March 30
It’s been quite a year for the Cardinals. The girls track team were class AA state champions last spring; the football team were class AAAAA runners-up last fall; the girls volleyball team were class AAA state champions last fall; the girls basketball team (26-5 record) are class AAA state 3rd place; and the boys basketball team (29-3 record) are class AAA state champions. Just for the record: the girls beat Little Falls 59-25, and Fergus Falls 73-52 in the sections; and DeLaSalle 60-40, lost to Benilde-St. Margaret’s 52-60, and beat Cretin-Derham Hall 66-36 at state. The boys beat Little Falls 115-41, Detroit Lakes 96-53, and Fergus Falls 94-72 in the sections (why yes, they were the #1 scoring team in the state at 92 points per game); and Byron 82-70, Totino-Grace 73-65, and Mankato East 73-64 at state.
March 22
We are the champions! ~ Freddie Mercury
[Alexandria – 73; Mankato East – 64, for Alex’s first ever boys basketball state championship, in class AAA. (Star Tribune photo March 22 of celebrating Gavin Roderick (35) and Chase Thompson (3)).]
March 7
Although Kurt Vonnegut may not be considered a humor writer, ‘Breakfast of Champions’ is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. ~ Justin Halpern
[Alex home game against Detroit Lakes in the section semifinals. I’ve suffered through various stages of O-L-D the last couple of years and haven’t been able to make live appearances at many of the games anymore . . . ]
In seventh grade, with some vague sense that I wanted to be a writer, I crouched in the junior high school library stacks to see where my novels would eventually be filed. It was right after someone named Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. So I grabbed a Vonnegut book, ‘Breakfast of Champions’ and immediately fell in love. ~ Jess Walter
[Chase Thompson (3) shooting a free throw with fellow co-captain Samson Hagstrom in rebounding position . . . ]
College is a place to keep warm between high school and an early marriage. ~ George Gobel
[At the half the Cardinals had a healthy lead . . . ]
What did I do in high school? I grew from 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 2 inches. ~ Gregory Peck
[For halftime entertainment, fans attempt a half court shot for a slice of pizza. Shooting here is 6’2″ Hadley Thul, star of the girls’ team, who would lead the Cards to 3rd place at state the following week, and who will play for South Dakota State next year . . . ]
Show business is just like high school, except you get paid. ~ Martin Mull
[Hadley fans appear to be seeking her autograph . . . ]
Before high school ended, I started applying to college. It really wasn’t even a choice because of the brainwashing of my parents. ~ Tatyana Ali
[5’11” junior Kate Hennessy, the only non-senior starter on the team . . . ]
I played varsity in high school as a 9th grader. I came off the bench during the first game of the season and had 25 points. Well, I became a starter after that and in the second game I scored 53 points. ~ Lou Williams
[Back for the 2nd half of the Detroit Lakes game with midcourt pressure from Gavin Roderick (35), Talan Witt (4), and Samson Hagstrom (11) . . . ]
I have to say I’ve worked very few days of my life. I used to have to cut the lawn, and when I was in junior high school, I worked at a concession stand at a stadium. ~ Steve Nash
What I remember most about high school are the memories I created with my friends. ~ J. J. Watt
[Myles Gray (2), Mason Witt (0), and Gavin Roderick (35), will be back next year . . . ]
You can think of Hollywood as high school. TV actors are freshmen, comedy actors are maybe juniors, and dramatic actors – they’re the cool seniors. ~ Owen Wilson
[Final score . . . ]
March 20
Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they will think that is all you have done since you graduated. ~ Erma Bombeck
[The Alexandria class of ’65 (60 years ago???) had a mini-class reunion lunch at the Elks. We had to be home by 2:00 for the Cardinals state semifinal basketball game against Totino-Grace . . . ]
I remember reading the book in high school and always thinking of Gatsby as this strong, stoic, suave, mysterious man who had everything under control. But when I read it as an adult, I realized he is a hollow man, a shell of a person trying to find meaning, who is not completely in touch with reality. ~ Leonardo DiCaprio
High school is what kind of grows you into the person you are. I have great memories, good and bad, some learning experiences and some that I’ll take with me the rest of my life. ~ Giancarlo Stanton
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is 10, or something. ~ Dennis Rodman
When I was fifteen, I dreamed of living in the big city, as many a young person does if he is artistic and sensitive. By ‘artistic and sensitive’ I mean short, skinny, unkissed, bad at sports, and carrying a C average in high school. ~ P. J. O’Rourke
March 22
I remember when I was in high school I didn’t have a new dress for each special occasion. The girls would bring the fact to my attention, not always too delicately. The boys, however, never bothered with the subject. They were my friends, not because of the size of my wardrobe but because they liked me. ~ Marilyn Monroe
[We had just beaten Mankato East to become state champions so Ruthie & I broke out the bubbly . . . ]
I think it’s your mental attitude. So many of us start dreading age in high school and that’s a waste of a lovely life. ‘Oh… I’m 30, oh, I’m 40, oh, 50.’ Make the most of it. ~ Betty White
My friends and I started that motto early in high school – that attitude, that mentality – from way back then: Want to go to Stanford? Why not? Want to play in the NBA? Why not? ~ Russell Westbrook
I’d be satisfied just coaching in high school. I turned down a number of colleges when I was teaching in South Bend, Indiana, before I went into the service. I honestly believe that if I hadn’t enlisted in the service, I would never have left high school teaching. I’m sure I would have never left. ~ John Wooden
[The bling . . . ]
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
[Russ Hinrich, basketball dad, assistant football coach, sports analyst on KXRA, checks out the bling . . . ]
I crushed high school. I was a huge dork. ~ Alex Honnold
[Ruthie & I joined the celebration at the high school when the team arrived home to Pohlig Court from The Barn . . . ]
I worked as an intern. I worked at a high school. I worked at a college newspaper while I was taking 18 credits while on the basketball team. ~ Stephen A. Smith
[All but the two guys on the far right will be back next year . . . ]
By the time a man is 35 he knows that the images of the right man, the tough man, the true man which he received in high school do not work in life. ~ Robert Bly
I’ve been playing basketball since forever. The highlight of my high school career was scoring 51 points with 13 threes in a game. ~ Riff Raff
I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated. ~ Spike Lee
You’re imprinted in high school more than any other point in your life. ~ Bud Grant
[“Men of Steal,” the state champion Cardinals kings in the art of pilfering: l-r: Talan Witt, Mason Witt, Thomas Hinrich, Gavin Roderick, Coach Witt, and Samson Hagstrom. All but the graduating Samson will return next year. What I found most unique about these guys is that at 6′, 6′, 6’3″, 6’2″, and 6’1″ is that they all can dunk and have great motors . . . ]
I went through a lot of battles in high school. ~ LeBron James
[Chase is Minnesota’s football and basketball player of the year . . . ]
All of my high school issues are resolved! ~ Oscar Isaac
[Section champs . . . ]
In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which, as any American high school student can tell you, was an act that apparently had something to do with stamps. ~ Dave Barry
[State champs . . . ]
The funny thing is, all my friends are short. I wasn’t aware of tall people till I got to high school. I didn’t know they existed. I was sheltered. ~ Kevin Hart
[The JV team has had one loss in 4 years . . . ]
Junior high is so much worse than high school because at least in high school different is more accepted, celebrated actually: all the girls with blue hair and gothic Hello Kitty backpacks. ~ Nikki Reed
In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure. ~ Mike Krzyzewski
We have fans in high school, all the way up to grandmas and 40-year-old housewives. College frat guys. It’s all over the map. ~ Joe Gatto
I think kids should go to high school until they’re 30. No, really, because people are staying younger now and there’s nothing to do. If you stayed longer, then it would be really great. ~ Andy Warhol
When I first went to New York I was right out of high school, I was 17 years old, and I had never seen a building over two stories high. ~ Florence Henderson
State 3rd place winners vs. Cretin-Derham Hall . . . ]
I played basketball and soccer my freshman year in high school. ~ Mia Hamm
[Hadley, accept no substitutes]
I was obsessed with romance. When I was in high school, I saw ‘Doctor Zhivago’ every day from the day it opened until the day it left the theater. ~ John Hughes
[Section champs: Hadley (11), Camree Miller (23), MaCee Linow (21), all seniors . . . ]
Art imitates life. Life imitates high school. ~ Brad Holland
[Section champs . . . ]
Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. ~ Dr. Seuss
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Fun Addendum: The Alex girls basketball team won the state tournament in 1997 under Coach Kohler. The seniors on this year’s team have been starters en masse since they were freshmen – many are daughters from players on the 1997 team and also under the tutelage of Coach Kohler.
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