B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, November 27, 2021
‘Born 30’ and looking back
LUKE
OVGARD
CAUGHT OVGARD
M
y mom always
told me I was
born 30.
If that’s true, my hair-
line is doing remarkably
well for a 61-year-old, but
perhaps it explains why
I get up to pee so often
during the night. Hmm ...
not important.
Actually important is
one of my family’s favorite
home videos. The clearly
dated scene shows Young
Luke sitting in front of the
bolster, arranging some-
thing on its surface out of
view of the camera. Into
frame walks my younger
brother, Jake. Without
delay, Jake begins scat-
tering the assortment of
papers I was apparently
“playing” with. Jake was
maybe two or three at the
time, and as I realize what
he’s doing, I begin to voice
my displeasure with a
whiny timbre that I mostly
aged out of. Seconds later,
I can be heard complaining
to my mom “He messed up
my business papers!” Dad
keeps the camera on Jake
for what, in retrospect, is
the comedic climax. Jake
turns and stares at the
camera with a devious half
smile.
Business papers. SMH.
I have no recollection
of what I was playing, but
I do know that not much
changed as I grew older.
My fi rst job that gave
me an actual paycheck was
refereeing soccer, which
Jake and I did together. I
brought in about $500 over
the course of the season,
which might as well have
been $50,000. At 12 years
old, there were any number
of things I could’ve bought
after that 2002 soccer
season. My friends likely
would’ve bought clothes,
one of the newfangled
iPods, video games, a new
ball or bat or helmet or
loads of snacks and treats.
I don’t know what Jake
bought. I do remember
what I bought, though. It’s
more what you’d expect
from a suburban mom than
a seventh grader; I spent
my money on a Food-
Saver vacuum packer. It
cost me about half of my
fi rst paycheck. Yeah, that’s
Young Luke wasn’t talking
to the parents at said party.
But honestly, as I’ve aged, I
realize Young Luke missed
out on his childhood in
many ways because he was
never really a kid.
Risk
Today, I live a rich life
punctuated by new expe-
riences. Travel, fi shing,
dining out, cooking, read-
ing and dating regularly
but unsuccessfully all
serve as testaments to my
love of the untamed and
untested.I’m not alone in
this, either.
Millennials aren’t the
fi rst generation to chase
new experiences with
TODAY, I LIVE A RICH
LIFE PUNCTUATED BY
NEW EXPERIENCES.
what kind of kid I was.
Best of all, it still works
to this day, hundreds of
pounds of fi sh and nearly
20 years later.
Like that FoodSaver, I
quickly learned that I had
the rare ability to suck
the air out of a room at
13-going-on-30. I always
had a good sense of humor,
but if I wasn’t a killjoy
full-time, I at least moon-
lighted.
Young Luke was
responsible. Young Luke
was mature. Young Luke
could be counted on to
handle the fundraising for
class endeavors, to always
have tissues or allergy
medicine or Tylenol close
at hand, to reassure parents
of the lack of criminal
activity or general delin-
quency at any party where
he was present — that is, if
almost religious fervor,
but they certainly are the
fi rst to share those expe-
riences so ubiquitously.
Everywhere you look is
another video series or
podcast or social media
infl uencer sharing his or
her passion with the world.
It’s awesome for those
who love to consume this
content, but it’s also a bit
dangerous. My generation
grew up at a time when the
world changed faster and
more radically in 20 years
than at any other time in
history, and it has shaped
us into a unique subcul-
ture.
Among other things,
this rapid immersion into
the global and the digi-
tal left many desensitized
to the value of the very
experiences we record and
curate for a virtual audi-
ence on the regular.
I don’t think I ever
would’ve wistfully
doubted the paths I took
in life or felt a sense of
loss for this experience
or that if I’d never known
it existed. I’m not saying
ignorance is bliss and
something to aspire to, but
we were given so much
unfi ltered information so
quickly that I think it’s
left those like me, who
were born 30, in this weird
introspective rut that the
average person might not
have until they are much,
much older.
Honestly, the inter-
net has been far more
boon than bane, and we
now have the collective
of human knowledge and
experience at our fi nger-
tips, but that’s what makes
it so overwhelming. The
internet has the poten-
tial to be a panacea for all
problems and diffi culties
it doesn’t itself create, but
it also has the ability to
leave us listless and over-
whelmed.
Something I wish I
could’ve told Young Luke
so many years ago is that
you don’t need to always
make the most prudent,
well-reasoned choice to
be successful and happy.
Sometimes, action beats
calculation. It’s OK to
spend your money and
time on something that
isn’t wholly practical. Who
knows? Maybe someday
you’ll even have a platform
to write about that frivol-
ity.
———
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Ovgard column at www.
patreon.com/CaughtOv-
gard. Read more for free at
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@lukeovgard.
ON THE SLATE
SATURDAY, NOV. 26
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1
College men’s basketball
Eastern Oregon at Menlo College,
1 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Milwaukie at Pendleton, 5:30 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Irrigon. 6 p.m.
Riverside at Weston-McEwen, 6 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Eastern Oregon vs. Rocky Mountain,
Best Western Inn and Suites Classic,
Caldwell, Idaho, 2 p.m.
SUNDAY NOV. 28
College men’s basketball
Eastern Oregon at Menlo College,
1 p.m.
TUESDAY, NOV. 30
Prep girls basketball
Hermiston at Davis, 5:45 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Hermiston at Davis, 7:30 p.m.
Prep girls bowling
Hanford at Hermiston, 3 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon vs. Northwestern
(Iowa) at NAIA National Tournament,
5 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Stanfi eld at Irrigon. 7:30 p.m.
Riverside at Weston-McEwen, 7:30 p.m.
Condon at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon vs. College of Saint
Mary (Nebraska) at NAIA National Tour-
nament, 1 p.m.
THURSDAY, DEC. 2
Prep girls bowling
Hermiston at Chiawana, 3:30 p.m.
Prep girls wrestling
Hermiston at Richland, 6 p.m.
Prep boys wrestling
Hermiston at Richland, 7 p.m.
Prep girls basketball
Umatilla at La Grande, 5:30 p.m.
Griswold at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Umatilla at La Grande, 7 p.m.
Griswold at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon at NAIA National Tour-
nament, TBD
Prep swimming
Pendleton at Hillsboro, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY, DEC. 3
Prep girls basketball
Irrigon at Ione Tournament, TBD
Echo at Lions Tournament, Union, TBD
Sunnyside at Hermiston, 5:45 p.m.
McLoughlin at College Place, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Pilot Rock vs. Sherman at Sherman
County Invite, 6 p.m.
Ione/Arlington vs. Damascus Christian
at Ione Basketball Bonanza, 6 p.m.
Umatilla at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Imbler at Stanfi eld, 6 p.m.
Pendleton vs. Crescent Valley at Rid-
geview Tournament, 7 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Central Linn,
7:30 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Irrigon at Ione Tournament, TBD
Weston-McEwen at Central Linn, 6 p.m.
Echo vs. Union at Lions Tournament,
Union, 7:30 p.m.
Pendleton vs. Liberty at Wilsonville
Tournament, 7 p.m.
Sunnyside at Hermiston, 7:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at College Place, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
Umatilla at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Imbler at Stanfi eld, 7:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock vs. Sherman at Sherman
County Invite, 7:30 p.m.
Ione/Arlington vs. Damascus Christian
at Ione Basketball Bonanza, 7:30 p.m.
Prep wrestling
Heppner at Enterprise Invitational,
10 a.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain vs. Highline at Spokane,
3:30 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon at NAIA National Tour-
nament, TBD
Insko:
Continued from Page B1
stress this would put on her
family.
“There was always this
sense that he truly cared,”
Lund said.
To illustrate this point,
Lund recalled that once she
received a phone call from
an administrator at Eastern
which sparked an enraged
response.
“It lit my fuse,” Lund
said. “I was so angry that I
slammed down my phone.”
Insko, whose offi ce was
next to Lund’s, then asked
who she had been talking to.
When he realized who it was,
he urged Lund to leave imme-
diately.
“Get out of here, go home,”
Insko said.
Insko did not ask about
what sparked Lund’s outburst,
all he cared about was seeing
to it that Lund was out of the
offi ce before the individual
she had been talking to came
and gave her a tongue lashing,
“He wanted to protect
me,” Lund said.
Insko, a member of EOU’s
athletic hall of fame, came to
Eastern in 1968 after serv-
ing as the coach of Spring-
fi eld High School’s football
team. Jack Redling, who
later played for Insko at East-
ern, was one of his players at
Springfield High. Redling
was a sophomore at Spring-
fi eld when Insko took over
its football program in 1965.
Insko inherited a downtrod-
den program and did not win
a game his fi rst season. Two
years later, however, Spring-
fi eld won its district title and
advanced to the state playoff s.
Springfi eld lost to eventual
state champion Grants Pass
in its fi rst round playoff game
in 1967 by just seven points.
“He (Insko) was a god in
Springfi eld while he was foot-
ball coach,” Redling said at a
banquet conducted in honor
Peal:
Continued from Page B1
title, have qualified for the
national tournament eight
times, have won 10 North-
west Conference Champion-
ships, and have turned out 23
All-Americans.
Pierce likes the fact he will
have one more season with
Peal before he heads off to
college. His versatility pays
dividends at a small school like
Weston-McEwen.
“He pulls his big boy pants
up and says, ‘If no one else is
going to do it, I will,’ ” Pierce
Eastern Oregon University/
Contributed Photo
Lee Insko patrols the East-
ern Oregon University side-
line in 1971. Insko, who died
Nov. 16, 2021, at the age of
86, was the head coach of
the university’s football pro-
gram 1968-77.
of Insko in 2013 at Eastern.
Redling, then a Salem resi-
dent, according to a story in a
October 2013 edition of The
Observer, like many of the
Springfi eld players who had
recently graduated, wished he
had come a lot earlier so they
could have played for him.
Insko stepped down from
coaching in 1982, Lund said,
so that he and his wife, Beth,
could have time to attend the
high school games of their
daughters, Lori and Lisa, and
sons, Tom and Matt.
Tom Insko, now the pres-
ident of EOU, once asked his
father if he ever had second
thoughts about stepping
away from coaching so that
he could attend the games of
his sons and daughters.
“He told that he never
regretted it for one minute.
He was highly competitive
but his priorities were clear.
What he did speaks volumes
of his love for his family. It
was an easy decision for him
to make. To have a father like
that is very impactful,” Tom
Insko said.
A celebration of Insko’s
life will be Dec. 4 at 10 a.m.
at Quinn Coliseum on the
Eastern Oregon University
campus, La Grande. Arrange-
ments are by Loveland
Funeral Chapel, La Grande.
said. “At this level, if you have
two, three or four kids like
him, you win state titles.”
In the summer, Peal hones
his skills playing legion ball
with Hodgen Distributing in
Pendleton.
Peal, who just came off a
terrifi c season for the Tiger-
Scots on the football field,
where he earned first-team
all-conference honors as a
quarterback, is now on the
basketball court, ticking off
the days until baseball starts.
“I like to go out and play
with my friends,” Peal said of
football and basketball. “It’s a
lot of fun.”
The fun has only just begun.
Job Announcements
COLUMBIA RIVER INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION
IS HIRING THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS:
Watershed Department, Portland, Oregon
SCHISM Modeler/ Oceanographer
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s (CRITFC) Coastal Margin Observation and
Prediction (CMOP) program is seeking a full-time experienced SCHISM modeler to continue de-
velopment of SCHISM models for the Columbia River Basin and the Pacific Ocean Basin. This
position will work collaboratively with staff to integrate numerical hydrodynamic modeling into
conservation and management programs for critical fish species and stocks. Work may include
incorporating high resolution wetland modeling, water control structures, and aquatic vegetation
modeling into the existing CMOP SCHISM model and continuing development of individual based
modeling of juvenile salmon. Salary $75,799- $80,854
Closing Date: December 15, 2021
Finance and Operations Department, Portland, Oregon
Accounting Technician
This position provides support to accounting and operations functions. The position will have
primary duties in fleet management, document management, and general ledger account recon-
ciliations. It also assists in the back-up of other accounting and operations functions such as front
desk coordination, asset receiving and tracking, and travel coordination. The position prepares
general ledger journal entries; assists in special project management; participates in internal and
external audit; and works in other areas managed by the Department. Salary: $42,731 - $55,546.
Closing Date: Open Until Filled.
Staff Accountant/Accounts Payable, Portland, Oregon
This position primary function is the processing of all phases of the Accounts Payable cycle. The
position provides support to accounting functions. The position also helps maintain accounts re-
ceivable; ensures weekly bank deposits, maintenance of credit card, charge account and petty
cash accounts; prepares general ledger journal entries; assists in special project management;
participates in internal and external audit; and works in other areas managed by the Department.
Salary: $44,155 - $67,946. Location: Portland, Oregon.
Closing Date: Open Until Filled.
Fishing Site Maintenance Department, The Dalles, Oregon.
Fishing Site Maintenance Worker
These positions will provide the maintenance of the 31 Tribal In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access
Sites located along 150 miles of the Columbia River. The FSMD crews perform work that involves
a variety of trade practices to maintain, repair, and improve existing public facilities. Skills include
painting, plumbing, carpentry, masonry, electrical, custodial work, and maintaining sanitation
standards in all facilities. Maintenance workers use hand and power tools to accomplish the work.
Salary: $34,496 - $36,796.
Closing date: Open Until Filled.
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Enforcement Department Hood River Office
CRITPD-Police Officer
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Police Department (CRITPD) is based in Hood River Oregon. The
CRITFC Police Department provides 24-hour policing focused on the 150 mile stretch of the Co-
lumbia River from Bonneville to McNary Dams and adjacent lands by vehicle and boat. CRITPD
has commissions from all four CRITFC member tribes (Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Nez
Perce), the Bureau of Indian Affairs, some Washington counties, and are Oregon-certified officers.
The department enforces treaty fishing regulations and criminal laws, responds to search and
rescue emergencies, and provides archeological resource protection. CRITPD also provides full
police services on tribal lands along the Columbia River. Salary: $51,516 - $56,261.
Closing date: Open Until Filled.
CRITPD-Dispatcher, Hood River, Oregon.
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Police dispatchers are based in Hood River, Oregon and are the com-
munication link for all incoming communications to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Police Depart-
ment (CRITPD). Dispatchers are directly responsible for the operation of all office radio commu-
nications and telephone equipment, they monitor patrol officer activities, and answer incoming
emergency calls for service, business, and assistance calls. The position works rotating shifts
to support the round the clock police service provided by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Police
Department. Classification: Regular, Full-time, Non-Exempt. Salary: $39,937 - $43,661. Closing
date: Open Until Filled.
All positions are permanent full-time unless otherwise noted.
The complete job description, minimum skills, application requirements, deadlines, and pay information are
available on the CRITFC website www.critfc.org Careers. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.