Sports : Snowed in: 1982-83 Vikings recall a night in the Marion gym

With the snow on the way and Vinton scheduled to play a game in Marion, it brought up a memory from high school that seemed fitting. I can remember being on the bus going to the game that day and already seeing snow starting to drift. I was on the floor in the 4th quarter when they stopped play and made an announcement over the loudspeaker that the weather was bad and our basketball team would be spending the night in Marion. Families who had driven were hooked up with homes in Marion to stay. My mom rode with Kenny and Darlene Struve and they stayed with family friends of ours. They ordered a bunch of pizzas for us and brought in sleeping bags and bedding material. Wrestling mats were rolled out for us to sleep on. We didn't sleep much if at all. And I remember playing a LOT of games of HORSE and shooting around. Late the next morning they got roads opened a little and the bus followed a plow very slowly all the way home. Fortunately for us (Jim Struve and I), we were able to ride with our parents and took a different route home. We made it home OK but I seem to recall it took the bus several hours. And at that time, we all wore slacks and black blazers to the games so the team was all freezing with the cold temps and heavy wind. And ... we lost the game which made it that much more painful.