Share these anecdotes with friends over coffee

Q: What are your favorite high-school sports anecdotes from this state? I'm not looking for tales of great performances but the kind of funny stories friends tell each other over coffee.

A: Here is a collection of some of my favorites. I'm always eager to hear new ones, too.

"Lucky" is the name

In 1955, underdog Darrington made it to the championship game of the Class B boys basketball tournament and upset Bainbridge, 56-54.

Everyone commented on how lucky Darrington had been to win, so one Darrington fan, Charles White, named his newborn son "Lucky."

"Lucky" White just turned 50 and still lives in Darrington. His son, Jake, was a senior on the Darrington wrestling team this winter.

Misplaced concern

When Mark Brandmire went to White River High School in Buckley as athletic director for the 2001-02 school year, he needed someone to sing the national anthem at an event. A sophomore was sent to him and Brandmire was concerned because the boy looked so young.

"Mark, don't worry, he'll do fine," a staff member reassured him.

That sophomore turned out to be Blaine Larson, who graduated last June and now has a top-25 country hit "How Do You Get So Lonely?" He is considered one of the rising young stars in country music. His song "In My High School" got some national attention last year and was an insightful look at high-school life.

Perfect answer

Jim Jolgen, the late Lake Washington football coach and administrator, once was telephoned by a mother who indignantly asked, "Why did my son get an F in history?"

Jolgen calmly replied, "Because, ma'am, that's the lowest grade we give here at Lake Washington."

Gun was loaded

One day in the early 1960s, Bothell track coach Bob Green went to test a starter's pistol at the start of practice. He pointed the gun down at the track and pulled the trigger.

"All of a sudden there is this huge bang and cinders flying everywhere," recalled George Selg, 1963 KingCo high-jump champion. "Somehow, there was a live round instead of a blank in the gun and it made this hole in the track. It was like a mini-Mount St. Helens eruption. We all thought it was hilarious."

Boxing lesson from Leifer

At Renton High School in the 1950s, boxing was part of the physical-education curriculum. There was no one of equal size to fight George Strugar, who was 6 feet 5 and went on to be a Washington Huskies football star and play in the NFL.

So Irv Leifer, basketball coach and Iwo Jima veteran of World War II, took him on. Leifer, best known for winning four basketball titles, knew what he was doing.

"Leifer gave him a lesson," one eyewitness said.

Named for an upset

A woman fan of Willapa Valley High School despised rival Raymond so much that any Raymond loss was a reason to celebrate.

In 1990, when the Whitman County team of Tekoa-Oakesdale upset Raymond in the 1990 B girls basketball tournament, she commemorated the event by naming her newborn calves "Tekoa" and "Oakesdale."

Moons over Auburn

The 1970 Auburn basketball team didn't receive its letters until graduation because players "mooned" townfolk when they returned on the bus from the state regionals.

Special timeout

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Chimacum High School near Port Townsend played in an old gym nicknamed the Cow Palace. On one particularly cold night, a cloud formed over the court because of cold air from a broken window or two and the heat from a capacity crowd. The referees had no choice to suspend play and open the doors until more cold air entered and the cloud lifted.

Poultry distraction

In the early 1970s, Lee Ottini, now a teacher at Monroe High School, was officiating a boys basketball game at White Swan High School outside Yakima when there was a f-o-w-l and not a f-o-u-l.

Someone tossed a live chicken onto the floor.

Halftime punishment

In 1962, the Mount Vernon boys junior-varsity basketball team was playing so poorly against Arlington that coach Bud Hake made the players scrimmage — "shirts vs. skins" — at halftime. Hake later was head football coach at Idaho State.

Coincidence? Maybe not

When longtime La Conner coach Landy James died in 1997, former athletes carried his casket around the track to the beat of Swinomish Indian drums and songs.

As the procession with the state hall-of-fame coach circled the track, two eagles majestically soared overhead.

"A lot of eagles show up at funerals around here," a La Conner resident told me last year.

Just listen, boys

In the early 1950s, high-school games in Spokane were played at the old armory.

At halftime, teams went to the same room that was divided by several cork bulletin boards.

The West Valley coach was the emotional Jud Heathcote, who later won the 1979 NCAA title at Michigan State with a team that featured Magic Johnson.

Lewis and Clark was coached by "Squinty" Hunter, a quieter man who won three state titles and was voted into the state basketball hall of fame.

A member of one of the Lewis and Clark teams remembers going to the locker room at halftime of an important game and hearing Hunter say, "We'll sit here and listen to coach Heathcote."

And that's what they did.

When it was time for the second half, Hunter turned to his team and said, "Go out there, boys. You know what to do."

Lewis and Clark won the game.

Ref has last word

Mercer Island basketball coach Ed Pepple once complained before a game when a referee acknowledged that an opposing team had made an error in writing its roster in the scorebook but said the team wouldn't be penalized.

"Oh, so we're not going to play by the rules tonight?" Pepple complained.

Several of Pepple's assistants, wearing maroon sportcoats (MI's color) then chimed in with the same complaint.

The ref returned to Pepple and said, "I don't mind hearing from you, coach, but I don't want to hear from your maroon-jacketed magpies."

Strangest injury

Before a Metro League semifinal soccer match in 2000, Holy Names soccer goalkeeper Mikaela Wingard-Phillips broke her hand at a pep assembly. She took a fall while wearing the school's Cougar mascot outfit.

Holy Names was the defending 3A state champion, but with Winggard-Phillips out, Lakeside won 5-2 and went on to win the state title.

Where's coach Yerabek?

When he was coaching football at the old Tolt High School, Gene Yerabek's team traveled in a bus while an equipment van accompanied the team. Tolt opened one year with a victory at Coupeville on Whidbey Island and Yerabek got left behind.

The van driver thought Yerabek was on the bus, and the bus driver thought he was in the van. Yerabek called a Whidbey Island friend who drove him to catch the night's final ferry.

Best coaching philosophy

When he coached cross-country at Seattle Prep, the late Tom Sullivan, a Jesuit priest, said he wanted to have the first and last runners across the finish line. The winner would show that Prep produced fast runners and the last-place guy, usually a JV squad member, would be proof that less gifted athletes enjoyed being on the team.

Our dance, your girls

When Kahlotus, a small school about 80 miles west of Pullman, scheduled its homecoming game for its 8-man team against Easton-Thorp in 2003, the visitors were told they were welcome to stay for the barbecue and dance.

There was just one complication — Easton-Thorp was told it had to bring its own girls to dance. That's because there were only two girls among the 17 students in high school at Kahlotus.

Misinterpretation

In 1984, Larry Whitney was coaching boys basketball at Nathan Hale basketball and thought he was complimenting his team when he said, "Hey, you guys are playing scrappy tonight."

The players were unfamiliar with the word and thought they were being insulted as "scrap."

It took a team meeting to sort things out.

Are we there yet?

During the 1989-90 season, the Juanita wrestling team entered a tournament at Olympic High School near Bremerton. The bus driver took the team to Olympia before realizing the mistake. Some fast driving got the team to the right school in time for the matches.

Favorite prediction

In 1980, Ken Sprague, boys basketball coach at Orcas Island, issued a press release that included the prediction: "We'll win the state championship; it's only a matter of point spread."

He also proclaimed that "by the end of the season, we'll be good enough to beat many of the small colleges."

Orcas never got to state.

Patriotic moment

At the 2002 3A state basketball tournament, a Chehalis girl started to sing the national anthem but forgot the words. Chehalis cheerleaders came to the rescue and starting singing. Soon, everyone at the Tacoma Dome for the game — players, fans, officials, managers and sportswriters seemed to be singing. This was six months after the 9/11 attacks and most of us never felt so patriotic. The moment still gives me chills.

Have a question about high-school sports? Craig Smith will find the answer every Tuesday in The Times. Ask your question in one of the following ways: Voice mail (206-464-8279), snail mail (Craig Smith, Seattle Times Sports, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111) or e-mail csmith@seattletimes.com