The Knights get a little love

Nice article on the Star Tribune website today about the alma mater of Benster and Fearless Maria and the surprising success of the football team:

Through it all, Irondale football coach Ben Fuller never doubted. Not through a winless first season, nor through a mere five victories in his first three. Not even when his quarterback, who showed all the trappings of being a potential star, spent the first two years of his career on the bench because of injuries.

Now things are changing:

Expectations were high, but there needed to be a catalyst, something to crank up the ignition. That happened in the first game of the season when Irondale rolled over nearby rival Spring Lake Park — a 2016 Prep Bowl finalist — 35-0. Mention that game to players and smiles creep over their faces.

“That was a huge confidence boost for us to beat them,” said [quarterback Brendan] White, a senior. “I don’t think we’ve beaten them in, like, five years.”

We see the kids practicing, often at the same time that Fearless Maria's Irondale Marching Knights are practicing. Historically, Irondale has been an also-ran, at best, in football. It would be fun to see this trend continue.

Back from Oklahoma

After being away from the blog (and the news) for three days, it does not appear much has changed in the political season. From what I can tell, Trump gets trashed every day, the WikiLeaks stories are pretty much confined to the right wing press, and yet the polls show Hillary Clinton cannot get to 50%.

If ever there was an election in which None of the Above should be on the ballot, it's this one. Even the third-party candidates stink. But you know what? I got to watch some tremendous high school marching bands in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma this week. If you want to know what's going well in our country, go see one of these shows. You will see coordination, spectacle, discipline, beauty, dedication, and spirited yet friendly competition. And our Irondale Marching Knights were there:

Standing at attention, ready to entertain

You don't see anger and contempt at a marching band show. You see mutual respect. You see what's still right with America, and what it can be.