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Alvord: Candy canes? Must be basketball season

Monday, December 1, 2008 11:59 PM PST

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Column by Rick S. Alvord
Sports editor

When I come to work on Monday, I expect to see the usual:

• A horde of scowling reporters and editors — scowling because they care.

• Freebie candy (usually from Halloween 1993), homemade brownies-gone-bad or a giant box of vegetables from somebody’s garden, placed on the table near the mailboxes just begging for you to take them home.

• A glowing red light on my voice mail, with at least one male caller who wants me to write a story about how bad his son’s T-ball coach is.

What I don’t expect to see when I come to work on Monday are happy people — some with genuine smiles — decorating the office like Santa Claus’ living room.

Tis the season, I guess.

The change of seasons is always tough on us here in your friendly sports department. Not the Christmas season. Eventually, even we warm up to the idea of having icicle lights dangling over our cubicle and fake reindeer grazing on the carpet.

I’m talking about the basketball season. If I’m not mistaken, it already has begun.

Every year, it seems that we’ve barely had time to digest our Thanksgiving turkey and they’re already throwing down the giant “King’s Court Is Now Open” gavel at Mark Morris’ Ted M. Natt Court.

Can’t they keep the gavel in the closet until we’ve had a few weeks to hibernate?

Football season begins when it’s bright and sunny. The first week of contests are typically played in 70-degree temperatures. Games are played on Fridays. It doesn’t get completely dark until the third quarter.

Even as the season winds to a conclusion, there is a nice chill in the air.

When basketball season begins, it gets dark at about a quarter after 3. It’s cold and wet. Games are played every day of the week, except Sundays. Gymnasiums are either frigid and drafty, or hot and stuffy.

Don’t get me wrong. Basketball is a wonderful sport. In the coming months (nearly four L-O-N-G months), I am looking forward to having these questions answered:

• Can Rally Wallace and his R.A. Long boys, hit hard by graduation, make a run at a Greater St. Helens 2A League playoff spot? The Lumberjacks, who have just two seniors on their roster, had a solid JV squad last year. But how does that translate to the big stage?

• What about the Kelso girls? Last season’s state tournament run was one to remember, but that was in Class 3A. How will Lacey DeWeert and the Lassies fare against Prairie, Skyview and the other GSHL 4A contenders?

• And while we’re at it, will Kelso’s boys be able to stay afloat against the larger 4A schools? Will basketball be any different than football?

• Bill Bakamus, head coach of the Mark Morris boys, needs just three wins to log his 300th career victory. The Monarchs begin the season with three straight home games — Friday vs. Evergreen, Dec. 9 vs. W.F. West and Dec. 16 vs. Black Hills.

When will he reach the milestone? The Mark Morris athletic department might want to get the cake ready for Dec. 16.

• Bakamus’ Monarchs should cruise to another league championship, much the way one of those huge ships cruises into a Mexican Riviera port — all hands on deck, with horns blasting. MM has University of Montana signee Eric Hutchison, all 6-foot-9 of him, in the middle. It has several key varsity returners, some talented JV players from a year ago and, yes, a few transfers who are eager to make an impact.

Is this the team that will bring Bakamus his first state title? Way too early to tell, but it certainly has the makings of a Final Four combatant.

• What about the R.A. Long girls? Sadie Petersen, a transfer from Mark Morris, is sure to add some offensive spark to a lineup that features sharp-shooter Katie Gudgell. But will it be enough to carry the Jills to the playoffs?

• Can first-year head coach Scott Ruhland continue the tradition of strong girls basketball teams at Mark Morris? This is a guy who preaches hustle, defense and rebounding, so expect this team to grow and mature as the league campaign approaches.

• Who’s the best guard in the area? Well, he could very well reside in Cathlamet. Junior point man Cody Olsen scored 66 points in four games (16.5 average) to help Wahkiakum to a fourth-place finish at the Class 2B state tournament in Spokane last March, and was named first-team all-tourney.

This kid can flat-out shoot the ball.

There are more roundball questions looming, but for now I’ll back off and enjoy the cardboard candy cane cut-outs taped to the newsroom walls.

To all of my colleagues: The place looks great. Seriously, nice work. Very festive.

And if I seem a little more grouchy than usual, don’t take it personally. It’s just the change of seasons.

Previous

TheGenius wrote on Dec 2, 2008 8:28 AM:

" Thank you, Rick, for subtly dropping that "a few transfers" line in your two cents about MM. Stirring the pot a bit? It must be hoops season. The MM haters are already foaming at the mouth. Do your worst. "

Jack Squat wrote on Dec 2, 2008 8:59 AM:

" My question to TheGenius is...does MM have transfers? We both know the answer is yes. So I say it's a fair comment by Alvord. He did not dwell on it, nor is he "stirring the pot" IMHO. Don't be so sensitive. I also see that he referred to a transfer the RAL girls got from MM. Seems fair and balanced to me. "

Johnny Fairplay wrote on Dec 2, 2008 9:01 AM:

" Thank You, Rick, For mentioning the transfers. If eneough parents are as sensitive as TheGenius, perhaps pressure will be applied to atleast admit only the students who actually meet the criteria. No hater here. Just a guy looking for a good rivalry of our Longview Kids. "

hey now wrote on Dec 2, 2008 9:40 AM:

" Again with the transfer talk. All you people out there, do you let your children tell you where to move? If you move somewhere do you leave your children behind? Children ultimately don't make the decisions where the family goes so don't punish the kids for when their parents make decisions about where to relocate the family. Sure the parents may have their children's interests in mind but its ridiculous to say that a minor has to sit out of sports because their parents moved to a new community. "

hawkster wrote on Dec 2, 2008 10:02 AM:

" go get'em Billy B. the best coach in all of SW Washington if not the whole state. Who wouldn't want to play for this guy? 7 years ago or so he was the coach for the all-state game and made such an impression on Nate Robinson (former Rainier Beach star and current NY Knick) he came to longview and helped out at the LCC/MM Hoop camp. Thats the kind of guy i want at my school. so talk all you want about transfers but it happens to be the kids choice not his. "

TheGenius wrote on Dec 2, 2008 10:57 AM:

" Oh no, I'm not some sensitive parent. I'm merely an alum of a school that seems to have gotten a reputation as a bunch of cheats by a bunch of people in the community with ties to other schools. Why not try this? Have the schools you support hire better coaches and maybe the kids would want to stay. Don't hate on Bakamus. He was winning long before any trasfer showed up at MM. And if he's been doing anything wrong, why hasn't the WIAA come down on MM? Anyone? I thought so. That's all I got. "

CRSA wrote on Dec 2, 2008 10:58 AM:

" Nice article Rick. You and your staff do a great job covering local sports in our community--thank you! "

Johnny Fairplay wrote on Dec 2, 2008 11:49 AM:

" Genius, Who is hating on MM or Coach B? I'm sorry you feel your school has "gotten a reputation as a bunch of cheats". If rules are bent or broken, people will talk. As for the hey now comment. If your family "MOVES" to Longview,WELCOME and best of luck to you! If you are here by breaking the rules, people will talk. Reputations will be damaged. "

CRSA wrote on Dec 3, 2008 11:08 AM:

" TheGenius: Yeah, he's been winning all the way back to like the Gabe Matthews era--oh, wait...nevermind, Gabe was a transfer too. "

CRSA wrote on Dec 3, 2008 11:12 AM:

" Oh and by the way, WIAA hasn't done anything BECAUSE WASHINGTON IS A SELF REPORTING STATE meaning when you cheat (accidentally or otherwise) you have to confess on your own and MM refuses to self report. "

TheGenius wrote on Dec 3, 2008 11:35 AM:

" Sort of like how MM refused to report one of their own players as being ineligible in the Civil War game this year? Is that what you mean? By the way, remind me how the Chief Sealth girls hoops team from a few years back got caught recruiting. Wasn't it the Seattle Times that broke that story? For what it's worth, nice Gabe Matthews reference. Half the people that read that thought, "Who the heck is Gabe Matthews?" The other half thought, "I can't believe he actually remembered that guy." Well done. "

CRSA wrote on Dec 3, 2008 2:34 PM:

" Actually...the Seattle Times broke the story and then Chief Sealth's School District investigated (so I guess the Longview School District could also investigate--not just MM) and then "self-reported" itself to the WIAA. Nothing was done to Chief Sealth by the WIAA until the self-reporting took place.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002808573_sealth16.html

The below link is a fairly decent explanation of how the WIAA works and only how it (WIAA) only proceeds once a school or school district has self reported.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060314&slug=sealth14

In regards to the Civil War...I don't know all of the details but I vaguely remember hearing that they didn't self-report until RAL and Woodland caught wind of the violation. "

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