A View from the Players’ Bench, 1965
Academics and sports—lots of sports—were what I did at East High School in the early ‘60s; but I was mostly a varsity basketball spectator—many years from the bleachers and one year from the bench (’65). I had an outside shot, but I couldn’t jump or get up and down the court with much speed. (As my gruff Dad used to say: molasses ran faster than me. Coach Sampson wrapped an ankle for me in fall ’62, took a look at my flat feet, and cut me after practice. Later, football coaches Berney and Enslow told me that I had set the county record for a fully suited-up hundred yard dash—slowest ever.) But I compensated a bit, and coaches McCarty and Barich let me play with the Bombers and coaches Eathorne and Sampson let me stay down as the only junior on the ’64 JV team, a bunch of very good guys who as seniors had a great season (’66). In ‘65 I got all the coaching that the starters got, and playing four days a week on our beautiful court was more fun than another season slipping and sliding at Sheridan Park in city league games. (One rumor was that I was on the East team so there was another footballer to practice against Cal Pharr, who was really good at knocking you around, and he worked on the concussion I had from the football.) So, from the bench that year I watched talented basketballers show me how to play. As Coach indicates, the team started slow and then reeled off quite a few wins. Coach notes examples of some talented (like Pharr, Huguenin), gutsy (Winderl, Slate) and hustling players (Johnston, Fisher) on the team, but he might have also noted the load of fun-loving comics (Berteaux, Fisher, Strachan, Slate). After all that fun at East I played in every imaginable sort of city and university basketball league until I was forty—and then came out of “retirement” a few years ago to help coach grade schoolers. The “trouble” was that the East High coaches taught us Olympics rules basketball. As Coach Eathorne said in his interview on this site, we were taught: no foot dragging, palming, grabbing, push-offs, etc. So, my last city league game was the night I took on a fast break at the foul line and got a full footprint on my thigh and a half print on my chest. Now, who drilled it into us to “take the dribbler”? And, the parents who saw me order the kids around and mutter on the sidelines in recent years called me a throwback to the days when coaches were in charge. Guess who they were, and why I figured a coach ran a team (or a university classroom)? Coaches, thanks for the lessons in basketball, and life. We’ll never forget.
Sincerely, Bill Berentsen ‘65
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Lyle Bakken - 1958
I first met Les Eathorne at the Men's "Golden Ball Championship" that we won as high school Sophmores. Les saw the rag-tag "bums" which he was to inherit the next year and stated "Oh My God!". The next season, (1957). he added plays 1 and 2 (remember), had any rebounder step out with one foot & fire the ball at the downcourt net and heaven help Mahugh, Stautz or myself if we weren't there to catch it. Defensively, he "organized" it to always double-team the ball, play the passing lanes and run like hell. (we were conditioned to play three games back to back and not break into a sweat. How John Wooden got wind of it (UCLA press, HA!) I don't know but he made a fortune with it. Sorry Les.
What many people don't remember was that Les was an outstanding track coach. I remember him on the bus to P.A. reading "Track Coaching for Dummies" and saying we need points in hurdles to win this thing, so Bakken you're it!". I said " I never jumped a hurdle coach" and Les said "We have one-half hour before the meet, when we get there so go practice". The hurdles came up to my armpits, I jumped landed on my butt, Les looked down and said "Jump higher and run faster. Form does not matter". (see picture) I knocked every hurdle down, split my knees open, and won.
No one every having had contact with Coach E on the track, maples, or in class will ever forget him. God bless you, Les & Pat
Love Lyle
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Clark Blaisdell- 1971
I appreciate the lessons learned from Coach Eathorne. I respect and honor the man. He taught me that I was a student first and an athlete second. My senior year I skipped a class because I did not have an assignment completed. The teacher who taught the class happened to run into Coach Eathorne and mentioned that the upcoming game might be a tough one. Coach agreed, but the teacher continued that the game might be more of a challenge because three of his key players had missed his class that day. We were warming up for practice, and Coach Eathorne called the three of us into the locker room. When confronted with our missing class that day, we confessed our transgression. He immediately informed us that we were suspended from the team for this one game. We could not practice with the team suit up for the game, nor attend the game. This was a league game and important in the standings for our making the playoffs. To this day I appreciate that attending class and being a good student and person were more important to Coach Eathorne than a game. I also appreciate that he was very fair to us and allowed us to continue as members of the team and did not punish us further. We were allowed to maintain our position as starters. I will always remember the lesson taught by a good coach and a great man.
I also remember the pregame rituals. The most exciting moment for me (besides the opening tip) was the introduction of the starters at the free throw line. The house lights were turned off and the spotlight was focused on the players at the free throw line as they were introduced. I still feel the excitement and adrenaline as I think about it.
It was a privilege to be a member of the Knight basketball team. Those are memories I cherish and revere. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to be a Knight, but most importantly I am grateful for the lessons taught to me. I thought so highly of Coach Eathorne that I asked him to write a letter of recommendation for me when I graduated from college and sought employment. I am one of many whom Coach Eathorne impacted and influenced. Thank you, Coach.
Clark Blaisdell, Class of 1971
Clark Blaisdell
Cornerstone Technologies, LLC
824 N 1430 W
Orem, UT 84057
M: 801-471-5428
T: 801-221-0099
F: 801-221-4804
cblaisdell@cornerstoneav.com
I also remember the pregame rituals. The most exciting moment for me (besides the opening tip) was the introduction of the starters at the free throw line. The house lights were turned off and the spotlight was focused on the players at the free throw line as they were introduced. I still feel the excitement and adrenaline as I think about it.
It was a privilege to be a member of the Knight basketball team. Those are memories I cherish and revere. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to be a Knight, but most importantly I am grateful for the lessons taught to me. I thought so highly of Coach Eathorne that I asked him to write a letter of recommendation for me when I graduated from college and sought employment. I am one of many whom Coach Eathorne impacted and influenced. Thank you, Coach.
Clark Blaisdell, Class of 1971
Clark Blaisdell
Cornerstone Technologies, LLC
824 N 1430 W
Orem, UT 84057
M: 801-471-5428
T: 801-221-0099
F: 801-221-4804
cblaisdell@cornerstoneav.com
Ian Gilyeat - 1977
The most vivid memories for me with Mr. Eathorne and East High basketball are lessons that have been burned in my conscience. They come out in various places at home with my family, at church and when watching sporting events – even when watching professionals and the Olympics. They are frequently top of mind and have never drifted far away. Two such lessons are:
“the best defense is a great offense” and “never, ever – give up the baseline!”
These lessons have been invaluable to me over the years. Perhaps another, although a little more personal, but just as useful, and deeply engrained in my character is the long path to breaking into the starting line-up. I didn’t play any school ball until my Junior year and by some miracle Coach Eathorne put me on the team. I practiced for hours and hours and finally made the team. I rode the bench a lot but remember vividly one game when he gave me a chance to start. It was a game at O’dea and I lasted about sixty seconds as I recall. My mind went blank and I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. Coach Eathorne pulled me and put me back on the bench. It’s very possible that no one else will remember this event – but it taught me a great lesson about paying attention to the details and to make sure I know exactly what I’m doing before I get up on a public stage. This has been exceptionally useful over the years as I have been called on to speak in public often and have given many presentations in boardrooms across the country.
Another lesson for which I am indebted to Mr. Eathorne - I was thrilled to be on the team and it was more important to be on the best team possible and ride the bench than it was to be a big shot on a much lesser team and play all the time. I rode the bench a lot and loved running lines in practice because I knew I could make the team better by doing my best to run everybody else into the ground. Not that I could, but I could at least try. We were a small team and we had to run if we were going to win. At least that was the message that I got so I just worked at it…
The last that I’ll mention is that he taught me how to compete. He taught me that if I wanted something bad enough, I was gonna have to work for it – and it didn’t matter if I thought I was good enough or not – I had to make him think I was better than the next guy. He knew that I had no natural gifts that were suddenly going to make me into a great ball player. If I wanted to play then I had to work at it and to work hard.
Mr. Eathorne was a great coach and I had tremendous fun and learned many life changing lessons from my experiences with him. High School was a great experience and in many ways it was due to the privilege I had to play basketball and the lessons he taught.
Ian Gilyeat
I.R. Gilyeat & Company
“the best defense is a great offense” and “never, ever – give up the baseline!”
These lessons have been invaluable to me over the years. Perhaps another, although a little more personal, but just as useful, and deeply engrained in my character is the long path to breaking into the starting line-up. I didn’t play any school ball until my Junior year and by some miracle Coach Eathorne put me on the team. I practiced for hours and hours and finally made the team. I rode the bench a lot but remember vividly one game when he gave me a chance to start. It was a game at O’dea and I lasted about sixty seconds as I recall. My mind went blank and I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. Coach Eathorne pulled me and put me back on the bench. It’s very possible that no one else will remember this event – but it taught me a great lesson about paying attention to the details and to make sure I know exactly what I’m doing before I get up on a public stage. This has been exceptionally useful over the years as I have been called on to speak in public often and have given many presentations in boardrooms across the country.
Another lesson for which I am indebted to Mr. Eathorne - I was thrilled to be on the team and it was more important to be on the best team possible and ride the bench than it was to be a big shot on a much lesser team and play all the time. I rode the bench a lot and loved running lines in practice because I knew I could make the team better by doing my best to run everybody else into the ground. Not that I could, but I could at least try. We were a small team and we had to run if we were going to win. At least that was the message that I got so I just worked at it…
The last that I’ll mention is that he taught me how to compete. He taught me that if I wanted something bad enough, I was gonna have to work for it – and it didn’t matter if I thought I was good enough or not – I had to make him think I was better than the next guy. He knew that I had no natural gifts that were suddenly going to make me into a great ball player. If I wanted to play then I had to work at it and to work hard.
Mr. Eathorne was a great coach and I had tremendous fun and learned many life changing lessons from my experiences with him. High School was a great experience and in many ways it was due to the privilege I had to play basketball and the lessons he taught.
Ian Gilyeat
I.R. Gilyeat & Company
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Bryan Garinger - 1974
It is still a pretty vivid memory in my ever aging mind where I can recall wanting to be an East High Knight basketball player. It was when Coach Eathorne brought either the 1967 or 1968 team over for a talk to the Olympic View elementary school. I saw those players in their uniforms and warm ups and decided then and there that is what I wanted to be when I got to the high school. I would practice my skills on the Albro court (aka bomb shelter/wine cellar) against the likes of Dave (Spiderman) and Dan (Tenacious D) Hegland just down the alley from my house. I don’t remember why, but I did not play pee-wee ball at North Perry. My basketball career started at the Junior High (Dewey) when Rick Walker was just as tall and just as good as the rest of us. Our coach, Jerry Willson, started our indoctrination into East Basketball and it continued when we were freshman with Dick Danubio and JV with Dave (On the line – AGAIN!) Holmer.
Making the team and then winning two back to back state championships definitely ranks right up there as one of the greatest highlights of my life. (I haven’t been in another parade into town since.) And it was not just the basketball skills we were learning along the way. The original Knight, Lyle Bakken, had sent us all letters after the 1973 title games and it had a quote from Gen. MacArthur in a speech he gave to a graduating class at West Point. The quote was “On the fields of athletic strife are sewn the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory”. I didn’t really fully appreciate the meaning back then, but there is no doubt in my mind that everything I put in practice today at work is something I learned back then. Today we are being asked to lead with attributes such as “Charting the Course, Setting High Expectations, Inspiring Others, Find a Way, Delivering Results and Living the Values”. All of those things can clearly be demonstrated by what we learned on the court with a big E in the middle. It’s not hard to see why I frequently find my mind wandering back to those days practicing and playing on the hardwood at East High School.
There were many great memories along the way on the varsity team. I didn’t play much being the back up to Richard Arena. I looked on in awe as he lived a very charmed life. Then in my senior year there were many games to remember. I was not a prolific scorer like some of my teammates. My role was more rebounding and assists. I do remember scoring well at CK, but I also remember just as well the only defeat at NK with their fan-shaped glass backboards. The final two games against Cleveland and Foster are also very memorable for two different reasons. (Man those Cleveland guys were tall!)
None of this would have been possible without the leadership, mentoring and sometimes substitute fathering of our coach, Les Eathorne. There is probably no single man more responsible for the leadership skills I use today in my professional life and he continues today to have an impact on my personal life. I will be forever in his debt and have dedicated my effort in documenting the history of EHS Basketball to him.
Bryan Garinger
Senior Engineering Manager
The Boeing Company
Making the team and then winning two back to back state championships definitely ranks right up there as one of the greatest highlights of my life. (I haven’t been in another parade into town since.) And it was not just the basketball skills we were learning along the way. The original Knight, Lyle Bakken, had sent us all letters after the 1973 title games and it had a quote from Gen. MacArthur in a speech he gave to a graduating class at West Point. The quote was “On the fields of athletic strife are sewn the seeds that on other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory”. I didn’t really fully appreciate the meaning back then, but there is no doubt in my mind that everything I put in practice today at work is something I learned back then. Today we are being asked to lead with attributes such as “Charting the Course, Setting High Expectations, Inspiring Others, Find a Way, Delivering Results and Living the Values”. All of those things can clearly be demonstrated by what we learned on the court with a big E in the middle. It’s not hard to see why I frequently find my mind wandering back to those days practicing and playing on the hardwood at East High School.
There were many great memories along the way on the varsity team. I didn’t play much being the back up to Richard Arena. I looked on in awe as he lived a very charmed life. Then in my senior year there were many games to remember. I was not a prolific scorer like some of my teammates. My role was more rebounding and assists. I do remember scoring well at CK, but I also remember just as well the only defeat at NK with their fan-shaped glass backboards. The final two games against Cleveland and Foster are also very memorable for two different reasons. (Man those Cleveland guys were tall!)
None of this would have been possible without the leadership, mentoring and sometimes substitute fathering of our coach, Les Eathorne. There is probably no single man more responsible for the leadership skills I use today in my professional life and he continues today to have an impact on my personal life. I will be forever in his debt and have dedicated my effort in documenting the history of EHS Basketball to him.
Bryan Garinger
Senior Engineering Manager
The Boeing Company
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Kevin Olson - 1974
When we first started working on this project I wasn’t sure what direction we would go or what our final product would look like. What I did know was that the best part of the project would be working with The Coach. Meeting with him and getting his commentary on each year; the players, the stories and the traditions has been priceless. Coach Eathorne lives and breathes basketball; East High Knight Basketball! From the first years with Lyle Bakken to the last year in 78, Coach remembers every player that ever put on the Black and White uniform.
Gathering all this information and putting it together has made me realize that the history of East Basketball is not just about the young men that played but it is about Coach Eathorne. Les Eathorne is East High Knight Basketball. The “E” in the middle of the basketball court never stood for East but was always meant to stand for Eathorne!
- Les coached for 41 years: 22 of those years at East and 10 more at Bremerton after the schools merged in 78.
- His 502 wins ranks 8th all time in Washington State HS Basketball history
- Les took 8 teams to the state tournament in his 22 years as coach at East. He had a 3 year run from 1972-1974 in which East finished 2nd and then 2 consecutive state championships. The 73 and 74 teams finished a combined 51-2.
- In 1993 Les was inducted into the Washington State HS Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
-In 2005 he was inducted into the KC BAR Sports Hall of Fame as a coach and as a player. Rick Walker and the 73 and 74 teams were also inducted.
More than the statistics, though, is the influence Coach Eathorne had on all the players he coached. Growing up on the East side, if you played basketball, you wanted to play for East and Coach Eathorne. The gym was always open: Tuesday night, Thursday night, Sunday afternoon. You didn’t have to come to open gym, but then you didn’t have to play for East either. On game night, you had to get to the gym early to get a seat. I remember the parents had their “reserved” seats. My father sat in the top row, end seat above the middle locker room, every game. Everyone wanted to watch East High play basketball; full court pressure from the opening tip. We never played a team in better shape; running those damn lines after practice did pay dividends. I am positive that East High had more lines on the basketball court than any other in the state. The Wednesday night intrasquad “College” games were usually more physical than the opponent we were going to play that week.
We learned how to be winners from the Coach. Hard work, discipline, respecting your opponent, team work and a never give up attitude does pay off He taught us what it took to be successful. He made us great players and great young men.
I feel fortunate to have played basketball for Coach Les Eathorne and East High School and I want to thank the Coach, for giving me, and all the other young men before and after, the opportunity to be part of the East High Knights Basketball tradition!
Thanks Coach!
Kevin Olson, Class of 1974
Physical Therapy Clinical Specialist
Harborview Medical Center
Gathering all this information and putting it together has made me realize that the history of East Basketball is not just about the young men that played but it is about Coach Eathorne. Les Eathorne is East High Knight Basketball. The “E” in the middle of the basketball court never stood for East but was always meant to stand for Eathorne!
- Les coached for 41 years: 22 of those years at East and 10 more at Bremerton after the schools merged in 78.
- His 502 wins ranks 8th all time in Washington State HS Basketball history
- Les took 8 teams to the state tournament in his 22 years as coach at East. He had a 3 year run from 1972-1974 in which East finished 2nd and then 2 consecutive state championships. The 73 and 74 teams finished a combined 51-2.
- In 1993 Les was inducted into the Washington State HS Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
-In 2005 he was inducted into the KC BAR Sports Hall of Fame as a coach and as a player. Rick Walker and the 73 and 74 teams were also inducted.
More than the statistics, though, is the influence Coach Eathorne had on all the players he coached. Growing up on the East side, if you played basketball, you wanted to play for East and Coach Eathorne. The gym was always open: Tuesday night, Thursday night, Sunday afternoon. You didn’t have to come to open gym, but then you didn’t have to play for East either. On game night, you had to get to the gym early to get a seat. I remember the parents had their “reserved” seats. My father sat in the top row, end seat above the middle locker room, every game. Everyone wanted to watch East High play basketball; full court pressure from the opening tip. We never played a team in better shape; running those damn lines after practice did pay dividends. I am positive that East High had more lines on the basketball court than any other in the state. The Wednesday night intrasquad “College” games were usually more physical than the opponent we were going to play that week.
We learned how to be winners from the Coach. Hard work, discipline, respecting your opponent, team work and a never give up attitude does pay off He taught us what it took to be successful. He made us great players and great young men.
I feel fortunate to have played basketball for Coach Les Eathorne and East High School and I want to thank the Coach, for giving me, and all the other young men before and after, the opportunity to be part of the East High Knights Basketball tradition!
Thanks Coach!
Kevin Olson, Class of 1974
Physical Therapy Clinical Specialist
Harborview Medical Center
Thursday, August 14, 2008
John Eathorne - 1966
I guess, somewhere along the line, I know or know of most of you players who will be reading this stuff. A complete history of East High Basketball will never be complete. It is continually growing. Each of us that experienced it has something to pass on to our children and grandchildren. For most of us it was a magical time.
I can remember getting to go to the first state championships in 1958. I remember, as a child sitting at the end of the bench for the Anacortes game and being sick that the season was going to end that way... with a loss. And then the first basketball miracle I can remember happened as Mahugh, Olson, Stautz, Fouch, McLean and others helped create the legend that would be East basketball and Lyle Bakken. The comeback was heroic, traditions were set and good things came from that night. A few years ago I worked for one of the players on that Anacortes team - he remembered each of the East "devils" who stole his 5th place at state. Most of all I appreciate Mike Beard. Mike did not get to play much and he got saddled with the coach's grade school kid as a roommate on the trip. They were not just great basketball players, they were great people.
The two platoon system when Dick Anderson was captain was the next magic. No matter how they were divided up in scrimmages they were always great battles in the standard mid-week college game. Never did a clear starting group that deserved the majority of playing time come forth.
John Tracy was the most gifted small athlete of the 60's. Ambidextrous and at only 6' he posted up at the foul line. I remember him shooting off balance shots just to get rid of it and running to the opposite side of the basket to rebound his deliberate miss and put it back in. Foul shots not working right, go left. And Wayne Gibson - the fireplug who was quick but not nearly big enough. He also epitomized East Basketball as he would chew off a leg before giving up.
In 1966 I got to sit on the bench as one of the most talented teams played to just two losses - both to Port Angeles who took second in the state. Cal Pharr, Eric Steinman, Larry Love, Alan Stautz, Keith Gundlefinger, Morrie Miller, Al Kravitz, Alan Albertson, Joe Mount, Al Miller and the other one of you who temporarily skips my feeble mind were as competitive as they come.
The later 60s were a bit of a blurr for me with college but teams that should have been nothing when it came to talent figured out a way to win - watching Steve Boyce shoot a fluid jump shot or Davey Pyles dribble through presses kept fans in the stands.
In the 70s with my brother playing and the legendary Rick Walker and teaching in Bremerton I came back into focus. Rick took an inexperienced team to state second as a sophmore. As a junior he lead a senior dominated team to state again for a championship and his senior year he took his own class to another state title. His supporting class each year was outstanding. Hegland (2), McKenzie, Walthall, Barnes, Langston, Campbell, Gibler, Olson, Lindberg, Hackett and Rich Arena's impossible shot that sunk Timberline and more and more players continued the legend.
So many individuals to forget because each time East put out a team. While other schools look back and remember who dominated play for each year, with the exceptions of the nationally noted Bakken and Walker, East was a team more than anything else. The notoriety of one player lasted only a few months beyond his graduation.
While I coached in Washington I dreamt about coaching against my father. To this day I think we could be in agreement - I could have possibly out-thought him but never could my kids have outplayed his. I learned from the best and from that I could create new, but that ability to get kids to play like East - that is a gift that is tough to pass down.
My father gets a lot of credit. Some may say it was practice, some may say it was games, some may say it was his luck with personnel or how his assistant coaches followed the East High Philosophy as started by the 57 and 58 teams. They all have their points but there was something else I would like to leave you with as a legacy...
Think about Sunday afternoons in the gym, think about times Les took just a few minutes to rebound for you alone, think about the hours of practice that helped mold a team, think about the times East would be up by 20 and the reserves who did not get to play much got into the game and felt they had contributed more than just practice. Think about the hours given at the gym to kids who would never make the program but were not cut out on Sunday afternoons. Make it a point to spend that type and amount of time with your kids or with your grandkids, or with someone else's grandkids. Build the respect in them you had that, no matter how tired you were, got you up and ready when you heard those immortal words, "On the line..."
Most of us did not get into too much trouble because we had a sense of belonging to that group, and we had someplace to go - give that back - and the legend of East Basketball and Les Eathorne will really mean something after that leaky, drafty building we called home is a strip mall. There is a legacy.
What I do now is insignificant in comparision to all the memories we have from that time were were an East Knight. After 30 years of teaching in Washington I now direct all adult sports activities for Parks & Recreation in Henderson , NV - second largest city in Nevada .
John Eathorne
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)