RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -SPEAKING LOVE

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SPEAKING LOVE

If you know me, I don’t read many books. Yes, I host a library show every week on the radio and it might seem like I read lots of books. The truth is I have only read 20 books in my lifetime, if that. Two books however have changed my life dramatically.  The first is the Bible, especially the New Testament. This verse explains the Bibles power. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active”. I read scripture every morning, and it continues to speak to me and change me. The other book changed my marriage. “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman.

The Five Love Languages is a revolutionary book. I read it with my wife, Roxie, and we both put into practice what Mr. Chapman suggested. This book outlines five ways to express and experience love, called the “love languages,” receiving gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service (devotion), and physical touch. It is a simple book, easy to read and easy to understand. My kind of book!

I’m going to get a little personal here, and my wife has given permission for me to do so.  I think every marriage goes through tough times, and ours was no different. The stresses of life, raising a family, work, and finances are all hard on a marriage. We were in our thirties and started to drift apart. We weren’t making each other a priority, thus both of us didn’t feel loved by the other.

The Five Love Languages entered our lives at the right time. God knows what he is doing. We studied the book in a Bible study with other couples. Long story short, we weren’t speaking each other’s love language, or taking the time to make that a priority in our lives.

For example; I always bought Roxie flowers, jewelry, and other gifts. I thought I was being good to her only to find out after she took the survey in the back of the book that receiving gifts was last on her list of the five love languages. Receiving gifts wasn’t important to her, it doesn’t speak love to her! The light bulb went on! Quality time and acts of service is what spoke love to her. I put this into practice and started spending quality time with her and I also started vacuuming the house and doing dishes. Boom! She felt loved!

For me, my love language is words of affirmation and physical touch! She put that into practice and boom! I felt loved! It is an amazing concept. Everyone has a love language, adults and children. Find out what a person’s love language is and then speak that love to them. You can find out by taking the simple quiz in the back of the book. I encourage everyone to do this. I’ve attached the link for you to get started.

http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/

That concept of speaking the person’s love language was mind blowing to me. It changed everything.

Posted: April 1, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings, Sports
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -MAYBE A DO OVER

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I participated in my first job fair. Actually I was not looking for a job. I had a booth set up at LQPV high school for KLQP radio, promoting careers in radio and television. I found those couple of hours very educational and interesting. It was nice to visit with so many young people searching and exploring different colleges and careers.

I was asked a lot of questions about my career in radio and the college degrees that are needed to work in radio and television. I was surprised at a number of kids that were really genuinely interested in pursuing radio and television careers.

Maynard was with me in the booth and he added a lot to the discussion. We both enjoyed sharing our stories of going to college and our jobs and how we got where we are today.

After the job fair was over I spent a lot of time thinking about my early years after graduating from high school. How important the decisions were that I made at that young age and how it affected my life.

Out of high school I was accepted at Brown Institute in Minneapolis, to pursue my career as a radio or television sports announcer.  I remember getting my acceptance letter in the mail and being so excited that I was to going to the prestige Brown Institute. All the big time sports broadcasters had graduated from Brown. Two weeks before school started in Minneapolis I changed my mind and decided to attend Alexandria Tech to get a business degree first, with plans to go back to Brown. After graduating from Alexandria I joined the family business in Madison. I stayed in the family business for thirty years, before the business closed. Now at sixty years old I am living my dream of broadcasting sports on the radio.

But I always wondered what my life would be like and where I would be if I would have graduated from Brown Institute. Would I be working in a major radio market in a big city? Would I be broadcasting major college sports? I know my life would be very different. Don’t get me wrong. I love my life and what I’ve done with it. However, I think most of us would change things and do a do over if we had the chance.

If I had a do over I would have stayed at Brown Institute and graduated with a broadcasting degree. Got a job in radio or television preferably in the cities. Then hopefully made it to the big leagues. My dream would have been to broadcast nationally. I know I would have probably had to move ten to twenty times. My dream was to always broadcast Minnesota North Stars hockey, or Minnesota Twins baseball. Now that would have been fun.

But reality was I moved back to my home town of Madison, got married and raised a family. I worked with my extended family in a business that my dad and uncles started for thirty years. I live in a nice house, was always able to put food on the table and pay the bills, took vacations and enjoyed small town living. I have wonderful friends and a great church family. So life has been very good to me. But for some reason I always look back and wonder what could have been.

So visiting with these kids at the job fair really got me thinking about the decisions that I made at that young age. You don’t know it at the time, but those early decisions really have a huge impact on the rest of your life.

Posted: March 24, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – STATE TOURNAMENTS

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Attending a state high school tournament is just the best experience ever. Doesn’t matter if it is football, volleyball, dance team, wrestling or basketball. It never gets old no matter how many times you have attended a state tournament. Being in the major arenas, like Williams Arena, Target Center, US Bank Stadium and the others watching high school kids play is just plain exciting and fun. It is a little different than playing in your high school gym.

As a sports broadcaster I get to attend state tournaments often with the different schools that I cover. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to broadcast the Minneota girls’ basketball team at state. Thursday I was at historic Williams Arena, Friday at the renovated Target Center and Saturday at Concordia University in St. Paul. Three different venues in three days. I always enjoy going to the venues early and just walking around and soaking the experience in.

Walking through Williams Arena on Thursday, the history of Golden Gopher basketball is on display on just about every wall. Banners of famous Gopher basketball players hang from the rafters at Williams Arena, both men and women. I particularly like seeing pictures and reading about Gopher basketball players from the early 1900’s.  The start and rise of women sports in the early 70’s is also interesting.

I have been blessed over the last few years to be able to attend many different state tournaments. These are a few of the more memorable ones.

  • LQPV baseball team playing for the state championship at Target Field which was fairly new at the time. Broadcasting from the Herb Carneal press box was a real thrill.
  • Canby boys’ basketball team playing a three overtime thriller at Williams Arena. What I remember is the many people from Canby that were there cheering on the Lancers.
  • 2013 I called a Minneota Viking state volleyball match at the Excel Energy Center in the afternoon then jumped in my car with some Minneota dads and drove north to broadcast the Minneota Viking state football game vs Moose Lake/Willow River at Chisago Lakes high school in Lindstrom. Minneota football was in AA that year and won the game. It was an amazing win.
  • The first year LQPV dance team competed at state, I think it was 2002, my daughter was one of the Shadows and I did my one and only play by play of state dance as they were performing on the floor. It didn’t work out to well. I still laugh at my attempt to do play by play of dance. I haven’t missed a state dance tournament since.
  • Minneota girls’ basketball team at Williams Arena playing Goodhue, when Taylor Reiss stole the inbound pass and went in for the layup to put Minneota in the lead with just seconds left. Megan Larson then scored off Taylors missed free throw to clinch the game putting the Vikings into the state championship game. Never been so excited about a win!
  • Dawson/Boyd winning a state football championship in the Metrodome. My favorite memory was interviewing Coach Larson and the boys outside the Metrodome with all the Dawson/Boyd family members and fans hanging around. It was a very happy moment.
  • Dawson/Boyd and Minneota playing for a state football championship at TCF Bank Stadium. It didn’t seem right that two conference rivals end up playing each other for a state championship. A fun game to broadcast, I didn’t need to look at a roster to broadcast that game.
  • Minneota football team beating Minneapolis North for the state championship.  The eye poke to Isaac Hennen which was caught on tv was shocking and something I will always remember.
  • I really enjoy covering the state cross country meet at St. Olaf in November. One of my favorite state meets to cover.
  • More recently I have been covering the state golf meet. What a beautiful golf course Pebble Creek in Becker is. The state golf meet really is fun.

These are some of the state tournaments that I remember well. I know I missed some. Just being around all the family members of the players, visiting with the coaches and players is special. Everyone together at these venues and hanging out at the motels afterwards is special. Getting to hang with other radio guys doing the same job I am doing is special. Lots of special moments at state tournaments. I am excited and looking forward to covering the next state tournament. Fun times.

Posted: March 18, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -RA FACILITY IS A SPECIAL PLACE

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March Madness!! For me, nothing is more exciting than being at the RA Facility at SMSU in Marshall this time of year. I have been broadcasting high school basketball games at the RA for years. When that gym is full of people and quality basketball teams are on the floor it doesn’t get much better than that. The best part is I have a front row seat.

The last few weeks at the RA Facility in Marshall have been a roller coaster of emotions for me broadcasting games. From extreme highs to extreme lows. As a broadcaster you get to know the players, coaches, parents and even grandparents very well over the course of the season. You could say I get myself attached to them and want them to succeed. That is with all the teams I cover for the radio station.

I know the hearts of the girls on the LQPV Eagles team, their goal was to make it to the state tournament. They have a young and talented team. They came up short and lost in the section north championship. To be honest I got choked up on the air when the buzzer went off that ended their season. I hurt for them. That was a low.

A high was Minneota Vikings Jacob Hennen hitting a last second shot for the win and sending the Vikings into the section championship game. To see Jacob surrounded by his family after the game was a special time. It is really special to see the players spending time with their families on the court after a victory at the RA. Lots of smiles and pictures with grandpa and grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins.

There was a moment in the Section 3A boys’ north championship game between Minneota and Lakeview that brought too light that there are more important things than basketball. A Minneota fan collapsed with a medical issue during the game in a very scary moment. The game was stopped so medical personal could attend to him on the gym floor. You could have heard a pin drop in the RA for 20 minutes. The RA went from loud screaming fans in a close game 43 to 41 game at the time, to a completely silent gym. All of a sudden basketball wasn’t important. Somebody’s life was in danger. Marshall ambulance arrived and took the fan to the hospital. It was very difficult to resume broadcasting the game since I knew the person, and was praying he would be ok. Difficult transition from a scary medical issue to back to broadcasting a playoff basketball game.

Spending time in the RA means spending time with other radio station sports broadcasters. I usually see each of them at the different gyms during the season, but it seems like we are all at the RA at the same time. Fun visiting with them, we sportscasters are like a fraternity. I was so happy for my good friend Heath Radtke from Marshall radio, he covers the TMB girls’ basketball team. The Panthers punched their way to the state tournament. I heard Heaths voice break with emotion when the buzzer sounded.

The RA Facility over the years sure has some stories to tell. This year was no different. A young Minneota girls’ basketball team heading to state and Minneota and RTR boys will play for the section championship Thursday at the RA. So that makes three Camden conference basketball teams will be playing in the state tournament this year.

The RA is an amazing place, lots of memories there and looking forward to making many more in the years to come

Posted: March 11, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -BILLY

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Evangelist Billy Graham passed away last week. Billy Graham’s ministry has had a big impact on my life. I have been blessed over the years from reading his books, watching him on television and attending his crusades. I have been watching television and social media sites about his life this past week. Extraordinary human being Billy Graham was. Listening to his family talk about him has really been interesting. He was daddy to them, and a humble person.

His message was simple and the same. “The Bible says” was his catch phrase. But he won over audiences worldwide with his friendliness, openness, humility and his strong conviction of following Christ. His message was clear. Confess your sins and follow Jesus. They say he preached to over 250 million people in person. I was one of those 250 million people. I attended his crusade in Fargo in 1987 and again at the Metrodome in 1996. 350,000 people attended the Metrodome crusade that week in June.

My first recollection of Billy Graham was watching him on television back in the sixties and seventies. I was ten or twelve years old at the time and our family would gather around the television to watch Billy Graham together. I think the program was a hour long and only on a couple times a year. Even as a young boy I was interested in his message. I really didn’t understand it at the time, but I knew what he was saying was good news. After giving his message and while the choir sang Just as I am, he would ask people to come forward to make a public commitment to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Over 320 million people have responded to that invitation since his ministry began and still counting.

In 1987 Roxie and I took our kids to Fargo to attend the crusade. We actually pitched a tent in a campground and camped that weekend. This was before the Fargo Dome was built and the crusade was held at the NDSU football field. I remember Billy Graham walking into the stadium and everyone stood and applauded. For me it was like seeing an apostle of Christ. Thousands of people walked forward to make a decision to follow Christ that night. Our family was among the thousands of people. It changed my life.

1996 our youth group attended the crusade at the Metrodome. What I remember about that crusade was the music. DC Talk was the hottest Christian band in the country at the time and played before Billy spoke. Billy always had a youth night during his crusades and the Metrodome was full to capacity and loud. Billy’s humor was very good; I remember laughing at his jokes. I had never seen so many people in the Metrodome, even the football field was full of people listening to the Gospel message.

Billy touched many lives. A reporter asked him when he gets to heaven what do you want to ask God? Billy responded, “I want to ask God why did you pick me?” Another reporter asked him, did he fear death? Billy’s answer “Absolutely not! I welcome death because that means I will then be with the Lord. I’m sure Billy heard Jesus say the words, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Rest in Peace Billy.

Posted: March 4, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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