Steve Christilaw: 2016 provided joy and hope in local sports

Staring down a new year is usually a daunting task. What you wish for in the coming dozen months has a lot to do with where you are and what you’re doing at the time of wish-making.

The last hours of 2016 find me all over the map.

It’s been a year of loss. It’s hard to believe that one year could claim three giants in three different sports, Muhammad Ali (boxing), Gordie Howe (hockey) and Arnold Palmer (golf).

Or that the actors who brought to life Chekov from Star Trek (Anton Yelchin), R2D2 (Kenny Baker) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) would be taken in the same year.

Or that music would see the passage of David Bowie, Keith Emerson, Glen Frey, Paul Kantner, Maurice White, Prince, Billy Paul, Bobby Vee and George Michael.

All of these losses have prompted a flood of memories and reminiscences.

For the new year, I hope the losses will be few.

The year has been good and kind to those who embrace the world of local sports. With the Holiday Bowl this week, it’s easy to make a few wishes for local college football.

There were years when the best you could hope for with Cougar football was that the team wouldn’t trip running out of the tunnel into Martin Stadium. Anything after that was, well, gravy.

Overly lofty predictions are probably going to sail wide of the goal post. Wish some Heisman press for quarterback Luke Falk is in order and, in fact, is a pretty good bet for the coming fall. And it’s safe to wish for, and expect, continued success for the program.

Washington State won’t trip coming out of the tunnel, literally, but the Cougars WILL trip coming out of the chute into a new season. Losses to Portland State and Eastern Washington to start a season are definitely hinting at a trend. And it’s becoming fairly obvious that the team has lost significant ground to Chris Peterson and Washington. But what happens between a season-opening stubbed toe and a regular-season-ending humbling in the Apple Cup will be enough to make for a very happy Cougar Nation and annual trips to a bowl game in San Diego or El Paso.

The best Christmas present Eastern Washington football fans could ask for came when football coach Beau Baldwin signed his contract extension. The Eagles will remain one of the best programs in the FCS division as long as he stays in Cheney.

But this year I find myself thinking about the coming 2017 in different terms, and the most profound thoughts I have are of hope for the future. It has to do with humanity and the capacity we all have to make the future brighter for the people around us.

Adam Fisher has had a long and successful career coaching football at East Valley, and since I still remember when he played for his dad, Ed Fisher, I still think of him as young guy.

Adam is one of those coaches who makes the right decisions for the right reasons. He’s had to dismiss players for breaking team rules during the playoffs – one of those situations where doing what’s right gets extraordinarily difficult.

Anyone who knows Adam knows how deeply he cares about his kids, whether it’s his daughters or his players.

Rodrick Jackson was one those players. By his sophomore year he was, at times homeless and quickly running out of places to turn. He reached out to his football coach and Fisher not only offered him a place to love, he provided him with the family Jackson so desperately sought.

Not as a coach. As a father and as a family.

Freddie Rehkow coaches the defending state Class 4A girls basketball champion Central Valley Bears. Central Valley went through the 2015-16 season undefeated and, with the same lineup back for 2016-17, is a heavy favorite to repeat.

Behind the scenes he’s living with something every parent dreads. His 11-year-old son, Cameron, was diagnosed with t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and the family has faced all the challenges that go with a cancer diagnosis: hospitalizations, chemotherapy and all the accompanying procedures that go with it.

It’s a challenge the family has faced bravely.

And it’s something the Bears have rallied around.

The annual CV-University rivalry game at Central Valley was turned into Cam Jam. The team made up Cam Over Cancer T-shirts, which they sold to help raise money to help the family with mounting medical expenses.

Knowing the Central Valley family, this is not surprising. A big school, CV is a close-knit community that embraces its own with love and support.

And to show its strength as the Bears biggest rival, the Titans showed up for the game with Cam Over Cancer T-shirts of their own. The best rivals are also your friends.

These two stories are the kind that give you pause and make you smile at the humanity we have among us.

And they give me hope for a coming year.