2002 was an odd year in that for the first time in recent years, I didn't really do any traveling, yet I spent more time outside of South Dakota than ever before. It was a year where everything that looked like it could go wrong went right, and in the end, was probably the most exciting year of my life so far. 2002 began with me in my second semester of DSU on fourth floor Richardson Hall. I was still rooming with Brandon Hanson, and the gang on the floor was still one big group of 40 or so guys hanging out in the lobby all the time. I couldn't tell you exactly what classes I would have taken that semester, but I remember all the events of fourth floor. The most exciting events seemed to take place in the early spring, right around Easter.

Brandon and I had been best friends in high school, traveling everywhere together for several years--San Francisco, Flagstaff, Minneapolis, Steamboat Springs, St. Louis, Winnipeg, Kearney, etc. And we were college roommates as well, even though we had begun to get on each other's nerves after spending too much time together over the last couple years. I noticed that when we got to college, we kinda went our separate ways. Brandon hung out with some black people, and one day was seen walking through the TC wearing a cap angled to the left and sweat pants with one leg rolled up. He walked by my table. "Sup, fool?" he said as he walked by.

I returned from Easter weekend only to find that Brandon had paid to stay in the dorms that weekend rather than go back home. While in the dorms, he and some well-known friends went on an ill-advised Easter crime-spree. It was nothing too atypical from what your average crime-ridden college student had done before... swiping a lawn ornament, capturing the McDonald's flag, and making off with a road sign. Harmless fun, really. But Brandon carried these stolen items up to our dorm room in broad daylight when the dorms re-opened, right past dorm janitor Vicki. "You didn't see nothin!" Brandon told the janitor as he proudly displayed the McDonald's flag in our window, pointing outward. It didn't take long for the authorities to figure out who was behind this scheme, and one night I received a visit from the Madison police. "Are you Brandon Hanson?" asked the officer. "No, but he should be along shortly," I replied. "Well then I don't suppose you mind if I sit down and wait for him," the officer asked as he walked into my room. "Nope, have a seat, I was just about to watch the game," I said. The cop and I sat and watched the Cubs game for ten minutes or so before Brandon came home. All eyes turned to Brandon. "Oh," Brandon said dejectedly. "I think I know what this is about." Brandon assumed it was to follow up on his speeding ticket from moments earlier, but it was in fact to summon Brandon to court for the stolen property.

The very next weekend I was in for an even bigger surprise. The Minnesota Twins, who that winter had been targeted for contraction, were alive and well, and about to open the season. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune did a story on fans' reactions to the Twins surviving contraction, and asked everyone to send in their stories from the offseason. In what would soon snowball way out of control, I wrote the newspaper and told them I had called commissioner Bud Selig and told him not to eliminate the Twins. I also said I had once driven 40 miles in a blizzard to meet Ron Coomer, I had stalked former manager Tom Kelly, and had managed to listen to all 162 games on the radio in eighth grade... all extreme exaggerations. Well, wouldn't you know it, the Star-Tribune wanted to write a front page article about me. I was interviewed over the phone, and soon, the paper hit the stands. I thought it was pretty funny and left it at that. Well, the fun was just starting. WCCO, the biggest Twin Cities radio station, read the story and called me, asking me to join Sid Hartman on their morning show the morning after opening day. I was called at 8am in the dorms and did the interview, although I was so tired I did a very bad job. Regardless, WCCO surprised me with two great tickets for the home opener. I asked around and Nick Sandbulte agreed to accompany me. I figured I'd make a weekend out of it, and Alex, Chris Ahrendt, and Mark Lubke would join us for the second game the following night. Before I left for Minneapolis, I got yet another surprise when Sioux Falls TV station KSFY picked up my story and asked permission to follow us up to the game and do a story on me. Nick and I were both interviewed for the news, although all of Nick's segments were cut. The funniest part of this whole story is that this would only be the third largest exposure I would have with the media in 2002 involving the Twins.

College was coming to a close for the semester. (Upon further review in my research, it appears I took US History Since 1865, College Algebra, Visual Design II, Speech, and Survey of Biology.) Biology was the second most difficult class I'd ever taken, but I still managed a B in it, thanks to professor Bakker. Whenever we got a question wrong on a test, we could "argue" to see if we could receive credit. People would say "Uh, I got question 23 wrong." And the professor, without questioning a thing, would say "Oh, okay, I'll give you credit for that answer." So I upped my grade a few points via that strategy. And in my college Algebra class, I managed an A, meaning I again had the highest grade in my math class for the second straight semester.

College was coming to a quick close, and I was still trying to figure out what I'd do with my summer break. Many ideas had been thrown around. Andrew Graham had an extra room in his house in Sioux Falls, and I could move in with him and get a job down there. Another friend from college was going to work at a campground in the deep woods, and I thought that would be fun too. But then came the idea that would go on to change my life. Former high school classmate Kyla Madsen had decided to work at Valleyfair for the summer, and was hoping she could find someone else she knew to join her. I toyed with the idea for a while, but decided against it. I wouldn't know anyone there, and I had just had such a great year of college with all my new friends that I didn't really want to move away. But after a phone call to discuss the matter with Mom, she persuaded me to go to Minnesota, saying she would have done it if she was in my position. So, I did.

Kyla and I moved up on the same day. She was renting a room from someone in Apple Valley, and I was staying in the Valleyfair Commons, a dorm-type setting typically used by foreigners. I was hired to work in the Games department, which was only third on my list of choices. I had originally asked to either be in Rides or Merchandise. But much like me being put in the all-male dorm at DSU against my will, it ended up being for the best in the long run. In Games, it was only a matter of a day or two before I had become friends with some very familiar names. Casey Van Heel and I were paired up to work Platter Shatter for our first shift. On break, Casey and I met supervisor Liz Burke and game op Sherry Davis, who we ate dinner with. In the coming days, I met many co-workers, including Patrick Lynch, Luke Katuin, Charlie Ahern, Adam Abraibesh, Amy Adelmann, Kayla Laursen, Colin Mangold, Joe Allen, Mike Carlson, and Jason LaPlant. Pretty crazy to think I met so many of my current best friends within a matter of days at Valleyfair, especially considering most of those people didn't work there more than that one summer.

That summer pretty much consisted of one big non-stop party. Whether we were going to a Twins game, Mystic Lake Casino, a party, a Valleyfair employee event, softball, or even work, which I oftentimes looked forward to, it was just one thing after the other. I went to a total of 20 Twins games in 2002, usually with Patrick, Liz, and an odd assortment of other friends. That summer was like one big vacation for me. There were too many highlights to mention, but the now-legendary thrift store party hosted by Patrick and Charlie was probably the biggest event of the summer. Even though I would work at Valleyfair for three more years after 2002, the other years paled in comparison.

One day I had the day off of work, so my dorm roommate Nick Olson, supervisor Luke Katuin, and I decided to go get tattoos at random. Luke went first and got a giant Digimon character on his back shoulder. Nick went next and got a giant rainbow-colored evil clown face on his leg. Seeing Nick's look of regret on his face, I decided just to get a tiny little Chargers lightning bolt on my right arm.

But the funniest person I met that summer was 30-year old foods guy Mike Farris, who teamed up with me and Foods employees Angie Pfalzgraf and Christine Stocker to form a bowling team. Mike also lived in the dorms and hung out with me and Nick Olson that summer. He wasn't quite all there. He was in his twelfth year of law school in Washington, and every summer picked a random job in a random city. The summer before he had worked for the UPS in Pittsburgh. One time after bowling, Angie agreed to buy Mike's supper at Denny's if he would slam a full bottle of Tobasco sauce. Mike didn't even hesitate; he just flipped off the cap and drank it before letting out a huge belch. "Ow. That kinda burns," Mike said. "Is it supposed to be hot?" Another time, a staggeringly drunken Mike wore my giant foam cowboy hat into Mystic Lake Casino, drawing applause and laughter from everyone, but he was completely oblivious to the mass attention. At the end of the summer, I helped Mike carry his luggage to the bus station, when I dropped a suitcase. I went to pick it up, but is was vibrating. "What's vibrating, Mike?!" I wondered. "Oh, that..." Mike began. "Let's just say that whatever it is, it's been up a girl's you-know-what." With that he got on the bus. As it pulled away, he stuck his head out the window and left me with this quote: "I drink, therefore I am." I haven't seen him since.

The summer wrapped up nicely with a big 20th birthday party for me at Luke's apartment. Dozens of co-workers showed up and we all had one last hurrah before I left to go back to college. Back at DSU, it was a big letdown to be back. As much fun as I had had freshman year, it was nowhere near as fun as living in the Twin Cities. After just a week of being very depressed at college, I began making weekend trips up to the Cities to hang out with the Patrick Lynches and Luke Katuins of the world. Eventually I got over it and was able to continue on happily with my DSU career.

Then came October, and the Twins were in the playoffs for the first time since I started paying attention to baseball in 1993. The first game was at Oakland and I had a Econ test at the same time as first pitch. What was I to do?! Well, I went to class and finished an 8-page test in under ten minutes, handed it in, and took off running back to the dorms in a dead sprint as Jim Janke looked on in utter disbelief, fingering through my test. I was at least twenty minutes early for first pitch, as it turned out.

When the Twins came back to Minnesota, I of course went to the games. Before the first game, which took place on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm, Patrick, Luke, and I made a giant homer hanky out of a bed sheet, painted our faces, and wore our best retro Twins gear down to the Metrodome. We instantly became the stars of the show, as B96.3 radio asked us to stand on top of their van and throw bags of peanuts to the hundreds of people in the crowd. MLB.com then scoped us out and interviewed us for a feature story. All three of us appeared in the article. Inside the Dome, the Associated Press got a picture of the three of us in our garb, which appeared in newspapers nationally, and even on the front page of ESPN.com. The Twins won their first-round series with Oakland in dramatic fashion in Game 5 on the road. When the final out was recorded, Nick and I did a lap around campus waving the Homer Hanky. The team would go on to lose in the ALCS, which I also attended with the Mueller boys and Chris.

So anyway, there really was more to the year 2002 than just the Twins. For instance, I was involved in a couple really intriguing classes at DSU. Photography with Tom Jones was fun but very difficult. In that class, we had to shoot 15 rolls of film with a professional camera and develop it ourselves in the dark room, which didn't exactly go too well for me. Of my 15 rolls, I would estimate that two or three turned out. I had no idea what I was doing in that dark room. When I cut my film off the roll to put in the developing fluids, I'd drop it on the floor and spend 45 minutes on my hands and knees trying to find it. Then I'd finger it all up and not leave it in the orbit bath long enough or something and the contrast would be terrible. But I managed a B in the class.

Another class of interest to me was Painting, with Alan Montgomery. We did five major paintings that semester on large canvases. It turned out I just wasn't that good at doing realistic paintings, but I did turn out one gem with a 4' vertical Nintendo painting that featured three TVs, each with a different vintage game on screen (Mario, Tetris, Duck Hunt). I was once offered $200 for the painting and refused. "A Dick Glanzer Christmas Carol" was my final piece, which showcased the family farm on a wintry Christmas Eve night, which turned out alright.

That fall was pretty wild on the home front. On Thanksgiving Day in Doland, the family gathered to celebrate. After the hearty meal, everyone was stuffed. But no one looked more uncomfortable than Jordan. Being the jerk that I am, I made a comment to Jordan, telling her she looked pregnant. The family told me not to be mean. When you tell a teenage girl she looks pregnant, she'll be devastated and develop an eating disorder. Unless, of course, she actually is pregnant. Not more than a week after my comment, Jordan had no choice but to confess to the family that she and her boyfriend Calvin were expecting a baby. Mom called to tell me I was very perceptive. I knew something was up! I don't make comments like that for nothing! That winter I continued to tease Jordan about her mishap, but I guess she would have the last laugh as she and Calvin are now three years married with two girls, living happily in Vermillion.

The big craze of the year was bowling at college.  I was never that great, but when it was Quarter Mania at the alley, it was cheap and a good form of entertainment.  I once bowled a 216, my all-time high score.  Nick and Scott were the lone witnesses to my amazing game.  I recruited some good bowlers for an intramural team too, but we kinda sucked.  I think I brought the team down, honestly.

College was quickly coming to a close for the semester, and I was forced out of the dorms for a month to return to the farm for Christmas. I remember being quite bored sitting around with nothing to do for four weeks. The year came to a close with another pathetic New Years party in Willow Lake with a handful of old classmates. This one was so lame I don't even remember the details, only that I again declared New Years to be the worst holiday ever. Even when I turned 21 and could celebrate New Years with alcohol, parties have still been the biggest letdowns of the each calendar year!

I guess that sums up 2002 in a few paragraphs. It was certainly a year for the books, and to this day, probably the most memorable year of my life.