Raising A Stink Over Pigskin Picks

I lost my appetite for fish this week. I won’t be eating at Skipper’s any time soon.

What does any of this have to do with high school sports you ask?

Keep reading, this is no fish tale. Last week, it turns out, I provided bulletin board fodder for the Sandpoint High School football team in my Panhandle Picks.

Sandpoint’s coaches were humored when I picked winless Lake City to upset the Bulldogs. My prediction was all the motivation Sandpoint needed to post a 29-12 victory.

Though the pick appeared outrageous on the surface, remember that game could have been tied at halftime.

After the game, Sandpoint coach Satini Puailoa asked if I have a sense of humor. I assured him I did and he said I’d receive special mail this week.

Sure enough. When I arrived at work Monday morning, the joke was waiting for me. Actually, the priority mail package containing the joke carried such an unpleasant stench that co-workers put the package in the emergency exit stairwell.

Upon opening the package I found a dead 12-inch perch or blueback (it was difficult to identify amidst all the goopy film) in a resealable plastic bag.

Interestingly, the package had a Sept. 29 postmark. Which means it probably was mailed before Friday’s kickoff.

The foul fish arrived with a note from the Bulldog coaches instructing yours truly on how to prepare it: “Season with crow then wrap leftovers with your picks. Here’s betting your sense of humor and smell exceeds your football prowess.”

Of the dozen or so small communities in the Panhandle, I probably have fewer fans in the City by the Ski Slopes than elsewhere. The prevailing belief is I dislike Sandpoint and must be a card-carrying member of the Coeur d’Alene and Lake City booster clubs.

Perspective is a funny thing, isn’t it? In Coeur d’Alene, I’m occasionally referred to as “Lake City Lee” or “Coeur d’Alene Lee”.

I applaud Satini. He’s got the program headed back to where the late Cotton Barlow left it a couple of decades ago. Someday football will be mentioned with the same respect and same breath as the wrestling and volleyball programs, which currently are the top programs in town, not to mention state.

When it happens - and it will - Bulldog football followers will have something to bark about.

Until then, keep the cards, letters and phone calls coming.

And hold the fish!

, DataTimes