New guy in the CBH Schwartz department

The beauty of this job is that it’s ever changing. Just when you think you have things figured out … let’s just say, guess again.

I was sitting at my desk one day when the phone rang.

“Sports, Rodney speaking.”

“Well Mr. Schwartz, I’m calling to tell you I don’t think you’re not doing a very good job,” the woman on the other end started in.

Schwartz? This outta be good. Would you like to be more specific or do you not like anything I do … and please, leave my mother outta this.

Come to find out her granddaughter had two assists in a local soccer match and not just the one as reported. Turned out, I didn’t even write the story, but now that she had the full attention of the Schwartz department, she was going to level both barrels at the first voice she connected with. Yes, yes, you’re keeping a scrapbook and I need to pay closer attention because you’re saving this for posterity and her memoirs.

I’m sure Woody Paige has days like this, but such are the tales of community journalism.

It seems I’ll be joining the Columbia Basin Herald Schwartz department and contributing this weekly tirade, among other things. I’ve been doing this a while, but I have to admit I do enjoy learning about the local heroes and writing about the new ones.

I never have been able to shake my rodeo roots having covered Cheyenne Frontier Days for a half a dozen years, so I just sort of fell into the Moses Lake Roundup beat. Had a chance to meet Moses Lake’s Bob Ottmar, who’s seen every rodeo since they used to roundup the wild mustangs on the prairie by Ephrata and ride ‘em in the arena. I didn’t have the pleasure of witnessing George cowboy Wade Leslie’s 100-point ride back in the day, but I did spend a wonderful afternoon hearing about bull riding and how he and Wolfman Skoal made rodeo history.

I took a little run up to Coulee City to cover Brandon Walsh’s eight-man football team. I don’t know every NFL player, but I do know what NFL size looks like. Come to find out Almira/Coulee-Hartline offensive line coach Qasim Mitchell played six years in the NFL, including a stint with the Chicago Bears. “I’ve never even seen eight-man football, until I moved here,” Coach Q told me. Me neither, brother.

Learned a little something about Royal football following the defending 1A state champs back to the Tacoma Dome. “We’re not trying to repeat anything. We’re just trying to win a state championship,” Knights coach Wiley Allred told me. Well they did win another one and it was fun football to watch. Kaden Jenks, the Gunslinger, was named the 1A player of the year by the Associated Press and I’d have to throw in my vote … if anybody asked.

I had some good times covering the Columbia Basin River Dogs last summer. The Boys from the Basin took another run at the Senior Babe Ruth World Series national championship. Had some great conversations with right-hander Hunter Boyd and catcher Justin DeHoog, who played in four straight World Series. Where the kids from Alabama or North Carolina all came from the same high school team. The Boys from the Basin didn’t even come from the same town.

There was Drake Hanen (Warden), Alec Martin (Moscow, Idaho), Mitch Boesel (Brewster), DeHoog (Ephrata), Boyd (Moses Lake) and Zach Askin (Warden). Kaeden Murphy and Nick Lopez from Quincy were also part of the team that won a national title the year before. Yep, should be fun. I want them reading my words and hearing your story, so let’s let ‘er buck.

Rodney Harwood is a sports writer for the Columbia Basin Herald and can be reached at rharwood@columbiabasinherald.com.