Madison Tisa McPhee, the best damn athlete to NEVER be named Athlete of the Year at CHS.
She was the first true superstar of Coupeville Sports.
Before McKayla Bailey, before Caleb Valko and Breeanna Messner, before Killer, Hammer Time, Elbows, The Big Hurt or Maddie Big Time, one name towered over all the rest in the early days of this blog.
Madison Tisa McPhee was a bright, blazing star. Still is, just in other arenas.
Volleyball, soccer and, most of all, the pinnacle of track and the times when she sat astride a horse, the one and only, original, Mad Dawg, rocked the joint.
Flying across the hurdles or teaming with Makana Stone, Jai’Lysa Hoskins, Sylvia Hurlburt, Marisa Etzell and Kirsten Pelroy to shatter every relay record in sight, Madison couldn’t be caught.
Put her on a horse, slap a cowboy hat on her head and the look of steely intensity she brought to track would morph into a mile-wide grin of pure delight as she and her steed thundered to win after win in riding events.
Whatever the arena, Tisa McPhee reveled in the competition, was her best in the brightest of spotlights.
That, in itself, would have marked her as a success.
But it was out of the spotlight, in the other moments, where she rose above all others.
Few, if any, high school-aged girls would consent to having a picture of their face published on the internet less than a hour after an errant soccer ball had shattered their delicate nose.
Madison said yes, quickly and fairly emphatically (maybe the painkillers were kicking in?), and that story remains among the 20 most-viewed pieces ever published on this blog (and we’re just a hair away from article #3,000).
She always answered my questions (no matter how stupid they were or how busy she probably was) and, in person, she has always been one of the most delightful people you are likely to meet.
Mad Dawg has charisma for days, and she knows it, but she wields her super power with a delicate touch.
She’s confident, bold, sometimes brash, but she pulls it all off in style.
You are a superstar, Miss Madison. From the day you were born (which happens to be today), never-ending.
The world is yours to rule. Go take it.
Coupeville Sports 