PAGE 22 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NEWS SECTION - A - SEPTEMBER 26, 2012
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Close call There was little doubt that the second time around, Grantsburg volleyball coach Deb Allaman-Johnson would rally her troops and avenge her squad’s stunning loss to an up start Luck Cardinals in the opening round of conference THE SPORTS volleyball action. Is it possible that Pete Johnson (baseball) and Deb Allaman-Johnson (volleyball) will go down in history as Leader Land’s most successful husband/wife varsity coaching tandem of all time?
John Ryan
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Parallels and contrasts for local NFL fans Leader Land fans of the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers shared much in common during week three of NFL action. For Viking fans, it was a homecoming of sorts for the great Randy Moss who scored the majority of his 154 career touchdowns (second all time to Jerry Rice) while wearing Minnesota purple and gold while leading the Vikes to a handful of division crowns and two NFC championship games. Sunday, of
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course, Moss was wearing the colors of the San Francisco 49ers. While zealous Viking fans were certainly hoping the Vikes would prevail in Sunday’s contest, they still have a fondness and special place in their hearts for Moss and were hoping Randy might rack up big numbers, albeit in a 49ers losing cause. But, alas, the future hall-of-famer had a lackluster performance, and the Vikings won by a comfortable 24-13 margin. The next night, out in Seattle on the big stage that is known as Monday Night Football, many Packer fans were similarly conflicted as they watched Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson lead his team to an exciting last-second 14-12 win with a 29-yard TD pass as time expired. Wilson, of course, earned a place in Cheesehead hearts when he led the University of Wisconsin gridders to a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl appearance last year. So needless to say, many Pack fans were hoping Wilson would do well in a losing cause. But in the end, Packers fans ignored Wilson’s stellar performance and instead were hanging their heads Tuesday morning after their squad’s gut-wrenching, last-second loss. Twelve hours after Wilson’s heroics, Vikings and Packers fans found themselves on rare common ground after seeing their favorite teams victimized by replacement officials during week three of NFL action. At the Metrodome on Sunday, it
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seemed that the replacement zebras were on a mission to find a way to award the victory to the visiting 49ers as they made a series of inexplicable calls and decisions late in the game. Yet somehow, the Vikings were able to prevail despite the arguably scandalous performance by the men in stripes. Monday night, the Packers weren’t so lucky. Television replays seemed to indicate that the officials botched the call on the aforementioned last-second Seahawks’ victory, which many Cheeseheads claim should have instead been ruled an interception. Today, we are seeing victimized Viking and Packers fans joining hands in brotherhood, with both sides agreeing that the replacement officials must go. The difference is that Vikings fans saw their team play four quarters of solid football on Sunday, while Green Bay played only two the following evening. Had the Packers played four good quarters on Monday night, not even the inept replacement officials could’ve stolen the game from them. Ex rivals join hands on successful bear hunt Back in the early 1990s, Lewis native Brock Brunberg was en route to stardom as a 1,000-point scorer for the Frederic High School basketball team while also establishing a stellar baseball career at FHS. About the same time, Brenin Stevens was emerging from the oak sa-
vannahs of the sparsely settled Pleasant Prairie region southwest of Grantsburg on his way to a successful stint as a varsity golfer and hard-nosed football player for the GHS Pirates. Back in those days, Frederic and Grantsburg were bitter sports rivals in the now-defunct Upper St. Croix Valley Conference, although the paths of Brock and Brenin did not knowingly cross during their prep careers. Nearly two weeks ago, and 20 years after their high school sports careers ended, Stevens and Brunberg coincidentally shed the yoke of old interscholastic animosity and joined forces among an eclectic group of experienced houndsmen and novices in pursuit of the cunning and elusive black bear. When the exciting Friday morning chase culminated deep in the dark and dank reaches of the nearly impenetrable Kohler-Peet swamp, veteran hunter and fisherman Stevens had scored on the first bear of his otherwise-long and successful hunting career. In the end, former rivals Brunberg and Stevens were part of the tireless hunting team, which took three hours to drag the 318-pound beast (field dressed) from the swampy quagmire of the dismal swamp. Stevens later referred to his successful bear hunt as one of the most intense interludes he has experienced in his life. John Ryan may be reached at jmr202@yahoo.com.
All-tournament team honors LEFT: Several area volleyball players were named to the all-tournament team during an invite held at Osceola High School on Saturday, Sept. 15. Luck took first place and Clayton was second. Pictured front row (L to R): Abby Bird, Boyceville; Alexis Boissy, Osceola; Sam Fall, Clayton; and Marissa Lee, Clayton. Back row: McKinzie Burke, Osceola; Kysa Franseen, Boyceville; Bella Nelson, Luck; Sydney Geisness, St. Croix Falls; Shauna Jorgenson, Unity; and Sarah Bader, Unity. – Photo submitted
LEADER SPORTS SCOREBOARD VOLLEYBALL Team Grantsburg Pirates Luck Cardinals Unity Eagles St. Croix Falls Saints Webster Tigers Siren Dragons Frederic Vikings
READ LEADER SPORTS! READ LEADER SPORTS! The man they call “the poet laureate of prognostication” finally traded his stagnant 5-2 performances for a more-robust 6-1 mark last week. The B-plus performance raised his seasonal mark to 26-9, or 74 percent. His only miss was the Frederic-Unity game. This week’s games:
The Swami THE SWAMI
PREDICTS
Unity 20, Webster 19 – Both have problems scoring, that is very much true. It’s a one-point win for the boys wearing “U.”
St. Croix Falls 14, Shell Lake 12 – How far the mighty have fallen this year. In this game, the winner is by no means clear. Clayton 40, Clear Lake 14 – The Bears prevail in an easy decision. And they don’t even have a player named Leschisin. Cameron 42, Flambeau 14 – An easy win for Cameron. Luck 55, Siren 12 – “Luck will win,” he said with a grin. New Richmond 24, Amery 7 – No reason the Tigers shouldn’t win by more. But the Warriors will hold them to 24. Frederic 25, Grantsburg 17 – SCF, Unity and Webster have gone down. And so will the Pirates when they visit Frederic town. The Swami answers all e-mails and can be reached at predictionking@yahoo.com.
Standings
CROSS COUNTRY
Conf. 7-1 6-1 5-3 4-3 3-4 2-6 0-8
Overall 7-1 15-4 8-7 8-11 4-4 2-6 0-8
Scores Thursday, September 20 Grantsburg 3, Luck 0 Siren 3, Frederic 0 Unity 3, St. Croix Falls 0 Saturday, September 22 Luck 2, Drummond 0 Luck 2, Washburn 0 Luck 2, Superior 1 Monday, September 24 St. Croix Falls 2, North Crawford 0 Tuesday, September 25 St. Croix Falls 2, Onalaska 0 Unity 3, Frederic 0 Grantsburg 3, Siren 0 Webster 3, St. Croix Falls 2 Upcoming Thursday, September 27 7:30 p.m. Siren at Luck Frederic at St. Croix Falls Webster at Unity Saturday, September 29 9 a.m. Amery Tournament (Siren, Webster, St. Croix Falls, Frederic) Grantsburg at New Richmond Tournament Tuesday, October 2 7:30 p.m. Frederic at Luck Grantsburg at St. Croix Falls Siren at Webster Thursday, October 4 7:30 p.m. Webster at Frederic Unity at Grantsburg St. Croix Falls at Luck
TENNIS
Team Unity/Luck
Standings
Overall 4-9
Scores Thursday, September 20 Baldwin-Woodville 7, Unity/Luck 0 Upcoming Monday, October 1 9:30 a.m. Unity/Luck at Osceola Subsectional Wednesday, October 3 10 a.m. Unity/Luck at Aquinas Sectional
Upcoming Thursday, September 27 St. Croix Falls Invitational 4 p.m. (Frederic, Grantsburg, Unity/Luck, Webster) Tuesday, October 2 4 p.m. Amery Meet (Frederic, Grantsburg, Webster, St. Croix Falls Unity/Luck)
GIRLS GOLF
Upcoming Thursday, September 27 9 a.m. Regional meet at Osceola (Luck/Unity, St. Croix Falls) Tuesday, October 2 9 a.m. Sectional meet at Hayward
FOOTBALL
Lakeland - North Standings Team Conf. Cameron Comets 4-0 Grantsburg Pirates 3-1 Frederic Vikings 3-1 Flambeau Falcons 3-1 Unity Eagles 2-2 Webster Tigers 1-3 Shell Lake Lakers 0-4 St. Croix Falls Saints 0-4 Lakeland - 8-Man Standings Team Conf. Prairie Farm Panthers 4-0 Luck Cardinals 4-0 Bruce Red Raiders 2-2 Northwood/Solon Springs 2-2 New Auburn Trojans 2-2 Siren Dragons 1-2 Winter Warriors 0-4 Birchwood Bobcats 0-3 Scores Friday, September 21 Luck 69, Winter 8 Cameron 64, St. Croix Falls 0 Grantsburg 27, Webster 7 Northwood 67, Siren 30 Bruce 74, Birchwood 30 Prairie Farm 56, New Auburn 28 Flambeau 53, Shell Lake 21 Saturday, September 22 Frederic 21, Unity 3 Upcoming Friday, September 28 7 p.m. Grantsburg at Frederic Siren at Luck Shell Lake at St. Croix Falls Unity at Webster Winter at New Auburn
Overall 5-0 3-2 4-1 3-2 2-3 1-4 0-5 0-5 Overall 4-0 5-0 2-2 2-2 3-2 1-2 0-4 0-3