We move closer and closer to making the top photo a reality, but here in Coupeville.
Legacy is huge.
Tim Duncan’s retirement from the NBA today is proof of that.
For 19 years, the Big Fundamental played the game with such precision, such honor, that his bidding farewell to the game at age 40 is like a (quiet) meteor ripping through the sports world.
The five championships, the unparalleled success (19 straight playoff berths, 18 seasons of 50+ wins) the San Antonio Spurs enjoyed with Timmmmmmaaaayyyyyy as their centerpiece, are remarkable.
But it’s the man who will be remembered, for the way he conducted himself, on the court and off. Class personified.
As I’ve pounded out 4,400+ articles here on Coupeville Sports (the four-year anniversary, Aug. 16, approaches), I’ve tried to leave some legacy behind myself.
But, a blog on the internet is not necessarily the best way to do so, as it all kind of evaporates a day or two after a particular story runs.
There is the Hall o’ Fame up at the top of the blog, but even that is a bit gossamer.
Which is why I started the project which is, against all odds, careening towards being a reality.
It’s easy to complain about the limited number of title banners which hang in the CHS gym, but replacing them with something more concrete, more complete, entailed a fair amount of work.
First I had to delve deep into the past (CHS started in 1900, or 90 years before the first banner currently gracing its gym), which required help.
The Whidbey News-Times has archives going back to the 1800’s, but those archives (bound volumes of newspapers, not microfiche or computer files) are locked down these days, in an effort to preserve crumbling, but vital history.
The paper’s head honcho, Publisher/Editor Keven R. Graves, was nice enough to overlook my past poking of his Canadian bosses, and allowed me access, probably against his better judgement.
As I spent days glazing over, flipping through pages looking for a bit of info here, a nugget of history there, News-Times Sports Editor Jim Waller (my high school journalism teacher) was always around to check on my progress, offer advice and help guide me.
Son of a legendary coach (Mert Waller) who got his start in Coupeville, Jim Waller grew up to be a standout athlete in Oak Harbor, then put in 30+ years as a Hall of Fame coach, and his guidance and knowledge of Island sports history is invaluable.
As the research came together, school officials — Superintendent Dr. Jim Shank and Principal Duane Baumann — were open to the idea of installing sports boards similar to what Oak Harbor High School has in its gym.
By doing so, we could fully honor the 109 titles I found (a figure that grows as the discussion over whether to add competition cheer is underway) lurking in the past.
The biggest stumbling block in going from essentially zero to putting 116 years of history on the wall in one fell swoop is, of course, money.
And yet that hurdle has largely fallen, with the Coupeville Booster Club pledging $2,500 and a GoFundMe I started having cleared $3,000 so far.
Now, Whidbey Signs is preparing to craft and install the signs, with a goal of having them in place prior to the start of a new school year.
It probably won’t feel real until the day arrives when the signs are unveiled and I can stand back and say, “This. As a community, as a Wolf Nation, we did this.”
I look forward to that day, because at that moment, with the help of so many, Coupeville Sports will have left something of a lasting legacy.
Something real. Something tangible.
To help us, pop over to:
Coupeville Sports 