SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.co— — —
We had spring, then winter with a foot of snow, and now it looks like spring will be back this weekend only to have cold temps back on Monday. It is April and if any baseball or softball, and golf is played before April 15 then life is good.
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The NCAA is exploring a significant change to its eligibility rule. The proposal creates an age-based standard: Athletes would have 5 years of eligibility from their 19th birthday or HS graduation.
No redshirts or waivers.
While the move would align with a directive in Donald Trump’s executive order – 5 years of eligibility – NCAA and conference leaders have been exploring the potential change for weeks.
The NCAA DI Cabinet is set to review the proposal next week.
The only thing I wish they would add is that you get one transfer and that is it!
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Good Luck to Crookston High School alum Mike Hastings, Red Lake Falls’ Todd Knott, and Crookston/Roseau’s Nick Oliver as their Wisconsin Badgers take on the hated University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (or whatever their knucklehead fans call themselves). Mike’s crew will be an underdog, but they obviously are playing well right now. It would be awesome to have an all Big 10 final so there would be a Big 10 Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Women’s Hockey, and Men’s Hockey champion!!!!
I just like to get the UND fans riled up. It is all I have when the Gophers sucked so bad this year.
In all seriousness, the two Frozen Four games should be great games, if Wisconsin can keep up with UND, which will be tough to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if UND isn’t in the title game.
Speaking of Nick Oliver. It sounds like when Wisconsin’s season is done, he will be the next head coach of the St. Cloud State Huskies!
Speaking of coaching staffs. How about that Gopher Men’s Hockey Coaching Staff???? Boy does it look great on paper! It will be interesting to see what they can do in recruiting with the crew they have assembled. I don’t know what kind of NIL money they have, but I did hear that the Men’s Basketball team will have over $7 million to use for next years team. Gopher Hockey won’t have anything close to that, but they will likely see an uptick with the coaching staff they have assembled.
Brett Larson has announced his staff. They are listed below-
Paul Martin – Gopher alum and all-american, a 14 year NHL vet, he is in his 7th year on the staff and will move into an assistant coach role.
Matt Cullen – 3 time Stanley Cup Champion, former St. Cloud State Husky, he of course is the dad of Brooks, Wyatt and Joey.
Ben Gordon – a Gopher alum and has been on the staff for nine years.
Cory Laylin – another Gopher Hockey alum and ws assistant coach at St. Thomas for th epast five seasons
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Minnesota had two girls in the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship.
Gianna Kneepkens (6’0 senior from Duluth Marshall) won the National Championship with UCLA.
Tessa Johnson (6’0 Junior from Albertville) played for runner-up South Carolina.
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The Minnesota State High School League had a meeting on Tuesday and had a couple of interesting discussion items.
The first item is having Girls Flag Football, ESports, and Girls Dual Wrestling as emerging sports. Flag Football has grown from 50 schools to over 100 in two years. It helps to have the NFL and Minnesota Vikings behind it. It is in the spring, so I am seeing this taking numbers away from the other spring sports, because Flag Football is going to be popular for the girls.
The other is an advisory committee asking to have an even 50/50 split for Girls Hockey in Class AA and Class A. While it might seem like a big deal, it really isn’t. There are only 107 girls hockey teams with 57 in AA and 50 in Class A. So it would mean a move of three or four teams from AA down to A. Does Roseau finally come back down to Class A? They opt up to AA, but the boys and girls have been outclassed significantly the past couple of years and would have been in the thick of things in Section 8A? We will see what happens. Could Bemidji drop back down into Section 8A? Again….it will be interesting, to say the least.
Board of Directors President Brent Schimek shared:
- The committee reviewed the Member School Application from Minnesota Math and Science Academy and approved it for the 2026-2027 school year.
- The committee approved Minnesota’s ongoing financial support of the League’s sponsorship of the NASO National Sports Officiating Summit in the summer of 2026. Also approved travel expenses for three planning committee leads to attend the 2026 National Summit in Michigan in anticipation of hosting the 2027 NASO Summit.
- Through the RFP process, League Staff recommended the renewed selection of Trophies Plus as the provider of postseason trophies and awards for the next three years. The Executive Committee approved that recommendation.
- The committee received an update on the agreement with 45TV to extend the broadcast for another five years for the sports of Football, Girls and Boys Hockey and Girls and Boys Basketball. The committee approved the proposal to continue the agreement through the 2030-2031 school year. The Board of Directors affirmed that approval in a voice vote.
- The committee previewed and discussed the Action Items and Discussion Items on the Board of Directors Meeting Agenda.
- The committee received an update on the RFP process for the 2026 Cross Country State Meet venue.
- League Staff shared updates on the potential Emerging Activities of Esports, Girls Flag Football and Girls Dual Wrestling, along with possible timelines for approval and implementation.
- The committee received a League Staff proposal to add an executive staff position, citing an ongoing increase in programming and services of the League. The committee approved the proposal.
- The committee received an update on potential remodeling upgrades to the League Office. Recent improvements in interior lighting, ceilings and walls have already taken place. Staff will be bringing a much more significant proposal forward to update the wall coverings, cubicles, flooring and fixtures throughout the majority of the building.
- The Board of Directors approved the Executive Committee report.
Action Items
9A: 2026-2027 Tournament Calendar
- The Board of Directors approved a draft of the 2026-2027 State Tournament Calendar. Activities such as Cross Country, Girls Basketball and Boys Basketball are currently listed as “TBD” as the League considers tournament venue options for these tournaments.
9B: 2026-2027 Meeting Dates
- The Board of Directors approved the meeting dates for the 2026-2027 school year. Of note, Labor Day is on the latest possible date which pushes the start of activities later in the year than is typical.
9C: SMAC Recommended Heat Policy
- The Board of Directors approved a Sports Medicine Advisory Committee proposal to update the Heat Policy guidelines for competition and practice. The emphasis on the updated policy is the use of the Wet Bulb Globe Thermometer and the hourly monitoring of the temperature as well as using an approved application to monitor the heat index.
9D: Board of Directors Officers for 2026-2027 School Year
- The Board of Directors approved the election of Brad O’Donnell, St. Clair, Treasurer; Zach Prax, Eastview, Vice President and Keith Cornell, St. Michael-Albertville, President.
Discussion Items
10A: Emerging Activities
- League Staff shared updated information and process status for three potential activity programs: Esports, Girls Flag Football and Girls Dual Wrestling.
- Esports is seeking approval for a Presenting Partnership model, similar to agreements that are in place for Robotics and Clay Target. A pilot program could be an option for the 2026-2027 school year with the potential for the League to present its first state tournament in the 2027-2028 school year. Fenworks will be the Presenting Partner. Esports currently competes in a 10-week regular winter season followed by a regional playoff and then an in-person state championship. Approximately 100 Member Schools currently participate in Esports.
- Girls Flag Football, organized and directed jointly by the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota High School Girls Flag Football Coaches Advisory, is seeking Emerging Status of the activity beginning in the 2026-2027 school year with potential full League sanctioning for the in future school years. In the 2025 season, there were 51 teams and 1,786 participants. There are 104 teams registered for the 2026 season.
- Girls Dual Wrestling is also seeking Emerging Status for the 2026-2027 school year on its path to fully sanctioned girls dual wrestling status. Currently, girls wrestlers participate with boys in League wrestling programs. League bylaws currently permit teams to schedule up to eight girls-only events that do not count toward the team limit of 16 and also sanctions a postseason girls division in the individual wrestling tournament.
If all three proposed emerging activities continue their current course, the Board of Directors could act toward approval at its final scheduled meeting of the school year on Tuesday, June 2.
Winter Activities Advisory Proposal: Girls Hockey
- League Staff shared information on a Girls Hockey Winter Advisory Proposal that seeks an even split of teams in Class A and Class AA beginning in the 2027-2028 school year. This will be an Action Item at the Board of Directors Meeting on June 2.
Committee Reports
11A: Eligibility Committee
- The Board of Directors approved the Eligibility Report as presented which included updates on both transfer and recently submitted bylaw violations.
Marketing and Communications Committee
League Staff:
- Shared sponsorship engagement updates from the winter state tournaments, including increased exposure for hockey-specific sponsors. Apparel sales remain strong and are popular with Member Schools and fans.
- Shared souvenir program data analytics, social media engagement and website usage from winter tournaments.
- Shared statistics and analytics from the League’s Photo Team winter state tournament coverage.
- Shared information on the Radio Partners program, including its history, engagement from radio stations and companies and the outlook for continued growth.
- Shared recent website enhancements and upcoming projects.
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The Crookston High School Triple A Academics, Arts, and Athletics Senior Recognition Banquet will be 6:00 p.m. on Monday April 27 in the CHS Commons. Cost of tickets is $20, no tickets will be sold at the event. Tickets can be purchased at KROX and the high school office. CHS Seniors can pick up their free tickets at the CHS office. Deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, April 20.
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JOKES
Little Johnny, thinking that this was a cool idea waited that night until he heard the bedsprings squeaking rhythmically and then ran into his folk’s bedroom.
“What do you want!”, asked the father gruffly.
“I want a watch!”, said Johnny.
“Well sit down and shut up!”, replied the father.
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It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets, and when he looked at the sky, he couldn’t tell what the hell the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side,he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.
But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked,
“Is the coming winter going to be cold?”
“It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed,” the Meteorologist at the weather service responded.
So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.
One week later he called the National Weather Service again.”Is it going to be a very cold winter?” he asked.
“Yes,” the man at National Weather Service again replied,”it’s going to be a very cold winter.”
The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.
Two weeks later he called the National Weather Service again. “Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?”
“Absolutely,” the man replied. “It looks like it’s going to be one of the coldest winters ever.”
“How can you be so sure?” the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy”.
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As a older man was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife’s voice urgently warning him, “Herman, I just heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on route 290. Please be careful!”
“Hell,” said Herman, “It’s not just one car. It’s hundreds of them !!!”
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Teagen Lubinski is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Parker Kelly is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Addie Fee is a freshman playing tennis and hockey at Wisconsin-Superior.
Kambelle Freije is a freshman playing hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Riley Helgeson is a freshman playing football at Northern State.
Emily Bowman is a freshman playing Softball at North Dakota State College of Science.
Halle Winjum is a sophomore playing basketball at Minnesota Crookston.
Blake Melsa is a sophomore playing soccer and baseball at Alexandria Tech
Jackson Reese is a sophomore playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College.
Naomi Johnson is a freshman playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a sophomore playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a sophomore playing football at Minot State.
Isaac Thomforde is a sophomore playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Halle Bruggeman is a Junior on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Junior playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Senior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Seth Heppner – Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Golf at Jessup University
Brady Heppner – Head Coach of Women’s Golf at UMC and Assistant Hockey Coach
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Colton Weiland is an assistant Pirate Wrestling Coach
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California.
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is Lance Corporal in the Marines.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com..
