Pop Keeney Field — the place where magic happens, where dreams come true.
It’s been a while since I visited the place on a football night, and I was glad to be back last Thursday when Bothell High hosted Issaquah High in the teams’ season opener. Yes, the electricity is still there when the announcer roars over the loudspeaker, the band blares away, the fans scream, the cheerleaders holler and the players rumble onto the field for the gridiron battle.
On that night, Issaquah derailed the Bothell Blue Train, 24-13, but you can be sure that the Cougars will rack up their share of wins this season. So will Inglemoor, which defeated Juanita, 24-14, on Friday night and will blast into Pop Keeney this Friday against Garfield.
I was there last Thursday as a reporter once again, but this time with a video camera in hand to film a piece for our Web site. Hopefully, it will be up sometime this week, so check it out at www.bothell-reporter.com and www.kenmore-reporter.com. (Reporter Josh Hicks filmed the Inglemoor action over at Juanita, as well.)
Instead of being glued to my seat with reporter’s notebook in hand to follow each play, I was free to roam the stadium and document the Pop Keeney action. I caught Patrick Ottorbech’s touchdown to put the Cougs up, 7-0, and then taped a couple of interviews with a junior coach and some fans, one who was decked out in a crazy blue-and-white costume that consisted of a shredded T-shirt and cool shades.
The interviewees spoke of the sense of community that invades Pop Keeney each week and their love of football and the mighty Cougars.
I didn’t catch their reactions after
Bothell suffered its first league loss since 2005, but I hope they put a positive spin on the situation and will be back supporting the Cougs like never before this Friday at Bellevue. Now that will certainly be a game for the ages.
Husky/IHS big man
Sitting around the house last Saturday, I caught former Inglemoor football guy Jordan White-Frisbee — all 6-foot-6, 368 pounds of him — blocking away for quarterback Jake Locker during the exciting, yet disappointing University of Washington loss to Brigham Young University.
Jordan looked good out there, his mammoth shoes — which put my 6 ½’s to shame back in the day — were moving quicker than ever for a big guy.
• Watching football, again, on Sunday, I noticed sideline reporter Charissa Thompson working the Seahawks game. I’m wondering if this is the same Charissa who I reported on at Inglemoor during basketball and track-and-field seasons.
It looks like her, but there was no mention of IHS in her bio when I surfed the Internet. I remember she was inquisitive about journalism, so it might be her.
Another Inglemoor success story, or is it? If anyone knows for sure, let us know.
