙂  I think Hermantown can give Breck a run for their money.  They have 13 seniors Breck 12.  If you do watch the game today Reid’s goal is a short-handed game winner.  Reid runs into the boards and has his arms in the air after.  He’s number 6.  The other one is with him and Joe lifting the trophy.  He’s the one on the right with the taped (broken) wrist.  They showed both a bunch yesterday.  I know you don’t care about Breck but wanted you to at least know who Reid is.:) 

Did you watch the Minnetonka Hail Mary game?  Wow didn’t get over until a little after Midnight.  Glad Minnetonka won! Damn private schools! 🙂  Actually Max Gardner from Minnetonka is a friend with us.  He is going to the Gophers.  His brother Jake played with Reid on a summer team and plays for Wis.  They are both huge boys who will play in the NHL.  Jake was drafted very high.  I’m sure Max will be too.  They have a log cabin across the lake from us but it really isn’t a cabin.  (Way bigger than our house.)  His Dad is coming up this next week to go fishing with John. 

Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for Alexandria sports teams! GO CARDS!

Marnee’

[Editor’s note:  And yes, we were surprised to get home last night to find the Minnetonka (No. 1 seed in class AA) – Hill-Murray hockey game was still going.  It was in the 2nd OT.  Try as I might to stay awake, I was pooped and dropped off after shortly after my head hit the pillow.  For inquiring minds, Minnetonka won 2-1 in the 4th OT.  And yes, Hermantown should be able to give Breck a game.]

[March 16, 2010]  Cards girls’ basketball

The final analysis from Coach Wendy Kohler, below, is right on point.  Until you get to that final stat, you would’ve thought the Cards won handily.  I thought all year there were two things that could hurt the team down the road:  1) shooting (strange in basketball, and for a team that was one of the highest scoring teams in the state; and 2) lack of bulk.   It seemed that everything Sartell threw up there went in, particularly 3’s!  The Cards again missed a lot of bunnies – and a lot of those came after offensive rebounds where, because of lack of bulk, they were unable to put it back up and in through all the traffic underneath.  And a lot of times the Cards would go for the spectacular when the routine would have worked just fine.  But they were fun to watch – a shame they won’t be able to put in on display for a statewide audience.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Alexandria 62 Sartell 64 OVERTIME

Section 8AAA Finals

The Cardinals fell to the Sabres in overtime on Friday night at St. Johns University 62-64.  What a heartbreaker to end such a successful season. The game was tied 7 times and the lead changed 12 times throughout the contest as the Cards bowed to the Sabres in OT.  All week we focused on rebounding as the Sabres have pounded everyone on the boards and we won that category out rebounding them 45-27. We also forced the Sabres into 29 turnovers and scored a whopping 31 points off their turnovers.  We had some key turnovers of our own that opened the door a crack for the Sabres to force OT where they eventually seized the win.  It was a tough loss to swallow as at stake was a berth in the State Tournament. Scoring for the Cardinals was Angela Christianson with 27, Gracie Bruzek 11, Sam Trumm 9, Alli Haar and Lauren Trumm 6, and Kate Gearman 3. Haarsy led on the boards with 10, Sambo 8, AC 6, and 5 for Lauren Trumm, KG, and Woody.  Gracie Bruzek dished out 6 assists and played on fantastic floor game pushing tempo and setting the offense for the Cards. Ang C. recorded 5 steals for the Cardinals. The game boiled down to shooting percentage as well as the Cards usually shoot much better but only shot 36% and the Sabres shot 52% from the field.  It was a very fun season for the Cards and coaching staff as we finished 22-6 overall and won the CLC Championship with a 16-2 record in the Conference.  The Cardinals will graduate 4 seniors that have put Alex Basketball back on the radar with their skills, hard work and dedication to the game and program.  We thank them very much for everything and their parents as well.  They are Allie Thul, Gracie Bruzek, Angela Christianson, and Kate Gearman.  Special thanks to the band, cheerleaders, students, parents and all of the fans that have supported us all season with their attendance and encouragement everyday!  What a fantastic crowd we had a St. Johns as well!

Go Cards!

[Maggie Leland in the Resorters.]

[June 19, 2010]  Minnesota girls’ high school golf tournament

Give ‘em heck, Tom.  I was thrilled to see an Alex girl win the tournament.  What a bunch of great young athletes come out Alex.  Watching the Open right now.  Going to be interesting, eh?  ~ From my cousin Barb Arrell in St. Paul, a winner of the Minnesota state amateur golf tournament and the Resorters

[June 16, 2010]  Minnesota girls’ high school golf tournament

I sent the following e-mail to the Minneapolis paper yesterday, basically giving them the ole verbal raspberry.  Maggie backed me up – by shooting a 74 yesterday and a “69” (4-under) today at Bunker Hills, she was individual champion by 5 shots!  [Photo from the Echo.]

[Maggie at state.]

[June 15, 2010]  Alex’s Maggie Leland has been ranked No. 1 in the state all year, for all classes.  And she’s not considered a contender?

[July 16, 2010 – for Sue & Ted Justice.]

[September 3, 2010]  WHATTA GAME!!

As a one-day early birthday present for the Cub Reporter, the Alexandria Cardinals defeated the Willmar Cardinals tonight, 22 – 21, in what was most surely one of the more bizarre games I have ever seen.  Our Cards scored first after a situation I can no longer recall – I think it may have come after an interception – and it required only a very short scoring drive.  We went for two.  I knew then we probably had a kicker problem.  We didn’t make it.

Willmar totally controlled the rest of the first half.  Our Cards had 22 TOTAL yards.  Our defense was on the field the whole half.  Willmar had a sophomore quarterback with the poise of Tom Brady.  He ran multiple pro-style sets with multiple plays.  He threw short, he threw long, he threw screens, he ran out of trouble, he led Willmar to a 21 – 6 halftime lead.  Alex looked badly overmatched.  Alex has two plays – run right, run left.  Most of the runs resulted in little if any gains.  We knew Alex had a totally inexperienced offensive line and they looked it.  Sometimes it seemed a Willmar defensive lineman would take the Alex hand-off before the halfback would even get there.  The only good news was that after their first offensive series, Willmar could no longer run against Alex either.

I’m an admitted fair weather fan.  Ruthie & I talked about leaving at the half.  It was a blustery, uncomfortable day.  But by halftime the wind had settled and it was turning into a nice evening.  So we stayed.  Alex received the 2nd half kickoff, ran three plays for little yardage and punted again.  We wished we had left.  Willmar moved the ball a bit, but Alex stopped them.  I believe it was on the next series that the whole momentum of the game changed.

We knew Alex had two good experienced running backs – if they could just get a crease.  Finally, Parker Giroux broke free for about a 47 yard run (he also played great defensive back, particularly in the 2nd half).  Alex didn’t score on that drive, but the run had set a new tone.  The Alex Cards had a little more life in their step.  They stopped Willmar again.  On the next series, Michael Joerger broke off a 50-yard run for a TD – a two-point conversion made it 21 – 14.  Then with 2:46 remaining on the game, one of the few Alex passes hit Joerger running free straight up the middle, and he continued on for a 70-yard TD play.  The crowd went crazy!  Absent a kicker (apparently), the Cards went for two and the lead.  Stuffed!  Behind by one with little time left.  Then the play of the year (OK, it’s early) . . .

Willmar anticipating an on-side kick had ten men playing way up and one guy about half way back.  Alex kicked away.  The ball came to rest on about the one-inch line.  The poor Willmar kid picked it up and kneeled in the end zone.  We all shouted “SAFETY.”  Sure enough, it was.  Alex had a 22 – 21 lead.  Though I thought Alex had some questionable clock management at the end, our Cards hung on for the victory.

I’m glad we stayed!

[September 10, 2010]  Cards win!

The day dawned with a beautiful sunrise over Lake Cowdry (on my way to the Y for the morning walk).  The 2nd home game of the year – parent’s night.  Roger “One-in-a-Row” Riley and I provided debut coverage by the Super Fans.  I was delighted to do so as I was thus able to avoid a political meeting Ruthie had to attend.

The game was a half hour late getting started – the JV1 game went long, plus the pre-game festivities.  A big conference rivalry game v. the dreaded Brainerd Warriors.  Because there were also JV1 and JV2 games, Brainerd had a large fan base of squeaky, high-pitched voices from the JV teams . . . and Roger and I were sitting right next to that (oy!).  So, there was a continuous battle of which side (Alex high school boys, with girls’ basketball star, Ally Haar, right in the middle of them all – don’t know I missed her in that fan photo, she’s 6′ tall?) could make the most noise.  We highlighted in the team photos captain Sam Trumm (No. 4) and libero Shanee’ Herd (No. 6) because we know their parents – I think all recognize Sam is our star player (in basketball as well), and Shanee’, though only a sophomore, has been playing on the varsity hockey team since she was a 7th-grader.

So, anyway.  The opening serve by Brainerd (captured in mid-air by photo-journalist Obert) inexplicable fell in for a point for the Warriors.  But the Card led most of the game until Brainerd caught them late – the Cards hung on for a tough 26-24 1st game win.  The Cards played well and won the 2nd game handily, 25-16.  The situation seemed well in hand.  If the Cards did not make serving errors (apparently a problem since season’s beginning) and made good sets for Sam to kill, they seemed the better team.  The game had taken an hour to play to that point, so I had to run to meet Ruthie at SAWA for the Funky Gumbo Trio (who were just great, as usual).  I left Roger by himself to bring home the victory.

I saw this morning that Brainerd won the 3rd game by 2 points, and Alex won the 4th game by 2 points!  If Roger stayed until the end, he must have been there until midnight!  The Cards are a very young team – only 2 senior played significant minutes last night.  So I’m sure we’ll have fun watching them grow during the season.

[September 13, 2010]  Cardinal Athletic Supporters

A new season has begun.  The Cardinal football team is off to 2 – 0 start, with an unexpectedly easy 24 – 0 victory at St. Cloud Tech last Friday.  I think this has to be a bit of a surprise considering they lost almost all of the starting offense from last year’s 9 – 2 team.  And the volleyball team, after a tough start against top-ranked competition, is beginning to show they will be a talented team – they are very young with, I believe, only two seniors in the normal rotation right now.

But to understand where we are going, we have to look back at where we have been.  (Does that have a proper degree of “heavyosity,” as Woody Allen would say?)  Last year was a great year for the Cards.  We had individual state champions in golf (Maggie Leland), the long jump (Rosey Erickson), and the 1,600 (Jamie Piepenburg).  The girls’ and boys’ hockey teams both went to the state tournaments, the girls’ volleyball team went to the state tournament, the girls’ golf team went to the state tournament, Rosey (also 3rd in the 200m and 7th in the 100 (as I recall)) and Jamie (also 2nd in the 3,200) almost carried the Cards to a state track title, the football team came within one yard of sending the section final into OT, the girls’ basketball team lost the section final in OT.

So, there were a lot of highlights.  What to select for the lead-off issue?  How about Wendy Kohler’s girls’ basketball season during which she got her 400th career win with the Cards (look out, Pat Summitt)!  The attached photos of Coach Kohler’s season are courtesy of Greg and Val Trumm (thanks again to them).  After years of great relationships with hockey moms (well, at least from my perspective), the Trumm’s introduce us to sports in which their daughters, Sam (volleyball, basketball) and Lauren (basketball, softball), participate.  Both Sam and Lauren played on last year’s team – a team I thought was probably as athletic and entertaining as any in the state.  But stuff happens.  And although the team loses both starting guards and possibly the most talented basketball player ever to play for Alex, Sam and Lauren will be back and the Cards will be good again.  [Editor’s note: Turns out to have been a great call!  🙂 ]  But I get ahead of myself.

Got an e-mail today from a classmate who lives in the Bay Area in California.  She was here this summer for our 45th class reunion.  She said she will be back here on the weekend of October 15 and was wondering if the Cards had a home football game then (they do, Little Falls).  If so, she wanted to join the “Super Fans” at the game – and then go to Osterberg’s after the game!

[March 6, 2010]  ANOTHER TEAM TO STATE!! Alexandria – 4, Sartell – 1

It all began with a sense of paranoia that only comes from being “the little town on the prairie.”  Last year in the section finals, against a Little Falls team that was playing for its 5th straight trip to the state tournament, the MAC in St. Cloud sold out and many parents were not able to get in to see the game.  They unfortunately missed what was later described as the greatest hockey game of all time – an OT victory by the dreaded Flyers over our Cards.  So this year, apparently to alleviate a repeat of last year’s “difficulties,” tickets were put on sale from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, then the ticket office was closed until 6:00 pm, an hour before game time.  Since Sartell fans can throw a stick and hit the MAC, we assumed they would go and gobble up all the tickets during the day – who from Alex would be able to go to St. Cloud hours before game time just to buy tickets?  Well, the Super Fans.  Joyce and Dave Rogosheske led an advance party with Ruthie and me, and we were able to get tickets for the 12 Super Fans going to the game.  We then all met up at Anton’s for pre-game dining, strategizing, and ticket distribution.  As it turned out, Alex and Sartell appeared to have similar sized fan bases in the SRO crowd.

This year the Cards went into the tournament as the No. 1 seed – the previous games against Sartell ended in a 5-5 tie and a 4-1 win for the Cards.  In three of the last four years, the Cards had lost the section finals to Little Falls – but now the Hanowsky dynasty was finally over for the Flyers.  The karma looked good.

The Cards started fast and had the better of the play for the 1st half of the period – and Thomas Williams got an early goal on a beautiful passing play to put the Cards up 1-0.  A couple of penalties on the Cards changed momentum – the Sabres had the better of the play through the end of the 2nd period.  They got a goal to tie the game in the 2nd period.  Finally, in the Cards fans’ minds, the Sabres were called for their one and only penalty in the game, and the Cards got a power play goal from Ashton Gronholz.  The Cards led 2-1 after the 2nd period, though the Sabres probably had a 10 shots-on-goal advantage.  As President Donley noted at the time, an early goal in the 3rd period be either team would be telling.

26 seconds into the 3rd period, the Sabres turned it over, and Ashton went in solo and put a little flip backhand in over the falling goalie.  Everyone on both sides pretty much recognized that was the game.  The Cards were now juiced, the Sabres a bit deflated, and the Cards were in control the rest of the game, getting another goal from Thomas.  Sophomore goalie Erich Murphy had a terrific game – keeping the Cards in it from the last half of the 1st period and all through the 2nd.

So now the Cards, and the Super Fans (again!), are off to the XCel Center in St. Paul for the state tournament beginning Wednesday!  Oh, and weather permitting (after a couple of weeks of beautiful sunny weather, freezing rain is in the forecast today), we’ll head back to St. Cloud tonight to see the girls basketball team in the section semi-finals.  The following videos are of the player introductions and the final minute of the game:

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBWkxB5mi9k

[March 6, 2010]  Boys’ hockey tournament pairings II

Lest we forget, our boys started the year 7-5-1 – and ended 21-6-1.  We ended the season 14-1 – that one loss was 4-3 at Moorhead when we spotted them a 4-0 1st period lead as we were recovering from jet lag.  The Spuds, incidentally, lost their section AA final, 2-1, to Roseau.

[Pardon the interruption.  As we were about to repair to the winery for Skilly & Duff, a huge roar was heard inside the house.  A foot of snow slid off the roof and covered the entire slab in front of the garage door.  A half hour of shoveling heart attack snow has cleared the way for escape!]

Here I’ve “borrowed” some photos from the Echo Press – of Kirby Nelson (No. 6) and Aaron Rentchler (No. 12), defensemen, in the Willmar game; of Shanee’ Herd (40) and Alyssa Haugen (8) in the state tournament game v. So. St. Paul; and Angela Christianson and Cara Wood (5) firing up some roundballs against Rocori.

[March 7, 2010]  Super Fan Photo Attached

Dear Tom and Ruth,

Thank you so much for supporting Alexandria Girls’ Hockey as Super Fans! My girls just love it when you are all cheering in the crowds.  🙂  I have attached that picture I took of your crew at the EXCEL Energy Center. It’s awesome! By the way, could you get me Joyce and Dave Rogosheske’s address? My girls wrote thank yous to the Super Fans, but I couldn’t find Rogosheske’s address in the phone book. Take care!

~ Chris Kragenbring

[March 8, 2010]  Boy’s hockey tournament pairings II

Hi folks,

Thanks again for all the pictures and keeping us in the loop…we left for Florida after the girls’ tournament (Michelle Anez’s first plane ride) and returned last night.
We are excited the boys are going to state!!  Plan on being a “super fan” and going down on Wednesday…
 
~ Jeanne Nielsen

[March 12, 2010]  OMG, HOCKEY’S OVER!

So, we headed out at oh-dark-thirty yesterday morning, in the fog and rain, for the consolation game at Mariucci Arena on the U of M campus.  [Two weeks of beautiful, sunny, above-freezing weather followed by this week of rain has put a real dent in the snow cover.  We now have exposed areas of grass in the yard for the first time since November.]   Consolation games between two outstate teams on a Thursday morning don’t exactly pack the stands.  Anyway, our Cards were taking on Virginia/Mountain Iron/Buhl in the 1st consolation game of the day.  VMIB lost the previous day to highly regarded, and No. 3 seed (with a 25-3 record), Hermantown, by a very respectable 2-1 score – so we knew it would be a tough game.

Entering the arena, our first game ever at Mariucci, the gold standard for men’s college hockey, we ran across our cheerleaders expressing their admiration for certain members of our team.  Then we again ran into the family Williams – here Abby (wearing her state championship sweatshirt) and her older brother, James, discuss the finer points of backchecking with Vivian as the game was about to begin.  The game began with the Cards hair on fire . . .

Within a couple of minutes, both Casey Vangsness and Ashton Gronholz scored – and we had several other good chances.  It looked like a blow out.  But that early push spent most of the rocket fuel, and VMIB began to find their way.  The momentum began to turn and VMIB was able to counter the Cards opening two goals to tie the game, 2-2, at the end of the period.  In the 2nd period, the Cards played like they were still in energy recovery mode – VMIB scored on a power play to take a 3-2 lead into the final period.

The Cards came out juiced again in the 3rd and carried the play to the Blue Devils.  Several good scoring chances were turned away by their goalie as the Cards continually buzzed their net.  Finally, sophomore forward, Garrett Skinner, soloed between two Blue Devil defenders and put a beautiful wrist shot in the upper right hand corner and the game was tied.  The momentum was all with Alex now, and we all thought they were certainly going to find a way to win.  The Cards controlled the play down to less than three minutes to play.  The Cards put another flurry of shots toward the Blue Devil goal, but then, as so often happens, a long rebound led to a break out by VMIB.  They put a shot on goal – and then somehow put the rebound through a pile of bodies and into the net.  The Cards lost 4-3.

We came away with a totally biased belief that though the Cards lost both games, they were no worse than the 5th best team of the 8 in the tournament.  We certainly had the better of the play against VMIB and were better than the other two teams in the consolation bracket.  But such is how it goes – they had a great season.

As usual (well, most of the time), we capped off the season with Bob and Viv at Vescio’s (they’ve remodeled the downstairs bathrooms!) in Dinkytown – a several block walk from the Arena and we were soaked puppies by the time we got there.  Nothing like a fine Chianti to warm the cockles of our hearts.

Oh, and for the locals, we were able to get back to our regular schedule again last night – Thursdays at SAWA.  The entire Douglas County music scene was represented – as well as Donnacha and Holly O’Connor.  Now there’s a couple happy to have hockey season come to an end – with just two girls (and a 3rd soon) playing hockey at the U-10 and U-8 levels, they were making nine trips weekly to the hockey arena.

[Erratum:  The editor must fess up to never having done a “piece” on the first game of the state tournament – v. Mahtomedi.  We lost.  They had a superstar defenseman.  All I can offer are some pre- and post-game photographic evidence, as follows.  1) The Dittberners meet a family member at the “X” – from Mahtomedi!  2) The Super Fans run into our hero, Abby Williams;  3) Stephanie Sahli, former hockey cheerleader and CEO of the AGC beverage cart was there and was photoed with Robo; 4) On the ice at the “X”; and 5) Post-game nosh at Mort’s where we were met by the HQ:

Tom:

Kudos to you and your excellent reporting on Alexandria high school hockey (both boys and girls). You have me a real hockey fan again even though I haven’t attended a live hockey game since I attended many Pittsburgh Penguin games at the “Igloo” during their Stanley Cup victories in the early 1990s (it was less than an hours drive from Youngstown, Ohio).

Thanks again for bringing back great memories.  Just wait ’til next year, right?

Regards, Dave

[February 25, 2010]  Cards win conference!

With a 65 – 28 victory over Rocori tonight, the Card girl basketballers won the conference with a 16 – 2 record.  They will open section play on Tuesday at home against the very same Spartans.  It was nice to see, though I don’t know if they saw me, recently anointed Super Fans and high school classmates, Ruth Helie and Vonita Johnson, at the game.  Also saw Laura McCoy – Larry, didn’t see?  Dusty showed and said he and Joy will be at the “X” tomorrow for the hockey game.

So, till then – more stuff from yesterday and today.  We had the “Cardinal” eyeing Robo; and Mark Meuwissen and son Ryan holding a sign for all the seniors, including their daughter/sister, Beth Rindy, No. 16.  At Ridder today, Super Fan Bob ran across a New Ulm fan and borrowed the photo of the goalie for this photo – Bob was “educated” at New Ulm Nunnery getting his ears boxed by the sisters.  The Ridder wall had photos of Gophers and former Gophers who are Olympians – including Finland’s goalie.  We got home just in time to see the Finns beat Sweden in OT for the bronze medal in women’s hockey – the usually stolid Finns had a crazy celebration, it was fun to watch.  We laughed when we reviewed the Olympic team jerseys on display – the Canadian and Finland jerseys were “Made in Indonesia,” the USA jersey was “Made in Canada” – go figure!

Finally, I was thinking we paid $12 each to see the New Ulm – Hutchinson girls hockey game.  Didn’t give it a second thought.  I can’t think of any pro sports events I’d pay $12.00 to see (OK, maybe the Twins, occasionally).

[Editor’s note:  I just delete the bad reviews.]  Tom . . . many thanks for including me in your sports recap. Did you miss your calling in life?  Great job!  – Jon 

Hi,  Finally went to see the basketball team I have been hearing about all season.  Couldn’t shake Larry loose.  Not many outstate girls teams get to have three six foot girls on the starting lineup.  Jack and Jenny Trumm are deservedly proud of those grandgirls….Laura

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home!

A new personal record – though, no doubt, some would consider it of dubious distinction.  Five games in two days!  Nine games in four days!  This may be beyond any achievement by Basketball Dan.  As I recall, it went something like this:

Wednesday

Warroad v. Chisago Lakes, girls hockey in St. Paul;

Alexandria v. Faribault, girls hockey in St. Paul

Thursday

New Ulm v. Hutchinson, girls hockey in Minneapolis;

Alexandria v. Rocori, girls basketball in Alexandria

Friday

Breck v. So. St. Paul, girls hockey in St. Paul;

Alexandria v. Warroad, girls hockey in St. Paul;

Augsburg v. Gustavus Adolphus, womens hockey in Minneapolis;

Saturday

Alexandria v. So. St. Paul, girls hockey in St. Paul;

Alexandria v. Willmar, boys hockey in Alexandria

We finally came home to check mail and do laundry.  And during all that, we somehow found time niches to watch most of the Canada-USA Olympic hockey game, which showed the amazing level the sport has now achieved; the final minutes of what we knew would be a great final between Warroad and Breck for the class A state title (Warroad, by 3 – 1, with empty netter); and all of the girls class AA hockey game won by Roseville, 4 – 0, over Edina.  To Crazy Dave, who queried as to the venue, the games were at the XCel Center, home of the Minnesota Wild and generally considered the best arena in the country for any sport (consolation games were at Ridder Arena on the U of M campus, where Bob Annen met friends from New Ulm).  Girls hockey still doesn’t draw, but it’s getting better – such as Brother Cam are catching on.  The girls draw maybe 4 – 5,000 per session at the “X,” the boys tournament in a couple of weeks will fill the place at 20,000.

So, last things first.  We drove back from the Cities yesterday after the girls 9:00 am 3rd place game, dropped Bob off at the Annen abode (he’d had enough!), and Ruthie, Vivian and I went on to the RCC for the boys hockey game.  Ruthie & Viv still had enough lung power for cheering.  We met a good contingent of Card fans at the game – John and Annetta Knowles (actually scouting for Hermantown, where there grandson plays), Robo, Dusty, the Hoymster, Scarby, Jim Pohl, and Paige Scarby and friend to be named later.  Ruthie had to phone the game’s progress to Teddy Hockey, who with Sue, was down with Danielle for game 2 of the Augsburg – Gustavus match-up.

Reports from those who know were that Willmar’s goalie was the best in the state, so it figured to be a tough, low scoring game.  The Cards scored first on a goal by sophomore Jordan Domine, only his 4th of the year, but his 3rd in the last two games!  Then Casey Vangsness scored and the Cards had a 2 – 0 lead after the second period.  But, as the old hockey saying goes, a 2-goal lead is the hardest lead to hold.  So, early in the 3rd, the Cards had a fall down turnover in their own zone and Willmar closed to 2 – 1.  Then the Cards had back-to-back penalties called and had to fight off a 5-on-3 situation for over a minute and a half – somehow during the time, the Cards had the best scoring opportunity on a break out by Ross Thompson.  After surviving the short-handed situation, the Cards settled back in and eventually got a 3rd goal, by Thomas Williams (his 35th of the season, I believe 5th highest in the state), and the Cards won 3 – 1.

The section final will be at the MAC on Friday v. Sartell, a 2 – 1 winner over Fergus last night.  The Super Fan caravan will leave early for a nosh at Anton’s, but we have to get to the arena early.  As I recall, they turned away people last year when capacity was reached.

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home! Part II

An aside.  It’s tough to admit, but many (i.e., not the women) of we Super Fans are in the autumn of our years (hopefully, not the early winter!).  And it’s at that age where we, as a society, often face the task of becoming our parents.  Life performs a reversal.

Similarly, this past week brought to mind that an entirely different group has replaced the sports heroes of our youths -the Harmon Killebrews, the Fran Tarkentons, the Bobby Bells, et al -.  Our sports heroes now are the likes of Abby Williams; Nikki Ecklund; Danielle Justice; Alison, Andrea, and Sara Toft; and Brittney Bruzek – all Cardinal hockey alums.  And this week we got a chance to see them all again, much to our delights!

Abby and Nikki (the centers on our state championship team) were at the “X” to watch this year’s team in the state tournament – and to have their pictures taken with Ted Justice, a/k/a Teddy Hockey, the proud father of Danielle, the goalie on that championship team.  Then, with the Annens, we went to the Augsburg Ice Arena, to see the Division III game between the Auggies and Gustavus – great hockey to watch, but the Gusties are ranked 8th nationally and won 5 – 0.  Danielle plays goalie for the Gusties (standing lonely in goal – waiting for others to send after game photos of her with the group) – and Sara (No. 19) and Andrea (No. 11) were playing their final home game for the Auggies.  Photo of them after the game, with father John in background, and older sister Alison (sorry about the cutoff) on the right.  We also saw Brittney at the game – I think Viv got photos.  And finally, Abby was at the Alex boys home hockey game yesterday, with Paige Scarborough, to see her younger brother Thomas perform.

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home! Part III

OK, “the readership” is clamoring for results at the state tournament.  But it’s hard to sort through thousands of photos, hundreds of videos, and then try to do a semi-coherent narrative.  But, we’ll try.

We played the No. 1 seed, Warroad, in the semis.  Warroad was thought to be the best team in the state all year – regardless of class.  We played them even in the 1st period, down just 1 – 0.  Then they opened the 2nd period on a roll – scored three very early goals and it was all over (Teddy Hockey mentioned their coach must have told them between periods if they didn’t play better, they were going back to Canada!  Ha!  Apparently, they only do have 4 players who are actually from Warroad, but such is the state of big time high school athletics now.)  Anyway, they are very good.  The Cards did get the opportunity to play everyone in a state tournament game in a 10 – 0 loss.

The 3rd place game @ 9:00 am on Saturday morning against So. St. Paul was going to be a more competitive game.  The Packers scored on two of their first 3 shots for a 2 – 0 lead.  The game was evenly played from then on – and with the right bounces, the Cards could have won.  They lost 4 – 1 (the Packers got an empty netter at the end).

The team was very disappointed at the end.  To their credit, when they requested the captains come forward for the 4th place trophy, they all leaped happily into the air and were proud of their achievements.  They stayed on the ice in response to the fans for photos – collapsing into giggles as a team – then the seniors went out for more photos.  They had a good year.  And with 16 sophomores or younger on the team, they should be competitive again next year.

The videos are of the team intros for the Warroad game.  And then the fans gathered at the entrance for when they appeared for the start of the 3rd period against So. St. Paul – Ruthie & Viv were right in the middle of it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De27FWXDvOI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0IQBJweTc

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home! (Addendum)

OK, I get an incomplete on the boys game.  I forgot to mention that we all thought the defensemen all had great games.  Zack Shuck, Kirby Nelson, Zach Van Orsdel, Aaron Rentschler, and Scott Hennen are all very mobile and capable of caring the puck from end to end on solo rushes – they all did it often in this game.  We were also impressed with the young 3rd line, which had a great game.  The Cards have balance and depth that we hope will carry them a long way.  6’3″ sophomore goalie, Erich Murphy, continues to improve at just the right time.

This also gives us the opportunity to pass along our favorite sign from the tourney.  From the So. St. Paul student section in their game against Breck – a representation of the public school v. private school (“cashmere sweater, camel hair coat”) animus.  Ha!

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home! Part IV

I think we’re down to the photos only part of the program.  Here are various fan scenes – from the Super Fans to the hockey moms (who were wearing their daughters home jerseys – there was some debate among the moms as to whether the daughters had washed them first!).

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home! Part V

OK, mostly for the “scrappers.”  But for the snowbirds, we had great weather all week – sunny and around 30.  Same forecast for all this week, with maybe 40’s by the end of the week!  Time to dust off the golf clubs??

[February 28, 2010]  Hi! We’re home! Part VI

This may be the end (I heard that!) – at least until I am a recipient from other “photojournalists,” such as Sue Justice at the Gusty-Auggie game; her parents, Jerry and Millie; the Toft and Justice hockey parents; and “waiting for our Cards!”