Xavier Murdy makes a deposit. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
We rolled right over them.
Sparked by a grandma on a mission, Wolf Nation overwhelmed 37 other fan bases to carry our guy to a lopsided win at the polls.
Coupeville High School senior Xavier Murdy, one of the leaders of a 13-0 boys basketball squad, handily won a voting showcase which ended Sunday night.
The poll brought together a mad mix of girls and boys from across the state, and hailing from every classification, and was hosted by SB Live Washington.
Its official name is the “WaFd Bank Washington High School Athlete of the Week,” and for the dates of Jan. 17-23, that’s one Mr. Murdy.
And it was like a tsunami hitting the shore, as the Wolf senior captured 138,436 votes, or 48.14% of every vote cast.
Murdy held off Zillah hoops star Ashton Waldman, who started strong, and finished less so, ending with 113,106 tallies.
Third place was way, way back, with Eastlake’s Will Woodward, a basketball player who has signed with the University of Washington as a baseball star, eking out 8,185 votes.
In all, the 38 athletes involved in the poll brought in 287,568 votes.
Left to right, top to bottom, are Wolf softball and tennis coaches Katrina McGranahan, Justine McGranahan (and grandson Braxton), Kevin McGranahan, Aaron Lucero, Ron Wright, Lark Gustafson, and Ken Stange.
CHS baseball and track coaches Steve Hilborn, Will Thayer, Bob Martin, Randy Thayer, Randy King, Brandon Bailey, Ferron Rice, Neil Rixe.
It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these.
With prep sports back in action after a year-plus absence, it’s time for another super-unofficial, highly-competitive coach’s poll.
We toss 15 Coupeville High School spring sports coaches into a (digital) room, you get 50 hours to mash your phones and computer keyboards into submission, and one guru emerges as the winner.
Their prize?
A nice, warm glow in the chest, and the respect of the internet. Plus the chance to needle all their fellow coaches.
So, priceless.
This time around, we’re not including any middle school coaches, as CMS is not competing against their rivals this school year.
Yes, there have been intramurals, and coaches have done amazing work — but we’re limiting this royal rumble to just those involved with teams playing other schools.
So, softball, track and field, baseball, and girls tennis.
Head coaches and assistant coaches, paid or volunteer, are included, but no managers or former Wolf athletes who are hanging out and helping for a few days.
If your name was in a Senior Night program produced by CHS, you’re in. If not, I’m sure you’ll survive.
And now on to the bloodbath!
The poll kicks off Tuesday, April 6 at 8 AM and closes 50 hours later on Thursday, April 8 at 10 AM.
Vote as many times as you like, and the more, the merrier.
I have no restrictions set.
WordPress sometimes does little things to slow people down, but you can usually avoid that by bouncing to a different device, before returning to your preferred one.
Those who get creative claim the throne!
UPDATE – 4/6 – 10:15 PM:
Poll has ended early.
Over the past nine years, there have been several different companies involved with these polls on WordPress.
I’ve run polls which have collected everywhere from 17 votes to 123,908 votes.
And yes, there was probably some serious shenanigans on that last one…
But through 27 previous polls, no one tried to charge me extra.
Until this time.
Crowd Signal (which I have never heard of before), “will not display new submissions in the results after 2,500 “signals” or votes.”
“Crowd Signal will still collect all your responses and when you upgrade to a paid plan they will be shown in the reports.”
Crowd Signal can blow it out their collective ass.
It was like a Godzilla movie, one in which Tokyo has no chance against the rampaging beast.
Rolling out to a huge lead, James Vidoni, former Wolf baseball player turned volunteer assistant coach, decimated the field in the “Best Spring Coach” poll.
With 12 hours left in the 26-coach, 50-hour rumble, the CHS grad had pulled in 72% of the vote.
If that had held, Vidoni would have posted the largest margin of victory in any poll conducted on Coupeville Sports.
But, he finally got a serious challenger late, when CMS track guru Elizabeth Bitting roared into action, piling up 700+ votes in the final half-day of competition.
While she didn’t make it all the way back, Bitting did finish with 950 votes, while Vidoni topped everyone with 1,694.
Rounding out the top five were CHS track coach Bob Martin (233), CHS baseball coach Chris Smith (86) and CHS girls tennis coach Ken Stange (67).
This was the eighth Top Coach poll in blog history, and the eighth (or ninth) different winner.
Past champs include Ryan King (CHS football), Randy King (CHS track), Bitting (CMS cross country), Dante and DeAndre Mitchell (CMS basketball), Jon Gabelein (CMS track), BreAnna Boon (CHS cheer), and Brad Sherman (CHS basketball).
The Mitchell brothers competed as individuals, but finished deadlocked in the only tie we’ve ever had.
Wolf coaches (left to right, top to bottom) Michael Barenburg, Elizabeth Bitting, Drake Borden, Reese Cernick, Mike Etzell, Jon Gabelein, Lark Gustafson, Matt Hilborn, Steve Hilborn.
Lincoln Kelley, Randy King, Aaron Lucero, Bob Martin, Justine McGranahan, Kevin McGranahan, Kyle Nelson, Jaylen Nitta.
Bryce Payne (black hoodie), Neil Rixe, Luke Samford, Chris Smith, Ken Stange, Will Thayer, James Vidoni, Robert Wood, Ron Wright.
They can’t win on the field this spring, but they can win in the digital arena.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut down spring sports right as games were about to begin, leaving every Coupeville team, high school and middle school, sitting at a permanent 0-0.
But, as long as the blog is running, we can take every Wolf coach, set their fan bases at war, and sit back and watch the sweet, sweet page hits reign down.
And the votes, of course, since that will determine which spring coach is the coachiest coach of them all.
It’s simple.
There are 26 coaches, and we’re including those with paid gigs as well as volunteers, while hopefully not leaving anyone out.
You get 50 hours to vote as many times as your little heart desires, with the poll starting Saturday, April 18 at 3 PM and finishing Monday, April 20 at 5 PM.
The prize for the winner? A brief burst of internet fame and a warm glow in their chest.
Coupeville High School boys basketball coach Brad Sherman is our winter poll winner. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was the last poll of the decade, and it came down to a mere handful of votes.
In the end, Coupeville High School boys basketball coach BradSherman rallied to edge out CMS boys hoops guru Greg White and lay claim to the “much-coveted” title of “Top Coach of the Winter 2019.”
Sherman finished with 176 votes in our 13-coach, 50-hour poll, which wrapped Monday morning, while White racked up 172 tallies.
Rounding out the top five were Alex Evans (154), ArikGarthwaite (108), and MeganSmith (43).
Coupeville Sports 