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The sky housed no clouds tonight as the football season kicked off in Grantsburg. Unfortunately, for the Pirate football team, there were some metaphorical clouds that lasted the entire game.

Grantsburg starting quarterback Brent Myers was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with some kind of shoulder injury. He spent the remainder of the game on the sideline and afterward received an x-ray to try to figure out the extent of the damage. Junior Daniel Larsen took over the quarterbacking duties and did very well in Myers stead.

The return game for the Pirates left a lot to be desired. On kickoffs the Pirates struggled as they were never able to get it to the 20 yard line except for one touchback.

The Pirates turned the ball over on downs four or five times while just inside Spooner territory. This, to me, was one of the biggest stories of the game. Not only because it killed a drive, but it gave Spooner a short field to move the ball to score.

The final ended up being lopsided: 23-0 in favor of the visiting Spooner Rails.

That isn't to say there weren't some silver linings on these clouds. As I stated earlier, I thought Daniel Larsen stepped in at quarterback and did a fine job. I think the offensive line got better as the night went on. And, for the most part, Grantsburg's tackling was good… lots of guys to the ball.

Grantsburg has been hurt by injuries. Fullback Derek Bertelsen told me before the game that he would be ready to go against Cumberland, which would be a huge addition to the team if that happens. Tackle Seth Coy says he will be ready by week three when West Lakeland play begins as Grantsburg travels to Unity. He will be a welcomed addition to the offensive line.

One game does not a season make. I hope the guys will realize that. There are many games left and they still have a great opportunity to make it back to the playoffs.

The Pirates host Cumberland next week and the game will be on 105.7 WXCX starting at 7pm.

Here's my schedule for the rest of the week…

Wednesday – Church night… kids- go to youth group or confirmation.

Thursday – Siren hosts Drummond… tries to get retribution for those pesky Drummond boys always knocking the Dragon boys out of the tourney (since 2007).

Friday- The Webster Tigers look to get by their nemesis, Eau Claire Regis in the Sectional Semi-Final. Do the Tigers have it in them to make an improbable run to Madison?

Saturday – Could be two games, or could be zero games. We'll follow Siren girls and Webster boys as far as they'll take us!

Good luck to our area teams!!!

Tune into 105.7 WXCX to get the games.

It's that time of year… playoffs are on the horizon and I have my assignments for radio coverage for 105.7 WXCX.

Next Tuesday I'll be heading to St. Croix Falls to broadcast the SCF/Grantsburg first round tilt. It's a four versus five seed to start our coverage and I think it should be a great game.

Grantsburg has been playing very well as of late and they split the season series with the Saints.

Hopefully there will be a game on Thursday night but it just depends on the Tuesday night game results.

Game time is 7:00 (not 7:30 like the regular season).

I will also be covering Siren @ Webster girls game next Friday evening (3/5).

I'm doing the play-by-play for the Burnett Blizzard/Baldwin-Woodville Hilltoppers playoff game tonight in Baldwin. Tune in to 105.7 WXCX to listen to the broadcast.

The game starts at 7pm.

Despite the Blizzard having a worse seed than the Hilltoppers I belive the Blizz have a great team and are on a roll (won 9 out of their last 10).

Good luck to the Blizzard tonight.

 We have a couple games tonight with local interest. First, on 100.9 WCMP at 7:30 the Pirate Girls take on the Rush City Tigers in a border battle meanwhile on 105.7 WXCX we'll be covering the boys Blizzard taking on Pine City at 7pm.

I'm working the girls game while the wayward son, Dan Hinrichs, comes back and does the hockey game. (EDIT 4:30pm – Dan and I are switching games to make life a little easier with equipment and proximity issues)

The Blizz are coming off a nice conference win against Minneapolis East West (yes, that's a conference game). While the Pirate girls look to rebound from a 67-52 loss against Frederic on Friday.

Well a new season is upon us and the schedule is out for December. We'll be doing a lot more hockey this year, which is exciting to me because there are rarely 30 point blowouts in hockey

Here's the schedule for the rest of December:

Some of the state champion Grantsburg volleyball team stopped by the WCMP/WXCX station to discuss their season with myself and Sam Klemet (sports director).

The Pirates have made it to the championship game for the second year in a row.

The girls dispatched the Laconia Spartans in straight sets (25-19, 25-9, 25-16).

Here is the stat sheet from the state semi-final.

Grantsburg will play Cuba City tomorrow at 12:30. Listen to the game on 105.7 WXCX!

I falsely assumed that the Championship match would be available at wiaa.tv. Unfortunately, it will not be shown there… only the semi-final match on Friday (1:00 pm) will be available online.

You can, however, listen to both matches on 105.7 WXCX. The match on Saturday starts at 12:30.

Also… I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to update this blog while I’m in Green Bay… hopefully it won’t be a problem, but in case there is there are a few websites that will provide you with a lot of info.

www.wiaawi.org

www.wissports.net

www.redrockonair.com

www.burnettcountysentinel.com

My radio station (105.7 WXCX) is a good one. The station manager, Mike Hughes is also a good one.

Money is tight everywhere including the radio station. In fact, there won’t be much of a profit made (if any) during this state volleyball trip to Green Bay this weekend. My modest payment plus travel expenses (food, lodging, and 50.5 cents per mile)  plus a $100/match broadcasting fee to the WIAA will take a big chunk of what our station brings in.

He’s even popping an extra $75 for a land line instead of a cell phone because the sound quality is better. $75 is quite a bit in the whole scheme of things (it’s more than my per match payment).

This is not a case of an employee kissing up, but a genuine thank you to him and our station for letting us cover local sports even if it means we don’t make anything on it.

Everyone likes an ‘atta boy so if you’d like to email him here’s his address, but I bet he’d also like you to visit the businesses that buy ad space and let them know you heard their ad during the volleyball matches.