Saturday, March 02, 2002

 
It's a wrap
My first State B tournament is finished. I talked with a lot of referees, cheerleaders, band members and fans this week, and the thing that will stick with me is that everyone I met would make a great neighbor or friend. The games have been exciting, for sure, but I won't remember them. I will remember the Woo-Hoo man and his homemade Viking costume. I'll remember the bright, energetic Wilbur-Creston cheerleaders. And I'll never forget Don Haerling of Mossyrock, who let me toot on his baritone, then casually wiped off the mouthpiece on his sleeve.

Now I know why people return to the B every year, like swallows to Capistrano.

posted by Ken 10:34 PM

 
Missing in action
Some day, she'll tell her kids about the 2002 State B tournament she attended, in which the Pateros Nannies played in the title game. But the truth is that at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night, 4-year-old Chelsea Rios was asleep in her father's arms as the Nannies tied the game at the end of the third quarter.
posted by Ken 10:04 PM

 
All's well that ends well
If you've been following the ice cream saga, you know that the dairy princesses missed out on ice cream in the Hospitality Room because they were busying handing out trophies. I felt a little guilty about eating the last scoop, so I just went up to the concourse concession area and bought them Haagen Dasz bars at three bucks a pop. Out of my own pocket. (Well, I did ask for a receipt.)
The dairy princesses were quite pleased, and quite gracious, too.

posted by Ken 9:04 PM

 
Close call
I nearly got booted off of press row. It seems that wearing face paint is a big no-no. It took 15 minutes and about a hundred paper towels to get that greasy stuff off my face, but at least my, ahem, credibility has been restored.
posted by Ken 8:15 PM

 
Assault at courtside
Jeez, my newspaper colleagues never have to put up with this kind of treatment. I just went to interview some face-painted St. George's fans, and they started smearing red and white goo on my face. One of them allegedly spelled out SGS on my forehead. I need to find a mirror to make sure he didn't spell something else...
posted by Ken 6:39 PM

 
Whipped cream and nuts
The Arena staff delivered two more half-gallons of vanilla ice cream (no charge) to the Hospitality Room about 5 p.m. I waited and waited. The dairy princesses were nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, tournament officials and television crews scooped away. Finally, about 5:35, I took the last scoop. It turns out the dairy princesses were busy handing out trophies. You snooze, you lose.
posted by Ken 5:52 PM

 
Quite possibly the goofiest post yet
I've been sitting here half-watching these games for four days, and can't cheer for any particular team. It's not because of journalistic objectivity, though. It's because I've met fun and interesting people from every school, and I want all of their teams to win. This is the weird part. When I glance up from my computer, I find myself drawn to teams with especially attractive uniforms. I like Curlew's white with red and blue trim, for instance, and Sunnyside Christian's metallic gold. I've also noticed that Day Star Christian's players have matching shoes. Call me a slave to fashion.
posted by Ken 5:05 PM

 
Off with her head
Megan Nelson, otherwise known as the Wilbur-Creston Wildcat mascot, took her head off and showed me the battery-powered fan that allows her to keep a cool head during games. A couple of her teenage admirers in the stands said the suit cost $350.

Medical update
Mike Day says there have been five minor incidents at the tournament so far that have required his towels and antiseptic spray. Last year, though, two girls ran into each other and one had her head split open. There was blood everywhere. The girl's mother came rushing out of the stands, Mike recalls. The girl sat up and said: ''Mom, go back up and sit down and watch the rest of the game. Don't worry about me, I'm all right.''
posted by Ken 4:42 PM

 
We're laughing with you...
I was headed back to the bowels a few minutes ago to check on the ice cream situation when I bumped into the ACH girls team getting ready to take the floor for their third-place game. ''Hey, we've got a story for you,'' a couple of them said in unison. It turns out two guys from Brett Sports have been sitting on their bench as a kind of corporate mascot. They each have name tags that say ''Brett Sports.'' Friday night, after sitting next to these guys for three days, freshman Mia Parry had a question: ''She said: 'Is your last name really Sports?' '' said Randy Schwaegler. ''The whole team just busted up laughing.''
''You're not going to put that in the paper, are you?'' Mia asked with a grimace.
posted by Ken 4:35 PM

 
That's just wrong!
I was in the bowels of the Arena a few minutes ago, with three dairy princesses, staring at the bottom of a huge vat of ice cream. We'd gotten there too late. ''Something is wrong if we don't get ice cream, that's for sure,'' said Stephanie Roords, the state alternate dairy princess from Lynden. Jennifer Rohrer, the Clark County princess from Ridgefield, nodded in agreement. They stared longingly at the bowls of toppings and told me what they'd put on their ice cream, if we had any ice cream.
''Chocolate, Oreo, whipped cream, nuts and cherries,'' said Stephanie. ''Chocolate, caramel, Oreo, nuts and whipped cream,'' said Jennifer. Shenelle Simonson, last year's alternate Spokane County princess, who's from Deer Park, said she would have: ''Chocolate, caramel, Oreo, whipped cream and cherries. I'm gonna have toppings with my ice cream. If they had bananas, I'd be in heaven.''
Just then the executive tournament director walked into the room. This is a crisis, I told him. Worse than if the scoreboard went out. The dairy princesses have to have ice cream. (I was really thinking of myself at this point, but didn't tell him that.)
Like all good managers, he passed the buck, telling someone across the room to tell their mother to get more ice cream.
This has the makings of a good scandal. Stay tuned.
posted by Ken 3:49 PM

 
Referee occupations
Tom Leinart of Port Angeles is a high school teacher; Morgan Witt of Mount Vernon is a lawyer; Scott Hileman of Seattle is a trucking supervisor; Pat Martin of Spokane works for the county traffic engineering department; Rick Denholm of Grays Harbor is a golf pro; Dave Farrington of Port Angeles is a medical health broker; Mark Iksic of Odessa is a farmer; and Geoff Jolley of Seattle is an insurance broker. They work the B for peanuts because they love the game, the players, the sportsmanship and the atmosphere. And because it beats real work.
posted by Ken 3:01 PM

 
It's a dirty job, but...
Mike Day of Rosalia has one of the most interesting and well-defined jobs at State B. ''I wipe up blood,'' he explained when I asked him why he was wearing Latex gloves. He also takes a dust mop to the courts between games when the regular dust-mop crew doesn't show up. Mike then introduced me to his brother, Rick Day, who set a State B record in 1964 for the number of free throws made in a game. And then he pointed across the court to the official about to referee the girls game between Willapa Valley and La Salle. ''That's my brother Kevin. He was the assistant coach of the Rosalia team that went to state 20 years ago.'' Is it my imagination, or is everyone here related?
posted by Ken 2:43 PM

 
B geeks
There are fans, there are obsessive fanatics, and then there are the B geeks. They somehow finagle a media pass so that they can sit on press row. There's one guy who manages to get a pass because of some alleged affiliation with a weekly newspaper, and another guy who helps out a radio station. Any any given time, there are 30 to 50 people sitting along press row, and a handful are here for the entire tournament but don't appear to be doing anything except watching. ''This is like Christmas for them,'' said one of my newspaper colleagues. ''They like to talk about B basketball the way other people like to talk about baseball.''
Whatever floats your boat.
posted by Ken 1:45 PM

 
Speaking of SJE
The St. John-Endicott band gets my vote for the loudest band of the tournament. After sitting six feet away from the drummer for an entire game, I wondered why I wasn't bleeding from the ears. The Arena announcer said something about the SJE band winning an academic award for its high cumulative GPA, but I could be mistaken -- I had my fingers jammed in my ears at the time.
posted by Ken 12:27 PM

 
Putting the fan in fanatic
St. John-Endicott fans have a tradition in which they post signs along the road from St. John to Pine City on State B game day. Thursday morning, the team counted 286 signs, all of which had been posted between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday. ''Our community loves our team, and will do anything for us,'' writes one player.
posted by Ken 11:49 AM

 
Chief cook and bottle-washer, too
Tom Johnson is the K-12 principal in Wilbur and also is boys basketball coach. After Wednesday's close game, Principal Tom
was back at school Thursday morning passing out paychecks. He also ''entertained the entire first grade class (all 17 of them!) in his office so that they could give him their homework from last night,'' said teacher Rhonda Widmer. ''They were to design a good luck sign for Mr. Johnson and the Wildcat boys. He took each paper, read it, thanked the child by name and shook their hand.'' Later in the day, of course, Coach Tom was in action again in Spokane.
I could blubber about Tom Johnson being a small-town hero, but how fair is that? Every town has a Tom Johnson. Three cheers for all of them.
posted by Ken 11:46 AM

Friday, March 01, 2002

 
Fishers of men
What's with all the Christian schools in the tournament? That's the source of some debate in our East vs. West forum. One reader suggested Christian schools get good by recruiting. Not so, replied ''Arlie of Lynnwood.'' Arlie says he's coached at various Christian school for 15 years and has only lost good players who wanted to go to bigger schools. ''It is tough to build a program when your outstanding underclassmen transfer to "greener grass," Arlie writes. What do you think?
posted by Ken 8:51 PM

 
Who's got a 1958 State B program?

Ed Wagnild of Spokane has every program since the B tournament came to Spokane, with the exception of the 1958 program. He's a stats freak and would love to get his hands on a '58 program, even if it's just to make a photocopy. Send me a message at kens@spokesman.com if you can help accommodate Big Ed.

One more Day Star nomination
Posted on our forum: ''I would name them Day Star Christian 'Dusters.' Named for the wind-whipped dust devils (or mini-twisters) common in Eastern Wash. Also appropriate for the way they've dusted the competition this year!''

posted by Ken 8:06 PM

 
Ratted out by bro'
This just in at Blogger Central: ''I'm the brother of St. John-Endicott's so-called "Secret Weapon." I just wanted to let you know that he's a bit of a nutcase. He's getting a big kick out of seeing his name all over the Web :-) He also told me not to tell
anyone that one of his friends' dad is the janitor they stole the keys from to laminate the Dilbert cards. So it's not like it was a tough thing to do or anything.''
posted by Ken 7:46 PM

 
Future B all-star
Today's mystery fan is Justin Hudson of Kittitas. He was correctly identified by Ken Allen of Spokane, who grew up in Kittitas.Once a Kittitatian, always a Kittitatian, I guess.

posted by Ken 7:39 PM

 
Hard as a rock
A press row colleague complains that the Red Vines for sale here are ''as hard as a rock'' and wonders whether they're leftovers from last year's B tournament. All you have to do is fold them up and put them in your pocket. After half an hour, pick off the lint and eat them. Your body warmth softens them up. Trust me on this.
posted by Ken 5:31 PM

 
Day Star Stars?
Chelsea, Courtney, Lindsay, Esther and Rebecca, pre-teen students at Day Star Christian think, the nickname ''Stars'' might be kind of cool for the team that is nickname-challenged. On our forum, we've received these suggestions: the Flames, the Yadrats and the Day Star Christian Slaters. Your thoughts?
(P.S.: Can someone e-mail me some Tums?)
posted by Ken 5:11 PM

 
Shameless self-promotion
I just received this e-mail from Dave Holte: ''Your coverage of the State B has created, at least for me, a brilliant light in the cold wasteland known as Coastal Maine. I find myself checking the Web site about every 10 minutes to see if there are any additions to the Blog. This interferes with work that I should be doing, but luckily I have the right proirities... Tonight, I'm going to don one of the aforementioned Dragon polyester warm-up jackets and go throw a few back for State B and the Dragons!''

posted by Ken 4:55 PM

 
Shocking behavior off the court
I have a ''Deep Throat'' source on one of the teams. DT tells me that players have swiped the janitor's keys so they can laminate their own home-made playing cards. They play a card game called "Dilbert,'' in which you play progressively lower cards until you're out. They play the game on the bus to and from games, in the stands during other games, and ''we occasionally sneak out back of the school to play a hand and hope we don't get caught.''
And you thought today's teens were all drug-addled. Shame on you.

posted by Ken 3:57 PM

 
Musically inept
Don Haerling of the Mossyrock 'n' Roll band informs me that I was actually blowing on a baritone, not a French horn, when I ''sat in'' with the band yesterday. Well, I wouldn't know a French horn from a hole in the ground. By now that should be obvious to anyone reading this column.
posted by Ken 3:48 PM

 
Mystery fan update
The mystery fan was Tany Slater of Cedar Park Christian.
Now, there's a new picture on the Blog cover page. This fan is really cute...

Judge and jury
Morgan Witt is an attorney in private practice in Mount Vernon in his spare time. What he really loves is being a referee at the B tournament. He figures he's losing $2,500 in income by coming to the tournament, but he loves being here. In fact, for the second year in a row he's chosen to ref the B tournament instead of going to the A tournament.
This is one court in which his word is law.

posted by Ken 3:41 PM

 
Blogger correspondents check in
Tim Johnson, confidential assistant at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., played on the 1993 Morton team that took second in the B tournament. He's following the action (after confidential work hours, of course) here on our Web site. So is Ryan Green, a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He says he was a male cheerleader, of sorts, for the St. George's girls team during the 1999 tournament. He and a few classmates ''donned vintage polyester warmups'' and conducted cheers that ''resembled the Saturday Night Live cheers of Craig and Arianna (Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri) with a few chest bumps to proclaim our masculinity. If you look close for some red and white polyester, you can see us in the Q-6 State B commercial -- we got our millisecond of fame.''
posted by Ken 3:31 PM

 
Luxury at the B?
So who sits in those swanky luxury suites during the B tournament? The Witherspoon, Kelley, Davenport & Toole law firm in Spokane has rented out its suite to Ritzville Warehouse, which is holding an open house for its customers, townspeople and friends. John Anderson said he's had 300-350 people a day wandering in to munch on monster cookies and popcorn. The room and food will cost about $2,500 this year, Anderson estimates. And because the company has farm customers all over Eastern Washington, they root for all of the ''local'' teams. What if one of their customers' teams is playing the Ritzville girls? "Then we pat 'em on the back and give 'em a cookie."
After all, business is business.
posted by Ken 2:33 PM

 
Flog the Blogger update
Did you enter the State B bracket pool? I'm currently in a tie for 58th place (out of 105 entries) in the boys pool, and in a tie for 32nd place (out of 64 entries) in the girls pool. In first place in the girls pool is Joe Flett. Tied for first in the boys pool are Ryan Johnson and James Johnson. Check it out.

Burping onions
I just scarfed a huge, allegedly smoked German sausage. I'll be burping onions all day, but it was worth it. And it was only $3.50. The garlic fries are $4, but my gastrointestinal tract wouldn't stand for that offense.
posted by Ken 2:17 PM

 
Shot-Block-In-A-Can?
It's not my mission to write about players, but this is too good to pass up. The previously mentioned ''Secret Weapon,'' who was riding the pines during a noon game today, says this of his benchmate and good friend: ''He calls himself the Weakest Link, but I call him Shot-Block-In-A-Can. And you can quote that.''
posted by Ken 12:45 PM

 
State B is better than the World Series
This is the best story of State B lore that I've heard so far. Ed Wagnild has a program from the 1959 tournament that includes Mabton Vikings player Mel Stottlemyre, a future New York Yankees legend. Wagnild took the program to a 1997 Mariners-Yankees game in Seattle and flagged down Stottlemyre, by then the pitching coach, and asked for his autograph. ''So you remember playing in the State B pretty well?'' he asked. Stottlemyre's response: ''It was the biggest thrill of my life. I'll never forget it.'' He then told Wagnild about each game his team played during the B tournament. Said Wagnild: ''Here was a man who had pitched in a World Series and many All-Star games, won world championships as the pitching coach of the Yankees ... and yet the biggest thrill of his lifetime was playing in the State B.''
posted by Ken 12:40 PM

 
New mystery fan
Today's mystery fan must be pretty obscure. I haven't gotten any guesses yet (which is a good thing, because I don't even know who it is yet). Check out her picture...
posted by Ken 12:33 PM

Thursday, February 28, 2002

 
Well, why not?
This is a stupid question, but I'm going to ask anyway. Why aren't there boy cheerleaders for girls games? I asked the Wilbur-Creston cheer squad if they cheered for both the boys and girls teams. Of course they do. So why no boy cheerleaders for girls games? ''Because the boys are playing,'' they said, as if the answer is obvious. ''But you're not playing on the girls team, so aren't there boys who aren't playing for the boys team who could be cheerleaders?'' I asked.
''Well, yeah, uhhhh, but that would never happen...''
High school rules are never broken.

Speaking of cheerleaders
This afternoon I watched half a dozen cheer squads warming up on a big patch of concrete on the lower concourse. At one time or another, a member of every squad fell hard on the concrete. Then I began to notice. An Evergreen Lutheran cheerleader with a knee brace. Another cheerleader hobbling by press row asking for a trainer. It's a grueling four days, especially for squads cheering for both boys and girls teams. Keep up the good work!
posted by Ken 9:18 PM

 
The Woo-Hoo man sheds a tear
For the Willapa Valley boys game against Wilbur-Creston, John Avery of Willapa Valley was wearing plastic Viking horns, a black burlap smock and furry, black, knee-high boots. WV lost in overtime to WC. ''I'm thinking of retiring the horns,'' Avery lamented. ''My daughter Jamie is on the girls team and she didn't play very well tonight, either.'' But, he said, doing a screeching mental 180... ''I've got a younger daughter and I can embarrass the crap out of her. Hey, Jillian! Don't ya' just love this outfit?''
''No-o-o-o-o,'' groaned the 14-year-old. ''It's embarrassing,'' she explained. ''No one in their right mind would wear something like this except HIM,'' she said with a sneer.
That, of course, made Daddy quite proud.
''You know,'' he said. ''They call me the Woo-Hoo king because I yell Woo-Hoo a lot.''
Methinks he's feeling better already.
posted by Ken 7:32 PM

 
We're all just family here
Every person I chat with has some version to tell of this quintessential State B story: ''My cousin's dad played with our current coach, and the coach's grandpa was on a championship team back in ought-2. And if you think THAT'S weird, talk to my half-brother Ernie about his wife's family.''

And, by the way, how does my hair look?
I got caught eavesdropping on three KHQ staffers in the concrete bunker they call the media room here at the Arena. They were trying to decide how best to describe that particular part of the building. ''Reporting from the bowels of the Arena,'' said one. ''Nah, I like underbelly,'' said the second one. ''What about loin?'' said the third. "'Or nether regions?'' At that point they looked at me and said: ''You're not going to write about this, are you?'' No, don't worry.
posted by Ken 2:57 PM

 
The Easter Bunny's been here
If you're curious about who from our Web staff is toiling away at the B tournament this week, there's a staff photo lurking somewhere in the State B section. This is known in computer geek lingo as an Easter egg. You're supposed to have fun looking for it. Good hunting!
posted by Ken 2:46 PM

 
For better or for B
Ed Wagnild of Spokane writes to say that he got his wife Debbie hooked on the B and this is their 50th tournament, ''if you combine the years she and I have attended.'' Incredibly, he adds, ''I almost had the tournament attendance requirement included in our wedding vows. You know: 'For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, I will attend the State B with you every year as long as we both shall live.' ''

Burger King and the B
Former St. George's star Wenchi Liu is playing ball at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. -- she's No. 11 in this team photo -- and is following the B tourney on our Web site. She explains the reason the band wears paper Burger King crowns: ''You can credit those to Ben Robinson and Ryan Green (class of 1999). Before the league championship game my junior year in Colville, these guys stopped at a Burger King and thought the crowns would be a nice touch to their already crazy outfits.'' So a tradition was born.

posted by Ken 2:23 PM

 
Mystery fan revealed
Congratulations to Carmen Evans, who correctly identified today's mystery fan as Eric Bradley, a junior at Valley Christian. Incidentally, Valley Christian leads the tournament in the number of face-painted fans. (I still haven't seen anyone wearing a jockstrap for a hat, though. Imagine my disappointment.)

The Little Mermaid?
Our B Basketball forums are starting to get some traffic, particularly the debate about which district has the best teams. A person identified as ''bad dad'' from Ritzville says that ''year in and year out, it's pretty obvious. The SEB is superior in the boys, and the NEB in the girls.''

Then there's this e-mail, from Damon Herman. ''St. John and the rest of the East Side teams are like Duke. Morton and the rest of the West Side teams are like Wazzu and UW basketball teams. They suck. Once in awhile, they have a great season.''

Yowsa.

And finally, this choice of best district, from a person identified only as ''Go Evergreen'' from Des Moines: ''Undisputed this year, it's the Sea-King district.''

Sea King? Isn't that Ariel's father in the Little Mermaid?
posted by Ken 2:21 PM

 
A rare bird, or Cougar bait?
According to my extensive research, 75 percent of Curlew High School students have never seen an actual curlew. "It looks like a crane,'' said Aurora DeMarco, who's never actually seen one. ''It has really long legs and lays down in the water,'' added Cassie Larsen, who's also never seen a curlew. ''I've lived there 13 years and only seen two,'' said Tara Phillips. Don Nelson, interim principal has lived there 23 years and only seen them four times. ''We have lots of cougars, though.''
posted by Ken 12:23 PM

 
Mossyrock 'n' roll
Each of the three geezers playing in the Mossyrock band are old enough to be the father of band director Amanda Stocking. "Yeah, I don't know what they think of me telling them what to do," said Stocking, 24. Don Haerling and Dean McLeod joined the band 13 years ago to help fill out its depleted ranks. (The band "butchered the National Anthem" and really needed help, Hearling whispered in my ear.) Jim Cushman joined later. Now they're semi-permanent. Their favorite song is "Zoot Suit Riot." Hearling let me blow on his musical instrument. I think it was a French horn.
posted by Ken 12:05 PM

 
The less fabric, the more it costs
It costs an estimated $600 to fully outfit a cheerleader, according to the LaSalle squad. The shell alone, which is ordered from a cheerleaders' catalog, costs $300. Theresa Hickey, Lanne Best, Joanne Gonzalez and Atraya Hayes earn money for the other parts of their outfits by washing cars and raffling quilts. But the chance to cheer at State B: priceless. Click here to listen to their rendition of the La Salle fight song.
posted by Ken 12:03 PM

 
Who can work when the game's gone to overtime?
Cheryl Betrozoff of Willapa Valley had to stay home for the tournament. She says it's awfully lonely, but there are lots of parking spaces at work. ''I have to confess, while the games were on the radio yesterday, myself and co-workers really didn't get much work done. (Don't tell anyone.)'' Don't worry Cheryl, I won't tell a soul.
posted by Ken 8:45 AM

 
Smack back
When informed that SJE's self-proclaimed ''secret weapon '' recorded a DNP (did not play) in his first tournament game, Morton antagonist Greg Sharpes replied: ''If a DNP is what makes you a secret weapon, then I should have had the ATF, CIA, and FBI protecting me my senior year!'' And, by the way, Sharpes adds: Morton beat SJE for all three of its state titles. Can anyone identifty SJE's secret weapon in the picture? Anyone care to join in this debate? I'm going to set up a forum topic.
posted by Ken 8:37 AM

 
Culture clash?
Rey Smith e-mailed me with the observation that the West Coast River Inn is filled with B tournament fans, who are treated this week to the play ''Vagina Monologues'' which is playing at the hotel because it was banned from the neighboring Gonzaga campus. ''Isn't it clever of them to provide this opportunity to educate the small-town rubes with such progressive entertainment?'' Smith wrote. ''I wonder if the conservative, mostly Christian out-of-town tournament-goers -- and their children -- appreciate the efforts of the Gonzaga feminists?''
What do you think?
posted by Ken 8:32 AM

Wednesday, February 27, 2002

 
Here are the cool things we did today:

Click here to see and hear from the fantastically coiffed Wilbur-Creston cheerleaders.

Click here to watch the Pateros Nanny mascot in action.

Click here to see a bit of Christmas in February.

posted by Ken 10:56 PM

 
Rural legend or fact?
Susan Leavitt of Reardan e-mailed me with the following tale: ''Folklore says that one year in the '80's Columbia-Hunters was in the tournament, and everyone cleared out of town to come see. When they returned home, thieves had broken in to many homes, knowing there was no one in town. The following year, when the team returned to the tournament, they held a lottery to see who would stay behind to guard the town.''
Any truth to this? Other such tales of small towns being deserted?
Message me at kens@spokesman.com
posted by Ken 10:29 PM

 
East Side salvo
St. John-Endicott's ''secret weapon'' takes exception to Morton grad Greg Sharpes' characterization of East Side teams such as Rosalia being overrated. ''First of all, whoever rates Rosalia higher in a basketball ranking than four blind pigs and a kumquat should be put in a straitjacket and tested for rabies and most hallucinogens.'' The ''secret weapon,'' who rides the pines for SJE's boys team, says Rosalia's boys have lost 56 consecutive league games. ''Just how overrated is Rosalia, in the Morton community, anyway?'' Since 1981, he continues, the East Side has won 14 of the 21 boys tournaments, and 33 of the last 42. The East has won 20 of the 25 official girls B tourneys.
''Oh, and Morton has won three state titles. Care to guess who's won the most, at seven? That's right, it's my school -- St. John, now St. John-Endicott. Ah, it feels good to be overrated.''
Any West Siders care to talk smack back?
posted by Ken 9:33 PM

 
Peel?
The Pe Ell saga continues. A faithful Blog correspondent tells me the correct pronunciation is Pee-L. However, someone who identifies herself only as ''sick girl from Pe Ell'' says that another incorrect pronunciation is Peel, as in orange peel. She also reports that some people think Pe Ell has ''more taverns than people.'' Maybe this week. Half the town's in Spokane, right? So who's doing the drinking in the taverns in Pe Ell this week?
posted by Ken 5:14 PM

 
Yummy
OK, so I wimped out and went across the street to the Olde Mille Cafe in the Flour Mill for a cheeseburger. It was quite good. And I'm thinking about going there for the breakfast special in the morning...
posted by Ken 4:04 PM

 
Taco salad
Cindy Wigen of LaCrosse e-mailed the newspaper with this tidbit about her parents, who travel from Seattle every year for the tournament: ''Mom loves the taco salad -- her favorite of all the Arena food." I'm getting hungry. All I've had since breakfast was a Great Harvest power bar. Maybe the Willapa fans brought some oysters.... BRB

posted by Ken 3:02 PM

 
Jimi Hendrix makes B tourney debut
''I've been coming to the B tournament since 1960," said Spokesman-Review Sports Editor Jeff Jordan, shaking his head in wonderment. ''This is the first time I've ever heard a band play 'Purple Haze.'" St. George's doesn't have a traditional band. They have electric guitars and singers. And they're all wearing Burger King paper crowns. What do you make of that?

Speaking of St. George's
I noticed B legend Wenchi Liu has entered our B pool, and has picked St. George's to win. Big surprise. Her sister Wenifer is on this year's team.

posted by Ken 2:30 PM

 
Fakey photo
A well-placed source tells me that the Oakesdale team photo, at the bottom of Page 2 in the State B Extra, was actually shot after the 1978 semifinals. Back then, the newspaper took team photos of BOTH semifinal winners posing with the first-place trophy. It was the only way to get the champions into the paper on deadline of championship night.

posted by Ken 2:12 PM

 
Sensible shoes
Tom Leinart, a teacher at Port Angeles High School, was a referee in the girls game between Almira/Coulee-Hartline and Kittitas. He orders those fine, black referee sneakers from a special referees catalog. His ''Converse Running Refs'' last a little more than one season, which for him includes 200 to 250 games. Halfway through the season he replaces the foam inserts. He still laments the passing of Avia, which made one great referee shoe.

Naselle hordes
Janet Dorcher estimates 150 Naselle fans are in Spokane. The school district, which is halfway to California from here, has a three-day winter break during the B tourney in case the team makes it. But what's the fun if you can't skip school?

posted by Ken 2:09 PM

 
Best hair (or at least the most flammable)
Pay close attention: I'm going to describe in some detail the incredible process involved in making beautiful hair. Brittanee Tower, Chealsey DeBord, Noelle Camp, Kinsy Cox and Lisa Clark are the five cheerleaders from Wilbur-Creston. They have a professional hair dresser do their hair for each game. Today's two half-braids required 15-20 minutes for each girl. Tomorrow's six braids will take 45 minutes. They will have their hair done tonight, then sleep on it. But don't worry about bed-hair. The following concoction of chemicals makes their hair set up like concrete: 1) Conditioner; 2) Refresh; 3) Guts (foam mousse); 4) Rewind (it's stringy and makes your hair blue); 5) Braiding clay; 6) Big Sexy hair spray (''We all swear by it.''); and, finally, 7) Straight Sexy hair spray, which cures fly-aways.
I tried some of the Straight Sexy. It didn't do much for me. But my hair is pretty hopeless. Brittanee says I should try the Redken Rewind. ''It makes your hair more full,'' she said, with great tact.
Click here to see and hear their hair, er, cheers.
posted by Ken 12:08 PM

 
Dual-gendered mascot
The Pateros girls' team has a great mascot. It's a Nanny. Under the suit is freshman Terry Tisdale. During boys games, Terry is a Billygoat. Does this switching from male to female lead to any kind of gender-identity crisis? "Huh?,'' he asked. I asked him what is it like to be a Nanny: ''I love it!''

Calling Ralph
Pity Valley Christian point guard Jenae Monforton. She is sick. She was ralphing before the 9 a.m. game against Pateros. She played most of the game anyway, a tough loss. After the game, she said she was feeling better. I asked her if nervousness over the first game might have caused some of the discomfort. ''No,'' she replied emphatically. ''I don't throw up when I get nervous.'' Tough as nails. Gotta love it.

posted by Ken 11:54 AM

 
Watch for the pinhead
Congratulations to Alice Roberts, who correctly identified the Mystery fans as Michael Martin of LaCrosse and Justin McKenzie of Washtucna. Thanks to Wendy Brodahl for the photo. Today's mystery fan is a pinhead. Watch for the photo to appear later.

Party at the WestCoast Grand
Shhh. Don't tell anyone, but I hear from a reliable source that 200-300 Willapa Valley fans will be partying tonight. The teams, meanwhile, are safely tucked away at the airport Ramada. The daughter of the boys coach tells me that he makes bed checks at 9 and 10 p.m. And a girl on the Willapa team said she was asleep by 10:04. Maybe that's why they're wiping out Darrington right now.

posted by Ken 11:36 AM

 
Where Santa works in the off-season
An Arena security guard is the spitting image of Santa. He won't do an interview (''Sorry, can't talk to the media.'') But did say he was discovered by a talent agency in New York City and spends three months a year there being Santa Claus. To see his picture, click on the word Santa in the first sentence.
posted by Ken 10:40 AM

 
West Side throw-down
Greg Sharpes of Morton, Class of '95, complained by e-mail about how over-rated East Side teams are. Rosalia, he says, hasn't been to ''The Big Dance'' since 1981. In that time Morton has won two state titles and finished second twice. ''Just because they are farmers on the East Side, they all think they are the reincarnation of Jimmy Chitwood from "Hoosiers." Ouch!
posted by Ken 10:34 AM

 
A long-billed bird?
According to Wayne Massie, the town of Curlew was named after a bird, the long-billed curlew. My dictionary says a curlew is supposed to be a shore bird. What the heck would a shore bird be doing in Ferry County? Is there a big shore-bird population at Curlew Lake?

Looking for the best Christian party school
I've noticed that there are five Christian schools in both the boys and girls tournaments. They've all traveled some distance to get to Spokane, so likely are staying in area hotels. Which Christian school will have the best post-game celebrations each night this week? Tell me if you hear of a good (safe and legal) party that took place.
posted by Ken 9:33 AM

 
What the heck is a Pe Ell?
This is either a true story about the origins of the name of Pe Ell, or it's the biggest bunch of baloney I've ever heard. It comes from David Dobbins of Pe Ell. Chehalis Indians befriended a French trader named Pierre, Dobbins wrote me in an e-mail message. "The Indians had a hard time pronouncing the name Pierre, and the best they could do was something that sounded like Pe-elle. Later, when a small town was built, it took on the name of the French trader.'' But here's the key to Dobbins' story: "...or so that was the story I got six years ago when I moved here.'' (So is it pronounced Pay-L or Pee-L?)

posted by Ken 8:09 AM

Tuesday, February 26, 2002

 
Sweet dreams, oysters
It's late Tuesday, and I'm wondering whether the Willapa Bay Oysters had a safe travel day to Spokane. It seems cruel that one of the schools that had the farthest to travel plays so early on the first day of the tournament. The Willapa boys play at 9 a.m., and the Willapa girls play at 10:30 a.m. Oh, yeah, they're actually the Willapa Valley Vikings. I'm just fixated on their famous oysters. I hope they get a good night's rest.
posted by Ken 9:36 PM

Friday, February 22, 2002

 
Hoop dreams
True confession time. I've never been to the B tournament. I wouldn't know a DeSales from a DeSoto. But that’s about to change.
I'm studying up on the B schools and towns, and I'm going to sit through the four-day tournament. (Colleague Hilary Kraus says I should bring "earplugs and Excedrin.")
Several times a day I’ll update this Web log. I’ll also set up forums on different topics, such as: the best food in the Arena; the exceptional officiating; and who has the best school band.
And we’re going to have a few contests. See the picture of the basketball fan with the weird head-wrap? Where does he go to school? (Send your guesses to kens@spokesman.com.)
In the meantime, here are a few nuggets from my research:

Pe Ell High School
The Pe Ell mascot is the Trojan, but this is not your prissy, clean-shaven Charlton Heston kind of Trojan. Not the frat-boy University of Southern California kind of Trojan, either. This cool, he-man looks more like a Richard Nixon with a five-day beard who’s angry about having his head shoved into a metal helmet that’s two sizes too small. Go to their site and tell me what you think. Pe Ell looks like a great school. It has only a few sports, but one of them is Frisbee golf. Is that cool, or what?

St. John-Endicott High School
The St. John-Endicott Web site has a posting for the school’s chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Under FBLA ''Awards" is an impressive list of 18 (count em!) business contest award winners. Oddly, the FBLA ''Community Service" category says that ''Our chapter is scarcely two years old. In this time, we have not had sufficient opportunity to acquire the funds necessary to provide any form of community service.’’ Hmmm. What do you make of that?

Darrington High School
I received this in an e-mail from Darrington Loggers boys coach Jeff Bryson: "Retired Loggers coach Tim Cousins still resides in Darrington and is a fixture at all our games. His son in law Cam Ross is our girls coach. Cam also played for Coach Cousins in high school at Darrington as well as myself." Did you follow that? If so, let me know (at kens@spokesman.com), because I’m confused.

Mount Vernon Christian
The school’s mascot is the Hurricanes. They don’t have hurricanes in Mount Vernon, so what’s up with that?

Day Star Christian
Speaking of mascots, Day Star Christian is the only team in the history of the B tournament to not have a mascot. So I’m beginning a mascot contest. If you win, we’ll put your name in this column. Here are a two ideas: First, there’s the Star Wars theme -- the Day Star Storm Troopers. Or in keeping with the white-men-can-jump theme, the Day Star Christian Laettners. You get the idea. Send me your entries.

LaCrosse Washtucna
LaCrosse Washtucna has a very cool Web site. They’ve even got a guest book. I found this entry, from Crissy from Palouse: ''the Twins are SUPER HOTT!!!!!!" What does this mean? What’s going on at ''The Tuc'?"

ACH
And one final thought: Almira/Coulee-Hartline really should absorb nearby Electric City. It would make a great new acronym -- ACHE City.

posted by Ken 4:57 PM