Last edition I wrote about my perspective as a student fan of NRHEG sports. This column will be part two. My first memories as a fan of NRHEG began on the playground of the school in New Richland. My dad brought the family to almost every football game during my youth. I can still remember those brisk fall nights; they were some of my best nights as a kid.
Jump forward a bit to my eighth-grade year. That was the first year of basketball fever. As before, my dad brought us to every playoff and every state tournament game. I remember one comment he made that seemed to stick in my mind. On the way home from one of the playoff games in Mankato my dad said, “Look at that line of cars; it’s like a scene from Hoosiers.”
That was the first of many such caravans. Over the course of the next few years we would make countless trips and countless memories going to see our girls’ basketball team compete at the highest levels in the state. The memories were plentiful, so it’s hard to find a place to start.
Each year was an adventure. For the first three trips to state, somehow, I’m not sure how, we convinced our dad to let us all get hotel rooms in the Cities to stay for the weekend of games. It was all, of course, dependent on the girls winning. And win they did.
The first state tournament ended with a third-place finish. I remember cheering so loud I lost my voice. I would bang on the chair in front of mine to help make noise while we cheered and I can still remember how bad my hands hurt after the game. It wasn’t as bad as some fans. I remember one person telling me that their hands started to bleed from clapping so much.
The next two trips were just as exciting if not more. I remember the first state championship well. The feeling of our team winning was unlike anything else. It felt like our school accomplished something and it did.
As I got older, I felt like I appreciate those days more and more. Just recently I had the opportunity once again to follow girls’ and boys’ basketball teams as they had state tournament births. Those trips are few and far between. They are special each and every time and the memories they forge in a community last a lifetime.
Thought for the week: A couple weeks ago I upset some people with my column. I apologize for making you feel that way. It is never never my intention to make people I care about upset because of my writing in the paper. With all of that said there is a lesson to be learned. Think before speaking, or in my case, before writing.