Blogs List
 Joe Brown |
Jottings after a long week of wrestlingMon, March 8, 2010 @ 1:37AM Sorry for the long delay in blog updates. Since Wednesday, I was up at the Minnesota state wrestling tournament to cover the 26 area wrestlers and the Minneota wrestling team as they each wrestled for a chance at a state title. Unfortunately, not a single one, team or individual, came out a champion. But the experience was an interesting one for yours truly. I came to the state meet knowing next to nothing about wrestling, aside that getting pinned was bad. My older brother was the wrestler of the family — he had the cauliflower ears to prove it. But in the time I got to spend there, it was cool to learn the little nuances of the sport and see how wrestling isn’t just a sport, it’s a way of life for some folks. Between the intense training, the dieting (something that you can judge by my terrible mug shot is something I don’t do) and the support, it’s definitely a cult-like sport that was an absolute adrenaline rush to cover for four days.
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 Karin Elton |
Semi-consciousFri, March 12, 2010 @ 1:29PM Last night I was laying in bed around 11 p.m. and I thought, “I should have written semi-annually, not bi-annually.” It was too late to call Cindy, the new news editor, who had wrapped up Friday’s paper by the deadline, 10 p.m. I had written Friday’s centerpiece story on Big Stone Therapies and how the company sends at least three staffers to San Lucas, Guatemala, every six months. Not a huge deal, but by saying “bi-annually,” I was saying the company sends people every other year instead of twice a year. Why couldn’t I have thought of my error two hours earlier when it could have done some good? Argh! The best I could do was ask Per, the new editor, to change the story on the Web site Friday morning and then make a correction for Saturday's pape.
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 Deb Gau |
Do not disturbTue, March 9, 2010 @ 12:23PM I'll file this one under 'you learn something new every day.' On Monday morning I got a quick look at the new surgical unit under construction at Avera Marshall. Pretty straightforward stuff — there's not much to see in an operating room until the surgical equipment is actually hooked up. But what hadn't occurred to me before was just how big of a challenge health and safety are when you're doing renovations inside a hospital. For example, the operating and recovery rooms I was shown had to be specially walled off from the rest of the unit and other parts of the hospital, so as not to compromise things like air quality. It's a painstaking process, even if the divider isn't masonry. Put up the wall, finish the rooms, take down the wall, start again with the next area..
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 Jodelle Greiner |
Getting kids' attention — with duct tapeThu, March 11, 2010 @ 11:11AM I have to hand it to Heidi Critchley, elementary principal in Marshall. Last week, she and the other teachers and staff at West Side spray-painted their hair as a reward for the kids surpassing their fundraising goal for Pennies for Patients, which benefited The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. (Not only did they all wear their hair that way for the rest of the day, Heidi had to take one of her kids to the clinic and walked in there with her hot pink and multi-colored hair. I can only imagine the double takes she got.) This week, she let the Park Siders tape her to the gym wall in the morning and then let the West Siders do it that afternoon, too, as a reward for helping out the PTA in a fundraiser. I’d seen pictures of teachers being taped to the wall, but I’d never actually witnessed it before Wednesday at Park Side. It’s not just standing there while the kids stick tape on you. Heidi stood on a chair while the kids (with help from the teachers) taped her to the wall.
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 Per Peterson |
Mauer's contract annoying, but not a distractionTue, March 9, 2010 @ 3:18PM Joe Mauer’s fooling himself if he thinks he’s not a distraction to the club. The All-World catcher has repeatedly told reporters he doesn’t want to discuss his contract and become a distraction to the team. We this from athletes a lot. It’s crap. You kidding me? Athletes love attention, even ones as humble as Mauer. But it shouldn’t matter. These are grown men we’re talking about here — grown men who should be able to concentrate enough to hone their swings or perfect turning a double play. You think they’re going to go 0-for-4 in a spring training game because they’re thinking about Mauer’s contract. Plus, this is the Twins, not the Yankees. And even though Mauer has become one of the most-recognized players in baseball, anything that happens surrounding him pales in comparison to things that go on on the left side of the Yankees’ infield. It’s not as if the national media are clamoring around Mauer everywhere he goes.
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 Cindy Votruba |
Idol thoughts...Wed, March 10, 2010 @ 10:55PM Thankfully American Idol's down to three hours a week that I can finally catch up with this weeks' performances. And for this season I'm rooting for the indie rockers. I kind of do that every year it seems like, the ones who strap on a guitar or try to do their own thing with the arrangements. Lilly Scott stands out with her platinum white hair, and she plays the moog! How cool is that? Then there's Crystal Bowersox who rocked the mouth harp with "Hand in My Pocket" the first official week of competition. They're calling it a girls' season this year as the last two winners have been guys. And I'll have to agree. None of the guys have really impressed me. Sure, Casey may be cute, but he does look a little like Bucky Covington from a few seasons ago. And Big Mike does have a lot of personality, but he's really not all that. And what is with Todrick trying to sing Kelly Clarkson and Tina Turner? But I digress...
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