SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
What the heck is going on????? The Minnesota Timberwolves are the NBA Western Conference’s top team, with a 13-4 record and 1.5 games ahead of Denver. They are one win behind the best record (Boston). What a start it has been for the Wolves, and they are the hottest ticket in town right now! Just a couple of years ago, the Timberwolves were selling tickets for $5. Not anymore.
The Minnesota Wild lost seven games in a row and fired their coaches. They are currently 14th out of 16 teams in the Western Conference. Looks like the Parise and Suter contracts are still killing the franchise. I think there are two years left before they have some wiggle room.
Eric Schmidt‘s Washington Husky Football team will be playing Oregon in the last Pac-12 championship game on Saturday in Las Vegas for the right to play in the National Semi-finals. If Washington wins the game, they are assured one of four spots in the semi-finals. If they lose, they are pretty much eliminated from National Championship contention. So it will be a huge game, to say the least.
The Minnesota Twins lost Sonny Grey to the Cardinals for $75 million. Good news (to me) Emilio Pagan signed with the Reds, and Kenta Maeda left for the Tigers. Grey hurts a lot, but the other two are easily replaceable. But it isn’t looking good right now for the Twins after they said they will spend less money next season. They have a lot of great talent in the minors, but I don’t think the pitching talent is ready yet. Stay tuned.
Michigan Football plays Iowa in one of the most anticipated butt-kickings in championship history. Las Vegas odds-makers have the over/under for Iowa points in each half at a HALF a point!!! Oh my! Needless to say, Michigan will win by 30-plus points (or more if they want), and they will be in the race for the National Championship.
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I was jokingly told by an avid reader that I have gone soft and not as “controversial” lately. I will change that this week as I give my most annoying college and pro sports fans in this area.
- Nebraska football fans
- NDSU football fans (You could never beat Alabama, Michigan, etc., they would beat you like you did to the “always tough” Drake Bulldogs.)
- UND and Gopher Hockey fans (not all of them, but you know, the ones that are way overboard and actually not fans, but they say they are)
- Fantasy Football players who talk about their team in public.
- Vikings fans who hated Kirk Cousins and now hate Josh Dobbs. (Late breaking news – it isn’t the quarterback that is the problem; it is the lineman in front of them.
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The Gopher Football team made a bowl game with a 5-7 record. Many people are saying why go to the bowl game. So, turning down 20 extra practices will make your team better???? Part of the reason why the Gophers made the bowl game is their academic scores are higher than the other 5-7 teams. So I think that is great, and they should go to the Shelly Bears Den Bowl or wherever they end up. If the players want it, go. If the players don’t want to go, turn it down. I am guessing the players will want another game.
Speaking of Gopher Football. The good news for us Gopher fans PJ Fleck sat down and talked to the quarterbacks and told them he wouldn’t guarantee a starting position next year, and they are actively looking for quarterbacks in the transfer portal. That is great news as a fan. If you think it is cruel, that is fine. The job of EVERY college coach is to win. If you are a college athlete and don’t realize that your coaches are trying to get somebody better than you to take your position, you are a fool. That is what recruiting is—trying to get the best players possible. It happens all over the country, even in high school.
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The Crookston Pirate Girls Hockey team has played five games already this season, and that means they have played one-fifth of their schedule! They added another game to replace the opening left by Breckenridge/Wahpeton not having a team this year. They added Chisago Lakes on December 15 at 4:30 p.m. at Chisago Lakes.
Crookston has only scored 10 goals in five games (which is two goals per game), while giving up nine goals in five games! Take away the 5-0 loss to Prior Lake in the season opener, and they have outscored opponents 10-4 in the last four games.
They are coming off two nice wins over West Fargo and Fergus Falls last weekend. The Pirate coaching staff moved Kaylie Clauson from defense to third-line wing and paired her with Cassie Solheim and Parker Strand (who missed the first three games because her Mayville-Portland Volleyball team was in the North Dakota State Championship. Clauson scored two goals in the first two games after being moved to forward, and she is about the only player willing to camp in front of the opposing goalie.
The girls are still working on getting comfortable with their linemates, but the defense has been solid, and Kambelle Freije has been solid in net.
While some people are “disappointed” with the Pirate goals per game, including the players and coaches, they are finding ways to win against decent teams even though they haven’t put together a consistent 51 minutes of play yet, which you wouldn’t expect at this time of year. The girls got significantly stronger as the year went along last year, and they are showing improvement from the first game to the win over Fergus Falls on Saturday, which is the only thing that matters during the regular season—continued improvement.
Crookston has their two biggest games of the regular season coming up. While Crookston only has two Top 10 ranked teams on the schedule this year (as of this week’s rankings), with Warroad twice and Dodge County, they have several very good teams on the schedule, including Champlin Park/Coon Rapids (just missed AA top 10) on Friday and #2 ranked Warroad on December 5, both at home. They will be two great games to see where they stand early in the season, and they will see what they HAVE to work on the rest of the way. It is perfect timing for the two toughest opponents of the season thus far.
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The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team has 17 out in grades 7-12 this year. The Pirates will start the season on Saturday when they compete in the Hillsboro Dual tournament. The first rankings of the season come out later this week, but last year Carter Coauette and Evin Trudeau finished in the top 10. This year is a new year and it is always interesting to see what weight all the wrestlers start the season at. The Pirate wrestlers are listed below.
Seniors – (2) Carter Coauette, Evin Trudeau
Juniors – (2) Masyn Aruelles, Riley Helgeson
Sophomores – (7) – Jose Arriaga, Miles Corneillie, Gavyn Hlucny, Antonio Lamb-Campos, Lucas Perala, Isaiah Reyes, Casey Weiland
Freshmen – (none)
Eighth grade – (5) Mauricio Arriaga, Lukas Helgeson, Josiah Herberg, Jaron Knutson, Gabriel Perala
Seventh grade – (2) Sam Ali, Paul Thornhil Jr.
Manager – Emily Bowman (Senior)
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East Grand Forks Boys Hockey is ranked number 1 in Class A after a solid showing in their first couple of games of the year. They look to be the real deal, and Warroad and Thief River Falls are right there, too. It is going to be interesting to see how they are against each other. Thief River Falls is tough to get a read on early this season. They tied St. Cloud Cathedral, who beat Warroad. On Tuesday, TRF got beat up by Roseau 5-0. Roseau is a very good team, and it is early, but one thing we know is the Prowlers aren’t a team you want to play in the postseason.
Crookston Boys Hockey looks like they could be a much-improved team this year. They have a lot of depth (something they haven’t had a lot of recently). They had five different players score against KCC. Yes, KCC is down this year, but Crookston should be a much better team and it will be fun to see where they will be come playoff time.
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Section 8A Boys Basketball is going to be loaded again this year. They have four teams in the top 10 with Cass Lake-Bena, Ada-Borup-West, Fertile-Beltrami, and Sacred Heart. It will be a great season and the section tournament in March will have some great games and matchups.
CLASS A –
1. Cherry
2. Cass Lake-Bena
3. Dawson-Boyd
4. Nevis
5. West Central Area
6. Ada-Borup-West
7. Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s
8. Fertile-Beltrami
9. Henning
10. Sacred Heart
For the Boys and Girls Basketball and Boys and Girls Hockey rankings, click on the link below
Minnesota High School Rankings – KROX (kroxam.com)
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The All-Section 8AA Football team has been announced, and the players making the team are listed below.
Barnesville – Jay Tschumperlin, Gannon Bolgrean, Ethan Larson, Zach Bredman, Collin Morey, Justin Krueger, Asher O’Brien
Pelican Rapids – Timmy Guler, Justin Jacobson, Jack Kapenga, Jack Paulson, Treyvon Benson
Frazee – Brady Crabtree, Tyler Moe, Asher Blaine, Logan Brekke
Park Rapids – Parker Hunter, Noah Morris, Blake Morris, Ryan Carroll
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz, Landon Baumgartner
Warroad – Logan Kvarnlov, Shane Stricker
Crookston – Carter Coauette, Antonio Romero
Hawley – Noah Nelson, Blake Bigger
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The All-Section 8AAA Football team has been announced, and the players making the team are listed below.
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton – Brody O’Keefe, Joshua Dudgeon, Brody Friend, Bodey Devries, Caleb Johnson, Casey Maczewski, Nick Wale
Morris – Owen Anderson, Jahvon Johnson, Mitchell Moser, Bryce Lehman, Riley Asmus
East Grand Forks – Drew Carpenter, Clyde Anderson, Levi Anderson, Cole Bies
Perham – Hudson Hackel, Gage Aanenson, Carson Byer, Blaiz Schmidt
Fergus Falls – Henry Bethel, Jack Ratz Jr.
Thief River Falls – Brayden Spears, Cooper Anderson
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Yes, there is a HUGE difference between FCS and FBS football.
FCS first-round playoff attendance was weak at best last weekend.
Drake at NDSU: 7,798 (indoors)
Chattanooga at Austin Peay: 7,249
Sacramento State at UND: 6,522 (indoors)
Nicholls at Southern Illinois: 4,576
Gardner-Webb at Mercer: 4,500
NC Central at Richmond: 4,103
Lafayette at Delaware: 4,039
Duquesne at Youngtown State: 3,866
Total FCS first-round playoff game attendance – 42,683
For comparison purposes to Real D1 Football (FBS) –
Mid-level D1 – Wisconsin at Gophers 48,119 (on a cold, miserable day)
Top-level D1 – Ohio State at Michigan 110,615
D-1 Hockey – Bemidji State at North Dakota (Saturday) 11,690
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The 2023 Crookston Hockey Alumni games/scrimmages will be held Saturday, December 23 at the Crookston Sports Center. Johnny Holmes will be back again at the Eagles, and all players in the alumni games get in free.
Alumni from Crookston Central High School, Crookston High School, Cathedral, and the Mount will be back/are invited back to participate in this year’s games. The schedule and info are listed below –
GAME 1 – 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. – 2013 to 2023 alumni……..Odd vs Even
GAME 2 – 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. – 2012 and older alumni………… Odd vs Even
GAME 3 – 5:30-6:45………PIRATE GIRLS vs GIRLS ALUMNI
GAME 4 – 7:00-8:15……….PIRATE BOYS vs PIRATE ALUMNI
Cost – $10.00 (Make checks out to Pirate Hockey)
Social at the Crookston Eagles Club from 9 PM to 1 AM. Johnny Holmes performing and all alumni game players get in free.
Mail registration forms to
Steve Biermaier
PO Box 496
Crookston, MN 56716
or email steve.biermaierchiro@midconetwork.com
For the registration form CLICK HERE.
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The Crookston Pirate Winter Sports Schedules are available on our website. Click on the link below –
CROOKSTON PIRATE WINTER SPORTS SCHEDULES – KROX (kroxam.com)
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JOKES
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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
Halle Bruggeman is a freshman on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Tennis team.
Grace Fischer is a freshman on the Concordia College (Moorhead) Women’s Golf team.
Ethan Boll is a Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Sophomore on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a Sophomore playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Sophomore playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND..
Kaleb Thingelstad is a junior playing golf at Kansas Wesleyan.
Joslynn Leach is a sophomore playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is playing football at Bemidji State University.
Aleece Durbin is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Womens Track and Field team.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Todd Miner is a Pirate Football assistant coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls hockey coach and softball assistant coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach and assistant girls golf 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/Admin/etc
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Katy (Westrom) Horgen is the Head Boys Tennis coach at Monticello High School.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of Wyoming.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California.
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
Erik Ellingson is serving our country with the U.S. Air Force at Minot.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com.
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