Michael Alvin Kingsbury and Karen Leslie Smith were married forty years ago today. We celebrated by inviting them over for some grilling, cake and ice cream.

Congrats Mom and Dad!

Wow, take a week off to watch the best female golfers in the world and the Wild universe goes nuts…

Some thoughts on those who have left:

• Rolston – sad to see him go, but he occasionally drove me nuts. No way the Wild could have matched the New Jersey offer (which I thought was very generous).
• Fedoruk – will miss his grinder line determination (and dance skills).
• Voros – Fedoruk lite, but his production dropped off and wasn’t worth $1 million/year.

And some thoughts on the additions:

• Andrew Brunette (LW) – glad to have him back. Maybe he can help Parrish get out of his slump.
• Owen Nolan (LW) – didn’t see this one coming. Anything that makes Calgary weaker is good in my book. Sort of a Walz replacement in some ways.
• Antti Miettinen (RW) – should be good for Koivu to have another Finn in the room. Stats look pretty good.
• Craig Weller (RW) – UMD connection, but not much NHL experience. Supposed to be a Voros replacement. Never thought $600K would be considered a “value” player…
• Marek Zidlicky (D) – Excited about this one. New owner must know him, we get a player whose name starts with “Z,” another Czech will maybe encourage Skoula to play better (ha!). Sort of pricey, but not Johnsson pricey.

And finally, issues we still need to deal with:

• Butch and Veilleux – I’d like to see both back, unless one of them helps us with:
• Another Center – as discussed everywhere, we are still lacking here.

All that and Select-A-Seat this week too…

Here are the Minnesota Runner’s World Race Series races for August 2008:

• 08/02/2008, Encore Wind Ensemble 5K, Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 08/02/2008, Hanover Harvest Festival 5K, Hanover, Minnesota
• 08/02/2008, Race for Oromia, Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 08/09/2008, Northwoods Triathlon, Nevis, Minnesota
• 08/09/2008, Yellow Rose 5K Walk/Run, Warroad, Minnesota
• 08/23/2008, Athletes in Action 5K Run/Walk, North Mankato, Minnesota
• 08/23/2008, Officer Sean Silvera Memorial Run, Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 08/23/2008, Rockville Rock Run, Rockville, Minnesota
• 08/24/2008, Stiftungsfest 5K, Norwood Young America, Minnesota
• 08/31/2008, French Club 3-Miler, Canyon, Minnesota

Click on the race names for details on each event.

Last week we also stopped out to Canterbury Park for buck night (and to celebrate our friend Todd’s birthday).

I used to like horse racing a lot while I was in college. The Daily Racing Form has tons of stats and I had all sorts of techniques to try to beat the odds. Like all gambling, though, the only way to win is to become the house.

No big winners or losers among our bets – but then again, my bankroll was only about $10.

Kid two came along and loves watching the big animals up close. The night’s races run pretty late, though, so we left before the end.

Can’t beat $1 nachos and Mountain Dew though…

Our second 18 hole round of the day in Grand Rapids was at Wendigo Golf Club, a Joel Goldstrand design that opened in 1995. We started just before 3pm, which qualified us for a twilight rate of $37 per player with cart.

When I last visited Wendigo about ten years ago, it was still under development, with a temporary clubhouse and lots of condominium construction around the entrance. Fast forward to now and you find a nice log clubhouse, a large conference center and hotel with restaurant and still more townhomes under construction.

The strange thing about this resort, though, is that it seems nearly deserted. It looks like construction has stopped on the new townhomes (or at least slowed down with the economy) and the parking lot wasn’t very full for a holiday weekend. More importantly for golfers, though, was sub-par maintenance on the golf course (and with our golf cart, which reeked of gasoline and backfired more than once).

And a strange golf course it is, too. Lots of blind shots, holes that feel out of place with the others, a unique fourth hole that plays as either a par 3 or par 4 (with different greens) and a weak finishing hole that brings the clubhouse into play off the tee. Sounds also seemed to carry everywhere, so you could hear the few people that were there throughout our round.

On a more positive note, there are some very strong holes on the course and every employee we talked to was friendly (although they double-booked our tee time). It’s hard to see how courses like this will succeed in today’s economy, however, as poor course conditioning becomes a downward spiral to increasing player rounds.

Perhaps the owners should spend less money on multi-level boulder retaining wall entrances and more on keeping the golf course in resort condition.

7MM Wendigo Photo Gallery