Video by Hunter Gulan

Well, I don’t really follow football, and now here’s another reason to despise the world 0f big, corporate sports. Message sent and received–athletics is a place where freedom of speech will kick your football on down the field. Boo team Vikings!

Chris Kluwe’s release by Vikings sends message that gay-marriage talk is not tolerable in NFL

Friday pitcher Chad Lyons arrived at the field 45 minutes early this year, presumably to claim the field for his team in some sort of ceremonial ritual that involved his old high school soccer cleats and a cigarette.

It worked.

Friday took the Homegrown Kickball Classic this year, 7-5.

After a 20-minute search for car-floormat-bases, the game started off with two runs from Friday in the first. Saturday also got one run from Paul Connolly, scoring on a technicality. If you want to know what the technicality was, ask a kickball expert. At some point during this inning, Friday Coach Heiko also cussed out Scott Millis for attempting to play whilst holding his beer.

No one scored in the second or third innings, but there was some arguing and controversy over some stuff.

Friday remained scoreless in the fourth, but Chris LeBlanc scored a run for Saturday, tying up the game at 2-2. Fridayer Ryan Nelson, dressed in lemon-lime attire, then caught a Saturday kick to end the inning.

Friday got going again at the top of the fifth, scoring two runs. One of them was a stolen home from Heather Dean, which was really badass. Saturday was scoreless in the bottom of the inning. The coolest moment was probably when Friday pitcher Chad Lyons accidentally hit Saturdayer Jacob Swanson in the sweatshirt while trying to throw to first. As Jacob walked dejectedly off the field he said, “I shouldn’t have had my hood up.”

Friday strode a safe distance ahead in the sixth with two more runs, securing a 6-2 lead. It was a tough inning for Saturday, with Heather Dean and Ryan Nelson’s double play knocking out two Saturday Crunchy Bunchers.

Saturday began to come back in the seventh, after a scoreless inning from Friday. The guy in the yellow sweater underneath the gray sweatshirt scored for Saturday, along with DJ Delgado.

At the top of the eighth, it was anyone’s game. The score was 6-4. Tensions were high. Pitchers’ eyes were mud-caked. Jello shots were jiggling.

Lane Prekker, Saturday Pitcher

In the top of the inning, Ari Norrgard scored for Friday. Saturday was unable to get anyone home.

Friday stayed at seven during the ninth, so Saturday needed three to tie. Lane Prekker had a two-base kick, lifting spirits. Victory was in reach. Dan Branovan got a run, propelling Saturday to five points. They only needed two to tie.

It was as dramatic as one of those games in Remember the Titans, or Mighty Ducks 2.

Lane Prekker made it home but there was a controversy over whether he was safe or not. The verdict was no. Saturday was still at 7-5. The last play went really fast, and it was kind of anticlimactic, but it landed the third out and, by extension, Friday’s victory.

Ryan Van Slooten, MVP

The honor this year for MVP went to Ryan Van Slooten of the Friday team. His response, along with “It’s been a long year of hard work, improving my game,” was “Wasn’t Kyle co-MVP with me?”

Yes, he was—kind of.

Kyle Maclean got an honorable mention for diving headfirst into home plate.

Least Valuable Player this year was Chris LeBlanc, “for playing atrociously at third base”—and this from his own coach.

Worth noting: There was an argument voiced that Brandon Helberg should be LVP for falling on his face so much when he kicked.

Also worth noting: Saturday had 12 players, and we stopped counting Friday’s roster at 24-ish.

Best individual insult goes to Ryan Nelson, directed at Lane Prekker: “Not bad for the third-best washboard player at the kickball game.”

The two coaches—Heiko Edwardson for Friday and Paul Lundgren for Saturday—shook hands like champs after the game.

Heiko had this to say: “The long winter has ended. Friday’s victory has brought forth a new spring.”

Lundgren had a response, as well.

“We always seem to be outnumbered when we play at Observation Park on crappy days,” he remarked. “I think it’s because our bands are playing later and they’re afraid they’ll catch cold.”

*If you notice any errors or have additional names of players to add to this article, please let us know. Nicely. Or not nicely. Whatever. It was really cold and muddy. We did our best, okay?

The Rollerdames crushed Fargo! (Those ND gals skate with their shoulders instead of their feet!)

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The board of directors of the North Shore Striders will dedicate our next group run to those affected by the bombings at the Boston Marathon. We encourage runners and non-runners alike to come out in support for those injured on Monday.  There will be a free-will offering collected at the run that will be sent to the One Fund Boston, Inc. to help those afflicted by the attack. Everyone is encouraged to wear a race shirt or blue and yellow as a visual show of support.

The Run will meet at the Rose Garden parking lot at 6 p.m. on Monday,  April 22, and be approximately 5k.

Security Jewelers is auctioning one of its sponsor entries to Grandma’s Half Marathon on eBay. One hundred percent of proceeds go to the Salvation Army.

While filming for our last snowboarding video we gathered some great crash footage! Enjoy! Video by Higher Base Media.

This is a video of Mitch Larson snowboarding all over Duluth and at Mont du Lac. It was created by Higher Base Media.

Can you figure out where all of the spots are?

Check out the video and please let me know what you think of it! We have poured so much time and effort into this video over the past few months and we would love to hear what you have to say.

Higher Base Media is a Duluth-based group that is focused on creating unique video and photo content.

Hello fellow Duluth/Superior mamas out there. Now that it’s “spring,” it’s the time we all start to think about getting outside and running again, or to start running. We’re starting our season off with a kickoff breakfast at the Miller Hill Perkins on Saturday, March 23, at 9 a.m. The hope is to offer people a chance to get to know each other a little prior to going running together to ease some of the pressure to going to something new.

The Facebook group link is listed below and we will be getting group runs set up for everyone to get together. We’re hoping to get several options of days/times for everyone since we know there’s never a consistent “good time” to do things as a mom! The group is for anyone who is interested in running, starting to run, training for a race … anyone!

This is not a coached group, but rather a social running club so moms can spend time with other moms to commiserate about the trials, tribulations and joys of being a mom while trying to stay fit.

Duluth, MN MRTT on Facebook
Moms Run this Town website

Mont du Lac Recreation has been building mountain bike trails that are amazing. Last summer a shuttle was offered to take riders from the bottom of the trails to the top. This summer promises to be an amazing one as well, with shuttle dates to be announced. 

Yes, this weekend marked the crowning moment in Minnesota high school hockey — the opportunity to rank the best flow from the state tourney.

At left, Wyatt Irwin of Duluth East (ranking #8). At right, Jordan Fralich of Duluth Marshall (ranking #5).

Sharing the #3 ranking is the Hermantown Holy Trinity of Joe Muehlbauer, Christain Wasbotten and Jake Zelenikar.

And cheers to the honorable mentions, Brian Bunten and Alex Toscano of Duluth East and Duluth Marshall Head Coach Brendan Flaherty.

Congratulations to all.

CrossFit has finally made it to Duluth!

Starting on May 23, Spirit Mountain is set to start running its lifts for mountain bikers. As of now they have two amazing trails that are an absolute blast to ride! If you want to try mountain biking this is a perfect opportunity for you!

The hours will be:
Thursday  4pm – 8pm
Friday  1pm – 8pm
Weekends  10am – 4pm

The lift ticket rates are:
Single ride  $8
All-day pass  $20

For more information you can go to this link. Here are a couple videos of the new trails!

ArrowSki club is a recreational club for skiers and boarders from age 6 to 16. The mission is to foster self-esteem, friendship, confidence and a lifelong love of boarding and skiing through the alpine experience, exploration and fun. To find out more call ArrowSki at 218-525-8085 or e-mail arrowskiclub @ yahoo.com.

I propose the City of Duluth creates a Thom Storm Day!

This man has done so much for the youth of our city through his works at Chester Park/Chester Bowl over the years and he continues to do so.

He just sent out an email this afternoon regarding the winter storm. How is this for fore-thinking and helping parents out if the kids are out of school, and who need to go to work for a few hours tomorrow, if they can get there:

If schools are closed tomorrow due to snow, I intend to open the chairlift from 11-4:30, so parents can go to work, & kids can have something fun to do.  I already have early morning grooming of the hill, and snowplowing of the road arranged.  The final piece to the puzzle would be to get some parents to operate the concession stand.  Volunteers would be needed from 10-45am to 2pm and 1:45-4:45pm.  If you would be available to help out, please email me back by 5pm today if possible.  This would only take place if schools are closed.  If schools remain open, the lift will be open it’s regular hours of 4:30-8:30, and volunteers for the concession are already signed up for those shifts.

Thanks for your consideration.

Thom Storm
Executive Director
Chester Bowl Improvement Club
1801 E. Skyline Dr.
Duluth, MN.  55812-1154
(218) 724-9832
chesterbowlpark@gmail.com

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PDD Calendar intern Shannon Kinley takes us behind the scenes of Duluth events in this new series.

Over 800 figure skaters from across the United States and Canada met in Duluth this past weekend for the Northland Competition, one of the largest events of its kind in the Midwest. The 34th-annual gathering was organized by the Duluth Figure Skating Club.

“This year is by far the biggest we have had so far in terms of skaters,” said Kathy Jensen, co-chair of the competition. “We are very pleased with the turnout.”
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Have you checked out the newly redone cross country ski trails at Spirit Mountain? Thanks to a lot of hard volunteer work, the trails have been redesigned and brought back to life.

Lots of details at my Best North Shore blog.

Today on PDD we present the 1962 gridders from the “Wisconsin State College Superior,” now known as the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Why? Well the fine folks at UWS’ Jim Dan Hill Library have digitized copies of the Gitchee Gumee, the college’s yearbook — from its inception in 1909 through 1972, when it ceased publication.
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