SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
First and foremost –
Hats off to the Crookston High School Boys and Girls Hockey teams and their family, supporters, and friends as they raised over $14,200 in the Minnesota Hockey Fights Cancer drive. The money was driven by a friendly bet between the Boys and Girls teams. Whoever raised the least money would have to clean the other team’s locker rooms. The brains behind the bet was Pirate Boys Hockey Coach Josh Hardy, knowing darn well the girl’s team moms weren’t going to let the girls clean the boy’s locker room, so the massive fundraising started. We heard donations of $1,000, $500, and many other large donations, along with anything from $5 to $10.
All the money raised goes to the Northwest Minnesota Cancer Crusaders. The Crusaders help cancer patients make it to their appointments with rides and other important things like that. It serves residents in northwest Minnesota. Both teams have had family members impacted by cancer, and the best thing about it. Win or lose, the Pirate Hockey teams are winners no matter what their records end up this year.
Last we saw, Crookston is in second place in the state for money raised in the Minnesota Hockey fights cancer fundraising total.
— — —
We will take a look at the area Section standings according to the QRF, provided by Minnesota-scores.net.
SECTION 8AA GIRLS BASKETBALL –
Perham looks to have a lock on the top seed, but the next 10 to 13 teams are still up in the air as every game the rest of the season is going to be big for seeding purposes.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perham | 9-0 | 15-1 | 116.5 | 3 |
| Pelican Rapids | 9-2 | 13-3 | 87.4 | 20 |
| Thief River Falls | 7-3 | 12-4 | 78.3 | 28 |
| Hawley | 4-4 | 10-5 | 75.4 | 33 |
| Fergus Falls | 1-2 | 5-9 | 69.8 | 41 |
| Crookston | 6-3 | 9-6 | 69.4 | 42 |
| Barnesville | 6-4 | 7-8 | 64.7 | 49 |
| Dilworth-G-F | 2-5 | 6-9 | 62.1 | 55 |
| Park Rapids | 2-3 | 7-6 | 59.5 | 58 |
| East Grand Forks | 2-5 | 8-7 | 58.5 | 60 |
| Wadena-DC | 2-3 | 9-5 | 58.1 | 61 |
| Menahga | 1-3 | 6-7 | 52.0 | 73 |
| Roseau | 3-4 | 9-8 | 50.4 | 78 |
| Frazee | 1-9 | 5-11 | 41.6 | 89 |
| Warroad | 0-5 | 3-13 | 25.1 | 120 |
| Red Lake | 0-0 | 3-10 | 24.9 | 121 |
— — —
SECTION 8A GIRLS BASKETBALL –
The Section 8A West Sub-Section is still up in the air. BGMR is leading the way, but almost everybody can literally beat everybody in this sub-section so it is going to be a fun final month of the regular season.
| WEST SUB | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badger/G-MR | 8-1 | 13-3 | 73.1 | 13 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 9-2 | 11-2 | 60.6 | 33 |
| Red Lake Falls | 6-6 | 8-7 | 50.4 | 48 |
| Kittson Co. Central | 7-2 | 8-5 | 49.8 | 49 |
| Sacred Heart | 8-3 | 8-7 | 47.3 | 56 |
| Warren-A-O | 6-8 | 7-9 | 39.0 | 81 |
| Northern Freeze | 6-8 | 7-10 | 37.1 | 86 |
| Climax/Fisher | 4-6 | 6-12 | 30.1 | 104 |
| Lake of the Woods | 4-5 | 4-10 | 24.4 | 116 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 1-7 | 2-8 | 24.3 | 117 |
SECTION 8A East Sub-section is wild. Right now I am going with Fertile-Beltrami as the top team after its win over Fosston. There is a lot of games to play, but the Falcons have won 13 in a row and are rolling!!!
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fosston | 10-1 | 11-1 | 71.5 | 16 |
| Kelliher/Northome | 6-0 | 10-2 | 66.0 | 20 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 13-2 | 15-2 | 64.8 | 24 |
| Cass Lake-Bena | 4-2 | 10-6 | 51.2 | 45 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 6-3 | 8-8 | 41.6 | 74 |
| Blackduck | 1-8 | 4-11 | 28.3 | 108 |
| Red Lake Co Central | 4-11 | 4-11 | 26.2 | 111 |
| Bagley | 3-8 | 3-14 | 22.6 | 122 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 0-12 | 1-16 | 19.6 | 129 |
| Win-E-Mac | 1-10 | 1-13 | 18.8 | 134 |
— — —
SECTION 8AA BOYS BASKETBALL –
Even though the QRF has Thief River Falls in third, I am saying they are the top team so far. They have size, and athleticism and so far, are my top team. BUT there are five to seven teams that could with the championship in March at this point.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perham | 7-1 | 13-1 | 100.3 | 6 |
| Dilworth-G-F | 8-1 | 11-2 | 91.9 | 8 |
| Thief River Falls | 9-0 | 13-1 | 83.4 | 18 |
| Wadena-DC | 3-1 | 10-3 | 64.5 | 43 |
| Hawley | 3-4 | 7-6 | 63.3 | 47 |
| Pelican Rapids | 6-3 | 9-5 | 61.4 | 51 |
| Barnesville | 3-3 | 8-4 | 60.0 | 52 |
| East Grand Forks | 2-5 | 6-7 | 59.6 | 53 |
| Fergus Falls | 0-2 | 5-9 | 55.6 | 57 |
| Red Lake | 1-0 | 10-6 | 53.6 | 62 |
| Warroad | 1-2 | 6-8 | 38.0 | 84 |
| Crookston | 3-6 | 6-10 | 37.5 | 85 |
| Frazee | 1-5 | 3-9 | 32.8 | 104 |
| Park Rapids | 1-6 | 2-10 | 32.3 | 106 |
| Menahga | 0-4 | 4-12 | 28.3 | 113 |
| Roseau | 0-5 | 2-11 | 22.3 | 122 |
— — —
SECTION 8A WEST Sub-section –
The QRF has this one right so far. Sacred Heart, the defending section champion, is the top team so far and also has the 8th best QRF in the state!! Warren-Alvarado-Oslo is a close second and they have been playing some great basketball, but have a 10 point loss to Sacred Heart.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart | 13-1 | 14-2 | 73.5 | 8 |
| Warren-Alvarado-O | 10-2 | 14-2 | 71.3 | 10 |
| Northern Freeze | 7-5 | 8-6 | 57.7 | 34 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 7-5 | 9-5 | 52.7 | 44 |
| Red Lake County | 5-6 | 7-7 | 50.8 | 49 |
| Kittson Co Central | 3-5 | 6-6 | 46.6 | 56 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 4-6 | 6-8 | 39.8 | 76 |
| Badger/G-MR | 2-11 | 3-12 | 27.6 | 112 |
| Lake of the Woods | 2-4 | 4-10 | 23.4 | 126 |
| Climax/Fisher | 2-7 | 3-12 | 22.1 | 129 |
SECTION 8A EAST Sub-section –
This is another wild sub-section. Nobody has won more than two games in a row. While Cass Lake-Bena is at the top, I don’t think they are the favorite right now. You have five other teams in the section that is right there with them, and 8A could be the best tournament we have seen in some time as far as semi-finals and championship go. It is wide open, with at least six teams capable of winning the championship.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cass Lake-Bena | 4-0 | 13-1 | 88.6 | 3 |
| Ada-Borup-West | 5-1 | 12-2 | 77.6 | 6 |
| Fosston | 7-1 | 11-2 | 71.0 | 11 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 10-3 | 11-5 | 62.9 | 23 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 3-5 | 8-6 | 49.9 | 52 |
| Blackduck | 4-3 | 8-5 | 42.7 | 68 |
| Win-E-Mac | 4-9 | 8-9 | 41.1 | 73 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 3-8 | 5-9 | 38.7 | 79 |
| Northome/Kelliher | 0-4 | 2-11 | 25.5 | 122 |
| Bagley | 0-9 | 1-13 | 16.5 | 142 |
— — —
SECTION 8A BOYS HOCKEY –
Warroad is the BEST team in Class A and probably AA right now. At least one of the top in AA. East Grand Forks is a legit second. After that, the QRF is a little screwy. There is NO way Park Rapids is a top-four team. Detroit Lakes and Thief River Falls round out the top four. After that….who the heck knows.
Here is how the middle of the pack has done.
Park Rapids –
Beat LOW 5-2
Beat KCC 3-2
Beat RLF 5-3
Beat Bagley/Fosston 6-5 OT
Lost to Crookston 3-2
KCC –
Beat Red Lake Falls 8-7 OT and 5-3
Beat Crookston 6-4 and 8-1
Beat LOW 8-2
Lost to Bagley/Fosston 6-3
Lost to Park Rapids 3-2
RLF –
Beat Bagley/Fosston 10-3 and 8-6
Beat LOW 9-1 and 10-4
Beat Crookston 8-7 OT
Lost to KCC 8-7 OT and 5-3
Lost to Park Rapids 5-3
I would go with Park Rapids at 5, KCC at 6, RLF at 7, Bagley/Fosston at 8, Crookston 9 and LOW 10. But there are a lot of games left and the Crookston vs Lake of the Woods game will be big for seeding.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warroad | 3-0-0 | 17-0-0 | 109.0 | 1 |
| East Grand Forks | 3-0-0 | 11-6-0 | 80.1 | 5 |
| Detroit Lakes | 4-2-1 | 12-4-1 | 65.0 | 10 |
| Park Rapids | 4-2-0 | 9-5-0 | 49.3 | 30 |
| Thief River Falls | 4-2-1 | 8-9-1 | 45.6 | 34 |
| Kittson Central | 5-4-0 | 9-8-0 | 45.5 | 35 |
| Red Lake Falls | 5-4-0 | 9-7-0 | 42.9 | 41 |
| Bagley/Fosston | 5-3-0 | 11-7-0 | 42.0 | 43 |
| Lake of the Woods | 0-7-0 | 4-12-0 | 29.9 | 63 |
| Crookston | 1-10-0 | 2-15-0 | 27.6 | 66 |
— — —
SECTION 8A WRESTLING –
Here are my thoughts on Section 8A as of today.
1. Frazee
2. UNC
3. Fosston-Bagley
4. Crookston (lost to FB by three in the only dual they have)
5. BGMR
6. Barnesville
7. Mahnomen-Waubun
8. Fertile-Beltrami
—
Congratulations to Thief River Falls Boys Basketball’s Jack Manning for breaking the TRF All-Time Boys Basketball Leading Scorer record!! The previous record stood at 1,549 points by Kyle Sanden. Manning has scored a total of 1558 points and counting. Sanden graduated in 1996 and was 7 feet tall and played for the Gophers. He suffered concussions and wasn’t able to finish his playing career.
— — —
Congratulations to Red Lake Falls Girls Basketball’s Gabby Casavan for scoring her 1,000 career point this week.
— — —
Do you want to be an official? The Minnesota State High School League will be co-hosting a recruitment forum. There will be opportunities to ask questions about officiating and you will be provided with connections to associations and mentors who can get you started. For more information, click below.
https://www.mshsl.org/who-are-you/sports-officials/officiating-recruitment-forum
— — —
— — —
We have updated the Boys and Girls Hockey, Boys and Girls Basketball, and Wrestling rankings. To see them click on the link below –
— — —
The Crookston Multi-Use facility Vote Yes committee has been actively trying to get signs made, and the school district is busy scheduling meetings with as many people as possible.
On January 30th, there will be a meeting/coffee for anyone interested at the Shanty at 10:00 am (This will be broadcast live on KROX Radio!)
The vote will be on February 14.
— — —
The 2023 East Grand Forks Sports Boosters Youth Basketball tournament will be held March 10-12. The registration link is up and ready. Go to greenwaveboosters.com and click on the Youth Basketball Tourney tab to get your team registered.
— — —
The Crookston Pirate Winter Sports schedule has been updated again. To see the latest schedules, click below.
JOKES
Lawyers should never ask a Southern grandma a question if they aren’t prepared for the answer. In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand.
He approached her and asked, “Mrs. Jones, do you know me?”
She responded, “Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you’ve been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you’re a big shot when you haven’t the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.”
The lawyer was stunned! Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, “Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?”
She again replied, “Why, yes, I do. I’ve known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He’s lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can’t build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.”
The defense attorney almost died.
The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said, “If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I’ll send you to the electric chair.
— —
A Jesuit was out for a drive and crashed into another car, only to discover that the other driver was a Franciscan.“It was my fault,” each insisted—as is only right and proper with religious men. Concerned, the Jesuit said, “You look badly shaken up, Father. You could probably use a good stiff drink right now to calm down.”He produced a flask, and the Franciscan drank from it and said, “Thank you, Father; I feel much better now. But you’re probably shaken up too. Why don’t you have a drink as well?” “I will,” the Jesuit replied, “but I think I’ll wait until after the police have come.”
— —
I asked elderly Violet how she lost her husband, and she told me her sad story….
“Well, he needed a blood transfusion, but his blood type was not on record, so the doctors asked me if I knew what it was, as they urgently needed to know in order to save my Norman’s life.”
Tragically, I’ve never known his blood type, so I only had time to sit and say goodbye. I’ll never forget how supportive my Norman was. Even as he was fading away, he kept on whispering to me. “Be positive, be positive!!!” That was my Norman! Always thinking of others.
— — —
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
Emma Osborn is a freshman playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a freshman playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Olivia Huck is a freshman playing soccer at Minnesota State Moorhead.
Brooks Butt is a freshman playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Aleah Bienek is a freshman playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Assistant Girl’s Volleyball and Assistant Girl’s Golf Coach this year at Heritage Christian Academy in Maple Grove.
Kaleb Thingelstad is a sophomore playing golf at North Central University in the Twin Cities.
Joslynn Leach is a sophomore playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is playing football at Bemidji State University.
Paul Bittner is playing professional hockey in Norway.
Kate MacGregor is senior swimming at Minnesota State Moorhead.
Aleece Durbin is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.
Nick Garmen is a junior playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches –
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls’ hockey coach and softball assistant coach.
Lacia Hanson is the Junior High softball coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls’ Soccer coach
Cody Brekken is the Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls’ Swimming coach
Brock Hanson is a Pirate Baseball volunteer assistant coach.
Ben Halos is a Pirate Baseball assistant coach.
Alex LaFrance is a Pirate Baseball volunteer assistant coach.
Jeff Perreault is the Pirate Girls Golf head coach
Wes Hanson is the Pirate Wrestling Head Coach and assistant boys golf coach
Kevin Weber is a Pirate Boys Basketball volunteer assistant coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Sam Melbye is the Pirate Boys J.V. Hockey coach
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Colton Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc –
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.
Katy Westrom is the Head Girl’s Tennis Coach and Head Boys’ Tennis coach at Monticello High School.
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 Wyoming.
Mike Hastings is the Minnesota State Mankato 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
Ben Andringa is serving our country with the Army and is deployed to Iraq for nine months.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
Erik Ellingson is serving our country with the U.S. Air Force at Minot.
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.
