Perhaps the cruelest consequence of the print media economic issues, Craig “Sideline Smitty” Smith today announced he is taking a voluntarily buyout from the Seattle Times and retiring immediately.

Over the years, I’ve covered hundreds of games, sweated out deadlines in bad working conditions and met a lot of good people plus an occasional snake. I’ve seen some gifted athletes and a lot more kids who were proud just to put on their school’s uniform and try their hardest.

As I exit, I believe more than ever that high-school sports are good for kids and good for schools. Yes, there are problems with interscholastic sports but there are problems with any human endeavor.

As a sports writer, I have found prep sports to be fresher, more fun, often more interesting, and, in their own way, more important, than college or professional sports.

Smith’s columns were a weekly treat during the school year, and he game coverage and feature stories were also excellent.  He covered Meridian in 2006, remarking on our remarkable weight-loss program.

Ryder Chance (WR) and Mitchell Tripp (TE) were named to the 2008 1A Associated Press All-State Team.  Congratulations.

Continue reading this post…

The Tacoma News-Tribune basketball preview this morning ranks Meridian #3 in its preseason 1A hoops top 10.

Class 1A
1. Vashon
2. Cascade Christian
3. Meridian
4. Brewster
5. Bellevue Christian
6. King’s
7. Port Townsend
8. Cashmere
9. Winlock
10. Chelan

Sports Illustrated’s Dec. 1 issue had a story on the resurgent single-wing offense at all levels of football. The version that the Miami Dolphins have run some this season is called the Wildcat.  And it is here the story has a local connection.

At Springdale, Malzahn called the formation Heavy. He was hired as offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2006 and installed the formation there, with future NFL running backs Darren McFadden at quarterback and Felix Jones at wingback. Here the name Wildcat emerged, says Malzahn, because Arkansas already had a similar formation in place and it was called Wildcat. It later became the Wild Hog, for obvious reasons.

At least one coach disputes Malzahn’s story by claiming prior ownership of the name, and his case is compelling. Hugh Wyatt is an energetic, entrepreneurial 70-year-old Yale graduate who has coached high school football for 32 years (he is currently coaching in Ocean Shores, Wash.) and has developed a wide following through clinics and the sale of DVDs explaining his double wing offense. In December 1998 Wyatt wrote an article for Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director magazine, describing a direct-snap, double wing formation similar to what Malzahn would install three years later at Springdale. In his article Wyatt suggested to coaches looking for a curveball, You might want to take a look at our “Wildcat” package, and he went on to explain that it was named for the mascot at La Center (Wash.) High, where he was employed at the time. “I believe Gus Malzahn has a selective memory,” says Wyatt.

Coach Wyatt has an appropriately, and originally, name site at CoachWyatt.com.  Wyatt has some film online of LaCenter running the his name Wildcat formation in 1997.  However, it looks more like the LaCenter double-wing with a shallow shotgun than the much more wide-open formation that Darren McFadden was in at Arkansas.

The story, “Old Is New, New Is Old: Back to the Future with the Single Wing”, doesn’t appear to be available at SI’s website, but you might be available to you through ProQuest.

Coach Patrick Ames’s compilation of team and individual records, commonly referred to as The Work, has been updated through 2008.  In fact, the need to make this effort publicly available played a large role in MeridianFootball.com coming into being.

Some records that have changed in 2008 include:

Receptions by a Tight End, Season - 50, Mitchell Tripp, 2008

Receiving Yards by a Tight End, Season - 796, Mitchell Tripp, 2008

Bud Withers at the Seattle Times does a post-mortem on the 2008 WSU season, and looks ahead to 2009.

“We’ll be a lot more competitive, we’ll be a much improved football team next year,” Wulff promised. “No doubt about it. One, we’ll have a number of players back who will be bigger and stronger, and they’re going to understand the system. And, I pray to God we don’t have five quarterbacks taking snaps.”

Wulff says he derives some of this hope from this season’s redshirt, Andrei Lintz among the dozen specifically named.  And it is worth noting that Andrei is noted the tight-end position.  During recruiting, it was a toss up for him between TE and defensive end.

Help from redshirts: Wulff referred to more than a dozen players who caught his eye this season, naming offense linemen Zack Williams and Tyson Pencer, running back James Montgomery, tight ends Skylar Stormo and Andrei Lintz and wideout Jeffrey Solomon.

Today’s new find for me was GSHLFootball.com, a excellent league site for the Greater St. Helens teams.  The Union Titans, the second-year high school who will play in the 3A title game, is a member of the league and is of course prominently featured.  The site includes videos, Twitter scoring updates and individual team pages.

Per SmallPox on WaPreps, Vashon wins, 22-21.  Damn.

Sorry, stopped getting updates.  WaPreps says Meridian behind late in 4th.

Q4, 7:00 — M 21/VI 16. “Vashon broke for a run from their 28 to our 17. Vashon totally blew a wide open pass in end zone. 4th and 5yrds to  goal. Pirates take time out. Very suspenseful… Took a field goal, made it. Now 21-16 with 7:12 left in game”

Q4, 10:50 — M 21/VI 13. “We return to our 24 yrd line. Didn’t do anything with our drive. Punted. Vashon’s ball at their 20. 10:50 left in game”

Q4, 12:00 — M 21/VI 13. “Vashon down to 4th and 11th. They threw ball - PI called on us. Vashon  1st down at our 13 due to penalty. 4th and 8. Vashon takes and makes field goal. Now 21-13, top of 4th quarter

Q3,  2:34 – M 21/VI 10. “Vashon’s doing alright with their running game, with a gain of about 15 on 1 play. Now at our 17. We’re holding them now - 4th and 9. Made their field goal. 21-10. 2:34 left in 3rd quarter.”

Q3, ??:?? — M 21/VI 7. “Our ball from the kickoff. Passing drive so far. Flag on 3rd and 7.  Penalty against us. Blew 3rd down on incomplete pass. Threw on 4th,  incomplete pass. Vashon’s ball on their 35″

Q3, 12:00 — M 21/VI 7. “Vashon made good solid drive, ending  in around a 20yrd pass completion that put them on the 4 yrd line. 2 plays later pushed in for a td. Made the kick. We drove for about 50 yrds in a minute, but threw a pick at about the 50 yrd line. Vashon wasn’t able to make anything happen from the turnover.  21-7 at the half”

Q2, 4:15 — M 21/VI 0. “15 yrd pass completion. 9yrd pass completion. Their 22 yrd line. 3rd down - 4 to go. Slesk sacked at line of scrimage… 4th and 9. Decided to run a play - Td pass, called back by penalty. Slesk sacked next play.. Pirates take over at their 27yrd line. 4:15 left in half”

Q2, 8:53 — M 21/VI 0. “Vashon’s ball. They are only running the ball for short gains so far. Their 4th and short - taking a time out. Made the 1st down. Vashon punted. Our ball at their 10. 1st down off qb keep. 17 yrd gain on our run. Pass complete - gain of 13 for rider chance. 1st down. Vashon takes their last time out. 8:53 left in 1st half”

Q2, 9:27 — M 21/VI 0.  V ball at mid-field.

Q1, ~1:00 — M 21/VI 0. “At the end zone again. This drive was both passing and running the ball.  Touchdown pass to Mitchell Tripp on down 2 and goal. Kick is good.  Less than a minute in 1st quarter.”

Q1, 5:15 — M 14/VI 0. “We had 15 yrds to go on the 4th down - decided to run the ball - Chance made the 1st down to their 40 yrd line… Next play had a TD  pass to # 20. 14-0 and just clinched the inside kick. Our ball their 49 yrd line. 5:15 in the quarter”

Q1, ~6:00 — Meridian 7/Vashon 0, M has the ball.

The weather report for the afternoon looks wet & breezy.

VASHON ISLAND (6-4) AT MERIDIAN (5-5)

Time: Tuesday, Nov. 11, 4:30 p.m. Site: Civic Stadium

Pirates update: Vashon Island fell to Cascade Christian 38-14 last week to earn the Nisqually League No. 3 seed and a date with Meridian. The Pirates has put together a solid season, losing two early non-league contests to bigger schools before putting together string of wins that was eventually stopped by Orting. The Pirates are led by running back Nathan Betz, who had 159 yards and two scores against Cascade Christian.

Trojans update: Meridian had little trouble with Coupeville despite having to start backup quarterback Tait Slesk while cousin Zach Slesk sat out for disciplinary issues. Zach Slesk is expected back for the Vashon Island game, but the way Meridian played with Tait you get the feeling it might not matter which one starts. The Trojans have their eyes set on reaching state and they can do that with a win here.

Key to the game: Meridian needs to keep running the ball well. The Trojans offensive line dominated against Coupeville.

Player to watch: Meridian’s BoDean Norris had his biggest game of the year last week, rushing for 149 yards.

Is this a good sign, a commitment to maximizing exposure for football, or something else?  The WIAA has rescheduled the 4A championship game from the typical 7:00PM Saturday evening start time to 4:00, in order to meet Fox Sports Northwest’s schedule.

Sideline Smitty: Some actions in sports are hard to explain

Q: I was looking at the schedule for the high-school football championships Dec. 5-6 in the Tacoma Dome and I noticed that the 4A game is at 4 p.m. on Saturday instead of its normal 7:30 slot. Why?

A: Mike Colbrese, executive director of the WIAA, says FSN has a commitment to televise a WSU men’s basketball game that night. The 4 p.m. slot enables the network to telecast both the football game and the basketball game.