Whidbey’s Best | Coupeville Sports

Archive for the ‘Whidbey’s Best’ Category

But I don’t want to read all 1,208 articles!!

Posted in One Year In, Whidbey's Best on August 14, 2013| 1 Comment »

I’m just here for the pictures. The badly-drawn pictures of a funeral for a thong…

Fine, slacker.

Friday marks one year of coupevillesports.com, and, for the latecomers, the thought of slogging through all 1,200+ articles so far produced may seem a bit daunting.

So, to make it easier, after a little thought (a very little) I have selected five articles that capture the diverse world that is this blog.

They are not the five most-read articles of all time, though one of these is in the top ten. But they run the gamut of what you might stumble across if you hang out for a bit.

Five to start with:

5) Scooping the Canadian-owned newspapers on this Island on a regular basis comes from a bit of skill, a bit of luck and a bit of chutzpah.

When Madison Tisa McPhee let me run a photo of her in the ER moments after she broke her nose in a Coupeville High School girls’ soccer game, it forever changed the playing field. We would take you anywhere, anytime, while the Canucks would enjoy their nap.

https://coupevillesports.com/2012/10/22/breaking-news-tisa-mcphee-suffers-accidental-nose-job/

4 & 3) I write a lot of stuff that is disposable and/or ridiculous, but, every couple of months, I stick the landing on a sensitive subject and remind you that, yes, I can be a serious journalist and such.

https://coupevillesports.com/2012/12/14/endure/
https://coupevillesports.com/2013/04/11/night-coach/

2) Of course, I also spend a lot of time just amusing myself, and this photo essay still makes me laugh. Which is all that matters.

https://coupevillesports.com/2013/01/30/caleb-valko-wants-your-sweet-sweet-cupcakes/

1) But my favorite article of the first year, the one that I’m most proud of for a lot of reasons, has little to do with sports. And that’s the point. It’s my blog and I can write about whatever I want.

So why not celebrate someone who is truly wonderful and make sure the world discovers her?

https://coupevillesports.com/2013/06/22/kelsey-simmons-is-awesome-by-design/

Read Full Post »

Kim Andrews has forsaken me!!

Posted in What the what, Whidbey's Best on August 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Kim Andrews (second from left) and her family.

Who will I harass now with my endless questions?

Kim Andrews, the woman who held the Coupeville High School athletic schedules together with Scotch tape, the maestro who made sure everything ran smoothly on the athletic field and beyond, the shining example of fair play and tolerance who tried to get me to stop poking South Whidbey so much, is no more.

Well, she’s still around, to be sure. But having left her duties as athletic secretary at CHS to take a position with the Whidbey Law Group, she will no longer be the focal point of my stream of emails.

“Why?” “Why?” “Why? “Why not…”

Who will be there to cock an eyebrow at the next Kole Kellison, when they’re leaning way too far out of the dilapidated CHS press box, high above the ground, trying to unhook electric cords in the rain while muttering “Does this school have good insurance?”

Who will apply a gentle, yet firm hand, to the removal of renegade vuvuzela horns from cheeky buggers in the stands at Wolf games?

And yes, her new job means she’ll be home by 4 every day and have Fridays off. Which is great for her, but how does that help me?

I kid, I kid.

But seriously, woman. Did you give any thought to me when you made this decision?!?!?!

Just for that, I’m going to go out and buy some vuvuzela horns, write “Property of Kim Andrews” on them and distribute them to Wolf fans.

That way, every time a wayward toot is heard, it’ll be like Kim is still in the facility. In spirit, at least, if not in body.

Read Full Post »

Back in Black (for a 25th year)!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Happy birthday, Where are they now?, Whidbey's Best on August 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Brittany Black (right) and girlfriend Megan King.

She was, and is, the real deal.

Brittany Black was one of the best basketball players to ever wear the black and red for Coupeville High School, a hustler and a scrapper who could hit a smooth jumper, then knock a girl out of her shoes while fighting for a rebound.

Playing along side sister Lexie Black, the Black ‘n Blue Brigade shredded opponents and helped carry the Wolves to the best extended run of success any sports program at CHS has ever seen.

Then they went to college and survived the frozen tundra of Alaska, a land where your eyelashes could freeze in the time it took to go from your car to the gym.

Today, as she turns 25, Brittany is giving back, working as an assistant coach for the Wolves girls’ hoops squads under the tutelage of David and Amy King. Her experience is invaluable, her ability to still get on the court and school the next generation uncanny.

She is mentally tough and has come through hard times, exiting on the other side a healthy, happy, confident young woman. She is why people are proud to root for the Wolves, now and forever.

Brittany Black is Coupeville, and we are very proud of her.

Read Full Post »

Jam the gym for Coach Pope!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, In memory, Whidbey's Best on August 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Henry Pope: a class act. (John Fisken photo)

I’m not going to pretend to be a South Whidbey High School fan.

As a die-hard Coupeville booster, I have sniped at the Falcons numerous times in print, fanned flame wars and (possibly) been banned from the SWHS gym.

But I can recognize a really good guy when I see one, and South Whidbey boys’ basketball coach Henry Pope was a really good guy. Respected and liked by opposing coaches, players and fans, he seemed, in everything I saw, to be a wonderful man.

His unexpected death last week at 57 is still reverberating across the Island and far beyond.

Today at 1 PM, the SWHS gym (5520 Maxwelton Road in Langley) where he proudly led his Falcons onto the court each night will play host to a celebration of Pope’s life.

I won’t be there, as my real job will make that impossible, and, like I said, I may be banned from the premises anyway (it’s 70-30 in favor of it being a resounding yes).

But if you are one of the many who attend — and the turnout should be epic — I would love to hear and see any photos or thoughts from the event. My email address is davidsvien@hotmail.com.

Read Full Post »

Local man sticks it to state lottery system!!

Posted in Gambling: It's what we do, Lottery mania, Poking the Herald, Whidbey's Best on July 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

“This is … COUPEVILLE!!” (Jeff Johnson photo creation)

Apparently, it’s not only 90-year-old women in Kansas that win the lottery.

Who knew?

One of my former customers at Videoville, Jim Sebastian, scored recently when he won $440,000 playing Hit 5 at the Coupeville Country Store. The store will get a $4,400 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

You can read the complete story (and see Mr. Sebastian’s beaming face) over at the Everett Herald — http://heraldnet.com/article/20130729/NEWS01/707299928/-1/NEWS01.

And, in exit, I have two things to say.

One, the Everett Herald correctly spelled the name of a Coupeville resident.

After their frequent bizarre bunglings of Wolf athlete names, turning Taya Boonstra into Boonscara, Anthony Bergeron into Buchosson and Bessie Walstad into Walstud, Walsted, Walstid and Wizzenheimer (am I making that last one up? Could be.), I am shocked. Shocked.

And two, suck it Kansas!!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »