The Royce Files

At long last the final installment of the bike trip I took in July. N ot sure when I awoke in the Hunter park, but I did and embarked to points north. Points north, you ask? Yes. North is not the way home, but I wanted to add more mileage and the world's tallest structure was just along the way south of Blanchard. The tough part about seeking this tower out is that it is pencil on the horizon and only a few miles removed from the 2nd tallest mast in the world. Yep. The 2nd tallest tops off at 2060. So the masts can be hard to identify especially if you don't know where Galesburg is compared to Blanchard. (answer: Galesburg is SW of Blanchard.) I snapped a few photos and road onward. Moreover, as I now discover, the KVLY mast no longer holds that distinction of tallest structure. Some skyscraper in Dubai beat the tower's 2063 feet by a little over 600 feet recently. So now it is just the tallest mast I guess. However, when I saw the tower it may have still been the tallest s...

T onight was the first Bison men's basketball game I saw in almost a year. And both were pretty similar. NDSU won them by wide margins. NDSU had a tight first 5 minutes with the Leathernecks then strolled into some maximum 'leadage.' The final score 86-62 . Ben Woodside put up a lot of baskets and of course Bison Brent did too. With his parents seated behind me, Brent Winkelman cooked up double double of 14 boards and 21 points. Woodside saw much benchtime in the 2nd half after he collected 4 fouls but came away with 20 points. There were a few times throughout the game in which the officials' calls were questionable but I never seem to know why. The Bison seemed to be strong and a bit fast. With their long knee length trunks, I am tempted to compare them to Minnesota phenom Sam Jacobson but the comparison ends short. The Bison are a gritty physical team albeit with a calm demeanor. They punch their way to the basket but are just as capable of hitting from the fiel...

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...

Today I began a temp assignment at NDSU's own Varsity Mart. They sell everything- textbooks, paper, duct tape. A very enjoyable day. Will they someday be the size of Wal-mart? In soccer news, Berkovic leaves Man City for Portsmouth at the foot. Now I am sad to see Berko leave, but he's just not seeing any time on the pitch. Hopefully he'll start at Pompey. Now Macca needs to hit his stride, but who can topple Man U from the top of the table. There they sit 6 from Chelsea and 3 from Arsenal. In other news, I am planning a winter camping expedition in the near future. Nothing specific yet but it will be adventure at its best. One last commentary- Famous Dave's : I ate there again the other day. I usually go a few times a year. What do I like about this place? Well the food is good- my favorites are catfish fingers (yah its not BBQ), rib tips, and pulled chicken sandwhich. Ribs are good too but I don't usually get ribs. Shack fries and corn bread muffins!!! Supe...