J ..
Page A-4 - Mason County Journal - Thursday, June 19, 2014
KOMEN COMMENT
Sports fame can be fleeting
o you remember Don Hein-
rich? How about Hugh McE1-
henny? EDITOR'S NOTE:
Across the dinner table, the young
Komen Comment will beon hold until after
the Nov. 4 general election as John Komen
is running for Mason County PUD 3's board
of commissioners.
businessman from Bremerton pon-
dered the questions.
No, he said. He hadn't heard of
Heinrich. And, no, McElhenny didn't
ring any bells either.
Interest-
ing, the ques-
tioner thought.
This guy's from
Bremerton and
he never heard of
Heinrich?
The table
companion was
quickly brought
By JOHN up to speed. Hein-
KOMEN rich was the great
Bremerton High
School quarterback who went on to
even greater success as a University
of Washington signal caller.
He teamed with McElhenny to
whom Heinrich handed off the ball
and who carried it spectacularly for
the Huskies and later achieved pro-
fessional stardom with the San Fran-
cisco 49ers.
Unimpressed, the dinner compan-
ion moved the conversation along to
subjects more to his liking. So while
he talked business, his companion
(the questioner) silently discussed to
himself how brief are the flames of
fame.
Well, maybe not brief, but fame for
sports stars does fade over time. And
that's sorrowful because their names
bring tremendous pleasure to those
of a certain age.
The passing recently of Bob Hou-
bregs brought to mind many past
athletes who displayed admirable
prowess in arenas and on fields,
rinks, ballparks and other Pacific
Northwest sports venues.
The 6-foot-7 Houbregs' place
in sports history was assured by
his starring basketball role for the
Washington Huskies. He shot and
rebounded the Huskies to their only
NCAA Final Four in 1952-53. Se-
lected No. 2 in the professional draft,
he played five years for four NBA
teams and went on to become general
manager of the Seattle SuperSonics
(Remember them?).
Remember Fred Hutchinson?
Remember George Wilson? What of
Arnie Weinmeister?
Or Edo Vanni, Don McKeta, Earl
Averill, Ron Santo and the irrepress-
ible Steve Zungul.
Who are these guys you ask? You
could look them up, but let's run
down a few to freshen some memory
banks.
As mentioned earlier, McElhenny
and Heinrich played Huskies foot-
USPS 492-800
Mason County
ball. Hustlin' Hugh starred in 1949,
1950 and 1951; Don in 1949, 1950
and 1952. It was said of McElhenny
he was the only college football
player who took a pay cut when he
turned pro.
It was McElhenny who helped
bring a National Football League
team to Seattle. He brought his 49ers
to Husky Stadium for an exhibition
game, and that wet Seattle's appetite
for a pro team, eventually the Seattle
Seahawks.
Hutchinson and Santo came out of
Seattle high schools and went on to
baseball Hall of Fame careers. Averill,
the "Earl of Snohomish," also got into
baseball's Hall. Vanni never played
in the majors, but his minor league
career with the Seattle Indians and
later for many years with the Rai-
niers made him a fixture as player,
manager and general manager in
Seattle baseball. (His autograph is
a much sought item among fans of
the long-ago eight-team Pacific Coast
League.)
Wilson? Weinmeister? McKeta?
All were rugged football Huskies
with storied careers in different
eras. Wilson played in 1923-25 and
is often considered the greatest of all
Huskies. Weinmeister was a great
defensive tackle in 1942-47 for the
Huskies, then for the New York Gi-
ants "and went on to four Pro Bowls
and the Hall of Fame.
McKeta captained the Huskies
in the 1959 and 1960 Rose Bowls
under hard-nosed coach Jim Owens.
McKeta was considered the all-time
rugged halfback in Huskies lore, and
he looked the part with his crewcut
hair and his broken nose.
Steve Zungel? Well, besides his
intriguing last name, he also played
crowd-pleasing soccer for the Tacoma
entry in a long-forgotten indoor soc-
cer league. They called themselves
Major League, but except for Zungel,
it could easily be argued they never
rose above the middle minors.
• John Komen, who lives on Ma-
son Lake, was for 40 years a reporter
and editor, TV anchorman, national
TV network correspondent, producer,
columnist, editorial writer and com-
mentator. His column, Komen Com-
ment, appears each week in the Ma-
son County Journal.
"ALL Tl4rr. ILTOF, N/k 61Vll [l,/k ' 1'kl,,,"
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We need a change
in leadership
Editor, the Journal
Integrity is not a game.
When our local state senator pres-
ents himself as a person of good char-
acter, my stomach churns.
I've never understood how a politi-
cian publically can support something
and then vote against it when the time
to back up his position arrives.
Serving also as our county commis-
sioner, he voted against themeasure
to fund badly needed mental health
services. Yet, when the county health
department assigned the job to our lo-
cal mental health resource, he bragged
about how much it was needed as if he
supported it.
During the work for the state capi-
tal budget, our senator -- now in a
leadership position -- both argued
and voted against the adoption of a
capital budget on the basis that it was
not required constitutionally. The fact
that his vote and leadership killed the
badly needed funds to support our lo-
cal senior center and Mason County
Sheriffs Office evidence facility no lon-
ger mattered.
It's time for a change. Let integrity
come back to the 35th Legislative Dis-
trict. Vote Irene Bowling for Senate.
Honesty is important. Had enough
yet?
Sally Jones
Shelton
Issues with float
selection method
Editor, the Journal
For over a month prior to the For-
est Festival Parade, I attempted to
make contact with parade officials /
organizers by email and phone. Calls
:Jouma| Le.er Policy
The Jo uinai e nC0u rages origin al lee rs ::
to the ;editor of local; interest; Diverse
will n0t;;;
and emails were not answered. After
the deadline for entry, I made one last
attempt to participate in the parade
and were reluctantly given the home
number for the president of the Forest
Festival, Judy Bidwell.
When I talked with her about the
parade and possibility of entering
a political candidate, her very first
question was "who is the candidate?"
I nearly said, "does it matter?" but
instead told her the candidate's
name.
The rules clearly stated all entries
must be decorated using the 2014
theme "Our Logging Legacy." I was
stymied about how we might decorate
a Corvette carrying the candidate and
comply with the logging legacy theme:
She responded that "was just a sug-
gestion." Finally, she said there was
no more room in the parade, not even
for one car.
I do not feel the Mason County For-
est Festival Association is accurately
representing the community. The ap-
pearance is that the Mason County
Forest Festival is using the event
to showcase Republican candidates.
There were many candidates in the
parade and only one was a Democrat.
Larry King
Shelton
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County Journal, Re. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
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