Feedback

Hoops provides food for thought

As a Terrace High alum, I felt like Dennis Hopper in “Hoosiers” as I was driving down I-5 to Tacoma for the 2005 state tournament, trying to contain my elation as the Hawks edged closer to the championship game. I was like Hopper jumping up and down, screaming to friends like he yelled to that nurse in his hospital room: “Terrace is TWO GAMES from the STATE TITLE!”

Seeing Nalin Sood’s squad come so close to beating eventual champ Bethel was like being a Tennessee Titans fan with Steve McNair getting agonizingly close to the goal line in that one Super Bowl or like Indiana Jones in that “Last Crusade” movie stretching his hand toward the Grail and gasping, “I can ALMOST REACH IT, DAD!” Hats off to this outstanding team.

Regarding Karen Blair, seeing her coach in Ballard is as weird as seeing Nate McMillan coaching in Portland. Her success at Meadowdale was flat-out stunning. Some people have made her out to be a female version of “Slick” Rick Neuheisel, i.e. an arguably uncooperative, above-the-law swashbuckler (or Maverick) whose success eventually blinded them to the need to still be accountable to others. I never viewed her like that. “Caring Karen” combined poise, a relaxed sideline demeanor, confident body language, pre-game note-writing and mentoring along with an unmistakable intensity and attention to detail that enabled her to win a majority of the time and get her message across to her players. I will always remember her as the Pat Summitt of Meadowdale girls basketball, and I’m confident that many of her former players will say to some degree later in their lives, “I succeeded and stretched myself to the degree that I did in my life at least partially due to the influence, example, coaching, and teaching of Karen Blair.”

STEVE GOODMAN

Mountlake Terrace