I was walking into the Montevideo gym Saturday thinking this is going to be a fun afternoon again. I’ve covered the section 3A dance competition in Montevideo for Klqp since 2002! That’s 18 years of watching some of the best dance teams in the state!

Every year is different but yet the same. The teams, the colorful uniforms, crazy dance parents, loud and groovy music and in the end some dancers, coaches, and parents have tears of joy because they are going to state and some tears of sadness because their dance season is over.

I would like to think I know a little bit about dance. Eighteen years of experience talking with coaches, fans and girls. My own daughter Brianna was a Shadow and was on that very first team to make it to state. I just watched on YouTube the very first time the LQPV Shadows performed at state in 2002 in the fairly new Excel Energy Center in St. Paul. What a difference eighteen years makes when you look at the dance routines. Not to take anything away from Shadows in the past, because they worked just as hard as the dancers of today. But I think the difficulty and creativity has improved every season. So much fun to watch.

I was so proud of that 2002 team how hard they worked to get to state and I have been proud and excited for every team since then. I admitted to Dee Dee and Ken Saturday, my broadcast partners at sections, that during the Shadows Jazz performance I teared up and was overwhelmed with emotions. It’s the best routine I’ve ever seen. Beautifully done, the choreography is amazing. The moves these girls do are very difficult, but yet they make it look so effortless.

I was just thinking that Coach Lisa Johnson of the Shadows and I have been doing this together for the last eighteen years. She has built a dynasty! Hundreds of girls over the years have worn the Shadow uniforms and represented their schools and communities very well and made us all very proud. After all these years of following the Shadows, I still feel like I am part of the Shadow family. Everyone that has been a part of the Shadows, past and present are family.

So again this week I will be at Target Center cheering on the Shadows and the other Section 3A teams. Friday and Saturday will be pure joy and happiness and excitement. Of course I will be”working.”