Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

•  Twins season of 2023 — What a great season it turned out to be for the Minnesota Twins in 2023.  Big names started out hot, lesser players came up big time midway through the season and then some of the big names started up again.  The pitching was tremendous and it turned out to be a very exciting season as the Twins snapped a 19-year postseason winless streak.

Oh yeah, they did it all with Byron Buxton only playing DH, batting around .200 and ending the season on the injured reserve.  Overall, you have to give the season an A for the Twins.

•  Player sits to give teammate a chance instead of going for MLB record — Tommy Pham was 4-for-4 during the second game of the World Series, but decided that a teammate needed a chance to bat, too.  And so, Pham told the coach that he wanted Jace Peterson to bat for him in the ninth inning despite having a chance to become the first player ever to go 5-for-5 during a World Series game.  Pham didn’t think twice about doing it since he said he wanted everyone to feel like part of the team.  That’s one guy I’d also want on my team. 

•  Ban on cell phones — Schools are beginning to ban cell phones during school hours and I started thinking what that would be like for the students.  I’m sure the students will adjust and it won’t be that big of deal during school hours (for most), but can you imagine what it’s going to be like after school?

Students will be hopping in a bus or car, or biking or walking to go home and you can bet the first thing they’re going to do is send a few texts and check out a few group chats.  You also have to hope the schools don’t send out too much homework, because the students will be too busy to do the homework because they’re catching up with what they missed from their classmates and friends during the school day.

Boy, I’m kind of glad I’m not a kid right now . . .

•  Talk about a good volleyball conference — I was looking at one of the volleyball conferences I keep track of on a weekly basis, and I couldn’t believe what I saw.  Six of the eight teams in the Central Minnesota Conference have winning records and another, ACGC, was only one game below .500 and a team not a lot of other teams would want to meet in the playoffs.  

BBE (23-7) and Paynesville (20-5) were the top two teams in the conference, but there are also Royalton (15-12),  Kimball Area (14-13), Maple Lake (16-12) and Holdingford (18-10).  The only team way below .500 was Eden Valley-Watkins, which finished 3-23 this season, but normally is good in all sports.  The WCC is no slouch either though, as four of the teams had at least 20 wins and five of the eight teams finished above .500.

And, while some sections are basically an extension of the conference (same teams playing in the conference and section), the WCC teams play in four sections in the postseason.  BOLD plays in 2A, WCA and Benson play 6A, Waska, SC and Melrose all play in 6AA, and Montevideo and Morris compete in 3AA.

•  Enough Taylor Swift already — I’m into all kinds of music and I enjoy a “feel-good” kind of story, but this Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce deal is getting to be way too much for me.  I just wish people would spend as much time focusing on their own lives and families as much as they do keeping up with celebrities and professional athletes.

•  What a great pickup for the Vikings — Wow, talk about a whirlwind week for the Vikings’ new quarterback, Joshua Dobbs, who arrived in the Twin Cities on Tuesday and rallied the Vikings to their fourth-straight win five days later.

Yes, he doesn’t know the offense or any of the plays, but Dobbs was able to do just enough to keep the Vikings’ playoff chances alive.  I have a feeling this is going to be a special season for the Vikings . . .