The Matlock Report

A few weeks ago, we were at St. Thomas for Parents Weekend and sat in on the Women’s Volleyball match. As with a lot of things lately my thought was “this would make for some good pictures” and so I decided to attend yesterday’s match. The Tommies lost to the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits 1 – 3. It was a fun time though and the pictures came out pretty good or so I thought.

Let’s start this out with some pictures of various serves throughout the day:

Top Row – Jackrabbits – Left: Sylvie Zgonc (# 10) Middle: Madison Burr (#8) Right: Rachel Wieber (#2)

Bottom Row – Tommies – Left: Ella Voegele (#4) Middle: Taylor McNear (#3) Right: Megan Wetter (#8)

Jackrabbit Hannah Klein (#4) waits for the pass to come back into view.

Tommie Addie Schmotzer (#22) sets the ball.

St. Thomas’ Morgan Kealy (#5) with a set of her own.

Timeout….

Tommie’s Megan Wetter (#8) and Tezra Rudzitis (#15) are ready for the block from SDSU’s Sylvie Zgonc (#10).

Jackrabbit Rylee Martin (#5) watches…. “is it out? is it out? It’s out.”

SDSU’s Madison Burr (#8) seemingly hovering in mid air while waiting the ball.

St. Thomas Tommie Morgan Kealy (#5) slides for the ball.

Tommie Megan Wetter (#8) watches the shot.

Sydni Schetnan (#11) and some of the other Jackrabbits appear to be ready to dance in a music video.

(Left) Tommie Addie Schmotzer (#22) blows a shot past SDSU’s Sydni Schenan (#11). (Right) Tommie Anya Schmidt winds up for the kill.

I’ve been to a couple of St. Thomas University football games this year and thought I would try to get some pictures this time. It wasn’t the overwhelming success I had hoped for but it was fun all the same.

Pre-game coin flip and a herd of zebras.

St. Thomas Quarterback Andy Peters (#2) takes the snap and throws a pass early in the game.

The Tommies offensive line hard at work.

I’m not sure that chokeholds are allowed in College Football, but I guess that’s for the courts to decide.

Quarterback Andy Peters getting a push on his tush from Running Back Cam Miller.

Ok, so this was the funniest picture that I took all day. It was for me anyway. St. Thomas wide receivers made a habit of continually looking at the sideline before the play as if they didn’t know what was about to happen. Here, three St. Thomas players look utterly confused as play is about to begin.

One more for the road…. pre-snap action late in the game.

Come to think of it, I may have been to a car show once…. at least 30 years ago. It isn’t my forte but we received an invite to go and had a really good time.

If I get any of this wrong, please accept my apologies. These two are both Stutz cars from the 1920’s.

This car was in the same section, I particularly liked the brake light.

This 1922 Stutz Fire Engine was absolutely gorgeous (don’t worry, the dalmation isn’t real).

I particularly enjoyed the Tractor section. The Case IH tractor brought back fond memories of the Jenson Hotel.

At some point I’ll figure out what these are and update the blurb.

I called this the Movie Section…. I am sure that these aren’t the exact models, so you don’t need to correct me, but these cars reminded me of (Left) the Wagon Queen Family Truckster from the first Vacation Movie, (Middle) the car that Robert De Niro blows up in at the beginning and end of Casino and (Right) the car from Ghostbusters.

The guy who was with car was so excited to have someone to talk to about it. He told me all about how it is different from most of the other models of this car because of the way it was produced at the factory. He opened the trunk and the hood for me to show me everything. There is a picture from under the hood but it was blurry so I didn’t post it. It was cool to hear about it.

We’ll end this party with a 1969 Chevy Corvette. The owner wasn’t around so we couldn’t ask questions but I’m sure he would have been Happy to answer them. It was a slick ride, and really cool to see it especially because I always thought he was a Cadillac guy.

As long as I’m in non-sports mode for a minute, here are some pictures that I took in and around Normandale Lake Park.

Well…. today is our first installment of “Views From The Car”. Since I have begun taking photos, I have been noticing landscapes and scenery more and more, I’ve decided to take some pictures of scenery, etc. These pictures were all taken on a recent road trip from the front seat of the car. Enjoy!

Truth Seeker gets a bath before going 7 Furlongs in the 5th Race.

Tenth Street Don in the Paddock prior to the 5th Race.

Kelce Harr and Sir Sterling approaching the wire in the 5th.

Gfr Im Dun Gone (Left) mugs for the camera in the paddock before Race 7. A nice spread photo (Right) of the Q’s coming home in Race 7, Gfr Im Dun Gone all the way outside.

Our final match in our four day adventure was Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) world rank #1 versus Emma Raducanu (GBR) world rank #39. Raducanu made it a match but ultimately Sabalenka prevailed in three sets.

The Sabalenka service…. and obligatory tattoo shot.

Raducanu gets airborne on her serve.

That’s some good stuff right there….

Raducanu with the slice backhand.

This is what a winning smile looks like…

Frances Tiafoe (USA) world rank #14 racks a win against Ugo Humbert (FRA) world rank #25 in straight sets on the Grandstand court.

Tiafoe’s service game is spot on.

Humbert takes on the serving challenge.

Some random shots….

Tiafoe doing the electric slide….

It was hot today at the Cincinatti Open. Well, it was hot every day but still…. On this day there was another shortened match due to the heat. Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) world rank #70 took on Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) world rank #28. Auger-Aliassime would go on to win in straight sets after a scary incident where Rinderknech was lying on the ground for what seemed like forever because of the heat. Rinderknech played a few more games but ultimately could not continue and retired.

Rinderknech saluting the sky… or serving.

Felix and his hard hitting serve.

A couple of close-up shots of Rinderknech.

Felix on the return!

In a show sportsmanship, Auger-Aliassime crosses mid-court after Rinderknech retires.