Hey Spartans,

Hard to believe Reunion Weekend is just five months away! Starting today, I’ll be sending weekly(ish) emails as we release each game from our season on the site and relive the road to 25-0.

Each game release will include:

- Complete game footage - Game recaps and stats - Newspaper clippings and TV news clips

A huge thanks to TL for the TV clip archive and Derek for the game footage. We wouldn’t be able to put this together without you!

## Before 25-0: March 10, 2001

Before we dive into our championship run, we have to revisit where the story really started: that Saturday night at the Bismarck Civic Center.

We had beaten Bismarck High 76-56 in late December, but the rematch in the Class A state championship game was a different story. Bismarck held us to just 15 second-half points, and we came up short, 47-42.

As Eric Peterson wrote in The Forum’s “Bismarck tips North for ‘A’ title”:

> “Defense wins championships. Bismarck High defense wins back-to-back championships. The Demons held high-powered Fargo North to just 15 second-half points... The Spartans missed a chance to grab their first basketball title since 1985.”


[View the full-size newspaper clipping](northspartans2002.com/uploads/clippings/theforum-press-72233b.jpg)

Senior captain Tyler Dahlen—“Stalin”—led us with 13 points and eight rebounds. Afterward, Coach Offerdahl talked about how tough it would be to replace him and fellow senior captain Travis “Tricky” Anderson.

That loss hurt. But for the group coming back, it also gave us plenty of motivation for what came next.

## Summer in Denver, Then a Little Swagger

By December 2001, the expectations—and our confidence—were pretty clear. As Dan Hammer put it:

> “IF there's such a thing as a swagger for a high school team, the Spartans have it. The Spartans are the team to beat in Class A basketball in everyone's mind - including their own.”

Then there were those infamous “Who’s playing for second?” jerseys, which seemed to make their way onto every local news station.

Does anyone remember who first said that, or when it became our slogan? I distinctly remember it being part of our “what happens in Denver stays in Denver” trip in the summer of 2001. We got to test ourselves against teams from outside North Dakota—and, as I remember it, we did pretty well.

That was also the trip when we bought Coach Offerdahl the WP42 hat. And wasn’t that Coach Anderson’s first time on an airplane?

Reply with your memories from Denver or that preseason—the stories, the details, and anything I’m remembering wrong. It would be fun to fill in those gaps together.

## The Preseason Preview Is Live

The preseason news clips and videos are ready to watch:

[Watch the preseason preview](northspartans2002.com/preseason)

Check them out and get ready—Game 1 is coming next week!

## Bring Your Parents Along

Our parents were there in the stands through all of it. Please forward this email and encourage them to subscribe at [northspartans2002.com](northspartans2002.com) so they can relive the season with us.

## RSVP for Reunion Weekend

As soon as you know whether you’ll be in town in March, please **RSVP** at [northspartans2002.com](northspartans2002.com) so we can plan accordingly.

Looking forward to reliving this season with all of you—and seeing everyone in March!

– Jon Erdmann