Most baseball and softball teams in the area were able to get their first game or two in earlier this week. Bad news….We have anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow coming for most of NW Minnesota. So many games are postponed the rest of the week. The forecast doesn’t look to warm up much over the next week so that is more bad news. No wonder why spring sports numbers continue to dwindle.
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You might have noticed some issues with our website and last weeks column. We tried to switch servers, and the genius migration department at Bluehost transferred our staging website to the server, and all hell broke loose. So now we are trying to recover our latest site with up-to-date info, and we are hoping we will have it by the end of the week.
We ran into a problem where our site got too big and had to many files that the previous server couldn’t hold it anymore.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle baseball team is having its best season in program history!They got beat up pretty badly by Augustana, but have bounced back in a huge way, including a two-game sweep of St. Cloud State.The Huskies aren’t the top team they have been in recent years and are currently in sixth place in the NSIC, but it is still a big bounce back.Augustana is the top team in the conference with an 18-5 record, Minnesota State-Mankato is second with a 15-5 record, and UMC is third with a 16-7 record. Winona State and Minot State come in at fourth and fifth place.
Playoffs begin May 10 at Bismarck, with the top eight teams making the playoffs.
UMC has 45 players from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. They have players from the following northwest Minnesota towns – East Grand Forks (3), Apicer, Parkers Prairie, Roseau (2), New York Mills, Wadena (2), and Nevis. They also have players from the following area North Dakota towns – Grand Forks (3), Fargo (3), Park River, Portland, Grafton, and Devils Lake.
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Registration for the Crookston American Legion Baseball team is open for all high school baseball players and graduates born after January 1, 2004. The registration deadline is May 19, and the fee is $100. Late registration will be accepted through May 26 with an additional $50 late fee.
All players must register online with the City of Crookston Parks & Recreation Department here.
Additionally, the following need to be submitted to City Hall per American Legion rules: American Legion Form 2 here must also be completed and turned in to City Hall along with one of the following:
- A) an original or certified birth certificate (notarized photocopies are not acceptable)
- B) a driver’s license meeting the federal REAL ID law
- C) U.S. Passport
- D) U.S. Government-issued military ID or dependent ID card
E) An American Legion Baseball ID purchased through the National American Legion Office
- F) In the case of foreign birth, a potential player may present any certificate or document duly issued to the bearer by the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, such as a NEXUS card. Official birth certificates issued by a foreign country are acceptable when accompanied by a letter with an English translation and must have an official seal.
- G) A court-certified copy of that portion of permanent legal adoption papers showing the place and date of a player’s birth shall be acceptable in cases involving adopted players
Documents can be picked up after the season. If the player needs their document throughout the season, a copy can be kept on file, but the player is responsible for presenting the original at all post-season events or they will not be allowed to participate.
There will also be a legion baseball meeting Wednesday, April 25 at 6 p.m. in the event arena at the Crookston Sports Center. The Legion season is scheduled to open with a doubleheader against Hillsboro/Reynolds Posts 4 & 256 June 5 at Jim Karn Field. The current non-league schedule also includes games at Grafton Post 41 (June 8), at historic Jack Williams Stadium vs. Fargo Post 2 (June 11), the Grand Forks Montgomery Tournament (June 16-18), the Casselton Invitational (July 7-9).
A league meeting is being held prior to the Crookston Legion meeting to determine the league schedule. Additionally, the entire postseason will be played in northwest Minnesota in 2023, beginning with the North Tournament (July 14-16), Northwest Sub State in Fosston (July 20-23), and concluding with the state tournament in Roseau (July 27-30).
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JOKES
One night a man stumbled into the police station with a black eye. He claimed he had heard a noise in his back yard and went to investigate. The next he knew, he was hit in the eye and knocked out cold.
An officer was sent to his house to investigate, and he returned 1 1/2 hours later with a black eye.
“Did you get hit by the same person?” his captain asked.
“No,” he replied. “I stepped on the same rake.”
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Three nuns died and visited St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said he would admit them if they each answered one question.He turned to the first nun and asked, “Who was the first man?””Adam,” the nun confidently replied. The trumpets sounded and the angels sang as the gates swung open and she walked into heaven.St. Peter turned to the second nun. “Who was the first woman?” “Eve,” she replied. The trumpets sounded and the angels sang.Then St. Peter turned to the last nun. “What was the first thing Eve said to Adam?”The nun paused for a moment. “Gee, that’s a hard one!”The trumpets sounded and the angels sang.
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One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?”
Her mother replied, “Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, “Momma, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?”
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What are they up to now will come back soon. Stay tuned.
