Two and a Half Years . . .

October 13

. . . since the last time I was in the high school gymnasiums for sporting events. Inspired this time by the Cardinal volleyball team which has a 13 – 1 record and is ranked 7th in the state. The generic ‘we’ were hosting the Spuds from Moorhead. It drew the largest crowd for a match I can recall in a long time – some of the Fat Boys even showed up . . .

October 9

OK, now that I’ve drawn you in with a bit of sleight of hand, first we’re going share an afternoon with Erik Schultz at Carlos Creek Winery. He drew a big crowd of regulars and even some folks we ain’t seen for a while. It was lovely autumn day – we all stayed till they ‘turned out the lights.’ This is the Super’s “Missing U at . . . ” photo for FB . . .

[On the road to the winery, we keep waiting for these red maples to completely turn . . . ]

[An apparition appeared at the winery – it appeared to be the ghost of John Muir . . . ]

I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. ~ John Muir

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf. ~ Walter Lippmann

Always make the audience suffer as much as possible. ~ Alfred Hitchcock

If I can go from burglar for the government to talk show host, you can go from entertainer to congressman. ~ G. Gordon Liddy

I’m a performer, comedian, entertainer, writer and director. ~ William Shatner (Editor’s note: . . . and now astronaut.)

Nearly everything I do is part of a master plan to make me the most important entertainer in the world. ~ Bobby Darin

[Andy’s folks!]

[Occasionally considered acceptable in public if they’ve taken their meds . . . ]

October 12

OK, now the volleyball part . . .

[The lineup. I generally remember the players from year-to-year, but it’s been 2 1/2 years . . . ]

[For the first time in recent memory, the team has several players of significant altitude above the gym floor . . . ]

[This is what I would call a significant crowd . . . ]

[These Cardinals are 5’11”, 6′, 6′, 6’1″, 6’2″, and 6’5″, which makes them significantly taller than the boys basketball team my senior year . . . ]

[Addie Boesl (9), 5’11” senior, who had relatives sitting next me (Nancy and Rich, if you’re keeping score at home) . . . ]

In ninth grade, I came up with a new form of rebellion. I hadn’t been getting good grades, but I decided to get all A’s without taking a book home. I didn’t go to math class, because I knew enough and had read ahead, and I placed within the top 10 people in the nation on an aptitude exam. ~ Bill Gates

But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret. ~ Ronald Reagan

I think we should bring up our children with much less pressure to compete and get ahead: no comparing one child with another, at home or in school; no grades. Let athletics be primarily for fun, and let them be organized by children and youths themselves. ~ Benjamin Spock

[We all thought Maddi Buysse (10), 6′ sophomore, was a very impressive spiker . . . ]

Girls are more academically powerful. They make the grades, they run the student activities, they are the valedictorians. ~ Christina Hoff Sommers

I was told that I had to give grades to the students, which I wasn’t particularly interested in doing. ~ Merce Cunningham

[This is the start of a series, a spike by the Spuds through an attempted block by the Cardinals:]

[The spiker for the Spuds is Annie Horan (2), a 6’1″ freshman . . . ]

[On the Cardinal side, we have a virtual clone in Hadley Thul (4), also a 6’1″ freshman . . . ]

I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all. ~ Simone Biles

Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her. ~ Mia Hamm

People would say, ‘Girls don’t play hockey. Girls don’t skate.’ I would say, ‘Watch this.’ ~ Hayley Wickenheiser

Being nervous is not something you should be ashamed of. Nervous means you care, you really want to do well. ~ Paula Creamer

The ultimate goal should be doing your best and enjoying it. ~ Peggy Fleming

Being a woman . . . is merely a good excuse not to play football. ~ Fran Lebowitz

I don’t believe for a second that weightlifting is a sport. They pick a thing up and put it back down. To me, that’s indecision. ~ Paula Poundstone

[Is it . . . ]

[OUT?]

Golf is an exercise in Scottish pointlessness for people who are no longer able to throw telephone poles at each other. ~ Florence King

[Miss Boesl, again . . . ]

[This is Cora Larson (8), 5’7″ senior, who in her spare time . . . ]

[Plays on the state champion Cardinal golf team . . .. ]

[Science, and spy agencies, have been baffled through the ages over what actually happens in a huddle?]

[Kiya Issendorf (2), 5’11” junior, started game 2 serving for 7 straight points . . . ]

[The aforementioned Hadley Thul. Hate to put this on anyone, but I suspect she is going to be a very good basketball player . . . ]

Somewhere in the contract of the male columnist it is written that once a year he must wax poetic and philosophic about baseball, making it sound like a cross between the Kirov and Zen Buddhism. ~ Anna Quindlen

[Ms. Larson, again . . . ]

‘Strictly Come Dancing‘ is proper, serious, intelligent sport. Unlike football, which is some petty form of light entertainment. ~ Viv Groskop (Editor’s note: Yes, that is Senator Bill in the background in the red t-shirt.)

Ferries have stopped transporting live animals to the Continent. This has made it very difficult for England football fans to get to away matches. ~ Jo Brand