SPORTS FEEVER – JULY 11, 2019

We are almost halfway through July and one month away from the first day of fall sports practices.  The first day of practice is Monday, August 12!!!
We say this every year…….We aren’t ready for it to start yet.  Summer goes by way to fast, part of it is because the kids are busier in the summer than they are in during the school year!!!

While fall sports are right around the corner, the American Legion Baseball tournaments will start next week.
The District 9 Division II American Legion Baseball sub-district tournament will be played July 19-21 – Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  There will be a play-in game in the north with Crookston possibly playing Fosston.
The teams in the north are Crookston, Fosston, Warroad, Roseau, BGMR, Stephen-Argyle, Win-E-Mac, Red Lake Falls and Kittson County Central.
Teams in the south are Ada-Borup, Bagley, Fertile, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Hawley, Twin Valley, Barnesville and Pelican Rapids.

The format is different this year.  After the play-in game on Tuesday, they will have the following schedule –

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The Minnesota Twins had three players in the Major League Baseball All-Star game on Tuesday and two of them participated in the game.
Jose Berrios pitched one inning, striking out two and giving up one hit and no runs.
Jorge Polanco was 1 for 2 with a rbi and a strikeout.

The Twins have a big three-game series with Cleveland starting on Friday and it will be interesting to see how they do against the red hot Indians.   When/if the Twins get healthy, it will be an exciting second half of the season.

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Crookston High School Activities Director Greg Garmen has been busy trying to find some coaches for a bunch of sports and we are able to report he has a pretty good hire for the Girls Soccer Assistant Coach with the hiring of former UMC Golden Eagle Soccer player, Anna (Ogaard) Brekken.  She is a former college player and I think it might be safe to say…..she could be one of the few Food Service Directors also coaching soccer in the state of Minnesota!

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Over the next couple of columns, we will have the Crookston Pirate Fall sports schedules.  This week, we have the Football and Girls Tennis schedule.

The Crookston Pirate Football team will have a tougher schedule this fall.  They gain Pillager (will be very good – went 10-2 and made it to state last year), Ottertail Central (will be very good – Went 10-1 last year and lost to BOLD in first round of state in Class A) and West Central Area (went 4-5 last year with four of their losses to Breckenridge, Barnesville, Pillager and Ottertail Central).  Crookston will lose Frazee (beat 14-6), Pelican Rapids (lost 51-14) and Staples-Motley (won 20-0). Crookston could have a better team (a no brainer if Leyton Salentine is healthy) and have less wins this fall!!!
The schedule is below –

Monday, August 12 – First day of practice
Saturday, August 24 – Scrimmage at TRF

Thursday, August 29 – Host East Grand Forks 6:00 p.m.
Friday, September 6 – at Pillager 7:00 p.m.
Friday, September 13 – Host West Central Area 7:00 p.m.
Friday, September 20 – at Barnesville 7:00 p.m.
Friday, September 27 – at Hawley 7:00 p.m.
Friday, October 4 – at Roseau 7:00 p.m.
Friday, October 11 – Host Breckenridge 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, October 16 – Host Ottertail Central 7:00 p.m.

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The Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team is expected to have another good year this year, led by Hall of Fame Coach Mike Geffre.  They have pretty much all of their tournament team back from last year and have some pretty good players that are looking to bring the program back to state for the first time in three years.  Roseau, Park Rapids, Perham, and others will be in the mix and it should be a fun tennis season and section 8A tourney.

The schedule is below –

Monday, August 12 – First day of practice

Friday, August 16 – at Park Rapids quad 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, August 20 – Host Crookston Triangular (EGF and Roseau)
Saturday, August 24 – Crookston Invitational (DL, EGF, Hibbing, Moorhead, New London-Spicer, Perham, Wadena-Deer Creek)
Tuesday, August 27 – at Park Rapids Quad 9, 10:30 and Noon
Friday, August 30 – at Moorhead (dual) 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, September 3 – at TRF (Franklin Middle School) 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 5 – at East Grand Forks 4:00 p.m.
Friday, September 6 – at Detroit Lakes Triangular (DL, Wadena-Deer Creek) 2:30 and 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 7 – at Alexandria Quadrangular (Alex and TBD) 9, 11, 1
Tuesday, September 10 – Crookston Triangular (TRF and Moorhead) 2 and 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 17 – at Bemidji Triangular (Bemidji, DL) 3:30 and 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 21 – at Litchfield Tournament 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, September 24 – Northwest Quad in TRF (TRF, Moorhead, EGF) 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, September 28 – Crookston Triangular (Park Rapids and Roseau) 10 and 1
Tuesday, October 1 – Dual with Bemidji at Choice Fitness in GF (4:30 pm.)
Thursday, October 10 – Section tournament
Friday, October 11 – Section tournament
Saturday, October 12 – Section tournament

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In its ongoing support of high school athletics, RiverView Health will offer free sports physicals to area school athletes in grades seven through 12 at all RiverView Clinics. The schedules are as follows:

• Crookston, 323 S. Minnesota Street:  5:00 to 7:00 p.m., July 16, 24, 30 and August 6; call 218-281-9595 for an appointment.
• East Grand Forks, 1428 Central Avenue NW: during regular business hours July 17, 22, and 31; call 218-773-1390 for an appointment.
• Fertile, 306 Mill Street: 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., July 23-25; call 218-945-6695 for an appointment.
• Red Lake Falls, Park Place Mall: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., July 25, August 6 and 8; call 218-253-4606 for an appointment.

Once an appointment is scheduled, you will be mailed the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Sports Qualifying Physical Examination Clearance Form to fill out and bring with you to the exam. The form must be completed and signed by the student and parent before the exam can be performed.

“As a community hospital, we want to encourage students to participate in physical activity. We certainly don’t want the cost of a sports physical to be a barrier to anyone that wants to participate in athletics,” said Dr. Erik Kanten who has provided sideline coverage for a number of different area sports teams over the years.

While the free physicals meet all of the requirements for participation in sports by the MSHSL, they are not intended to replace annual, comprehensive physical exams. Annual exams are recommended for all children.

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Thief River Falls’ Meleah Biermaier was named to the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, one of 94 University of Minnesota student-athletes to be named to the list.
Faculty Representatives from each Big Ten university established the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Recipients must receive All-Big Ten recognition during the previous academic year, be enrolled full time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters), and earn a minimum of a 3.70 GPA, excluding summer classes. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for a student’s academic career.

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East Grand Forks Green Wave three-sport athlete, Luke Vonesh, signed his letter of intent to play football at Minnesota State University Moorhead in the fall.  He was debating between junior hockey and football and at the section track meet it sounded like he was leaning towards hockey, but probably made the wise decision and going to MSU-Moorhead to play football.  As a parent, Coach Laqua is doing things the right way and has his players and coaches doing things the right way.  I sat through a recruiting session last year and I loved everything he said and how honest he was.  I appreciated it and actually cheer for him and the Dragon squad (when they aren’t playing UMC) because they do things the right way.

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The University of Minnesota Crookston football team will host a prospect camp at the Jim LeClair Practice Fields Sun., July 21. Check-in for the camp will take place beginning at 12:30 p.m. The camp is available for athletes entering grades 9-12. The prospect camp will run from 1-4:30 p.m. An optional tour of the beautiful University of Minnesota Crookston campus will be available commencing at 4:35 p.m.
The cost of the camp is $40 per person with a camp t-shirt included. This is an individual skills camp where athletes will be able to receive instruction from and be evaluated by the Minnesota Crookston football coaching staff. It is a padded camp for linemen and a non-padded camp for skill position players. Skill position campers should bring; cleats, gloves, and a mouthpiece. Linemen campers should bring; a helmet, shoulder pads, cleats, gloves, and a mouthpiece.
If you are interested in registering, visit https://register.ryzer.com/camp.cfm?sport=1&id=144512. Please register no later than Sat., July 20 at 11:59 p.m. C.T. If interested in more information, please contact Assistant Coach Michael Hepp at 218-281-8448 or mhepp@umn.edu.

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The 17th annual Crookston High School Pirate Pride Golf Scramble will be held Friday, July 12 at Minakwa Golf Course.
9:00 Registration
10:00 Shotgun Start
Lunch will be served starting at 11:00

Cost – $60 per person and includes, T-Shirt, 18 holes of golf, sandwich, salad, and chips.
The teams will be made up of four people and call the clubhouse to reserve a cart (not included) at 218-281-1774.

All golfers must be 18 years of age or have graduated High School.  All proceeds will help support Crookston High School Pirate Athletics.  We are doing a raffle again this year.  Talk to any coach or the staff at Minakwa about buying tickets.

PRE-REGISTRATION APPRECIATED

Please contact Steve Kofoed at 320-290-9904 or stevenkofoed@isd593.org.

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Warroad will be hosting the Warwick Workout Advanced Skills Basketball camp July 15-16.

The Warwick Workout Advanced Offensive Skills Camp is designed for players looking to enhance and expand their skill set. Warwick Workout trainers will work with players to excel in their respective positions through progression based teaching and repetition.
Camp Features
· Perimeter moves currently used in college & NBA
· Shooting instruction and development
· Footwork and shot preparation
· Creating space to score
· Finishing at the rim
· Advanced ball handling concepts

Session 1 – 3-7th Grade Boys/Girls
Session 2 – 8-12th Grade Boys/Girls

For more information on the camp and the registration form, CLICK HERE.

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JOKES

A visit with Grandpa…
A man goes to visit his 85-year-old grandpa in the hospital.
“How are you grandpa?” he asks.
“Feeling fine,” says the old man.
“What’s the food like?”
“Terrific, wonderful menus.”
“And the nursing?”
“Just couldn’t be better. These young nurses really take care of you.”
“What about sleeping? Do you sleep okay?”
“No problem at all — nine hours solid every night. At 10 o’clock they bring me a cup of hot chocolate and a Viagra tablet, and that’s it. I go out like a light.”
The grandson is puzzled and a little alarmed by this, so he rushes off to question the Nurse in charge. “What are you people doing?” he asks. “I’m told you’re giving an 85-year-old Viagra on a daily basis. Surely that can’t be true?”
“Oh, yes,” replies the nurse. “Every night at 10 o’clock we give him a cup of chocolate and a Viagra tablet. It works wonderfully well. The chocolate makes him sleep, and the Viagra stops him from rolling out of bed.”

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In pharmacology, all drugs have two names – a trade name and a generic name.

For example, the trade name of Tylenol is acetaminophen. Aleve is known as naproxen; Amoxil is amoxicillin, and Advil is ibuprofen. The FDA has been looking for a generic name for VIAGRA. After consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced it has settled on the generic name of mycoxafloppin. Also considered were mycoxafailin, mydixadrupin, mydixarizin, mydixadud, dixafix, and of course ibepokin.

Pfizer Corp is making an announcement today that Viagra will soon be available in liquid form and will be marketed by Pepsi Co as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. Pepsi’s proposed ad campaign claims it will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously, we can no longer call this a soft drink. This additive gives new meaning to the names of cocktails, highballs and just a good old fashioned stiff drink. Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of Mount & Do.

The long term implications of drugs and medical procedures must be fully considered: Over the past few years, more money has been spent on breast implants and Viagra than was spent on Alzheimer’s research. It is believed that by the year 2030, there will be a large number of people wandering around with huge breasts and erections who can’t remember what to do with 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

Paul Bittner, is playing for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Bluejacket.

Aaron Hollcraft, is a Senior playing baseball for the UMC Golden Eagles.

Aleece Durbin, is a freshman on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.

Brita Fagerlund, is a Sophomore on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.

Isaac Westlake, a Junior playing golf for the Winona State Warriors.

Ben Trostad, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Ethan Magsam, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Elise Tangquist, is a Sophomore golfer for the University of Northwestern in St. Paul.

Brady Heppner, is a Junior, playing hockey at St. Johns University in Collegeville.

Bailey Folkers, is a freshman on the University of Wisconsin-Superior women’s basketball team.

Cade Salentine, is a redshirt Freshman playing football at the University of North Dakota.

Kate MacGregor, a Freshman swimming at Minnesota State Moorhead.

Ally Tiedemann, a Freshman playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Ben Trostad, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Ethan Magsam, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Crookston School District Coaches –
Brody Davidson is an Assistant Pirate Football coach.
Tyler Brekken is a Pirate C team football coach and junior high Pirate Softball coach
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 Assistant Pirate Girls Tennis coach, Pirate 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
Wade Hanson is the 8th grade boys basketball coach
Travis Ross is the 7th grade boys basketball 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
Tori Demarais is the Pirate Girls Hockey assistant 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