THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Not quite the end we saw coming

Winning solves everything in sports, right?

Players can be unhappy with their situation, but finishing at the top, you don’t remember the struggle as much it seems.

Well, there wasn’t a ton of those championship moments this year.

It happens.

Some will be back, chasing that title next year.

Others, they’ll do it elsewhere, moving on to chase other goals.

Yeah, that happens too.

SURE, every high school team really wants to close out the season with that elusive state title, and both the Lake City boys and girls basketball teams had lofty goals to bring those home this year.

When it didn’t happen, sure it was disappointing. But also keep in mind, both teams were plenty of underclassmen that will be back for the 2022-23 season, if not another year after.

Both will be better off for this year’s setback.

Same can be said for the Post Falls wrestling team, which finished third at state this year. Sure, the Trojans only had one wrestler in a championship match, but freshman Rider Seguine won his match and the Trojans return 13 wrestlers next year.

“I’m just really proud of our kids,” Post Falls coach Pete Reardon said. “We talked a lot about toughness at the end of the season and overcoming challenges. We had a lot of great wins along the way. Our team goal at state was to place in the top five, and we did that, so it was pretty cool to see.”

CHANCES ARE, neither Russell Wilson or Bobby Wagner were going to finish their career as members of the Seattle Seahawks.

It just doesn’t happen that often anymore in the NFL.

Sure, you can hope and wish it to happen. But following Tuesday’s moves, with Wilson being shipped to Denver for three players and a haul of draft picks, he won’t be under center when the Seahawks start the season next year.

Wagner’s release, while also not surprising, maybe stings a little more.

Yes, Wagner was going to cost $20 million to keep on the roster this season. But Wagner had said he’d be willing to rework his contract if it needed to happen.

It didn’t.

As rumors go, Wagner is drawing interest from Arizona, San Francisco, the Los Angeles Rams and nearly any other team that has a need for a linebacker that had 170 tackles in just 15 games last season.

Then again, Seattle’s separation with Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch — the first time at least — weren’t all that much better either.

The business side of sports can be painful, with good players leaving without the proper sendoff.

It happens.

But it shouldn’t sometimes as well.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.