WARNING: This prattle provides information that most people will find boring...consider yourself warned....if you do decide to read it I'm sure you will be saying to yourself....so what?.....who cares?....etc
I wrote this prattle so that I will have something to read for entertainment when I'm in a nursing home...
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Everybody has some unique things that they have done or experienced in their lives......I call these "Fun Facts" about a person....these are things that most people probably don't know.....seeing I'm a such a sports rube the majority of my "fun facts" all involve some sort of sporting event or sports figure.....
My very modest list of my "Top 20 Fun Facts" are provided below..........
My very modest list of my "Top 20 Fun Facts" are provided below..........
FUN FACT # 1
1962 - I watched Jack Kralick pitch a no hitter for the Minnesota Twins at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN...he had a perfect game going against the Kansas City Athletics until there was one out in the ninth inning...walked George Alusik on a 3-2 pitch......although I was only 8 years old at the time I did understand that this was a big deal...I became a devoted Twins fan that day.....
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FUN FACT # 2
Reggie Jackson
Metropolitan Stadium Scoreboard
1968 - I was at Metropolitan Stadium when Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics hit the only home run ever to hit the right field scoreboard at Met Stadium...estimated at 450 ft....the ball was still rising when it hit the Marlboro sign on top of the scoreboard........ 65 ft off the ground ....the feeling was that the ball would have gone around 600 feet if it hadn't hit the scoreboard sign (at the time it was considered a big deal)....became a Reggie Jackson fan that day.....(I'm so easily impressed).....don't think he ever used "the juice"....
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FUN FACT # 3
1972 - I was a member of the only two teams in Zumbrota High School history to have undefeated regular seasons in the same year. My senior year our football team went 9-0 (no playoffs in those days) and our basketball team went 20-0. (upset in district finals by Waseca - finished 22-1).....my senior class of 1972 was loaded with good athletes....only one junior played on the football team....the basketball team was 10 deep with seniors....we also played for two coaches who were later inducted into the Minnesota State High School Coaches Hall of Fame.....Ken Belanger was our hall of fame football coach.....Dick Wiebusch was our hall of fame basketball coach.....I loved playing for these two coaches and they both had a very positive influence on me....my teammates from those days are still my best friends.....
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FUN FACT # 4
Jerry Seeman.....NFL Official.....1975 - 1991
1972 - Jerry Seeman was one of the referees in the District 30 championship basketball game that pitted my Zumbrota high school team against the hated team from Waseca. The game was played at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN in front of a standing room only crowd. Unfortunately Waseca managed to pull off a 60-58 upset win over my undefeated team......a last second shot to tie the score was off the mark....this unexpected loss ruined our perfect season and our dreams of going to the state tournament.....let's just say that my teammates, coaches and fans were not enamored with the calls Seeman made during our game..... he called things very tight....caused us to play tentatively.....the very vindictive look Seeman gave players when calling a foul on them was chilling....urban legend has it that Seeman and his partner needed police protection as they left the gym that night in 1972.....supposedly they needed protection from several angry Zumbrota fans who were anxious to let Seeman and his partner know how they felt about their officiating.....
Jerry Seeman's officiating career sky rocketed and he become an official in the NFL from 1975 to 1991. He was the head referee in the 1989 and 1991 Super Bowls. Upon retiring from actively officiating in 1991 he served as the NFL's Senior Director of officiating.until 2001......every time I saw Seeman on TV as an official during an NFL game it brought back the terrible memories of what people in Zumbrota still call "that night."
This District 30 championship basketball game at St. Olaf was also the "coming out party" of a freshman player for Waseca named Gene Glynn.....he came off the bench and scored 14 points and just killed us....he had done nothing like this all year.....Glynn later was named Mr. Basketball in Minnesota his senior year (1975)....it was comforting to know that he wasn't just a "one game wonder" against us.....he was also a very good baseball player and played for 7 years in the minor leagues for the Montreal Expos organization....3 years at the AAA level..... ....once he retired from playing he managed and coached in the minor leagues....eventually worked his way of the ladder and became the third base coach for the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs....the attached pictures show him congratulating two of the all time home run kings (who used the "juice").... Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa....
I find it amazing that two people who were involved in this district championship basketball game made a name for themselves in the professional sports world....
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Gene Glynn....Third Base Coach....Giants....Cubs
FUN FACT # 5
Jake Christenson Stadium - Concordia College
Matching Bedspreads
1972 -Pat Bradley has been a friend of mine since the day we entered first grade together at elementary school in Zumbrota, MN. Our senior year in high school we were both were recruited to play football at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN.....the recruitment process went well and we both decided to attend Concordia and play football......seeing we were such good friends we requested and were given permission to be roommates at Concordia......we of course had to report in mid August for pre-season football practice...... as we moved into our dorm room Pat unpacked two matching bedspreads that his Mom had sent along for us to use in our room........two naive (stupid) kids from Zumbrota thought using these bedspreads would be a great idea....our room will look great with these we thought.....a junior on the football team from across the hall came into our room that first night to introduce himself........his reaction upon seeing our matching bedspreads made us realize that this was not a good idea .....word spread quickly about the two goof balls from Zumbrota with the bedspreads...we were of course mocked and ridiculed by all of the upper classman on the team ....needless to say we never entirely lived it down....we heard about it all year...our entire freshman year we were called the "Zumbrota Twins"......part of the "jock" culture is that freshman get abuse from upper classman......we certainly provided them plenty of ammunition with our bedspreads.....the amazing thing is that we kept using the matching bedspreads all year...it had become our identity so we had to go with it.....at least everybody knew who we were....(we ditched the matching bedspreads our sophomore year)
There is however a interesting ending to the story........ somehow we managed to recover from our major gaff over the next few years and in our senior year Pat was elected co-captain of the football team I was elected co-captain of the basketball team* ....not bad for two small town boys from Zumbrota who met in first grade, grew up together, became best friends and were roommates for 4 years at Concordia......
(*I played both football and basketball my freshman year...played only basketball my remaining three years)
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FUN FACT # 6
1977 - I was the head coach of the Twin Valley High School boys basketball team that went to the Minnesota State High School Basketball Tournament. It was the first time in school history that any team from Twin Valley had gone to a state tournament.....it was also my first year as a teacher and coach so I was riding high right out of the gate.......Twin Valley residents went wild....lots of excitement in school..... the town was "on it's ear".....unfortunately I came down with strep throat after the region final game and I was so sick I almost missed going to the tournament in St. Paul......I was in bed for three days prior to the tournament game played on Thursday afternoon at the St. Paul Civic center.....the magic of penicillin saved me....double dose in my "behind"......lost the first game to a tough Glencoe team....lost an overtime heart breaker to Redwood Falls in the consolation round.......even though we lost both games it was still a great experience...outstanding kids on the team...still in contact with them to this day....
Bruce Brothers, reporter for the Star Tribune, stated in his article about the state tournament that year......"although no records have been kept, Paul Peterson, the 22 year old head coach of Twin Valley, would have to be the youngest head coach to ever coach in the Minnesota state high school basketball tournament."..... I'm still going with this statement as fact....it would be tough to be any younger than 22 in March of your first year of teaching.....feel free to use me as an answer to a trivia question....
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FUN FACT # 7
Metropolitan Stadium
1981 - I witnessed the last baseball game ever to be played at Metropolitan (Met) Stadium....On a cold, gray, rainy day in September Roy Smalley popped out to shortstop for the final out ever at Met Stadium......I stayed in the ball park until I saw that all of the other fans were gone.....an usher finally kicked me out....my claim is that I was the last baseball fan to leave Met Stadium.
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FUN FACT # 8
I saw Ben Ogilve of the Milwaukee Brewers hit the longest home run ever in the Metrodome...landed high in the upper deck in right field......481 ft from home plate.......off Brad Radke. (not that big of deal but it is an historical event just the same)
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FUN FACT # 9
1984 - My home town of Zumbrota was hosting a big slow pitch softball tournament at the local fields and the organizers were actively recruiting teams in the area to play in this 32 team tournament.....slow pitch softball was extremely popular during this time period.....tournaments every weekend....lots of people were playing....interest was at an all time high....
As the tournament organizers were going about their search for teams an idea was hatched by a few of the local softball players in town....over a few beers at the local bar called the Blue Goose this question was asked...."why don't we put together team of former Zumbrota high school players for this tournament?''....then the brainsorming started in regards to who they should get to play on their team.....once the suggestions started they suddenly realized that they could form a pretty good team with 5 sets of brothers who were originally from Zumbrota....this idea became a reality when all of the 5 sets of brothers agreed to come to Zumbrota for the weekend and play in the tournament....this newly formed team entered the tournament with the simple team name of "The Brothers".
"The Brothers" team was made up of the following 5 sets for brothers:
1. Matt and Jack Anderson
2. Tom and Mike Banitt
3. Scott and Todd Kalass
4. Tim and Gary O'Connor
5. Mike and Paul Peterson
These 5 sets of brothers were all good athletes at Zumbrota High School during the 60's 70's and 80's. Gary O'Connor was the youngest player at age 22 and my brother Mike Peterson the oldest at age 35. I was 30 years old at the time and 7 of the other brothers were younger than me. Everybody on our team was also actively playing softball at the time so we felt like we had chance to win some games in this tournament.
The tournament was loaded with some very good teams so we knew it was going to be tough to win.....my "Brothers" team got off to a good start and won our first game on Saturday morning....word soon got out around town about this "Brothers" team.....we became the talk of the tournament.....sort of a human interest story......a novelty act......the questions came fast and furious...."Are they really 5 sets of brothers?'...."Are they really all from Zumbrota?"....."all of them?"....."really?"....."can you tell which guys are brothers?"..."they are all really good players".....the buzz about my team was growing....fan interest was building....the crowds were getting bigger as the day wore on....
By the time we played our last game on Saturday afternoon a huge crowd was on hand...some of the old timers from Zumbrota said they had never seen that many fans at a softball tournament in Zumbrota...... I don't remember the exact details on how all the games went in the tournament other than that by Sunday afternoon we were in the championship round of the double elimination tournament...we played very well....our fan base was growing....the groupies were in full force....
One of the highlights of the whole weekend was the game on Sunday morning that was attended by even a bigger crowd than on Saturday......we needed to win that game to stay alive in the double elimination tournament......in the bottom of the 7th inning (last inning) we were down 2 runs with 2 men on base and 2 outs...young Gary O'Connor stepped up to the plate and hit a dramatic 3 run homer to win the game.....the huge hometown crowd just erupted.....people still say the roar of the crowd was so loud that it was heard all over town....(it was loud but I don't know if was that loud).....I'm going on record that the story about the crowd is true....who can ever dispute it?....that's the great thing about old stories, you can embelish them forever....
That big win put us into the championship round....we still had to beat the undefeated hot shot team from Rochester twice in order to win the tournament.....these guys were a bunch of cocky jerks who gave us no respect......we wanted to beat them so bad.......in the first game we battled and played them tough but in the end we lost by only a couple of runs....we were in it all the way but we came up short and our dreams of a championship died....even with the disappointing loss on Sunday it was still a great weekend....lots of fun was had playing with all of the "Brothers".....and I had story for my Top 20 Fun Fact List....
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FUN FACT # 10
Boston Garden.....Boston Celtics....1988
-1988 - I attended a game at the Boston Garden between the Boston Celtics and Washington Bullets.....two college buddies had connections with Kevin McHale and they arranged for Kevin to leave us tickets at the will call window for the game.....the tickets we received were right down on the floor behind the Celtics bench so you can imagine how giddy I was that night......as a long time Celtics fan it was quite a thrill to see a game at venerable Boston Garden.... an arena that is truly full of basketball lore...seeing Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish (the Big Three) made it a very special night....after the game we hung around and I asked the usher if I could go out on the famous parkay floor....after doing some considerable begging the usher finally let me go out on the floor....stood at the free throw lines at each basket...sat on both benches....like a kid in candy store...I am such a rube!!.....great memory!
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FUN FACT # 11
Gene Larkin...World Series...Game 7...1991
Car Accident
1991 - I attended Game 7 of the 1991 World Series at the Dome...Jack Morris shuts out Atlanta for 10 inning.....Gene Larkin drives in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.....Twins are World Champions again......classic game....wild crowd....big win.......this big night is however memorable to me for a much different reason....on the way home I was in car accident around 1:30 in the morning.... a car blasted me from behind in slow moving traffic....went by ambulance to the hospital....strapped to stretcher and wearing a big neck brace.....spent the night in the emergency room....neck is still stiff to this day....my car was destroyed....great night in Twins history....terrible night in my history....
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FUN FACT # 12
1996 - At the Tom Lehman Charity Golf event at the Minneapolis Golf Club, I had the opportunity to caddy for PGA golfer, Mark Calcavecchia. (my company was a major sponsor)......In the locker room I got a chance to meet and talk to the following PGA touring pros..... Phil Mickelson, Peter Jacobson, Payne Stewart, Vijay Singh, Loren Roberts, Lee Janzen, Tim Herron, Craig Stadler, Tom Kite, Duffy Waldorf and Tom Lehman.......I still have the $100 bill that Calcavecchia ripped out of his money clip and gave me after the round....my threesome was Calcavecchia, Tom Kite and Duffy Waldorf...not a great draw for me considering the other players who were there.....Calcavecchia's said to me...."on every Par 4 just give me the driver, these people didn't come here to watch me hit a one iron."......loved being "inside the ropes"....even wore the full white suit that caddy's wear at the Masters.....quite a day....
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FUN FACT # 13
Gary Anderson...NFC Championship....1999
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FUN FACT # 14
2000 - I met Dick Vitale in a restroom at a bar in Sarasota, Florida.....was standing next to him as we "did our business" at side by side urinals....he was just like he is on TV doing college basketball games for ESPN....excited...loud....passionate...asked him to give me one of his signature lines "you better get a TO baby."...he gladly did it...with vigor.....and yes he did wash his hands.....
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FUN FACT # 15
2004 - I played a round of golf at the Rochester Country Club with a friend who is a member there.....around 6:30 pm after sitting in the clubhouse bar for a few hours I noticed 4 guys on the first tee......after I saw the first guy swing, I knew who it was....it was none other than the golf legend himself, Arnold Palmer....I would know that swing anywhere......my buddies didn't believe me so we rushed out to the first tee and sure enough it was Arnold Palmer....much to our surprise there was another golf legend in this foursome....it was none other than Tom Watson......we had hit the motherload of golf......they both had been at the Mayo clinic that day and they were playing golf with their doctors.....the course was now deserted so they said we could walk along with them...watched them play 6 holes....both were very friendly and they bantered with us...Arnold even let me swing one of his clubs....it was a unexpected thrill to see these two legends of the game up close in such an informal setting.......it didn't help me become a better golfer, however.....
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FUN FACT # 16
2004 - I met Brent Musberger in the Target Center concourse after a Timberwolves playoff game...he had done the radio broadcast of the game....he was just standing there and none of the crowd passing by was paying any attention to him...he had always been one of my favorite announcers so I went over to talk to him....he surprised me by how friendly he was....he wanted to know about me...asked me all kinds of questions....what do.I do?..where do I live?.. etc....he later asked his broadcast partner, Tim Legler from ESPN, to come over to us because he wanted Tim to meet me....had a good conversation about the game and the NBA with Tim and Brent...needless to say I became a much bigger fan of Brent after that encounter....my only regret is that I didn't ask him to do his signature opening line that he uses at the start of his broadcast...."you are looking live at sold out (name of the stadium he is at)"...l have mimicked that line for many years....
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FUN FACT # 17
My OCD has caused me to be obsessed with attending the first and last games at the various old and new stadiums in Minneapolis.......
Metropolitan Stadium
Metrodome
TCF Stadium
My official "First" and "Last" list of games attended is as follows:
1981 - Last Twins game at Metropolitan Stadium
-Lost to Kansas City....5-2
1981 - Last Gopher football game at Memorial Stadium
-Lost to Wisconsin...26-21
1982 - First Twins game in the Metrodome - exhibition game
-Win...beat Philadelphia...5-0 (Pete Rose first hit....Hrbek two homers)
1982 - First Gopher football game in the Metrodome
-Win...beat Ohio University....57-3
1985 - First and only All-Star baseball game in the Metrodome
-American League loses 6-1
1989 - First Timberwolves regular season game at the Metrodome
-Lost to Chicago 96-84 (Jordan..45)...first season was played at Metrodome
2008 - Last Gopher football game at the Metrodome
-Lost to Iowa...55-0....OUCH!!
2009 - First Gopher football game at new TCF stadium
-Win...beat Air Force...20-13
2009 - Last regular season Twins game at the Metrodome
-Win...beat Kansas City....13-4
2009 - Last extra Twins game (#163) at the Metrodome
-Win...beat Detroit 6-5..12 in (instant classic)
2009 - Last Twins game ever at the Metrodome
-Lost to New York ....4-1 (swept 3-0 in first playoff round)
2010 - First baseball game ever at Target Field
-Gophers lost to LA Tech...9-1.
2010 - First Twins game at Target Field...exhibition game
-Lost to St. Louis...8-4
2009 - Twins Home Opener at Target Field
-Win...beat Boston...5-2.
Overall record: 6 wins / 8 losses
Games I missed (sleeping at the switch I guess)
1982 - Twins Home Opener at the Metrodome
-Lost to Seattle....11-7
1990 - First Timberwolves game at Target Center
-Win....beat Dallas....98-85
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FUN FACT # 18
I have attended games at the following 16 major league baseball parks;
Current baseball parks
1. ATT Park - San Francisco Giants
3. Camden Yards - Baltimore Orioles
4. Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia Phillies
5. Fenway Park - Boston Red Sox
6. Miller Park - Milwaukee Brewers
7. Rangers Ball Park in Arlington - Texas Rangers
8. Target Field - Minnesota Twins
9. Tropicana Field - Tampa Bay Rays
10. US Cellular Field - Chicago White Sox
11. Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs
Former baseball parks
1. Comisky Park - Chicago White Sox
2. County Stadium - Milwaukee Brewers
3. Metrodome - Minnesota Twins
4. Metropolitan Stadium - Minnesota Twins
5. Yankee Stadium - NY Yankees
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FUN FACT # 19
-My travels have taken me many great places. I have visited 8 different countries along spending time in Bermuda and Hawaii. My list may appear to be very short for some people but for a small town rube from Zumbrota who had only been to North Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin at age 30, it's not a bad list.
France
Visited Paris and the surrounding area....
Netherlands
Visited Amsterdam and surrounding area...
Italy
Visited Rome and Florence........
Austria
Visited Vienna......
Germany
Visited Munich and the surrounding area........
Portugal
Stayed right on beach in Lisbon.......
Hawaii
Visited all of the islands.........
Bermuda
Stayed right on the beach......
Mexico
Stayed on the beach near Los Cabos San Lucas....
Canada
Visited the beautiful Banff area.....
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FUN FACT # 20
Even though I've never have been married, I still have plenty of experience when it comes to weddings. One of my claims to fame is that I have been in 16 weddings....best man...groomsmen....usher..... I have posted that number up on the board and I'm still waiting to see if someone can beat it.....so far no one is even close.....I like to think that I'm a wedding expert........seen it all....heard it all....done it all....if I play my cards right I won't ever have to be in my own wedding.....
My "Wedding List" is as follows.......
College Friends
1. Dan Hovland
2. Darrell Olson
3. Greg Owens
4. Jeff Wolfe
5. Kent Stadum
6. Mark Anderson
7. Mike Astrup
8. Paul Oppegard
9. Wes Kroening
High School Friends
10. Mike Ripley
11. Paul Bucher
12. Pat Bradley
Relatives
13. Bev Nersion
14. Martha Olson
15. Mary Rostad
City Friend (Roomate at the silo - see Prattle # 8)
16. Steve Rasske
