Huckleberries: Chance encounter with Gonzaga Bulldogs critic Walton results in ‘epic fail’

Diehard Gonzaga Bulldogs fan Jimmy McAndrew of Coeur d’Alene is still reeling over a missed opportunity.

For some time, Jimmy has practiced in his mind what he would say, if he encountered Bill Walton. The outspoken TV analyst and former basketball great incurred the wrath of Zag fans like Jimmy with his jabs at Gonzaga during the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament.

At the time, Walton didn’t think Gonzaga warranted a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, claiming three Pac-12 teams were better. “Gonzaga plays in a truck stop conference. Mop up Sisters of the Poor,” Walton said. “(The Pac-12) is the conference of champions.” Walton walked back that statement later when Gonzaga made its 2017 NCAA Tournament run that ended in the finals against North Carolina. But he didn’t sway Jimmy.

Jimmy describes a recent encounter with Walton at the San Diego Airport as an “epic fail.” Says Jimmy: “I actually rehearsed for that moment every time Walton slammed GU during the Pac-12 Tournament.” Instead of a Gonzaga-laced barb, Jimmy could only just muster, “Hi, Bill.” Walton’s response? “Hi, sir.”

Oh well. The men’s basketball team spoke loudly for all of Hucks Nation in the NCAA Tournament.

Out, out, damn cats

The Coeur d’Alene Press describes my friend Howard Kuhns as “willow lean with an easy laugh.” That’s accurate. Also, he’s not afraid to tilt at windmills.

When neighborhood cats began using his garden as a public urinal, the Coeur d’Alene Don Quixote pointed his lance toward City Hall. At last week’s meeting, he asked the City Council to “do something” about the cats. Council members shifted in their seats uneasily. They know that you can’t “do something” about cats without an uproar from the town’s Cat People.

We discussed this at Huckleberries Online. Norm Oss of Coeur d’Alene was sympathetic: “We have too many turkeys, too many deer, too many geese, too many squirrels, too many cats, too many people.” Gail Curless of Dover wasn’t: “I think cats are like living with cattle on open range, if you don’t want them, fence them out!” Aaron Roberts of Post Falls was realistic: “The constant chatter from barking canines seems more problematic compared to the cat conundrum.”

Meanwhile, my beagle Huckleberry keeps the yard at Casa Oliveria cat-free.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “Abracadabra/some pixie dust too/and money appears/straight out of the blue” – from “The Bard of Sherman Avenue: Poems by Tom Wobker” (Poem: “The Magicians’ Club of Washington, D.C.”) … Author Heather Branstetter of “Selling Sex in the Silver Valley: A Business Doing Pleasure” remains a busy, busy woman. She read from her book at the Sixth Street Theatre & Melodrama during the Wallace Founders Day celebration Saturday and was interviewed on Spokane Public Radio. She tells Huckleberries that orders for her book “show no sign of slowing” … And now for a word from Jadd Davis, artistic director for Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre: “Only one more weekend of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and then on to ‘South Pacific’ ”… Poll: Of all the summer events in Coeur d’Alene, the top two favorites, according to my Huckleberries Online blog readers, are: Art on the Green and the North Idaho Fair. Ironman ranked last.

Parting shot

Serena Carlson of Carlson Strategic Communications/Medimont, Idaho, suffered sticker shock when she saw the price tag on Amazon.com for “The Street Agent.” The book by former FBI agent Wayne Manis of Coeur d’Alene was listed – incorrectly, I presume – at $975 new plus $3.99 for shipping in mid-June. Sighs Serena: “I’m in the wrong line of work.”