THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Legends are people too, as it turns out

Anytime you see a description in front of a person's name — "legendary," or "storied", "fabled" or something similar — an air of invincibility is presumed.

Maybe, but there's much more to it, as it turns out.

I THOUGHT of that when I saw the news earlier this week that Donny Haynes, the "legendary" high school boys basketball coach who played at Coeur d'Alene High in the 1940s, later coached at his alma mater, and finished with four state titles in four decades of coaching, had died at age 91.

By the time I covered him, his "legend" had already been cemented, with state championships at Kellogg, Twin Falls and Meridian (twice) prior to his returning to coach at Coeur d'Alene High in 1988.

That first season, the Vikings finished 4-23 or something like that, capped by a quick two-and-out at the regional tournament in Sandpoint, which I covered.

"It was a horrible season," he summed up in his postgame interview after his team had been eliminated.

Hardly "legendary," but as we've learned, even legends are human. Besides, in looking back, he was talking about the team's record, not the lessons learned and relationships forged over the season.

Years later, I actually got to know Donny Haynes a little bit.

In the late 1990s, when his son, Tyler, was in his first stint coaching at Sandpoint High, Donny would stop by at practice, or at games.

Every now and then we would interact; he would ask me how I was doing, and he didn't have to do that.

But, as I learned, that was just the kind of person Donny Haynes was, from the players he showed an interest in, and made feel special.

SAME WITH Dean Lundblad.

In the 1980s, Lundblad brought his Coeur d'Alene Vikings up to Bulldog Gym to play Sandpoint. Dean struck an imposing figure on the sidelines; plus, his Viking teams were good — especially when his son, Kurt, was playing, and Mike Cox was out there setting bone-jarring picks.

In those days, Dean didn't look like someone you wanted to cross.

Years later, I got to know Dean a little bit when we would cross paths at the health club in Coeur d'Alene.

He was always cordial and complimentary of me and my work, and we had some nice chats in between sets of squatting 390 pounds.

(Not really; just seeing if you're still paying attention!)

Anyway, as I would also learn from several of his former teammates years later, Dean was like a father figure to so many of them.

I DIDN'T cross paths with Elmer Jordan much, but I heard nothing but good things about the former Coeur d'Alene High coach and athletic director.

And speaking of legendary figures from that era ...

Living in Sandpoint for much of the 1980s, I was fortunate enough to get to know Carl S. Barlow, better known to most folks in the area simply as "Cotton." He coached at Sandpoint High, then Coeur d'Alene, then finished up back at Sandpoint.

I don't remember what the occasion was, but I remember him being tolerant while some young whippersnapper reporter drug him around the field that would eventually bear his name, looking for just the right background to snap a photo of him.

All those "legendary" coaches are gone now.

As it turns out, they all had one other thing in common.

They were legendary people as well.

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.