Gilbert Gutknecht: “I rise today to give a special tribute to some very special athletes and to an incredibly important entrepreneur. To…”

“I rise today to give a special tribute to some very special athletes and to an incredibly important entrepreneur. To paraphrase one of my favorite Presidents: "Those who say that there are no more American heroes, well, they just don't know where to look." For too long, there have been too few women athletes for girls to look up to. A brave entrepreneur named Bill Kennedy decided to change all that. He created the U.S. Professional Volleyball League. This was their inaugural season. They assembled some of the finest women athletes and put together an exciting season. If you thought 30-inch vertical jumps were only for the NBA, you would be wrong. Fans responded by filling arenas and cheering to the top of their lungs. Now, I admit that we are especially proud of Coach Tore Aleksandersen, General Manager Kevin Rueten, and all the members of the Minnesota Chill. They won both the regular season and the playoff championship. Rochester is proud to call them our home team. Perhaps even better than seeing the Chill win the championship was to see the adoration in the eyes of young girls who came to cheer for their local heroes. We all need heroes and role models. We were blessed to find a new group in the Chill and in the entire league. We saw little of the bad behavior which has become so commonplace in modern day sports. We were treated to spirited competition that parents could be proud to take their children to.”