SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
A13
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Traditional plaids have
a fascinating history
While not the tradition that it once
was, hunters wearing red and black
plaid as their choice of vestiture to
attend their mountain synagogues for
their devout observance of hunting
season was once quite commonplace.
Traditionally considered of Scot-
tish origin, plaid or tartan designs as
we know them have been encoun-
tered in various world cultures as far
back as the eighth century B.C.
The unique patterns of handwo-
ven twill are most often related to the
clans of Scotland in more recent his-
tory. The word “plaid” is taken from
the Scottish Gaelic “plaide,” which
when translated means blanket. At
first mostly a rectangular full-size
blanket worn over the shoulder as a
sash or around the neck as a cape, but
then socks, kilts and caps eventually
adopted the tartan pattern.
Somewhere along the line the
clans adopted their own unique tar-
tans for daily vestiture. The repre-
sentation of clan-specific plaid in
Scotland, however, wasn’t officially
adopted until the 1700s.
The first recorded use of the tar-
tan as a military uniform, irrespec-
tive of any single clan pattern,
was in the 1745 Scottish Rebel-
lion. The Royal Highland Regi-
ment wore a “Black Watch” pattern
when they rose up against the rule
of an oppressive English monarchy.
After their resistance was crushed,
England passed the Dress Act of
1746, which banned the wearing of
plaid for all but military uniform
applications.
The mass migration to the
New World both before and after
the American Revolutionary War
brought a huge influx of tartan-clad
settlers to the colonies and frontier
alike.
The red and black MacGregor
plaid — buffalo plaid, as it’s some-
times called today — was popu-
larized by Jock
McCluskey.
McCluskey was a
descendant of one
of Scotland’s most
famous outlaws,
Rob Roy MacGre-
Dale Valade
gor. Jock traded
his woven plaid
blankets with Native Americans as
far west as Montana Territory.
In 1850 the tartan received another
popularity boost. The founder of
Woolrich Woolen Mills, John Rich,
traveled around selling buffalo
check shirts and fabric to lumber-
jacks and their wives in the woods of
Pennsylvania.
Plaid received further main-
streaming through the drawings
of William B. Laughead featuring
an oversized logger with a blue ox
named Paul Bunyan and the 1924
release of plaid patterns from the
Pendleton Mills.
While the red and black Mac-
Gregor or buffalo pattern is the most
widely distributed and arguably use-
ful for hunters, tartans of all kind are
still in fashion today.
Even though camouflage and
blaze orange may have edged plaid
out in the hunting fields, tartan pat-
terns are more popular than ever in
other venues. I think you would have
to look pretty hard to find a hunting
camp in Eastern Oregon that didn’t
have at least one plaid-clad Elmer
Fudd sitting around the campfire.
Whether you’re carrying a
Browning or the bagpipes, the his-
toric tartan pattern is a wonderful tra-
dition still alive and well nearly 3,000
years later. Talk about longevity.
Do you wear plaid? Write to us at
shootingthebreezebme@gmail.com
and check us out on Facebook!
Dale Valade is a local country
gent with a love for the outdoors,
handloading, hunting and shooting.
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City’s Wes Voigt (center), a sophomore, drives past two Four Rivers players during the Panthers’ game against
the Falcons Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022.
Prairie City squads win big
Panthers defeat
Four Rivers for
second straight win
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY —
Fresh off a 49-24 win over
Huntington on the road on
Thursday, Jan. 27, the Prai-
rie City’s boys basketball
team bested Four Rivers
67-39 in front of a home-
town crowd on Saturday,
Jan. 29.
Eli Wright heaped on
22 points for the Panthers
and teammate Marcus
Judd chipped in 11 to help
push the Falcons aside and
allow the team to improve
to 5-5 in High Desert
League play.
Bo Workman, Prai-
rie City’s head basketball
coach, said his team knew
going in that Four Rivers
Freshman
Reece
Jacobs
Freshman
Skylar
McKay
could pose a problem.
“They’re a dangerous
team,” he said. “Every
team is dangerous, and
you have to know what to
expect.”
He said the boys team
came out and played hard
in the first half.
Indeed, by the break,
the Panthers were up
37-15.
In addition to solid
offensive output by Judd
and Wright, Doyal Law-
rence, a junior, poured
in 11 points with three
3-pointers and a 2-point
field goal. While junior
Sophomore
Jaycee
Winegar
Freshman
Savannah
Watterson
Cole Teel came in with
seven, sophomores Wes
Voigt and Tucker Wright
scored 6 and 4 points,
respectively.
In the final seconds of
the game, freshman Syrus
Workman drained a buzz-
er-beater to put the finish-
ing touches on the victory.
“I had only had a few
seconds to make the shot,”
Workman said. “So I went
for it, and it felt great.”
Lady Panthers claim
42-16 league victory
Like the boys squad, the
Lady Panthers came out of
Sophomore
Brooke
Teel
Junior
Betty Ann
Wilson
the gate on fire to down
the Lady Falcons 42-16
in a High Desert League
matchup on Saturday.
Prairie City sophomore
Jaycee Winegar scored
a game-high 20 points,
while junior Betty Anne
Wilson had eight on two
3-pointers and a 2-point
field goal.
Winegar said the team
passed the ball well, which
made the difference in the
game.
“The goal in the game,”
Wilson said, “was to get
everybody on the court to
score.”
SPORTS ROUNDUP
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant Union Lady grapplers
claim first at home tourney
JOHN DAY — Grant Union’s girls
wrestling team took first place at the Grant
Union wrestling tournament on Jan. 25.
The Lady Pros competed against
wrestlers from eight schools: Baker/
Powder Valley, Irrigon, Heppner/Ione,
Enterprise, Adrian, Union, Echo and
Imbler.
Grant Union’s girls, as a team, had 59
points.
Mallory Lusco took first place in her
235 weight bracket, while Zoey Beam
and Macy Carter took second in their
125 and 107 weight categories.
June Wolf also claimed second place
in her 135 weight bracket, while Delaney
Coombs took third in the 170 weight
division.
In a Monday, Jan. 31, email, Grant
Union head wrestling coach Andy
Lusco told the Eagle the girls squad had
improved tremendously since the sea-
son’s first week.
For example, Lusco noted that Mal-
lory had a swift pin over a “pretty tough
girl” at heavyweight, while Anderson
had a “breakout day” and won her group
as well. Additionally, he said Wolf has
really come along and is wrestling her
best matches late in the season.
Lusco added that Carter, Coombs and
Morgan Majors have shown “amazing
growth” late in the season.
Finishing a wrestling season, Lusco
said, is an accomplishment in and of
itself.
Being a novice or freshman wrestler
and continuing to improve each week
while dealing with the stress of compet-
ing with more experienced wrestlers is
something to be proud of, according to
Lusco.
“This is a special group of young
women,” Lusco said. “I’m excited to see
them this week at the regional qualifier.”
On the boys side, Grant Union
dropped a dual meet to Burns on Jan. 25,
42-36.
Nonetheless, Grant Union’s grapplers
collected a flurry of wins.
Jack Strong pinned Orion Houck in
the 145 weight division. Meanwhile,
Justin Hodge pinned Bruin Thomas to
win the 165 weight bracket.
Lusco said overall he thought the
boys squad competed well.
He said in addition to Hodge and
Strong, Tanler Fuller, who came off an
injury less than a month ago, wrestled
very well.
Moreover, Lusco said the entire
lineup had a good showing in the match.
Grant Union girls basketball gets
a split over the weekend
JOHN DAY — The Grant Union girls
basketball team split a pair of close Blue
Mountain Conference contests over the
weekend. After losing a 35-37 thriller to
Heppner on the road Friday, Jan. 28, the
Lady Pros came home and won 38-34
over Weston-McEwen on Saturday, Jan.
29.
Grant Union boys basketball
team loses two in a row
JOHN DAY — The Grant Union
boys basketball team dropped two in a
row over the weekend.
After a 71-34 loss to Heppner on the
road on Friday, Jan. 28, the 2A Pros-
pectors fell to Weston-McEwen 55-37
at home on Saturday, Jan. 29, in their
eighth straight loss in Blue Mountain
Conference play.
Long Creek boys basketball team
loses two in a row
LONG CREEK — Long Creek’s
1A boys basketball team suffered a
two-game skid, with the Mountain-
eers losing at home 90-15 to Crane
Thursday, Jan. 27, and falling 54-28
to Harper Charter on the road Satur-
day, Jan. 29.
The boys team is 1-8 overall and 1-6
in High Desert League play.
SPORTS SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2
Long Creek Basketball @ Prairie City, boys 6 p.m.
THURSDAY, FEB. 3
Dayville/Monument Basketball vs. Four Rivers, girls 6,
boys 7:30 p.m.
Prairie City Basketball @ Adrian, girls 6, boys 7:30 p.m.
(MST)
FRIDAY, FEB. 4
Grant Union Wrestling @ Oregon School Activities
Association Girls Special District 3, Redmond, time to be
determined
Long Creek Basketball @ Four Rivers, boys 7:30 p.m.
(MST)
Prairie City Basketball @ Adrian, girls 5, boys 6:30 p.m.
(MST)
SATURDAY, FEB. 5
Grant Union Wrestling @ Bank of Eastern Oregon
Tournament, Heppner, 10 a.m.
Grant Union Wrestling @ Oregon School Activities
Association Girls Special District 3, Redmond, time to be
determined
Grant Union Basketball @ Enterprise, girls, 6, boys
7:30 p.m.
Long Creek Basketball vs. Adrian, boys 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, FEB. 8
Long Creek Basketball @ Huntington, boys 4:30 p.m.
Prairie City Basketball vs. Dayville/Monument, girls 5,
boys 6:30 p.m.