Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Once was crazy

April 25, 2020 by David Svien

Wait, I’m wearing … pants?!?!

It’s deceptive. So, so deceptive.

Look outside today, with the sun glistening off of Penn Cove, and you almost might believe the water would be warm.

You’d be wrong, however.

Once upon a time, for about a five-year stretch, I went into the waters below my house every single day for much of the year.

In just a swimsuit.

And believe me, it was never, ever, EVER warm.

Certainly not when there was snow on the ground in November, but also certainly not on the rare 90-degree day in August, either.

Looking back, I am left to wonder – was I a moron?

And then you see the drawings I used to make on my body parts prior to splashing down, and you know the answer for yourself.

Posted in Swimming in Penn Cove | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

It starts with a click

April 23, 2020 by David Svien

Coupeville cheerleaders Emily Clay (left) and Katie Kiel share some love after a 2012 cheer camp. (Pam Headridge photo)

In the beginning, Coupeville Sports had no photos.

I’m a writer, not a photographer, and when I started the blog in mid-August of 2012, several of the early stories ran without a single pic.

I also didn’t put people’s names in bold type yet, and there were a LOT of exclamation points … so, total freakin’ anarchy.

Things changed for the better after I latched on to Shelli Trumbull, the first photographer willing to toss me glossy pics with no money coming back.

In other words, she was a saint.

As we wander through a pandemic-ravaged land in 2020, let’s hop in the time machine and go back to 2012, where it all began.

Jerry Helm is the king of the (hoops) world. (Sherry Roberts photo)

Madison Tisa McPhee shares soccer Senior Night with dad Jack. (Robert Pelant photo)

An orange a day fueled the stars of the future. (Wendy McCormick photo)

Sebastian Davis, man of mystery and intrigue. (Photo courtesy Davis)

Homecoming fever sweeps the town. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Landon Roberts supports his team. (Sherry Roberts photo)

Cheerleaders Julia Felici (left) and Mekare Bowen hang out with their biggest lil’ fan. (Rosa Felici photo)

Nick Streubel and much-cleaner sister Amanda marinate in the Port Townsend mud. (Nanette Streubel photo)

Wiley Hesselgrave brings the gun show to town, while Dalton Martin plays it cool and calm. (Melissa Losey photo)

Kole Kellison knows a good breakfast is the key to a great day. (Robert Pelant photo)

The LeVine family grab a group pic after a mud race. From left to right, Sean, a suspiciously clean Izzy, Joline, Jae, and Micky. (Photo courtesy Joline LeVine)

“What’s that? A bear going after pic-a-nic baskets in my park?!? No sir!!!” (Photo courtesy Jodi Crimmins)

Volleyball legends, the early days. (Amy King photo)

Posted in 2012: Looking Back | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Five videos, a thousand memories

April 23, 2020 by David Svien

Jason Knoll, circa 2013 — the hero Coupeville deserved. A silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

YouTube is a vast wasteland, but, every so often, something of value sprouts.

Type in “Coupeville High School sports” and a fair selection of videos pop up, from often-fuzzy game films to lil’ nuggets of wonder waiting to be discovered.

Below are five of those unearthed gems, each capturing a moment from the time period Coupeville Sports has been alive, which is August 2012 to today.

Enjoy.

 

A hype video for CHS sports for the 2013-2014 school year:

 

A performance by the 2016 junior cheerleaders:

 

CHS football legend Jake “Rumblin'” Tumblin rippin’ up a combine:

 

Wolf hoops star Risen Johnson, with all the moves:

 

Wolf track star Heni Barnes won the national History Day competition with this film:

Posted in YouTube | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Lost season, not lost honor

April 21, 2020 by David Svien

Shelton High School honored senior spring athletes in a unique way.

How do you honor a lost season?

The COVID-19 pandemic erased spring sports for high school and middle school athletes in Washington state, bringing a halt to things before a game was played.

Now, some schools are choosing to go ahead and still hand out athletic letters, even in the absence of competition.

A recent Skagit Valley Herald story by Vince Richardson found Burlington-Edison is awarding letters to all senior spring athletes.

Meanwhile, La Conner will letter athletes in grades 9-12 if they fully complete a six-week training program set up by their coaches.

Go further down the road and you’ll end up in Shelton.

Back in the late ’80s, when I was a shaggy-haired Tumwater tennis player, the Highclimbers were one of our biggest rivals in the old-school Black Hills League.

These days, Shelton’s Athletic Department is bidding for all the internet fame after posting a video in which senior athletes who would have been four-year lettermen get their moment in the quarantine spotlight.

 

 

No word yet on whether Coupeville AD Willie Smith will accept my challenge – liberate a golf cart, get a pair of long, retractable grabbers, then go door-to-door doing something similar, while never actually leaving the cart. 

Posted in awards | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

“Big Game James” crushes the competition

April 20, 2020 by David Svien

James Vidoni (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

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.

Posted in Baseball, Polls | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »