THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, November 21, 2015
Rivalry games are fun to see.
Washington vs. Washington State in the Apple Cup — which fans get as a Thanksgiving leftover this year.
The Civil War football series between Oregon and Oregon State is also pretty entertaining.
The newest spirit game to the equation might be the closest thing to friendly competition as you can find.
In a few weeks, a 5A and 2A school are going to face off in a unique setting, albeit in nothing but friendly competition.
TEAMS FROM the 5A Coeur d’Alene and 2A St. Maries High teams will meet on Dec. 11 in St. Maries in an event dubbed “Pack the Gym.”
The night will consist of the girls varsity basketball game at 4 p.m., followed by a wrestling match between the two schools and culminated with the boys varsity basketball game at 7:30.
It is the first game between the boys varsity teams in 20 years, according to longtime St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, who previously coached girls basketball and is now in his second season as boys varsity coach.
“I’m not really sure what to think of this yet,” Chase said. “I think our athletic director (then Cory Newton) coordinated it last year when Todd (Gilkey, the former Coeur d’Alene AD who is now at St. Maries) was there. They planned everything out and it should be a fun activity. It’s been a few years and it’s going to be a challenge, but our kids seemed to rise up to it. It might be a kind of fun night to have all of our teams out in a good, competitive, spirited setting.”
It will also serve as the season opener for the Lumberjack wrestling team.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” St. Maries wrestling coach Dennis Humphrey said. “I’d really like to see a lot of the other schools do this. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people and parents that have never seen a wrestling match that don’t normally come to see this. It will be kind of neat to wrestle in front of a big crowd. Wrestling’s not a spectator sport like basketball is, but it will be kind of neat to have a big crowd to compete in front of.”
The Coeur d’Alene and St. Maries girls varsity teams played each other home-and-home last year, with the Vikings sweeping the Lumberjacks.
It’s not Fight for the Fish (Coeur d’Alene-Lake City), Prairie Pig (Post Falls-Lakeland) or Brawl for the Ball (St. Maries-Kellogg) like some other schools participate in, but should provide plenty of reason to check it out.
IN RECENT years, Sunday’s game between San Francisco and Seattle might have determined who had the inside track to host the NFC Championship game, or at least gain home field advantage in the conference.
This isn’t that year.
Seattle is 4-5, and with a loss, whatever hopes of a postseason berth will be gone. San Francisco (3-6) is coming off a bye and is riding a winning streak after beating the Atlanta Falcons with Blaine Gabbert — yes, Gabbert — as quarterback in its last game.
More recently, as the teams improved, that just egged on Seattle coach Pete Carroll and San Francisco’s Jim Harbaugh to get on each other’s nerves as the game approached, much like the rivalry they struck up as coaches of Southern California and Stanford before coming to the NFL.
Not now, not with Harbaugh being fired and coaching at Michigan. Now, fans are left with Jim Tomsula, a guy that seems like you’d want to hang out with, not despise.
If nothing else, the ninth annual weiner dog races at halftime should provide enough entertainment from what otherwise could be a long afternoon for both teams.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.