Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller It was fun to write the articles in this week’s paper about the 1970 wrestling team. I think about that team and season a lot. I was a junior that year, and wrestled quite a bit of varsity at 154. Bob Lange wrestled at 145, and Ron Meiners wrestled at 165 during much of the season. When the district tournament came, Ron cut weight to wrestle 154, and I was out of a job. That was not a problem, because Ron was in another league, and that’s the nature of sports. You’ve got to learn to lose. That might not sound like a good attitude, but it ultimately leads to learning how to win. Bob Lange’s mother, Vi, reminded me of that. I found a folder full of old newspaper clippings about the 1970 team in a dresser drawer a couple weeks ago. One reporter interviewed Mrs. Lange after the state tournament, and she said, “These boys have won and lost and you must win and lose to be a winner.” I couldn’t agree more. The Langes personified wrestling, a sport which has a stran...

David Heiller                                                                                                                                                                                      “How did you sleep?” Cindy asked when I woke up on Tuesday morning. “Great,” I replied. “I slept the sleep of a Vikings victory.” And it was true. Monday nights I don’t often sleep well, as I ponder what the heck to put in the Askov American for that week. But the Vikings had won, and I had drifted off to sleep with scenes of the, win pl...

David Heiller When our son interviewed Alan Page on April 27, it brought an old hero of mine back to life, only this time it was real life. Alan Page football card.  Noah has one that he graciously signed. Like many 40-somethings, I followed the Vikings through their glory years of the late 1960s and 1970s. It was a team filled with many gritty players, but the real star was Alan Page. He played defensive tackle. He wasn’t the biggest player or the strongest. He definitely wasn’t the flashiest. But he was the quickest, the cleanest, the most determined. When you needed the big defensive play, Alan Page came through. In my young mind, Alan Page was quite simply the best football player ever, the heart and soul of a big, strong, honest football team. Bob Hertz, Willow River, remembered one game on Thanksgiving against Detroit. Page was called for roughing the passer. It was a bad call, and you could tell Page was angry. A player today would storm around and get ca...