alexandriacardinals

January 22

Dunedin

[Well, it had to happen.  As forecast, we were heading into an all day rain and wind event.  This is the Super’s photo coming into Port Chalmers, our drop off point for Dunedin (New Zealand’s oldest city).]

[On the ground and in the bus.]

[No, the Vikings have never played here.]

[First stop, the Railway Station.]

[The station’s platform is a kilometer long, the world’s longest catwalk.]

[Anne and Shari getting such information from our minibus driver/tour guide, as we look both ways.]

[Inside, the local greeting club in full regalia.]

[And moving upstairs to check on such things as . . . ]

[The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame . . . ]

[I should have purchased an All Blacks tee shirt in the gift shop here.  Never saw any others as nifty?]

[Interesting that in the country of the All Blacks, perennially the best rugby team in the world, a woman basketball player was chosen to “greet” visitors.]

[Two Super photos, capturing Bert, Kathy and me trying to find our way around . . . ]

[Is this the way out?]

[My photo in an artist’a studio . . . ]

[And two Super photos there . . . ]

[The Biddies hamming it up with the welcome wagon.]

[A Super photo of the Railway Station gardens.]

[A camera’s depth of field can be seriously compromised by rain on the window.]

[The bus driver pointing . . . this may have been the spot of a major ferry disaster in a bad storm a few years ago.]

[The Molars – didn’t stop for a better photo op because of the weather.]

[Looks like it would have been a great view on a clear day?]

[The Super accidentally captured a bushy eyebrowed tourist in this shot.]

[I believe this is St. Clair Beach, but don’t bet on it.]

[The rain shows no signs of let up.]

[Now in St. Kilda, a Dunedin suburb along the shore.]

[St. Kilda is the patron saint of people on Medicare.]

[On the point is a salt water pool.]

[The storm chasers file out of our minibus for photo ops!]

[Three shots by the Super as we all try to shoot through the wind, the rain, and the mud.]

[Let’s go inside – at the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum . . . ]

[The Super shot me touching the rock . . . it turned me into a newt?]

[A whaling boat]

[Two more from the Super]

[All aboard!]

[And back to me.]

[Famous folk of the area.]

[Likely not a yellow-rumped warbler.]

[Freddy was so fresh I had to slap him!]

[We went to the Cadbury chocolate factory because . . . well, why wouldn’t we?]

[Don’t let The Biddies fool you – they were there for the chocolate!]

[And a Super Cadbury shot]

[Outside the Cadbury, downtown Dunedin.]

[Now, as usual, we were looking for a fine dining experience . . .]

[This looks like it could be the place!]

[And it was!!]

[Tummy’s full, it was time to find our way back to the ship . . . ]

[I think that’s our bus?  (It wasn’t, but we eventually did find our way back or I wouldn’t be doing this.)]

It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off.  ~  Woody Allen

March 3

Senior Night

[Last game of the regular season. Our Cards were hosting the Detroit Lakes Lakers.  This was a re-scheduling from an earlier  weather postponement.  We had just beaten DL at their place 10 days go.  This is the halftime score.  I arrived in the stands before realizing my camera did not have its memory chip – it was home in the computer from having processed the hockey game from the night before.  Oy!  So I went out to the car at halftime and got the chip from my snapshot camera.  At least I’d get half the game.]

[As you can see on the scoreboard, there was plenty of offense.  The Cards had been in a real scoring funk – losses in their two previous games.  After one made ‘3’ in the previous game, I think they made 12 or 13 in this game.  But so did DL, who I believe made 50% of their 3’s for the game, even with in-your-face defense from the Cards.]

[Spencer Hockert (15) found his range again – and here fought through a screen on defense.]

[And now defending the other way.  The guy he’s guarding here, and another Laker guard, seemed to make every ‘3’ they attempted.]

[The defense does its job.]

[Jaran Roste (31) on the point of the offense.  His shooting can run hot and cold, but he adjusts.  In this game, he took his offense inside to take advantage of his footballer’s size to score.  I liked it – I hope they do it more.]

[Here he passes to Robert Anderson (3), the human pogo stick.  In that regard, for the first time I can recall we had 5 (rather than just Robert and the 6’8″ Justin Balcome (43)) dunk during the lay-up drill, and Spencer at 6′ just missed his.]

[Roste at the line – he’s pretty solid here.  At the end of games, the ball is going to be in either his hands or Hockert’s – they’re both good foul shooters.]

[Hockert and Balcome on D . . . ]

[It’s fun to watch Justin develop offensively.  He’s very skilled and just needs to add strength to his game.  He was the difference maker in this game as he can score inside and out – and had 20 points.  I believe Spencer led the way with 23.]

[I think this team has the right elements – they just have to do it consistently.]

[The last regular season game for these two mainstays.]

[The DL center (25) actually was pretty effective getting his shots off over Justin by bodying into him first.]

[Jake Drew (33) has that look in his eye – every rebound is his!]

[Jaran sets the play.]

[Oh, we had other athletes on the court too!]

[Where’d the ball go?]

[Spencer on the line and made both.]

[Time for everybody to get in.  Number 5 is junior Michael Kuhn, whose mom Beth is rather notoriously known as the person who took the photo on the internationally-renowned Fat Boys Walking Club.]

[Jared Schneider (13), Bryce Ludwig (25), and Michael Empting (11)]

[Cameron Rice (21) drives with Carter Stockert (35) in the corner.]

[As you can plainly see on the scoreboard, we won 77 – 57.  We finished the regular season with a 19 – 7 record (the JV team, a lot of the guys on court here at the end, only had 3 losses all year, I believe).  We are the No. 2 seed in the section and will host Thief River Falls on Tuesday.]

p.s.  The Card girls beat Detroit Lakes in the section semifinals in Moorhead last night.  We will play Sartell for the section championship next Thursday at the dreaded neutral site (it better not be anywhere near St. Cloud again!)

I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.   ~ Michael Jordan

March 2

[Of first importance, a night road trip.  Haven’t done one for a while because night driving out-of-the-city-limits in winter induces great apprehension in the 70-ish citizenry.  But our friend Ets (now from Ashby) claimed to be a Rainman “very good driver” even though he’s the same age, said he would drive.  So with Brad the class of ’65 troika (though Ets from Minnetonka) made its way to the Municipal Athletic Complex, a/k/a, the MAC, in St. Cloud for the section championship game between our 2nd-seeded Cards and top seed St. Cathedral.  The Alex band made it too.]

[The KXRA broadcast team made it too, with Mitch Loch sitting in for Bob Cunniff.]

[Our Cards . . . ]

[We tied the Crusaders 3 – 3 in our only regular season meeting.]

[Our starting line-up of Wade Smith (25), Mack Strong (16), Jack Westlund (10), Ben Doherty (7), Jack Powell (21), and . . . ]

[Goalie Bailey Rosch (31)]

[I see Card girl basketballers . . . probably hockey players too.]

[Ka mate, ka mate! Ka ora! ka ora!  Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!  Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru;  Nana nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra;  A upa … ne! ka upa … ne!  A upane kaupane whiti te ra!]

[OK, we’d just been to New Zealand where we learned the Maori war chant.]

[And away we go . . . ]

[And the puck squirts over toward Strong.]

[A Cardinal of indeterminate number enters the Crusader zone.]

[As do Doherty and Westlund.]

[Strong joins his linemates.]

[Fast-paced, well-played first period.  The Crusaders scored about half way through and probably held a slight edge in play.]

[Jack Powell chases down the puck in the offensive zone.  I thought he had a particularly strong all around game.]

[A shot fired by who appears to be Derek Dropik (8) . . . ]

[If so, he then follows his own shot.]

[CARDS SCORE!! Wait a sec . . . apparently not?  After several sessions of the United Nations General Assembly it was determined that the goal be disallowed. As we go to press here, I still don’t know why.  Needless to say, the Cardinal bench and fans expressed vocal opposition.]

[We’re starting the 3rd period.  Somehow I failed to note that the Crusaders got two late goals in the 2nd period – the Cards appeared to be really bummed by their goal that didn’t count.  If it had counted, would it have made a difference in the game’s outcome?  As Weird Al Yankovic once posited, we’ll never know.  Powell and Smith take to the ice on defense knowing the Cards had to score early to make it a game.]

[Powell and Strong storm the Crusader zone . . . ]

[Then early in the period, the Cards scored on a beautiful passing play just as a Crusader penalty expired.  Westlund scored off tic-tac-toe passes from Smith and Powell.  The Cards were juiced – we’re back in the game!]

[Micah Christenson (22) on the attack.  The Cards had a great chance here as the Crusaders were hit with a 5-minute major penalty.]

[Doherty joins in then . . . ]

[Derek Berning (26) scored making the score 3 – 2.  There was still over 4 minutes left in the major penalty.]

[The Crusader fans are getting nervous!]

[But then the Cards committed back-to-back minor penalties and went from a power play to having to kill off a 4-on-3 shorthanded situation.  We did . . . but precious time to get a tying goal was lost.]

[Strong carries in . . . ]

[And again . . . ]

[The Cards kept the pressure on for much of the rest of the game.]

[Oooohhhh . . . ]

[Final pushes . . . ]

[Oooohhhh, again!]

[OMG, go in!!!!]

[But nope . . . ]

[Crusaders win 3 – 2.  Good game by both teams.  I thought our goalie Bailey Rosch was terrific.  We lose 8 seniors but have a good core back again next year, including all three goalies.  I would think a goal to get at least this far again is quite reasonable.]

[Now we have to cheer on the Crusaders as our section representative in state.]

Our [goalies] first priority was staying alive. Our second was stopping the puck.  ~  Glenn Hall

February 28

[The No. 1-seeded Cardinal girls’ basketball team opened the section tournament by hosting the Little Falls Flyers.  Overcoming early camera gremlins (a continuation of a “disease” that has been ravaging household appliances),  I somehow got it up and running – I have no idea how . . .]

[On the floor are seniors Emma Ziegler (1), Kayla Feldhake (43), and Kiyana Miller (21).]

[The key to a first round match-up is to jump to an early lead.  Defensive pressure accomplishes that.]

[The KXRA broadcast team are beside themselves with excitement.]

[Kiyana and fellow senior Kara Thomson (23) . . . ]

[With Kendall Kohler and others, at the forefront of a trend for shorter basketball trunks – and freedom of the wheels.]

[In the absence of Macy Hatlestad (see further down), sophomore Kaye Paschke (45) had a lot of playing time, here with senior Kelby Olson-Rodel (13).]

[The bench appears aghast over another alleged sighting of Kim Kardashian.]

[Junior Emma Schmidt (25) joins the fray . . . ]

[Next year she’ll be a major fixture.]

[The aforementioned Kendall (3) got the Cards off to a fast start with 3’s . . . and free throws.]

[And Kelby chips in too.]

[The Flyers’ junior center is a player at what appears to be about 6’1″ . . . ]

[So Kayla kept an eye on her.]

[Are the Cards setting up ‘ye ole picket fence’?]

[Macy is now an acting assistant coach sitting next to her assistant coach mom.  She was our leading scorer this year but is now lost for the season with an ACL injury.  Really an unfortunate way for her to end her senior year.  The Cards are still likely to be considered the favorite to win the section, but we have to play the games.]

[We took care of business in the 1st half.]

[Micah Christenson – good halfback, good hockey player, good fan, but drummer . . . who knew?]

[Kayla with some 2nd half freebies.]

[Kaye is joined by senior Elise Stockmoe (41) and freshman Ella Grove (51) as everybody got some PT.]

[Senior Lauren Stockmoe (33) joins her sister.]

[Senior Sarah Frederick (5)]

[Ella watching to see if there’ll be an offensive rebound.]

[The last game for the seniors on their home court.]

[Next up:  Detroit Lakes in the section semifinals.]

Shooting is just like toenails. They may fall off occasionally, but you know they’ll always come back.  ~  Charles Johnson (1977)