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SPORTS FEEVER – September 19, 2024

SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com

As you probably know, KROX Radio is a huge supporter of Crookston and the area schools and communities we serve. We donate to booster clubs, yearbooks, golf scrambles, after-prom parties, and so much more. A little over a year ago, interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn and Activities Director Nate Lubarski stopped by my office and pitched the idea of a partnership for KROX to have naming rights for the new sports facility. They said there isn’t a business that is associated with Pirate Activities more than KROX. Anybody who knows me, knows I am not a big self-promoter and don’t promote KROX as much as we should. But we don’t do things for recognition. We do it to serve the public. Serving the public is radio’s sole purpose, and we take that role seriously. I am also very selective in what we back, promote, and are associated with. I don’t want to be associated with something that isn’t good for the community, school, area communities, etc. I only want to be associated with things that are done right, good for the community, school, students, etc. When seeing the plans for the facility, the scoreboard, and having two press boxes, putting a softball diamond in the turf field, the track, and everything that they were doing was being done right. I heard this saying many times over the past year…..”If we are going to do this, we are going to do it the right way.” I haven’t heard that phrase very often in Crookston over my 47-plus years. Usually, I hear how and what was cut, but that didn’t happen with this project, and that is why we were all in.
We are thrilled to partner with the Crookston School District on the latest partnership. The announcement from the school district is below.

NAMING RIGHTS PARTNERSHIP – Crookston Multi-Use Facility
“It is with great pride and joy to announce the Naming Rights Partner for the Crookston High School Multi-Use Facility is KROX Radio. With its long and rich tradition of covering Crookston High School Sports and Events KROX Radio has brought and continues to bring Pirate Pride to each follower through radio broadcasts, their award winning website and now live stream as well. Thank you to KROX Radio for their continued support of all that is Crookston Pirates! Our new home to Pirate football, soccer, track and field and softball (when necessary) will be named: KROX RADIO STADIUM. We look forward to seeing all of you at the new KROX RADIO STADIUM beginning tomorrow night when girls soccer hosts Hillcrest Lutheran Academy at 4:00pm and again on Friday night when football hosts Pelican Rapids at 7:00pm.”

With that said, make sure to come out to the amazing KROX Radio Stadium. It isn’t 100 percent complete, but the stands, press box and most importantly playing field is ready. Bathrooms and the concession stand aren’t done yet, but they are bringing in porta-potties to help with the bathrooms.

— — —

We were finally able to track down high school football polls and there are a lot of area teams ranked in Football, Volleyball, and Tennis.

FOOTBALL –
Nine-player – Fertile-Beltrami at #3 and one first place vote, Goodridge/Grygla is #9, and Fosston is #10. Receiving votes was Stephen-Argyle.  (All teams are 3-0)
Class A – Mahnomen-Waubun is #3. Ada-Borup-West and Red Lake County received votes.
Class AA – Barnesville is #1 with six first-place votes.
Class AAA – Pequot Lakes is #6, Fergus Falls is #10. Morris and East Grand Forks received votes.
Class AAAA – Nobody from the area is ranked.
Class AAAAA – Alexandria is ranked #2, and Moorhead is ranked #3.
Class AAAAAA – Nobody from the area is in Class 6A.

VOLLEYBALL –
Class A – Kittson County Central is #10
Class AA – Wadena-Deer Creek is #8, Hawley is #10

GIRLS TENNIS
Class A – Staples-Motley is #7, Perham is #8, Thief River Falls is #9, Crookston is #10

— — —

Speaking of rankings, the Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team is traveling to the Litchfield Tournament on Saturday and will see some top-notch teams.
Competing in the tournament are Annandale, Benson, CROOKSTON, Delano, Litchfield, Owatonna, St. Peter, and Staples-Motley.

Litchfield is ranked #4, Staples-Motley is #7, Crookston is #10. This is after Crookston plays #7 ranked Staples-Motley and #9 ranked Thief River Falls on Thursday and played undefeated Bemidji, who just missed the top 10 rankings in AA. Another challenging week for Crookston.

— — —

Minnesota-scores.net has released the QRF rankings after three weeks of football play. The area rankings are below.

Section 6 9-Player Standings

Fosston is off to its best start in a long time at 3-0 on the year and they currently lead three-time defending champ Fertile-Beltrami by less than a point in the QRF rankings. It is important to get in the top two spots because they will get a first round bye and advance to the semi-finals for a home game.
Fertile-Beltrami is the team to beat and everyone, including Fosston, would admit Fertile-Beltrami will be the top team barring a big upset. Fosston and Fertile-Beltrami don’t play each other, but Park Christian plays both teams and got beat up by Fertile-Beltrami.
It still makes ZERO sense that every team in the section doesn’t play each other, but the MSHSL is known to not make sense on so many things because common sense is at a shortage these days.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
Fosston0-03-027.11
Fertile-Beltrami1-03-026.73
Park Christian0-12-114.323
Clearbrook-Gonvick1-01-27.744
Blackduck0-00-33.445
Norman Co. East/UH0-10-31.256

— — —

Section 8 9-Player Standings

Goodridge/Grygla is the defending Section 8 9-player champion and is well on their way to defending their title this year. They have started the season with three impressive victories. Stephen-Argyle is also 3-0 on the year and has had some nice wins. Kittson County Central is 2-1 and Win-E-Mac is 1-2 but had a close game with Goodridge/Grgyla and are a team nobody will want to play at playoff time. Goodridge/Grygla has a huge week 6 and 7 as they play Stephen-Argyle and Kittson County Central. We will likely know who will be the top seed going into week 8 after some big games in the two weeks before.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
Goodridge/Grygla2-03-027.11
Stephen-Argyle2-03-023.29
Kittson Co. Central2-02-116.019
Win-E-Mac0-11-215.220
Warren-A-O0-11-28.937
Badger/G/MR0-21-28.342
Northern Freeze0-20-32.349

— — —

Section 8A Standings

Weird….Mahnomen/Waubum is 3-0 again. Some things never change. Red Lake County is also 3-0. Red Lake County has three big games coming up with Menahga (Section 6AA) this Friday, host Mahnomen/Waubun next Friday, and Ada-Borup-West on October 11. The top seed will get a first round bye, so getting the top seed is something to play for, and you don’t want to be the second or third seed because your semi-final game would be against a very good team.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
Mahnomen/Waubun2-03-033.112
Red Lake County1-03-031.013
Ada-Borup-West1-12-125.418
Bagley1-11-211.938
Cass Lake-Bena0-00-32.948
Polk County West0-20-32.549
Red Lake0-10-31.753

— — —

Section 8AA Standings

Once again Barnesville is undefeated at 3-0 and everybody else is fighting for second place! Can anybody come close to Barnesville? It isn’t likely. The big question is who will finish second place. Going into week four, Hawley, Park Rapids, and Pelican Rapids are all 2-1 and that is not a suprise to anybody that they are the 2-4 in the standings. Hawley will play Park Rapids on Week 5 and Pelican Rapids on Week 6. Park Rapids will play Pelican Rapids in Week 8, which will be a huge game for seeding purposes for sure.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
Barnesville2-03-052.72
Hawley2-02-131.221
Park Rapids2-02-127.324
Pelican Rapids1-12-124.028
Roseau0-21-218.632
Frazee1-11-215.134
Crookston0-20-34.150
Warroad0-20-32.254

— — —

Section 8AAA Standings

Section 8AAA is a three-way race going into the fourth week of play with Fergus Falls, Morris, and East Grand Forks off to 3-0 starts. All three teams are great teams and again, getting a top seed is going to be huge. East Grand Forks and Fergus Falls will play on Friday. Fergus Falls will play Morris in Week 8 and that obviously will be a big game for seeding purposes. East Grand Forks will play Morris on Week 6, DGF Week 7 and Detroit Lakes on Week 8. So needless to say, EGF has a tough schedule the rest of the way.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
Fergus Falls1-03-063.93
Morris/Chokio-Alberta1-03-051.810
East Grand Forks1-03-049.012
Perham0-11-222.826
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton1-11-219.834
Thief River Falls0-20-32.954

__ __ __

The Boys and Girls Soccer seasons only have a couple of weeks left before playoffs, so we will take a look at how Section 8A is shaping up.

Section 8A – North Standings

Crookston is currently in first place even though they lost to second place Pelican Rapids 1-0, and Fergus Falls 1-0. Crookston has two games against East Grand Forks and one against Hillcrest. They also have Mesabi East and Hibbing and if they are able to win three or four of those five games they should be the top seed. They also have a game against Grand Forks Central, but that won’t count against the QRF rating. Pelican Rapids will play Fergus Falls at the end of the regular season and that will be a big game for seeding purposes.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
Crookston3-2-05-2-032.814
Pelican Rapids4-2-04-3-027.126
Fergus Falls4-0-04-5-023.931
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy3-3-04-5-023.931
East Grand Forks0-4-00-5-04.976

Section 8A – South Standings

St. Cloud Cathedral is the top team and St. John’s Prep looks to be the second seed. There is a three team race for the third seed. Melrose, Central Minnesota Christian and Minnewaska Area.

TeamSectionOverallQRF ValueQRF Rank
St. Cloud Cathedral4-0-07-0-045.62
St. John’s Prep2-2-03-3-029.817
Melrose2-2-02-5-018.046
Central MN Christian1-1-01-3-017.450
Minnewaska Area1-6-02-7-015.953
Morris Area0-2-00-2-07.069

— — —

Congratulations to Hawley Nugget Football’s Jack Ames on committing to play football at the University of North Dakota. I asked Hawley Head Football Coach Peder Naatz what makes Ames such a good football player and he said –

“Jack has a tremendous work ethic and deep love for football. His understanding of the game is at a high level and there isn’t a person that will outwork him. When he started checking out schools and hitting camps something about UND hit home and that is the place he really wanted an opportunity to play with!  Bubba landed a good one in Jack Ames!”

— — —

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Volleyball team had its home and conference opener canceled. We are sad to report it is because of the death of head Bemidji State volleyball coach Kevin Ulmer after a battle with cancer. The BSU press release is below.

It is with a heavy heart and great sorrow that the Bemidji State University Athletic Department must share the news that Beaver Volleyball head coach Kevin Ulmer has passed away Tuesday afternoon after a long battle with cancer surrounded by his family. He was 41 years old.
 
We ask you to send your thoughts and prayers to the entire Ulmer family, his wife Kate and their three daughters.
 
“We are heartbroken to lose our colleague, our coach, and our friend Kevin Ulmer,” said Bemidji State Director of Athletics Britt Lauritsen. “The late Stuart Scott, an ESPN anchor who also battled cancer, said, “When you die that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.” Kevin was a man of deep faith, of pure love for his family, of wholehearted dedication to his team and to Bemidji State Volleyball. The manner in which he lived will carry on in the lives of the women he has coached, and in all of us in the department, the community, and beyond who love and care about Kevin. It is a privilege, even in the midst of our grief, to carry on the light that burned so brightly in Kevin every day. We are sending all our love and light to Kate and their three beautiful daughters as they navigate this loss.”
 
Memorials services for Kevin will be announced at a later date.
 
Kevin was the head coach of the BSU Volleyball program for the past nine seasons after joining the Beaver family in June of 2016. Since taking over the program, he has guided 62 student-athletes to their successes on and off the court. 30 of those have earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Academic Team honors with six earning the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award which is bestowed to those with a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher, exhausting their eligibility and are on track to graduate.
 
Kevin’s student-athletes have consistently been atop the ranks in the classroom and have won multiple American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Awards. He has also coached two All-NSIC selections in the toughest conference in Division II volleyball in Jessica Yost and Rylie Bjerklie.
 
Kevin came to Bemidji State after serving as the head volleyball coach at Bethel College (Ind.) for four seasons and served as an assistant coach at Georgetown College (Ky.).
 
He graduated from Northwestern College (Iowa) in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health education and earned his master’s degree in biomechanics and exercise physiology at the University of Kentucky.
 
Counseling is available through the Student Center for Health and Counseling at Bemidji State located in the first floor of Cedar Hall. More information is available, here.
 
Go Fund Me has been established to help the Ulmer family cover medical expenses during this troubling time as well as an NSIC Volleyball Rally for Coach Ulmer has been established and can be found here.
 
Friday’s match at University of Minnesota Crookston has been canceled.

— — —

Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club will open training camp on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. at TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center in downtown St. Paul.

The Wild’s training camp roster consists of 57 players, including the following 18 players that participated in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase:

Forwards: Caedan Bankier, Hunter Haight, Gavin Hain, Riley Heidt, Michael Milne, Pavel Novak, Ryder Ritchie, Matthew Sop, Luke Toporowski.

Defensemen: Carson Lambos, Stevie Leskovar, Kyle Masters, Kalem Parker, Jack Peart, David Spacek.

Goaltenders: Samuel Hlavaj, Kyle McClellan, Chase Wutzke.

The Wild invited forwards Gavin Hain, Ryan Sandelin and Matthew Sop, defenseman Will Zmolek and goaltenders Kyle McClellan and William Rousseau to training camp on professional tryouts and released forwards Kody Dupuis, Felix Lacerte, Luke Loheit, Brad Marek, Jack O’Brien and Mason Zebeski, defensemen Bogdans Hodass and Jordan Tourigny and goaltender Riley Mercer from their amateur tryouts.

The team also announced today that a number of training camp practices at TRIA Rink will be open to the public. Fans need to register at www.wild.com/openpractices to attend an open practice session.
Player media availability will occur after each practice session (Group A players will be available after Group A practice). Head Coach John Hynes will be available following the final practice session each day.

2024-25 MINNESOTA WILD PRESEASON SCHEDULE
Saturday, Sept. 21 at Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre – 7 p.m. CT
Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center – 7 p.m. CT
Friday, Sept. 27 vs. Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center – 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Sept. 29 vs. Dallas Stars at Xcel Energy Center – 5 p.m. CT
Tuesday, Oct. 1 vs. Chicago Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center – 7 p.m. CT
Friday, Oct. 4 at Chicago Blackhawks at United Center – 7:30 p.m. CT

— — —

JOKES

A 17-year-old boy, who works part-time at Pizza Hut, pulls up to his house in a stunning Porsche.
His parents are immediately suspicious, knowing there’s no way his after-school job could have paid for such an expensive car. “Where did you get that car?” they shout, astonished.

“I bought it today,” the boy replies calmly.

“With what money?” his mom demands. “We know how much a Porsche costs, and there’s no way you can afford it!”

The boy shrugs. “It’s used, and I got a great deal. I only paid $20 for it.”

His parents are even more shocked. “Who would sell a Porsche for $20?!”

“The woman up the street,” the boy explains. “She just moved in. I delivered a pizza to her, and she offered to sell me the Porsche for $20.”

Baffled, his parents rush to the neighbor’s house, ready for an explanation. They find her calmly planting flowers in her yard. “I’m the father of the boy you sold a Porsche to for $20,” the dad says. “We need to know why you sold it so cheap!”

The woman, without looking up, responds, “I got a call from my husband this morning. I thought he was on a business trip in Florida, but it turns out he ran off to Hawaii with his secretary and doesn’t plan on coming back.”

The boy’s mom, still confused, asks, “But what does that have to do with selling our son a Porsche for $20?”

With a satisfied smile, the woman replies, “My husband told me to sell his new Porsche and send him the money—so I did.”

— —

A sweet grandmother telephoned St. Joseph ‘s Hospital. She timidly asked,

‘Is it possible to speak to someone who can tell me how a patient is doing?’

The operator said, ‘I’ll be glad to help, dear. What’s the name and room number?’

The grandmother, in her weak tremulous voice said, ”Norma Findlay, Room 302.’

The operator replied, ‘Let me place you on hold while I check with her nurse.’

After a few minutes the operator returned to the phone and said, ‘Oh, I have good news. Her nurse told me that Norma is doing very well.. Her blood pressure is fine; her blood work is normal and her physician, Dr. Cohen, has scheduled her to be discharged on Tuesday.’

The grandmother said, ‘Thank you. That’s wonderful! I was so worried! God bless you for the good news.’

The operator replied, ‘You’re more than welcome. Is Norma your daughter?’

The grandmother said, ‘No, I’m Norma Findlay in 302. No one tells me s**t.’

— —

A man was driving home from work one evening when he suddenly realized that it was his daughter’s birthday and he hadn’t yet bought her a gift.

So, the man rushed off to the nearest toy store and asked the sales clerk, “How much is that Barbie in the window?”

The sales clerk replied in a condescending tone, “Which Barbie? We have Barbie Goes to the Gym for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Ball for $19.95, Barbie Goes Shopping for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Beach for $19.95, Barbie Goes Nightclubbing for $19.95, and Divorce Barbie for $265.00.”

The overwhelmed man asked, “Why is the Divorced Barbie $265.00 and all the others are only $19.95?”

“That’s obvious!” said the sales clerk. “Divorce Barbie comes with Ken’s house, Ken’s car, Ken’s boat, Ken’s furniture…”

— —

A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring.
This man knows his co-worker to be a normally conservative fellow and is curious about his sudden change in ‘fashion sense.’
The man walks up to him and says, ‘I didn’t know you were into earrings.’
‘Don’t make such a big deal, it’s only an earring,’ he replies sheepishly.
His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to say, “So, how long have you been wearing one?”
“Ever since my wife found it in my car.”
(I always wondered how this trend got started.)

— — —

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

Isabelle Smith is a freshman playing Tennis at Concordia College.

Isaac Thomforde is a freshman playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.

Emilee Tate is a Sophomore playing Softball at Northland Community and Technical College.

Halle Bruggeman is a Sophomore on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.

Ethan Boll is a Red-shirt Freshman 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.

Emma Osborn is a Junior playing basketball at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.

Aleah Bienek is a Junior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.

Joslynn Leach is a Senior playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.

Brady Butt is a Senior playing football at the University of Jamestown.

Brooks Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.

Ty Hamre is redshirt Junior playing football at Bemidji State University.

Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.

Crookston School District Coaches
Ben Parkin 
is the head Pirate 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
Jeff Perreault 
is the Pirate Girls Golf head 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

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 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.

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