Bruises

SO, its been two weeks since I last blogged. Things have been crazy around here: divisional volleyball and football playoffs.
We have a few teams that can go deep into the post season and have a good shot at State championships, so that is pretty exciting.

The Yankees won the world series. This morning SportsCenter showed the parade at least 10 times. I wanted to puke. I’ve never been a fan of the Yankess, mostly because I hail from a strictly Minnesota Twins household, and I just don’t enjoy teams that use their money to buy championships. I’m a fan of hard work, not big bank accounts.

Hockey season is in full swing. I heart the Penguins, yes because of Crosby, but also because the young talent has so much promise. All of them still have room to improve after winning the Cup.
The Avalanche have come out of nowhere and sit atop the Northwest. My hometown team is at the bottom, where many think the Wild will finish. One team isn’t pulling away from their division quite yet. The Caps have a weak division but haven’t pulled away yet. I expect them to stay on top.
This year, it seems, that there are more players out with injuries. Malkin and Ovi being the two prominent figures in the stands this week. Every team is riddled by this and its only a month or so into the season. Whatever team can stay the healthiest for the longest will have a huge advantage.
You know its serious, though, when a hockey player sits out. Most play through the pain and deal with it. I know I have and many teams I’ve played on had countless injured skaters on the ice at a time. It’s part of the game.
Another part of the game that I forgot about was the random bruises that show up. I joined a women’s league in Missoula and playing four games in 40 hours was a great way to remind me to get in shape. The Halloween tournament was a great way to jump into the beginning of the season. Not to mention the fact that Monday morning I was walking around work like an 80-year old. I was in desperate need of a cane.
I’m just grateful I can still play hockey.
On Wednesday, we had our first regular-season game with our team. I woke up Thursday with a large bruise on my bicep and another on my forearm. Battle bruises? Yea, we’ll go with that.

But if you thought hockey was rough, check out this game.

Upcoming attractions:
-College hockey: Minnesota and Wisconsin play this weekend. Sasha is a badger and I’m a Gopher. We will see who is standing on Monday.
-football: Charlo and Polson enter the quarterfinals. Polson has home-field advantage against Belgrade while Charlo travels to Sheridan
-volleyball: Polson, Ronan, Mission and Charlo all have divisional play this weekend

Officials

Officials. In a perfect world they are supposed to be perfect in every call they make. Things work in slow motion in their mind so they can see if the runner touched the base before the first baseman caught the ball or the puck really did fully cross the goal line.
However, I realize this isn’t fantasy land and officials make mistakes.
But last night, there was one official who really messed things up.
Three calls were mistaken in Game 4 of the Yankees/Angles game, making many people question if instant replay should be used in baseball.
I’ve been behind the plate and in the field as an umpire. It’s touch. They deserve more credit than they get.
But does having instant replay make it better?
I don’t think so. They use it only in certain situations that can seriously change the outcome of the game.
Football uses it so why not baseball?
I don’t think it should be used. The point of officials is to have authority right there to make the call. They run around to get into position and people spend their whole lives learning how to do this job.
If technology come in and took over, what are we paying the officials for. We could just have some tech guy in a booth somewhere far, far away make the calls.

The Ronan football team complete 87 plays in their game last Friday.
All of them were rushing plays.
To complete 87 plays in one game is amazing but to have all of them on the ground is another astonishment. Ronan broke a record of most rushing plays, the previous one was 85 set in 1979.
They also ran for 633 yards. Xavier Morigeau had one-third of those yards, 344, and six touchdowns on his resume that night.
The Chiefs face Polson tomorrow night. The Pirates are also a power house when rushing the ball. Tim Rausch and Joe Andrews are the Pirates’ top runners.
Not to mention the two teams are rivals.
Last time Ronan beat Polson, both teams were in elementary school and I wasn’t even a teenager.

funny story: easily entertained

Two stars:
-Justin Dusty Bull, Mesa Starkey: the Ronan and Polson cross country runners took all-conference honors
-Ronan football: the Chiefs scored 70 points in their record-breaking game


Upcoming attractions
- Ronan vs. Polson-Black and orange versus purple and gold on the gridiron
-Polson volleyball tomorrow night: the Pirates take on Libby in Polson. Libby is a strong team and will challenge Polson
-State cross country meet: Saturday in Missoula

Running and snow

Last Saturday, I braved the cold to attend Polson’s home cross country meet and came to this conclusion: cross country is the only sport where the fans run as much as the athletes.
The parents run to a spot. Wait. Yell and scream as loud as they can when their athlete/team run by. Run to another spot. Repeat.
The runners last Saturday ran the marked course twice so the fans were really moving around.
I ran cross country in high school for two years. I think my mom attended one meet because I had a hockey game that night, so she came to pick me up early.
I think she stood at the finish line. I’m not too sure as I was busy running a race but I KNOW she didn’t run around.
I was amazed at the dedication those fans had last Saturday. Not only was it cold, but the terrain was hilly. The runners faced bails of hay and a steep hill and the course fans had to take to run around the course wasn’t flat either.

Also, the whole get-a-lot-of-snow-in-a-short-period-of-time trend wasn’t just in Montana. Minnesota got a lot on Monday. My mom sent my brother and I pictures (my brother is in college and I am in Montana, so it’s an empty nest. minus our dog) of the snow and our backyard. Crazy weather. Like in Montana, the snow in MN has since melted. What adds to the craziness is that the leaves on the trees hadn’t even started to change.


Three stars:
-all athletes that competed outside last Friday and Saturday: it was cold and I was freezing even though I was covered in multiple layers.
-Joe Andrews: the Polson football player had an amazing game last Friday against Columbia Falls
-the Chicago Blackhawks: the Hawks were down five goals and came back to win in overtime

Upcoming attractions:
-the Northwest A Conference Championships for cross country: Saturday morning at Silver Fox Golf Course
-Ronan football: the Chiefs play Libby at home on Friday night
-Arlee volleyball travels to Mission on Tuesday

Snow and golf

So this morning I woke up and there was THREE inches of snow. I love snow. It puts me in a good mood and waking up to it is even better.
I dusted off my winter jacket and found my gloves as I made my way to my car. My feet crunched new paths and I was in a good mood.
And there it was in all it’s glory covered by the white stuff.
That’s when my mood dropped.
I don’t have a snow scraper and there was no way I could make it anywhere without dusting off my car.
Donning my gloves I cleared the snow and made my way to the store to get a snow scraper.
As I walked straight to the automotive section, I met five other people in the same situation as me. It was obvious as that was the only thing I brought to the check-out and the cashier definitely chuckled at me.
I bought my car in July, why would I have prior need for one?

The mountains covered in snow are amazing. Coming from Minnesota, I’ve seen my fair share of snow but this is different.


This snow has moved the State golf tournament back a couple days to Monday. Hopefully the extra days will help the course turn green instead of white. Seems necessary though.

Thursday's thoughts

three highlights of the week:
-Polson boys soccer: the Pirates pulled out two wins, one against Whitefish and the other against Columbia Falls to keep their state hopes alive
-Ronan football: won 34-32 at Whitefish’s homecoming after losing in their own
-Polson volleyball: the ladies beat Libby and stay undefeated

upcoming attractions:
-Charlo’s homecoming: parade at 1 p.m. on Friday before the Vikings take on Noxon
-Arlee’s homecoming: the Warriors take on Lincoln
-Polson boys soccer: the Pirates play Libby and Bigfork this week to figure out their future

Olympic hosts

So the Olympics will be in Rio de Janeiro. I think that will be neat. Rio seems like a place where everyone is having fun and the culture is less strict, than say, China.

I picture lots of colorful costumes and bright colors in the opening ceremony with neat music. Maybe I’ll actually watch the opening ceremony, rather than waiting until the United States walks in to watch.
Poor Chicago.
It tried very hard to get the Olympics. I mean, if Atlanta can pull it off, I was sure that Chicago could. I was surprised to see Chicago out in the first round. Mr. Obama made a special trip to advocate on behalf of his city. And he was busy.
Bright side: Chicago can focus on things other than the Olympics now. Like cleaning up the city and the violence problem.
However, I have an idea.
Since I now reside in Montana, there’s a slim chance the Olympics will ever show up around these parts, which is unfortunate.
The mountains are great for snowboarding/skiing and there is enough room around here that if a building needs to be constructed, space issues won’t be a problem.
My proposal is that states are able to lobby to hold the Olympics. This would allow places like Montana and Alaska would stand a chance up against cities like Rio.
The one place that should throw their hat in the ring is New Orleans. I think that Preparing for something would make the rebuilding process get on a horse and go. So many things are bogged down for whatever reason that if there was a deadline I feel people would start to take notice and help out.
When I brought this up to Aimee, she did bring up a good point that this already happens. When Salt Lake City held the Olympics, events were all over, not just in Salt Lake.
Touche.
However, Salt Lake got all the credit. With my idea, the whole state gets the credit.
That is my great idea for the week.

Also, there should be a size requirement to host the Olympics. Just like those cheesy signs that point out you aren’t tall enough to have fun on that particular ride. (Those signs have crushed so many dreams.)

A city/state/area needs to be so big in order to host it.
To build on my idea that states can host the Olympics, I want to also say that countries should be able to host if their cities and states don’t meet size requirements.
My vote for the winter Olympics in 2018 is Jamaica.
I shared this idea with others in the office and many deal-breakers came up:

Aimee says:
Jamaica doesn’t have snow. The climate is tropical, hot humid.

I say:
They can build an indoor snow mountain dome. Dubai has one. I’m sure they would share the floor plans.







Aimee says:
Jamaica is an impoverished country. They don’t have enough money for this.

I say:
They borrow money for this. They will be able to pay back their loans with the revenue they make. They can’t borrow it all from one country because some countries, like, oh say, the United States, don’t really have any money to borrow themselves, let alone anyone else.
So, we get countries to lend money to Jamaica. Interest can be negotiated. We make sure that everything is converted into the same currency so it all adds up and makes sense.
We can also start campaigns like (red) for AIDS and pink stuff for breast cancer. Totes, plates, clothing. The Olympics already has a symbol, one less thing to worry about.
People and countries can also donate money to this fund. In a gold level, silver level, bronze level type system, the more you donate, the more prominent gift you get. Think PBS tele-athon.
Another idea is to have countries sponsor buildings, in a form of corporate sponsorship. We could have the Canadian ice rink or the England/Ireland decathlon course, including rifle-shooting station.

Aimee says:
Jamaica is smaller than Connecticut. There is only 15% farm able land. There isn't enough room for all of that indoor snow.

I say:
I don’t have all the answers. That is what the Olympic committee is for. Hire me and I’ll figure it out. We are in the planning stages.
One answer to build up, not out, urban sprawl style.

Jenna says:
They won’t have enough hotel rooms.

I say:
The locals can rent out their houses/rooms. The whole point of the Olympics, besides countries proving they are better than one another through athletics, is to show the world the host’s culture. What better way to do this than by residing IN it rather than some fancy posh hotel. The athletes can have the hotels because they need to get their beauty sleep so they can look their best when they win a medal or lose horrifically.

Aimee did apologize for all of her nay-saying. She really does want this to work out for both myself and Jamaica.

homecoming away from home

This past week was both Polson and Ronan’s homecoming. I was in charge of the Polson side of things and Sasha took Ronan.
Polson shut down last Friday for the homecoming parade. I posted up near Cherry Valley elementary and Aimee came with for entertainment.
As we got out of my car, a couple classes were making their way to the side of the street to wait for the parade. As they exited the school, they all had on purple construction-paper pirate hats and were all yelling “AARGH.” It was one of the cutest things and entertaining.
Aimee and I wondered how this would shake out with over 100 small children watching a parade where candy was being thrown to them. The first reaction for anyone when candy is thrown at them is to run to it, for fear of competition, and claim it. Usually, the responsible-adult-to-small-child ratio is more even but at the school, there were the usual number of teachers and admins watching over the kids. Surprisingly, the children listened to the teachers and no one was run over.
The parade was like nothing I have experienced. In my high school, we had 13 king and 13 queen candidates for a 300-student class. They nominees were announced the Friday before our homecoming game. The following Wednesday, coronation was held in the gym and every candidate was announced at the football game, with the king and queen throwing t-shirts out.
They do things different in Montana.
A parade through town during the day. The town pretty much shut down so everyone could go see.
The 4 king and 4 queen candidates were paired up and each got to ride in a car with their names on the side. The girls were decked out in fancy gowns and hair while the guys made some effort to put on a nice shirt/pants combination.
Each class had their own float and each fall sport also decorated a vehicle.
I have to say that Polson’s parade was bigger than I thought it would be. Not sure how Ronan’s was but I’m sure it was comparable.

I was able to go to my first Polson football game. Usually, I am in Charlo, St. Ignatius and Arlee on Friday nights. This time, I was able to stay for the whole game which was pretty neat.
Many times I was asked if I was taking pictures for the yearbook. Nope. I’m taking them for my full-time job. At the paper.
Really?
No homecomings are this week. Next week, Arlee and Charlo crown their kings and queens and we will cover it.


three highlights of the week:
-Polson boys soccer- beat Bigfork to continue their state–tournament hopes
-Arlee vb- the Scarlets took third in their tournament- see paper tomorrow
-the 2009-10 NHL season starts this week. finally.

upcoming attractions:
-Polson volleyball-the Pirates travel to their biggest competition, Libby, to test their undefeated streak
-Polson soccer- the Pirates have their last home games on Friday night. If a youth player wears their youth jersey to the game, they get in free.
-did I mention the 2009-10 NHL season starts this week?

Short week. Not much to report. .

Three stars of the week:
- Polson golfer Talia Arlint took first place in Libby
-Arlee football’s offense: the Warriors won 71-18
-Cole Rice: the Warrior scored five touchdowns in Arlee’s win

Upcoming attractions:
-Polson football: the Pirates take on Libby on Friday in their homecoming game
-Ronan football: Columbia Falls visits the Chiefs for Ronan’s homecoming game
-Arlee volleyball’s Spike-It tournament: the Scarlets host a tournament that will include Charlo and Two Eagle River

Deal with it

As the sports season started, the mileage I cover in a week has increased. Thursday, Friday and Saturdays are the heaviest days. I don’t mind driving. I hook my ipod up and go. On the way to the games, the drive isn’t bad. The sun is setting, making it easier to see the road signs so I don’t get lost. The traffic flow is good as most of the drivers are on their way home after a day of work.
The problems start to arise on the way home.
It’s dark so I can’t really see street signs. Thankfully, I usually just need to find my way back to highway 93 and that will bring me where I need to go.
Since it is nighttime, the speed limit goes from 70 to 65. Not many people follow this suggestion and I don’t want to be the one that holds everyone back on the one-lane highway, so I keep with the flow. But when I’m going 80, at night, down a hill, I usually put my foot on the brake and slow to 70. It seems reasonable, right?
Tell that to the people that tailgate. Just because I’m in a small car doesn’t mean your big truck can just push my bumper faster. To make matters worse, your headlights are at the perfect height of my rearview mirror blinding me, making that two inches of space between my trunk and your front bumper life or death for both of us. If getting to your destination two seconds faster is that important, you should have left earlier. Not to say I’m always on time, but I can’t make someone drive faster. Either pass me and give me a dirty look as you go by or deal with the speed I’m going.


Three highlights of the week:
-Arlee volleyball player Cassandra Kline: Her aces against Mission in the fifth set under pressure last Thursday were clutch.
-Polson soccer striker Sean Hart: He scored a hat trick in 12 minutes to lead the Pirates to a win.
-Charlo football team: When you score 156 points in your first two games, is it a challenge?

Upcoming attractions:
-Rivals Polson and Ronan volleyball teams face off tonight in Ronan. This is the first time the two teams meet this season.
-After last week’s intense game against Mission, the Arlee volleyball team faces Charlo.
-Mission football vs. Deer Lodge. Homecoming celebration.

This week is Mission’s homecoming. I’m curious how it is treated around here. Back home, it is a lot of fun but the town I was in wasn’t too into it. They supported us and everything, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Cheering section

Last night, I traveled to Arlee for the Arlee/Mission volleyball game. I didn’t know what I was in for.
Arlee AD Jim Taylor told me before the game that the two schools were big rivals in volleyball.
I didn’t realize how big.
The games were exciting and had long rallies but I was entertained by the Arlee cheering section that was made up of 50 boys, mostly football players. As the Mission vb team was announced, they all held up newspapers as a form of insult.

Nice gesture. I’ve done it at the Minnesota State High School Hockey tournament with a hundred other students, but no matter the crowd size, it’s still funny to see.
The Arlee cheering section was loud before, during and after the game. It was hard to hear anything anyone near me was saying. It was great. The gym was loud and the atmosphere was intense. I’ve never seen such crowd support at a volleyball game. All five games I have attended.
Every dig was followed with “Can you diiigggg it?” and they even knew the Arlee team’s cheer for an ace.
However, they did have competition.
Five Mission JV volleyball members were decked out in blue and white and had signs. My personal favorite was “Warning: Bulldogs can’t be held responsible for lost or damaged pride.”


The game went for five intense sets and after Arlee pulled off the win, the cheering section got down on their hands and knees, banged the floor and bowed down to the Arlee volleyball players as they headed for their locker room.
Talk about school pride.

Animals around here

So, the last week has been pretty hectic.
I underestimated how many games happen in one week. I have been to more sporting events than I can count. Friday night was particularly busy. I went to Two Eagle River for volleyball, Charlo for football and Arlee for football.
Two Eagle was easy to find before I headed to Charlo. Last time I was at Charlo, I was taking pictures of the football field for a feature. When I was there, a nice golden-colored dog followed me around. I figured it was someone’s dog as the football team was practicing and some people were working on the field. As I went to leave, the dog followed me to my car and sat outside my driver’s door as I started my vehicle. I backed out and the dog followed. I pulled out of the parking lot and the dog followed. I thought maybe it would give up if I upped the speed.
I was wrong.
I got up to 20mph and the dog was sprinting along with my car. Tounge out, wind in the face, legs sprinting. I didn’t want to hit the dog so I slowed down. It might look bad if I hit it. Plus I might have to explain to a small child why Comet went to doggie heaven and I would feel terrible.
At this point we are a mile from the field and I came to realize that this dog might not have an owner and I had to ditch it if I wanted to make it back to Polson. As I was plotting my next move in this chess game, the dog made it’s move. It sped up and started to run in front of my car.
Touche, dog, touche.
Eventually, the dog sped up its speed and I make a quick right turn, increased my speed and left the dog in Charlo. I’m waiting for the dog to use its sense of smell and show up in my backyard. My dad got a huge kick out of the story. Probably because I called him after I made my escape and was panicking.
Back to sports.
The Charlo game was impressive.
Theme of the game: Vikings get ball. Vikings score.
However, I didn’t factor in the other game that was going on. Mosquitos vs. Me.
The whole two months I have been in Montana, I haven’t seen a mosquito. Aimme has been bitten multiple times but the little pests have stayed away from me. Must be the Minnesotan blood.
But at the game, I have never been bit so many times in such a short period of time.
I left after the first quarter when the scores from both games were 46-0 in order to make the trek to Arlee.
I made it to Arlee without getting lost this time and could barely find a spot to park. The place was close to packed.
I’m glad I showed up when I did. It was a great second half, with Arlee winning.
The next morning, I ventured to the Ronan cross country meet. On my way there, three dogs chased my car. At different times. I’m starting to think either the dogs around here are nuts or my car smells like bacon.

Three highlights of the week:
-Charlo qb Chico Stipe scored 4 touchdowns for 24 points, the same amount Charlo’s defense scored in the Vikings 93-6 win on Friday
-Arlee’s defense stopping Granite at the six-yard line
-Ronan runner Justin Dusty Bull finishing the three-mile course in a little over 18 minutes

Upcoming
This week is busier but a majority of the teams are away.
Must-sees:
-Polson boys and girls soccer at home on Friday and Saturday
-Arlee vb against Mission, in Arlee, on Thursday night

Isn’t tweeting what a bird does?

There are a lot of people on twitter.
Personally, I’m not but I represent the Leader’s large sports staff on the popular site. A lot of celebrities and athletes are and use their tweets as a way to give their fans some insight into the workings of their mind or to sound off on the latest controversy.
Now, the NFL has limited the use of twitter by coaches, players and football operations personnel.

League policy allows for the use of social media or networking sites (including Twitter and Facebook) by players, coaches and football operations personnel up to 90 minutes before kickoff and after the game following media interviews," the policy reads.

Shouldn’t athletes be worried about the game or, at least, more focused? They get paid a lot of money to win said game. The limits seem unnecessary but I guess some athletes just can’t wait to share their thoughts.

Gearing up

High school sports started one week ago. Before that, my story ideas consisted of a local 3-on-3 tournament, a rodeo and any other sports-related activity that would pop up.
Now, 24 teams from seven schools will be a main focus. That’s not to say I won’t cover other sporting events.


Last Friday night, I traveled down to Arlee for the Red/White Fight night. I was unable to make it to the volleyball scrimmage, but showed up for the football scrimmage. So many people showed up to watch the team scrimmage. That was really neat to see. The stands were almost full. The coolest thing was that after the game, the players stood in a line and the fans were able to go down the line and shake each players hand.


This Friday, I will be traveling to Arlee again for football. When I went to Arlee last time, I printed off a map from Mapquest even though many people told me that “you can’t miss Arlee.”
Well, I missed Arlee.
I was driving down 93 and it had been about 55 minutes since I had left Polson. I was looking for signs or anything that would tell me I was in Arlee or near it. The only sign I saw was for Missoula County. I missed Arlee. This reaffirmed the fact that I get lost no matter what. The map I had didn’t help. At all. I need a GPS.



For the week, we have 16 teams in action. Aimee has the Polson and Ronan golf teams on lock and Sasha has Ronan and Polson football and Polson boys and girls soccer teams to follow.

Tip-off

When our editor asked the editorial staff if they wanted to blog, my first reaction was apprehension.
In journalism, professors tell you to take your opinion and throw it out the window. You aren’t supposed to write with a bias. That might be why blogs are tough for me to write.
This blog is going to start with the purpose of bringing to light national and local sports happenings and I’ll add my two cents. My train of thought is pretty scattered and rambling is what I do best.
I also want to include the interesting things that happen to me, since I’m not from Montana, let alone the Northwest. I hail from Minnesota. Yes, I have a little bit of an accent according to others. Dontcha know. I don’t notice it.
'On the bleachers' means, to me, all the things I observe from the stands. The trip to the game, the people sitting behind me and what is happening on the field are all things I hope to include.
I graduated in May 2009 and after many failed attempts at finding a job, I was offered one from the Lake County Leader as the sports editor. I accepted and ten days later, I was packing my car and driving to Polson, Montana.
Previous to this move, I had never lived outside of Minnesota. I grew up in Inver Grove Heights, straight suburbia is what I call it. For college, I traveled 25 minutes north to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Needless to say, living in Montana has been a big stretch. There are some similarities between the two states, but many more differences.
The one constant is sports.
I grew up in a very athletic family. My dad is a wealth of sports knowledge and is successful in any sport he participates in. He played softball and hockey when I was younger and continues to dominate my brother in drive-way basketball. My mom held her own back in her day. With three younger brothers, she is well versed in winning and competition. She was a champion in table tennis (and corrects anyone that calls it ping pong). My brother is an athlete in all definitions of the word. Hockey and baseball are his arenas and he will play baseball in college. I’m sure he will make frequent mentions in this blog. As for me, I was a three-sport athlete in high school. Cross country, hockey and track kept me busy. I also played park-and-rec softball in the summer.
That is why I picked sports journalism as my niche. I understand most aspects of the genre. The only one I don’t have experience in is the business side of things. General managers, owners and front office politics are where I get tripped up.
I’ve played, coached and cheered my way through more teams than I can count.
Hockey is my forte but I enjoy almost all forms of competition.
Feel free to leave comments, whether you love what I wrote or disagree. Let me know if you think I have overlooked an issue or have a great youTube video or article you want to share.