Looking back through nearly four decades

Some random thoughts as we begin Year 38 of covering high school sports in North Idaho:

- Kudos to whoever convinced schools many years ago to move up kickoffs for high school football games from 7:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The folks that are going to go to the games more than likely can make it there by 7 anyway. Plus, fans of the visiting team can get home earlier — especially nice for those having to travel an hour or two to watch their boys play.

(Oh yeah — that extra half hour does help on deadline. Especially when our paper became a morning paper. When we were an afternoon paper, they could kick off whenever they wanted).

- Still miss afternoon football games in Clark Fork. Every now and then, during a break in the action, you could gaze across the field, past the visiting sideline and fans, and notice wildlife frolicking in the field.

Also, those afternoon starts made for a nice doubleheader on fall Fridays — a Wampus Cat football game, followed by the Sandpoint Bulldogs under the lights at Memorial Field — later to be named Barlow Stadium. If there was time to wolf down a burger served up by the good folks in Clark Fork, even better.

- When I first started at the Daily Bee in Sandpoint in 1982, high school soccer was not yet a thing.

It came along a couple years later, with girls playing in the fall, boys in the spring. The boys didn’t start playing in the fall until 1998.

- Anybody miss sideout scoring in volleyball?

With rally scoring, all sets are roughly the same length — roughly 40-50 serves — so you had a rough idea how long matches would be. If you lose a point on your serve, that’s OK, we’ll just win the next point on serve-receive.

Matches with sideout scoring, where you can only score a point on your serve, could go on forever — or not.

With sideout matches being best 2 of 3 sets to 15, a good team could serve the other team off the court in about 20 minutes.

But if two really good teams squared off ...

Back when Sandpoint and St. Maries had it rolling in the 1980s, they played some epic matches that went on forever. Sideout after sideout after sideout. The tension mounted to the point where if one of the teams scored on their serve, it seemed bigger than just the one point earned.

But eventually Idaho had to adapt to how the game was played everywhere else.

However, sideout scoring was fun while it lasted.

- The one good thing about working at an afternoon paper — which the Bee was until the late 1980s — was there was no rush to crank out the game story on deadline. You could cover a game, go home and write the gamer in the office the next morning.

One time I caught a ride on the Sandpoint bus to a Bulldog volleyball match in Post Falls. When I got back to the school, I noticed my car had a flat tire.

This was right around Labor Day, back when Jerry Lewis’ telethon to raise awareness for muscular dystrophy was quite popular. I never saw so many people get so excited about numbers changing on a tote board.

Meanwhile, while I fumed about my flat, the dad of one of the Sandpoint volleyball players came over to offer a hand.

Then he literally offered his hand.

“Hi, I’m Jerry Lewis,” he said.

(“Yeah, and I’m Ed McMahon,” I thought).

Turns out, he was indeed Jerry Lewis — just not THAT one.

And he could help fix a flat.

And I was able to make deadline the next morning.

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.