House Of Memories Sports Editor Relives Coliseum Memories

Sports editor Jeff Jordan, a Spokane native, was 3 years old when the Coliseum opened, and has watched and/or covered more than 700 athletic contests from those wooden seats.

Here’s his Top 10 list of Coliseum sports moments.

1 Spokane Jets Allan Cup hockey championship series against the Orillia (Ontario) Terriers, 1970. Capacity crowds six consecutive games as the Jets won North America senior amateur series, 4-2.

2 Curlew 54, Coulee City 52 - 1972 boys State B basketball championship game. Both teams came in 28-1 and ranked No. 1. Doug Way’s desperation 27-footer banked in at the horn.

3 Soviet Union 6, Spokane Jets 1 - 1965 hockey exhibition. Spokane’s senior amateur hockey team squared off with one of the world’s best teams before an overflow crowd of 6,057. It was electric inside and televised live locally.

4 Brewster 50, St. John 49 - 1977 boys State B basketball championship game. Brewster barely held on to win its unprecedented third consecutive championship and state-record 82nd straight victory.

5 Creston 41, Reardan 38 - 1982 girls State B basketball championship. It was a watershed event for girls basketball. The girls drew as many fans, if not more, than the boys. Creston’s Tammy Tibbles and Reardan’s Aileen McManus, both future Division I college players, squared off in their first of three title showdowns.

6 Northwest Christian 93, Darrington 55 - 1982 boys State B basketball loser-out game. Suffering from cancer, NWC’s Keith Dyk went off for 50 points in a stirring performance. He died in 1991.

7 Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier - 1971. It may have only been closed-circuit TV, but the packed Coliseum rocked with every punch. So did Ali, dropped by Frazier’s trademark left in the 15th as Smokin’ Joe won a unanimous decision.

8 University 63, Central Valley 60 - 1968 boys City League basketball championship. Considered one of the greatest City League games in history, the lead changed hands 22 times, nine in the fourth quarter. Rick Rawlings scored 20 for the Titans before 6,698. CV defeated U-Hi the next week in the region finals and went on to win state.

9 State AAA wrestling finals, 1974. North Central’s Steve Vaughn won the 115-pound title in the only state meet held in the Coliseum. Hey, it’s my favorite sport.

10 Tekoa-Oakesdale 63, Morton 46 - 1993 boys State B basketball final. First and only time the boys from my father’s hometown, Tekoa, won the championship.