Tag Archives: sports

Rabbit-Coyote war renewed

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A war as old as South Dakota itself has been renewed.

Republicans vs Democrats? East River vs West River? Sioux Falls vs everyone else?

Nah. We’re talking blood feud — as long as it’s animal blood apparently. SDSU and USD are ready to meet on the field of honor, or at least the football field.

USD unloaded the first broadside with four billboards depicting a ferocious-looking coyote chasing a running jackrabbit with the words “Have an old friend for dinner.” One of the billboards was placed a few miles south of Brookings, the home of SDSU.

Gee, that’s sure to be accepted quietly in the spirit of good fun and in-state rivalry, right?

Not exactly. Someone hanged a dead coyote from the billboard this week, sparking the rivalry back up after it had laid dormant for years since the Jacks left the North Central Conference and stopped playing the Coyotes.

While a lot of us are looking forward to the first men’s basketball game in years between the schools in January, and others are awaiting the first gridiron game in November 2012, some people are disgusted an animal was killed in the name of rivalry.

Let’s hope that’s the end of the Blue vs Red rivalry but a response wouldn’t shock anyone. Maybe cooler heads will prevail.

Think so?

Who looks worse today: Munsen or administrators?

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My Monday morning got off to a fast start when we received an anonymous tip about the Mitchell boys’ basketball program being put on probation for a year by the South Dakota High School Activities Association. To make a long story short, coach Gary Munsen was caught coaching a player or players out of season, which is a no-no.

That part of the story wasn’t really a surprise. Anybody who knows Gary Munsen knows this isn’t his first rodeo. He’s had great highs, including more than 600 career wins, but he’s also had embarrassing lows, including at least one previous probationary period with the SDHSAA, an arrest on domestic assault charges that were later dropped and a suspension by school administrators for reasons that were apparently never made public.

So, given what’s happened in the past, it’s not really a shocker that Gary Munsen is in a little bit of trouble. What was shocking, at least to me, was the response of school administrators.

You see, all of this stuff with Munsen went down in mid-April. The probation and some other disciplinary actions were handed down by the state Activities Association board at its April 19-20 meeting. Neither the public nor the media knew about it, though, because none of it was on the Activities Association agenda and school administrators in Mitchell didn’t tell anybody.

You read that correctly. Even though Superintendent Joe Graves and Activities Director Geoff Gross were fully aware of everything that had happened, they stayed silent about it. When our reporter called all five school board members yesterday, none of them knew anything about the situation. The administrators’ excuse? The Activities Association didn’t require them to tell the school board.

Maybe this is just me, but if you were on the school board, wouldn’t you expect your administrators to tell you about something as significant as the school’s most prominent and successful extracurricular program being put on probation for a year because of a rule violation?

And thus I return to the question in the title of this post. Who looks worse today: Munsen, or Mitchell School District’s administrators?

Harmon heads to home plate one last time

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FILE - This May 22, 1962, file photo shows Minnesota Twins' outfielder Harmon Killebrew hitting a double in the third inning against the Washington Senators, in Washington. Killebrew announced Friday, May 13, 2011, that he no longer plans to fight his esophageal cancer and has settled in for the final days of his life, saddening friends and fans of the 74-year-old Hall of Fame slugger. (AP Photo/Bob Schutz, File)

He hasn’t homered for the Twins since 1974, but he’s still their MVP to a lot of fans.

Harmon Killebrew announced Friday that he will enter hospice care and is ending his battle against esophageal cancer. Killebrew, 74, said he has “exhausted all options” and knows he is at the end of his life.

I grew up surrounded by Twins fans in the 1960s and 1970s and admired The Killer. He was a tremendous power hitter with a gentle soul. The man who hit more home runs than any other player in the 1960s — more than Mantle, Mays, Aaron and other superstars — was a quiet, decent man who said he enjoyed washing dishes.

Teammates and opponents raved equally about his ability and his decency. I share that view after interviewing him a few years ago in Mankato, Minn. Harmon was and is the greatest Twin. He was great to all fans that cold winter night on the Twins Caravan and watching him interact with people was a privilege.

The baseball world wishes him, his family and friends peace in these final innings. Harmon may be headed to his final home plate, but we will always recall the joy he caused during his sojourn around the bases.

Here’s a story on the sad news:  http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/52619/group/homepage/

Thune wants to come home for holidays

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On the whole, Sen. John Thune would rather be in South Dakota, watching high school hoops.

Thune and I talked sports Sunday, with a bit of politics and government mixed in. The senator said his nephew plays for Roosevelt High School and he was hoping to watch him play last weekend.

But Congress has been flying high, despite its lame-duck status, and Thune and other senators and representatives have been stuck in Washington, D.C., instead of home with their families and friends.

Thune said he’s not sure when Congress will adjourn. He feels the Nov. 2 election sent a message that Americans were unhappy with the efforts of the current Congress and didn’t want more done.

Last year, the Senate met on Christmas Eve to pass the Obama health care bill. That dramatic day, which included Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., getting the infamous “Cornhusker Kickback” for his vote, may have led to the GOP tide this fall.

Maybe Republicans like Thune, who is strongly considering a run for president in 2012, should want the Democrats to keep passing laws. It might be a useful campaign tool.

This year, the senators hope to be home by the holiday weekend. However, Sen. Tim Johnson said he is prepared to stay in session until Jan. 4, the day this session of Congress ends, if there is business to conduct.

Should politicians keep their nose to the grindstone and get things done, or should they head home for the holidays?

To read my story on Thune’s thoughts on the lame-duck session, go to http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/48623/

The proposal to save gymnastics: A good idea?

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From our Saturday paper:

Mitchell Superintendent Joe Graves will present the school board Monday with a recommendation to keep gymnastics as a sanctioned high school sport and add competitive cheer as a sanctioned sport for the 2010-11 school year.

The proposal, which is the result of a Monday meeting between Graves and a gymnastics parent group, was revealed Friday in the school board agenda for Monday’s meeting. As part of the plan, gymnastics backers would have to raise half of the program’s $16,000 annual budget.

Click here to read the rest.

What do you think about the proposal?