There have been few equals to him in state history when it came to quick wit and the ability to deliver a zinger of a one-liner. In that skill, he was to Fargo what the late Pat Sullivan was to Grand Forks.

In 1980, Christenson was with a small group of us for lunch in Providence, R.I. It was where Mark Taylor, Phil Sykes, Doug Smail, Howard Walker and the rest of the Sioux hockey team were days away from winning the school’s third national championship.

The year 1980 also marked a run of four years in which North Dakota and Wisconsin alternated winning the NCAA title, so the rivalry was heating up and heading to a boiling point.

Wisconsin didn’t make it to the Frozen Four that year, but one Wisconsin fan did. As we were having lunch, the Badger fan stopped by our table, decked out in Wisconsin’s red-and-white, topped by a red cowboy hat with a big ‘W’ on the front.

He knew we were part of the media delegation following the Sioux.

He told us that since North Dakota was the only WCHA team left in the tournament, he’d be pulling for the Sioux to win it all.

Christenson took one glance at the big ‘W’ on the man’s cowboy hat and delivered a punch line I’ll never forget.

“That’s great,” Boyd told the fan. “We always cheer for Wyoming, too.”

I regarded Christenson as one of the giants in journalism in North Dakota history, spanning sportscasting to radio talk-show host with equal grace and skill.

He had another gift that endeared him to many. He could walk into a room of strangers, and by the time he left, everyone would feel he was their best friend. He took time with everyone, big or small, and we all could learn from that.

As custom at the end of the year, I like take note of those who passed away in 2009 who had an impact on my life, in one form or another.

So with special thanks and warm memories, a final word of gratitude goes with Bill Holden, Paul O’Leary, Tom Clifford, Roger Plattes, Bob Hansen, Isabelle Sten, Pat Warcup, Art Raymond, Jack Ledahl, Palmer Berger, Earl Alberts, Cyndi Sondrol, Pat Sullivan, Boyd Christenson and ex-wife Mary Bridgman, the mother of my two children.

As one goes along in the life of retirement, one fact has become painfully obvious to me. One loses more old friends each year than new ones you acquire. I can’t help but feel poorer for their loss, but also richer for the impact they had on my life.

On a final sports note, I couldn’t help but chuckle over the loss of Brother Brewster and his not-so-Golden Gophers to Iowa State in the Insight Bowl on Thursday.

Brother Brewster came into Minnesota a few years ago preaching about his goal of taking “Gopher Nation” to the Rose Bowl.

Minnesota sold a whopping 1,900 tickets to its fans for the Insight Bowl and lost to a team that hadn’t beaten Minnesota since 1898.

Neither team would have even been bowl eligible if not for a little help from the Dakotas. Iowa State whipped North Dakota State among its six victories before the bowl game, the Gophers nipped South Dakota State to reach six wins.

Gopher nation? It’s about the size of a suburb to Mekinock these days.