SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
I hate to start off the column with bad news, but for our readers in Pequot Lakes, we are sad to report that my uncle Calvin Wahlin passed away this week. He lived a long, good life and had just turned 88 years old. Calvin, as many in Pequot Lakes called him, “Super Cal,” was a mainstay at Pequot Lakes high school basketball games, serving as the official scorer for decades. He was also a member of the chain gang for Patriot Football games for decades.
Calvin was a great guy, an amazing person, and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He will be missed for so many reasons, but the big guy upstairs just got a good one!!!!
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I must be getting old because little things bug me now. Like the people who bring something to drink to church. I still think every person who does it actually has alcohol in it. But anyway. On to the reason why I brought this up.
Why do the coaches look like bums on the sidelines??? What happened to looking good and dressing up? Now, coaches look like they are out on a Saturday afternoon at Target or something. Finch is wearing black jeans, a black sweatshirt, and what looks to be skateboarding sneakers. The Spurs coach looks like a bum, too. I am not impressed. So much for looking professional?
At least the T-Wolves owner, Alex Rodriguez, looks like a pro with a nice suit on the sidelines while watching the game.
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We are getting down to the final weeks of the regular season of high school spring sports.
Taking a look at Section 8A Baseball.
The West Sub-section is led by the defending Section and State Champion Red Lake County Rebels with a 10-0 record, and they continue to impress with outstanding pitching, defense, and some great hitting. Ada-Borup-West is rolling too as they are 9-2 on the season. Sacred Heart rounds out the top three with the best young team in the section. Northern Freeze comes in fourth and has played well and has had some pretty good games so far. You can’t count out West Marshall, who lost by one run to Red Lake County. It will be interesting to see how the teams do in the final few weeks of the regular season.
The standings are below and I include the QRF standings just for reference. The Section coaches vote for seeding, so QRF isn’t used, but it gives you an idea where teams are.
Section 8A – West Standings
Coaches Vote
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lake County | 5-0 | 10-0 | 60.4 | 9 |
| Ada-Borup-West | 6-1 | 9-2 | 56.1 | 20 |
| Sacred Heart | 4-2 | 7-2 | 53.2 | 26 |
| Northern Freeze | 6-3 | 7-4 | 34.8 | 55 |
| West Marshall | 2-3 | 2-4 | 29.2 | 71 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 2-3 | 3-5 | 21.2 | 91 |
| Badger/Greenbush-Middle River | 0-6 | 1-8 | 17.5 | 99 |
| Kittson County Central | 0-3 | 0-4 | 12.5 | 104 |
The Section 8A East sub-section is shaping up to be a dog fight. Fosston is leading the way at 5-3 overall and is a scrappy team once again this year. The east is down this year, but Fosston continues to find ways to win. Mahnomen/Waubun is right behind with a 7-4 record and a 4-1 Section record. You have Blackduck, Win-E-Mac, and Lake of the Woods with four wins so far. Bagley and Clearbrook-Gonvick haver three wins each.
Section 8A – East Standings
Coaches Vote
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fosston | 4-2 | 5-3 | 41.6 | 40 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 4-1 | 7-4 | 35.8 | 51 |
| Blackduck | 2-1 | 4-4 | 35.3 | 53 |
| Win-E-Mac | 4-4 | 4-5 | 32.3 | 65 |
| Lake of the Woods | 2-3 | 4-5 | 24.5 | 82 |
| Bagley | 2-3 | 3-5 | 24.1 | 85 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 1-4 | 3-9 | 21.7 | 90 |
| Northome/Kelliher | 0-3 | 2-6 | 14.4 | 103 |
| Red Lake | 0-2 | 0-3 | 10.3 | 110 |
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Section 8AA Baseball has Perham as the heavy favorite again this year. They have had a solid start to the season and in the north you have Warroad with a 5-1 record. The only other team above .500 in the section is Roseau at 6-5.
Section 8AA – North Standings
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warroad | 3-1 | 5-1 | 56.9 | 44 | Won 4 |
| Roseau | 4-2 | 6-5 | 40.8 | 76 | Won 2 |
| Park Rapids | 2-4 | 5-7 | 38.6 | 80 | Lost 4 |
| East Grand Forks | 1-0 | 2-4 | 34.3 | 85 | Lost 1 |
| Crookston | 0-3 | 4-5 | 26.5 | 99 | Won 1 |
| Thief River Falls | 1-3 | 1-6 | 20.2 | 105 | Lost 4 |
Section 8AA – South Standings
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perham | 6-0 | 10-1 | 90.2 | 3 |
| Menahga | 3-0 | 5-5 | 49.9 | 57 |
| Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton | 3-3 | 6-7 | 41.0 | 75 |
| Ottertail Central | 0-1 | 5-7 | 37.0 | 82 |
| Hawley | 2-5 | 3-6 | 25.4 | 101 |
| Barnesville | 1-4 | 1-9 | 19.5 | 107 |
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JOKES
Bob was sitting at the table one morning, reading the paper after breakfast. He came across an article about a beautiful actress who was about to marry a football player known for his lack of IQ.
He turned to his wife and said, “I’ll never understand why the biggest jerks get the most attractive wives.”
She replied, “Why, thank you, Dear!”
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Two kids are arguing over whose father is the biggest scaredy-cat.
The first kid says, “My dad is so scared that when lightning strikes, he hides underneath the bed.”
The second kid replies,”Yeah? Well, that’s nothing. My dad is so scared that when my mom has to work the nightshift, he sleeps with the lady next door.”
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A guys car broke down. He pulled over to the side of the road.Luckly there was a farm near by.He asked the farmer if he could help. The farmer said “sure just let me get my horse, Bruce. So they hooked the car up. The farmer called out to his horse,giddyup Sonya!
The horse did’nt move. Giddyup Tonya! The horse did’nt move. Giddyup Bruce! The horse moved. So when they got back they fixed the mans car. The man said thank you and then asked the farmer why he called different names.”
Well” the farmer started, “Bruce won’t do anything if he knows he’s the only one doing it.”
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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
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College in Moorhead.
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..
