Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

I just love starting a new sports’ season and I love going to musical concerts.  Well, I got a big taste of both last week during a particularly-busy week at the high school.

Last Tuesday, I attended the Minnewaska versus Montevideo boys basketball game.  Before that though, I took in the kindergarten Christmas program, followed by a little C-squad boys’ action, 5-10 minutes of the B-squad game and then back to the auditorium for a few songs from the 1st grade Christmas program before coming back to the gymnasium for the start of the varsity boys’ game with Montevideo.

A few nights later, I was planning on watching the girls basketball game against Sauk Centre, but there were also a couple of concerts planned for that night as well.  And so, I got up to the school at 5:30 p.m. for the 4th grade Christmas concert, stuck around for some C-squad and B-squad girls basketball action and also took pictures for a bit at the 5th and 6th grade Christmas programs before coming back to the varsity girls’ game against Sauk Centre.

I finished off my week by attending the 7th-12th Holiday Choir Concert, Sunday night.  Wow, what a performance!  The choirs did a fantastic job and I thoroughly enjoyed the almost two hours of holiday entertainment.

The one thing that really stuck out in my mind were the male voices.  At Benson, there was always a lack of boys in the choir and the male voices were always overshadowed by the females.

Not at Minnewaska Area; the choirs all had an equal representation of boys and girls and all the students genuinely seemed to love performing for the audience.

The only grades I didn’t watch last week were 2nd and 3rd grade, who both have their concerts set for Tuesday (tomorrow).  And, the only sport I haven’t covered this winter is Minnewaska wrestling, which was supposed to host a triangular, Friday, but that was canceled due to Trevor Solem’s memorial service.

And, speaking of Trevor, I only got to know him a little bit from my time on the Minnewaska sideline for football, but I’ve heard so many great things about him and he certainly left a lasting impression in the community.  Student-athletes, the next time you’re having a tough day or facing some tough situations in your life, think about Trevor and all the hardships he faced but was still able to find optimism with life.

If we look for negatives in life, we will find them.  If we look for positives, life suddenly gets better.  Take advantage of every day, stay positive and look for opportunities instead of obstacles.