S PORTS
Hermiston
A10
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015
This IS
P\ ¿ UsW
URGHR
SAM BARBEE
FROM THE
SIDELINES
I
’ve never been to a
rodeo. They exist west
of the Cascades, but they
aren’t all that popular, as far
as I know.
Longview has a rodeo,
even. It started in 1979 and
became known as Thunder
Mountain in 1981 after
Mount St. Helens blew its top
and almost buried southwest
Washington. I never went.
Like Farm-City, it runs during
the local fair and a couple
times I’d hear the faint sounds
of buzzers and cheers as I left.
Rodeos just never interested
me that much.
Then, about a year ago,
I was asked in my job
interview if I knew anything
about rodeo. I said a bit, that
you want to stay on a bucking
animal for eight seconds or
you want to complete your
task as quickly as possible.
On its surface, that’s the point
of a rodeo, I suppose, but I
know there is a lot more to
it than that. Sure, these are
skills that started on ranches,
and therefore (for the most
part) are practical skills that
cowboys use on regular bases.
I watched NFR last fall on
television and tried to learn
as much as I could. I listened
to the Round-Up on the radio
as I drove to work, and tried
to pick up terminologies.
Knowing a sport is one
thing; talking it is another.
So what are the events
I’m most looking forward
to? Thank you for asking.
Steer wrestling, or the
better term, bulldogging, is
interesting to me because of
its controversy. In some brief
research, I read that steer
wrestling is banned in some
states because of the potential
harm that could come to the
animals. Historically, it’s also
not a task generally done
on the ranch, usually team
roping or tie down roping is
how a loose steer would be
handled. It’s also exciting.
A guy hangs off his horse,
grabs the À edgling horns of
the steer, and in one motion
leaves his horse, digs his
heels into the arena À oor,
and tries to À ip the steer to
his side by leveraging the
horns. Where else in sports
do you get a show like that?
And it’ll happen 81 times
this week! Rough stock is
also always entertaining, and
seeing the best in the world
at what they do in any setting
is an experience. Hell, seeing
the best calligraphers in the
world methodically create a
page would be interesting to
me, because they’re the best.
All that said, I’m
genuinely excited about this
week. One of the cool things
about being a reporter is
having opportunities to go to
cool places, talk to interesting
people and, maybe most
importantly, get out of your
comfort zone a little.
And this is de¿ nitely
getting me out of my comfort
zone. But that’s a good thing.
This whole year has been full
of ¿ rsts, and now we simply
add another.
— Sam Barbee is a sports
reporter for the Hermiston
Herald and East Oregonian
based in Hermiston. He can be
reached by phone at 541-564-
4542 or by email at sbarbee@
hermistonherald.com. Follow
him on Twitter @SamBar-
bee1, and follow Herald
Sports @HHeraldSports.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Thompson returns to alma mater as announcer
Longtime
Hermiston football
announcer will also
take the mic for
Oregon State soccer
matches this fall
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
Joe Thompson, the long-
time public address announc-
er for Hermiston High School
football games is adding his
distinctive voice to another
sport and another school at
another level.
Thompson is the new
public address announcer
of Oregon State University
soccer. There’s also a chance
that he might ¿ ll in for base-
ball games or late basketball
games if necessary. He will
continue to announce Bull-
dog football games.
“I just enjoy the heck out
of it,” Thompson said of pub-
lic address announcing. “I’m
just humbled that I have this
opportunity. And it gets back
to the community that Herm-
iston is. I’ve been asked to do
events for them and I’ve en-
joyed the heck out of it. I just
want to thank the community
for being in my corner this
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
Joe Thompson, the longtime public address announcer at
Hermiston High football games and other community events,
acts as MC at the 2015 Umatilla County Fair Parade Saturday
in Hermiston. Thompson, who graduated from Oregon State
University, will be the Beavers soccer PA announcer this fall.
whole time.”
Thompson was scrolling
through Twitter one day when
he saw an advertisement for
a public address announcer
at Oregon State for soccer
games. He ¿ gured it was
worth a phone call, so he left a
message with Oregon State’s
marketing department and
waited. A couple days later he
received a call from Oregon
State’s Sports Information
Department, where he once
worked, and they asked for a
tape. Thompson didn’t have
one, but that didn’t matter.
He got a schedule and a list
of game-day protocols and he
was on his way.
“That was always kind of
a goal (for me) out here,” he
said.
Thompson has been in-
volved in broadcasting in
some form or fashion since
his freshman year at Eastern
Oregon University in 1979.
After taking a year off from
school in 1980, he transferred
to Oregon State where he be-
came involved in the school’s
radio station, KBVR< and
worked in the sports informa-
tion of¿ ce.
There, he helped when
Oregon State hosted a portion
of the 1984 NCAA Men’s
Basketball Tournament at
Gill Coliseum. He recalls see-
ing the late Jim Valvano, the
famous coach of the North
Carolina State Wolfpack who
improbably won that tourna-
ment, in press conferences
after his games.
“I don’t think his feet ever
touched the ground,” Thomp-
son remembered of Valvano.
“He just À oated in.”
He also did some public
address at volleyball games,
kept the book at baseball
games and did “a little bit” of
baseball.
After he graduated from
OSU, he returned to Herm-
iston in 1985 to help the
family business at Eastside
Market. Shortly thereafter,
Billy Joe Burns née Owens,
then Hermiston’s volleyball
coach, asked if Thompson
was interested in helping her
with public address at volley-
ball games.
Thompson jumped at the
chance to get back behind the
mic. As he said, some folks
like to play, but “I talk.”
“I just took it from there,”
he said, “and done everything
from fair parades to boxing
matches to Little League state
tournaments to high school
soccer. Of course I’ve been
doing football for about 23
years now ... There’s not a lot
I haven’t done.”
And one more item to add
to the list is Oregon State
Beavers men’s and women’s
soccer. The Beavers men’s
team begins its season in Cor-
vallis against Marquette on
Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. The wom-
en have an exhibition against
Trinity Western in Corvallis
at 7 p.m. on Aug. 15. Thomp-
son’s full schedule will in-
clude about 20 matches of
both exhibitions and regular
season games.
Thompson said his experi-
ence at Hermiston will be a big
help with his new gig. Under
athletic directors such as Mike
Kay and Blain Ganvoa, he
said Hermiston “does it right”
when it comes to putting on a
good show at sporting events.
When it comes to pieces such
as live reads and timing, he
said he’s learned new tech-
niques from three decades
behind the mic. However, the
bright lights of Division I soc-
cer aren’t too bright for him.
“It’s pretty much what I’ve
done for years,” he said.
%RUGHUs iQhHUiWs \RXQJ 8PDWiOOD sTXDG
After a year as a volunteer assistant,
Sonia Borders was handed the
Umatilla volleyball program this fall
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
Sonia Borders isn’t enter-
ing her ¿ rst season as head
volleyball coach at Umatilla
fresh. Not entirely, anyhow.
The Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity alumna is in her sec-
ond year as a member of the
Vikings staff, last year serv-
ing as a volunteer assistant to
Megan Olsen, who stepped
down after last season.
“It’s a bit nerve-wrack-
ing,” Borders said of becom-
ing a ¿ rst-time high school
head coach. “But it’s exciting,
yeah. I know the majority of
the girls. They have a lot of
potential and I’m excited to
be able to ¿ nally get my hands
on them and make them work
together better than they did
last year.”
Though Borders has taken
her ¿ rst varsity job, she has
head coaching experience.
After two years of assisting
Becky Wadekamper at Herm-
iston, Borders was in charge
at Armand Larive Middle
School for another two years
before taking a teaching and
volunteer assistant job at
Umatilla.
The nerves, though, are
somewhat warranted now be-
cause Borders is currently the
only coach on staff. She and
Umatilla Athletic Director
Ryan Ferguson are conduct-
ing interviews today to ¿ nd
an assistant.
“Umatilla is small,” Bor-
ders said, “and some of the
kids need a little energy ...
I’m more nervous about (the
interviews) than about the
team. I think the team is ¿ ne.”
That team, which went
11-9 (3-3 Eastern Oregon
League) last year and bowed
out after a tough 3-2 loss to
Nyssa in the district play-off,
returns most of its roster. Se-
nior Courtney Dohman, a
tall middle hitter who started
playing volleyball last year,
is back, and Borders wants
to move her around the court
and not abandon her at the
net. Guadalupe Flores, a
sophomore setter, has “one of
the greatest passing platforms
I’ve seen,” Borders said.
Also around is senior Sidney
Webb, who was the setter last
year.
FILE PHOTO
,n this À le photo, Sonia Borders
(rear) coaches at an early-
season practice in Umatilla last
fall. After a year as a volunteer
assistant, Borders was named
head coach of the Lady Vikings
this summer.
In addition to Dohman,
Flores and Webb, Umatilla
has other young players that
will ¿ ll the void left by de-
parted Kassandra Galbraith
and Kelly Barajas. Taija Cof-
fey, now a junior, ¿ gures to
have a bigger role this year,
and Mari Paz is a solid back-
line contributor, as well.
“We have a couple young
girls that I think will end up
stepping up,” Borders said.
“They had a lot of game time
last year, and I think their
nerves have kinda gone down
a little bit, so I think they’ll be
able to ¿ ll some shoes. But
we have a couple taller girls
that are fairly new, and I think
they’ll feel more comfortable
this season, too, knowing
they already have a season
under their belt.”
Dohman is one of those
tall, fairly new players. By the
end of last season, Dohman
looked comfortable at the net
and began racking up blocks
and kills. But Borders doesn’t
want to leave her up front and
leave it there. She wants to
make Dohman a more versa-
tile player who can be effec-
tive at the net and on the back
line.
“Everything was new to
her last year,” Borders said of
Dohman. “She came a long
way. I told her on the ¿ rst day
of practice that she would be
the most improved, because
she would have the most
game time and she’s gonna
have the most growth playing
with the older girls.
“I don’t want her to just
be a hitter. I don’t want her to
just be front row. I’d like to
work on con¿ dence with the
entire thing and see how that
goes.”
Flores has been working
during the summer and after
school during the winter and
spring to improve her game.
She’s been working on jump
serves and learning some
things that Borders hasn’t
seen other Vikings doing.
Borders isn’t against sending
Flores down to JV periodical-
ly to get the sophomore more
court time. Webb will likely
¿ ll a captain’s role.
Borders is small in stat-
ure and soft-spoken, but her
words have an energy in them
if her voice doesn’t match.
She isn’t focused on results
for results’ sake. Her ¿ rst or-
der of business is to bring the
Lady Vikings together as a
group, and, according to her
philosophy, the success will
come with togetherness.
“I think as soon as the piec-
es of the team work together,
I think they’ll go farther than
they did working as individ-
uals,” Borders said. “We can
have the best player on the
court, but as soon as you have
one bad attitude they can sin-
gle-handedly ruin a team. My
goal is to have everyone work
together, whether we win or
lose. However far we get, I
think as long as we work to-
gether we’ll go pretty far.
“Attitude is everything.
Grades are important. As long
as we back each other up, the
talent will come with it.”
to be completed by Thurs-
day, Aug. 13, and can be
done one of two ways. You
can sign up online at preg-
nancycareservices.com or
mail your registration to
the PCS of¿ ces at 311 SE
Dorion Ave., Pendleton,
OR, 97801.
Sign in for the tourna-
ment will start at 1 p.m.,
Aug. 29, with a shotgun
start at 2 p.m.
For more information,
contact the PCS of¿ ces at
541-276-5757.
Registration for the 2015
Echo Sage Trail Run has
opened, and will be open
until Oct. 2.
The 5k, which starts at
9 a.m., costs $20, the 10k,
with an 8 a.m. start, is $25,
and the 5k, at 7 a.m., runs at
$50. Prices increase by $5
after Sept. 14. The course
runs through the Alkali
Canyon south of Echo on
private property belonging
to Lloyd and Lois Piercy.
You can register at Echo-
SageTrailRun.com,
and
you can call 541-521-4793
or 541-554-2517 with ques-
tions, or you may email
Greg and Linda Spike at
echosagetrailrun@gmail.
com. All proceeds go to
Echo School District music
and sports programs.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Hermiston girls basketball
parking to raise money
The Hermiston girls bas-
ketball team is again man-
ning the Hermiston High
School parking lot during
Farm-City Pro Rodeo,
Wednesday through Satur-
day, as a fund raiser, head
coach Steve Hoffert said.
The team has been in-
vited to play in the Nike
Tournament of Champi-
ons in Phoenix, Arizona
over Christmas break. It is
one of the best high school
basketball tournaments in
the country, with 144 state
champions and 13 of 16
consensus national cham-
pions since its inception in
1997, according to its web-
site.
Hoffert said the invite
was based on program re-
cords, season records, and
season ¿ nishes. Hermiston
went 24-4 (9-0 CRC) in
2014-15 and secured the
top seed in the 5A state
tournament before a 51-
45 loss to La Salle Prep in
March in the state champi-
onship game.
“We’ve been trying to
get an invite for several
years and are pretty excited
about it,” Hoffert said.
The entire trip will be
paid for through fundrais-
ers, Hoffert said, which
include rodeo parking,
AAU tournaments and oth-
er events. Parking costs $5
per car to park at Hermis-
ton High, but Hoffert and
the Bulldogs will take do-
nations.
“It’s one of those experi-
ences you can’t pass up be-
cause of the cost,” Hoffert
said.
Golf scramble scheduled
for Saturday, August 29
Pregnancy Care Services
of Pendleton and Hermis-
ton announced that its Golf
‘Fore’ Life Tournament and
BBQ Dinner will be held
Saturday, Aug. 29, at Echo
Hills Golf Course.
The tournament is a
four-person scramble for-
mat that will span nine
holes at the course.
Registration for the tour-
nament or the dinner needs
Echo Sage Trail Run
scheduled for October 4
The 2015 Echo Sage
Trail Run will be held on
Sunday, Oct. 4.