By BOB OTTO
botto3@verizon.net

YUCAIPA, CA – Larry Grove, a friend from Wanamingo, Minnesota emailed me the other day. Larry asked me about a basketball game in 1966 that rekindled a fond high school memory.

Hi Bob, “As a grade school kid I remember watching your game with Randolph (Rockets) that you won 109-69. I was so impressed with that game it seems as though it was yesterday. I would love to hear about your recollection of that night.”

But before I take a dip into nostalgia, a little background about my former hometown nestled in the fertile farmland of southern Minnesota. In 1966, Wanamingo had a population fewer than 500. It’s grown some over the years – a tad over 1,000 now I believe.

My 1967 Wanamingo High School graduating class was small and cozy. There were just 31 of us.

So anyone with a smidgeon of athletic ability was needed to play for the Bulldogs’ football, baseball, and basketball teams. And that included me. At 5-foot-9 and155 pounds, I was a slow, white kid who couldn’t jump, couldn’t handle the ball, and as my former basketball coach, Wayne Erickson would attest to, my rebounding ability was atrocious.

And my defense? Coach Erickson would surely say, “porous and a team liability.”

But the one thing I could do was shoot. Click to continue »