SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
We are halfway through January and only three weeks away from the first winter sports playoff game with Girls Hockey starting the first week of February!!!! Daylight is getting longer, the winter has been pleasant, although it looks like we could have a nasty weather weekend on Friday/Saturday. We will see, but we have been pretty lucky so far. Enjoy the column and we still have a few Gopher Basketball tickets to give away.
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I still have the following University of Minnesota Gopher Men’s and Women’s Basketball tickets to give away. The first ones to email chrisjfee@yahoo.com with the game you want to go to will get them. I have four tickets for each game, and they will be transferred electronically.
MENS TICKETS
February 21 vs Rutgers – 11AM
February 28 vs UCLA – 1PM
WOMENS TICKETS
January 25 vs Wisconsin – 2PM
February 1 vs Purdue – 2PM
February 12 vs Nebraska – 7PM
February 18 vs Ohio State – 7PM
February 22 vs Michigan State – 5PM
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There are a lot of area teams ranked in the latest state basketball, hockey, and wrestling rankings! Check out this weeks rankings by clicking the following link – Minnesota High School Rankings – KROX
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Section 8AA Girls Basketball
Section 8AA Girls basketball is getting interesting as we are over the halfway mark. DGF had a big win over Perham and has taken the top spot with Perham in second. Frazee continues to play some great basketball and are closing in on Menahga for the third spot. East Grand Forks is playing a tough schedule and is right behind Frazee. Don’t forget the rest of the teams like Pelican Rapids who is always tough, Hawley has improved nicely as the season goes along after a state championship volleyball season. Wadena-Deer Creek is well-coached and is another team nobody will want to play and Roseau has some very good talent and can be a team that can knock off anybody they play. The second half of the season has a lot of big games and should be fun to see how the teams finish up.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton | 7-2 | 13-2 | 93.8 | 12 |
| Perham | 6-2 | 13-2 | 87.6 | 16 |
| Menahga | 4-0 | 12-0 | 80.9 | 23 |
| Frazee | 5-2 | 11-2 | 76.6 | 26 |
| East Grand Forks | 5-0 | 9-4 | 73.6 | 31 |
| Pelican Rapids | 3-4 | 8-5 | 71.5 | 33 |
| Hawley | 5-2 | 10-5 | 69.4 | 36 |
| Wadena-Deer Creek | 1-3 | 7-4 | 54.4 | 62 |
| Roseau | 3-2 | 8-3 | 48.9 | 73 |
| Barnesville | 1-7 | 3-9 | 39.2 | 85 |
| Park Rapids Area | 1-5 | 4-6 | 37.6 | 89 |
| Thief River Falls | 1-4 | 2-11 | 31.2 | 102 |
| Crookston | 1-5 | 3-10 | 30.9 | 103 |
| Warroad | 0-5 | 2-12 | 19.5 | 119 |
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Section 8A Girls Basketball – West Sub-section
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo has taken over the top spot in convincing fashion over the past two weeks. They beat Sacred Heart 57-42 on January 6, avenging a 54-29 loss to the Eagles earlier in the year on December 12. The only other loss for WAO was to Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, who is currently the top team in 8AA. They are rolling and get after it on the defense end, and that is huge at playoff time. Markelle Pederson, Macy Boe and the rest of the crew are tough and they are playing some solid basketball right now.
Sacred Heart has hit a skid after losing to WAO, they lost to Chisholm by four points, followed by a 72-39 defeat at the hands of Mountain Iron-Buhl. They beat Stephen-Argyle on Tuesday by 24 to bounce back.
Things are bunched up after the top two spots with Kittson County Central going 7-1 in section play so far and leading the tight pack of three teams fighting for the third seed. KCC, Red Lake County Central, and Fertile-Beltrami are all within a few points of each other. Kittson County Central has beaten RLCC and will play Fertile-Beltrami on February 12. The last two games of the season after that for KCC is against WAO and Northome-Kelliher. There is a great chance for the Bearcats to shoot up in the standings with some wins in the final games.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | 6-1 | 10-2 | 68.0 | 12 |
| Sacred Heart | 8-1 | 10-4 | 60.6 | 24 |
| Kittson County Central | 7-1 | 9-4 | 52.7 | 37 |
| Red Lake County Central | 9-3 | 10-3 | 48.9 | 46 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 9-2 | 10-3 | 48.5 | 47 |
| Climax/Fisher | 5-4 | 6-8 | 41.7 | 60 |
| Badger/Greenbush-Middle River | 3-5 | 4-8 | 30.6 | 91 |
| Goodridge/Grygla | 2-7 | 3-8 | 25.7 | 105 |
| Stephen-Argyle | 2-7 | 2-8 | 25.4 | 106 |
| Northern Freeze | 1-8 | 2-11 | 21.9 | 116 |
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Section 8A Girls basketball – East Sub-section
Kelliher/Northome is the top team in the East sub-section and nobody is even close. The Mustangs are rolling, and they have the top seed locked up, and that is no surprise to anybody. There are only three teams in the sub-section that have winning records. Their only loss is to #1 ranked in Class AA Mountain Iron-Buhl 100-90! The rest of the schedule has some decent competition with MACCRAY, Cromwell-Wright, and Pine River-Backus, along with Kittson County Central which will be good for them.
There is a close fight for second place with Lake of the Woods, Blackduck, and Fosston all within three points of each other and that will be a good race in the second half of the season.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelliher/Northome | 6-0 | 10-1 | 68.0 | 12 |
| Lake of the Woods | 2-2 | 5-6 | 40.5 | 64 |
| Blackduck | 5-2 | 8-4 | 39.4 | 65 |
| Fosston | 7-4 | 8-5 | 37.9 | 73 |
| Red Lake | 0-5 | 4-9 | 27.0 | 100 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 1-4 | 3-10 | 26.0 | 103 |
| Win-E-Mac | 2-9 | 3-11 | 23.0 | 115 |
| Clearbrook-Gonvick | 1-6 | 2-9 | 21.1 | 119 |
| Bagley | 1-6 | 2-11 | 17.8 | 126 |
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Section 8A Girls Hockey
Just hand them the darn crown already!!!!! Warroad, is the heavy favorite to win the Section 8A title for the 100th straight time (or something like that!!) The Warriors are not only the class of the section, but they have a very good chance to win another state title. After watching them play, it was enjoyable to see how skilled they are. The passing, the moving without the puck, the team speed, the skill, and everything else. If you’re a fan of great hockey, they are a great team to watch because they excel at all the little things.
Who is going to be the second seed? We will find out in the next five days! Thief River Falls and East Grand Forks play tonight (January 15) and again on January 20! The team that wins both games is the second seed. If they split, it is up in the air and does it really matter??? Basically, whoever is the home team in the semi-finals!
Crookston will be the fourth seed if they beat Detroit Lakes on January 24. If Detroit Lakes wins, they could make a great argument for the fourth seed. Does it matter who is the fourth seed? Yes, they will get a home playoff game in the first round before the winner gets to take on Warroad!!!! I-Falls will be the sixth seed.
| Team | Section | Overall | QRF Value | QRF Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warroad | 5-0-0 | 16-3-0 | 102.8 | 1 |
| Thief River Falls | 5-2-0 | 14-5-0 | 64.9 | 13 |
| East Grand Forks | 3-2-0 | 11-7-1 | 58.0 | 17 |
| Crookston | 3-6-0 | 5-15-0 | 41.3 | 29 |
| Detroit Lakes | 1-4-0 | 6-11-0 | 31.6 | 42 |
| International Falls | 0-3-0 | 2-14-0 | 20.0 | 47 |
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MILESTONES –
Roseau’s Jordan Borowicz tied the Roseau High School Basketball single-game scoring record when he scored 50 points last week. Tying his sister Kiley Borowicz’s record.
WAAAAAIIITTTTT……….On Tuesday night, Jordan scored 57 points in a 80-73 win over BGMR to break the record and is the sole owner of the Roseau Basketball single-game scoring record!!
Red Lake County Boys Basketball player Will Gieseke scored the 1,000th point of his career last week.
Fertile-Beltrami wrestler, Jack Erickson, recorded the 75th win of his career last week.
Ada-Borup-West’s Morgan Engel scored the 1,000th point of her career last week. The 12th Cougar to do so.
Barnesville wrestler Cam Halverson picked up with 125th career win last week.
Thief River Falls wrestling’s Maddie Poissant won the 50th match of her career.
Thief River Falls wrestling’s Natalia Zoller picked up her 75th career victory.
The Warroad Warrior Girls Hockey program picked up the 600th program victory in a 6-1 win over Thief River Falls on Tuesday. Warroad has a program record of 600-138-25!!!!!!!!
Roseau Girls Hockey’s Jasmine Hovda broke the Rams career points record in a 7-0 victory over Crookston as she recorded her 222nd career point, breaking Kayla Santl’s 221.
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JOKES
The patient was lying in bed, still groggy from the effects of the recent operation. His doctor came in, looking very glum.
“I can’t be sure what’s wrong with you,” the doctor said. “I think it’s the drinking.”
“Okay,” the patient said. “Can we get an opinion from a doctor who’s sober?”
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By the time the sailor pulled into a little town every hotel room was taken. “You’ve got to have a room somewhere,” he pleaded. “Or just a bed, I don’t care where.”
“Well, I do have a double room with one occupant – an Air Force guy,” admitted the manager, “and he might be glad to split the cost. But to tell you the truth, he snores so loudly that people in adjoining rooms have complained in the past.
I’m not sure it’d be worth it to you.”
“No problem,” the tired Navy man assured him. “I’ll take it.” The next morning, the sailor came down to breakfast bright-eyed and bushy tailed. “How’d you sleep?” asked the manager. “Never better.” The manager was impressed. “No problem with the other guy snoring?” “Nope. I shut him up in no time,” said the Navy guy.
“How’d you manage that?” asked the manager.
“He was already in bed, snoring away, when I came in the room,” the sailor explained. “I went over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and said, ‘Goodnight beautiful,’
…and he sat up all night watching me.”
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A man asked his wife what she’d like for her birthday. “I’d love to be six again,” she replied. On the morning of her birthday, he got her up bright and early and off they went to a local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Screaming Loop, the Wall of Fear, everything there was! Wow!
Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park, her head reeling and her stomach upside down. Right to a McDonald’s they went, where her husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie, the latest Star Wars epic, a hot dog, popcorn, soda, and M&Ms. What a fabulous adventure!
Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed. He leaned over and lovingly asked, “Well, dear, what was it like being six again?”
One eye opened. “You idiot, I meant my dress size.”
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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 a freshman playing football at St. Scholastica
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.
Ty Hamre is Senior playing football at Bemidji State University.
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.
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball coach
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head 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
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling 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 currently in the Marines’ Boot Camp.
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..
