Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
It was off my radar, but a text from my photographer friend Carl Cote asking about the game at Pavillion tipped me off. The Cougars were hosting the Fort Washakie Eagles in a doubleheader at the Purple Palace. The girls at 5:30 and the boys following at 7 pm.
I texted back that I’d be there.
It was already dark when I pulled onto the highway from Cooper Road. It was busy. People heading home from a day at the salt mine, sales counter, office (you fill in the blank). I usually take 8 Mile Road to Missouri Valley and then Gabe’s Road to East Pavillion Road to reach Wind River High School, but last night a clown in a white pickup truck changed my route.
Traffic was flowing smoothly until the two-lane converged into single near the Paradise Valley Road turnoff. Then this guy slowed to 45.
OK, I’ll pass him on the other side of the hill, I thought, nope. When the view opened, he gunned his truck to 75. Fast enough for me. Then, as a string of cars approached, he was back to 45. Yep, I’d encountered the legendary “Jack Wagon” of U.S. Highway 26. Another break in traffic, and he was back to 75. The exit to 8 Mile Road was approaching, I flipped on my right turn signal, and he moved to the right as well, pulling onto 8 Mile ahead of me. I kept going west, not about to put up with this guy all the way to Midvale.
If I knew who he was, I’d thank him. Instead of my usual route, I took a trip down memory lane at Kinnear.
Instead of taking the intersection the turns right to Pavillion or left to Ethete I turned at Kinnear taking the “old highway” now called Kinnear Spur. It curves, it winds, it snakes along the canal. It’s wonderful.
I could see the lights of our farm in the distance and remembered the Meyers, Stowes, Tomecs, and Schmidts I rode the bus with. I remembered my old bus driver, the late Elmer Portlock, and was a bit sad when I passed where his native rock house once stood.
Then it was just a short mile or two to Pavillion, it’s usually just another short jaunt to the entrance at 1993 Cougar Drive and the game, but I took the long way around this time.
Call it nostalgia. I turned left at the stop sign and drove past the boarded-up windows of the Basketeria, a place I frequented for over four decades. Across the street, a private residence now contains what was once Barb’s Conoco.
Barb Wempen ran the two-pump gas station when I was a teenager. Inside, she had a pool table, a pizza oven (Tombstone Pizzas!), a Coke machine, and a juke box. On the few idle weekend afternoons we had, my friends and I would drop in to shoot a little pool, eat a pizza or five, drop quarters in the jukebox, and get yelled at by Barb. She didn’t take much in the way of tomfoolery.
It’s always a touch of old home week at Pavillion. My friend from high school and legendary local farmer Marvin Schmidt walked in with me. If there’s a bigger fan of the kids at Pavillion than Marvin, I haven’t met them yet.
The Lady Cougars were in the mix with the Lady Eagles of Ft. Washakie. The “Fort,” as many locals call the school, has both boys’ and girls’ teams competing in the Class 1-A Southwest this season. Enrollment is good, and people familiar with the district tell me they’ll be Class 2-A very soon.
The Wind River girls won the game 49-43, their first win of the season. Congratulations to the Lady Cougars and head coach Matt Blaylock for breaking into the win column. A win, even a single one, makes a huge difference in a program. I had a perfect season once, 0-18. We lost big early in 1993, but played tough late, dropping our final 10 games by eight or less, including a couple in overtime. The boys just couldn’t get a break that season.
Another congratulations goes to the Dubois Rams and head coach Warren Johnson. The Rams have struggled this year, but last weekend in Ten Sleep, at the “Little Six” tournament, Dubois went 2-1. They might have won all three if they hadn’t played Midwest early Saturday morning on just five hours of sleep. Such is the nature of glamorous high school sports at times.
Everyone in Fremont County has had at least one home game this season except Riverton. That’s about to change Saturday afternoon.
In yet another ridiculous example of the “tournament season” the Wolverines and Lady Wolverines will play in the friendly confines of Wolverine Gym a scant 61 days after the opening day of practice.
Two full months playing on the road. This is an extreme stretch and hopefully a unique one. Riverton had its opening season Strannigan Classic, stolen by the Wyoming Sports Ranch in Casper. After a lot of work by activities director Max Mills, the Strannigan returns next fall.
Officials are finally getting treated with a bit more respect after years of abuse. There are still a few examples of idiots in the stands; there will always be those that can’t control themselves when their “all-star” children are on the floor, but overall, I’ve seen much better “adult” behavior in the stands this season.
The official shortage is real, and after hammering the point home, a few people have awakened to realize that without officials, there will be no sports.
Last Saturday afternoon on a crisp January day, the Eagles flew for the first time in a West 1-A Regional matchup. The boys and girls from Fort Washakie and St. Stephen’s met in St. Stephen’s. I joked with some friends in the crowd that I’d put all my money on the Eagles to win. They did. The Fort Washakie Lady Eagles won, as did the Eagle boys from St. Stephen’s.
Officiating the game was a crew from the Casper Officials Association.
In years past, there have been problems at St. Stephen’s with fan behavior, but not last Saturday. The people in the stands were cordial, polite, cheered on good play by both teams, and were exemplary.
So was the officiating.
Brayden Tyree, Paul Zowada, and Tyler Peterson kept the game under control, made consistent calls, shared a few laughs with the kids, and were invisible. Being invisible is the best thing an official can accomplish. You’re not part of the game; you just keep the game within the boundaries of the rules, keep the kids safe, and ensure that the contest is fair and impartial.
Brayden, Paul, and Tyler did that with ease. These young officials hopefully have a long tenure working with the boys and girls of our state.
Thanks, gentlemen, it was a pleasure to watch you work.