Meet the Commenters: Fetch13

Thanks for joining us Fetch13. You are a connoisseur of the more minor sports. How did you get into cricket, curling and the CFL?

I really got into the minor sports thanks to ADD. Well that's not entirely true. I got into the CFL because a receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Weston Dressler) grew up in my hometown and went to UND at the same time I did so I watched a couple of his games out of curiosity and to follow him and I got hooked quickly. For those of you missing football, give the CFL a shot. It's not the same quality of the NFL obviously but it's more fun I think. A more spread out field, more wide open offenses, more scoring, and probably most importantly no lead is safe. If nothing else it will kill time for you until american football comes back seeing as CFL games start in June.

As for cricket, I got into that while studying for the bar exam in 2013. It probably wasn't a great idea, but I couldn't sit there and read for hours at a time so I needed something in the background that I could peek at every so often but wouldn't really take all of my attention (so a TV show or movie was out) and saw some cricket on watchespn and gave it a shot. I sort of understood it thanks to living with an Aussie my first year at KU and him explaining everything to me. I got into it and still like watching it. I won't run down all the forms of cricket but if you're looking to get into it I'd recommend 20/20. It takes about as much time as a baseball game and it's much more interesting as it basically takes out all the boring parts of a baseball game.

Curling, meanwhile, was began watching the winter olympics in 2006, and later 2010. I went to college about an hour south of the Canadian border and so my dorm room or apartment got CBC as a part of the cable package, which meant I got to watch a lot of curling. It's a bit slow moving, but it's interesting to see all the strategy and the shots that some people can make.

We all know you are from North Dakota. Most people have "Fargo" as their frame of reference for the state. What do you like about North Dakota? Is it a place you see yourself living in forever?

I'm going to disgrace myself here but I've only seen Fargo once and it was forever ago and I've never even seen the TV show. The movie takes place in Minnesota but there are some similarities to rural Minnesota and rural North Dakota. I definitely get told I have an accent, and depending on where you go around here you'll get people with more of a Canadian type accent and people who sound like they're German.

In general though I like North Dakota. Without getting into politics too much we have some crazy people up here, which I'm not terribly fond of, but until recently I thought the legislature and Governor did a pretty good job in general. The worst part obviously is the cold. Winters suck, there's no way around it. One thing people don't realize though is how hot it gets in the summer. Our average summer temp is often warmer than a lot of places in Florida. As far as living, I think I'd ideally do something where I could live somewhere else for the winter and here for the summer. My family has a lake cabin which has been pretty fun to grow up at, so obviously I'd like to keep going there as long as possible, but there are a ton of places I want to live if I'm being honest.

Backing up a bit. Tell us about your childhood. What was your family like, what did your parents do, what kind of a kid were you?

I had a pretty normal childhood I guess. My mom is a nurse and my dad is a perfusionist so they (my mom moreso) wanted me to go into the medical field but I hate hospitals and the sight of blood and body parts and all that so that was out. The only thing I really regret them for is they wouldn't let me play hockey growing up. I was pretty tall when I was younger so I got pushed into basketball (and to be fair I was really good until everyone else caught up to me height wise) but I think hockey equipment being super expensive and all the travel and early mornings involved factored into that as well.

Other than that I was mostly a screw off. I used to get into trouble all the time (not for anything bad or anything, just talking in class and goofing off and stuff like that. 

What made you decide to stay in-state for your undergrad and move to KU for law school?

My KU love is fairly well documented here but for the newbies: Jeff Boschee, who played at KU in the late '90s-early aughts, is from Valley City, which is about 2 hours away from where I grew up. At the time I wasn't even really a big college basketball fan and didn't have a team, but when Boschee decided to go to KU I decided I would follow his career because it's pretty rare for someone from North Dakota to go big in a sport that isn't hockey. I had a bit of an idea of the history behind KU but not how big it was at all and pretty much immediately after I first watched a game I was hooked. Having the class after him be Hinrich, Collison, and Gooden helped, but I really fell in love with the program and decided I wanted to go to school there.

When I was a junior in high school I went on a little mini-tour with my parents of some schools (KU, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota) and I actually was pretty close to going to Iowa because I had played in a baseball tournament down there and really liked the state (though let it be recorded that my first words when driving through Ames were "what a shithole") but eventually said no to all of them to stay home and go to UND. Part of it was I didn't want to be so far away from home as an 18 year old, but a bigger part was thanks to scholarships I was able to get out of there paying only about $12,000 total which is about a fourth of what I would have paid at KU.

I didn't really know what to do while in school and wasn't good enough at math or computers to do anything with them, so law school became the answer. Obviously I only applied to one school and was off to KU. I really liked UND and like being a UND alum, but part of me does wish I had done my undergrad at KU too despite the extra cost.

What kind of law do you practice? Do you find it fulfilling?

I do a little bit of everything right now, though mostly criminal and family stuff with some real estate on the side. I'd say it's fulfilling although I think most attorneys would probably tell you it would be better without the people involved. The best part about it to me is the ability to solve problems and not have the same routine day after day (which is ironic given how much I loved routine growing up) but having to deal with clients who lie to you or opposing counsel who are dicks for no reason isn't very fun. It's also not fun to have clients who either think they know better or expect me to be a magic wand and make all their problems disappear. I can deal with some bad facts but there isn't a lawyer alive (unless the client has unlimited money and is going up against someone who doesn't) who can make something out of nothing.

How and when did you find RCT?

I'm pretty sure I came to RCT during the spring of 09. I could swear I remember commenting during the sweet 16 loss to Michigan State, but I didn't start writing until 2011. Ironically, it was a recap of a football game. Kansas had just beaten defending ACC champion Georgia Tech and we all thought the Turner Gill era was off to a good start after a mini bump in the road. Whoops.

What has been your biggest success and biggest regret?

I guess my biggest success is passing the bar and graduating law school and all that good stuff. Sometimes I think my biggest regret is getting into this line of work instead of being an engineer or something haha but then I remember that A. I am not very good at math and B. I don't think cubicle life is for me.

If I came to visit you, what would we do and where would we go?

Uh, well.... yeah there isn't much to do. There are a couple decent bars downtown and I guess we could go to my lake cabin. I'd also take people to the Badlands which is absolutely gorgeous, even if it is a couple hours away from my house. We'd probably have to go up to UND to go to a hockey game and eat at the Red Pepper, which is still the best late night food I've ever had.

Lightning Round

Age - 27

Height - 6'

Live - Bismarck, ND

Facial hair - varying states of bearddom.

Pets - one gigantic cat named Phil

Car - a 2014 Hyundai Tucson

Lenses - nope

Hair style - bad? short and just kind of there I guess.

Favorite movie - Airplane for comedy, Slumdog Millionaire for serious

Favorite TV show - Ever: Seinfeld. Current: Thrones or Silicon Valley

Favorite beer - Buffalo Commons Salem Sue Stout

Favorite band - New Found Glory

Favorite food - something Chinese. Or street tacos.

Favorite non KU team - How much time do you have? Probably the Vikings overall, but the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Twins, Sporting KC, and Nottingham Forest are all right there.

All time favorite KU player besides the obvious- Jeff Boschee. Since you said beside the obvious I'll say probably Tyshawn Taylor.

First concert - The Eagles with my parents when I was a Sophomore in high school. The shame. First without my parents was New Found Glory in Minneapolis when I was in college.

First w-2 job - Youth baseball coach

Best athlete seen play live - Take your pick between LeBron and Sidney Crosby. Oh and Jeff Boschee.