Kick Is Up, The Crowd Goes Wild

Sometimes it’s not enough to sit and watch.

So Sunday afternoon, while the Seattle Seahawks game was on TV, a little kid strode out onto the grass football field next to Jefferson Elementary. He cast his gaze up at the near goalposts.

Anyone could tell. This was a field goal situation.

The kid had on a baggy “Galloway” Seahawks jersey, a Seahawks helmet, shorts and sneakers. The football he carried looked a bit smaller than regulation and it was colored cherry red and lime green. A man was with him.

The kid lined up about 10 yards from the goalposts and placed the ball on a kicking tee.

His first attempt skittered low and wide. The next few kicks were also unsuccessful.

The man talked to him and appeared to offer pointers. He refrained, however, from coaching all the fun out of the moment.

More kicks. More misses.

The kid’s technique was brutal. But he kept trying.

At one point, they called timeout and walked around the track encircling the football field.

When the kid resumed kicking, the results were no better.

Then it happened.

Somehow, some way, he hit one just right. The ball sailed up and over the crossbar, midway between the uprights. Perfection.

An invisible crowd roared.

The kid’s arms shot straight up. The man’s arms went up. And even a guy watching from a distance made the time-honored referee’s signal.

No one needed an announcer.

“It’s GOOOOOOOD!”

* Name calling: Avista employee Al Kinder received a credit-card come-on the other day addressed to “Washington W. Power.”

* Slice answers: In the matter of who should be on the Wheaties box, readers suggested Don Kardong, Heather Barbieri, Dwight B. Aden, David McKay and “someone who would represent all local social service volunteers,” among others.

* Five things to consider while dodging tiny white-winged bugs:

1. Spokane seems authentically urban when your predawn STA bus has to detour around a crime scene.

2. What if your kid doesn’t want to go to the college you’ve made it your mission in life to see he/she gets into?

3. Halloween costume idea: “Studded tire appearing a day early.”

4. Doesn’t it crack you up how, in “Rebel Without a Cause,” Judy seems to get over Buzz’s death pretty fast?

5. A reader noted that pages featuring chocolate-intensive recipes tend to be the most stained and smeared in library cookbooks.

* Today’s Slice question: What percentage of newcomers moved here from whiter places?