PRAIRIE ROSES: To North Dakota's Darin Erstad, one of the most exciting, hardworking Major League Baseball players ever to come out of the state. Erstad said last week he's content to be done with professional baseball after a 14-year career in the majors. He's spending time with his young family at home in Lincoln, Neb. Erstad's years on the diamond were very successful. His professional career since he was drafted in 1995 out of the University of Nebraska has been a joy to watch for fans of the game. The Jamestown native has the right perspective on life, family and career. "It was a very enjoyable 14 years," he said. "I gave my heart and soul to the game. I'm comfortable with my decision to move on." As always, a mature, centered North Dakota athlete.
LEAFY SPURGE: To media pundits, politicians and others who are trying to make a small gaffe by the chairman of BP into a huge insult. Carl-Henric Svanberg referred to the residents of the Gulf states as "the small people" when apologizing for his company's culpability for the disastrous oil spill. Immediately the critics pounced, assuming he was looking down his wealthy nose at people who work for a living. Hold on. Svanberg is Swedish. English is, at best, his second language. A company official explained the chairman was trying to express his company's commitment to small-business people who have been affected by the spill. That's a plausible explanation. But as usual, the 24/7 cable news stations and less-than-thoughtful radio talkers ran with a non-story.
PRAIRIE ROSES: To auto skills students Jonathan Anderson and McKenzie Nordland of Sheyenne Valley Area Career and Technology Center in Valley City, N.D., for taking top honors in a national auto repair competition in Dearborn, Mich. This is a big deal for the students and for North Dakota. The competition is among the toughest in the nation, with teams from all 50 states at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills final. The North Dakota team was the only team to run up a "perfect car" score by repairing a dozen bugs in a vehicle in a little over one hour with no demerits. The students also had to clear a 100-question written exam. Their instructor, James McFagden, should be proud of his charges. Good work by all.
Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper's Editorial Board.
