Several readers expressed appreciation for the Gophers’ effort and for as getting as far as they did.
Reader M.C., suspecting that I have no life and therefore concerned about my mental health, inquires what I’ll be doing during the next 8 months?
[John: I’ve got Geezer volleyball 3 mornings a week until May, and granddaughter Leah’s 14U VB team will have tournaments every other weekend. I’ve got one grandson playing basketball and another wrestling, plus a friend with Wild tickets and another with Wolves tickets, and daughter Tessa and I will probably take in a couple of South High Girls basketball games. So I might make it.]
Reader E.L., noting my reference to having once been a competitive chess player, wonders if it is true, and if I was any good?
[John: Yes, and sort of. I was a member of two State H.S. Championship Teams at Washburn, and while never the best player on the team, I was the only unbeaten player (6-0) in the 1963 State H.S. Tournament. Later, in my early 20s, I had a strong Class B rating (1600-1800), and flirted with Class A (2 rungs below “master”) a couple times, but always got my butt kicked as soon as I broke 1880.