Sports
Daniel Durant’s Super Bowl National Anthem ASL Performance
Actor Daniel Durant, the Duluth native who starred in the Academy Award-winning movie CODA, performed the national anthem in American sign language at the Super Bowl on Sunday. But the telecast showed only Durant’s introduction before focusing on singer Reba McEntire.
The video above, via the YouTube channel of the Sign Language Studies program at Southwestern Illinois College, shows Durant’s full performance.
Tim Cortes Studio West open in Duluth Heritage Sports Center
The Duluth News Tribune reports artist Tim Cortes has opened an art studio and gallery in the former warming shack at the Duluth Heritage Sports Center’s Sill Arena.
Nimrods: Prophecy of the Six Trailer
The Nimrods have won the American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race a record five times. But just when it looked like their skiing days were over, fate had other ideas.
Yes, another Nimrod giant ski movie is premiering at the Park Center in Hayward on Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and showing again during Birkie Week. All proceeds benefit the Share Winter Foundation to support youth winter sports programs.
Former Duluthian writes about hockey-playing cousin
Former Duluthian Crystal Gibbins writes about northeast Minnesota hockey legend Henry Boucha on the Coffee House Press website.
NFC Championship Game of 1973: Vikings vs. Cowboys
It was 50 years ago today — Dec. 30, 1973 — when the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium to win the National Football Conference Championship, sending the team to its second of four Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s.
The 27-10 upset of the Cowboys preceded a 24–7 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VIII at Rice Stadium in Houston.
Part Way to the Majors: The 1970 Duluth Dukes
The 1971 educational film Part Way to the Majors, a documentary produced by ABC News for the Sunday afternoon series Discovery, follows the Duluth-Superior Dukes as they road trip to Sioux Falls, S.D. The film starts and ends at Wade Stadium in Duluth. (more…)
Grandma’s Marathon 2022 Double: I Wanna Be Sedated
One year ago Eric Strand completed his ninth Grandma’s Marathon Double — starting at the finish line, running to the starting line, then running the official marathon. The 2022 video was finally released just before the 2023 marathon. Strand uses the 52.4-mile Grandma’s Marathon Double as a training run for the Leadville 100 Trail Run.
Strand has been running the Grandma’s Marathon since 2000 and has done the “double” since 2012, except for the pandemic year of 2020.
UMD Bulldog Hockey: Amsoil Arena Fly-through
Take a tour of Amsoil Arena, home of UMD Bulldogs hockey, via drone footage by Ethan Schultz of ShotxSchultz.
Rawkers crush Rollers in Homegrown Kickball Classic 2023
Rohrbaugh’s Rawkers piled on five runs in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth to easily top Vaagen’s Rollers 13-4 in the 2023 Homegrown Kickball Classic at Chester Bowl. The Rawkers now lead the overall series with 12 wins in 23 games. (more…)
Ode to Spirit Mountain
Standing at the top I see the river in the distance far below
In between this mountainside is covered in a heavy coat of snow
My poles are in my hands and my favorite purple skis are on my feet
My mouth begins to water like it’s waiting for the taste of something sweet
Slipping from the edge I feel a smile slowly slide across my face
‘Cause skiing down this mountain is the closest that I’ll ever come to grace
I wrote this little ditty years ago after a day of skiing at Spirit Mountain. (more…)
Video Archive: UMD Women’s Hockey Championship Threepeat
Twenty years ago today — March 23, 2003 — the University of Minnesota Duluth won it’s third consecutive NCAA Women’s Hockey Frozen Four championship defeating Harvard 4-3 in double overtime at the DECC Arena. The news footage embedded above is from KBJR-TV.
Bonnie Shea: Duluth’s first female hockey player
The University of Minnesota Duluth’s public relations and marketing department presents the story of Bonnie Shea, Duluth’s first female hockey player. Read more about Bonnie at news.d.umn.edu.
All Hockey Hair Team 2023: May the Flow Be with You
A long time ago, in a rink far, far away, the best salads and skullets, mullets and manes descended on the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament in St. Paul. Hockey-hair video maker John King is back with his annual compilation of the best flow in the state. (more…)
The Nimrods win American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race 2023
This highlight video shows the drama from the qualifying run and finals of the American Birkebeiner Giant Ski Race, held last weekend on Main Street in Hayward. The Nimrod Giant Ski Team recaptured the championship this year. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Football
Are you ready for some football? Call up your best plays and tackle this week’s PDD quiz about football in the Twin Ports.
The PDD current events quiz comes your way on Nov. 27. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Nov. 23. (more…)
Duluth Kelleys defeat the Green Bay Packers in 1922
Although the Green Bay Packers generally get the last laugh, let it stand for the record that the Minnesota Vikings won the season opener in 2022 and the Duluth Kelleys topped the Pack one hundred years ago today. (more…)
Former Huskies outfielder makes major league debut
Former Duluth Huskies outfielder Cal Stevenson made his Major League Baseball debut for the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 10. He is the 301st former Northwoods League player to reach the majors.
Stevenson played for the Huskies in 2015. He was drafted in the 10th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays. (more…)
Mystery Photo: 1962 State and Sectional Champs
This photo was acquired at the Ellefson Estate Sale in the Upper Cody part of West Duluth in 2019. It shows a youth baseball team with players wearing different jerseys, suggesting perhaps it’s an all-star squad or the team had multiple sponsors. The sponsor names on the shirts are: Kelley Duluth, City Bottling, YOT (Young Old Timers), Gately’s, West Arrow Chevrolet, Moose 1478 … and one looks like it might be M&J Super Value (the bottom word is blocked by the players forearms). Two jerseys are plain white; those players have an M on their caps while the other players have caps with no lettering.
The writing on the back of the photo gives the biggest clue: “1962 State & Sectional Champs.” But the names of the players and coaches are lost to history unless a nerd or two step up and solve the mysteries. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Step up to the plate for this baseball-themed PDD quiz! For more on Duluth baseball history, check out the Zenith City website and the Minnesota Digital Library.
The next PDD quiz will review the headlines from June 2022; it will be published on June 26. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by June 22. (more…)
Grandma’s Marathon 2021 Double: Ninth or Tenth Annual?
Eric Strand’s tradition of running a Grandma’s Marathon Double — starting at the finish line, running to the starting line, then running the official marathon — continued in 2021. The annual video package didn’t make it to YouTube until today — 11 days before the next Grandma’s Marathon — but hey, editing video is its own marathon, right?
Joining Strand on the 52.4-mile trek, which began at 2:30 a.m., are Andy, Andrew, John, Lance and another guy named Eric. All were impressed with the awe-inspiring sunrise over the porta potties at the half-marathon starting line.
Duluth Homegrown Kickball Classic 2022: A Short Film
Photographer Kip Praslowicz gets all artsy with this video showcasing Homegrown Music Festival kickball athleticism.
Rollers win Homegrown kickball, knotting series at 11
The chant is heard sporadically throughout the annual Homegrown Music Festival Kickball Classic. “MVP. MVP. MVP.” (more…)
Minnesota Historia: Duluth’s Doomed Olympics Bid
WDSE-TV presents the story of an Olympics that never happened in a city that never stopped dreaming.
Minnesota Historia is a six-part web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
Duluth curler among stray Olympians in Beijing streets
John Landsteiner of Duluth, at right in the image, was among “hundreds of stray Olympians” who “had been left behind after the 2022 Winter Games,” according to the satirical news website the Onion. With Landsteiner in the photo is his curling teammate Matt Hamilton of McFarland, Wis.