Welcome to the first Sports Feever column of 2020. I would like to thank you for reading in 2019 and look forward to a great 2020.
If you missed the Sports Feever Annual A to Z list in last weeks column, click here.
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The University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Football team ended the year with a great win over Auburn in the Outback Bowl. The 11-2 record ends the best season in a long time. The most impressive thing I took away from the game was how bad the Gopher offensive line dominated the Auburn defensive line. The other impressive thing I took from the game was after the Gophers threw an interception to start the game and it didn’t seem to phase them at all. They stepped up their play and played a great game the rest of the way.
What a season for the Gophers.
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The 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® will feature the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 1, 2021, outdoors at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the National Hockey League (NHL®) announced today. The Wild’s opponent, as well as additional details for the 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®, will be provided at a future date.
The New Year’s Day matchup will be the Wild’s first NHL Winter Classic and second NHL regular-season outdoor game, with their previous such matchup coming in the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series™, a 6-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Feb. 21, 2016.
Ticket information for the 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® will be announced at a later date. Minnesota Wild Season Ticket Members, suite and premium seat holders will be given the first opportunity to purchase 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic® tickets. For more information about the game, to receive alerts when ticket information becomes available and to enter for a chance to win tickets to the 2021 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®, please visit Wild.com/WinterClassic.
“The Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is about taking hockey back to its outdoor roots – and there is no better place to celebrate the incredible strength surrounding our game than in Minnesota,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “The Minnesota Wild organization and their fans in the Twin Cities and across the state have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to host the NHL’s New Year’s showcase and we are thrilled to be bringing next year’s game to Target Field.”
Target Field is home to the Minnesota Twins and one of the premier sporting and entertainment venues in the Upper Midwest. Over its first decade, Target Field has hosted Major League Baseball’s Postseason (2010 and 2019) and All-Star Game (2014), multiple sporting events including Minnesota prep tournaments, an international soccer match (2016), NCAA football games (2017 and 2019), and several concerts and music festivals.
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The month of January is a huge month for all the winter sports teams. It is the month that has the most games played. It is also the toughest month because it is 31 days without a break. In November you have Thanksgiving. In December you have Christmas and New Years Eve. There are no extended breaks in January barring blizzards, which is very likely.
As we hit the months of January and February, Cody Schilling posted this picture along with this post on twitter –
“I was fortunate enough to play in 3 state championship games in high school & 3 NCAA D2 national tournaments in college because I was surrounded by “winners”, good players & great teammates. Players read this quote as you get ready for Jan/Feb. Buy in, have fun, play hard. WE>me!”
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The Minnesota State High School League Region 8A committee met earlier in December and had a productive meeting. Some highlights from the meeting are below –
The committee approved the following Officials/Judges fees.
– Football – $100
– Basketball – $90
– Visual Arts – $125
– Diving – $50/day
Crookston High School’s Pirates Cove will sell merchandise at both the Section 8A Individual Wrestling Tournament at Crookston and the Team Wrestling Semi-Finals and Finals at Fertile-Beltrami school. Pirates Cove will pay 5% of the total gross sales to Region 8A.
The region committee also approved Northwest Designs to sell merchandise at the Section 8A Track Meet in Park Rapids.
They approved the 8A and 8AA Golf sites as presented by Jim Weinzierl.
8A Boys and Girls South – Headwaters Golf Club in Park Rapids – 5/18/2020
8A Boys and Girls North – Oak Crest Golf Club in Roseau – 5/19/2020
8A Section Boys and Girls – Bemidji T&C – 5/26 & 27/2020
8AA Boys North – Crookston Golf Club – 5/26/2020
8AA Girls North – Bagley Golf Club – 5/26/2020
8AA Boys & Girls South – Headwaters Golf Club in Park Rapids – 5/27/2020
8AA Section – Bemidji T&C – 6/1 & 2/2020
They also unanimously approved Choice Fitness in Grand Forks, as the 2020 8A Girls Tennis site on Friday, October 16, Monday, October 19, and Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
The committee approved the 2020 One Act Play dates and sites.
Sub-29 @ Win-E-Mac 1/24/2020 – 4:30 p.m.
Sub-30 @ Ada-Borup 1/23/2020 – 4:00 p.m.
Sub-31 @ Sacred Heart 1/25/2020 – 10:00 a.m.
Sub-32 @ LOW 1/25/2020 -10:00 a.m.
The committee voted to deny the Section 8A Baseball tournament date change proposal due to only 6 of 17 schools responding to the survey.
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The latest Minnesota Youth Hockey rankings are out and if you don’t like Section 8A Boys Hockey being dominated by Warroad, East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls you are going to be let down for the next five to seven years!
Bantam A rankings (Section 8 teams)
5. Warroad
10. East Grand Forks
Receiving votes – Thief River Falls
Pee Wee A rankings –
5. East Grand Forks
9. Warroad
12. Lake of the Woods
Receiving votes – Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes
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Some more area high school student-athletes have announced they will play sports in college next year –
Mahnomen-Waubun Girls Basketball players Syd Clark and Nicole Swedberg have signed letters of intent to play basketball at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls next year.
Cole Johnson of Thief River Falls has committed to play football at Bemidji State.
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We thank Dr. Lukas Biermaier for the following information and story –
The Crookston Hockey Alumni games were held on December 21 and they had around 50 boys hockey alumni and eight girls alumni back. Overall it was a great weekend.
One of the alumni back was Ron Muir from North Pole, Alaska. He is a 1971 grad from Crookston High School. He played two years at UMC coached by Dale Steiner and played 
two years at St. Cloud State. He still enjoys playing hockey in Fairbanks, Alaska in a 35 and older league.
Muir made it back just to play hockey and catch up with friends which is something he has wanted to do for years. After leaving Crookston he ended up in Alaska and was able to play a competitive men’s league with multiple post-college players who came to Alaska for work. This lead to him playing against around eight different Olympic teams traveling home to Europe through Alaska, most notably the Soviet Union in the early 1980s.
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There were some pretty good games over the holiday break, but the team that might have had the biggest two games was the Sacred Heart Eagle Boys Basketball team. They picked up a 30 point win over Wrenshall in the first round of the Chisholm tournament. The win was their first victory of the season. In the championship game, they beat Carlton by one point on a Kobe Tomkinson three-pointer as time expired for the win! That is a big weekend for the team that needed a win and got two of them!
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The University of Minnesota Crookston women’s golf program announced the signing of three student-athletes for the 2020-21 season. The Golden Eagles have inked Ciera Kotaska (Thief River Falls), Lachlan Larson (Pequot Lakes), and Ellen Solem (Maple Grove) to National Letters of Intent.
Ciera Kotaska (Thief River Falls, Minn./Thief River Falls Lincoln H.S.)
Kotaska has earned the Academic Excellence Award. She placed fifth in Ag Communications at FFA state. Kotaska earned a letter in math league. She is the daughter of Dan and Mindy Kotaska. Kotaska was born Aug. 15, 2002. She plans to major in agricultural business and agronomy at Minnesota Crookston.
Lachlan Larson (Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes H.S.)
Larson served as team captain for the Pequot Lakes H.S. squad. She has been a member of the A honor roll, and has been on the President’s List. She also took classes at Central Lakes College. Larson is the daughter of Laura and Eric Larson. She plans to major in marketing.
Ellen Solem (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo Senior H.S.)
Solem is a three-time All-Northwest Suburban Conference player at Osseo Senior H.S. She is a Minnesota state tournament qualifier. She shot an 86 in the Minnesota Junior Golf ‘Sota Series at Greenhaven Golf Course on June 14, 2019. Solem turned in an 83 on the junior tour at Hiawatha Golf Course on June 20, 2019. She shot an 88 on the junior tour at Pheasant Acres Golf Course on July 22, 2019.
She is the daughter of Jim and Jodi Solem. Solem is undecided on her major. Her father Jim was a scholarship swimmer at the University of Missouri. She comes from a long line of golfers including her great-grandparents, grandparents, father, and uncle. Solem picked up golf when she was seven and dropped it for softball, before picking it back up in eighth grade and rediscovering her love for the sport. She has earned an academic letter three times. Solem is a nine-time A honor roll recipient. She also participated in the musical at her school, marching band, jazz band, pep band, and wind ensemble.
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JOKES
Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say, “Esther, I’d like to ride in that helicopter.” Esther always replied, “I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars.”
One year, Esther and Morris went to the fair, and Morris said, “Esther, I’m 85 years old. If I don’t ride that helicopter today, I might never get another chance.” To this, Esther replied, “Morris that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars.”
The pilot overheard the couple and said, “Folks, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and don’t say a word I won’t charge you a penny! But if you say one word it’s fifty dollars.”
Morris and Esther agreed and up they went. The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word. When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, “By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn’t. I’m impressed!”
Morris replied, “Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know, fifty dollars is fifty dollars!”
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A husband and wife are getting ready for bed. The wife is standing in front of a full-length mirror taking a hard look at herself.
“You know,” she says, “I look in the mirror and I see an old woman. My face is all wrinkled, my boobs are barely above my waist, my butt is hanging out a mile. I’ve got fat legs and my arms are all flabby”.
She turns to her husband and says, “Tell me something positive to make me feel better about myself”.
He thinks about it for a bit and then says, “Well… there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight”.
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Three guys are drinking in a bar when a drunk comes in, staggers up to them, and points at the guy in the middle, shouting, “Your grandma’s the best sex in town!” Everyone expects a fight, but the guy ignores him, so the drunk wanders off and bellies up to the bar at the far end.
Ten minutes later, the drunk comes back, points at the same guy, and says, “I just did your grandma, and it was suh-weeeet!” Again the guy refuses to take the bait, and the drunk goes back to the far end of the bar.
Ten minutes later, he comes back and announces, “And your grandma liked it!!”
Finally, the guy interrupts …”Go home, Grandpa, you’re drunk.”
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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
Paul Bittner is playing for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Bluejacket. Paul didn’t score while getting two shots on goal in a 5-1 loss to Charlotte on Saturday. He didn’t score while getting three shots on goal and recorded two penalty minutes in a 3-1 loss to Charlotte on Monday. Paul scored a goal while getting six shots on goal in a 4-1 victory over Toronto on Tuesday. Cleveland will host Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday.
Thea Oman, a freshman, is swimming at St. Ben’s. St. Ben’s is off until January 17 when they travel to Gustavus.
Brady Heppner, is a Senior, playing hockey at St. Johns University in Collegeville. St. John’s is off until January 4 when they travel to Boston, Massachusetts to play Hobart.
Nick Garmen, is a freshman playing basketball and tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris. Morris will be off until January 4 when they travel to Presentation.
Aleece Durbin, is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.
Brita Fagerlund, is a Junior on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.
Ben Trostad is a sophomore member of the University of Minnesota Crookston golf team. The Golden Eagles will be off until the spring.
Isaac Westlake, is a Senior on the Winona State Warrior Men’s Golf team. Winona State will be off until the spring.
Elise Tangquist, is a Junior golfer for the University of Northwestern in St. Paul. Northwestern will be off until the spring.
Mason LaPlante, a freshman, is playing soccer at the University of Jamestown.
Rachel Hefta, a freshman, is playing volleyball at Hastings College in Nebraska.
Cade Salentine is a redshirt Freshman playing football at the University of North Dakota.
Crookston School District Coaches –
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach and assistant volleyball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Cody Brekken is the Head Pirate Girls and Boys Tennis coach and Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach
Mitch Bakken is the head Pirate Baseball coach.
Brock Hanson is the 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 an Assistant Wrestling Coach
Nate Merten is an Assistant Wrestling Coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching –
Kaylee Desrosier is a softball coach for Fargo Davies Middle School.
Justin Johnson is an assistant softball coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Josh Edlund is an assistant football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach in Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is Head Wrestling coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson, is Head Volleyball coach at Little Falls High School.
Katy Westrom, is Head Girls Tennis Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Monticello High School.
Matt Harris, is a Director of Athletics at the British International School of Houston.
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 Thief River Falls High School
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football and volleyball and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for the Bison media relations
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College
Chris Myrold is a Tennis Pro on Nevis Island in the West Indies
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
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 also a grad of West Point and is currently is 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.
Scott Riopelle is head of Crookston Parks and Recreation
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
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