In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are the thanks and no thanks as we near the end of 2024. Enjoy.
Thanks Prescott Cardinal football team for a fantastic 2024 season. Bravo to David Regnier, Kobe Russell, and Will Packard on their Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All State selections. Head
Coach Jordan Hansen led his squad to its best season in two decades as quarterback Teddy Bernick and running back Barrett Temmers piled up big offensive numbers behind a line featuring the aforementioned Regnier, and all conference brothers Will and Charlie Rohl. Additionally, a ball hawking defense led by all conference linebacker Owen Bayer made Prescott formidable on both sides of the ball.
No thanks to having to travel 270 miles to play the second round of the WIAA Division 4 playoffs. Sure, “that’s the way it is” or “it is what it is,” but come on WIAA, it’s time to figure out a way to avoid a Level 2 game featuring one team on the banks of the Mississippi River and the other within a stone’s throw of Lake Michigan.
Thanks to Bella Lenz for turning dozens of Prescott Cardinal fans into Michigan Tech women’s basketball rooters. Last weekend Lenz became the 31st in Michigan Tech history to score 1,000 career points. Lenz
will undoubtedly finish her career as among the most accomplished college athletes to graduate from Prescott High School. Lenz is on pace to finish among the top 15 scorers in Michigan Tech women’s basketball history.
No thanks to a high school basketball shot clock. Several area officials have said the use of the clock in Minnesota has received mixed reviews. Most notable is the chaotic final 10 seconds where the play reportedly resembles roller derby-like frenzy where teams launch hurried shots to beat the clock. I understand my “Hoosier Movie” profundity is at play here, but it’s just another example of the college and professional game imposing its influence on prep sports.
Thanks to youth sports organizer and volunteer extraordinaire Angela Magee and her sister Liz on the exorbitant work the duo put in to make all sorts of events possible. From football to volleyball, basketball
to baseball, the two Prescott alumni have been among the community leaders when it comes to volunteerism. All communities depend on individual volunteers and when it comes to youth sports, you would be hard pressed to find two harder working Prescott citizens.
No thanks to televised wiffle ball games on ESPN. What is happening? Apparently it’s more than moms and dads who watch this stuff. I’m trying to figure out if these “games” are real or a version of Japan’s
Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. Or perhaps a new genre akin to professional wrestling entertainment. If it is one of those two, then it’s brilliant.
Thanks to small schools. Unquestionably there is a yin-yang relationship when it comes to attending a small school. Everybody knows everybody and everybody knows everybody. However, when it comes
to extracurricular activities the students who attend smaller schools have greater opportunities to participate in a multitude of activities. Athletics, theater and drama, speech, national history day, trap shooting, skiing, volunteer groups, and other activities are less accessible to students who attend schools with a thousand or more students. It’s wonderful to have your name or picture on multiple pages of a high school yearbook.
No thanks to high school sports specialization. Reportedly there are WIAA Division 1 schools in Wisconsin who lack the athletes to field JV or C team girls basketball teams. Sadly, high school athletic
departments have been forced to cancel seasons due to lack of athletes. Unfortunately, consolidated teams are becoming more and more commonplace throughout Wisconsin for two reasons. One, declining enrollment certainly plays a role. However, so does the push from parents, friends, and coaches to specialize in athletics. Winter softball. Winter baseball.  Winter soccer. Winter golf. Winter volleyball. Summer hockey. Summer football. Summer wrestling. Summer basketball. I can only imagine what is on the horizon. Perhaps next “off season” prep season will be summer ice fishing.
Thanks to Head Coach Chad Salay and the Prescott girls golf club on finishing the 2024 as the WIAA Division I State Runners Up. The four-time defending WIAA Division 2  State Champion met moving up to Division 1 with a shoulder shrug and ran roughshod over their regional and sectional opponents this season. It’s more hardware and another banner for the Prescott girls golf team. And thank you to the Head
Coach Tim Phillips and the Prescott girls cross country team on advancing to the WIAA State Tournament for the first time in school history. Led by sophomore star Kyra Dix, Prescott harriers return a number of runners for next season.
No thanks to the changing climate. It wasn’t that long ago when it was guaranteed that snow would be on the ground by Thanksgiving. Skiing, skating, snowshoeing and snowmobiling activities would be in full
swing and anglers would be chomping at the bit waiting for the ice to thicken. Today, a Draft Kings wager on the odds of there being a “Brown Christmas” are on the verge of becoming a sure bet. Right now we are supposed to have snow on the ground. The plants, birds, and the animals are as confused as the older generation who by this time of the year were wearing winter jackets and stocking caps in their younger days. Not that long ago some locals used to travel to escape the winter. Ordinarily, that means trekking farther south than Pepin, Wis.
Thanks to the tremendous Wisconsin State Park system that affords people the opportunity to experience the wonder of great outdoors. From Willow River to Hoffman Hills, Copper Falls to Kettle Moraine, and Interstate to Pattison, if you haven’t visited some of our Wisconsin state park gems you are truly missing out. Don’t forget to ask for that state park sticker for Christmas. It’s a great stocking stuffer.
No thanks to canned, public address music at high school and college sporting events. Nothing beats a high school or college band filling stadiums or gymnasiums with the sounds of blaring trumpets, loud
sliding trombones, booming tubas, and raucous drums. An eye roll to Katy Perry, House of Pain, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and Metallica songs being played during warm ups.
Thanks to the citizens of the Prescott School District for supporting the school referendum and putting smiles on the faces of hundreds of kids.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.