Frank Workman on Sports: Bucket List

By Frank Workman

We’re all familiar with the concept of a Bucket List ….. things to do before we die.

Big things.

Things like climbing Mt. Rainier, or parachuting out of an airplane, or running a marathon.

Yeah, like that’ll ever happen.

Here’s something to put on your small-b bucket list.

If you can’t remember the last time you got out to watch a High School basketball game, the week ahead affords numerous opportunities to give even the casual fan in Shoreline and LFP a chance to fall back in love with a sport that may have been, at one time, a passion.

And what better way to rekindle an old flame than by being part of a packed gym, sitting among neighbors, friends, and acquaintances, while agile and athletic young people take your breath away with their high-flying acrobatic skills and displays of teamwork.

Friday night, the 13th, the undefeated Mountlake Terrace Hawks boys travel to Shorecrest to play the Scots, whose lone league defeat was to the Hawks. Tipoff is 7:15. While the Hawks have been mopping the floor with the opposition so far this year, the Scots figure to have something up their sleeve as they prepare for what could be a signature game for their seniors. The chance to watch SC senior Junior Chibuogwu is worth the $5 price of admission alone.

This Tuesday the SC girls renew their heated rivalry with defending District Champion Glacier Peak. The Scots escaped with a 2-point win in the Grizzlies’ gym last Friday on Janie Uppinghouse’s clutch free-throws with just over one second to play. Senior India Matheson will be conspicuously absent for several week from the Scots’ lineup as she has been knocked for a loop by an illness. Of these two teams’ last four games against each other, two have gone into Overtime, while the other two were decided in the final seconds.

If one was to go to only ONE girls basketball game this year, this could be the one to make.

On Saturday the 21st, local fans can attend Hoopapalooza III, the annual all-day affair between Shorecrest and Shorewood, hosted again this year by the T-Birds.

Both Shorewood teams are off to good starts this season. Alumna Nina Lowe’s girls have a winning record in league play, and they played the Scots tough all three times they met last season, while venerable coach Marv Morris’ boys have but a single loss to Terrace blemishing their league record.

Hoopapalooza, the brainchild of District Athletic Director Don Dalziel, is a full afternoon of girls and boys JV ball that gives way to the Varsity squads, as the girls face off at 5, followed by the boys at 7.

While both games will be televised locally on Comcast Ch. 26 (in Shoreline and LFP) by the Live Video Production Club, nothing compares to the sensation of being there, in a gym full of people yelling and screaming (and those are just the parents!), temperatures and emotions rising from the opening tip, amid a panoply of facial expressions on display as the drama heightens.

While getting out to watch a game may not compare with any of the aforementioned Bucket List items, it is a night out of the house for many (and a darn cheap one at that!) --- and it may just give you the impetus to make (or tackle) your list after all.