Sports Posts

MN Hockey: Land of 10,000 Rinks

WDSE-TV‘s recent documentary about hockey culture in northern Minnesota — from the mini-mites learning to skate for the first time, to accomplished high school and college players striving to take their game to the highest level — is now available to view online … right here.

Radiophiles and Sportphiles

Fill me in; educate me. Local FM sports station, 92.1 WWAX, a KFAN affiliate known as “The Fan,” recently sold. Before and after the sale the station’s Duluth airspace remains stale with on-air talent imaging bites that are very old. After sale, IDs are played saying the station is owned by Red Rock Radio Corporation … but it was sold. Finally, too many dead, off-air minutes or hours. What gives? I wrote to both owners when they were in charge, no responses. I like radio, I’m a dinosaur in that respect. Even dinosaurs don’t like listening to “old-time radio” imaging bites over and over and over again.

Damage Boardshop Showdown Video

Duluth’s Damage Boardshop is one of 16 shops in the United States competing in the TransWorld Skateboarding Shop Showdown video contest on skateboarding.com. Over the past three weeks, TWS has posted videos by four shops each week. Damage’s video is part of round four.

The videos are bracketed against each other until the final four videos are determined through a blend of audience voting and analysis by TWS staff and pros from the sponsoring Mountain Dew skate team. To vote go to …
skateboarding.transworld.net/shop-showdown.

Video Archive: Billy Jack Haynes and Adrian Adonis cut wrestling promos for 1987 Duluth appearances

The World Wrestling Federation brought its first card to Duluth on May 14, 1987. The main event featured Billy Jack Haynes losing a chain match to Hercules Hernandez. The syndicated TV program Superstars of Wrestling featured two promos for the Duluth Arena card tucked into the commercial breaks of local broadcasts. One featured Haynes (above) and another starred Adrian Adonis (below).

Duluth native Ham moves to fullback position with Vikings

Minnesota Vikings running back C.J. Ham has been lining up at fullback during the team’s 2017 rookie mini-camp. The Duluth native broke into the NFL last season as a tailback.

Ham was on the Vikings practice squad in 2016 and was briefly on the active roster but did not play in a regular season game, making him eligible to participate in this season’s rookie camp. Vikings Team Reporter Eric Smith wrote on Vikings.com today that during team drills Ham “lined up as a fullback in front of Vikings rookie Dalvin Cook.”

Homegrown Kickball Classic: Friday shuts out Saturday

Team Friday celebrates after winning the 2017 Homegrown Kickball Classic.

DULUTH, Minn. – The Friday bands shut out Saturday to win 2017’s high-stakes Homegrown Kickball Classic 8-0, tying up the overall series at 9-9.

Duluth’s Mark Sertich: World’s Oldest Hockey Player

Duluth’s Mark Sertich has no intention of slowing down at age 95. He still plays hockey several times a week in a league consisting mostly of firefighters. This video is part of the Really Great Big Stories series — a yearlong celebration of storytelling and documentary film.

Lake Superior Surfing at Stoney Point

Yes, this is the third time in two weeks that Perfect Duluth Day has featured a Lake Superior surfing video. It just happens to be what people are making good videos about these days. This one is the second surf video by Jasper Meddock Productions, shot on April 20 at Stoney Point, about seven miles north of Duluth in Duluth Township. The music is “Quick Musical Doodles” by Two Feet.

Bulldogs Uncollared: Frozen Four

A look back at the UMD men’s hockey team’s NCAA Frozen Four battles against Harvard University and the University of Denver.

Selective Focus: UMD falls in 2017 Frozen Four final

A post shared by @umnduluth on

Bjorklund half-marathon entry auction to benefit Damiano

Grandmas Garry Bjorklund Half MarthonOnce again Security Jewelers is auctioning one of its sponsor entries to the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon on eBay. This year the proceeds will go to the Damiano Center, a Duluth nonprofit that provides emergency services to low-income and homeless people. The auction ends April 13 at noon.

Lottery registration for the 2017 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon closed Oct. 31. The race is at capacity with 7,000 participants. The entry cost via the lottery was $95. Typically the auction price lands around $225, but the previous time the Damiano Center was the charity of choice the entry raised $1,000.

Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team 2017: Flowetry in Motion

Austin HessJohn King is back with another roundup of the finest hair styles at the Minnesota High School Boys Hockey Tournament. Though Hermantown and Grand Rapids brought championship trophies north to the Arrowhead region, both teams landed zero players in the All Hockey Hair Team Top Ten this year. Several players and a team manager get shout outs, however.

The Boomchucks – “Birkie Fever”

A silly little ditty by Duluth band the Boomchucks, all about the North American Birkebeiner.

PDD Quiz: Robots in Duluth

makerspace-duluthTest your knowledge of local robotics teams (and other area robots) with this quiz, inspired by the upcoming FIRST Robotics regional competitions taking place Mar. 3-4 at the DECC.

Our next PDD Quiz, reviewing this month’s local happenings, will be published on Feb. 26. E-mail question ideas to Alison Klawiter at [email protected] by Feb. 22.

Bowling

Ever since I tried curling a few months ago, I’ve hungered for bowling. It’s been ten years since I bowled, almost exactly, on the weekend my friends married (at the Incline Station). I’ve been to parties and for volleyball at Skyline Lanes. But I haven’t bowled in a while.