There were few in Trempealeau County who didn’t know him, or know of him. Residents of Whitehall, Wisconsin, remember the basketball coach and teacher well. Basketball players throughout the Dairyland Conference remember him. Referees from decades of games probably feared him, or at least his temper when calls didn’t go his way. His name was Ken Stellpflug. He passed away in July.

Are you one of those parent’s walking the sidelines trying to capture an image of your son’s football game? Or, maybe your sibling is playing ball. Canon is sponsoring a photo contest for amateur photographers who enjoy shooting football games.

Friday night’s football game brought the worry of most athletes’ parents to my wife and I - watching our child get hurt.

Can you imagine a town in the United States with no baseball, soccer or football fields? No volleyball, basketball, hockey, or softball teams for students to play on. That seems sad to me, but it is reality for students in Germany.

Can you imagine coaching a high school football team to a 14-0 conference record and still not be illegible to make the playoffs? That’s exactly what happened to the Whitehall (Memorial) High School Norsemen football team in 1979, my junior year.

At Pinkerton Academy in Derry last weekend, the mercy rule was announced over the loud speaker at half time. I hadn’t every heard of it before, but it exists.

Here’s a few pictures from the Pinkerton Academy vs. Manchester Memorial football game last Saturday in Derry. Not the greatest field conditions in the rain, and the game didn’t go the Crusaders way. But, with several underclassmen in the starting lineups, they are a team building and hopefully improving as the season goes on.

It is a small world…I received an email recently from a player who’s football game I photographed 20 years ago for the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

If you enjoy watching baseball, and you’re looking for something to do Saturday, May 30, 2009, stop over at Londonderry High School for the start of the junior varsity baseball tournament. This is the only jv post-season tournament in the state.
-Bob Hammerstrom

I was an extremely proud parent after watching a junior varsity baseball game last week at Manchester Memorial high school. It wasn’t the efforts of the players on the field, but what happened before the game started.