Kvelve's Comments: Who's on Santa's list?

Yo, ho, ho...it almost Christmas. 

Time for Santa Chuck to hand out the sports presents for the year. 

Some have been naughty; some have been nice. 

First on the delivery roster is new Hot Springs head basketball coach Mike Benson. Coach, you have already turned the Hot Springs team around and with that group of talented young people, you have a good season ahead. But my real gift to you will be a Hot Springs High adorned sling for your aching should, for which you will undergo pre-season surgery. 

Can’t give you a new rotator cuff, but Santa can wish you a speedy recovery. And next time you go fishing in Alaska, try to hook and wrestle smaller fish. 

Moving on to Superior, for head wrestling coach Charlie Crabb, a few more wrestlers in the stocking would be a good thing, eh? A smaller than average turnout has left Crabb, a state champion wrestling team coach from just two years ago, with approximately six athletes.  Here’s hoping sophomore Turner Milender can bring Crabb another individual state title this Spring. 

And while the sleigh is stopped in Superior, how about a pair of long pants for head basketball coach Jeff Schultz? Nah...shorts are his trademark and he’s been winning routinely while patrolling the sidelines of football, basketball and track.  Let’s not upset the apple cart. 

Heading back the other way, let’s drop into Noxon and leave a certificate for a new, two-lane bridge for Red Devil AD Matt Havens. One of these days there will be a state championship parade in this scenic small town bordered by the Clark Fork River. Those championship floats, which may be this year’s basketball team(?), are going to need some space and that bridge, as worthy as it’s been since Lewis and Clark paddled by, is not going to accommodate the championship trophy float. 

Doubling back toward Plains, aka the sports North Pole, Santa needs to stop in Thompson Falls for another championship-related present. It’s going to happen, probably sooner rather than later, but for head softball coach Jared Koskela, Santa has some additional trophy cases. The existing cases are getting crowded and the softball team he has returning this season is a solid contender for some impressive state championship hardware. 

Back in Plains, trophy space is also on the gift list for the Horsemen and Trotters cross country teams. These youngsters are good bets to add several state championship trophies to their cases as the talented sophomores, freshmen and eighth graders progress through the coming years under the leadership of Jesse Jermyn. 

They already have one state champion, sophomore Marina Tulloch, and a third-place boys team trophy to boot. This will be the gift that keeps on giving. 

And before Santa calls it a night and heads to the Legion club for some “milk” and cookies (wink, wink) let’s circle over Alberton. Let’s rain down some “W’s” on the football field and the gym.  Keep working Panthers and Lady Panthers, your days will come. 

One more present Santa would like to give out...a giant thank-you to Lisa Larson and Cheri Minemyer, the two brains of the Valley Press/Mineral Independent, who have put up with the antics of one large sportswriter and still made the papers a great place to work. 

Give them happiness and peace in their retirement, which begins at the end of the workday Dec. 31 after years on the job. 

Thank you, ladies, for all you’ve done to help a retired guy find a great thing to do in his retirement years. 

Last, but last but not least, the biggest thank you from my heart to all who have contributed photos, provided statistics and made me feel at home in their gyms and on their playing fields.