The Royce Files

Blogging from Minnesota this weekend. I am attending the annual Truebridge Conference where a volcano has prevented the main speaker from coming. Ben Goodman is speaking in his stead which I sort of predicted on the weekend. Still good. The father of Brett Winkelman is also in attendance. This year's theme- Building healthy and effective churches through the power of God. Onto other things, like fishing for more Finnish readers. So I had my mostly Finnish girlfriend (MFG) over to Lehigh a few weeks ago. Not that is interesting but I did show her the "fake" sauna. It is an electric one which kind of resembles a one hole ice house. Not authentic but it works. I miss the cedar smell. You can see the picture above.  I am with my MFG this weekend as well. Albeit not in the same lodgings. We went to Como Park on Friday afternoon and I am glad to see that they still have somethings I remember from my childhood, such as this: It looks a little like a jukebox or a strange vide...

Most of us knew this could not go on for ever. Winter needed to make an appearance. December 1- No snow. Rather warm with some NW winds foreshadowing the next days' events. The winter bikes were ready and I just got winter bike #1 a major overhaul. Riding home on the 2nd of December would be the last day in 2009 the C-200 would be out. It was pretty crazy on the ride home. Dakotans did the typical thing in snow storms- they avoid the main roads and take side streeets. Never ceases to amaze me how the traffic jams on these days are within residence neighborhoods and not on Main or University or 25th. I brought out the m-200 (snow bike #2) to take on the snow since I want to put a pannier rack on #1. It is really unusual to think just a few weeks ago I was out running in shorts. The mild November afforded many such runs. However, running in the cold especially just after a light snow is very scenic. Especially when going through neighborhoods decked out with lights. With the temp...

The photo . For those who want to have Brett greet them with a large embrace or want to see Brett impersonate Notre Dame's touchdown Jesus .

Ben Woodside will be plying his sporting skills this weekend out East front of NBA scouts . Here's who else is there in Portsmouth , VA. I suppose most who are watching these pre-draft talent smorgasbords would wonder why the NBA would even consider a point guard who is 5'11'' especially when there is a load of bigger ones from the big schools. To me the NBA is big and fast. I can't recall many teams that focus on skill. Again, just like the NCAA tournament berth for NDSU, the odds are stacked against him. However, it can't hurt trying. It appears to me that he has the drive and motivation to make it. Scottie Pippen, Ben Wallace, Terry Porter, Sidnet Lowe all played in this tournament and found their way to the NBA . I think the future is bright for Woodside whatever happens. On the flip side, Woodside's cohort, Brett Winkelman, is probably studying and applying for jobs. Maybe he's even thinking of Grad School or a summer trip to Europe. But that's ...

T he Bison gave us a great show on Friday. It was an exciting game until the finish (except that CBS flipped the coverage about a minute before the game officially ended). Despite losing to the defending champs here are some of my highlights. Ben Woodside put in 37 points. If he wouldn't have missed a few free throws he'd be at 40 but he kept apace of Sherron Collins. I believe he has the most single game points for this tournament. Quite a finale for the point guard. Brett Winkelman captures a double double. A fine curtain call to a subperb season. Cole Aldrich- a simply unstoppable hulk. Moorman fouled out trying to contain the 6'11'' Kansas center. There was just no answer from the Bison for this future NBA player. Aldrich really made the difference. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. The Bison showed a national audience that their program is willing to do what it takes to go head to head with the big guns of division I. Altough it ended with a loss, it was an incredible game. The B...

I t's been a hectic month but I made time to attend the NDSU men's basketball game against SDSU . In fact I brought my entire homegroup to the game. The Captain was supposed to have come but he got caught up in something else. We, my homegroup and I got there late and as it would have it, our seats were occupied by older people ( we were late because we were just finishing a delicious meal at James '). I didn't want to make the confrontation ( guess the joke is on me if you read that previous post ) and so we stood along the balcony and then I got near courtside on the Northside. It was a full house at the Bison Sports Arena. Perhaps the largest crowd on hand to a game I've attended. NDSU did not disappoint with Ben Woodside and Brett Winkelman scoring in bulk. In fact Brett worked himself up to #2 highest all time scorer in NDSU history this evening. The #1 top scorer is Woodside. Along with Luke Moorman, Mike Nelson, and Lorenzo Riley, this was the Bison's f...

Brett Winkelman (#22) turns his back on me during NDSU's victory over IPFW in men's basketball. No bison mascot at this game. Why? Did this bison not show because of me?

T his past Saturday I had the opportunity to catch the last Bison Men's Basketball game of the season. The Bison overcame the Mastadons of the abbreviated school of IPFW which is Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. NDSU won without the Mastadons putting up much a fight. I arrived at the game a 1/3 through the first half and they were up by 5. Final score was 73-57. Although they won, State did not appear sharp until later in the 2nd half. Both teams were racking up turnovers and missing some easy field goals. It was nothing like that Wisconsin game last year. Senior Andre Smith bid farewell with a slam dunk with a little over a minute to play in the game. Smith has been the poster boy of most of the Bison basketball marketing. The win gave NDSU 20 wins for a season that feature competition ranging from Mayville State to Texas Tech. The Bison held there own against the big guns and really made headlines when they defeated Marquette in December. I went to the game primarily because I had no...