BY CRIPE OLSON

The 2025 Prescott Athletic season officially begins next week as Head Coach Jordan Hansen and Cardinal football players start practice on Aug. 5. Last week Prescott and Holmen practiced against each other for four days. The Cardinals traveled and practiced in Holmen Monday and Tuesday, and the Vikings came north to Prescott on Thursday and Friday. Prescott had 42 kids participate in the workouts while Holmen’s numbers were an impressive 120. The Vikings are expected to be one of the top teams in the Mississippi Valley Conference this season. Coach Hansen is happy to report the team will be 100% and ready to go the first week of practice.

Members of the Prescott High School Girls golf team have been preparing all summer for the fast approaching season. Team members have been practicing collectively at Kilkarney Hills and been playing regularly at Clifton Highlands. Several players have been participating in the Wisconsin Junior Tour and Minnesota Junior PGA events. Soon to be junior Macy Reiter won the Minnesota Junior Tour event at Pine Island Golf Club last week turning in a score of 79.

According to Hall of Fame Committee Chair Jeremy Kerg, the 2025 inductees will be announced next week. The induction banquet will be held in the Prescott High School Commons on Saturday, Oct. 4. One again Ptacek’s will be catering the event, the high school student council will serve the meal, and members of the high school music department will perform. Stay tuned for more details. Mark your calendars now.

The unofficially-sanctioned 4th Annual Kasco Fishing Tournament took place over the weekend on Pine Lake in St. Croix County. Sweltering heat did not diminish what turned out to be another successful day on the water for local employees of the very successful Prescott business. For the second time, St. Croix Central alumnus Cory Brathol moonwalked to the top of the podium with a 20.5 inch largemouth bass. Prescott grad Hayden Johnson took home the silver medal with a 19.5 inch largemouth. Hats off to tournament organizer, Stevens Point Pacelli alumnus, and former Prescott science teacher Jason Brazzale on running another seamless tourney.

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources…The department announced preliminary totals for the 2025 spring turkey season. Wisconsin turkey hunters registered 50,287 birds this season, a 14% increase from the five-year average. The 2025 spring turkey season started on April 12 with the two-day youth hunt for hunters under 16 years old. A total of 3,981 birds were registered during the youth hunt, an increase from 3,967 in 2024. A total of 246,068 authorizations were available this spring, and hunters applied for or purchased 228,844 of them.

C.S Lewis wrote “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less,” and Confucius said “To lead people, walk behind them.” Little League home run bat flips, obscene seven year old touchdown celebrations, and AAU elementary basketball players shushing the crowd with an index finger pressed against their lips. It’s everywhere. It’s rampant. And it’s endorsed by parents and coaches. The question is this…Is humility in sports dead? If humility isn’t dead, then it’s on life support. Prior to the narcissistic behaviors associated with the players of today, there was an extensive list of professional athletes whose humility defined them as players and people. Those who were praised for their selfless and humble demeanor were people like Hall of Fame Running back Barry Sanders, five time NBA Champion Tim Duncan, Hall of Fame Reliever Mariano Rivera, All Star Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, and 20 time grand slam tennis player Roger Federer. No flouting. No showboating. No taunting. Called “boring” by many fans today, their game day behavior would never go viral on today’s social media platforms. They simply played the game brilliantly. But what about the players of today? Fortunately they are still out there. The NBA has Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Shohei Ohtani is regarded by many as among the most humble of players in baseball. The National Hockey League has Pittsburgh’s Sydney Crosby. And the National Football League has T.J. Watt. For old codgers like me humble athletes are still out there. You just have to look a little harder to find them.

Headshaker of the Week. Arguably one of the dumbest rules in professional sports is putting a runner on second base when a Major League Baseball game goes into extra innings. Made permanent in 2023, the rule is designed to shorten the length of games. Dumb. But even more absurd is the NBA rule that gives a team the ball at half court after a timeout with two minutes or less in the game. Dumb. It would be the equivalent of a football team calling a timeout after giving up a touchdown with two minutes left to play and getting the ball at the opponents 40 yard line on their ensuing possession. Giving a team the ball at halfcourt after a timeout? It’s a headshaker.