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THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Pigskins, potholes, pigs and other stuff

| September 5, 2021 1:30 AM

We're going to talk about pigs here in a minute.

But first, a quick look back at Coeur d'Alene's 24-22 victory over Sandpoint on Friday night at Barlow Stadium in Sandpoint.

Not only was it a thrilling high school football game at one of the most best venues around, it was a competitive game between a 5A and a 4A school in North Idaho.

Most coaches and administrators in the Inland Empire League are in favor of a combined IEL, with the four 5A schools and three 4A schools competing for the same regular-season title.

Sounds good in theory.

But what makes it work is when the 4A schools are competitive with the 5A schools. Sometimes they are (think Lakeland boys vs. the 5As in basketball last year), but many times they aren't.

In this case, Sandpoint already has a football win over a 5A team (Post Falls), and nearly knocked off the gold standard for football in North Idaho for more than a decade on Friday night.

Football is NOT one of the sports with a a combined IEL (the league is combined in volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball). But if it was, a win Friday night would have put Sandpoint in the driver's seat for the league title.

ONE YEAR later, this seems like a normal weekend in the sports world.

One year ago at this time, high school sports weren't too much different in North Idaho.

Yes, there were some restrictions on the number of spectators, but the games still went on — for the most part, as a few were canceled/postponed due to COVID-19.

College (and pro) football was sure different, with no fans for many teams for much (or all) of the season, then a few fans toward the end in some instances.

Washington State played football in the fall, before no fans. Idaho didn't get to play in the fall — its season was delayed until the spring, with attendance limited.

Even golf tournaments have galleries again. Those events looked weird last year, with no fans to react to great shots. Or to root on the "home" team, as is in the case in this weekend's Solheim Cup. It's not working so far, as the U.S. is getting clobbered by the Europeans (I thought that only happened in the Ryder Cup).

Fans of that professional football team to the west of us, in the city without an NBA franchise, were unable to pack the stadium and root on their beloved Seahawks, denying the fighting Pete Carrolls of one of the best home-field advantages in sports.

You could tell that Seattle fans were excited to be back in the stadium this year, as they even showed up for meaningless preseason games.

In any event, obviously we're glad to have the fans -- and the games -- back.

Hopefully, despite the rising number of COVID cases, it can stay that way.

IN NON-SPORTS news ...

We're happy to report that the giant pothole in the Ironwood Square parking lot in Coeur d'Alene, where drivers turning right onto Government Way risked damage to their cars' tires and wheels, was finally paved over recently, some two months after we wrote about it in this space.

FINALLY, PIGS.

Most folks have their go-to stops at the local fair -- the deep-fried pizza (or other novelty foods), the hypnotist or other entertainment, looking at photos entered by community members, etc.

We like a lot of that at the North Idaho State Fair (who said North Idaho was not a state?), but we also enjoy pigs.

Maybe it stems from growing up watching Arnold Ziffel on Green Acres, but we enjoy walking in to the Jacklin Building and interacting with the pigs.

Maybe it's because they look like oversized wiener dogs, as they lay on their sides and make funny noises.

Maybe it's just because they are so darn cute.

However, one of the disadvantages of a 10-day fair this year (compared to the usual five days) is that pigs are not there for the duration. They are there for a few days, then shown and sold, and then, well, you know ... bacon!

But for some of us who were unable to attend the first few days of the fair, we missed the pigs. By Wednesday, the Jacklin Building was pretty much empty -- no pigs, and only a few goats that didn't seem to want much to do with us.

Why no pigs for all 10 days?

Thankfully, Alexcia Jordan, CEO of the North Idaho State Fair, who certainly has more important things to worry about than someone with an affection for pigs, was kind enough to explain the pig-less final few days of the fair.

"Pigs are the most delicate animal we have," Jordan explained, "and very sensitive to stress levels and diseases. We could not make it happen this year, but hope we can figure a way to have at least some all days of the fair next year."

Whew!

Or more accurately, "Woo pig sooie!"

Thanks, Alexcia, we certainly hope to see the pigs next year, when we attend during the middle of the week. Perhaps we need to bounce this idea off the folks at the Spokane County Interstate Fair, a similarly 10-day event with seems to also be swine-less as the fair reaches the midway point.

And if that works, we'll move on to the next pressing issue that needs addressing.

Potholes, pigs and ...

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