Poking Langley | Coupeville Sports

Archive for the ‘Poking Langley’ Category

#PrayForSouthWhidbey!!

Posted in Poking Langley, tagged Booster Club, felonies, Michael Coe, resignations, suspensions, SWHS Falcons on December 5, 2016| 1 Comment »

Coupeville reclaimed The Bucket, but it came home dented thanks to South Whidbey anger management issues. (John Fisken photo)

Our rivals to the South are in turmoil.

South Whidbey High School’s football program is in shambles, and now the head coach has quit, apparently moments ahead of a parent movement to oust him from the position.

The school’s Booster Club is missing what could be tens of thousands of dollars and a felony-level investigation is underway.

Even the Falcons recent trip to state in volleyball was marred by players being suspended for alleged involvement in a party.

Those suspensions are lingering over to basketball season, with both SWHS boys and girls hoops teams missing players during the first week of the season.

While the severity — of lack thereof — for breaking the athletic code is a hot topic behind the scenes (school officials, as normal, have made little to no public comment), the other two matters are grabbing bold-faced headlines.

The Falcon gridiron squad went 0-9, forfeiting to Archbishop Thomas Murphy and declining to play a crossover game against Lynden Christian.

South Whidbey opened the season by being blasted 41-10 by Coupeville, after which the Falcons returned The Bucket — the trophy awarded to the winner of the Island rivalry game — bearing a huge, and recently-inflicted, dent in the side which has the Wolf logo.

It was downhill from there, as SWHS barely fielded enough players to take the field the remainder of the season.

Second-year coach Michel Coe, who had been unable to obtain a teaching position at the school, resigned and joined the Meadowdale football program. He’s a para-educator at the school.

To read more about the turmoil in the Falcon football program, hop over to:

Falcon football coach resigns from program

Meanwhile, in a far more serious matter, police are deep into an investigation of financial malfeasance within the school’s Booster Club program.

While Coupeville’s own Booster Club has been a model of financial propriety, it appears the same may not be true in Langley.

For a full break-down, pop over to:

Missing funds at South Whidbey High School Booster Club sparks case

Read Full Post »

Rain or merely sweet, sweet Falcon tears?!?!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Poking Langley, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Julia Myers, PicMonkey, smack talk, South Whidbey lost on January 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Do not trifle with Julia Myers (12). (Shelli Trumbull photo)

A fourth quarter comeback. A huge Wolf win. The Falcons pushed to the brink of playoff elimination.

Tuesday night was big for the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team, as its players stepped up and stormed back, firmly stepping on their Langley rivals in what is likely the final time the two hoops squads will meet in Cascade Conference play.

With CHS planning to leave the 1A/2A league behind and join a new 1A division of the Olympic League, the Island schools may continue to meet in years to come. But, if they do, it will be in non-conference games (and, possibly, the postseason).

So, what better way to go out than sweeping the season series with a 48-38 win?

Well, I can think of one other way — taking a Shelli Trumbull photo and tweaking it with photo-editing software (http://www.picmonkey.com/).

Why? Cause it amuses me. And sometimes that’s all you really need.

Read Full Post »

It’s a woman’s world!!

Posted in Bodybuilding, Fitness modeling, Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, In Memorium, Navy pride, Nobody knows nothing, Not sports? Tough!, Poking Langley, tagged 2013, Basketball, Biggest Stories, Navy, Page Views, Soccer, Stats, Women rule on December 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Some of the women who made news in 2013. (Enlarge the photo to get the total poster-worthy collage experience.)

Women ruled in 2013.

Nine of the 15 most-viewed articles I produced this year were about female athletes (or non-athletes).

From South Whidbey’s exiled hoops star Hayley Newman at #3 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/02/01/exclusive-south-whidbeys-best-player-walks-talks/) to Wolf grad turned competitive bodybuilder Cavan Simonson at #9 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/03/cav-cav-kicks-some-well-toned-tushie/), it was a woman’s world.

Tragedy made an impact, in stories a person would prefer not to write.

The unexpected death of South Whidbey High School boys’ basketball coach Henry Pope (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/07/25/whidbey-loses-a-basketball-giant/) was the #1 most-read story of the year, while former CHS volleyball coach Kim Meche, and her battle with the cancer that eventually claimed her, nabbed slots #6 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/04/11/night-coach/), #10, and #13.

You didn’t need to be an athlete, as proved by appearances from a mysterious Navy wife at #2 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/07/28/exclusive-the-navy-wife-behind-i-support-the-olf-tells-all/) rock goddess Savanna Dohner at #11 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/18/music-has-my-heart-and-it-always-will/ and all-around goddess Zoie Tingstad at #15 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/10/18/say-a-prayer-for-zoie-please/).

And it wasn’t just the stories, as the feminine businesswomen ruled as well, with Kelsey Simmons Design having the most-viewed ad (by a large margin) among my 46 sponsors.

Helping her cause — a birthday article on Kelsey that topped out at #51 (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/11/18/awesome-just-turned-30/), a feature story on her business (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/22/kelsey-simmons-is-awesome-by-design/) that ended up at #33 (Larry Bird’s number, which always bodes well), and a story on her wonder dog, Sitka, (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/09/26/worlds-most-talented-dog-missing-find-her-and-get-a-free-dinner/) that trumped mama by ten slots.

Dogs. Fluffy, fluffy doggies. They’re popular.

While stories about women were the most-read, the best way to get comments (lots and lots of comments) was to write about the always-popular topic of Coupeville vs. South Whidbey, especially if you were prone to pokin’ the Falcons, as I was.

The five most-commented-on articles I wrote all concerned South Whidbey, with the ensuing brouhaha launched on the Hayley Newman article providing the only time I have had to ever shut down a talk-back. The Falcon faithful and their crayons…

I mellowed (a bit) as the year went on, however, and tried to send a (small) olive branch or two South Whidbey way, with a feature on personable, graceful Falcon soccer star Maia Sparkman (https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/30/the-falcons-are-alright-maia-sparkman-sparkles/) getting big hits.

Small steps.

As we move into 2014, what have we learned?

McKayla Bailey, aka The Photo Bomb Queen, always gets big page hits for her photos. Always.

Belgium is my go-to country (thanks to Iris Ryckaert), second only to the USA in terms of readership. Suck on that, Canada and Britain.

No one knows anything. Several times I watched stories I expected to be big die a hard death, while stories I had no hopes for turned into blockbusters.

And last, but not least. Always, always write about women. Always.

Read Full Post »

Does it rain more on the South End, or is that just the tears?!?!

Posted in Football, Poking Langley on March 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

And on your own field, too.

You see me driving, but you can’t touch my bucket.

Sad Falcon told himself he wouldn’t cry and… all this … DUST!!

I feel your pain, South Whidbey.

No matter how many anonymous comments you make, you can’t make the ache in your heart go away.

You look in the mirror and you know the truth. And it hurts.

Coupeville and South Whidbey meet on the field, on the court, on the diamond, in a lot of sports. But in only one is there a trophy that goes to the winning team, and that is the sport of football.

And every day, when you get up on the South End of the Island, when you go to school, the same stark truth haunts you.

The Bucket lives in a trophy case at CHS, and that stings if you’re a Falcon.

So go ahead and let it out. Let the sweet, sweet tears roll down those cheeks.

After all, you all seem really, really concerned with our “fertilizer” here in farmer town.

Good “fertilizer” needs moisture.

Therefore, it’s awfully nice of you to provide so much moisture every time your eyes start getting “itchy.”

Read Full Post »

I kinda like that Josh Bishop kid!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Poking Langley on March 4, 2013| 16 Comments »

That moment when you realize: “I really should have gone to Coupeville!”

I know. I know.

He’s a South Whidbey Falcon, and normally all you can feel is sympathy that they have to wear that ugly shade of blue they claim as one of their school colors.

But this Bishop fellow. He seems like a pretty good guy.

Cause, if nothing else, I know he’s reading me. Or has read me from time to time.

In a recent South Whidbey Record story about the seniors on the Falcon boys’ basketball team, Bishop responds to one of the questions by saying: “I’m really proud of the team for sticking with it and working until the end. That Coupeville game was great, and it’s always nice to put Coupeville and their blogs in their place.”

Ooh. Rib shot. I’m gonna feel that one for days.

Well played, Mr. Bishop. Well played.

And just think, if you went to Coupeville High School, what with you being a decent athlete and a good guy, you might see your name here a lot.

You know, it would be nice if someone did what I was doing on the South End.

But they don’t.

Cause, in the end, no one really cares about South Whidbey sports, do they?

Ooh. Rib shot right back, with much respect.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »