My lady and I finally got all our stuff moved up here this past weekend and it is truly amazing what two people are able to accumulate without even trying very hard. You have no idea what you kept the items for, but they had to have a purpose at one time or another. Of course I took no end of grief for having to find a place in the truck for my four-or-so dozen goose decoys and an equal number of bagged duck dekes, neither of which got wet while I resided in the high desert of Eastern Oregon. Try to explain to someone who has never sighted down the barrel of an 870 Remington that it’s pretty much impossible to hunt waterfowl successfully without decoys unless you just puddle jump. Besides, nothing is more exhilarating than watching the sun come up over a decoy spread.
Legion A winners …
I had the pleasure of attending two American Legion baseball games involving the Oak Harbor Junior ‘A’ team during my first week on the job and I’ll tell you what, the players and coaches made me feel right at home. Just like old times. At the newspaper I worked for prior to becoming sports editor for the Whidbey News-Times the big thing in town was baseball, both high school and American Legion, and a fella could get in trouble, big time, if he didn’t provide adequate coverage.
The only problem was the former head coach, thank goodness he is gone now, was a first-class bear to work with and if you didn’t personally attend a game, you got no information about what had transpired. No score, no nothing. Combine that with his idea that kids are too immature to give interviews to the press and don’t talk to me during practice, as if five minutes of time will make the difference between winning and losing a state championship, and you can get the picture what I was up against.
I’ll say one thing the Oak Harbor kids they are talkers, but I have to apologize to Coach Naymick as I got to yammering with the lads about football, another sport that is dear to my heart, prior to the semifinal game against San Juan. I’ve been told by several people that football is the big thing in Oak Harbor and Naymick said they are trying to do the same thing with baseball. With the talent they had on the Legion ‘A’ team, it shouldn’t be all that difficult.
Looking at last year’s football preview and from what the kids said, the Wildcats play a split-4 on defense and run a wing-T offense. We did the exact same thing during the years I coached in Stanfield. I haven’t had the chance to talk to the Coupeville coaches yet, although I did leave a message with the Wolves’ athletic director Willie Smith and spoke with AD Bob Smithson from Oak Harbor regarding fall sports schedules. Both of them came through and sent me the information. Thanks, guys!
Personally, I can hardly wait for the fall seasons to begin.
Sports editor Tim Adams may be reached at (360) 675-6611 or email to sports@whidbeynewstimes.com
