Out with the old, in with the new

The new gymnasium at Coeur d’Alene High, the expanded Viking Court, is supposed to be nice, according to Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball coach Tony Hanna.

Just wait until the Vikings actually see it.

WHILE THE girls basketball season has already tipped off, and the boys season starts next week, the Viking teams aren’t scheduled to be inside the new digs until Dec. 7, when the Vikings host North Central in boys and girls basketball games. The new gym is scheduled to be dedicated between the girls game and the boys game on that night.

“We haven’t seen it yet,” said Hanna, who begins his third year at Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday at home against Ferris. “They’ve got the gym pretty well boarded up, but it’s supposed to be done for North Central.”

In addition to the new gym, the school will also be upgrading its weight room, wrestling room and expanding Viking Court, which is the current practice gym.

“It’s going to be nice to have three courts (two going crosscourt in the expanded Viking Court, in addition to Elmer Jordan Court) so that all the teams can practice at the same time,” Hanna said.

For tryouts, Hanna said they had to move between the high school and Canfield Middle School.

“We had 68 kids show up for tryouts, so we had to do some sessions at Canfield,” Hanna said. “At Canfield, the court sizes were a little smaller, but we were able to hold two sessions in two gyms, and that was pushing it.”

Coeur d’Alene will host the annual Fight for the Fish spirit game against Lake City on Jan. 11. Lake City has hosted the game the past two years. Coeur d’Alene was scheduled to host the Fish game last year, but switched with Lake City so the Vikings could host this year in its new, larger gym.

“We’ve kind of needed it,” Hanna said. “It’s not like Jordan Court can’t hold everybody, but it will be nice to host the Fish game this year. It just made more sense to have at Lake City (last year) because they can seat more. But our new gym is supposed to be pretty sweet. I’m looking forward to it for sure.”

AS THE Mariners transition to whatever they end up being next year ­— contender or not — it might have came as a shock to see pitcher James Paxton dealt on Monday.

Paxton was likely to be the No. 1 starter for the franchise moving into the 2019 season.

Instead, Paxton will be another piece for the New York Yankees in their chase to catch the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.

In the coming weeks, players like Jean Segura and Mike Leake could very well be moved as well, taking other pieces to a puzzle that seemed just about solved.

Just like with Ken Griffey, Jr., and Ichiro — both times — a point comes when those players just couldn’t help them anymore.

Seattle could be getting to that point with Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Felix Hernandez.

Sure, Hernandez is a fan favorite in Seattle. The crowd shows up when he starts and is into the game for each pitch he makes.

But eventually, it becomes a business decision to let a player go play somewhere else.

Whether that be to chase a playoff spot somewhere else, or to save money for the next big thing to come into town.

Either way, it appears whatever window might have been opened has now been nailed shut.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.