BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
It is the season that won’t end. Legion baseball remains at the forefront of At the Mike thanks to the Larned Legion team.
After winning the AA state title, Larned starts its quest for a Central Plains Region title today at 11 am in Waupun, Wisc. Jim Misunas has done a great job covering this group through their run for the Tribune.
I am very happy for these kids. Officiating youth football on Saturday’s in Larned as well as the junior high and junior varsity games I have watched many of them grow up on the football field.
For years I have officiated with Lupe Perez and got to know his boy Isiah very well. Lupe is an assistant coach and Isiah is one of many key players for Larned.
This group has been close to earning a state title on a few occasions and it was nice to see them break through. You can catch the games on 106.9 as Cole Reif has made the trip to Wisconsin for broadcasts.
Let’s hope they keep it going for a few more days.
Former athlete/coach update
The Olympics are upon us. The official start is tomorrow although some soccer has already started. Men’s basketball with former Cougar Antanas Kavaliuskas playing for Lithuania gets tipped early next week. Track and Field with seven former Cougars will get underway later in the week.
I will keep everyone informed as to when the events will take place and how each former Cougar is doing. So keep an eye on the Tribune for these updates.
Around campus
School is about to start up again for the Fall semester. Along with that comes extra curricular activities. Among them is Barton Theatre.
Barton Theatre will be holding auditions for the fall production ‘Our Town’. Rick Able is the new theatre director and will hold these auditions Aug. 22-23 from 4-8 pm at the Fine Arts Auditorium. This will be for casting and technical positions.
Faculty, staff, students, and community members are all welcome to audition. Those interested can pick up scripts from the Fine Arts Office.
And finally
It began in the way back. Back in 1989. The Sports Information Director at Fort Hays State asked me to join a league of something called Fantasy Football with a group of people associated with Fort Hays athletics.
It was the beginning of a 27-year run playing Fantasy Football. Three years later I joined a league through the radio station in Hays. Thus the Cawker City Pirates joined the Glen Elder Bearcats as Fantasy Football teams I would be in charge of. It was the creation of Mitchell County Fantasy Football Inc.
The run will end this year as the Bearcats and Pirates have folded their franchises. It has been a lot of fun but the enthusiasm has waned the past few years. It was time to let someone else take over.
Over those 27 years Fantasy Football has exploded. Millions of people play now. Hours and hours of television and radio shows are dedicated to the game. Literally hundreds of websites are as well.
It was much different in 1989. Just a handful of magazines existed to aid players. There were no television shows about it. No ‘who to start, who to sit’ advice shows. No on-line drafts or websites at all. The world wide web didn’t even exist.
My good friend Steve Webster was there for nearly everyone of the years, forming a rivalry that matched any Ohio State-Michigan or Florida-Georgia rivalry. It was always a blood bath when Glen Elder played Pratt or Cawker played Iuka.
The stadiums on those Sunday’s were always sold out. Fights often broke out. Many times we filled the back of wheat trucks in Cawker with our fans and made the trek to Iuka for games. Yes, we took the word Fantasy literally. We had a lot of fun with it. Steve will also fold his teams as well this year.
So we will watch NFL football in a hole new light this year. We can actually go back to cheering for the teams we like instead of rooting for certain players. So go Vikings!
