Drew Bledsoe Retirement In ESPN Feature

ESPN has an online feature detailing Ex Patriot quarterback Drew Bledsoe's retirement from the NFL and his entry into the Walla Walla Wine Market.

 Of course, Bledsoe, who starred for both the Wa-Hi Blue Devils and the Washington State Cougars is no doubt the most famous athlete to come out of my hometown.

He was one of the  top recruits in the nation upon his high school graduation and after an incredible college career, was number one draft pick for the New England Patriots.  He could have easily become a Seahawk as the two teams were the NFL's worst.  A few decades later, the Seahawks and Patriots would meet in the Super Bowl, but Bledsoe was long into retirement by then. 

We visited Bledsoe's downtown Walla Walla tasting room not long ago. 

You can find the Bledsoe feature by clicking here. 

Walla Walla Native Set A Record At The U

My Uncle wanted me to mention that Dean Derby, who was in his graduating class at Wa-Hi, set the University of Washington football record for longest run from scrimmage.  I believe that he may still hold that record. 

My mother also graduated from Walla Walla High School with Derby.  He would play in the NFL with Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

Wa-Hi Boys Basketball Championship Of 1999 Celebrated

Wow, time flies!  Walla Walla High School recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1998-1999 state boys basketball championship of the Blue Devils.  I had already left the area 10 years before,  but was able to follow the action through the Seattle paper.  

One of the leaders of the squad, Kyle Bankhead, would go on to star at Gonzaga where he still ranks as one of the top 3 point shooters in that school's history.
Thank you to Mike for sending this article from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

Hometown History IV--Shorty Bennett Era Begins

The final Wa-Hi coach hire of 1975 was Blaine "Shorty" Bennett.  He had an incredible 45-5 record at Ellensburg High, ironically, the city where his son, Blaine would eventually become the head coach at Central Washington.
Like Jim Thacker, Bennett proved to be a very smart hire, staying at the school for many years until moving on to coach at Whitworth in Spokane.
The Bennetts moved a few blocks away from us, and remember dropping with some mail for them that was delivered to our house by mistake.

Hometown History III--Joe Karp Takes Over Wa-Hi Baseball

Another part of the 1975 coaching shakeup was Joe Karp.  When Bill Bieloh was removed as head basketball coach, he resigned as head baseball coach.  Karp was hired from Colville High to replace Bieloh as head baseball coach and be assistant basketball coach to the just hired, Jim Thacker.
Karp had been a head coach of both basketball and baseball at Colville.  He was also a star baseball player at WSU.
In addition to his coaching duties, Karp was also the speech teacher.  I was in his 2nd period speech class.  He was unique in that he had longer hair than most of the other male teachers and never wore a tie.  Instead, he wore pullover shirts.  Kind of a laid back look that was popular in that era.
I remember that every speech in his class got 2 grades, one from him and one from the combined total of classmate's evaluation.  I remember him as a very tight grader.  One student did a demonstration speech of rolling a cigarette using oregano, that his considered funny then, it may not fly today.
Being that I was a senior that year, I don't know how  successful Karp was with the Wa-Hi teams or how long he stayed at the school

Hometown History II-2 New Jims For Wa-Hi Gym

Apparently, the Walla Walla school board took the petition circulated by a group of local citizens very seriously, as the fall of 1975 saw Wa-Hi with a full slate of new coaches.  Jim Thacker, who had incredible success coaching at smaller high schools in the Northwest,  was hired as head boys basketball coach, along with Jim Meredith, a well known WSU basketball standout who would be Thacker's assistant.  

Thacker and Meredith were emblematic of a new era of young, upwardly mobile coaches that would be hired at high schools and colleges.  There ranks would include, Dennis Erickson, Pete Carroll, etc.  Thacker got off to a rocky start in his first, but did get the team into the playoffs (with a regular season record under .500) where they placed number 8 in the state. 

Home Town History--Handfull Of Local Sports Fans Grow Impatient With Local Coaches.

In the mid 70s, while I was a student at Wa-Hi, a group of local fans decided that our high school athletic teams were not competitive in it's conference, which consisted of schools in Yakima, Tri Cities, Wenatchee, and Moses Lake and made headlines in the Walla WAlla UB by circulating a petition to replace the current coaches.
  This inspired another petition by supporters of the program and coaches to continue as it is
Before my Senior year, in the fall of 1975 (I was class of '76), three  new head coaches and one assistant coach were hired. All from other Washington cities.
We will present more on this topic soon.

Star Walla Walla High School Athlete Made NFL

Wa-Hi Blue Devil graduate Dean Derby went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, then wrapped up his career with the Minnesota Vikings. He was a defensive back.
  He graduated in the same class as my mother and my uncle.  I met him at my mom's class reunion picnic in 1973.  Like fellow Wa-Hi graduate and NFL great Drew Bledsoe, Derby operates a winery in Walla Walla.

Blue Devil Football

Thanks to "you tube" I can check in on my alma matter, The Wa-Hi Blue Devil football team.