Morrow's Musings
- By Jeff Morrow
509-582-1507
Posted March 13, 2000
Media Classic doubles up on all-star games
With the Kennewick girls' perfect season completed on Saturday with the state 4A championship in Tacoma, it's time to put the basketballs away and bring out the bats, balls, spiked shoes and tennis racquets.
OK. Not quite yet.
There is still the matter of the Media Classic, the annual all-star game between players from the Herald's readership area against players from the Yakima Herald-Republic's region.
Normally, the game takes place a week after the last state title game.
But there have been a few changes for this year's Classic.
For starters, we're doubling the fun with four games instead of the annual two.
Paul Campbell, the regional AAU director who helps coordinate everything when the game is in Yakima, wanted to add a small-school game to allow more athletes to play.
This year's games will be Sunday, March 26, in the Yakima SunDome.
The Yakima Sun Kings of the Continental Basketball Association have a game the night before in the SunDome, and they have graciously agreed to leave the game setup out for the all-star games.
The small-school girls game, consisting of players from 2A, 1A and B schools, is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m.
That will be followed by the small-school boys game at 2:45 p.m., the big-school (4A and 3A) boys game at 5 p.m., and the big-school girls game at 6:45 p.m.
There will be 3-point shooting contests at halftime of the girls games, and a slam dunk contest between the two boys games.
Individual tickets for the day are $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.
Campbell hopes to sell sponsorships to businesses and individuals, including a set of eight boxed seats at courtside for $100.
The idea, he says, is to get more athletes involved in this, the seventh annual event.
The papers will select the teams over the next few days and notify them.
Also, Ed Weidenbach and his staff at Columbia Basin College will coach the two boys teams for the Tri-Cities, while CBC women's co-coaches Mike McKeown and Dale Hill will coach the two girls teams.
Those who wish to purchase sponsorship packages can contact Campbell at 1-800-228-4872. He also takes VISA and Mastercard.
* * *
I don't mean to date him, but I remember when I was a kid picking up the paper and reading Gary Staggers' columns in the Herald.
When you wanted to know what was going on in the Yakima Valley in high school sports, Staggers was your guy.
So it is with a bit of sadness that Saturday's Grandview boys basketball game in the Yakima SunDome ended Gary Staggers' 37-year career of calling high school sports on the radio in the Yakima Valley.
Staggers, 64, is retiring - at least in Washington - from radio, and moving on to Fort Smith, Ark., to begin a relationship with one of its residents, Dottie Kennon.
Staggers is a walking history of high school sports up and down the valley, and basically a pretty great guy.
He's going to be missed, but we wish him luck.
And while he leaves the area next Monday, people can get a chance to roast him at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Tillicum Restaurant in Sunnyside.
Sports home | Americans | Posse | Area sports | Riley | Outdoors | Area golf