Basketball and my wish list

A 4WD, a side by side UTV, or a fancy boat – any of those by themselves would be fun – but this – all of them in one vehicle – would really be high on my wish list. It would be great for deer hunting on those wet years, or just for all around entertainment. I could even take the kids to school in it – via the ice and river roads.

By Allan Olson

I’m done with purchasing new things, for a little while at least, although if I could find funds for an upgraded camera that would be nice, as mine is starting to show its age. At least in comparison to what would be a fun wish list toy if I had the available funds.

On Friday, my focus was all on the CL-B boys basketball team winning the section championship and going to the state tournament. So if we’re going to talk about a wish list, let’s put that at the top of the list. Let’s wish for a run all the way to #1 for the home team basketball players – that would be amazing, and is a much more realistic possibility than a new camera for me at this time, and certainly more realistic than the other item on my wish list.

We headed off to the basketball tournament at 5 p.m. sharp on Friday and arrived in time to find some seats and get ready for the big game, which the Panthers won. That victory is sending us to the state tournament. It was an exciting game and while it was pretty clear by early in the second half that we had this game, I wasn’t going to mark it in the “W” column until the last couple minutes. With three minutes left, I knew without a doubt that the game was ours and the championship trophy was forthcoming. I was pretty pumped – as many others have said, it’s been a long eight years. 

I was still extremely excited as I walked out of the arena on Friday night, and that adrenaline kept me alert on a long quiet car ride as the kids decided that sleeping was more important. It was nearly 1 a.m. before I hit the rack that night – way past my bedtime. My plan was to get up about 8 a.m. to dump the game photos from my camera and then head into town for the ice rescue. I don’t normally need an alarm, but apparently this time I did. I woke up after 9 a.m. and was barely out of bed when my phone started ringing – it was a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office wondering if I was coming to the event. I assured him I was on my way – I just needed to inhale some food first.

Prior to the event I had heard about some new vehicle that was going to be demonstrated, but I didn’t take the time to research it because I was busy with other things and forgot about it.

Well, let me tell you – this vehicle is officially on my wish list now. Wow! Of course that will only happen if I strike it rich, and if that happens it’s very likely that I will have money to burn, and why not burn some on a fun toy that can also have some practical uses as well? The vehicle is called a SHERP. The sticker price isn’t overly expensive in comparison to many things – at a mere $120,000 – and it wouldn’t take long for me to find ways to have fun with it – especially with a swamp and a lake right in my backyard.

This vehicle will literally go over anything. As a member of the media I was able to get a ride in it, both across the lake in the back and up front as we drove in the open water. The driver asked me, “How’s your heart?” Thankfully it’s good, because that initial drop into the water was a little unnerving. After that I was grinning from ear to ear.

After the ice rescue I stopped by the animal clinic, and then did a little research at the office before heading home.

On the way home, I was asked to pick up my niece’s dog so she could stay and watch her cousin play in the state pee-wee hockey tournament, so instead of just sitting at home the rest of the night, a couple of the kids and I went to get her dog.

Once I finally managed to get settled at home, I then took the time to work on photos and pick some out for advertising and printing on Saturday. We had a couple guests over for a late supper, and after they left I found myself once again back on the computer. I tried reading but my brain wouldn’t let me, so I defaulted to work instead.

I checked my email on Sunday morning and it clearly needed my attention. The ad composer was already at work, responding to my emails from the prior day. I hadn’t intended to crawl out of bed before 9 a.m., but I did. A few hours later, the emails ceased and I took a nap for a couple hours. I spent a couple more hours on the computer Sunday evening before finally calling it quits.

This week is going to be intense, with two government meetings before we depart for the state basketball tournament. It’s certainly going to be a busy one. Go, Panthers!

Please remember to watch out for the buses that will be carrying our most precious cargo. Also, snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.