(Centralia, WA) We have named our Boys Basketball All-Decade Programs. We mentioned in our last all-decade team article that Eli Sports Network will be celebrating the 10 year anniversary this coming fall. Doing these all-decade teams for their respective sports gives us a chance to look back and reflect on […]
Month: June 2020
Column: “That Got Me to Thinking”; The Basketball Game
6/29/2020 “That Got Me to Thinking…?” Chapter 3 “The Basketball Game” By Bruce Williams I had the opportunity to attend a basketball game at my former high school earlier this year with three old friends, two of which I hadn’t seen in over thirty years. Gone were the swagger, posturing […]
Week 1 at Emerald Downs Huge Success! Re-Cap of Days 1 and 2
6/26/2020 (Renton, WA) It took awhile but racing returned to the Auburn Oval this week thanks to a massive effort by the racing community. (See our story on this remarkable effort by the Emerald Downs racing family.) It was of course different racing without fans but this has been done […]
Eli’s Basketball All-Decade Teams coming soon! Is your team on the list?
6/26/2020 (Centralia, WA) The Eli Sports Network is excited to present the Pacific Sports Spa All-Decade Basketball Teams beginning Monday, June 29 at noon on the ESN/NFHS Sports Network subscription Video Channel. Up first our hosts Luke Kilgore and Josh Kaiser count down the top 5 programs for the decade […]
WIAA Bulletin: Falls Sports Status Update
6/25/2020 (Renton, WA) The Governor’s office and State Health Officials recently responded to the WIAA’s request of what guidelines will be needed to re-open sports this coming Fall. This is the link to the WIAA website where you can look at each sports guidelines to meet before competitions can begin. […]
Larry the SportsCat’s Lucky Picks at Emerald Downs Week 1
Season 25 (Katlama, WA) Hey everyone I’m Larry the Sportscat and I’m back with my Emerald Downs’ lucky picks. I am going to use my tremendous cat sense in selecting winners on this the 25th season of racing at Emerald Downs. I hope you enjoy and this blog will simply […]
25th Season at Emerald Downs opens today!
6/24/2020 (Auburn, WA) The 25th racing season opens today, the last time Emerald Downs’ opening day was in June you’d have to go back when they began 24 years ago June 20, 1996. This of course was not the plan for today fans had hoped to be coming off the […]
Emerald Downs Horse Racing “Family” sets the Example on how to Deal with Covid 19
6/23/2020 (Auburn, WA) There are many beliefs, thoughts and opinions regarding the Covid 19 pandemic including in the tight-nit thoroughbred horse racing family that work and live in the backstretch barn area of Emerald Downs. The track opened for training on February 3rd more than a month before Governor Inslee […]
Column: “That Got Me to Thinking…?”; Fantasy Baseball!
6/22/2020 “That Got Me to Thinking…?” Chapter 2 “Fantasy Baseball” By Bruce Williams I’ve had a fantasy baseball team for 28 years now. That first year I was still working at The Seattle Times, and we had just six teams including my friend John and myself (both still going—and […]
24 years ago Emerald Downs opened on this date; track now set to start season 25
6/20/2020 (Auburn, WA) 24 years ago Ron Crockett and his wife Wanda pulled into their parking space just outside the administrative offices of the brand new Emerald Downs Thoroughbred Racetrack in Auburn. It marked the end of the struggle, the uneasiness, nervousness of whether or not live racing would return […]
Horse Racing: The Round-Up! Belmont Stakes, Emerald Downs and More
6/18/2020 Belmont Stakes There will be lot’s of changes in the running of this year’s Belmont Stakes. The 152nd running will be the lead off of the 3 Triple Crown races this Saturday instead of the last in the 3. The distance will go from a mile and a half […]
Column: “That Got Me to Thinking…!”
6/15/2020 “That Got Me to Thinking…!” Chapter 1 By Bruce Williams Prologue The Eli Sports Network is excited to introduce our new columnist, Bruce Williams. We were first exposed to Bruce’s ramblings on his Facebook page. His wit and command of language made us want […]
Centralia will have Sports; School Board continues work on Budget Shortfall
6/11/2020 (Centralia, WA) The Centralia school board met again via Zoom Wednesday night for their regular board meeting. Since the last time they met where it was reported that sports was being cut from Centralia there have been several communication “fixes” so to speak. ESN talked with Assistant Principal Scott […]
Souls of Hope must not be Wasted
6/11/2020 By Paul Beattie In 5 days we lost two beautiful souls, two young men taken from their families and our society. 17-year-old Tyrenn Smith died as a passenger in a tragic car accident the night before he was to fly to re-join his Mom in a move from Kent […]
WIAA Update; Basketball Tournaments, Foundation Games and Fall Sports
6/10/2020 (Renton, WA) WIAA Executive Director Mick Hoffman joined us on our last episode of Eli’s High School Report our new podcast launched late last month. We talked with Mick on a variety of issues including a decision for this year on the State Basketball formats a new Foundation game […]
The Hurt keeps coming; Mt Si Senior suddenly passes and the passing of a Broadcast legend
6/9/2020 (Updated with link to story on Dillon) Dillon Garnes was a Senior at Mt Si High School and he is the second tragic and shocking death of a student we have to report in less than a week. On Tuesday, June 2 Tyrenn Smith from Kentwood was killed in […]
Through the Storm Clouds, Tyrenn always Shined
6/7/2020 Go-Fund-Me Link to help Tyrenn’s family (Video clips of the Balloon Memorial, an interview with his Coach Michael Bush and a Remembrance Video are included as you scroll down) (Kent, WA) 9 years ago JR Deleon rolled into an apartment complex in Kent, Washington. He was there to do […]
Emerald Downs Changes Plan to Re-Open
6/5/2020 (Auburn, WA) Emerald Downs was ready to open their 25th season with no fans in attendance and only wagering on-line on Monday, June 22nd. Those plans have been changed and now they will open on Wednesday, June 24th. The track is set to run only 2 days a week […]
Governor’s Office updates guidelines for Summer Sports
It is safe to say that 2020 may be one of the more bizarre years seen in quite some time, but the muddy waters may be getting a little clearer in the world of sports. Governor Jay Inslee’s office issued new guidelines today, June 5th, that will immediately be effective […]
The Helmet Tournament Champion: The Entiat Tigers
6/2/2020 (Tacoma, WA) Lincoln Head Football Coach Masaki Matsumoto announced this morning that the Entiat Tigers are the Champions of the Washington State Football Helmet Challenge. We had a chance to talk with Coach Matsumoto on Monday for an interview on our new podcast “Eli’s High School Report” that airs […]
