Jim Kleinsasser

Posted on December 30, 2011 by reggietales

With Jim Kleinsasser’s 13 year NFL career coming to a close on Sunday, a lot of nice things have been written and said about him in the last couple of weeks.

With the average NFL career lasting less than three years, this is a remarkable feat for the Carrington, ND farm kid. And he’s walking away from the game a healthy man and a wealthy man.

So here’s my wish for Kleinsasser: Should the Vikings somehow manage to get the ball down to the one or two yard line, fake a hand off to ~~Adrian Peterson~~ Toby Gerhardt and then have #40 slip out the back door for the wide open touchdown pass. Like the one he caught in the movie “50 First Dates.” I think that would be a fitting end for a guy who received very little of the spotlight and I’m sure his teammates would appreciate it.

Random Thursday

Posted on December 29, 2011 by reggietales

*Went to Ruby Tuesday yesterday. My take: Fancy Applebees.

*I was told that whole wheat bread and whole grain bread are not the same thing. I’d never really thought much about it.

*Reggie Tales shout out and Happy Birthday wishes to Jill!

*I heard from a great many of you yesterday concerned with my never having seen “Jurrasic Park.” Thanks.

*Bonus shout out to Brady in Sioux Falls.

*Tomorrow on the Tales: A tribute to Jim Kleinsasser.

Movies I Haven’t Seen

Posted on December 28, 2011 by reggietales

*Jurassic Park

*Mission Impossible. Any of them.

*Avatar

*E.T.

*The Lion King

*Planet of the Apes.

*Any of the Twilight movies.

*Lord of the Rings. Any of them.

*Hangover II.

*Win a Date With Tad Hamilton.

This is a partial list. It would be crazy to sit here for the rest of the day making a list of all the movies I’ve never seen. Crazy I say.

Tuesday Stuff

Posted on December 27, 2011 by reggietales

*I have not listened to AM or FM radio since I got satellite. Sometimes I stay in my car to hear the end of a song. I can only assume an intervention is right around the corner.

*Back in the good old days, Stephen Public School featured a meal simply known as Turkey Tidbits. I would walk on fire and broken beer bottles to eat that one more time.

*In three years when Andrew Luck is going to the Pro Bowl, Vikings fans will recall a meaningless win over a pathetic Redskins team and also be reminded that was the day that Adrian Peterson’s career changed forever.

*I’m enjoying the balmy weather but if I owned a snowmobile I’d be “kinda a lot of angry.”

*I had a dream last night that I was at Manny’s Steakhouse with The Good Doctor and we were eating 48 oz. bone-in ribeyes. I really should have my dreams analyzed.

Random Thursday

Posted on December 22, 2011 by reggietales

*Get well soon to Jimmy From Accounting. And hurry back to work. Apparently the Penske file has gone missing.

*25 movie screens in the Grand Cities and we can’t get “Young Adult”?

*Reggie Tales shout out to Kelly in EGF.

*I’ve said it before and I will say it again: Dan Patrick is the best.

*I wonder if I will ever go to Sturgis in my lifetime?

Spicy Pie

Posted on December 21, 2011 by reggietales

Spicy Pie, downtown Fargo on Broadway. Notice the "Fargo" sign in the background. As a former photographer I'm witty that way.

Since it seems as though Grand Forks and East Grand Forks are getting two new restaurants a day, I decided that I better get my vote in for the next big thing. And the winner is: Spicy Pie. What follows is a private letter to the good people of Spicy Pie in Fargo. If you’re not a member of the Spicy Pie hierarchy, then please skip ahead to where I stop using italics. Thanks.

Dear Spicy Pie People,

Please find it within your infinite wisdom during this joyous Christmas season to open a Spicy Pie in Grand Forks. Or East Grand Forks. Whichever works better for you. You see, we need your awesome pizza and grinder offerings here in the Grand Cities. And good news: I’ve already taken the liberty to scope out a couple of locations. Actually, I think that makes me a legitimate candidate for part owner. And let’s try get this wrapped up by March 1st. Thanks!

Spicy Pie of Fargo found its way onto my radar a couple months ago. Since that day I’ve been inventing reasons to go to Fargo for the sole purpose of eating there. They have two locations there and one in Minot. I’ve been frequenting the downtown Broadway location. Three separate visits. Once with Red Sox Daughter, once with my boss, and the last time with TV’s David Schwab. All three agreed that it was simply delightful. Even Schwab, who normally doesn’t eat and when he does it’s usually something weird.

The genius of Spicy Pie is the simplicity of its menu and the quality of the food. They basically do pizza and grinders. And you can order specially made pizza by the slice. You don’t see a lot of that in these parts. Keep in mind that this isn’t a slice of pizza that has been sitting under glass and a strong lamp for an hour. This is the freshest tasting pizza this side of West 97th in New York City. All this and cheap prices. If you’re into that kind of thing.

Some Sports Stuff

Posted on December 19, 2011 by reggietales

*Word out of Phoenix is that the Arizona Diamondbacks have stolen Jason Kubel away from the Minnesota Twins for two years and $15 million. I have a bad feeling that this is going to come back to haunt our favorite organization. I don’t think I ever heard what the Twins offered him but if that’s all it took I wish they would have made the attempt. Although hurt often, Kubel was one of my favorite players and wins and losses seemed to matter to him.

*Meanwhile, the Twins have not addressed their pitching issues this offseason. This team let Jesse Crain and Matt Gurrier get away a year ago and have done absolutely nothing to replace them.

*If you told me today that Joe Mauer and Justin Mourneau were going to be healthy and play 150 games this year I’d be far less worried. But who knows?

*If the Minnesota Vikings players love Leslie Frazier so much doesn’t it seem like they would play a lot harder for him? And I’m also starting to believe that Christian Ponder isn’t the answer. Or is the offensive line so pathetic that Ponder doesn’t stand a chance? Anyway, I skipped the second half yesterday and took CJ for a walk while wearing shorts and flip flops. I wore the shorts and flip flops. CJ wore just his fur.

*NDSU has better defensive backs than the Vikings.

Random Thursday

Posted on December 15, 2011 by reggietales

*I recently saw a Star Tribune article that said Vikings Coach Leslie Frazier’s job was safe for next year. Why? Stop the insanity. Minnesota will go 6-10 next year with him at the helm. Then they will fire him, which means that they will have wasted two more years of Adrian Peterson’s and Jared Allen’s careers.

*If you missed the Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks in St. Paul last night you missed a good one. It had playoff intensity.

*I joined the world of satellite radio on Tuesday. My vehicle was equipped for it so all I had to do was give the nice people at XM some of my money, and now I can listen to 80s music on Channel 8 whenever I want. And for a brief moment during my morning commute today, I flipped over to the 90s channel and heard Vanilla Ice with “Ice Ice Baby.” Try and top that.

*Reggie Tales shout out to Chay in Houston.

*”They” say we didn’t have snow on Christmas in 2006 but I don’t remember that.

*I endorse the signing of Josh Willingham by the Minnesota Twins. I hate to see Michael Cuddyer leave, but Willingham provides a little more pop than Cuddy, and if the Twins had waited for him to make up his mind they might have lost out on both.

A Final Thought on Tots…and Toys

Posted on December 14, 2011 by reggietales

From L to R: Charley Johnson, Molly Thorvilson, Terry Dullum and Dave Whalen.

What started out as an idea to do something nice for someone at Christmas time has turned out to be one of the bigger WDAZ promotional pushes in recent memory. We hastily devised a “Toys for Tots” campaign in which viewers were asked to donate a new toy for children and families that may otherwise go without.

Well, viewers answered. Resoundingly and with passion. Most brought more than one gift, and many brought ten or twenty or thirty. One man brought in nearly 200 Match Box Cars. Think about that. Each one was in its own, unopened box. His name was Marv and he donated his entire collection.

In just six days our viewers filled a moving truck from our new best friends Whalen Moving and Storage. A special thanks to Dave Whalen and his great crew for joining us without hesitation in this operation.

When all was said and done, the very fine people at Toys for Tots told us that the truck load of gifts from WDAZ was the single biggest donation this year. Imagine what we could all accomplish with a little more planning for next year. I mentioned to Dave Whalen that we should try fill a semi-trailer next year. Without hesitating he said, “Let’s do it.”

I know I shouldn’t be surprised at how nice people are in this part of the world, but somehow their generosity caught me off guard. I liked that.

Random Thursday on a Monday

Posted on December 12, 2011 by reggietales

*I finally took my snow blower out of storage yesterday. As I did so, it was exactly 40 degrees. And I was wearing shorts and flip flops.

*I’m not so sure that Tim Tebow “wins” all of these games rather than the other team “loses” them.

*The Vikings are so bad that they can’t even get obvious calls to go their way. That’s not good.

*Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He claims he didn’t use PED. If it is confirmed that he did indeed test positive he should give up his National League MVP trophy.

*It’s the last day of the Toys for Tots campaign at WDAZ. It has been unbelievably successful. If we do it again next year we are going to need a bigger truck. I’m thinking a semi-trailer.