SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
The column is a little short this week becuase I am in New York City for the Marconi Awards and Radio show. The Marconi is the most prestigious award in radio and KROX was one of five finalists for Small Market Radio Station of the Year. There are well over 9,000 small market radio stations including Fargo, St. Cloud, Duluth, Grand Forks, Rochester, etc.
So it is a HUGE honor to be a finalist for the award for the third time since 2019. We didn’t win, but I did get a chance to meet one of the nicest people I have ever met, James Brown (the TV guy not the singer) and Rich Eisen (who is also an extremely nice person). I was amazed on how humble both are and how they are both devoted Christians!
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Congratulations to the Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team on its sixth place finish at the state tournament. Crookston lost to St. James 4-2, beat Luverne 6-1, and lost to Providence Academy 4-3. It was a great run and even more impressive with the fact that they were without their top player, Halle Winjum, due to an ACL tear.
Hats off to the Pirates on an awesome season!
STATE INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT INFO-
Section 8A will have six individuals competing in the State Class A Individual Girls Tennis tournament on Thursday, October 26 and Friday, October 27.
SINGLES-
Avery Skaar of Thief River Falls received the #5 seed and will play Livia Tennessen of Cannon Falls in the first round.
Braylee Wienen of Thief River Falls was unseeded and plays #2 seed Annika Harberts Ott of Providence Academy in the first round.
DOUBLES-
Lauren Rutten/Ronnie Noska of Staples-Motley were the #4 seed and play Hannah Oie/Kayla Jahn of Lac Qui Parle Valley in the first round.
Emma Gunderson/Isabelle Smith of Crookston were unseeded and play #3 seed Elyse Palen/Caroline Daly of Rochester Lourdes in the first round.
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The Section 6 9-Man Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24)
#1 Fertile-Beltrami beat Laporte by forfeit
#4 Blackduck beat #5 Fosston
#3 Park Christian beat #6 NCE/UH
#2 Clearbrook-Gonvick beat #7 Cass Lake-Bena
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed
Fertile-Beltrami hosts Blackduck
Clearbrook-Gonvick hosts Park Christian
CHAMPIONSHIP (Thursday, November 2) at Fargodome 4:30 PM
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The Section 8 9-Man Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24)
#1 Goodridge-Grygla beat #8 Lake of the Woods by forfeit
#5 Win-E-Mac beat #4 Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
#3 Kittson County Central beat #6 Northern Freeze
#2 Stephen-Argyle beat #7 BGMR
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed
Win-E-Mac at Goodridge-Grygla 2:00 PM
KCC at Stephen-Argyle 2:00 PM
CHAMPIONSHIP (Thursday, November 2) at Fargodome 2:00 PM
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The Section 8A Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24)
#1 Mahnomen-Waubun and #2 Ada-Borup-West have byes
#3 Red Lake beat #6 Red Lake
#4 Polk County West beat #5 Bagley
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed
Polk County West winner at Mahnomen-Waubun 2:00 PM
Red Lake County winner at Ada-Borup-West 2:00 PM
CHAMPIONSHIP (Thursday, November 2) at Fargodome 7:00 PM
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The Section 8AA Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24) at 6:00 PM
#Barnesville beat #8 Crookston
#4 Frazee beat #5 Warroad
#3Park Rapids beat #6 Hawley
#2 Pelican Rapids beat #7 Roseau
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed at 2:00 PM
Frazee at Barnesville
Park Rapids at Pelican Rapids
CHAMPIONSHIP (Friday, November 3) at Fargodome 5:30 PM
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The Section 8AAA Football playoff bracket and seeds have been announced.
QUARTERFINALS (Tuesday, October 24) at 6:00 PM
#1 DGF and #2 Perham have byes
#4 East Grand Forks beat #5 Thief River Falls
#3 Morris beat #6 Fergus Falls
SEMIFINALS (Saturday, October 28) at high seed at 2:00 PM
East Grand Forks at #1 DGF
Morris at #2 Perham
CHAMPIONSHIP (Friday, November 3) at Fargodome 8:00 PM
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The Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Hockey announced that Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 will take place at Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee.
“This is becoming so much more exciting!” said Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 Chair Matthew Underwood. “To be able to announce that Valleyfair, an iconic Shakopee destination, will be our host for Hockey Day Minnesota 2025, and to see our official 2025 brand emerging, adds to the growing anticipation of our community.”
Valleyfair opened in 1976 and is home to 75 rides and attractions including eight of Minnesota’s largest roller coasters, Soak City Waterpark and Planet Snoopy. People of all ages can enjoy the park’s wide variety of offerings during the spring, summer and fall seasons.
Shakopee’s festivities will be part of a day-long television event broadcast on Bally Sports North, designed as a celebration of the game from peewees to pros. Proceeds from the 19th annual statewide hockey celebration will be used to grow the game of hockey in the Shakopee community.
Additional details, including the dates, matchups and the official schedule for Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 will be announced at a later date. Tickets for Hockey Day Minnesota 2024 at the Warroad Athletic Complex in Warroad, Minn. are available now at hockeydaymn.com/tickets.
About Hockey Day Minnesota
Hockey Day Minnesota originated in 2007 by the Minnesota Wild to celebrate the game that has made Minnesota the State of Hockey. It is produced in partnership with Bally Sports North, Minnesota Hockey and the respective local community that serves as host each year. Previous locations include Baudette Bay (2007, 2008), Phalen Park (2009), Hermantown (2010), Moorhead (2011), Minnetonka (2012), Grand Rapids (2013), Elk River (2014), Saint Paul (2015), Duluth (2016), Stillwater (2017), St. Cloud (2018), Bemidji (2019), Minneapolis (2020), Guidant John Rose MN Oval (2021), Mankato (2022) and White Bear (2023). The Warroad Athletic Complex in Warroad, Minn., will host Hockey Day Minnesota in 2024.
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The Minnesota Hockey Essay Contest is an annual tradition that encourages players to express their thoughts on what makes youth hockey a positive environment.
On Hockey Day Minnesota 2024, Minnesota Hockey will announce the winner of the 2023-24 Minnesota Hockey Essay Contest.
The finalists will be selected by a committee from entries submitted by boys and girls around the state on the topic of “Other kids should play hockey because…”
The 2022-23 essay finalists can be found here.
The Minnesota Hockey Essay Contest began in 2005, as a part of the Hockey Education Program, and it has become one of the highlights of the youth hockey season.
Original essays should be limited to 250 words or less, and should include the child’s name, hockey association, team/classification, address, phone number and email address. The deadline for essays is November 27th, 2023. Submissions can be sent to:
Minnesota Hockey
Attn: Essay Contest
317 Washington Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102
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JOKES
A traveling salesman goes to a farm house. The farmer goes, I could put you up for one night, but youll have to stay in the barn. So he spends the night there and the next morning the farmer comes in, he goes, Were you comfortable? He goes, I had a great time; I talked to all the animals. He goes, You talked to the animals? He goes, Yeah I spoke to the chickens, they say you collect the eggs every morning exactly at five minutes after six. He goes, Thats exactly right. He says, The horse tells me his name is Otis, youve owned him for 10 years. He goes, Thats incredible. And he goes, I spoke to the cow, the cow says that her name is Elsie and you milk her every morning at exactly 8:30. And then I spoke to the sheep. And the farmer goes, Those sheep are lying.
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They were looking down into the depths of the Grand Canyon. “Do you know,” asked the guide, “that it took millions and millions of years for this great abyss to be carved out?”
“Well, I’ll be darned,” exclaimed the traveler. “I never knew this was a government job.”
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A lonely 70-year-old widow decided that it was time to marry again. She put an ad in the local newspaper that read: “Husband wanted! Must be in my age group, must not beat me, must not run around on me and must still be good in bed. All applicants please apply in person.”
The following day, she heard the doorbell. Much to her dismay, she opened the door to see a gray-haired gentleman sitting in a wheelchair. He had no arms or legs.
“You’re not really asking me to consider you, are you?” the widow asked: “Just look at you — you have no legs!”
The old gent smiled: “Therefore, I cannot run around on you!”
“You don’t have any arms either!” she snorted.
Again, the old man smiled: “Therefore, I can never beat you!”
She raised an eyebrow and asked intently: “Are you still good in bed?”
The old man leaned back, beamed a big smile and said: “I rang the doorbell, didn’t I?”
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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
Halle Bruggeman is a freshman on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Tennis team.
Grace Fischer is a freshman on the Concordia College (Moorhead) Women’s Golf team.
Ethan Boll is a Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Sophomore on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a Sophomore playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Sophomore playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND..
Kaleb Thingelstad is a junior playing golf at Kansas Wesleyan.
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 Womens Track and Field team.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Todd Miner is a Pirate Football assistant coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls hockey coach and softball assistant 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
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach and assistant girls golf 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
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.
Katy (Westrom) Horgen is the 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 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
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
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.
