Worst Seat in the House

Okay, it has been a couple of weeks and there is my picture displayed with my column. I’ve been writing the Worst Seat for a little over 15 years now and I really wish that a picture from 15 years ago would have been used.

Have you ever wondered what a radio personality looked like and when you finally saw a picture of them or seen them live you thought well that’s not what I envisioned them to look like? Or you converse with someone over the phone for a number of years and then when you meet them you are either very disappointed or pleasantly surprised?

So, what I am saying here is they don’t always look like they sound. I’m sure you’ve said that on different occasions.

So, now that you’ve seen my picture have you thought, hmm… he doesn’t write like he looks.Oh well, I’m sure I had a few teachers that said something similar, or maybe they censored themselves while grading my work.

Anyway, the state level competition for basketball starts this week at a variety of venues from the eastside to the westside of Washington. Two weeks ago, the Bronco boys and girls lost out on their chance to advance on from district play.

The boys dropped a heartbreaker to Kettle Falls by three after taking a late lead.

Kettle Falls rallied after a turnover and several long rebounds that fell away from Bronco players. It’s never easy to lose out at districts and I’ve witnessed too many heartbreaking losses over the years.

But give the Bulldogs their due. They battled, defended, rebounded, made plays and hit free throws to secure a state playoff berth for the first time since 2003.

As a side note, in 1969 as a junior, I played for the Broncos in a winner to state loser-out game against Kettle Falls at West Valley (Spokane) High School. I know that we led the Bulldogs at halftime but came up short in our upset bid against a very good Kettle Falls team.

At the latest game against Kettle Falls, I was introduced to a guy that was a senior on that team and we had a nice visit. It’s interesting how history can repeat itself good or bad depending on one’s perspective.

It was a very good season for the Bronco boys and they may have surpassed what many actually thought they could achieve. Good luck to the seniors, they worked very hard for four years and it was enjoyable to watch them mature and grow as athletes. It will be hard for them knowing how close they came to moving on. For the returning athletes, understand that your playing days will come and go quickly so don’t let any growth for improvement get wasted.

Basketball is an interesting game. It seems that teams need to get to a point where they play their best basketball when it matters most. I’ve seen some very talented teams play their best with a few weeks left to go only to see dreams fade as free throws and layins clang off the rim during a very winnable game. It doesn’t make sense, I can guarantee that.

Such was the plight of the girls’ Bronco basketball team a little later that same night. Watching the game made me wonder at times who this imposter team was that was wearing Bronco jerseys. Oh, sure they looked like our team but the basketball played a cruel joke once it left the girls hands heading toward the basket. It is hard to explain. But the harder they played the more missed shots and turnovers were made.

I felt for these young ladies because they had a great season and had the talent to play on but the basketball gods saw things a little different.

For the seniors know that we appreciated your hard work and enjoyed watching you play this great game the past four years. For the returning players remember how much it hurts to be on the losing end of a very winnable game.

Set your goals now and set them high!

—— Dale Anderson is a local sports columnist. Email him at [email protected].