During this 50th anniversary of Title IX leveling the playing field for female athletes, the halftime ceremony was a splendid celebration as four females were inducted into the Bloomington Kennedy Athletic Hall of Fame.
“When you play in the South Suburban every night's a battle, it doesn't matter who's on the other side of the net. We all know the high level of competition and this is a great atmosphere.”
“He’s normally very stoic, very subdued, but this time he was very upbeat, very positive about my situation. He said, ‘You can’t just sit around and wait for bad things to happen. If you’re a coach, go coach. If you’re a teacher, go teach.’ ”
"Everybody keeps saying we'll never get back to normal, just like our nation will never get back to normal. But hopefully we're going to get as close to normal as we can."
This was Week 1 of a season in which the LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals are the defending Minnesota state champions of Nine-Man football. Their season opener was not finished on Friday, but their quarterback's season was.
Forgive Minnesota high school volleyball coaches who take a quick glance at the Marshall Tigers this season and mutter to themselves, “Uh-oh.” What they will see is one of the top volleyball programs in the state, led this season by a pair of Hall of Fame coaches who combine for 12 state titles and more than 1,000 victories.
The simple act of playing the first game was a big positive. Zero Week means starting practice a week earlier than normal and having a bye week during the regular season. Without Zero Week, some teams would only be able to play seven regular-season games rather than the usual eight.
“There’s nothing to compare it to. For an NFL team to reach out and do something like this for us, it’s really special. It’s something our kids will remember forever.”
This is no normal football season in Royalton. Normalcy went out the window when assistant coach and Royals alum Nick Lanners was critically injured in a traffic accident. He suffered a spinal fracture and is facing a long road of recovery and rehabilitation.
Todd Bouman had a long career as an NFL quarterback. But ask him about his favorite football memory and he immediately goes back to his high school days.
"My wife is a person who exemplifies all the great things about education and activities. She cares so much about her athletes. Every year she’s emotional when the season ends because of how much she cares about them."
