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“I wanna finish my senior year with a statement!”

March 16, 2020 by David Svien

Ben Smith hauls in a pass during a practice. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Smith rumbles for yardage during a game at Kittitas last season.

Smith and departing senior Sean Toomey-Stout embrace after Coupeville’s final game. The Wolves finished 5-4, the program’s first winning record since 2005. (Deb Smith photo)

With Washington state schools closed down for at least six weeks due to the spread of coronavirus, we’re offering all Coupeville students a chance to be heard and stay connected.

Ben Smith is currently a junior at CHS.

With any school, football is probably the most exciting sport for anyone to go to or watch despite the team’s level of performance, but for the past few years that hasn’t been the case with our school.

Everyone has been doubting, and looking down on our program like we’re floating half-dead in the water.

Clearly getting a winning season wasn’t enough for everyone to open their eyes and see what our program has turned into.

I’m tired of all these fools who wanna try saying our team is this and that and we’re “garbage” when all these people could be on that field playing, but they’re not.

So all these people sitting back being talkers are the ones who have no remorse for team or community and only care about trophies and don’t look at the little things.

Over 50% of our team last season was made of FRESHMEN and we still came out positive on the season and some of those freshmen even started.

When do you ever see that many freshman starting on a varsity team?

People don’t see the talent in all these younger guys coming up; most choose not to have faith in them and worry about the big age group.

As little or big as they can be, I will always have faith and protect the guy next to me.

This year you WILL see Coupeville Football in the postseason. There’s NO way around it.

I’m doing my job like everyone else should be as well, being in that weight room, staying on top of my stuff; I’m even going to three camps before damn spring ball.

By my own freshman year, I lost a lot of love for football and before that I was a little boy loving the game so much and I was about to just give it up.

When Coach Marcus (Carr), and all these guys came around, we were doing something really no other coach has ever constantly been on you for, weight room, grades, camp, food, everything a football player should be taking care of.

This didn’t get serious until coach KB (Kwamane Bowens) started talking to me about college.

I have never wanted to ever go to college, even just to go play football.

With how far I was getting with these guys, I realized it’s much more than the effort you put in, it’s the guys around you who are meant to be there for you, who show you moral support, who are your mentors.

Without any of that, you’re all in this on your own.

I wanna finish my senior year with a statement, 30 years without a conference championship … that’s gonna change and people can laugh at me as much as they want or say it’s the same thing we say every year.

I’m setting my foot down and putting this out for the whole world to hear.

Not for one second I doubt any of my team.

If I gotta brawl for any of these guys, you know I’ll do anything to protect them from having their season ruined like mine was.

We need them stands PACKED every Friday night, people are gonna remember this and when it happens, they’re gonna keep coming to our games after this year is done.

It’s all cause of our coaches, our commitment of our players who before school was shut down came in every day at 6:30 AM to lift weights every other day, after school, running routes in the gym.

These are the guys who are gonna make a change to the program.

If you one of these guys doubting our program and you ain’t even on that field. Stop it right now!

You wouldn’t have an ounce of care to step on that field and do what not a lot of people would wanna do and put their bodies on the line.

Your opinion is irrelevant, as well as last season, a winning season ain’t gonna be enough to keep the hype alive, so a conference championship it is.

The only opinions that matter are the people who continue to believe in us.

People are gonna remember the times they doubted us, what I said and they’re gonna try and act like they’ve been with us this whole time.

They’re nothing but sleepers who been sleeping on us.

We will be conference champions this year.

NO WAY AROUND IT.

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Write me something. Anything.

March 15, 2020 by David Svien

The Sad Coyote compels you.

Coupeville students (of any age), parents, teachers, coaches:

If you’re looking for things to occupy you during the six-week school shutdown, I have an offer.

Write something. ANYTHING.

Sports or non-sports. Doesn’t matter.

Buff and polish every word, or just drop some random thoughts.

Vent about the spring sports season you’re losing.

Tell us about your cat, or what you just watched on Netflix.

Write a poem, or, especially for young children, draw us something and take a photo.

Then send it to me, either on Facebook or at davidsvien@hotmail.com, and I will publish it on Coupeville Sports, so the whole world can see your work.

As a community, we are likely going to be forced apart in the coming weeks. This is a way to shorten that distance.

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Hospital sets new rules for visitors

March 15, 2020 by David Svien

Whether you call it WhidbeyHealth or still think of it as Whidbey General, our hospital sits in the heart of Coupeville.

As health professionals deal with the spread of the novel coronavirus, new rules have been put in place to govern visitors.

The latest update, released early Sunday afternoon:

 

Beginning Monday, March 16th at 8:00 AM, WhidbeyHealth will implement new limitations on visitors to the Medical Center to protect patients and staff from Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.

Coronavirus is highly contagious, thought to spread from one person to another.

Droplets from coughs and sneezes can transmit Coronavirus to people close by.

A person can also become infected by touching an object or surface that has droplets on it (such as a door handle), then touching his or her face before washing hands.

This is why ‘social distancing’ is so important and why we are implementing restrictions to visitors at the WhidbeyHealth Medical Center.

 

The following changes are effective Monday, March 16th.

– All patients and visitors entering the Medical Center must enter by the main entrance and be screened by our staff, including a brief interview and temperature check.

– Visitors not seeking treatment who are exhibiting symptoms (fever, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath) will be asked to leave and follow up with their doctor.

– Visitors accompanying patients to the Emergency Department, surgery or the MAC clinic will be asked to wait in their car while we care for the patient.

– Patients who are exhibiting symptoms (fever, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath) must put on a mask upon entering the Medical Center.

 

Exceptions include:

– Moms in labor may have one designated support person who must remain at the Medical Center for the duration of their stay.

– Minor children being cared for may have one designated parent who must remain at the Medical Center for the duration of the child’s stay.

– Please note that any supporting visitors who develop symptoms will be asked to leave the Medical Center.

 

What you can do:

– If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911

– If you are experiencing mild symptoms, contact your doctor for medical advice. Many patients are able to isolate at home for the duration of their illness, as they would with the flu.

– If you are not ill, or experiencing mild symptoms, please do not come to the Emergency Department to be tested. This can increase your risk of infection from coronavirus or other illnesses. 

– Instead, call the WhidbeyHealth Coronavirus Hotline at 360-240-4055 for screening and to be registered for drive-through sampling. The Hotline will be open from 8:00AM to 4:00PM Monday through Thursday and 8:00AM to 2:00PM on Fridays.

– If you need assistance with your bill or wish to speak with someone from the Patient Financial Services team, please make an appointment by calling 360-678-7656, extension 4097.

– WhidbeyHealth’s Westwind Café will be closed to the public until further notice. We regret the inconvenience.

 

Things you should know about testing:

– Analysis of samples is done offsite by specially authorized laboratories. Our staff collects samples which are sent to an offsite laboratory for evaluation, and like most hospitals, we do not conduct the actual diagnostic test.

– Test result times will vary. Nationwide, labs are experiencing heavy demand. WhidbeyHealth is not able to control the amount of time it takes for laboratories to process test results. We have recently seen results as quickly as three days, but many have been longer.

 

Protect yourself:

– Practice ‘social distancing.’ The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus.

– Clean your hands frequently with soap and water, scrubbing for 20 seconds.

– If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.

– Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

– Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

 

Stay informed:

– Island County Public Health — https://www.islandcountywa.gov/Health/Pages/COVID-19.aspx

– Washington State Department of Health — https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus

– Centers for Disease control — https://www.cdc.gov/

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Killer Kassie classes up the joint

March 15, 2020 by David Svien

Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil, forever hitting nothing but net, on and off the court.

Kassie (second from left, back row), during her senior season.

Nothing but net.

Just give her the dang ball.

Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil was one of the deadliest scorers Coupeville High School basketball has ever seen.

It wasn’t always how many points she scored, though, but when she scored them, and how she scored them, that ensures her place in Wolf lore.

Kassie was a Killer, and you better spell that with a capitol K as you put some respect on her name.

Her sisters Kayla and Katie were hoops stars as well, and lil’ bro Kurtis a pretty darn good baseball player, but today the focus is all on the woman who just turned 29 a few days ago.

Now the mom of four young boys (all primed to make their names in a Wolf uniform as well, if local fans are lucky), Kassie is an extraordinary woman.

Today we swing open the doors of the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, and welcome her into our digital hideaway, an honor long overdue.

After this, you can pop up to the top of the blog, look under the Legends tab, and bingo, there she will be.

Not that she needed me to tell you she’s a legend, cause her game did all the talking.

One of the rare Wolves to net points at the varsity level in all four seasons, Kassie currently sits at #61 on the all-time CHS girls scoring chart (out of 229 players).

But that doesn’t tell the full tale.

Kassie played alongside some of the best scorers the Wolf program has seen, from Megan Smith (#4 all-time) to Shawna West and Ashley Manker, with both of her sisters tossed in to the bucket chase as well.

So Killer Kassie picked her moments, then delivered the daggers.

Two nights stand out the most, one in her junior season, the other when she was a senior.

On the night of January 18, 2008, Kassie and Co. welcomed private school juggernaut King’s to town, with everything on the line.

The Wolves and Knights were battling for the #1 playoff seed out of the Cascade Conference, and the visitors held a two-point lead with mere seconds to play in overtime.

Just give her the dang ball.

Thus setting up one of the biggest buzzer-beaters in school history — along with Ian Smith making all of South Whidbey weep sweet, sweet tears in 2011, and Steve Whitney shocking King’s in ’79.

Pulling up out in the parking lot, long before Steph Curry and Damian Lillard made it the popular thing to do, Killer Kassie banked home a game-winning three-ball.

Cue a 33-32 Wolf win. Cue an eruption in the CHS gym. Cue the birth of a legend.

While that first chapter happened in a flash, the second night Kassie claimed the spotlight, she did so for an extended period of time.

Facing off with Granite Falls late in her senior season (February 3, 2009), she went off for 13 of her team-high 19 points in the crucible of the fourth quarter.

Just give her the dang ball.

The Wolves entered the fourth quarter trailing 29-28, and eventually lost 51-49 when the visiting Tigers slipped in a game-winner at the buzzer.

Which doesn’t take anything away from Kassie’s torrid fourth quarter run.

She bounced off the bench with a gleam in her eye, nailed a three-ball to kick things off, then softly whispered, “Oh, there’s more where that came from, baby!”

At least that’s how I’d like to believe it went down.

I wasn’t there, but neither were you, very likely, so just go with it.

Either way, Kassie was locked-in over the game’s final eight minutes, following up her trey with a pair of buckets, a free throw, another bucket, then a final three-ball.

That long-range dagger, which rattled home with just 18 ticks left on the clock, knotted the game at 49.

Megan Smith, Mandi Murdy, Jesse Caselden, and Katie Smith also came up big with fourth-quarter buckets, but it was Killer Kassie who was unstoppable.

And here’s a fun fact.

Megan Smith, who Kassie shared the court with for three seasons, torched the nets for 1,042 points in her CHS career.

That included singing Friday Harbor for 30 while narrowly missing the program’s single-game scoring record of 32, set by Judy Marti in 1983.

Meanwhile, South Whidbey’s Lindsey Newman tormented Coupeville during the Kassie and Megan years, dropping 39 and 33 on the Wolves.

And yet…

Neither Megan Smith, in her four-year run, or Newman, in her meetings with CHS, ever went higher than 12 points in a single quarter.

Cause you have to be Killer Kassie to go out there and slap down a 13, while making it your lucky, and not unlucky, number.

Just give her the dang ball.

High school was big for Kassie, but it wasn’t even close to being her ceiling.

She went on to play some college ball, before shifting gears and becoming a mom and wife, a strong, accomplished woman, like her sisters, her mother DeeAnna, and her prairie ancestors, who include a town’s worth of Sherman’s.

Seeing the growth and development of her boys from afar, thanks to social media, is a testament to all she has accomplished, and all that is to come.

Pick your reason, and she’s a legend, worthy of all the praise and admiration.

Killer Kassie, forever hitting nothing but net, on the court and off.

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Coupeville schools offer free lunch for children

March 14, 2020 by David Svien

Coupeville students enjoy a tasty meal earlier in the school year. (Photo property Coupeville School District)

With all Washington state schools closing for at least six weeks on the orders of Governor Jay Inslee, everyone is scrambling to deal with the fallout.

Coupeville High School is answering one issue, as it will provide food for local students.

The school’s Connected Food Program, run by Andreas Wurzrainer, will offer a grab-and-go lunch service starting Tuesday, March 17.

Pickup is in the CHS commons/cafeteria between 10-11 AM each day, Monday through Friday.

Any child under the age of 18 is eligible for a free lunch, but the child must show-up in person to receive the meal.

Posted in coronavirus updates, Not sports? Tough! | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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