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White House warns of military response to rocket attack on Iraq base housing U.S. troops

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The White House warned that the U.S. may consider a military response to the rocket attack on Wednesday that hit an airbase in western Iraq where American and coalition troops are house. A U.S. contractor died after at least 10 rockets slammed into the base. It was the first strike since the U.S. bombed Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week; no group has claimed responsibility.

The White House said that heightened tensions with Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq could lead to more attacks. Asked about the attack, President Biden told reporters, “we are following that through right now.” He added, “Thank God, no one was killed by the rocket, but one individual, a contractor, died of a heart attack. But we’re identifying who’s responsible and we’ll make judgments” about a response. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. contractor “suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering” from the attack and died shortly afterward. He said there were no service members injured and all are accounted for. British and Danish troops also are among those stationed at the base.

US warns of military response to rocket attack

Via www.usatoday.com
Wednesday’s death of the contractor heightens worries that the U.S. could be drawn into another…
 

Editorial credit: Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com

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National security officials give differing timeline of Capitol attack response

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During questioning as part of the Senate’s investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a Washington, a member of the National Guard and a Pentagon official disagreed on the speed of response to the incident.

Appearing before a joint hearing of the Senate homeland security and rules committees, Maj. Gen. William Walker of the District of Columbia National Guard and Pentagon official Robert Salesses presented differing timelines for when Walker received approval to deploy the National Guard in response to radical supporters of former President Donald Trump who forced their way into the Capitol building.  Walker testified that it took more than 3 hours to authorize the deployment of troops in response to the insurrection. Were it not for the additional restrictions, Walker said he would have “immediately pulled all the guardsmen that were supporting the Metropolitan Police Department.”

However Salesses presented a different timeline from Walker, saying that after a call with military officials, McCarthy assessed what the National Guard’s mission would be and visited the headquarters of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department before securing final approval from acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller at 4:32 p.m.

The first part of the committees’ investigation occurred last week when the panel heard testimony from four law enforcement and security officials, including U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.

General: ‘Optics’ led Pentagon to wait hours before sending troops to Capitol on Jan. 6

Via news.yahoo.com
An official in the D.C. National Guard detailed the slow response from the Pentagon to approve…
 

Editorial credit: Thomas Hengge / Shutterstock.com

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New series ‘Roar’ starring Nicole Kidman and Cynthia Erivo coming to Apple TV+

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Apple TV+ said in a press release that they have ordered Roar, a new series starring Nicole Kidman and Cynthia Erivo. Kidman, 53, will star in and executive produce the new anthology series.

Roar is created by Glow creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. The series will also star Merrit Wever and Alison Brie, with more cast members to be announced soon. Roar is based on the Celcelia Ahern book of short stories. The show’s eight “genre-bending” episodes will tell “darkly comic feminist fables” from “a uniquely female point of view.”

Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Alison Brie & Merritt Weaver to Star in Apple TV Series ‘Roar’!

Via www.justjared.com
Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Alison Brie and Merritt Weaver are about to be castmates. The four…
 

Editorial credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

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Take a look at Michael B. Jordan in the trailer for ‘Without Remorse’

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Amazon Prime Video shared a trailer for the new film Without Remorse featuring Michael B. Jordan as John Clark, an elite Navy SEAL who uncovers an international conspiracy after the murder of his pregnant wife.

Without Remorse is based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name and is a spinoff of the Jack Ryan film series. The new movie provides an origin story for John Clark, born John Kelly, one of Clancy’s best-known characters. The trailer shows Clark seek revenge after he is attacked and his wife is killed by Russian assassins.

Without Remorse is directed by Stefano Sollima and co-stars Luke Mitchell, Jack Kesy, Brett Gelman, Colman Domingo and Guy Pearce. The film premieres April 30 on Amazon Prime Video.

Michael B. Jordan is Rainbow Six’s future commander in new Tom Clancy movie

Via www.msn.com
Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Creed) will take on the role of U.S. Navy SEAL John Clark in…
 

Editorial credit: Tom Rose / Shutterstock.com

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SPORTS FEEVER – March 4, 2021

It is hard to believe we start Minnesota High School wrestling playoffs on Monday with the Section 8A team tournament first round.  Tournament time is here.

We are going to try to stream several games.  For sure Crookston home playoff games, the Section 8A Individual tournament in Crookston, the Section 8A Boys and Girls Basketball Championship games, and possibly the Section 8AA boys and girls basketball championship games.  If the Section 8A Boys Hockey game is in EGF we would look at carrying that too.

We would love to do more, but the Region 8A committee is charging us $500 per game so that limited what we will do, especially this year because we have a hard time going out and asking businesses for more and more money during a pandemic.  We are hoping to at least break even on the streaming.  We still haven’t heard of a concrete price we will be charged for the Section 8AA basketball games yet.

If you want to sponsor our tournament streaming coverage, let me know at chrisjfee@yahoo.com.

— — —

The mailbag seemed to be a hit with many people last week so we will go with another dip into the Chris Fee fanmail folder. It has been an active folder this week.

Chris,
You suck!  You are lucky you are so good looking otherwise it would be splitsville!
Tiffany F. (Crookston)

Chris,
I know how you feel!  At least people aren’t hoping you get fired and are talking about your possible replacements, like me.
Sincerely – Richard P. (Dinkytown)

Chris,
You definitely aren’t terrible, but you aren’t close to being Elite either!  Keep your head up, Row the Boat, Ski-U-Mah, and Go Gopher Communications!
P.J. F. (Dinkytown)

Chris,
I always thought you were turrible.  Even when I met you in the airport after the final four.
Charles B. (Philadelphia/Atlanta – TNT Studios)

Chris,
You aren’t terrible.  You just aren’t very good.  But I still love you!
Love Mom

Well, that was fun.  Let’s do it again next week:)

— — —

Crookston Pirate Athletics has made a few changes to the wrestling and boys basketball schedule.

Crookston Boys Basketball has added Warren-A-O to the schedule with a game on Saturday afternoon in Crookston.

Crookston Pirate Wrestling won’t compete in Breckenridge on Saturday because they will have the Section 8A wrestling tournament first-round match on Monday.

— — —

We will look at the Section 8AA Basketball, Section 8A basketball, Section 8A hockey, and Section 8A Wrestling QRF’s with the postseason right around the corner.

The QRF is courtesy of www.minnesota-scores.net.

The Winter Sports QRF tie-breakers have been updated as of March 1, and you can see it will come into play in several seeds.

Girls Hockey – 3/1/21

Class Current TM** Projected TM* LY TM
A 3.8 4.4 4.3
AA 5.3 6.2 6.3

 

Boys Hockey – 3/1/21

Class Current TM** Projected TM* LY TM
A 3.6 4.2 4.2
AA 5.6 6.5 6.4

 

Girls Basketball – 3/1/21

Class Current TM** Projected TM* LY TM
A 4.2 4.8 4.7
AA 5.9 6.9 6.9
AAA 8.2 9.6 9.6
AAAA 11.3 13.2 13.7

 

Boys Basketball – 3/1/21

Class Current TM** Projected TM* LY TM
A 4.1 4.9 4.6
AA 5.9 6.9 6.6
AAA 8.6 10.1 9.3
AAAA 11.1 13.1 12.9

 

Wrestling – 3/1/21

Class Current TM** Projected TM* LY TM
A 6.8 8.4 n/a
AA 8.8 10.7 n/a
AAAA 12.0 14.7 n/a

 

* The Projected Tiebreaker Margin is an attempt to identify what the final TM will be for that Class based on a combination of previous and current year data.  The final TM will be determined on the date your Section seeds.

— — —

SECTION 8AA NORTH BOYS BASKETBALL
Warroad has the top spot in the north right now.  Warroad’s schedule in the last four games won’t reward them with many points, but DGF’s schedule will be a lot tougher.  I am guessing DGF could be the top seed in the north, and they can lose one game the rest of the season to do that.  I think whoever wins between TRF and Hawley in their only meeting of the year on Monday will be the third seed.  The rest of the seeding will be a jumble, with EGF, Bagley, and Park Rapids fighting for the fifth seed.  Bagley has a win over East Grand Forks for a tie-breaker.  Park Rapids doesn’t play Bagley or East Grand Forks, so it could come down to section record, and Bagley and Park Rapids have the advantage there.  It is too close to call at this point.
And it looks like no matter what, Crookston will be going to Roseau for a play-in game.

Section 8AA – North Standings (Seeded – 3/14)
QRF
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 39 Warroad (74.1) 5-1 11-2 Won 4
No. 43 DGF (72.6) 4-5 6-5 Lost 3
No. 70 TRF (53.2) 5-3 5-6 Lost 3
No. 74 Hawley (51.2) 4-8 6-8 Lost 1
No. 86 EGF (45.2) 3-6 6-8 Lost 3
No. 91 Bagley (40.5) 2-2 6-7 Won 4
No. 92 Park Rapids (39.9) 2-2 3-9 Lost 1
No. 113 Roseau (26.7) 2-3 4-9 Lost 3
No. 123 Crookston (16.6) 0-10 1-13 Lost 11

 

SECTION 8AA SOUTH BOYS BASKETBALL
Perham looks like they will be the top seed in the South, and if they win out, they are pretty much guaranteed to be the top seed.  They split with Breckenridge during the season, and Breckenridge has a better conference and section record as of Wednesday.  Every game will be a big game the rest of the way, but it looks like Perham has “figured” things out and is playing well right now.
Fergus Falls looks to be in good shape for the third seed, but a win over Breckenridge and Perham would push them into the top spot.  So who knows what will happen in the final week and a half.
Barnesville looks to be locked in at the fourth spot, Breckenridge at the fifth spot, Frazee and Wadena-Deer Creek are battling for the sixth seed.  Frazee beat WDC earlier this year in their only meeting and would have the tie-breaker.
And it looks like Menahga and Staples-Motley will face-off in the play-in game.

Section 8AA – South Standings (Seeded – 3/14)
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 8 Perham (110.6) 9-2 12-2 Won 8
No. 10 Breckenridge (107.1) 9-1 10-3 Won 4
No. 16 Fergus Falls (98.2) 0-0 7-7 Lost 3
No. 25 Barnesville (84.7) 6-4 8-4 Won 2
No. 55 Pelican Rapids (64.1) 6-5 7-6 Won 1
No. 68 Frazee (55.0) 5-7 6-8 Lost 2
No. 69 Wadena-DC (53.9) 1-1 7-6 Lost 2
No. 89 Menahga (42.0) 0-2 4-6 Won 3
No. 110 Staples-Motley (27.6) 1-2 2-10 Lost 1

 

— — —

SECTION 8A WEST BOYS BASKETBALL
It looks like Fertile-Beltrami will be the top seed if they win out, and BGMR suffers a loss or more.  It is possible BGMR could get the top seed, but they would need to win all of their games to have a solid shot of doing that.
There is a three-way battle for the third seed with Stephen-Argyle, Northern Freeze, and Red Lake County.  If Stephen-Argyle wins out, they will be the third seed and possibly even a second seed.  The Storm play Northern Freeze in the final game of the regular season, and that could be for the third seed!  Red Lake County also has a good chance of moving up to the third seed if they win the rest of their games, and they could get a second seed.  So what I am trying to say is the second, third, fourth, and fifth seed are still up in the air with a lot of big games coming up.
The sixth seed will have Warren-Alvarado-Oslo and Ada-Borup/West.
The eighth seed will likely be Sacred Heart.
The ninth seed will go to Kittson County Central over Climax-Fisher unless one of the teams wins a game.  Right now, KCC has a better section and overall record.

Section 8A – West Standings (QRF Seeded – 3/14)
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 13 Fertile-Beltrami (73.4) 7-1 12-2 Won 3
No. 22 Badger/G-MR (67.6) 7-2 10-3 Won 1
No. 30 Stephen-Argyle (62.5) 9-2 9-2 Lost 1
No. 31 Northern Freeze (61.8) 9-3 9-4 Won 1
No. 39 Red Lake County (59.0) 9-3 9-4 Won 2
No. 66 Warren-A-O (44.2) 6-7 7-7 Won 2
No. 70 Ada-Borup (42.0) 2-2 6-6 Won 2
No. 87 Sacred Heart (37.0) 5-7 5-8 Lost 1
No. 133 Climax/Fisher (19.0) 0-8 1-14 Lost 1
No. 136 Kittson CC (16.9) 1-9 1-12 Lost 4

 

SECTION 8A EAST BOYS BASKETBALL 
The top seed will be Cass Lake-Bena.  They beat Win-E-Mac in their only meeting of the year for the tie-breaker.  Win-E-Mac will be the second seed.
The third seed is going to come down to the final game and possibly a tie-breaker or two.  Red Lake and Blackduck split the two games they played earlier this season.  Red Lake has a better conference record as of Wednesday.  But wait, there’s more!  Fosston, Clearbrook-Gonvick, and Goodridge/Grygla could all be in the hunt to move up with a strong finish, so it is still up in the air.
The one thing we know is Lake of the Woods will be the 10th seed.

Section 8A – East Standings (QRF Seeded – 3/14)
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 16 Cass Lake-Bena (71.4) 8-0 12-3 Won 1
No. 20 Win-E-Mac (67.8) 7-2 12-2 Won 8
No. 59 Red Lake (46.4) 3-3 8-5 Won 1
No. 74 Blackduck (40.8) 4-4 7-7 Won 1
No. 93 Fosston (33.9) 2-7 4-9 Lost 7
No. 100 Clearbrook-Gonvick (33.3) 2-9 4-9 Lost 2
No. 102 Goodridge/Grygla (32.0) 5-9 6-10 Lost 3
No. 114 Northome/Kelliher (26.2) 2-5 5-9 Lost 5
No. 149 Lake of the Woods (8.5) 0-5 0-11 Lost 11

 

— — —

SECTION 8AA NORTH GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Crookston Pirates have locked up the top seed in the north with an overtime win over Hawley on Tuesday.  Hawley is locked in at second.
The third seed will come down to the wire as Park Rapids, Roseau, East Grand Forks, and even DGF all have a shot at the third seed.  Thief River Falls looks to be the seventh seed.  Warroad and Bagley will be in the play-in game for the rights to play Fergus Falls in the first round.

Section 8AA – North Standings (QRF Seeded – 3/14)
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 22 Crookston (93.0) 8-3 10-3 Won 2
No. 50 Hawley (66.2) 8-6 8-6 Lost 1
No. 84 Park Rapids (43.5) 3-4 4-8 Won 1
No. 90 Roseau (41.5) 3-5 5-9 Won 4
No. 95 EGF (40.2) 3-4 5-8 Lost 1
No. 100 DGF (35.4) 2-10 2-11 Lost 8
No. 114 TRF (26.0) 2-6 2-11 Lost 8
No. 122 Warroad (21.7) 0-3 3-10 Lost 1
No. 128 Bagley (10.5) 1-1 1-11 Won 1

 

SECTION 8AA SOUTH GIRLS BASKETBALL
Fergus Falls has the top seed wrapped up by over 40 points in the QRF, and from what I have seen, they have the best team in the section.  BUT, seven other teams can beat them this year.
Pelican Rapids will be the second seed.  The third seed is still up in the air, with Breckenridge, Perham, and Barnesville fighting until the final game.
Menahga will be the sixth seed.
The final three seeds are up for grabs, with Staples-Motley, Wadena-Deer Creek, and Frazee trying to get out of the play-in game.

Section 8AA – South Standings (QRF Seeded – 3/14)
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 1 Fergus Falls (147.5) 1-1 11-3 Won 8
No. 9 Pelican Rapids (104.5) 10-1 13-1 Won 7
No. 28 Breckenridge (85.4) 8-2 10-3 Won 4
No. 29 Perham (84.8) 8-4 9-5 Won 1
No. 35 Barnesville (82.1) 6-3 8-3 Won 4
No. 44 Menahga (71.6) 3-0 8-3 Lost 2
No. 96 Staples-Motley (38.8) 1-2 4-10 Lost 1
No. 98 Wadena-DC (36.5) 1-4 6-8 Won 2
No. 101 Frazee (34.9) 2-11 2-12 Lost 6

 

— — —

SECTION 8A WEST GIRLS BASKETBALL
It looks like Stephen-Argyle will be the top seed in the west.  Even though the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River is right there with them at the top spot, Stephen-Argyle won the only meeting between the teams.  Fertile-Beltrami and Red Lake Falls are fighting for the third seed.  The teams don’t play each other, so if either team wins out, they would be the third seed.  It is still too close to call.
KCC looks like they will be the fifth seed, WAO will be the sixth seed, Northern Freeze will likely be the seventh, Climax-Fisher the eighth, and RLCC and Sacred Heart will fight to stay out of the cellar.

Section 8A – West Standings (QRF Seeded – 3/14)
QRF Rank
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 17 Stephen-Argyle (68.2) 11-1 11-2 Lost 1
No. 19 Badger/G-MR (68.0) 7-2 11-3 Won 8
No. 29 Fertile-Beltrami (63.2) 4-1 8-2 Won 6
No. 36 Red Lake Falls (59.2) 9-3 10-4 Won 1
No. 53 KCC (49.6) 3-6 6-6 Won 1
No. 67 Warren-A-O (43.0) 7-7 7-7 Lost 2
No. 87 Northern Freeze (33.8) 2-8 3-8 Lost 2
No. 91 Climax/Fisher (30.3) 1-4 4-9 Won 1
No. 105 RLCC (25.6) 2-9 2-10 Lost 6
No. 111 Sacred Heart (22.7) 1-11 2-13 Lost 6

 

SECTION 8A EAST GIRLS BASKETBALL
The top seed will come down to whoever can win out.  Fosston has two big games with Fertile-Beltrami and Stephen-Argyle.  Cass Lake-Bena has two big games against Duluth Marshall and Mountain Iron-Buhl.  It will likely come down to a tie-breaker.
Goodridge/Grygla has shown they are ready to make a run in the playoffs and look like they might be able to lock up the third seed with a couple of wins.  I am picking Goodridge-Grygla as my “sleeper” pick to make a run.
The rest of the sub-section seems to be in place until the final three spots, with Lake of the Woods, Blackduck, and Win-E-Mac all having two wins and all within a point separating them.

Section 8A – East Standings (QRF Seeded – 3/14)
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 11 Fosston (75.0) 6-0 12-0 Won 12
No. 12 Cass Lake-Bena (74.2) 6-1 11-3 Won 10
No. 41 Goodridge/Grygla (56.5) 9-4 10-4 Won 4
No. 48 Clearbrook-Gonvick (50.8) 7-3 9-3 Won 6
No. 57 Red Lake (47.8) 5-2 7-3 Won 1
No. 79 Kelliher/Northome (37.7) 4-5 7-6 Lost 1
No. 113 Lake of the Woods (21.4) 0-4 2-7 Won 1
No. 114 Blackduck (21.1) 1-8 2-11 Lost 6
No. 117 Win-E-Mac (20.6) 0-6 2-12 Lost 4

 

— — —

SECTION 8A BOYS HOCKEY 
Section 8A Boys hockey doesn’t go by QRF, and they will have coaches seed.  Here is how I think things might look at seed time.
Whoever wins between Warroad and East Grand Forks on Thursday will likely get the top seed.  East Grand Forks already beat Warroad once, so a Green Wave win locks up the top seed.
So I am thinking this – (But there are many important games that will change the seeding depending on what happens!)
1. East Grand Forks
2. Warroad
3. Thief River Falls
4. Kittson County Central
5. Red Lake Falls
6. Detroit Lakes
7. Crookston
8. Park Rapids
9. Lake of the Woods
10. Bagley-Fosston

Section 8A Standings
QRF
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 5 Warroad (66.1) 4-1-0 7-4-2 Lost 1
No. 11 East Grand Forks (59.0) 4-0-0 7-7-0 Lost 2
No. 17 Red Lake Falls (51.7) 6-2-0 10-3-0 Won 3
No. 27 Kittson Central (46.2) 8-1-1 9-2-1 Won 8
No. 28 Thief River Falls (44.5) 5-2-1 7-5-1 Won 3
No. 41 Detroit Lakes (37.8) 3-4-0 7-7-0 Won 1
No. 61 Park Rapids  (22.3) 1-6-0 4-10-0 Lost 6
No. 63 Crookston (22.0) 2-6-0 2-9-0 Lost 1
No. 70 Bagley/Fosston (18.9) 0-6-0 5-9-0 Lost 3
No. 76 LOW (16.8) 1-6-0 1-8-0 Lost 1

— — —

SECTION 8A GIRLS HOCKEY
The seeds are pretty much decided, and the coaches vote should be relatively easy.
The top seed is Warroad.
Thief River Falls will be the second seed.
Crookston will be the third seed if they beat Detroit Lakes on Monday.
I think Detroit Lakes will be the fifth seed as they split with EGF, but the Green Wave beat DL 5-1 in their last meeting.

Section 8A Standings
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 1 Warroad (97.1) 3-0-0 12-1-0 Won 7
No. 20 Thief River Falls (43.6) 5-1-0 6-5-1 Won 1
No. 32 Crookston (32.2) 2-5-1 6-8-1 Lost 1
No. 34 Detroit Lakes (29.5) 1-3-0 7-6-0 Won 2
No. 35 East Grand Forks (29.3) 2-4-1 3-10-1 Lost 4

 

— — —

SECTION 8A WRESTLING
As of Wednesday, it looks like United North Central will be the top seed.  BUT, United North Central, Crookston, and Frazee will all meet on Thursday evening, and the three matches will have a lot to do with the final seeding.
If UNC wins both matches, they are the top seed.
If Crookston wins both, they have a good argument for a top seed since they lost to BGMR without their 106 pounder in that match.
If Frazee wins both matches they could make a great argument for the top seed and likely be the top seed.
So with that said….here is a prediction of how things might go as of Wednesday.
1. UNC
2. BGMR
3. Crookston
4. Frazee
5. Fosston-Bagley
6. Mahnomen-Waubun
7. Park Rapids
8. Fertile-Beltrami
9. Red Lake County Central

Section 8A Standings
QRF 
Team (QRF)
Section
Overall
Streak
No. 19 Badger/G-MR (96.4) 7-2 19-6 Lost 3
No. 21 United North Central (86.8) 3-0 15-6 Won 4
No. 28 Crookston (77.8) 5-1 19-8 Won 1
No. 30 Frazee (73.0) 1-0 9-10 Won 1
No. 47 Fosston/Bagley (52.9) 6-2 10-14 Won 2
No. 64 Mahnomen/Waubun (38.8) 2-4 7-14 Lost 8
No. 68 Park Rapids Area (36.2) 2-5 6-14 Lost 2
No. 74 Fertile-Beltrami (34.5) 1-6 3-15 Lost 4
No. 75 RLCC (32.7) 0-7 1-14 Lost 6

 

— — —

I was surprised to see that Minnesota State Moorhead Dragon athletic director Doug Peters is leaving after 14 years while taking a position at Prairie Heights Community Church in West Fargo.
Doug turned around a terrible Dragon athletic program and hired coaches like Steve Laqua and Chad Walthall.

Athletic-generated revenue grew to more than $1 million, and scholarship funding went from $434,000 in 2007-08, to $1.26 million in 2020-21, according to MSUM’s athletic department. The scholarship equivalencies doubled while Peters was the athletic director.

What Doug did in his 14 years was amazing.  Most of the sports were the same as UMC 14 years ago.  Now they are better in every sport.  The only sport they aren’t better in is baseball because Moorhead doesn’t have it, and that is the one sport at UMC that has a chance to be competitive and in the top half of the NSIC!

— — —

According to the Star Tribune’s David La Vaque, the Minnesota State High School League has released some information about the winter state tournaments.  Some of the information is below –

A maximum of 250 spectators will be allowed to attend the state tournament games/matches.  The MSHSL is hoping for at least one, possibly two, family members to attend.

Around 45 schools will be needed for the state tournament quarterfinals in basketball and the state prelims in Wrestling.  It looks like Cass Lake-Bena will be the sight for the Section 7A/8A state prelims.

Not all wrestling tournament sites will be able to accommodate spectators for the individual tournament.

— — —

MILESTONES –

Thief River Falls Wrestling Coach, Kenny Geiser, won the 300th match of his career this week.

BGMR Wrestling’s Caleb Vacura (junior) recorded the 100th win of his career on Friday.

Thief River Falls Wrestler, Griffin Lundeen, won the 100th match of his career.

— — —

The University of Minnesota Crookston women’s basketball team announced the signing of Abi Fraaza (6-foot forward from Birnamwood, Wisconsin) to a National Letter of Intent.  Fraaza is a two-time All-Conference First Team selection in basketball. She was named a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-Star. Fraaza also earned All-Conference Second Team honors. She was named the MVP for the Conference for her junior year.  Fraaza is averaging six points and 3 rebounds per game during her senior year at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School. As a junior, she averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, Fraaza had eight points and 11 rebounds per game.  She is the daughter of Bill and Charity Fraaza and plans to major in exercise science and wellness at UMC.

— — —

The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s golf team announced the signing of Rory Wutzke (Camrose, Alberta/Our Lady of Mount Pleasant H.S.) to a National Letter of Intent. Wutzke joins his high school teammate Devin Kucy (Camrose, Alberta/Our Lady of Mount Pleasant H.S.) and Layton Bartley (Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne H.S.) as signees for the Golden Eagles.
Wutzke was on the same high school squad as fellow signee Devin Kucy. He helped lead Our Lady of Mount Pleasant H.S. to Provincial Golf Championships in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, he was an Order of Merit winner on the Alberta Junior Tour. He has been an honor’s student from grades 7-12. Wutzke holds a 3.70 GPA. He has been competing on the Alberta Junior Tour for the last two years. He has also competed in hockey, basketball, track, badminton, and tennis.
He is the son of Kathy Schultz and Scott Schneider and plans to major in sports and rec management and marketing.

— — —

The Men’s College Hockey Senior CLASS Award finalists have been announced, and it includes three Minnesota Golden Gophers, one from St. Cloud State, and one from UND.

Kevin Fitzgerald, St. Cloud State
Matt Hellickson, Notre Dame
Nick Jenny, Robert Morris
Jordan Kawaguchi, North Dakota
Jack LaFontaine, Minnesota
Alex Limoges, Penn State
Brannon McManus, Minnesota
Scott Reedy, Minnesota
Zach Solow, Northeastern
Odeen Tufto, Quinnipiac

The 2020 winner of the award was Alaska Anchorage defenseman, Nolan Nicholas.

— — —

The third and final edition of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball regional rankings was released. The NSIC continues to have three of the eight teams in the central region. Minnesota Duluth is third, St. Cloud State is fifth, and Augustana is sixth.

The NSIC and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) make up the NCAA Central Region this year. The top six teams in the region advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on March 12-13, 15.  Automatic bids are granted to the NSIC and MIAA postseason tournament winners, with the remaining four spots being awarded on an at-large basis. UMD earned the automatic bid from the NSIC after winning the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Show is set to air on NCAA.com at 9 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, March 7. The NCAA Elite Eight will take place on March 23-26 at the at the Great Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.

CENTRAL REGION DII Record In Region
1 Fort Hays State (MIAA) 20-2 20-2
2 Central Missouri (MIAA) 20-3 20-3
3 Minnesota Duluth (NSIC)* 13-1 13-1
4 Nebraska-Kearney (MIAA) 19-3 19-3
5 St. Cloud State (NSIC) 12-5 12-5
6 Augustana (NSIC) 12-5 12-5
7 Emporia State (MIAA) 17-5 17-5
8 Central Oklahoma (MIAA) 14-8 14-8

 

— — —

The third and final edition of the NCAA Division II men’s basketball regional rankings were released, and the NSIC has four of the eight teams in the central region.  Northern State came in second, while Wayne State was fourth, MSU Moorhead fifth, and Upper Iowa was eighth.

The NSIC and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) make up the NCAA Central Region this year.  The top six teams in the region advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on March 13-14, 16 in Aberdeen, South Dakota.   Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the NSIC and MIAA postseason tournaments, with the remaining four spots being awarded on an at-large basis. Northern State earned the NSIC automatic bid with its fourth straight NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament win.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Show is set to air on NCAA.com at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, March 7. The NCAA Elite Eight will take place on March 24-27 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

CENTRAL REGION DII Rec In-Region
1 Northwest Missouri State (MIAA) 21-0 21-0
2 Northern State (NSIC)* 18-1 18-1
3 Washburn (MIAA) 16-6 16-6
4 Wayne State (NSIC) 11-6 11-6
5 MSU Moorhead (NSIC) 10-4 10-4
6 Missouri Western (MIAA) 13-9 13-9
7 Missouri Southern State (MIAA) 13-9 13-9
8 Upper Iowa (NSIC) 10-7 10-7

 

— — —

JOKES

 

 

— — —

How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST email me at  chrisjfee@yahoo.com

Paul Bittner is playing professional hockey in Sweden for Vasby IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan league.

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

Ben Trostad is playing Club Hockey and Men’s Golf at UMC.

Ty Hamre is playing Club Hockey at UMC.

Brandon Boetcher is playing Club Hockey at UMC.

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

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

Rachel Hefta, a Sophomore, is playing volleyball at Hastings College in Nebraska.

Nick Garmen is a sophomore playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.

Thea Oman, a sophomore, is swimming at St. Ben’s.

Crookston School District Coaches –
Emily Meyer is a girls hockey and softball assistant coach.
Carrie Clauson is a Junior High girls tennis coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach and assistant volleyball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Cody Brekken is the Head Pirate Girls and Boys Tennis coach and Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach
Mitch Bakken is the head Pirate Baseball coach.
Brock Hanson is the Pirate Baseball volunteer assistant coach.
Jeff Perreault is the Pirate Girls Golf head coach
Wes Hanson is the Pirate Wrestling Head Coach and assistant boys golf coach
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 –

Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown

Kaylee Desrosier is a softball coach for Fargo Davies Middle School.

Justin Johnson is an assistant softball coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

Josh Edlund  is an assistant football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.

Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach in Champlin Park

Jeff Olson is Head Wrestling coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.

Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.

Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson, is Head Volleyball coach at Little Falls High School.

Katy Westrom, is Head Girls Tennis Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Monticello High School.

Matt Harris, is a Director of Athletics at the British International School of Houston.

Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.

Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of Wyoming

Mike Hastings is the Minnesota State Mankato Men’s head Hockey coach

Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Thief River Falls High School

Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football and volleyball and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for the Bison media relations

Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College

Chris Myrold is a Tennis Pro on Nevis Island in the West Indies

Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis

Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy

Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.

Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and also a grad of West Point and is currently is serving in the U.S. Army.

Erik Ellingson is serving our country with the U.S. Air Force at Minot.

Philip Kujawa class of 2004 from Crookston High School.  He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.

Scott Riopelle is head of Crookston Parks and Recreation

Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome

That’s it for this week.  Thanks for the comments and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call.  Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com

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MILD WINTER, EARLY SPRING COULD SHIFT SOME PROJECTS UP FOR PUBLIC WORKS

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When it comes to snowfall, it’s been a mild winter.  City of Crookston Public Works Director Pat Kelly said that the Red Lake River is unlikely to rise significantly because of that. “The way it looks right now, it’s probably not going to get a whole lot higher than it is right now,” said Kelly. “We can still have some significant rains or something like that, but at this point, it’s looking really good. That’s a great thing.”

Even with the low water levels expected, the gates and pump stations used during high water events will still get thoroughly checked in the coming weeks in case they’re needed during a storm. “We’ll still go through and check all of our pump motors, recheck all of our pump stations and gate closure areas,” said Kelly. “There might still be a few gates we’ll have to close and a couple of pumps we’ll have to set to pump storm runoff water over the levies. We’ll go through and check those in the next week or two to get those aligned. Right now, it gives us an opportunity to go around trimming trees and stuff like that.”

There also hasn’t been much need for the staff to be out moving snow this winter. Kelly said that has saved on overtime and allows staff to do other projects. “In years where we’re not using so many hours on snowplowing and such, those guys are doing something else,” said Kelly. “This year, we’ll see a significant amount more man-hours budgeted in the tree trimming aspect. It has cut down some of our overtime hour situations, and that obviously helps the budget.”

Although most of those winter hours are used for tree trimming, Kelly said they’ll also start some of their summer prep work a little sooner. “Generally, trimming trees is kind of our main thing,” said Kelly. “We’ll go through and get our summer stuff prepped. In a few weeks, when things warm up a little bit more in early April, we’ll evaluate our material stockpiles. Probably haul some gravel and other things in to get those ready for the summer season.”

Some projects are on pace for an earlier start this spring, but others, like patching streets, mostly have to wait until the typical production of a product begins. “As far as street patching and stuff like that, they generally don’t set up the mix plants until after Memorial Day,” said Kelly. “But, that being said, we can usually get some mix in Grand Forks. If it stays like this, we’ll be able to get out and start doing some street repairs earlier. Once the frost gets out, we’ll be able to start a little earlier on some sidewalk repairs and things like that. Another thing we’ll be able to get on earlier with the nice weather is once the snow and ice get out of the gutter lines on the streets, we’ll start getting out to streetsweep the salt and sand that has been deposited over the winter.”

Kelly also said it’s a nice year to have a long summer as the city has more street improvement projects scheduled than normal. “We’ve got a fairly aggressive street repair project this year since this is our turn in the circuit to receive federal funding,” said Kelly. “We’re looking at $1 million-plus in street projects this year. A number of overlays, some street reconstructions, and redoing the bridge deck on the Broadway Bridge, so a lot of people will be happy to see that.”

 

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POLK COUNTY AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES TASK FORCE’S NEW BOAT CLEANING STATION PREPPED FOR SEASON

ais1

The Polk County Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Task Force purchased a new portable boat cleaning station this station. The station, funded through state grant dollars, should help fight the spread of aquatic invasive species to other Polk County Lakes.

Assistant Director of Environmental Service Jake Snyder said they’ve tested the components on the trailer in preparation for boating season. “We’re doing some testing on it and making sure that once we put in on an access site, it’s going to be what we thought it was,” said Snyder. “So far, so good. We’ve done some testing on the tools to make sure everything works. It’s solar-powered, off the grid set up on a trailer so that it can be hauled to some different sites.”

The AIS Task Force purchased the stations by saving grant dollars accumulated over several years. Snyder also said they ran some pilot programs to see if lake users would use the tools made available to them. “Last year, we did a number of tool outposts,” said Snyder. “Signs that said stop AIS. They had a brush and a couple of other tools on there, and people seemed to use them. That was our pilot that if we put something out there would people use it. Would our lake users take the time to scrub down the boat, kayak, whatever it is they’re launching in our lakes or rivers? Our inspectors gave us feedback that people are using them. That translated to we should take the plunge.”   

The new station aims to get boats dry, making them inhabitable for AIS. “There are four tools on it,” said Snyder. “A wet-dry vac, a grabber tool to grab weeds under the trailer or board, a brush, and compressor to blow air. It’s really not to hose off the unit or anything. If it had that, we’d have to collect the water and make sure it’s not going into whatever lake it’s parked on. The theory behind the station is to clean, drain, and dry boats. Aquatic Invasive Species need water to live, so the goal is to have cleaned, drained, dry boats, trailers, and watercraft equipment to combat spreading them around.”

The cleaning station will be another easy tool in the toolbox for the county’s inspectors. “When you leave the lake, head over to it,” said Snyder. “Take the little bit of extra water out of the livewell and billage compartments. And the goal is to make it easy for the public to use. It’s totally free. You don’t pay to use it; you don’t put coins in it to make it start. Use it, clean the boats, stop the spread of anything that you bring lake to lake.”

While there is still ice on the lakes, Snyder said once boats can be in the water, the station will be moved to access sites around the county, some of which will require DNR permitting. “When the lakes thaw out, that will be deployed,” said Snyder. “Whenever we can get the permits in place is the kicker. We only have a couple of access sites that Polk County owns that we don’t need authorization from the DNR to put out. We have the campground on Maple Lake, and we own and operate the East Shore on Maple Lake. There is the campground on Cross Lake, so there are some access sites where we don’t need the DNR authorization to put it out. If the warming trend continues and we’re out of ice fishing season quick, and into boat season, that will be out.”

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UMC MEN’S GOLF SIGNS ANOTHER CANADIAN GOLFER

rory-wutzke

The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s golf team announced the signing of Rory Wutzke (Camrose, Alberta/Our Lady of Mount Pleasant H.S.) to a National Letter of Intent. Wutzke joins his high school teammate Devin Kucy (Camrose, Alberta/Our Lady of Mount Pleasant H.S.) and Layton Bartley (Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne H.S.) as signees for the Golden Eagles.

Wutzke was on the same high school squad as fellow signee Devin Kucy. He helped lead Our Lady of Mount Pleasant H.S. to Provincial Golf Championships in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, he was an Order of Merit winner on the Alberta Junior Tour. He has been an honor student from grades 7-12. Wutzke holds a 3.70 GPA. He has been competing on the Alberta Junior Tour for the last two years. He has also competed in hockey, basketball, track, badminton, and tennis.

He is the son of Kathy Schultz and Scott Schneider and plans to major in sports and rec management and marketing.

Rory Wutzke

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UMC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SIGNS A SIX-FOOTER FROM WISCONSIN

abi-fraaza

The University of Minnesota Crookston women’s basketball team announced the signing of Abi Fraaza (F, 6-0, Birnamwood, Wis./Wittenberg-Birnamwood H.S.) to a National Letter of Intent.

Fraaza is a two-time All-Conference First Team selection in basketball. She was named a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-Star. Fraaza also earned All-Conference Second Team honors. She was named the MVP for the Conference for her junior year.  Fraaza is averaging six points and 3 rebounds per game during her senior year at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School. As a junior, she averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, Fraaza had eight points and 11 rebounds per game.

In softball, Fraaza is a two-time All-Conference First Team selection.

In volleyball, she is a two-time All-Conference First Team pick. Fraaza earned All-Conference Honorable Mention accolades. She has been a member of the National Honor Society since her sophomore season

“I really like Abi’s length and the ability she has to play multiple positions for us,” said Head Coach Mike Roysland. “Abi is someone who can shoot the three very well. She is an all-around skilled player who will be a great addition to our team. We are very glad to have Abi joining the Golden Eagle women’s basketball program.”
Abi is the daughter of Bill and Charity Fraaza and plans to major in exercise science and wellness at UMC.

Abi Fraaza

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CROOKSTON YOUTH WRESTLERS COMPETE IN FIRST TOURNAMENT

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Several Crookston youth wrestlers were finally able to get to a tournament this season when they traveled to Carrington, North Dakota on Sunday, February 28.
They had seven wrestlers place and they are listed and pictured below.
First place – Oliver Wallace
Third place – Angel Romo, Javier Romo
Fourth place – Leo Romo, Ali Romo, Rylie Dufault
Fifth place – Ryken Dufault


Back row: Angel Romo, Ali Romo, Javier Romo, Oliver Wallace, Leo Romo
Front row: Ryken Dufault and Rylie Dufault

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