Cheering for the Vikings

It is not often that I choose sides in a high school playoff game unless I feel that I have a personal stake in it, no matter how small and tenuous that thread might be.  In the case of the Lake Stevens Vikings the threads are numerous.  After hearing the chain crew at the Kentlake/Mariner game make disparaging comments about the brand of football being played in Wesco, it was refreshing to see another Wesco team get back some local pride by soundly drubbing Eastlake, a team which had been placed near or at the top of the 4A polls all year.  It was doubly refreshing because of personal ties to Lake Stevens.  My son and granddaughter Halle live in Lake Stevens with Halle attending Lake Stevens High School as a freshman.  One of my favorite athletes and a good friend is Corey Dire, who is now using many of the training methods I taught him to train another generation of athletes in the Lake Stevens area.

When I coached the freshmen at Mariner High School, we had a linebacker named Konan Giddens, a tough, quick, stocky kid who had dreams of playing football at Arizona.  Unfortunately, lack of size for an outside linebacker made that a near-impossibility.  But, for a high school player he was as tough as they come.  This was back in the 80's when Arnold Schwartzenegger was everywhere on the screen as Conan, the Barbarian.  So, of course, I felt it necessary to start calling out our player's  name in weight-training or at football practice.  I would call out Konan the Librarian! or, sometimes, Konan the Hungarian!  It was stupid, of course, but hey, I'm old, if that is an excuse.  His son Shae is now one of Lake Stevens premier offensive weapons.  Along with Jake Nelson, the scrambling QB with a precision arm; Brady Pahuokoa, the 6'4" receiver with UW bloodlines (father and uncle), and Christian Gasca, one of the best high school receivers I have ever seen, the Vikings present a lot of challenges for any defense.  Add to the mix a hard-working, skilled and quick offensive line, then the Vikings ought to be able to score.

It is on defense that Lake Stevens really shines.  They flow to the ball as well as any team that I have had the pleasure of watching, especially their linebackers.  And, of the linebackers, the standout is Korey Young.  He worked his way back from a near-career-ending injury in his junior year (in a game against Mariner one of his own players rolled up on his leg) to be one of the best linebackers in the state.  At 6' 1" and 220 pounds, he is destined to play at a higher level.  Maybe some schools were scared off recruiting him because of the severity of his injury.  If so, they are making a huge mistake.  It is not just his quickness or strength that he relies on.  It seems that he not only sees what the offense is doing, but he understands what the offense is doing and he steps up to make the correct play on virtually every snap.  His dad played for Snohomish in their heyday and also for the University of Idaho Vandals, so football and the love of it obviously runs deep in the Young household.

We will be at the Tacoma Dome for the games this Saturday and for the finals after that.  People have asked me, "Don't you get tired of it sometimes?  After all, it's only football".  That's just it.  IT IS FOOTBALL, HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL!!!  How does a guy ever get tired of that?  Jim Olsen