State of MSUM

I'll be up front: I've only attended one MSUM men's basketball game this year. Prior to that, it's been decades since I've seen a Dragons basketball game.

So much for the support of an alumna.

But the same can be said about the support of now former coach Stu Engen. After eight years, he hasn't received much either.

It's too bad because his young team, from the loss I witnessed against Bemidji State, appears to have a solid core of players to make a conference run in the next year or two.

The player that impressed me the most was Dennis Williamson. A feathery touch for a big man, the 6-foot-6 forward/center should be able to give the Dragons a stronger inside presence in years to come. Add that along with the fiery Jake Driscoll and perhaps you have a 1-2 punch that is just beginning to gel.

Granted, Engen has had eight years to get the Dragons on solid and consistent footing, but not renewing his contract is the least of the worries at MSUM.

The football staff is in disarray and the improvement of facilities hasn't been addressed in ages.

Engen sounded off in a quick e-mail to The Forum today.

Does the basketball coach need to win? Yes, just like every team. But if you step back and evaluate what Engen has had to deal with and the state of status quo in the rest of the athletic department, Engen might have been onto something.

He was one of the last coaches that needed to go.

Posted by: Beers on 3/11/2010 at 2:15 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: sports msum

Tiger's return soon?

Will Tiger Woods return in time for the Masters?

Only Tiger knows now, although it seems incredibly early considering how much damage he's inflicted on his marriage. I don't know how many men, considering the wealth he's accumulated for many generations to come, would be back on the course this early. He certainly doesn't need the money.

This week speculation grew as reports say Jack Nicklaus expects Woods back on the tee at Augusta National.

The tournament is about a month away and while Tiger's return to tournament golf may soothe his insides, I would think an early comeback would only spell more disaster.

But, if a player were to come back under these circumstances, golf's biggest stage has something to do with it. The Masters is a controlled environment (just ask Gary McCord) and the fans, 'er patrons, are as close to the best behaved as any tournament.

That means the heckling would be minimized, you'd believe. Plus, Tiger plays Augusta pretty darn well. Tiger's not coming back to play the Quail Hollow Championship or anything like that. It's the Masters, baby, and when you sum it all up, Tiger will most likely be teeing it up.

It's just a little early for me.

Posted by: Beers on 3/04/2010 at 9:35 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: golf, tiger woods

North Stars on my mind

While we were watching some of the Canada - Team USA gold medal game at the office (for work purposes, obviously), a co-worker commented that his those final minutes of regulation were the most hockey he's watched in a long time.

I was in the same boat. I was huge fan of the Minnesota North Stars back in the 80s. Jersey, going to see 3-4 games a season at Met Center, watching nearly every game on TV, yada, yada, yada.  I recently became a fan of a Facebook North Stars page and updates provide fans of the Bobby Smiths, Don Beaupres and Al MacAdams.

I'm still trying to figure out why Gump Worsley (he of the period goaltenders didn't wear masks) looks like he played into his 70s after seeing his profile.

Today, I can barely name five players on the Wild.

Bob Kurtz, the former KMSP broadcaster for the North Stars and current Wild radio voice, brings me back to yesteryear, but I can't quite feel the passion for the new team as I had the old.

Posted by: Beers on 3/01/2010 at 9:44 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: nhl wild north stars

Leno's back, and with Favre

Jay Leno returns next week to his old time slot.

I've always enjoyed Leno, though no one in my mind could touch Johnny Carson when he was on his game. I tried to make it point to watch "Headlines" and any guests I really didn't want to miss.

On March 4, Vikings QB Brett Favre and actor Matthew McConaughey are scheduled for Leno's show. Favre has the second slot, which typically gets about 7 minutes or so (at least on Leno's old format).

Favre's the perfect guest because Leno has also been through the retire-unretire pattern. And I hope McConaughey, the star of the football film "We are Marshall," sticks around on set for Favre's interview just so we can listen to two good 'ol south'rn boys.

I never warmed up to Letterman and Conan was just on too late for me to sit through another hour of late night. Even when Conan took over Leno's spot, I only watched perhaps once a month (my job keeps me from watching it regularly). I have to say this, however, Conan's skit on old-time baseball aired late during his original time slot, was probably the funniest piece I've seen on TV in a long, long time.

Posted by: Beers on 2/25/2010 at 1:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: favre nfl

41.5 feet

That's the flood level of my home. 41.5 feet.

If the math is right, the upcoming flood ..

Ok, here's the deal. You know it's going to snow in the winter. We know it's going to flood. This isn't your flash flood prediction for two months from now ... no one can really ever predict that with accuracy, but this spring flood business in Fargo-Moorhead and the surrounding region of the Red River Valley, well they do.

They, meaning the National Weather Service and other government agencies, who plug snow and moisture data into these computer dealio-boppers and out spits information on how high the water will get. Most times its fairly accurate (unless you ask Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker - he seems to always like lower numbers), and we sort of sit and wait until it gets somewhat warm enough to start sandbagging.

I was driving underneath the Main Avenue Bridge tonight and the 14.4-foot clearance sign on the railroad bridge caught my eye. In fact, that whole road that I travel 2,000 times a year will soon be filled with about that much water.

Last year, as I've documented on this blog before, was a complete mess. We're fortunate that we didn't lose our home or are having our home bought out, and I feel for those that did.

We spent the greater part of 2009 repairing and improving our basement after last year's 40.86 level that caused the storm sewers to back up in our neck of the woods. Now, this year brings something like a 25 percent chance that the Red will be higher, and a greater possibility that if sandbags and other barriers can't hold back the river, it could be high enough to spill over and affect hundreds and hundreds of homes.

People from out of town, when I tell them I live no more than 500 yards from the river, are amazed that I haven't moved the heck out of here. Well, easier said than done. The deal is, unless we get caught on the wrong side of a manmade dike (which we didn't last year, but it's fairly close), if my neighborhood goes, I'm guessing most of the F-M is going as well.

I'm not wishing that on anyone, but 41.5 feet is reasonably (in my mind, I guess) a fairly high elevation for F-M. I heard someone say today that he's up in north Fargo at 44 feet, and there's no doubt some parts are much higher, but at 41.5 feet, my house for the most part is sitting much better off than some parts due west on the Fargo side.

That doesn't necessarily mean a breach in Moorhead won't happen and the protected Fargoans remain dry, but the odds of a major catastrophe happening probably increase as the river levels go up.

I'm incredibly thankful of the thousands of volunteers who traveled here last year and - for nothing or a slice or two of pizza - helped us stay safe.

The long-term problem is unless a permanent flood solution comes soon, pizza might not be enough. Those folks who traveled here from 2 or 3 or more states away just might wind up saying "I'm not going to help you every year."

Posted by: Beers on 2/22/2010 at 2:35 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: fargo moorhead flooding

Part 2: Going inside Favre's city

Here's part 2 of "Having Beers with ..." Alan Hinton, assistant sports editor of the Hattiesburg American, Brett Favre's local newspaper:

What was Steve McNair’s connection to the city? I know his funeral took place there. Is there anyone else that Hattiesburg is known for?

McNair was from Mount Olive, about 40 miles north of Hattiesburg. He used to play recreational softball here in the summer, and held a free football camp at Southern Miss each summer. As stated earlier, one of his sons played football at Oak Grove High the past two seasons. Bus Cook, the agent of Favre, McNair, Randy Moss, Jay Cutler and others, lives here. Bus got to know Brett about 20 years ago on the golf course. Brett was his first client. Boston Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon has a home here. Tim Floyd, the former Bulls, Hornets, Iowa State and Southern Cal basketball coach, is from here. Charlie Hayes, the New York Yankees third baseman about a dozen years ago who caught the final out of the World Series, is from here. Bubba Phillips, who was the Chicago White Sox third baseman in 1959 when they were in the World Series, lived here before he passed away a few years ago. I can’t verify it, but they say Tiger Woods and ESPN analyst and former Mets GM Steve Phillips recently spent a few weeks here at a sex addiction clinic. Floyd called one of his friends not too long ago, posing this question: What city in the U.S. has been part of ESPN’s main topic this past year more than any other? With Favre and Tiger, and Floyd when he stepped down from Southern Cal, who’s to argue?

Another former Southern Miss quarterback, Jeff Hammond, is one of the U.S. Army’s top generals. He married a girl from Hattiesburg, and gets back occasionally. He wanted to be commissioned a general on the 50-yard line, but the Army sent him to Germany instead, then Iraq. As a QB, he couldn’t throw real well or run real well, but he was a leader. The story goes that Southern Miss was losing a game at halftime, and Hammond challenged every player on the team to fight him if they couldn’t put out a better effort on the field. They came out in the second half and won the game. There are also actors – Gary Grubbs (“The O.C,” “Will & Grace”) lives here now and Lacey Chabert (“Mean Girls”) is from nearby Purvis – as well as award-winning songwriters and musicians, etc. We could go on and on. Some say that Hattiesburg was the birth-place of rock and roll, but I’m sure other places may disagree.

The outpouring up here has been incredible for Favre to return one more year, especially after all those years he was a main rival in Green Bay. Does that surprise you?

No. He’s still one of the top quarterbacks in the world. He made one bad play (out of 50 or so) in the NFC Cham-pionship game against the Saints. Sports fans think of the present, much more than the past or the future, and with Favre playing quarterback, the Vikings have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl next season.

We ran a story in The Forum Thursday about billboards in Hattiesburg with messages of trying to lure Favre back to the Vikings at least one more season. Where are they?
The billboards ¬– there are two of them – are at a place on U.S. 98 where the Favre’s would see it while taking their youngest daughter to school.

Your area is known for its Saints following. What was it like for you guys having a Super Bowl winner?
Crazy. Wild. Shocking. Unbelievable. All of the above. Old-timers like me remember when the Saints had preseason practice (1971-73) on the University of Southern Mississippi campus. We’ve sat in front of our TV sets for the past 43 years watching the Saints fumble and bumble their way through games. We remember the early years. We remember when all the Saints needed to win a game was make an extra point, but didn’t. And we remember Hurricane Katrina. With all that knowledge logged into our brains, many of us never thought we’d see the Saints win a Super Bowl.

We keep up, on the Hattiesburg American Web site, with numbers of hits on stories and photo galleries, and for the past two weeks, numbers for anything Saints related have been almost off the charts. The week of, and for a few days after, the Vikings-Saints game, a lot of football fans down here didn’t know who to pull for. They considered it a win-win game. They would have been happy no matter who won. Now that the Saints won the Super Bowl, people are standing in line for Saints jerseys, women who went to football games only for the halftime show are wearing fleur-de-lis ear rings. That’s all people are talking about.

Posted by: Beers on 2/11/2010 at 9:35 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink

Tags: favre, vikings

Hattiesburg ASE Alan Hinton: On Favre

Sometime soon, or perhaps not so soon, a resident who lives just outside of Hattiesburg, Miss., will decide if he wants to keep his job in Minnesota.
This fella could opt for retirement (again), or fly back to the land of 10,000 Lakes (and by Facebook standards, 4 million or so people who really want him back), or maybe join Sears full time as a TV salesman.
Oh, let’s get to the point. The man, of course, is Brett Favre. He’s the guy who spent last summer working out with the nearby Oak Grove high school football team and wound up perhaps one throw away from playing in the Super Bowl in nearby New Orleans, a two-hour shot down interstates 59 and 10.
So, who better to have “Beers with …” this week than someone who's followed Favre’s entire career than Alan Hinton, the assistant sports editor of the Hattiesburg American, who kindly took the time to share his insights.

Like the movie “Fargo” up here, does everyone mention Hattiesburg and Favre in the same sentence? Seriously, does it get old for you?
In that respect, no. Favre is one of the most popular athletes ever, a sure-fire Hall of Famer, a legend. For him to have played at the University of Southern Mississippi (my alma mater) and to live here – just a few miles outside the city limits – is a source of pride for most everyone. This past summer, I went to a party of journalists in Washington, D.C.. Some of the folks there did not know Favre lived here. When they learned that, their eyes widened and their heads cocked, almost as if I had become the celebrity just for living near him.

How long have you been at the American?
I started as a stringer in 1974, writing high school football game stories, and became full-time two years later. So I’ve been here 33 years full-time. My first week, I went with the sports editor to a Saints-Cowboys game. After it, we went to the Cowboys dressing room, where I saw idols like Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Ed “Too Tall” Jones. Our sports editor at the time roomed in college with Cowboys linebacker D.D. Lewis. He told D.D. to show me his Super Bowl ring. I thought, “What a great job I’ve got!”

What’s your city like? The population is, what, about 50,000?
About 50,000 are in the city limits, but there are a number of other towns and communities nearby, so there are well over 100,000 people within 35 miles.

How does your newspaper handle his coverage? Have you ever gotten him to talk to your paper directly in a one-on-one or has that been just way too out of the question?
It’s almost impossible to get an interview, and most of the time we don’t try too hard. An ESPN reporter stood at his driveway, outside a big iron fence, for about a week last summer. To my knowledge, she never saw Favre. We have talked to him, a few times at the airport and at Oak Grove High School, where he was working out. And even though he lives here – behind a fence in a house that you can’t see from the road – I think he spends a lot of time elsewhere, either visiting family members or old friends or just doing things you can do if you make $10 million or so a year.

Forum sports reporter Kevin Schnepf talked with coach Nevil Barr at Oak Grove just before the Vikings-Saints game. Barr said Brett was super with the kids there. What kind of season did they have?
They finished second in the state, and they are in the highest classification in the state. Their quarterback got hurt early in the season but came back later. Four players signed Division I scholarships, including Steve McNair Jr., a do-everything player who filled in at quarterback when the starter was hurt.

What’s it like down there during Brett’s yearly decision time? Would you go out on a limb and say he has one year left in him to do some unfinished business?
As a journalist, you have to be on your toes because any minute he could make a decision. The whole world, it seems, is watching, so we want the news ASAP. The tough part is that, with a small staff, we can’t afford to have anyone “stalk” Favre because I need my guys to write other stories, too. There is no doubt Favre was one of the top players in the NFL this season, so I think he could play another year. But I also know that you lose a step about 30, and every year Father Time adds to the things you can’t do like you once did. Journalistically, it does get old writing “retirement” stories, but everybody’s got the right to change their mind.

You mentioned earlier that Brett isn’t always out and about. But if you someone happened to see him, is he riding in a '80s pickup truck and wearing Wranglers? Or is that just the image he portrays. Also, what does Brett have going on down there besides his ranch?
I’ve seen him driving a pickup, but it looked to be a new one. I’ve seen him near his gate in front of his house, and he was wearing shorts. Believe it or not, I think he was pulling weeds from around his driveway. A friend of mine has a snow cone stand. He tells the story of one morning, 45 minutes before he was scheduled to open, he looked up and there was Favre and his youngest daughter. Favre asked him if they could get a couple of snow cones. My friend opened up 45 minutes early. I asked him if he asked Favre the latest NFL news. He said no, they talked about the weather. Brett used to play a lot of golf at the Hattiesburg Country Club, but some of his golf buddies said he hasn’t played much the past two summers. Even when you ask them about Brett, they are pretty protective of him, saying that he likes to win, and that’s about it. Favre likes to hunt, alone. He goes to St. Thomas Catholic Church, where Father Tommy Conway is in charge. Father Tommy is a sports fan, and has all kinds of Favre-autographed memorabilia.
From what I’ve heard, the members at St. Thomas try not to make a scene when Favre walks in, but they definitely know who he is. Favre has that magnetism that you can’t not pay attention to him.

Coming soon: Part 2
 

Posted by: Beers on 2/10/2010 at 7:21 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: vikings favre

New stadiums keep it going

It was right around 1978 when I watched one of my two baseball games at Met Stadium. The 60-mile trip was a treat for those playing in the summer baseball program in Princeton.

We played on the sandy dirt fields with no fences behind one of the elementary schools. Our dirt bikes piled up behind the backstop. Any ball hit to foul terrority meant five minutes of picking sandburrs off your socks. Coaching was minimal and nothing like today's organized play. We wore outdated and thinly padded helmets at bat and these wrap-arounds called "ears" if you got on base.

I doubt the Twins will have to deal with sandburrs at Target Field, but mosquitoes might be another matter. It just depends on how many of those little suckers hang out in downtown Minneapolis.

For many, the Metrodome will always be a special place, much like the old Met has been for some and what Target Field will be for others.

The old Met ... Gene Mauch, Rod Carew, Ron "Papa" Jackson, Sal Butera, Rob Wilfong, John Castino ... Hosken Powell ... the list goes on and on.

Those were the first Twins in my life.

I recall watching the dome going up. Large, concrete frames rising from the ground. My first game in there was sometime during the opening season (I still have the red hat and the mini-bat from Kent Hrbek Dairy Queen bat day) and the dome was something else. It's no joke that it was like playing baseball with a super ball during those early years.

The only problem with the Metrodome was its concept. Minnesota teams were unfortunate because in that five-year stretch of time, domes were the in thing. The Metrodome, which cost around $55 million, wasn't built to last. But consider this, it's been a bargain. At 28-some years old and anywhere between three to four full-time tenants (we're counting the Timberwolves pre-Target Center) each team had roughly $600,000 of its cost per season.

Then, as you get a bit older, you realize the dome was a joke for baseball. I've seen games at the new Comiskey (US Cellular), Wrigley and Safeco Field, let alone driving past the Ballpark in Arlington, if that counts. Talk about cha-ching!

The owners are right, the venue does make a difference.

People (at least some that I don't know) are willing to pony up big bucks for suites, wine and whatever else suits their taste. It's called Corporate America. Now, the rest of us have to fight for good seats down the baselines, but as long as those teams (Ok, maybe not the Yankees) keep those reasonable, Joe Fan will continue to come out to see his team.

But I get it. And here's why.

Keeping those teams (and here's a plug for a new Vikings stadium while I'm at it) is a huge benefit to the state. It creates a diversion, a curiousity, a tremendous following. I mean, if we lose either the Vikings or Twins, I doubt we'll be running around in Pawlenty '12 jerseys or something like that. No, that simply doesn't happen.

If the owners can make more money, the players can earn more money and some people, like the beer vendor, likely will, too. Someone asked me years ago if sports salaries for players are justified. I tend to think that a million bucks is a lot of money. It is, without question. Sports like golf routinely have $1 million first-place prizes. A player like Tige.. well, Alex Rodr.. well, Joe Mauer (just to mention someone without controversy) is going to rake in $20 million a season.

Justified? Well, certainly.

Sure, it's supply and demand. One supplier, many in demand. But those players, whether they are built up by the media (most certainly) work in unison with the media as well. Players like Mauer, as entertaining a ballplayer he is, help create jobs at ESPN, Star Tribune Pioneer Press, Sports Illustrated, Beckett's sports cards, Topps cards, etc., even up here in Fargo where everyone from the manager of baseball apparel at Scheel's to radio hosts yapping up the Twins to our local newspaper receive some trickle-down effect. Stretching it even further, what if that lanky 17-year-old on your local Legion team never picked up a bat, but decided to because he really likes Justin Morneau? What if that decision made that child a better student, a better person? Can you put a price on that?

$20 million might not even be close to what they're worth.

So, to quote Norman Chad, "Pay the man, Shirley."

WDAY talk show host Christopher Gabriel said something on air the other day worth repeating. Those who think Minnesota's economy should be fixed first are wrong. New stadium or not, the economy could still be in the tank. One does not corrolate to the other.

Think about that. Did the Gophers and Twins stadiums really doom the economy? No. If anything, they provided jobs and are generating income. It's like landing an out-of-state business into your town, and when that happens, don't mayors provide the key to the city to those firms while oftentimes providing tax breaks or other incentives?

Yes.

Keep those teams and we'll keep those jobs. It's pretty simple.

Posted by: Beers on 2/03/2010 at 10:02 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: baseball