alexandriacardinals

There is also an “I” in “me,” which is where we begin our story. Yesterday morning as I trundled off to the gym, the wind chill was 42 below zero. Although Cinnamon Edge sits in a nice, warm garage all night, by the time I had completed the 2-mile drive to the gym it felt like I was driving on square tires. I begin what I laughingly refer to as my exercise program by shooting free throws. My record, from a couple of months ago, had been 17 in a row, and it had only been threatened a couple of times. Before the chill had gone off my body (proving once again that I really am a winter kind of a guy), I made 22 in a row, setting a new record for 63-year old, bald, fat guys from the SW side of beautiful Lake Darling. Is 30 in the future (I don’t recall ever doing that as a kid), or am I just setting myself up for heartbreak? But it was a good sign for the evening’s festivities where . . .

Our Cardinal girls’ basketball team hosted the Little Falls Flyers. The Cards were coming off two tough, close losses to their major competition – Fergus and Sartell (and we’ll get ‘em both next time!). We set a new record for Super Fans at a girls basketball game with the Nelsons, the Rileys, and Dusty – and I had a nice visit prior to the game with high school classmate, Ruth Helie Anderson, who was astute enough to agree with my team analysis that we’re darn good! Little Falls had a nice team – as we kept commenting during the game – with a tough 6’2” lefty center and an all-around good player closing in on 1,000 points for her career. But the Card defense is just too tough. Although the final score was 64-38, it seemed closer than that – the Card defense gets so many points you forget they are pulling away.

The Trumm sisters led the way – I believe Lauren had 21, and she does it so quietly because it’s always within the flow of the game. Sam had 17, I believe, and Joie was also in double figures. Alli, as noted in the following video, had 5 of the team’s first 7 points. I think she only scored two more because . . .

We were commenting throughout the game how well the team was passing. If they dodn’t have a fast break, they were very patient on offense until they had an open cutter inside. And they had some beautiful ball movement setting up easy scores. We sometimes think they are too unselfish and should shoot more. In the case of Alli last night, it seemed like she decided I’m going to rack up some assists tonight. For all her other skills, she is probably best as a passer – a point forward. She’s tall enough to see over the defense and can whip passes around to all corners of the court. I do not know how many assists the team had last night, but it seemed like every basket came on an a nice pass.

So, here’s the game’s opening 5 minute video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tM02MrFbxw

Tonight, our girls hockey team, always looking for someone their own size to pick on, is hosting Fargo South, 1,600 students (2,100 with freshmen)! We’ll be there for board-to-board coverage.

And a reminder to local musiuc fans. Matt Veline (Ruthie’s other boyfriend) is at the winery from 2 – 6:00 today:

[p.s.  We’re back to shoveling snow.  We got about 3″ inches of below zero snow yesterday – meaning it was incredibly dry and light and immediately packed into glaze ice on the roadways.  [Ken Howell recently did a round trip to Sioux Falls.  He said the roads were miserable all the way – he was exhausted when he got home.]  The supervisor had been house bound all week with a bad cold – she ventured out for the first time yesterday to shovel, because that is what she does.  Still double digits below zero this morning as I headed out, shoveling the slab first.  The following shots are from this morning.  On the latter, from Centennial Lane shooting south toward the city, you can still see the smoke from yesterday’s big SunOpta fire some 30 hours later (check Echo Press or KSAX websites).  It seems bitterly cold weather always produces a major fire.]

[“Moonrise Over Beautiful Lake Darling”  – January 19, 2011.  OK, this has nothing to do with the following article.  The supervisor just happened to point out it was there.]

The boys’ hockey team beat River Lakes 4-2 at the RCC last night. I didn’t go. The supervisor is under the weather so I felt compelled to remain at home with her and be a general nuisance. We did watch The Hurt Locker on On Demand, so now we understand why it won the Oscar for best picture. I have no particulars on the game, particularly.

The girls’ hockey team ventured to River Lakes last night and came away with a 3-3 tie. The Cards had a 3-1 lead after two periods. Earlier in the year, they owned the 3rd period, but during this losing streak the 3rd period has not been so good. They just have to learn how to win again. I am attaching recently received photos of the 2008 state champs for inspiration. They should use it as such because they are an overall better skating team than the championship team. Nevertheless, a tie, on the road, against a conference and class AA opponent isn’t chopped liver (or glazed meat loaf with garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, or corned beef and cabbage with soda bread, or lemon meringue pie, or a reuben with fries and strawberry pie, or . . . errr, please excuse me, I’m trying to diet and these words just leapt into my head).

The road trip that could have been – with the supervisor in good health, with clear roads, with traveling partners for a pre-game nosh at Anton’s – was to Sartell to see the unbeaten Sabres girls’ basketball team host our Cards. Sounds every bit as exciting as I knew it would be. Sartell has a 6’5” player and a couple of good 3-point shooters. But they apparently were every bit as discombobulated (now there’s a word you don’t see in print everyday) by the Cards defense as everybody else. The game went into OT. Lauren Trumm, our do everything player, fouled out so did not play the end of regulation or the OT. Coach Kohler said there were three calls against “LT” down the stretch that even left the Sartell fans scratching their heads. Well, you can tell by the those last two sentences the Cards lost 55-53 – still a great showing against an undefeated and ranked (2nd in the state?) team on their court. From the St. Cloud newspaper (big game for Ms. Haar):

“They (the Cardinals) are just so long,” Sartell head coach Katie Martin said. “They tip everything and they’re so active. Their posts are really active and tough. It really took us a while to adjust.”
Alexandria led 14-6 midway through the first half. That was the biggest lead either team would have. Sartell’s biggest lead was four.
ALEXANDRIA — Ali Haar 17 (14 rebounds, 6 steals), Joie Warnes 6 (5 rebounds), Cara Wood 4 (10 assists, 2 steals), Sam Trumm 6 (10 rebounds), Lauren Trumm 12 (6 rebounds, 4 steals), Whitney Gesell 8, Brianna Ebert 0.

[Coach Kohler, from the Trumm files, @ Willmar on the 4th.]

“Hockey mom is a term widely used in Canada and northern U.S. states in which mothers (and fathers) often take their children to ice hockey rinks. The first article in The New York Times that used “hockey mom” as a demographic term was a 1999 review of the Chevrolet Silverado, a full-size pickup truck. In the article, the truck is described as a “smooth and gutsy” vehicle that “ought to please everyone from hockey mom to cattle hauler”.” – Wikipedia
“Soccer moms get to attend their children’s games in the great outdoors, often in warm sunshine. Hockey moms rise early, in the dark morning hours of a winter Saturday or Sunday, and drive their hockey-playing children to an ice rink in time for an 8:00 am game, which occurs indoors, under the dim lights of cold hockey rinks.” – Dan Rodicks, Baltimore Sun

A mere short while ago I offered the “tease” of a story about hockey moms. This morning when I went to the gym it was 3 below zero, when I came out of the gym it was a bright, sun shiny day and the temperature was 9 below zero, tonight it is forecast to reach 20 below zero, and by Thursday it will be 30 below zero. So, the weather is conducive to the rendering of this subject material.

<img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-471″ title=”12-1-09-3″ src=”https://alexandriacardinals.blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/12-1-09-3.jpg”

I began above with a couple of definitions of “hockey mom.”  As you can see it is a relatively recent term but was on the scene well before the arrival of Sarah Palin.  In fact, it pretty much coincides with the onset of girls’ hockey.  Not that dad’s aren’t interested in their hockey-playing daughters – they are, passionately – but there is a special relationship between mother and daughter here.  Aside from the “normal” mother-daughter bond, today’s hockey moms were first generation Title IXers – they want to see their daughters excel in the sports programs they pioneered.

I first encountered hockey moms, and the term, in 2003.  For several games I was the only fan sitting in the “home adult” section of the hockey arena (at least I qualified for the “home” part).  There eventually came a time when the hockey moms figured I might be safe to approach – they had never seen anybody other than immediate family at the girls’ games.  Apparently they determined I was harmless enough. I then started convincing other local retirees there were better things to do on winter weeknights in Minnesota than staying home watching re-runs of CSI: Ashtabula, Ohio.  The Super Fans were born – and the hockey moms looked out for us.  We are now on about our 3^rd generation of hockey mom, and they still can’t believe we attend games absent blood-relatives on the teams.  But we long ago advised all that the entire teams are our “granddaughters.”

Hockey moms invite us to banquets, fundraisers, offer to drive us to away games, and include us on the yearbook list.  All we can do in return is offer our expertise – acquired through years of experience – at fine dining.  The team has spoiled us through the years by regularly making the state tournament.  That means many road trips and the Super Fans excel at finding, and advising all, on where we’re going to eat on those trips!

Hockey moms are tough!  I had no idea – but should have known by watching their daughters.  With opening of the new Y, I discovered I regularly exercise (or what I call exercise – I try hard not to sweat or to go into oxygen debt) at the same time as several hockey moms.  They work out in what the senior men call “The Torture Room.”  With each walking lap (on days we’re going counter-clockwise), we seniors can look in “The Torture Room” with admiration, awe, and sometimes, horror!  The programs therein are labeled “Boot Camp,” Spinning” (ride a stationary bike as fast as you can until it falls apart), “Boogie Till You P*ke,” and “Thr*wing Up is Fun To Do.”  We have seen them carry Navy Seals out of that room on stretchers.  Yet hockey moms often do an hour on a treadmill, before or after, a session in ‘The Torture Room.”   Amazing.

In conclusion, the hockey moms have decided that my voice has sufficiently re-acquired its native Minnesota accent, and for the 2^nd consecutive year have asked me to emcee girls’ senior night.  Again, I’m honored to do so.  This year it will take place before the final home game against Bemidji on January 29 when each senior will skate to center ice for a reading of their hockey biography written by their parents.  This year will be a rather short reading, with Claire Illies and Sam Ellingson being the only seniors.

Hockey mom alumni report:  Ashley Holmes’s team, North Dakota, hosted Abby Williams’s team, Bemidji State, last weekend.  This time the Sioux came away with two wins.  Danielle “Roadblock” Justice pitched another shutout for Gustavus, who tied Trinity, another top-10 ranked team, 0-0!

And for all sports moms, in case you haven’t seen it, an article in today’s Minneapolis StarTribune regarding ACL injuries to girl athletes.

[Prelude: Although this was previously “published” on my other blog, it seems fitting it should be a cornerstone to the sports blog. Basketball Dan is a real person, though modesty prevents identification beyond that sobriquet (the attached photo is from 40 years ago and, as for most of us, could not be used to identify him today). He arrived in Minnesota over 40 years ago from Wichita, Kansas, and immediately dazzled the locals by never wearing anything heavier than a windbreaker in Minnesota winters. He competed across the country in professional bowling tournaments – then suddenly quit cold turkey, leaving approximately 20 bowling balls instantly unemployed. He served as our tour guide through 30 years of Final Fours, which usually were mere fronts for fine dining across the country. We are forever thankful to him for that. He is eminently successful in his chosen field – a field amenable to his rigorous avocation travel schedule. And he for 30 years now has hosted an annual Turkey Day for old friends that generally coincides with the Ohio State-Michigan football game. Such, and the following, are what led his Englander roommate at North Carolina State, where he obtained his Masters degree, to dub him “The Great One.” This was originally written in February 2005, amended subsequently based on my faulty memory (so I expect numerical corrections from the lead character) and submitted to various sources for publication – they all saw fit not to do so (their loss!).]

This is a story that has long waited to be told. And though it may seem farfetched, it is absolutely true. The protagonist, unfortunately, has requested anonymity for reasons known only to him (a Valerie Plame complex?). I can only tell you that his last name is a common building material (hint: you can rule out aluminum siding). For purposes of this story, he shall be called Basketball Dan, and he must be statistically the number one sports fan in the country.

Basketball Dan is a longtime Twin Citian. We – his friends, his entourage, his semi-cult like following – first met him as fellow students at the University of Minnesota in the mid-60’s. We knew we were on to something special when we discovered that Basketball Dan did not miss a single Twins home game (162 of them) in his first two years at the ‘U.’ We soon learned that was just the tip of the iceberg.

During his post-graduate era, Basketball Dan acquired a near mythical standing on the ‘U’s’ intramural softball fields for his big bat, nimble fielding, and huge hands. It was also during this time that the legend began to grow. We discovered that he attended his first NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in 1954 – as you may recall, LaSalle, led by Tom Gola, were the champs that year. He also attended the Final Four in 1957, 1970, 1973, 1974, and then in every year since 1976 (when I first joined him to cap Indiana’s undefeated season at the Philadelphia Spectrum) – with the exceptions of 1999 and 2000 for personal and family health reasons. Almost without exception, during each of those Final Four years, he also attended first and second round games (until the advent of satellite coverage) and regional semi-finals and finals. I recall one year when there were regional games in both Louisville and Cincinnati – and because of the Thursday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday formats, we were able to see all of the games at both regionals.

[Ruthie & Dan checking out seat locations in Altanta, 2007.]

Basketball Dan has attended a pro football game everywhere except Miami, though he acknowledges he hasn’t been to the new stadiums in New England and Tampa. He has attended a pro basketball game in every city, though lacking the new arena in Denver. Phoenix is the only place he has yet to attend a pro baseball game. OK, I can hear you say, the list until now has been pretty impressive but undoubtedly has been accomplished by others. So the following is where Basketball Dan separates himself from the field.

There are currently 326 colleges or universities with Division I basketball programs (Basketball Dan points out this number is always in flux because of programs like Longwood, Utah Valley State, and Northern Colorado that are in the process of moving up). He has attended basketball games (with multiple arenas for several campuses) at over 300 of those schools (if you averaged 10 new schools every basketball season, it would take over 30 years to accomplish that feat). There are 119 Division I football programs – he has attended games at all of those schools. Included among the football games was “The Game” between Cal and Stanford (remember Cal did a multiple-lateral kick-off return and scored a touchdown trampling Stanford band members in the end zone as the game ended). And through it all, he has yet to be denied entry into any game he has gone to see. You must recognize that many of these venues are total sell-outs to season ticket holders – his most difficult entry proved to be at a Gonzaga basketball game; he had resigned himself to finally being shut out, when at the last second a season ticket holder arrived with an extra ticket. Because of the nature of the beast, Basketball Dan is on a first name basis with nationally-known “ticket brokers” (a/k/a, scalpers), and through other interesting people he has met on these adventures was able to score access to Wimbledon tickets, his only venture into international athletics.

[The entourage dining in Indianapolis, 2006.]

A typical weekend for him is thus (here from 2005): Belmont, Troy, Alabama-Birmingham, Southern, and possibly Huntsville in the NBDL, whatever that is. I would venture to say that quartet would not show up on the schedule of any other alleged rabid basketball fan. We have no doubt Basketball Dan will ultimately achieve attendance at his remaining sites (he even began doing national parks several years ago and has put a considerable dent in visiting all 388 of them). Northwest Airlines should send a limo to his front door for his every weekend getaways. His double secret platinum card with that airline did allow him to escape on the last plane out the Northeast after the big snowstorm in 2005.

[Indianapolis, 2010 – Ruthie’s sister, Rita (to my right) joined us there.]

The road to the Final Four ends in Houston this year. Basketball Dan will be there, of course, after intermittent stops, undoubtedly, at various regionals – and he will be able to tell you the five best places to eat in every city he ventures to. All I can say is it has been a pleasure being this close to greatness – long live the king!

[Ruthie enjoying Arthur Bryant’s in Kansas City, the year lost in the fog of time.]

[We will not be joining the Great One in Houston this year – we received a better offer from Sarasota. But this is the year he thought he would “complete the list.” This article came to mind this morning while I was visiting with a Tommy alum (a further clue as to Dan’s true identity).]

[Why we opted for Sarasota.]

[Addendum, by e-mail dated February 2, 2011, from the man himself:  This weekend at Texas Southern, next weekend S. Dak. St, and March 3 at Grambling.   That leaves only Mississippi Valley State (where I got snowed out of in mid-Jan), and where I can’t get back to again this season.”  There are 347 D-1 college basketball schools – only Mississippi Valley State is left, giving it recognition far greater than anything else in the school’s history!]

[Addendem II, by e-mail dated February 2, 2011, from The Great One – the list is complete:  “I’m glad you sent the follow-up message . . . I have indeed hit a stadium for each baseball, football, and basketball pro team. However, there are a few new facilities that I haven’t been to:
                                                                          Have Attended                    Have Not
                                                                      ————————————————–
                                                                        Foxboro Stadium                  Gillette Stadium
                                                                        Texas Stadium                     Jerry Jones Palace
                                                                       Shea Stadium                        Citi Field (but will get at this year’s US Open Tennis)
                                                                        The Met,  Metrodome          Target Field

And there are a few new college basketball facilities: at Louisville, Gonzaga, Texas Tech, Oregon (I’ll get that in a couple weeks), Quinnipiac, St. Joe’s (I’ll get at end of Feb) built since I was there last and a few more under construction:  Texas Arlington,  Bowling Green, Troy, Nebraska, that I know of.]