Convincing. Dominant. Thorough. Three Roget’s Thesaurus words that best describe the Prescott football team’s impressive win at #2 ranked Northwestern on Friday. From the lethal quarterback - wide receiver combination of Teddy Bernick to Will Packard, to the swarming tackling of Owen Bayer and Lewis Kinneman, Prescott’s 42-8 victory undoubtedly raised the eyebrows of Wisconsin Sports Network website perusers and other media outlets around the state. One more thing…how about that first half interception by senior Deitrich Eich? 

Prescott will host the Durand-Arkansaw Panthers this Friday at Laney Field in the Cardinals’ home opener. Last year Prescott won on the road by a score of 41-12. Durand-Arkansaw Head Coach Rod Rosemeyer’s club opened the 2024 season with a 28-20 loss to Spring Valley and are coming off a 3-7 season a year ago. 

Speaking of dominant, what about the Prescott girls’ golf team last week? Senior Gabi Matzek and sophomore Layla Salay both turned in top 10 performances as the Cardinals won the 24-team Tomah Invitational Tournament by three shots over host school Tomah. On Wednesday the four-time defending state champion won the New Richmond Invitational, and then on Friday traveled east to compete in the Bayport Invitational. Once again it was Matzek turning in the top score for the Cardinals followed closely by fellow senior Jeanne Rohl. Prescott finished third in the tournament, one stroke behind second-place Brookfield East. Hartland-Arrowhead, with an enrollment of 2,086, finished in first place. 

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR has made available the Wisconsin Water Explorer, a web-based tool that can help Wisconsin residents address concerns about the quality of water in their local lakes or rivers; it was made public this week. The Wisconsin Water Explorer tool makes scientific data analysis accessible to the public by automating the process of finding and analyzing data. The tool provides insights into current conditions and trends through graphs, maps and automated reports. The Wisconsin Water Explorer tool also consolidates several water quality tools into one platform. For example, Citizen Lake Monitoring Network volunteers can now access and share automated annual reports summarizing data from their respective lakes.

Peter Brookshaw hit home run #9 last Saturday as the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks defeated Sioux Falls by a score of 12-8. The victory moved them within a game and a half of the Canaries who are in first place in the West Division. The post season begins in less than two weeks. Brookshaw remains among the team leaders in home runs, hits, runs scored, and extra base hits.

Throughout our lives we all do stupid things. But some things are stupider than others. The administration of a Wisconsin school district has cancelled the first two games of the 2024 varsity football season due to behaviors associated with team members. Reportedly, some players have been accused of breaking into and vandalizing an Amish school and farmstead, damaging buggies, firing paintballs at buildings, and abusing livestock. Videos made by some of those involved appeared on social media, leading to investigations by school administration and local law enforcement. Stay tuned. 

The 2024 early goose and teal hunting seasons begin this coming Sunday. Also, hunters can harvest Wisconsin’s symbol of Peace - the Mourning Dove, along with Snipe, Rail, and Gallinule on Sept. 1. Don’t forget the Mourning Dove bag limit is 15, early teal eight, goose five, snipe eight, Rail 25, and the Gallinule - the one everyone remembers - is 15. 

Headshaker of the week. When it comes to attending professional baseball games things are different than they were when I was growing up. It used to hot dogs and cracker jacks, now it’s sushi and iced coffee. Music amounted to an organ rendition of  “Take Me Out the Ballgame”, but  now it’s Ice Cube, Tone Loc, and Taylor Swift songs blaring over the public address system. And then there’s the mascots. From the Phillie Phanatic to Bernie Brewer, to Mr. Met and Mariner Moose, mascots have become a fixture at professional sports stadiums around the country. The Minnesota Twins’ rendition is TC Bear. While watching some of these costumed performers over the years it has been obvious to many there is a considerable amount of athleticism hidden underneath those over the top get ups. But when it comes to the 2024 athleticism of TC Bear - Yikes. Last Saturday, I traveled just across the river to Target Field to watch the Twins host the St. Louis Cardinals. During pregame festivities, people of all ages are given the opportunity to “throw a pitch” from the mound on Target Field. For five of the seven “ceremonial pitches” on Saturday, TC Bear was the catcher. The majority of civilian hurlers threw pitches with estimated velocity between 15 and 20 miles per hour. And on four of those anemic tosses, TC Bear failed to catch any of them. In fact, the mascot fanned four times, never even touching the ball. At first I thought it was some kind of a ruse, but then I watched the venerated mascot throw the only ball he caught back to the pitcher. The throw made Carly Rae Jepson look like a Cy Young Award winner. I remember previous TC Bears over the years sported some impressive baseball skills. Not this version. I will say this TC Bear was good at hugging. But when it comes to TC Bear’s adeptness of throwing and catching a baseball, it was a headshaker.