Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Chuck coached tough, because he always wanted his guys to play tough. He never wanted us to be "out-toughed." Two incidents come to mind that illustrate this.
The first was during my sophomore year when many of us sophomores got to suit for the Central Kitsap game. We all knew our place for the "halftime talk" in Room 8...up front...close to Chuck. I guess some of us wondered why we would get the good seats while the guys doing most of the playing were in the back of the room.
When Chuck's heavy teacher's desk went flying across the room, we understood our role. We were the buffer between those who played and a very intense coach. Man, our eyes must have been as big as 50 cent pieces while our brains were sending the message, "Are you sure you want to be part of this for two more years." We learned it was Chuck's way of showing us what he wanted us to do to the Cougars. In a sophomore's eyes, he was scary tough!
Another memory was the first game of my senior year where we took the long ride to play Hudson's Bay of Vancouver, WA at cavernous Kiggins Bowl.
The visitors locker room was a long narrow cement "tunnel," a bench on each side, a hook for our clothes and with barred, open windows that looked right out at the track. It stunk.
Neither team scored in the first half. I guess Chuck was upset, because we were not playing to his expectations. We seniors and the coaching staff knew what was coming at the half, except for one, new, young assistant coach. For the sake of anonymity, we'll call him Thor. Coach Thor made the mistake of wandering up the aisle to speak to a player, just as a red-faced Chuck entered the locker room.
Semancik kicked a helmet almost of the length of the narrow dressing area, hitting the other starting guard in his badly sprained left ankle. One could see the pain etched on the player's face, but he dared not let out a peep. The only noise was that of one astonished young coach scampering back into the lavatory to evade Chuck's wrath.
Oh, we came back and won the game 14-0...thanks to Chuck's "wake-up call," East Right and Ed Quinn's two TD's behind some good blocking.
Chuck limped the rest of the season and never told anyone about want was probably a broken bone in his foot. The receiver of the helmet-kick never missed a game that season.
Don Rasor...West High Class of 1972
