As I was leaving Target Center Saturday evening and entered a elevator three ladies joined me for the short ride to the skyway level. I never talk to complete strangers in a elevator, but all three of these ladies started talking to me to my surprise.

The two day state dance competition was over and I was on my way home. In the elevator one lady asked me if I was the radio guy that covers the Shadows from Lac qui Parle Valley- Dawson-Boyd? I said that I was. She thanked me for covering state dance on the radio. She also thanked me for interviewing the Montevideo Gold Duster seniors earlier in the day. As I was leaving the elevator and entered the skyway, the two other ladies who were judges at state said they had heard about me and they thanked me for doing radio coverage of dance. I have to be honest, I teared up as I got to my car in Ramp A. Thankful for the opportunity of covering state dance for two days and the relationships that I have formed over the years. Nothing compares to the state dance tournament.

Some observations about this year’s tournament.

The LQPV-DB Shadows, the Montevideo Gold Dusters and the Yellow Medicine East Silhouettes are amazing to watch perform. These girls are the hardest working high school athletes I know. What they can do on the gym floor is out of this world in my opinion. I have been a high school athlete myself and have been around high school athletes all my life. The dedication and the passion these girls have for the sport is commendable. Dance is different than other high school sports. I can’t put my finger on it, but it is. I know I’ve mentioned that my daughter was a Shadow in the early 2000’s and I was so proud of her and her teammates. How hard they worked to get better. I saw the dedication, the 5:30am practices, all day Saturday practices. Dance is different. I never had that kind of dedication to a sport when I was in high school.

Other observations from state dance. I have the best radio broadcasting team. Ken Franzky is a real professional when it comes to commentating on the radio. His observations, insights and enthusiasm come across beautifully over the air. I had a number of people text me during the broadcast to say that Ken is amazing and he is. The homework he does to prepare for the broadcast is the best. Dee Dee Schommer brings the mom perspective to the broadcast, the emotions that she shows comes across. Dee Dee is a dance mom and knows the ins’ and outs of what is going on with the team. She is great and I am lucky to have her on the air with me. You can listen to the broadcast on the KLQP radio podcast site.

We had so many guests during the two day tournament. All of them were eager to come to our radio booth in Section 130. The coaches, alumni, dancers, managers, parents make for a great broadcast from Target Center. I was really impressed with the students that came from LQPV and Dawson-Boyd to cheer on the Shadows, I saw girl basketball players cheering their friends on with lots of passion. It was great. The parents go above and beyond supporting their teams at state. The lower bowl at Target Center is completing full of fans. While watching AA and AAA dance, Ken and I were listening to Team United wrestling on our phones and cheering them on from Target Center. We were happy when they clinched a match to go to state.

I enjoy myself so much at state dance. I love doing social media at events like these. I posted a picture of my Mac and Cheese bowl that I bought on Friday, concession stand prices at major arenas are really high, but people, like me still buy them. On Saturday I stood in line to get a slice of pizza and pulled my billfold out and noticed that my debit card was gone! I panicked! Where was my debit card? What did I do with it? Target Center doesn’t take cash so I wasn’t going to eat that day. While standing outside the pizza concession stand, here comes my friend, Cheri Tuckett. Bless her heart, I gave her a $20 bill and she used her debit card to buy me lunch. Cheri to the rescue. I went back to the radio booth and shared my panic with Ken and Dee Dee and was desperately trying to remember what I did with my debit card. I was certain that I hadn’t taken my billfold out of my pocket yet that day. So it had to be yesterday. I couldn’t remember and it ruined my day thinking about that. Later that night, I was getting into my car to leave Target Center and there it was laying on the front seat, next to my parking ramp ticket. I had pulled out my debit card Friday night to pay for my parking and threw both the ticket and my card on the front seat. Ugh! But relieved that I found it.

Like I said. I love high school football, basketball, baseball, softball and golf and cross country and all the sports, but dance has my heart! Once a Shadow parent, always a Shadow parent! Congratulations to the Shadows on a great year.