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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Break Free

A surprisingly not terrible album, at least for what it is, Ariana Grande's latest "My Everything" is a pop/dance album to reckon with. "Break Free" is a strong song featuring Zedd who is spinning some sick beats.

Anyhow, this past week I kicked off the fall sports season by gathering photos and interviews for the sports preview section. I also attended my first fall sports event of the year, a cross country race in Milaca on Monday. I have a few pictures to share from that.

My last column on fantasy football came out yesterday too. I have a fantasy football draft on Saturday, one on Sept. 3 and another at some point in the near future.

I also got Madden 15 yesterday, still the same old Madden for the most part. A bit confusing in some of the new and unnecessary stuff, but overall, it's Madden.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the cross country meet at Stone's Throw Golf Course on Monday:

The boys varsity 5000 meters race begins last Monday around 12:15 p.m. at Stone's Throw Golf Course north of Milaca.

Milaca sophomore Zack Korvela  approaches the finish line.

this photographer got comfortable waiting for runners to get toward the finish line. 

The girls 4000 meter race kicked off the varsity races last Monday morning.

Milaca senior Cole Patten expends the last of his energy as he gets to the finish line. 

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Goodies

About this time 10 years ago the No. 1 jam in the nation was Ciara ft. Jazze Pha's "Goodies."

I don't have many goodies for all the readers, as I don't have any pictures to share this week, but a look at my predictions for tight end last year will have to do.

Also here's a link to my latest WR column for this year's fantasy season. It's coming up so quick.

2013 prediction No. 1: Jimmy Graham. Actual finish for Graham: First
That was easy.
2013 prediction No. 2: Jason Witten. Actual finish for Witten: Six.
Not terrible, but not really anything special.
2013 prediction No. 3: Tony Gonzalez. Actual finish for Gonzalez: Fourth.
Pretty good here. It's going to be weird without him this year.
2013 prediction No. 4: Rob Gronkowski. Actual finish for Gronk: 16.
Injuries kept him down, but I should have figured that.
2013 prediction No. 5: Jermichael Finley. Actual finish for Finley: 37.
Ouch. Literally. He's done for his career.

Thanks for reading.


Friday, August 15, 2014

All About That Bass

Women are taking over popular music, and no song is better than Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass." It has a great message with a catchy beat and throwback sound. It is currently at No. 4 on Billboard, and I wouldn't be surprised if it reaches No. 1.

I had lots to cover with the Milaca Fly-in and the Mille Lacs County Fair last week. I've been busy this week too, so that's why this is up a day late. I have 15 photos to share after I look back at how I did predicting receivers last season in fantasy football.

2013 prediction No. 1: Calvin Johnson. Actual finish for Johnson: Three.
Solid pick. I couldn't go wrong picking him to be No. 1 every year, and that's almost always what I've done.
2013 prediction No. 2: Brandon Marshall. Actual finish for Marshall: Five.
Another strong prediction. Marshall didn't have quite the season I expected, but that was likely due to his soul mate Jay Cutler being injured for a stretch.
2013 prediction No. 3: Dez Bryant. Actual finish for Bryant: Seven.
An OK selection. Bryant didn't score as much as I anticipated last year, but he still did pretty well, and anyone who took him as the third wide receiver off the board is not complaining.
2013 prediction No. 4: A.J. Green. Actual finish for Green: Four.
And boom goes the dynamite.
2013 prediction No. 5: Julio Jones. Actual finish for Jones: 64.
Should have known he would get hurt, but his upside is so high it's hard not to rank him high.
2013 prediction No. 6: Randall Cobb. Actual finish for Cobb: 60.
Another injury, but this one was a lot harder to take and see coming.
2013 prediction No. 7: Roddy White. Actual finish for White: 55.
Wow. Three in a row that were hurt for a big part of the year. Roddy was a weird case.
2013 prediction No. 8: Vincent Jackson. Actual finish for Jackson: 14.
Not a terrible prediction as Jackson had a solid year. Just had him ranked a little too high.
2013 prediction No. 9: Victor  Cruz. Actual finish for Cruz: 29.
Did not see Eli's fall, which really hurt Cruz.
2013 prediction No. 10: Dwayne Bowe. Actual finish for Bowe: 44.
Dumb, dumb idea to think that he would be better. He's done.

Anyways, I have some photos to share from last week's work:

Eight-year-old Reed Bleymeyer goes no-handed over the Mega Jump at last week's Mille Lacs County Fair.


Riders Jacob Walker (right), Alex Hiltunen (middle) and Bleymeyer run a train over the mega jump.

Kyle Heaser goes huge no-handed over the jump last Thursday.

Tristan Rauschendor makes a full pull in the first ever lawn tractor pull Thursday night at the Mille Lacs County Fair.

A group of people look on as a plane takes off the runway of Milaca Municipal Airport last Sunday at the annual Fly-in Breakfast.

The hangar was packed with breakfasters at the fly-in.

Families and kids cruise around the midway at the MLC Fair last Friday.

A look into a plane without doors. 

Kids at the Milaca library play a game with the Funky Possum Dance Party for the final day of the summer reading program. 
A library volunteer leads the kids in dance on Aug. 5.

Little Sophie Schmidt dances with Funky Possum.

A number of kids hop on one foot with Joey the Kangaroo.

Schmidt looks for a hug from one of her favorite animals.

Molly Williams sits next to Jean Scheef during the performance.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Right Here Waiting

On this day in 1989, 25 years ago, Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" was No. 1 for the third week. It is a perfect example of what is happening in my world right now. I'm waiting, right here, for not only fantasy football, but fall sports in general to begin. And here I'll remain, waiting, until they start.

This past week I covered a county emergency drill, Farm Fest and did a preview of the fly-in. This week I'll be doing a few news stories, as well as covering the final reading program for the library, and going to the county fair.

I do have a few pictures to share, but before I get to that I'm going to take a look at how I faired in predicting running backs last season:

2013 prediction No. 1: Adrian Peterson. Actual finish for Peterson: Seventh.
It was pretty hard to not pick AD No. 1 after he almost set the rushing record, and it's not like he was bad. He just wasn't spectacular.
2013 prediction No. 2: Doug Martin. Actual finish for Martin: 56.
I could blame this on an injury, and that he played only six games, but I won't. He was not the same even when he was healthy. He got figured out by the league. He's a total bust.
2013 prediction No. 3: Jamaal Charles. Actual finish for Charles: First.
Solid pick here. I had him in two of my three leagues, and rode him to a title in one league. He's even better in PPR than in standard, but he also scored 19 total touchdowns so....yeah, he's good.
2013 prediction No. 4: C.J. Spiller. Actual finish for Spiller: 26.
Yet another bust, and this one hurts even more than Martin for me. I put a lot of stock in Spiller, and he really disappointed me, and a lot of other people too. I did somehow manage to trade him midseason for Antonio Brown (beyond me why that was allowed to happen). I do still hold out hope for him this year though.
2013 prediction No. 5: Arian Foster. Actual finish for Foster: 43.
Running backs are a fickle breed. Injuries and declines can be hard to predict, and that bit me again here. He was effective when healthy, but now has all those injury question marks.
2013 prediction No. 6: Maurice Jones-Drew. Actual finish for MJD: 20.
He's getting up there in age, and I should have figured he would decline in a poor situation in Jacksonville. Interesting to see if he can provide some middling value with the Raiders much like LT did with the Jets late in his career.
2013 prediction No. 7: Trent Richardson. Actual finish for Richardson: 35.
Another flop, and horrible pick by me, but to be fair it is probably tough to switch teams midseason. It certainly is not something that's expected, and is rare in the NFL.
2013 prediction No. 8: LeSean McCoy. Actual finish for McCoy: second.
Was not quite high enough on McCoy, as I said that I though MJD would rebound better. Fool. I did say he could "easily return to form" which he did. Yay me.
2013 prediction No. 9: Matt Forte. Actual finish for Forte: third.
Another undersell, but with the right idea. I had said that I was "high on Forte rebounding." So mark another one down for the gipper.
2013 prediction No. 10: Marshawn Lynch. Actual finish for Lynch: fourth.
Yet another undersell. Looks like I either swung and missed or did not have enough power to hit it over the fence. Running backs are the toughest to predict.

Be sure to check out this year's quarterback predictions from the paper this week. I do have a few photos as well to share. Enjoy.

Volunteers including head of the event Katie Smith (black vest) talk during preparation for the July 29 event.

Two form review volunteers take a look a someone's paper work during the emergency drill.

Greeters deal with a situation where a woman only knows German.

The Mille Lacs County Sheriff's office lent a hand in blocking off entrances and exits, so as to keep the traffic in control.

A registration volunteer points a drill participant where to go.

A large family looks to register on the July 29 mass dispensing event.

This young lady meanders toward the chickens at Farm Fest north of Milaca last Saturday.

Sophomore Blake Kiel kicks a field goal during football camp on July 30.