Ranting and Raving | Coupeville Sports

Archive for the ‘Ranting and Raving’ Category

Zuckerberg? More like Suckerberg, am I right?

Posted in Ranting and Raving, tagged AI cops, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Rants, Twitter on April 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Me, every single time I use Facebook.

This article doesn’t matter.

I can get as mad as I want, or craft a beautifully barbed attack on Facebook, and it won’t change a thing.

Mark Zuckerberg will continue to swim in a waterfall of cash every day, the AI cops who make my life tougher will continue to make asinine decisions and refuse to answer for their actions, and I will continue to have to use the burning dumpster of a website.

My articles are NOT published on Facebook, or any other social media site.

If you are reading these words, you are here on my blog, Coupeville Sports, even if some people don’t understand the difference.

But I use Facebook and Twitter/X to drive eyeballs to my blog by posting links to my stories there.

The parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles hang out on the former, while other sports writers creep around the edges of the latter.

Facebook, in particular, is a useful tool in promoting my work.

When it wants to.

When it doesn’t, its AI cops remove my links, but won’t show me which links they are removing, or really say why.

There’s some vague mumbo jumbo about spam, so I stop tagging people and it helps … a bit.

Until it doesn’t.

There’s no point in asking why, as Facebook NEVER answers.

Then they make it so the thumbnail photos with my links don’t show up, so I have to work around that and go to posting photos with links attached below, instead of just links.

Twice the work, until one day, for no reason, suddenly the old system works again.

Then they shadow ban me, where I can post links through my personal account, but not under my Coupeville Sports account.

Until one day, for no reason, suddenly the old system works again.

Until it doesn’t.

Then we’re back to Facebook removing a link to a story I published last night about CHS grad Logan Martin winning the hammer throw at a college meet.

Cause … well, they’ll be damned if they’re going to tell me why.

Probably for the same reason they once removed a link to a story for a charity fundraiser.

Cause they can.

It’s all so pointless and beyond frustrating, and it makes it harder to stay as invested in this whole blogging thing.

I’m 12+ years into Coupeville Sports — this is literally article 11,111 (seriously) — and my readership numbers are the highest they’ve ever been.

So, people are getting here, where you’re actually sitting, reading my blog itself.

If I could ignore Facebook, I would, but I can see the numbers on the backside and I know, when Zuckerberg’s folly works, it does kick readership my way.

So, I can rant and rave all I want, but I’ll still be warming my hands on the stupid burning dumpster as I do.

Read Full Post »

Fight our streaming overlords!!

Posted in Ranting and Raving, tagged Basketball, live stream, MorganTV, NFHS Network, WIAA on February 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coke ain’t Pepsi, and in a country where my winter depression beard is allowed to get this out of hand, you don’t have to accept the latter as the former. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There you are in a restaurant, and it’s time to order your beverage.

“I’ll take a Coke, thanks.”

And the waitress looks uncomfortably around, takes a deep sigh that seems to travel from the top of her head to the bottom of her well-worn shoes, and asks, “Would a Pepsi be OK?”

Now your first response is “No, if I wanted to drink toilet water, I’d go drink toilet water.

“You can put a few bursts of thick, sludgy syrup in there, it’s still going flat in .00002 seconds, and it’s still tasting like something a sasquatch left on the side of Mt. Rainier.”

But you’re polite and all, so fighting down your gag reflex, you weakly smile and say, “Sure…” while knowing you will hate every Godforsaken swallow.

Now, this is a sports blog, so today our waitress is the gum-snapping, tired-beyond-belief folks at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, and the “Would Pepsi be OK?” and “Sure…” conversation is being used in the context of streaming.

As in me asking, “May I please watch the livestream of my state basketball game being done on Facebook by a mom who can properly frame the picture, keeps things in focus, gets close enough I can see actual faces, AND provides witty commentary with regular score updates?”

To which our waitress responds, “Would NFHS be OK?”

You mean the crap-ass company whose cameras can be defeated by a single hair, taken down by a flake of dust, brought to a standstill by a single drop of rain? Or is that just my tears…

The charlatans whose remote, often terribly positioned cameras allegedly follow action, but that means many, MANY times the ball goes one way, and the AI system sends the camera the other way, so we can watch a five-year-old cruise by clutching his giant chewy pretzel?

But that’s only if the camera isn’t already posting multiple images, causing the ballhandler to vanish, reappear, vanish again, then flat out disappear into the Bermuda Triangle.

Where hopefully they’ll find Amelia Earhart, all while the on-screen scoreboard stays stuck at 0-0.

That NFHS?

The one that struggles to stay on the air all too frequently, offering the endless loop of death for our entertainment?

The one that shoots its commercials in hi-def, NFL-ready images, then reverts back to 1970’s TV once the feed actually kicks in?

While charging us for the pleasure??????

Oh, that NFHS. The one Bigfoot deposited on the side of the trail.

Why does this come up today, you ask?

Because, as the Coupeville boys prepare to play their state opener against Tonasket, we’re being told the WIAA is trying to get the small-time innovators out of the streaming business and force us to send money to their incompetent chosen web site.

All so they can get a cut of that sweet, sweet moola, in much the same way they do when they tell you cash (the legal tender of the USA) is forbidden and GoFan (with its fees and frequent web site screw ups) is golden.

Now, I question how the cucumber sandwich-eatin’ dilettantes at the WIAA can enforce a ban on people using Facebook Live to stream games.

In this day and age, everyone, whether they want one or not, has a phone.

So, if everyone in the stands raises their devices at the same time, how do they know if you’re taking a photo, talking to Grandma, playing Fruit Ninja, trying to find what year Hoosiers hit movie screens, or live streaming the game?

Answer, 1986, and they don’t.

Remember, the WIAA is the same organization which got caught TWICE this season ranking non-existent teams #1 in their RPI rankings.

Once is an accident. Twice, someone needs to go back to school.

Those RPI rankings? The WIAA only pushes them because they have sponsors who pay to attach their names to the whole sham.

And then newspaper writers and bloggers (ahem…) use the weekly release of said numbers to get quick page hits on the internet by trumpeting the results.

Who’s rising? Who’s falling? Which team on this list doesn’t actually exist???

So, when it comes to streaming, the WIAA hopes well-meaning school officials will put subtle pressure on parents.

And that those parents, being polite like the people gagging down Pepsi against their will, will go along with the scam and turn off their feed.

That way WIAA head honchos can get back to plundering the cream cheese and veggie tasty tidbits paid for by your money.

But what if you don’t turn off the feed?

Imagine a world where you all rise up, sending countless live streams out onto the internet, all infinitely better than the mediocre pap “produced” by NFHS.

Say no to “Pepsi!”

If they won’t give you Coke, order Root-Beer or lemonade!

Free the stream! Bring the whole empire crashing down around their heads, even if it means they can’t have cucumber on their sandwiches.

Anarchy on the hardwood? God bless, America, where you’re still free to be as annoying as you like.

Read Full Post »

Together, we’re changing the game

Posted in Ranting and Raving, tagged Morgan White, NFHS, sports bloggers, Venmo, Willie Smith on February 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“Noooo, don’t leave me. I complete you.”

We’re building something unique here, you and me.

From those who have allowed me to use their photos, to those who have financially supported my 2:00 AM rantings, to those who read, discuss, and then choose not to throw tomatoes at me in the parking lot, you’re the backbone of what this blog is.

If you weren’t involved, it would just be a dude screaming random thoughts at the heavens, making it harder for the landlord’s cats to digest their meals in peace while staring out across Penn Cove.

But we have this interaction, on multiple levels.

Which isn’t always easy for me, as I am a severe introvert who would otherwise happily stay tucked under my blankies on my old recliner, watching endless crappy movies, if I didn’t feel a certain responsibility to fire up the Xterra and head into Cow Town to cover sports in person.

And, as anyone who plops their butt on the rock-hard bleachers in the CHS gym tonight as Coupeville’s hoops stars wage a holy war against eternal arch-nemesis La Conner will tell you — live always beats digital.

The modern era, with its streaming “options,” offers a chance to see games on your TV, computer, or (choke) phone, yes.

But the de facto national leader, NFHS, is a two-bit con job offering up cameras which break, freeze, fracture into double or triple images, or are easily defeated by a random hair floating by in the breeze.

Much less a drop of rain, which basically shuts the whole system down.

On the positive side, there is “MorganTV,” as Wolf Mom Morgan White — a one-woman wrecking crew who will come down there and rough you up if you elbow her pale prairie prince, Cole, one more time!! — delivers the best entertainment value on the internet.

For free, NFHS, for free. So, get your grubby hands out of my pocket!!

I kid, I kid … I don’t pay for NFHS. That’s why I stay on Willie Smith’s good side, so I can use his account.

But anyways, back to Coupeville Sports, which, as far as I can tell, is the only blog of its kind in Washington state.

In a world where old school newspapers have seen their staffs gutted, we’re still out here, in a small town on the prairie, in the middle of a rock in the water, covering EVERYTHING.

Which doesn’t always amuse school administrators.

But you want to bask in the 99% positivity, you sort of have to accept the 1% “negativity” — and maybe make it easier to get access to the positive stories, so I have less time to troll social media for gossip.

Just sayin’.

“Santa Claus is always watching us? He ain’t got jack on this guy! He already knows football is playing Winlock next year! And not even my mom knew that!!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

When you have someone comin’ in hot 24/7/365, you get varsity, JV, C-Team, middle school, youth sports, off the beaten path stuff like horse riding and dog showing, and more non-sports stories than you would reasonably expect on a blog called Coupeville Sports.

Go back through the 10,944 articles I’ve produced since debuting in August 2012, and there’s a cornucopia of stories covering everything from Renaissance fairs to robotics to theater productions, to, I kid you not, mermaids.

I mean, I’ve even covered stuff from Oak Harbor, South Whidbey, Anacortes, and Brocktonville (maybe not Brocktonville…) on a blog that starts with the word … COUPEVILLE.

I move quickly, I strike when least expected (seriously, 2:00 AM is a sweet spot for publishing), and I rarely, if ever, say no to a story idea.

My unspoken agreement with my readers is that 99.92% of the time, when you get up in the morning and sit down to pour coffee into your Bran Flakes, you’ll be able to read about every game played the night before.

EVERY game, varsity or JV.

EVERY day of the year.

Today, Valentine’s Day, is the 163rd consecutive day I’ve published at least one story (and I never publish just one story…).

Last time I missed a day, there was no power in Coupeville for 24 hours-plus. And it still chafes me.

It’s a fair amount of work, but it’s resulted in a somewhat rare occurrence — instead of plateauing or receding, my readership numbers are booming as we approach 12 years in the pits.

During 2023, Coupeville Sports broke all of its high-water marks, in terms of readers and page views, and 2024 has started with another big jump forward.

Love it or hate it, people are reading it like never before.

Which keeps me going, through the great days and the mediocre ones. The days where I think I can do this forever, and the days where that recliner beckons.

As I said, I am a severe introvert.

More than once, I’ve debated taking my winter depression beard and running off into the woods to reside amongst the squirrels.

Until my sister realizes I’m living out of the Xterra on the back of her property and sends out my nephews, tasers in hand, to “clean up the joint.”

“What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in that area.”

So, while I’m probably not getting that indoor/outdoor swimming pool anytime soon, I keep on writing and survive day-to-day thanks to the generosity of my readers.

Coupeville Sports has always been free, from article #1 to article 10,944, and it will remain so until whatever article marks the end of this odyssey.

Read away.

But, if you want to be my valentine, or be the wind beneath my wings, or just want to ensure that my nephews don’t taze me, man, you can support the cause several ways.

Venmo:

@David-Svien

PayPal:

https://paypal.me/DavidSvien?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

Snail mail:

David Svien
165 Sherman
Coupeville, WA 98239

Mob style:

You haven’t fully lived until someone slips you money, or a Coke and hot dog, or smoked salmon and cookies, at a game, leaving other fans wondering if they saw a drug deal go down live and in living color.

“Is he dealing smack now?!?! Someone should tell his sister! She’ll have his nephews tase him!”

Read Full Post »

Respect the coach, respect the job

Posted in Ranting and Raving, tagged CHS Wolves, CMS Wolves, coach chatter, parking slots, Rants on November 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes a soccer ball is just a soccer ball. This article applies to coaches in all Coupeville sports. (Jackie Saia photo)

Back it up and keep on moving.

One of my biggest irritants on this job is watching people invade the personal space of coaches before and during games.

Whether you’re a parent, a fan, a photographer, a writer, a student not involved in that particular sport — this is not about you or me.

There are other times and places to talk to these coaches, to badger them with stupid questions about things that have no direct connection to what their job entails.

These men and women are being paid (and not enough) to coach the children of Coupeville, to build positive programs, to win.

When they are sitting on a bench, or prowling the sideline, they are scouting, they are assessing, they are planning, they are doing their damn JOB.

They do not need you, or me, or anyone, to insert ourselves into that bubble and try to chat them up.

To ask about the warmup music, or why a parent hasn’t paid for a photo, or any of a million little items which can, and should, wait for a better time.

Invariably, our coaches — as solid a group as any in the region — will choose to be polite, to endure having their concentration broken by our inane chatter.

They shouldn’t have to make that choice.

At a professional game, if you invade the coaching space prior to a game, or at halftime, you would likely be ejected by large gentlemen wearing jackets that say security.

Maybe it’s time to treat Coupeville coaches the same.

Go eat your hot dog someplace else and let our coaches concentrate.

Stop getting in their way.

And stop parking in the slots that are supposed to be theirs, on the side of the gym looking at Prairie Center.

Have to walk a little further? Good.

If you wanted the prime parking slot, you should have applied for the job.

Write your questions down, and AFTER the game, AFTER they have had an appropriate time to speak to their athletes, if they so choose, then bring your concerns and ideas and side questions to them.

Unless they have personally asked you to do it in a different manner, or at a different time.

This is NOT about us.

Not about me, or you, and the faster we all accept that, the faster we embrace that, the faster we make life easier for our coaches.

The job is already a test of even the toughest person, and changes in social media, in accessibility, in everything that makes up the modern world, makes it tougher now than it was back in say, 1952.

You can’t scream too loudly, have to make sure everyone’s feelings are taken into account.

Certainly, can’t slam player’s football-helmet-wearing heads against locker room walls, leaving behind lil’ dents which last for decades.

And simmer down, Skippy. I get that the new imposed touchy-feely days are better in a lot of ways.

I’m not calling for heads to bounce off of walls.

Maybe for all cell phones to be taken away, and for our teens to return to working on farms in between games…

Give Bow Down to Cow Town even more meaning if opposing teams arrived to find old-school commitment had swept the prairie, and “Operation: Hoosiers” was in full effect.

But anyway, this is about the life of a coach in 2023, not my desire for Brad Sherman to embrace his inner Gene Hackman.

The point, and I probably have one if I focus, is coaching is not easy.

In any era, much less today.

So have some damn appreciation for those who make the commitment that the rest of us, sitting in the stands, and wandering the sidelines, don’t make.

And stop making their job harder!

When I walk into a gym or come to a ball field, if the coach says hello, I say it back and keep on moving.

If they choose to come over and talk to me during “their time,” fine. That’s THEIR choice.

If they don’t, I’m wearing my big boy shorts, so I hitch ’em up and leave that coach alone and let them do their job and talk to them at an appropriate time.

Some of you out there need to start doing the same.

Read Full Post »

Let the ice cream man dance!!

Posted in Ranting and Raving, tagged Cheer, CHS Wolves, football, The Wobble, V.I.C. on October 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It was a different time, back in the days when the press box was small, open air, and bee-infested — and a scoreboard operator could get his Wobble on. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Where were you when they turned Wobble off?

It’s been 11 years since the powers that be shut down use of the song, which came with its own dance, as the exit music for Coupeville High School football games.

Scoreboard operator and ice cream purveyor Joel Norris has never been the same since.

Without being able to Wobble, he’s a mere shell of a man.

Instead of living the sweet life in a world of soul-sustaining Rocky Road and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, there are rumors Joel has been experimenting with Rum Raisin and … choke … Black Licorice.

Now, if you weren’t around in October 2012, you likely have no clue of what I’m talking about.

The rapper V.I.C., who launched the song and the subsequent dance craze across America, has largely faded away himself, not having a measurable hit since 2015.

The internet says he’s still out there, bustin’ rhymes until the break of dawn in relative obscurity, and Wobble even had a brief renaissance on TikTok in 2020.

But he’s not headlining any major tours with Beyonce.

Hopefully V.I.C. (short for Victory in Christ – thanks, Internet) held on to all the rights to his greatest hit, and still lives in the comfort he deserves.

Cause Wobble was, and is, a banger.

Even in the slightly cleaned-up version which was used by high schools.

Cause that was what one parent complaint brought crashing down — the PG-ized take on the song, which was what CHS cheerleaders used for their performance.

It’s way past time to bring Wobble back to Coupeville football games, even if current Wolf seniors were … um, seven years old … the last time it ripped from the PA sound system.

I mean, we were still using the old, tiny wooden press box ruled by 10,001 angry bees — some alive, others likely zombies — back in those days.

So, reality tells me Wobble isn’t on the soundtrack for most current Coupeville students.

But hey, these are the same teens who belt out every line of Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver and Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, not to mention a whole slew of ’80s and ’90s classics.

They can learn the Wobble again.

And V.I.C. might be out there looking for a gig that gives him a trip to a small island in Washington state and be willing to lead the revival in person.

Stranger things have happened.

As we count down the days until Homecoming 2023, now is the time to rise up and declare as one:

Oh, oh, oh, oh
All the shawtys in the club
(Let me see you just)
Back it up, drop it down
(Let me see you just)
Get low n scrub the grown
(Let me see you just)
Push it up, push it up
(Let me see you just)