Archive - Aug 2008

Hutchinson native Mitch Erickson was one of the top lineman in collegiate football a season ago, but despite all the accolades, he wasn't selected in the seven-round NFL entry draft in April.

However, the Denver Broncos signed him to a free agent contract a day later. After playing in four pre-season games this season, Erickson was one of 20 players cut Saturday. But he was given another chance Sunday.

I'm going to try a new feature this year on my blog. I'm going to have small recaps and scores from all the Missota teams and the Section 2AAAA teams as well as a few other notable games.

So, here we go:

Missota (2-6 record, ouch)
The winners:
Farmington 41, Grand Rapids 13
* Can't find anything on the game yet.
Shakopee 22, St. Paul Central 12
* The Sabers went winless a year ago, but won in week one over a weak opponent from the St. Paul City Conference. Willie Dellwo (113 yards and a TD) and Zach McBeain (89 yards and a TD) led Shakopee on offense.

The losers:

Day 1

Glencoe-Silver Lake was 19-0 on the turf at Stevens Seminary Stadium entering Friday’s week one rivalry game with Hutchinson.

New Panthers head coach Scott Tschimperle made sure his first game wasn’t the one to snap the streak.

Glencoe-Silver Lake scored on three rushing touchdowns, while holding the Tigers scoreless until the final three minutes in a 20-7 win.

With former head coach Dave Dose in the press box, Tschimperle employed the same style of play that has won back-to-back state titles for the Panthers.

When Northwoods Elementary’s 23 students returned to classes last month, they had three new sets of playground equipment to climb on during recess.

“They’re having a good time,” Loretta Clayburn said last week after watching the children giggle and laugh while contorting their bodies to reach bars and perches in the new equipment.

Clayburn is the leader of Northwoods’ Home and School Association, which raised $14,480 for the playground. Her two children, fifth-grader Tyler and seventh-grader Jolene, are students at the K-8 school.

This school year, Hutchinson High School will be one of five schools in Minnesota and 50 in the U.S. introducing a pilot agricultural education program.

The program, a project of the National Council for Agricultural Education, introduces National Quality Program Standards with the goal of consistently delivering high-quality agricultural education programs nationwide.

The standards include such “best practices” as:
• supervised experiential, or hands-on learning,
• offering leadership development activities,

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will host a public meeting to discuss proposed changes to the management of Smith Lake in Wright County at 7 p.m., Oct. 8 at the Cokato Township Hall, 14987 SW 30th St., Cokato.

The DNR is proposing to formally designate Smith Lake for wildlife management and to restrict boats there to non-motorized watercraft or those with electric motors (12-volt maximum motor size) in order to improve water quality and wildlife habitat.

I was having a tough time scraping together some movie news (or even juicy unsubstantiated movie rumors) for my blog today.

Then I came across this revealing factoid. According to the Internet Movie Database, "Fewer moviegoers visit their local theaters during the Labor Day weekend than during any other major holiday of the year, and this weekend is not expected to be an exception."

Hmmm.

That's because they're too busy with that time-honored Labor Day tradition: watching weiner dogs and Siamese kittens fight to the death.

Tonight will mark my third time covering a Hutchinson/Glencoe-Silver Lake football game. I was thinking earlier this week about all of the great players that have graduated from the two schools the past two years. Imagine this team:

QB - Matt Muenchow, G-SL (two state titles, unbelieveable athlete in big games, state champion in track)
RBs - Dusty Jurek and Jon Hoese, G-SL; Cory Shufelt, Hutch (Hoese is in the backfield for the Gophers; Jurek won two state titles; Shuey may only be second to Nate Swift for career yardage)

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells