Sports | Field 2 Field

March 29, 2019March 29, 2019

Minnesota-Crookston baseball – “Gritty, not pretty”

By Chad Smith

The University of Minnesota-Crookston baseball team describes itself as “gritty, not pretty.” Whatever they’d like to call themselves, it’s working. In spite of the challenges that come with a small-college program, the Golden Eagles won 14 of their first 22 games. Eagles head coach Steven Gust said they’re playing some pretty good baseball in spite of fielding a young roster this spring.

“We’re getting the job done,” he said with a smile visible through the phone. “it’s been a bit of a surprise because we lost key contributors from last year’s team. However, we’re finding ways to win in spite of that.

Steven Gust is the head coach of the University of Minnesota-Crookston baseball team. (Photo from goldeneaglesports.com)

“We aren’t going to overpower people on the mound this season,” he said. “Our best kid from last year, Zach Seipel, got drafted by the Atlanta Braves. That’s good news but he was only a junior, so we did expect him back this year. The kids we do have back are doing a good job of filling the strike zone, mixing their speeds, and are attacking hitters.”

The first player drafted

Getting a player drafted into Major League Baseball is a feather in the cap of any program. However, it’s an even bigger feather for a small school like Minnesota-Crookston because he was the first Golden Eagle ever picked in the MLB draft. What makes it an even better story is the young man didn’t originally come in to pitch for the Golden Eagles.

“I saw him as a catcher in legion baseball,” Gust recalled. “I thought he had a pretty decent arm behind the plate. I wasn’t sure about his hitting, but good defensive catchers can be hard to find. It was one of my first years coaching and our pitching was thin. We needed someone to pitch the end of a scrimmage and he volunteered after pitching just nine total innings in high school.”

Gust said, “The ball jumped out of Zach’s hand and he was around the zone. After that, we told him to sell his catcher’s glove and he became our closer. He left here throwing a 93-94 mile-per-hour fastball. He’s a great kid and he’s only going to get better as a player.”

The University of Minnesota-Crookston was understandably excited when Zach Seipel became the first Golden Eagle drafted by a Major League Baseball team. He went to the Atlanta Braves in the 27th round and head coach Steven Gust said he expects Zach to do well and move up the chain. (Photo from goldeneaglesports.com)

Getting a player drafted is big milestone considering that before Gust and the current staff arrived, the Golden Eagles had won just two of their previous 100 games. Literally, the team was 2 and 98 before Gust showed up.

Building a program

“We were fortunate to add some good players to some really good-character kids that were already here,” Gust said, “and they all bought in right away. There are so many pieces to the puzzle when you’re trying to build a program like Minnesota-Crookston.

“The pieces include working on facilities and trying to get the highest quality you can,” he added. “You have to find good assistant coaches that don’t mind working for literally nothing other than their passion for the game. We also don’t have a lot of scholarships to offer, so that’s not a strength either.”

When Gust took over the program, there were 18 Golden Eagles on the roster. Now, in spite of some limitations that come with smaller-school athletics, they currently have 46 players on the roster. They recruit primarily in Minnesota and North Dakota. They’ll include a few kids out of Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota as well.

“The majority of our kids come in from our backyard,” he said. “We’ve created some excitement in the area by bringing in a lot of familiar players. The attendance and support from the community have been great. We’re just trying to do the little things that maybe one day will allow us to start thinking about winning a championship.

“We don’t have any 5-tool recruits,” Gust added. “We’re getting better players who happen to be good students as well. Our team GPA in the fall was 3.3, which is almost unheard of. We’re looking for guys who might have a little chip on the shoulder because they weren’t recruited by some of the bigger schools. They’ll have a passion for what they’re doing out there on the field.”

Gust added, “There’s no way I could run a program if I didn’t have a great group of people around me.”

Weather is a challenge

Like most schools in the north, the weather is always a challenge to deal with. Gust said one of the biggest goals for all the Crookston programs is to get a covered practice facility. What really hurts the team is not being able to get outside much early in the season to get some much-needed practice in. Gust says, “I think that’s coming here at Minnesota-Crookston, it’s just a matter of when.”

The Eagles team is basically brand-new this season. They graduated a lot of seniors from last spring’s squad. Last year, Crookston won 24 baseball games, but Gust said they were “disappointed” because they thought they were headed back to the postseason tournament. However, it didn’t happen.

“We have several junior college players on the roster this spring,” Gust said. “Sometimes, it’s hard for Junior College players to buy in when they come to a four-year school. However, our guys seem to have bought in right away. We’ve found ways to get things done so far in spite of facing some really good pitching in the first three weeks of the conference season.”

NSIC a solid conference

From top-to-bottom, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is one of the best Division Two conferences in the country. For example, they have the defending national champion Augustana (Sioux Falls, SD) Vikings as a member of the conference.

“Minnesota-State Mankato is always good,” Gust said. “Concordia-St. Paul has some really solid arms this season. St. Cloud State might be the team to beat. Even the teams that have been on the bottom over the past few years have gotten better. Teams like the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND) and Minot State (Minot, North Dakota) are among the teams taking steps forward.”

Even before they got going in their conference schedule, Crookston headed south to play some very good non-conference squads. They started off their season with perennial power Central Missouri State. Gust said people told him he was crazy to play them. However, he did see some good things in spite of losing to CMS.

“I thought a lot of good things came out of playing tough competition like that,” he said. “I saw signs that we could be a pretty good team. We also went down to Florida to play some really tough teams too. I think our non-conference schedule really prepared us well to do some good things in the conference.”

March 29, 2019March 29, 2019

San Francisco 49ers pick SD man as new Head Trainer

By Chad Smith

“Plan your work, work your plan, and toss in just the right amount of luck.” That might be a good way to sum up the journey Dustin Little took to the pinnacle of his profession. The Castlewood, South Dakota native is the new Head Trainer for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. I caught up to him in the middle of a workout at the Niners facility and Little said where he’s at is just now starting to sink in.

“It feels great,” he said in between reps. “It’s one of those things where you work hard for a long time with a plan in place, and then you get to where you wanna be. To get to this place in my career and my life, with my family, it’s just great to see all the sacrifices you’ve made, and the hard work get rewarded.”

This road to the San Francisco 49ers started during his college days at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. The young Coyote (pronounced KY-yote in South Dakota) started with Pre-Physical Therapy studies in 2004. Little always knew he didn’t want to spend his career indoors. Sports had been a big part of his life growing up in his hometown and he wanted to work in some kind of a sports setting. He took a non-traditional approach to get there.

“I went five years for undergraduate work at USD and another three years to get my Doctorate in Physical Therapy,” he said. “After that, I made the unusual decision to go back to athletic training school for a master’s degree. At the time, that career path was unheard of. However, it made sense because I wanted to get dual credentials in physical therapy and athletic training.

“During physical therapy schooling, I also took the test for strength and conditioning certification,” Little added. “I’ve always tried to make sure my decisions supported my career goal and made me well-rounded. I wanted to be well-versed in a lot of different areas.”

As a part of his education, Little did a student internship with the Denver Broncos. Being a little older than the other interns because the years of schooling he’d already put in, really helped to give him a leg up.

“In 2013,” Little remembered, “I was between my first and second year of athletic training school. I called it my ‘five-week job interview.’ It really hit me the first time I walked in their door that I was in an NFL facility.

“It hit me even more when I was in the cafeteria one day,” he added. “You only had about five minutes to cram down lunch and get back to work. (Then-starting quarterback) Payton Manning walked by that day. That’s when it sank in that I was working in the National Football League.”

For people who don’t know, Little said a summer internship is a “16-hour workday,” with a lot of grunt work to do. He was coming in as a full-time physical therapist, who’d been putting in his time at a clinic over the previous year. He took it as a test.

“They wanna know if you have an ego and are you willing to do the grunt work,” Little said. “Are you willing to put 16-hour days in for seven days a week over the course of the internship? I’d left my then-three-month-old son and wife back at home for this opportunity. You find out quickly if you want to work in the NFL or if you just think you do.

“It’s true work,” he adds. “You aren’t just working a 40-hour week and asking for occasional time off. It’s a lot of long days. For example, as we’re talking, I’ve been here at the 49er’s facility since 4:30 a.m. it’s now 5:30 p.m. and I’m not done yet. It’s not just being on TV on Sundays.”

It was a long journey that just completed as Dustin Little put in 15 years of hard work. Little, a Castlewood, South Dakota native, was recently named as Head Trainer for the San Francisco 49ers. (AP Photo)

Interns don’t get to do much actual caring for players. Little said his case was unusual in that he could work with players rehabbing from injuries, thanks to his PT degree. Interns set up water, tear down water, hydrate the players, the take care of the cleaning up, re-cleaning up, and “then we clean up some more.”

“I figured out during the internship that this was what I wanted to do,” Little said. “I just loved the challenge of working with professional athletes. They don’t have a lot of physical limitations, so you have to be creative in challenging them physically. Getting these guys where they need to be is something I enjoy.”

Some of the other interns were 19 and 20-years old, while Little came in at 25, married, and the father of his first child. He grew up on a farm in South Dakota, so Little had a good idea of what hard work was and what it would take to succeed. “I was there for a five-week job interview and that’s what it eventually turned out to be,” he said.

“I demonstrated my capabilities, kept my mouth shut, and worked hard,” Little added. “I think they noticed that. At the end of 2014, I was getting ready to graduate with my master’s. The Buffalo Bills were creating a position and talked to then-director of sports medicine at South Dakota State University, Owen Stanley. He told them, ‘I have a kid right here for you.’

“I had an interview with the Bills on a Monday-Tuesday,” Little said. “Steven Antonopulos, Director of Sports Medicine for the Broncos, was listed as a reference and knew I was out there. The following Friday, the then-current physical therapist for the Broncos came in to see Antonopulos and said he’s going to resign. Steve called me that Friday at 6:30 a.m. to tell me that PT had just quit and said he’s offering it to me right then.”

The interesting thing came as Little called Buffalo to let them know he would be taking the job with Denver. “The guy I called with Buffalo actually said he was going to offer me the job there the night before, but he just got busy,” he said. “He’d decided to offer me the job with Buffalo that day. Funny how things work out.”

Needless to say, the feeling that Little had after getting the call from Denver was through-the-roof. “I put in so much work to get here,” Little said. “You’re taking it in but it’s also surreal, like ‘this is really happening?’ It took a while to sink in. You’re just thankful for what you did and the people who helped you get there.”

Little stayed with the Broncos for five years, almost to the day. His goal was always to be a head trainer in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers had begun reaching out to other organizations in the NFL and were looking for good people who might fill their head trainer position. Little’s name got thrown into the mix for the spot.

“All you can ask for is an opportunity,” he said. “I ended up coming out to San Francisco for my first interview. Did a second interview on the phone before heading out to the combine to meet with 49ers personnel. They called me the last day of the combine and offered me the position.”

When I first caught up with him, Little had been with the San Francisco 49ers for about 10 days. His wife (Bailey) and four kids will join him as soon as possible. By the middle of March, the Little kids were 6, 5, 3, and 1. Little says he goes to a job, but Bailey is the one who “goes to work.” Now that they’ve found a landing spot, Little says he’s had time to reflect on the journey from the cornfields of South Dakota all the way out to the NFL.

“I never looked at as a small-town guy coming all the way out to San Francisco,” he said. “My mindset has never been to hold myself back because I come from a small town. You can’t set those kinds of limitations on yourself.”

In fact, growing up in South Dakota and playing different sports actually will help him be even more successful. “Absolutely, some of the guys in Denver really liked that about me,” he recalled. “I’m not quite the normal looking trainer when I walk in the room because I’m 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. I’ve played sports, I understand rehabbing, strength and conditioning, plus I can throw the football if they need me to.

“I’m not the athlete I was but I still have capabilities,” Little added. “The players really like it when you can demonstrate things. These guys are competitive. If you challenge them on an exercise, do it better than they do, it gets them a little fired up.”

February 26, 2019February 26, 2019

MN Deer Hunting Association supports CWD Fight

At its annual meeting on February 23 in Grand Rapids, members of the Minnesota Deer Hunting Association (MDHA) voted to support a number of critical legislative initiatives intended to help protect Minnesota’s wild deer herd from chronic wasting disease (CWD).

“Minnesota Deer Hunting Association members recognize that CWD is the biggest threat to Minnesota’s wild deer herd,” said MDHA Executive Director, Craig Engwall. “As Minnesota’s leading deer organization, our group will do everything it can to help protect Minnesota’s deer, as well as the state’s deer hunting tradition.”

MDHA is calling on the Governor and Legislature to agree to support and implement a number of key initiatives this year to fight CWD, including:

Requiring double fencing on all captive deer farms; Mandatory depopulation of all cervids (hoofed animals) on farms with a CWD-positive test; Moratorium on any new cervid farms and a voluntary buyout of existing cervid farms; Prohibition of interstate movement of both captive and wild cervids; Prohibition of interstate movement of any captive cervid byproducts, including blood and semen; Elimination of antler point restrictions (APR) statewide; Dedication of an additional $0.50 of current deer license fees to wild deer health, making the total from each deer license $1.00.

Engwall added, “With the discovery of a single CWD-positive wild deer within a half-mile of a CWD-infected captive cervid farm in Crow Wing County, as well as the 40-plus wild deer testing CWD-positive in Southeast Minnesota, it is imperative that Minnesota act now to protect its wild deer herd. CWD threatens not only Minnesota’s deer and deer hunting tradition, it threatens the nearly $1 billion economic impact that deer hunting contributes to Minnesota.”

Minnesota DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen addressed the Minnesota Deer Hunting Association membership at the annual meeting, providing an update on DNR’s CWD response plan in Crow Wing County and Southeast Minnesota. Strommen also discussed Governor Tim Walz’s budget proposal to provide $4.57 million to fight CWD.

“We are pleased with the actions DNR has taken to address CWD, as well as the governor’s budget proposal to add funding to the CWD fight. That comes in addition to the dollars already provided by Minnesota’s deer hunters,” stated Engwall, “We urge the DNR, the Governor, and the Legislature to work together to vigorously pursue these measures.”

This is what the effect of CWD looks like on deer:

About MDHA: The Minnesota Deer Hunting Association was founded in 1980 as a grassroots organization dedicated to deer and deer hunting and is comprised of nearly 20,000 members in 60 chapters across Minnesota. MDHA is building its hunting and conservation legacy through habitat, education and advocacy.

Additional information about MDHA can be found on the web at: www.mndeerhunters.com. Media contact: Craig Engwall, Executive Director, work phone, 218-327-1103 x13, cell, 218-244 6822, email: craig.engwall@mndeerhunters.com.

February 19, 2019February 19, 2019

Minnesota Gophers prepare for spring football

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Clemson beat the socks off Alabama to capture the NCAA football crown. As over a foot of snow sits on the ground in Minnesota (with more on the way this week), it may be surprising to realize that spring football isn’t that far away, at all. Ryan Burns of Gopher Illustrated talked all things Gopher football on a recent episode of Minnesota Sports Weekly.

“We’re only a few weeks away now,” Burns said, “and considering the kind of February we’ve had, with all the snow and the Polar Vortex, it’s going to be a sight for sore eyes. Warmer temps are around the corner, the doldrums of winter are getting behind us, which is a good thing for Minnesota residents and for Gopher football.”Recruiting has basically wrapped up (for now). Burns said Gopher coaches spent roughly three weeks in January pounding the pavement on the recruiting trail. That second national signing day cut down on the number of recruits Gopher football signed this time around during the traditional signing day, which is the first Wednesday of February.

“Minnesota only signed one more scholarship player,” Burns said. “They’d signed 21 scholarship players during the early signing day in December. It’s the second year that college football had two signing days. I’d say roughly 70 percent of all college football recruits have signed during December.

Gopher football — Ryan Burns of Gopher Illustrated. (Photo from twitter.com)

“The Minnesota coaching staff should be back in the office this week and looking at more recruiting tape,” he added. “Just a couple weeks later, the staff will get started on their spring football season.”

How much time do these coaches spend on the road trying to build the future of the program? It’s astronomical. After the Gophers beat Wisconsin at the end of the regular season, head coach P.J. Fleck was out on the road 19 of the next 23 days recruiting, all the way up to the early National Signing Day. As Burns said, “There’s no rest for the weary.” Right after that signing day, the Gophers were off to Detroit and their Dec. 26 appearance in the Quick Lane Bowl.

“They (coaches) got a couple weeks off after the bowl and they were back out on the recruiting trail through late January and early February,” he said. “They get another week off and then it’s back to work figuring out who they want to recruit for the 2020 class, which is all juniors as we speak today. It’s spring football until April 15^th, after which they’ll be back on the road till the end of May.

“Once that wraps up, their home with their families for 6-7 weeks,” Burns said. “Coaching is demanding. I know several Gopher coaches that consistently work 12-14-hour days and it’s tough being away from your family that much. When you’re out for a six-week stretch of recruiting, you’re home maybe one day every week. You better have an understanding better-half who’s willing to put up with the lifestyle.”

Looking at recruiting specifics, Burns said they had a few holes in the roster to fill. “They were trying to add more talent into a young team. The Gophers might have been the youngest team in the country last year. You always want to continue to add talent, especially at the quarterback position.

“It’s the position at which the Gophers have the biggest question marks on how the program takes the next step forward,” he added. “I’d argue they have as good of a stable of running backs that they’ve had in a long time, they have as good a wide receiver group they’ve had in a long time, and the Minnesota offensive line really flipped a switch in the last month of the season. The O line was a big reason the team took a big step forward late in the year.”

Minnesota signed two quarterbacks in the offseason. One was from out-of-state and was the highest-rated QB to sign with the Gophers in decades. His name is Jacob Clark and he’s from Rockwall, Texas. They also signed Cole Kramer, a quarterback from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Burns said Fleck did “a good job” of filling his two biggest needs at quarterback and along the defensive line.

One of the most amazing things about recruiting under P.J. Fleck is how the Gopher program is getting recruits who are being chased by school in the Power 5 conferences. A good example is defensive lineman Rashad Cheney of Atlanta, Georgia. The 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive tackle, a four-star recruit, had previously committed to play for both Georgia and Alabama in the SEC. However, he signed a letter of intent late last year to play football for the University of Minnesota.

“Any time that you’re able to get a kid who had committed to Alabama all the way up to Halloween of last year before deciding to look around,” Burns said, “I think Alabama’s defensive line is absolutely something you should try to emulate. Think about it, they annually send two or three guys off their defensive line to the NFL every year.

“Winning in the trenches every year is a big point of emphasis for defensive coordinator Joe Rossi,” he added. “I think they addressed that well.”

Here are lots of Gopher football highlights from last season

The Gopher football team took many Minnesota football fans by surprise, finishing 7-6 overall, getting three wins in the Big Ten Conference, and winning five of their seven home games. The goal of spring football is to make sure the program takes steps to keep things moving forward.

“The coaches want to make sure they can build on some things,” Burns said. “They want to make sure the players who had difficulties last year with certain aspects of their positions can get those things corrected by understanding the cause and correcting their technique. As much as they want to get the kids physically ready to go, it’s more about the mental aspect as Minnesota will continue to install new things both on offense and defense.”

He added, “Going into year three, they want to take things up a notch.”

The big headliner for Gopher football fans to watch in spring football is definitely at the quarterback position.

“You had Mankato native Zach Annexstad win the job out of Gopher football fall camp and then gets injured during the season,” Burns said. “Tanner Morgan then comes in to finish the season. Tanner started seven games and Zach started six. Neither one of them really did enough to pull away from one another.

“You also have the two freshmen quarterbacks coming in, both of whom graduated high school early,” he added. “They’re already enrolled on campus and will be there for workouts, as well as spring ball, trying to compete for that starting quarterback job. Fleck has said the quarterback job is wide open, but I say that Annexstad likely has the inside track. However, they’re all underclassmen, all 18-20 years old, and they’ll all grow and develop at a different pace, so we’ll see what happens.”

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019

Competitive Robotics is the newest MN Sport

There’s a new sport coming this month to Rushford-Peterson school and it doesn’t involve any kind of ball, hockey puck, or brand-new bat. It’s called competitive robotics and it’s a real thing. The new sport is coming to Rushford-Peterson school for the first time, thanks to second-year science teacher Mike Mulholland.

Minnesota saw its first two high school competitive robotics teams compete back in 2006. That number has grown rapidly in recent years. The competitive robotics competition involves teams building robots to complete specific tasks that are different every year. Past tasks including building a robot to do everything from shoot a basketball to throwing a frisbee. All teams work on the same assigned task during their season.

“We’re going to get started on Saturday, Jan 5,” he said. “We pick up the building kits and get the information on what game they’re doing this year. We get a new game (objective) every year. The overall theme for this year is ‘Space Exploration.’ The competition is set up with rules, ways to score points, and we have to design a robot that will be best able to score points and win the match.

“This year’s competition is called ‘Deep Space,’” he said. “Teams will be competing in groups of two alliances of three to apply security hatches and fill cargo bays to both rockets and a cargo ship before time runs out. There is a beginning section of 15 seconds that requires teams to control their robot by either automation or onboard camera. After the first section, teams freely control their robots for 2 minutes, 15 seconds. After time runs out, points will be counted and the team with the highest score wins that round.”

He said it’s hard to describe what the robot will look like. The finished product typically has four wheels, as well as different mechanisms that can grab on to or lift something, helping it to perform a specific task.

“Each competitive robotics competition usually has six teams that are going at the same time,” he said. “There are three robots on each side, one is ours and the other two from the team we partner with. They’ll switch up teams for each match, so our partners in one match could be opponents in a future one, and vice versa.”

“We’ll find out what it’s like when we go to a local competition over in La Crosse (Wisconsin), in April” he added. “We’ll be competing with a number of other schools coming in from all over the region. There’s also a Minnesota state tournament coming up, too. It’s run by the Minnesota State High School League.”

Here’s a fantastic example of what a robotics competition looks like:

The one big challenge to robotics participation is the cost. Equipment kits can run several thousands of dollars. Many schools around the state rely on sponsors to help defray the cost. Mulholland said the R-P Competitive Robotics Club would love to have some area sponsors of their own to make it easier to participate in what’s been a growing sport around the state as well as across the nation.

“Because of the cost of the kits, there are a number of opportunities for sponsorships by different organizations,” Mulholland said. “We actually have a couple of sponsorships already. We also got a $ 6000 grant from NASA to help pay for the fee from First Robotics (the organization behind the robotics league). We also have some other organizations that have pledged support and financial aid.”

The kits that they pick up before the season contain the same basic parts. They can buy or build additional parts, but that’s where sponsorships come in to help defray some of the extra cost.

Mulholland is excited for the first season of robotics competition. Both students and administration officials wanted to get this program off the ground. He’s already had several meetings with interested students to get the robotics program organized. Mulholland says there are between 12 and 15 kids between seventh and twelfth grades that seem to be serious about the activity.

“I was student-teaching at Southland, and they had a robotics program,” he said. “However, It was a different program than the one we’re involved in at Rushford-Peterson. I helped out with that a little and that’s where I got interested. It’s my first kind of go-around with a program like this, so I’ll be learning right there with the kids.”

The Seven Rivers Regional Robotics Competition is April 4 through April 7, in La Crosse.

Here’s a neat video that the Edina, Minnesota high school robotics teams put together last year talking about the impact that robotics can make at the high school level.

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019

Throwback Thursday on a Saturday

Small Town Guy, Big City Thoughts, and a Throwback Thursday on the wrong day.

There’s a popular hashtag that regularly makes the rounds on social media. It’s #TBT, which stands for “Throwback Thursday.” Well, I had my very own Throwback Thursday last Saturday

Had a little bit of a flashback to my sports play-by-play days on Saturday. Went down to the Target Center in Minneapolis to watch some small-town basketball. Spring Grove (one of the teams my paper covers) was in town to take on LeRoy-Ostrander. A couple of times a season, small town teams come in and get to play in the Target Center while the Timberwolves are out of town. Kind of a season highlight for the kids and a lot of fun for moms and dads. It was also a nice throwback for me.

I’m still blown away by just how good the Target Center looks after renovations last year. I went and looked back at some pictures I took when Redwood Valley made the boys’ state basketball tournaments just to be sure, and I was right. That old dark wooden floor (that always looked like it hadn’t been waxed in years) made the atmosphere so dark and gloomy. The new wood floor down there, combined with the GIGANTIC overhead screens/scoreboards give the Target Center a modern-day feel. I like it. Now if we could just put a more successful franchise in there?

Is it seriously the end of January already? Wasn’t it just Christmas like two weeks ago?

Thank the Good Lord that the government shutdown is (temporarily) over. I really don’t care what your politics are. Our “leaders” are getting fat and rich by keeping their hands in our collective cookie jar. How do they keep getting elected?

For that matter, why is it a bad thing to want to secure the southern border? I’ve got a wife, daughter, and relatives I’d like to see kept safe. Anyone arguing against securing the southern border, while at the same time living behind a wall that surrounds their private residence (pick a politician), is an absolute hypocrite.

I saw a headline today that said the Infernal Revenue Service is going to need some time to get through the work backlog because of the shutdown? Have THAT many people already submitted their tax returns? And does that seem a little ominous for those of us still waiting for our W-2 forms?

Watching the Golden State Warriors play the Celtics in Boston tonight and got to thinking: Do they EVER call traveling in the NBA? I KNOW they don’t when James Harden is playing. If you doubt me, just watch the highlights. That step-back three he likes so much from the right wing (and never seems to miss)? I swear to you his feet shuffles and THEN he takes a step back. And watch The Beard when he drives to the basket. How many steps does he take between picking up the dribble and laying it in? You’ll be surprised. Take a look here. There’s a lot of discussion out there about this very topic 🙂

That’s all I have for now. I’m sitting here at home on a Saturday night, just before 9 p.m., and got to thinking that things have changed. This used to be PRIME TIME go out time back in the day. Now I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to make it successfully till ten o’clock. Can anyone else relate to advancing middle age as much as I can right now?

October 18, 2018

SE MN Youth Deer Hunt this weekend

The MEA four-day weekend is a highlight on the school calendar for students across Minnesota. However, it’s more than just a chance to sleep in and not go to school. It’s a chance for young people to get into the outdoors and take part in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s Youth Deer Hunt. It’s Thursday, October 18^th through Sunday, Oct. 21^st. The long weekend is a great chance to focus on helping kids get outdoors, learn new skills, and have some fun too.

“it’s a great chance to get kids out into the field before the regular deer-hunting season begins,” said James Burnham, Fish, and Wildlife Hunting and Angling Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation Coordinator. “When the regular season gets going, it’s harder to teach kids about deer hunting when you’re focused on filling a deer tag in a limited timeline.

“This gives adults the flexibility to get out and teach kids how to participate in the outdoor sports,” he added. “The weather will typically be a little better than later in the season, which makes the hunting environment a little less stressful. Adults have the time to teach deer hunting to kids at a very fundamental level.”

The kids do need a valid deer hunting license, as any other hunter would. The age-range for youth hunters is 10-to-15 years old. The kids are the focus of the hunt as they must be the one taking shots and harvesting a deer. An important thing to remember is if the youth are older than 12, they have to complete the DNR Firearm Safety Course. However, they can also take part as an apprentice hunter, which means they won’t need to have taken the safety course.

“A parent, guardian, or mentor that’s 18 years of age or older must accompany each youth hunter,” Burnham said. “If the youth hunter has a valid license, the mentor doesn’t need a license of their own. If the youth is hunting with an apprentice license, then the adult with them will also need a license.

“For those that don’t know, the apprentice license is a way for people in the state who haven’t completed Firearms Safety to go out and try out a limited number of hunting opportunities,” Burnham added. “If the youth are using that option, then the parent or guardian has to have a valid license.”

The reason behind the Youth Deer Hunt is a simple one. The DNR is seeing what Burnham calls “a dramatic decline” in participation during hunting (and fishing) season. While numbers are down, Burnham said Minnesota remains ahead of the curve and participation isn’t dropping here as much as it is in other states.

“We’re still seeing a decline in the percentage of the population that participates,” he said. “It’s really important to us that as Minnesota’s population continues to grow, we still have people who participate in hunting and fishing. We run the risk of losing public support for keeping lands open for wildlife management. There’s also a risk of losing financial support for wildlife as well.

“If we don’t keep the deer populations in check, that’s when overpopulation becomes a problem,” he added. “In some parts of the state, it can be a lethal problem. Car-deer collisions are nothing to take lightly.”

His biggest piece of advice for taking a young hunter out into the field, especially if it’s his or her first time, is to make it fun for them. One advantage to deer hunting is they aren’t quite as wary and visually acute as other game animals like turkey, so young hunters don’t have to sit absolutely still.

“Don’t turn it into a death march or a ‘you have to toughen up’ kind of experience,” Burnham said. “Keep it interesting. Explain what you’re seeing as someone with more experience. If you march a youth out there and tell them to ‘sit on a bucket,’ it’s not as much fun as the veteran hunter explaining what’s happening.

“It’s also a great chance to teach young hunters about firearm safety by demonstrating it and then helping youth imitate what you’re doing,” he said. “Teach them the process of seeing an animal, picking a spot for a shot, and doing everything in a safe manner.”

It’s legal to shoot one-half hour before sunrise and one-half hour after sunset. Just a reminder that if you do take youth hunters out in the 603-hunting area and take a deer, it must be tested for Chronic Wasting Disease.

Do you want to see how much fun it can be for kids to participate in outdoor sports? Take a look here at this video from the Wildlife Game Masters YouTube channel:

June 7, 2018June 8, 2018

Star Tribune Sports Columnist Shows a Thoughtful Side

I expected controversial, but what I got was a delightful sports conversation. I was glad to be wrong. I caught up with Jim Souhan, the long-time sportswriter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, during an interview for a weekly podcast I co-host called Minnesota Sports Weekly. If the old saying is “never judge a book by its cover,” I get what that really means.

“I’ve been with the Star Tribune 28.5 years,” he said. “I was an Air Force brat growing up and moved all over the country, but I’d never visited Minnesota until I came here for a job interview in February of 1990. Back then, my industry was mobile, so I thought I’d be here for a bit and then head someplace else. Had kids and settled in, so, as I always tell people, I’ve been here 28-and-a-half years and, if I make it another 30, Minnesotans might almost think of me as a native.”

Souhan describes himself as a “geek” growing up, so he was an avid reader. He played Strat-O-Matic baseball, Sports Illustrated baseball, and was really into reading about sports, especially baseball (he’s a baseball guy, in case that hadn’t clicked yet). Souhan grew up in the Pennsylvania/Maryland area when the Baltimore Orioles were one of the best franchises in baseball. It was during the era of colorful characters like Earl Weaver, Brooks Robinson, and Jim Palmer.

“I have a thousand autographs from each of them,” Souhan said. “Going to big-league games wasn’t very expensive, so you could go to a lot of them. That was in my formative years. I loved reading and I loved sports. When I went to high school, I ran track and cross country. The student newspaper wasn’t covering it, so I volunteered to write about it myself. That was my introduction to getting published and I loved it. I was living in St. Louis at the time and went to college at the University of Missouri.”

During the early years of his career, Souhan described himself as a “grunt,” typing in box scores while making six dollars an hour with no benefits. After that, he was promoted to an assistant high school writer for ten dollars an hour with no benefits. Then, he became the primary high school sports writer for the Dallas Morning News. Souhan then took a big jump, getting promoted to the Dallas Cowboys beat writer position. After a year in that job, he said the Star Tribune came calling.

Souhan made the jump to become the Vikings beat writer for a few years. He’s also covered the Twins and was a roving feature writer for the Trib back when “budgets were a little bigger.” A column position came open in 2004 and he’s been doing that ever since. Souhan has even gotten into podcasting, starting his own company called Talk North. His early years in the beat writer position, combined with his experience writing columns has given him unique insights into the Minnesota sports market. A recent column on the Timberwolves dysfunctional situation, saying the NBA is a little bit more public than other leagues when it comes to this.

“I haven’t seen a winning team with this much dysfunction,” he recalled. “That’s where the NBA is different from other sports because it’s all about personalities, egos, money, and how all those things mesh together. I’ve really never seen anything like the last year in Timberwolves history. Here they go, winning close to 50 games, they go to the playoffs, they win a game against a very good team in the playoffs, they have loads of talent, and nobody is happy.”

It’s hard for anybody in the Wolves organization to know what will happen next. Souhan says it’s hard to know what (Head Coach/GM) Tom Thibodeaux is going to do, if it’s sustainable, and whether he can maintain relationships. He’s basically made star player Jimmy Butler a de facto assistant coach, who might be leaving after next season. And that’s not the only challenge ahead.

“Karl-Anthony Towns is said to be less-than-thrilled with the way things are going and I get that,” Souhan said. “He’s the most talented guy on the team and he’s not the focal point. You never know when Andrew Wiggins is going to play hard. Jamal Crawford came in eager to play with this team but couldn’t wait to leave after the season. It’s fascinating, but troubling, that two years ago, they looked like the most promising young team in the league. While they are still promising, there are some big decisions ahead.”

On a brighter note, the Minnesota Vikings are gearing up for a Super Bowl run after falling one game short of being the first team in history to host a Super Bowl. After signing quarterback Kirk Cousins away from Washington, Souhan said the Vikings season will be fun to watch because this team is loaded.

“This team looks really good on paper,” he said. “Cousins is going to do really well in this offense. (Running back) Dalvin Cook being back in this offense could make them really dynamic. You could even see (wide receiver) Laquan Treadwell finally emerge. Kendall Wright is a very good slot receiver. They are really loaded but keep in mind, so is the rest of the NFC.”

Looking into professional baseball, he said a lot of the Twins challenges this summer have been multiple injuries to several key players. Souhan said the team did a great job of building what may be the deepest pitching staff they’ve had in years, and that’s with Ervin Santana eventually coming back from an injury. There are some middle relief issues they need to figure out, but he said, “that’s not unusual for any team.”

Souhan offers some additional thoughts on the injury situations surrounding young Twins stars Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton:

You’ll find a lot more sports conversation like this at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/minnesotasportsweekly.