Thole: The season that never was - 6-10 and in last place

I don't know about you, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of camera time and the two-and-a-half hour testimonial paid to non-activated Brett Favre by the media in last week's telecast of the Vikings-Lions game.

That's not to take anything away from the brilliant career enjoyed by Favre, but he wasn't even dressed to play in the game for Pete's sake. I'll admit that I'm one of the curmudgeons that thought the 41-year-old wonder should have been left alone to retire in the first place.

After watching his less than spectacular oskie after Brad Childress' unforgivable 12-men on the field penalty, I thought the franchise would be better served without the pair of them.

All the talk after that overtime loss last January was whether Favre would return to lead the Vikings to the promised land of the Super Bowl. First off, Childress sent a cadre of Vikings to Mississippi to plead for the return of No. 4 to his rightful place as the nation's iconic signal caller.

In order to clear the path, Childress promptly traded Sage Rosenfels - but not having Sidney Rice became a major area of concern.

From the outset, the team looked shop worn and Favre, a year older, was unable to consistently perform at a high quality level. That's because he had more reps with the Hattiesburg, Miss., high school team than he did with the Vikings.

I won't even mention the addition of Randy Moss, who's having a worse year than Childress. Moss proved to be the undoing of Chili, who was replaced by the popular Leslie Frazier.

Frazier was 3-3 in his audition with the memorable Tuesday night win at Philly a payback to Andy Reid for sending us Childress. We can't forget those embarrassing losses to Green Bay, Chicago and the 20-13 loss to Detroit. The defense didn't have a banner year, either.

In the closing weeks of the season, I thought we spent too much time worrying about Favre's records and not enough about developing Joe Webb, who showed promise with little preparation.

I said a year ago that problems will arise when certain players get special treatment (like missing training camp) because football is a team sport and that is an absolute fact!

How much did things actually improve since that parade of limos from the airport two years ago? Let's see, an 18-14 regular season record and snapping a 17-game winning streak over the Detroit Lions.

Mail call

George Thole,

I just wanted to congratulate Bob Kisch on his induction into the Humboldt High School Athletic Hall of Fame. It is a terrific honor for Bob.

Regards,

Bob Kisch

Summit High School

Summit, NJ 07901

GT: Summit, NJ must be blessed also because our Bob Kisch is a nice guy. He starred in football and hockey in high school and later at Hamline with former Ponies coach Jerry Foley.

Hi George,

Gosh, I can't believe what a snowstorm you guys had. I hope this note finds you sufficiently dug out.

I'll be back in the Twin Cities this Friday and just thought I'd drop you a note to see if you had time to get together over coffee and talk about all things Bison.

Let me know what works - looking forward to it.

Go Bison!

Andrea S. Jenson

Assistant Director of Development

NDSU Development Foundation

GT: Andrea is currently working on "Building the Competitive Edge for Bison Athletes" that is a $33,180,150 renovation of the Bison Sports Arena. NDSU has a strong tradition of building champions, both on and off the field and courts of competition. The NDSU Athletic Hall of Fame will get a new facelift - and that's good news for former Ponies Bob Roy '44, Mike Stratton '80 and moi. We are proud Bison inductees.

In the huddle

Former Ponies all-conference hockey standout Wilson Housley, son of Ponies head coach Phil Housley, is seventh in scoring in the Superior International Junior Hockey League with 16 goals and 20 assists in 33 games for the Wisconsin Wilderness. The younger Housley was the Ponies leading scorer last year on the locals' 15-10-2 outfit. This year, the Red and Black is off to a 5-3-1 start and is led by captains Kyle Mogren, Blake Dochniak, Sam Casey and Neal Goff. Sophomore Nick Anderson, who showed signs of being a solid tailback this fall, is a potential scorer to complement Mogren, Dochniak, Casey, Cory Erchul and Mike Kreutzfeldt.... Back in 2008, Andy Schmitt of Eastern Michigan completed a historic week when he connected on an NCAA single game record 58 of 80 passes versus Central Michigan, a game the Eagles won 56-52. A week earlier, he became the first college player in history to throw 76 passes in a game without a pick. Our own Jerry Foley completed 32 of 62 passes with no picks for Hamline in losing a nail-biter to a John Gagliardi coached St. Johns team in 1955. It was an NCAA record.... Last week I mentioned several former Ponies who are dotting the hockey rosters at Gustavus and St. Olaf. Let's not forget Kristina King playing for the Black Bears of Maine, Callie Dahl at St. Cloud State, Cassandra Salmen at UW-Stevens Point and Kayleigh Bell at UW-River Falls.... Several former Ponies Nordic skiers are competing at the collegiate level this winter. Gina Elmer and Laura Stalland are in their final seasons at UW-Green Bay, Katie Walsh competes at the U of New Hampshire, Maddy Wendt at Williams and Gretchen Mueller at St. Olaf. Three-time state champion Jessie Diggins will eventually join the team at Northern Michigan after training elsewhere.... The NFL fined Brett Favre $55,000. I wonder how much his wife will fine him?.... Ponies gymnast Alicia Doerr is listed in the Pioneer Press honor roll with a 35.275 score in the all-around and 9.45 in the floor exercise. Chloe Leuma has 9.2 in the vault and 9.0 in the floor while Kylie Wittl a 9.1 in the bars.... Former Ponies all-conference gridder and wrestler Marcus Elmer married the lovely Jill Marie Schlough at the St. Croix Valley Church in Lakeland on New Year's Eve. The reception was held at the Orchard Banquet Facility in Baldwin, Wis. The couple will reside in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.... Sorry to see the passing of Stillwater lawyer, sportsman and good guy Jim Lammers at age 69. He was a three-sport athlete for the Ponies and an SAHS Distinguished Alumni honoree. Through the years, I always looked forward to the interesting conversations about sports in general and Ponies football in particular that I had with Lammers. He later played football at Carleton College. He was a stand-up guy and friend who will be missed.... Don't tread on me.... finis

Today's rumination #496

There is no easy walk to excellence.

George Thole retired as head football coach at Stillwater after the 1999 season. He ranks among Minnesota's top coaches in history with a 285-69-2 record (.805 winning percentage), including four state titles and two state runner-up finishes among 22 championship seasons. He co-authored (with Jerry Foley) "Coaching the Veer Offense," second edition. His column appears Thursdays in the Gazette. To contact the hall of fame coach e-mail: gthole@acnpapers.com

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