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Archive for the ‘Happy birthday’ Category

Let’s hear it for the dads!!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged , , , on April 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Lincoln Kelley (beard)

The men with the goatees — Lincoln Kelley (tan shirt) and Jay Roberts (dark blue polo).

Together, they have yet to make me one dang cookie.

But, put that aside, and Jay Roberts and Lincoln Kelley have had a huge impact on Coupeville High School sports and my coverage of the Wolves.

The duo, who celebrate birthdays this week, have sired four children who currently wear the red and black, and all of their offspring excel at their chosen sports.

Whether it’s girls (senior Madeline Roberts is a softball sensation while freshman Ally Roberts is a state champion horse rider and both are loud and proud Wolf cheerleaders) or boys (senior Brandon Kelley and sophomore Lathom Kelley are currently tearing up the track, often together as members of various speedy relay teams), their kids are some of the best and brightest.

Not just good athletes, but good all-around people.

Like their dads.

Jay and Lincoln are the sort of parents you like to see, guys who are always in the stands, supportive and encouraging, proud of their kids in winning times and losing times.

So yes, it has been the CHS and CMS moms (and female Wolf athletes) who have led the way in making me cookies (saints, one and all), but, every once in awhile, it’s good to stop and remember the dads of Wolf Nation as well.

Now, maybe just convince them to get in the kitchen. Maybe not on your birthday, but there are 364 other days in the year…

Chop-chop, gentlemen!

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Fun Police can’t stop Batman!!

Posted in Boys Soccer, Boys Tennis, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , , on March 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Jason Knoll -- The Man.

Jason Knoll — The Man.

Jason Knoll doesn’t play by your silly rules.

Crack down on students dressing up at games and cheering for their classmates, and the Coupeville High School senior, who happens to be celebrating his birthday today, will arrive to save the day — and the school year– by dressing up as Batman and popping up at as many games as possible.

A triple threat (tennis, soccer, band) with Jack Nicholson eyebrows, Knoll is the last brave man fighting the good fight.

The Fun Police will never catch him, never shut him down, and his legend builds day by day.

Years from now, when CHS students are allowed to run free again in the stands, they will look back and whisper the name of the man who refused (with a smile on his face) to give in and be quiet.

And he’ll be there in the shadows, watching from above, and a low growl will trickle down on a new generation.

“I’m Batman!”

He fought for your freedom. He refused to bend his knee.

For Knoll lives by the creed you all should remember: “They can take our vuvuzela horns, but they will never take our freedom!!”

Shine on, you crazy genius.

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“Two Fists” has your back!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, Girls Tennis, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , on March 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Micky LeVine, urban legend.

Micky LeVine, urban legend.

Micky LeVine will knock a girl out.

Now, you may be surprised to hear that, since the Coupeville High School junior seems like a pretty easy-going young woman who usually is wearing a smile.

Add on that she seems like a devoted older sister to younger siblings Jae and Izzy, and she doesn’t fit the classic profile of a brawler.

But mess with one of her soccer teammates, and the petite one will unleash the wrath of freakin’ God upon your head.

Her enduring moment on the pitch — and she’s had a ton of big ones playing for both CHS and the Whidbey Islanders GU18 select squad — came when she felt one of her girls had been unnecessarily roughed up by a rival team.

Out came the fists, like Wolverine popping the claws, and LeVine offered to drop-kick the entire other squad, and the ref as well, into tomorrow.

Rarely has a yellow card been more appreciated by a player’s coach and teammates.

Interesting fact: the other team immediately stopped trying to push the Islanders around.

And thus a nickname was born.

Well, at least in my mind, it was. Who knows if anyone else calls Ms. LeVine “Two Fists?”

They should, though.

Today, as she celebrates her 17th birthday — rumor has it that her arrival forced mom Joline to skip out early on an episode of “Days of Our Lives” — Micky is a justly-celebrated soccer and tennis standout.

She’s a bright, shining star who deserves her moment in the spotlight.

Just don’t get between her and her birthday cake, that’s all I’m sayin’. Cause she has two fists, and she knows how to use ’em.

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Ally Roberts honors family tradition, stays awesome!!

Posted in Cheer, Happy birthday, Horse sports, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on March 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Ally Roberts, she was born awesome. (John Fisken and Jennifer Eelkema-Roberts photos)

Ally Roberts, she was born awesome.

She is heir to a pretty impressive legacy.

Her grandfather (Sandy Roberts) was a legendary Coupeville High School coach.

Her dad (Jay Roberts), aunt (Sherry (Bonacci) Roberts) and uncle (Jon Roberts) were all premier athletes during their times as Wolves.

Her older sister (Madeline Roberts) is going to play softball on scholarship in college.

So it’s a good thing Ally Roberts is pretty dang awesome herself. Otherwise, she might not have much to talk about during family get-togethers.

But the CHS freshman, who celebrates her 15th birthday today, has already accomplished much in her short time as a Wolf.

Volleyball player, and sparker of the one-woman “Ally Rally.” Irrepressible cheerleader whose smile lights up the entire gym on its own. Both nice accomplishments.

But put her on a horse, and that’s where Ally really rules.

Her collection of ribbons and trophies is building at a staggering rate, and at the top of the pile is a state championship she claimed in intermediate trail riding at the Washington State Fair in September.

That event is no walk in the park, consisting of a rider taking their horse through a course that can include gate (open and close), bridge walk-throughs (cones or poles), jog- throughs (cones or poles), jog-overs (poles on the ground), back-throughs (L’s, U’s, serpentines), loping (circles, over poles) and sidepassing (i.e. to a mailbox).

What’s next for the pint-sized spark-plug? More ribbons, more trophies, more awesomeness, and then, probably total freakin’ world dominance.

So learn her name now, cause you’ll be saying it a lot over the next few years.

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All hail the one true king!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Hammer Time, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Hunter Hammer, the biggest thing to happen to sports coverage on Whidbey ... ever.

Just a taste of Hunter Hammer. Bottom row, the early days with dad Mark (left) and mom Linda (right). Above, the modern day master at work.

It’s another busy day at Wolf Nation’s Birthday Center.

CHS junior golfer Christine Fields, a two-time state meet competitor, hits the big 1-7 today.

Also, highly-respected hoops guru Avis Mitchell, who has given the Wolves three basketball players in the last two years (sons Anthony Bergeron, Dante Mitchell and DeAndre Mitchell) celebrates her arrival on the planet.

But the fact remains, in terms of Coupeville High School sports, both are overshadowed by the six-foot-seven legend himself, the one true Page Hit King, the man, the myth … Hunter Hammer.

Many have come for his title, and a few have made some serious inroads — I’m looking at you, softball sensation McKayla “Photo Bomb Queen” Bailey.

But none have knocked him off his perch yet.

Hammer, whether rejecting shots by delusional basketball rivals who dared to drive into his paint or flinging shot puts into the great wide unknown, is now, always was, and will always be, a first-class athletic beast.

But what separates him from others is his love of the camera, his willingness to go that extra mile to deliver the kind of photos that bring me increased page hits.

Without his birth 21 years ago today, we probably wouldn’t be talking about coupevillesports.com now.

Cause, seriously, what reason would there be for us to exist if not to pay tribute to the king?

It is always Hammer Time around these parts, and no one has to tell us to stop to get us to honor him.

Hunter, you complete us. And now I need to go to another room, because I told myself I wouldn’t cry and…

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