Who's got spirit? Everybody!

’Tis the season for spirit games.

’Tis the season for increased earplug sales as well.

If there’s two schools with any sort of rivalry in North Idaho, there’s a good chance a spirit event has been created as part of a girls/boys basketball doubleheader.

Fight for the Fish, of course, between Coeur d’Alene and Lake City.

Battle for the Buck, between Timberlake and Priest River. That one also includes a wrestling dual a couple of days prior with its own name — War of the Waters.

Brawl for the Ball, between St. Maries and Kellogg. Before that, St. Maries, the Lumberjacks, had one with the Potlatch Loggers dubbed Battle for the Ax.

The latest one, the Battle for the Paddle, between Lakeland and Sandpoint, had its second edition on Friday. That one consists of a tripleheader — girls basketball, followed by wrestling, followed by boys basketball. Before that, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry used to have a rivalry game dubbed Moose Madness.

And, of course, the original — the Battle for the Prairie Pig, between Post Falls and Lakeland. That one started in 1998, one year before Fight for the Fish. That one was discontinued a couple of years ago, and that’s too bad — the games may have become one-sided, but the I’ll remember the Prairie Pig event for the many creative and entertaining skits produced by students from each school.

The common theme — packed (or nearly packed) gymnasiums, walls and rafters decorated by each school to add to the festive look, and hours and hours of screaming, with a trophy and bragging rights on the line.

AFTER THE recent Fight for the Fish, I was stopped on my way out of the driveway by a neighbor who asked, “What to we have to do to win one of these things?”

I didn’t know how to answer him. I’ve watched nearly every Fight for the Fish — maybe even every one — and I couldn’t predict which school was going to be announced as the winner afterward. To me, it looks like each school does an equally nice job, in their own way.

Both are creative in their cheering, and it’s a different group of judges every year ... so I don’t know why Lake City has won the spirit competition each of the last eight years.

Now, obviously, if you do something that’s OK during a regular game — like chant “Scoreboard ... scoreboard” when your team is ahead and on its way to victory, that might earn you a deduction in a spirit game. So might receiving a technical foul. Or razzing the other team’s free-throw shooter. Or booing. Or getting on the refs over a call.

I don’t remember any of that happening at a Fish game. Maybe it has, but I don’t remember. Or my ears were ringing so much from the noise, I didn’t hear it.

SOME THINK the winners of the girls and boys basketball games should have an influence on which side wins the Fish — an interesting idea, but alas, the results of the games have nothing to do with who wins the spirit competition.

Understandably, everybody wants to win, no matter the competition. But the winners are both student bodies, who put on creative displays of spirit and, in many cases, also perform some sort of community activity that raises funds and/or awareness. For many students, it’s the one time each year their passion for school and community can be seen and heard.

After watching one of those spirit games, some say they wish all games could be played in front of a crowd that passionate. I don’t know about that, and my eardrums would definitely disagree.

Still, if your school is announced as the winner of the spirit competition at the end of the night, yeah, it probably is a nice way to end a festive evening.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.