I coulda been a contendah

Why do we favor some  golfers over others? Or baseball players? We all root  root  root  for the home  team but why golfers and prize fighters who carry the single burden of winning your love along with the paycheck?

Of course, with many sports fans  the fan loyalty depends on betting on a winning ticket. Pure greed. Nothing personal.

Sometimes it is Pete Homer attachment. It is with me mostly.

I love rooting  for  Freddy Couples, Jefferson Park boy who made mighty good on the golf course. And I got  emotional rooting  for Portland great Peter Jacobson because his   Dad  Erling was  a star  center  on my  Jeff High  football team. When I was delivering  papers I often stopped to watch the team practice . My high school  loyalty lasted years and extended to buying  a leather  carry bag  from Peter's  company I used for  many years when I played  at Burien's  Rainier golf course.

I rooted for Tiger for many years. He was so thrilling.  Now I find myself cheering for young  golfers from Northern Ireland.

Why? Easy, My grandfather ( Dad's side)  was born and raised there. I doubt if they had golf  courses there then but they have them now and are producing  some  great stickers. Besides I like the name Padraig. Of course, if Freddy is head to head  with anybody, even Padraig, our Seattle product gets full hero worship. I do like the Yankees.

Of course, with the Mariners, they get all of my whoops and hollers in the living  room. And when  they get into the world  series with Seattle the Yankees  will have to suffer from  my silence tho I give them lots of groans  and tears when they are playing  some others.

I was once  a rabid rooter for the Portland  Beavers. Pure home  towner, I turned out for a special event for would be  future baseball stars in an event the  Beavers put on at their old Vaughn street stadium… scores of kids 12 and under turned out and took turns snagging hot  grounders and fly balls.

I fancied myself a glove man and let a sizzler dribble through my knees and got yanked instantly; Winner turned out to be  some kid named Donny Kirsch who later  went on to fame and fortune at the game and was a revered, genuine all star athlete and famed coach for the University of Oregon. I cudda  been a contendah if I had any talent.

Closest I ever came  to fame was as pitcher for the White Center Fumble Bums playing against the Burien Housecats.

We had out famous ball game at  White Center's field now called Mel Olsen stadium.

I cleverly filled a  tennis ball with water and threw a perfect curve ball to  Burien star Dick Dahlgard (loved that guy} and he smashed it in half and got himself all wet and  the umpire called him out until we could find a real ball.

We lost 27 to something because our right fielder, a White  Center accountant  named Phares  Metzler who lived in Normandy Park was fielding a high fly ball and it hit him in the forehead and  and Frank  Huntley ran home from first base. He was last  seen on a fishing boat on Ilwaco.

Jerry Robinson, who just had his 91st birthday, is our publisher and can be reached at Publisher@robinsonnews.com