My journalism journey part 21
While I jumped into football my first year in South Dakota, there was always basketball. And more basketball. It started with girls' hoops in the fall, followed by the winter seasons of high school boys' hoops, and men's and women's college basketball at Northern State University, our local college in Aberdeen. I was responsible for covering Aberdeen Central High School sports, but pitched in on other things as needed, worked the desk when the sports editor Ron Feickert was off and wrote a twice-weekly column and features. It was busy all year long, with a brief respite in summer.
In my first fall, I was introduced to an incredible young athlete from Langford high school, Julie Jensen. She was to be an integral part of my time in Aberdeen. While at Langford, her teams amassed a record of 94-9 and went to the State Class B Tournament four times.
Jensen was a humble young woman, well-spoken, intelligent and of course, a great athlete. I got to watch her play at the state tourney and at some other games during her career, but mostly when she got to college at Northern State, where she became a force for the Wolves in the NAIA Division II tournaments. More about that later.
With Aberdeen Central, it was all about Eric Kline. I was told about him right away when I joined the staff, about what a great player he was and how much fun he was to watch. He did not disappoint.
Kline was a junior when I joined the American News staff in 1989. I did an interview with him early in the season and got to see him play for two years in high school and thought that would be it. He decided to go to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
But then he decided to transfer to NSU and play in his hometown. Suddenly the Wolves had a potent outside weapon.
Kline was a 3-point scoring machine. He ranked among the state's top career scorers with 2,025 points. He set a record for Central with 59 points in a single game. No doubt he would do the same for Northern.
Beyond the game, Kline was a humble young man who had no designs on a professional basketball career. He was first to credit God for his gifts every time I talked to him. I liked that he had that faith. I believe he did the work to improve his game every day, too.
The Golden Eagles took the state AA championship in Kline's freshman year, then second in 1989, fourth in 1990 and third in 1991. I saw all but the championship.
Those two kids were the main cogs on the high school and college scene while I was in Aberdeen. But there were others, too. There were the Boekelheide twins, Scott and Chad, of Northwestern High School, in nearby Mellette. They weren't identical twins but it was hard to tell them apart. Both also went to Northern State and played on the same team with Kline. They were 5-11 and 6-0, and what they lacked in height, they made up in jumping ability and basketball smarts. They knew how to box out, how to gain the advantage on their opponent.
There was the Northwestern girls' basketball team of 1991 that beat Wakonda, which had won 101 games at the time. Chris Swanhorst led the team to the semifinal upset, then had to have her appendix removed the next night and missed the championship game.
In the fall, I'd hit basketball tournaments, and then football championships in Vermillion, under the dome. The football championships were a two-day gridiron feast, with three games one day and two the next - three 9-man, two 11-man. The 9-man games were crazy, high-scoring affairs. Sometimes I'd have two games to cover, sometimes three. One year, it was one.
With girls' basketball, it was often three or more games in the B tournament, since many teams in the coverage area were from small towns. One year, when I was covering the tournament in Mitchell (home of the Corn Palace), I got sick and had diarrhea. I couldn't cover the tournament the second day. I was stuck in my motel room, staying near the toilet. I felt bad, but what could I do? I snuck out to get some Imodium when I thought I could, got the disease under control and was able to work the next day. That was the only time I had to skip a tourney.
I now know it was probably irritable bowel syndrome, but I didn't know that back then.
One year, I had to drive to Rapid City, leave my car at the airport there, then fly out to Salem, Oregon, to cover the NSU women in the NAIA Division II national tournament. Then, when that was over, and Jensen and the Wolves lost in the semifinals, I had to fly back to Rapid City and cover the Aberdeen Central boys in the Class AA state tourney. I had one-day leeway between the flight in and the start of the tournament. And still, no cellphones, so I wasn't sure how to reach the Central coach, Terry Small.
I think that had to be one of the longest and most difficult stretches I had on the road. It was 1994. I was 39. Time was marching on me. After a three-day tournament, I still had a five-hour drive home. It used to be fun, but now it was another long drive home, followed by two days off (not nearly enough anymore, considering I worked nearly eight days straight, counting flight time and driving).
I was starting to think about something a little different. I was burning out. I loved talking to people, having them tell me their stories, but I just was tired of going to the games. Bleachers can be hard on the back. I hadn't hurt my knees yet, but they weren't the greatest because of my weight. And that was getting higher because I was dealing with depression, dissatisfaction with my job, my life.
But right now, early on, I love it. I was still young, peppy, enjoying the rapport with the kids, coaches and sometimes, even the parents. Now, if they'd only move girls' basketball to the winter.
Love your story... Always looking forward to read more...
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
