Great and closely contested high school basketball games they were not.

Last Friday’s boys game between the Chimacum Cowboys and the Klahowya Eagles was a blowout, at least the critical first half was. The Eagles led by 18 points at halftime, but the Cowboys won the second half. Unfortunately, the Cowboys only won the second half by two, so they lost the game.

Still, it was a valiant effort. Jonah Diehl played a key role for the Cowboys, particularly with his parents Brian and Pieper cheering him on.

The next game was a blowout of even greater proportion as the Chimacum girls took advantage of a taller yet less-talented team from Klahowya. Frank Trafton’s daughter Jada should be arrested for being a thief as she regularly led the Cowboys, stealing the ball from the Eagles.

After a slow start, the Cowboys — shouldn’t they be the Cowgirls? — took charge of the game.

BJ and I don’t get to the high school games as much as we used to when we had children that age, but we are glad when we do take the time. It was fun to see my Rotary Club’s foreign exchange student from the Netherlands, Cai Giskes, at the game. She does a great job joining other girls as a cheerleader for both basketball teams.

Karl and Linda Kostenbader were there to support Giskes and the teams. Her host mother, Kirsten Golden, and host sister, Lillian, both were there, too.   

Brian McLean, the recently appointed managing editor of the Leader, was also at the game, taking notes and pictures. There may be a more objective article about the game in this week’s paper. He intends to explore ways to get more news from south Jefferson County into the paper.

After the game, BJ and I visited the Keg and I in Chimacum for an adult beverage. It was our first sit, and the place was full of folks enjoying music provided by the Eagle Mountain String Band, clearly a local group of talented musicians.

We found the last two available seats, got a beer and a glass of wine, and joined the fun-loving group.

The annual Chili Cookoff and Bingo Pot Luck at the Beach Club is at 5:30 p.m. this Saturday. How chili and bingo got together is a mystery to me, but it is always fun.

I tend to shy away from political comments. However, in this time of a record-setting government shutdown, it seems to be appropriate to resurrect some poignant thoughts from Will Rogers. He noted:

“The more you observe politics, the more you have to admit the that each party is worse than the other.”

“If you ever injected truth into politics, you would have no politics.”

“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and politicians as a joke.”

“A fool and his money are soon elected.”

Love a curmudgeon and have a great week!

Ned Luce can be reached by email at NedLuce@sbcglobal.net.