As Sam Sees It

Congratulations to the Winslow High School winter sports teams, all of whom performed very well in the Enchantment Region competition and have advanced to the Arizona State 3A Championship Tournaments.

The Winslow wrestling team edged Holbrook for the regional crown and participated in the state tournament last week as the Enchantment Region Champion.

The Winslow girls’ basketball team won the regular season title and, by doing so, qualified for the state tournament. The Lady Bulldogs entered the Enchantment Region Tournament as the number one seed and was guaranteed to advance to state.

The Winslow boys’ basketball team was tied for first place with Monument Valley at press time and was guaranteed either a first or second place seed in the regional tournament. That finish also clinched a berth in the state tournament.

The Winslow Bulldogs boys’ basketball team honored KINO Radio’s excellent sportscaster Loy Engelhardt at its Feb. 1 game with Monument Valley. An attractive jacket was presented to the long-time supporter of Winslow High School athletics. It was an honor well deserved.

Very, very few communities the size of Winslow enjoy the services of a radio personality the caliber of Loy Engelhardt. He is an excellent sportscaster regardless of the sport being covered. Listeners can visualize the action almost as well as those in attendance.

My own judgement would be that basketball is probably the sport Engelhardt covers the best. That opinion may be colored by the knowledge that besides being the play-by-play account of the game, he keeps a very accurate scorebook at the same time. Those who have kept score at high-octane basketball games know that isn’t an easy task even when you are not concerned with describing the action for a radio audience.

Most do not know that Engelhardt often has “technical difficulties” to overcome just to get on the air. Not all of the facilities in which the WHS teams play are equipped for a live broadcast. Arranging for connections and troubleshooting problems is often a necessity.

Winslow should be thankful for its good fortune in having a man of Loy’s talent and character in that position. It was good to see that he is appreciated.

The 2002 Super Bowl really lived up to the “Super” part of its title. In fact, this has to have been one of the best Super Bowls ever played. The New England Patriots threw caution to the wind and drove from deep in their own territory to set up the last play of the game field goal that gave them their 20-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams. Less than two minutes before the Rams had capped their own long drive with a game-tying touchdown.

The last second field goal was a fitting ending to that great game. It would somehow have distracted from the excellence of the game had it gone into overtime and possibly been decided mostly by a coin toss. The NFL overtime does not provide for both teams to have an offensive possession, which maximizes the value of winning the coin toss. The way it ended was much better than chancing such an occurrence.

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