Here's what Jordan Police Chief Bob Malz said about the American Legion regional baseball tournament, in which Jordan took second place last weekend: "It was a great tournament. Top-notch teams."

Mayor Ron Jabs added: "They did an excellent job on behalf of our community."

It's almost time for the Olympics.

I'm not an avid watcher of Olympic events, mainly because I don't have cable TV (I know, I'm in the Ice Age) and I don't pay enough attention to the TV schedule.

But I found an interesting little feature that Sports Illustrated did online. It's called Swimmers To Watch. 

They did similar features for other sports, too. 

Coaches, athletes, parents, fans, and other readers of the Jordan Independent sports coverage, your local newspaper is interested in your opinions about how to improve sports coverage in print and online.

Please take this short survey and become eligible for a drawing in which two, two-person passes to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres (dinner and a show): Click here.

I'm dreaming of dental bliss that I once had.

As a child, my teeth were perfect-o. Never a cavity. No toothaches. No worries about what I should or shouldn't eat or drink. My teeth grew so strong that when a batter line drove a softball into my face while I was on the pitcher's mound, I needed stitches in my lip but nothing happened to my teeth. I must have been great with the toothbrush, because I never had to floss and I always got a good review from the dentist.

This week, my six food groups consisted of:

- midnight snacks;

- ballpark weinies and meat on the grill; 

- potatoes and pasta (not together, but they both have carbs);

- sandwiches (preferably chicken salad);

- delicious restaurant fare;

- and Jell-O.

Mmmmm! Good eating this week. I'm not sure that it'll help my weight much, but a heavier me might pack more punch on the softball field. Who knows? 

There was some recent big news on the donkey basketball front: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/2_year_old_donkey_called_up_to?utm....

My favorite part of this video is the analysis of the donkey basketball league newcomer, Scraps. When one of the announcers says, "I like his moves, and I've seen a lot of donkeys move," another matter-of-factly replies, "Yes you have."

That, according to the Onion newspaper's online edition. (FYI, if you don't know the Onion: This is a joke.)

Man, I feel old.

I never remember my dreams unless they are really good, really bad, or important enough to tell someone. So that's why I'm telling you about this one.

One day last week, I woke up excited about an exceptional interest rate that I got. That makes me feel old, because interest rates really do lack excitement, even more so for a young person. 

Other things that I've realized that make me feel old:

- Four years ago, I messed up my checkbook to the tune of having an extra $1,000. My only purchase: a lawnmower.

Inspired by the deeply spiritual movie "Into the Wild," which was based on a book by Jon Krakauer, I have a good mind to delve into some other books by the avid outdoorsman.

Today, I picked up an audio copy of "Eiger Dreams." It's a book of short stories about mountain -- and boulder -- climbers and their search for the next, more risky climb. My personal suggestions are "Into Thin Air," "Into the Wild," but so
far I've also liked "Eiger Dreams" and I'm definitely interested in
reading "Under the Banner of Heaven."

Who's going to win the rematch to decide the Class 2A state wrestling champion at 135 pounds?

Lately, I've been a hot shooter on the basketball court.

I have always considered myself a much better defensive player than offensive and a much better coach than a player. But I've been lighting up the scoreboard in my two weekly pickup leagues at churches in Woodbury and Maplewood, and I wasn't so bad at the Maplewood Community Center last Saturday.

Last Sunday, I scored about 25 one-pointers (we score what would normally be two-pointers as one point and three-pointers count as two), almost half of my team's points toward the end of the night.

The Jordan boys basketball team has its second home game in a row tonight after opening the season with two straight road games.

The Hubmen will look for win No. 2 tonight when they host Rockford starting at 7:30 p.m.

The JV game is set for 6 p.m.

Fantasy sports-wise, it wasn’t my best weekend of the year, but it certainly wasn’t a bad one. While I continue my free fall from the top of the Pick’em leader board, I advanced to the next round in both my Otte Football League and Wooddale Football League fantasy football playoffs.

Wow. I was having a couple of good weeks in both fantasy football and in the newspaper football pick’em, but I’ve hit hard times during the stretch run.

Another good week for me in fantasy land!

I knew it was too good to be true. My weekend in fantasy football was a bust.

On Tuesday, I set a world record.

This is how sad the state of the OFL Ocelots has become: I wish I had the win-loss record of the Minnesota Vikings.

Lately, I've been playing softball as often as Minnesota Twins backup utility infielder Luis Rodriguez (I like to call him L-Rod) has been playing baseball.

 Armand Peterson, one of the authors of "Town Ball: Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball," will speak at 7 p.m

Heading into week three of the fantasy season, I’m already starting to get worried.

In my second week of the Otte Football League, I’ve got the exact same problem as my first week team – defense.

My football picks are worth bragging about, despite the fact that nationally I rank in the 2 percentile on Football Zone.

Well, week one of the fantasy football season has come and gone, but it couldn’t go fast enough for me. My team got beat in both leagues in which I’m a member.

The National Football League opens tonight, and I've been looking forward to it for weeks.

Well, the third-annual draft of the Otte Football League (OFL) has come and gone, and I’m looking at the wrong end of an awful draft.

Draft day is tomorrow, and I can’t wait to find out who makes my team.

The Otte Football League (my family’s yearly fantasy football league) begins with an Aug. 30 draft, and I can’t wait. I’m hard at work ranking my players and coming up with my own draft board.

Rushing from the state tournament in St. Cloud, traffic made me late to the first game in Blaine, but for the second time this year, I trotted into the outfield in the middle of a game.

Boy, was it tough to pitch in that wind last night! It was even tougher to hit in it, though. 

The Peeps lost again Tuesday night. I was not on the half that played, but I was at the game.

In softball, less hitting usually means less winning. No surprise there.

I wouldn't say that baserunning is the strongest point in my softball game, but I'm not bad. And I can slide with the best of them.

The woeful Wooddale Peeps are, unfortunately, still winless in their softball league. But the team is improving.

News flash! I've started hitting.

After a 5-for-7 day on Wednesday, I went 4-for-7 on Thursday. For Hoggsbreath, I pitched 13 innings, got two runs batted in, and scored twice.

For nearly four games, I had kept the honor of wearing the pink jersey with a backwards K on it instead of a number. No one had struck out after my game-one K.

I pitched another bad game for Hoggsbreath. We got wasted in our first game. Don't care to know the score.

As a slow-pitch softball pitcher, what is one to do when the team gets down 12-0, none of the players behind you are in the right position, and they are making errors every time they have a

You don't want to know how badly we lost last night. I didn't ask about the scores, because I didn't want to know.

The Pink Sox's record dropped to 3-1, and I did something I never thought I'd do: I struck out.

The two slow-pitch softball teams for which I play have distinctly different characters.

Two slow-pitch softball teams with a Jordan connection kick off their seasons this week.