Bumming around town with Bill Bumerton

Bumerton is a retired Navy fighter pilot who had been missing in action for several years while he traversed the globe looking for greener grass. He discovered the grass is only greener here (it’s blue in Kentucky), so he returned to again take charge of his 1954 green Hudson Hornet that had been in storage, refilled his pipe, and is continuing his smokin’ ways. Here is what he recently told us at the Sports Paper.

 

 

Kingston won the North Mason Basketball Jamboree Saturday, although saying the Buccaneers won is a bit misleading. Jamborees are more like scrimmages. This one, Big Dawg, consisted of two five-minute halves. Kingston won by taking both of its two 10-minute games. The Bucs, coached by first-year head man, Ben Wisniewski, a native of Wisconsin, beat Klahowya 29-16 and then edged host North Mason 18-14. North Mason beat Crosspoint Academy 23-13 in its first game. Klahowya, which is running “The System” perfected by Grinnell College (Iowa) coach David Arseneault, racked up 42 points in its 10 minutes against Crosspoint to finish with a 1-1 record. The final score was 42-29. Projecting the Klahowya Eagles’ 42 points in 10 minutes into a full 32-minute high school game would have given coach Jim Horan’s team 134 points. The idea of the System is to put up as many shots, most of them threes, as possible, and against Crosspoint the Eagles began to hit their threes, which they didn’t against the Bucs. It’s going to be interesting Big Dawg what the final score will be on Friday when the Eagles are at Crosspoint in a regular-season game. Game time is 7:30, and I understand that you, Big Dawg, might be on the scorebook for the Eagles. You might bring along a calculator just in case you can’t count past 100. The North Mason jamboree was officiated by Chris Murphy, the assigning secretary for WIAA-sanctioned games for the Peninsula Basketball Officials Association, and Jim LaMont. LaMont was telling you, Big Dawg, about him, Lloyd Pugh and Harold Conway, officiating a junior high doubleheader at McMurrayMiddle School on Vashon Island. Lamont said the combined ages of the trio added up to 220. “We’re so old, and we looked the part,” joked LaMont, who is the youngest among the three at 68. Pugh and Conway are both 76. … Boy, Big Dawg, you missed the college football play of the century when Auburn stunned No. 1 Alabama 34-28 with a 100-plus yard return of a failed field goal as time ran out. That return will be talked about for generations.  It was really a weird Saturday for college football. Michigan went for a two-point conversion with 32 seconds left in a bid to upset unbeaten Ohio State. The two-point pass attempt was intercepted, allowing Ohio State to escape 42-41. But I applaud Michigan coach Brady Hoke for doing such a daring thing. I would do the same thing. Go for it. If you are successful it’s a stunning upset and if you fail, as this one did, that will also be talked about for generations. And I’m like you, Big Dawg, I like to do the unexpected. I like to take the risk. I like tough guys staying the course. It was a bold thing to do, and I appreciate it, even if it didn’t work. Speaking of things that may not work. I don’t think the Seachickens will beat the Saints tomorrow at CenturyLink. Drew Bees is just too crafty, too good, and  the Seachickens have been stunned by the suspension of Walter Thurmond, for apparently using marijuana, and the injury and possible suspension of Brandon Browner. On top of that, Percy Harvin’s hip injury will probably keep him out. The Seachickens are good, but they have had dumb luck to get to 10 wins. There are a couple games they easily could have lost. It’s about time that luck  ran out. So book it, Big Dawg, the Seachickens are going down. … The bowling team of Bad Gandpa won the Kitsap Scratch Bowlers Association Artisan Tile & Mosaic Quad Swiss Tournament at Hi-Joy Bowl. The team scored 49 points to win. The team consisted of Charlie Lynch, Holly Brooks, Stuart McMaster and somebody named Lonnie Sharkey, who was winning his 104^th KSBO title. Brooks has won three, Lynch two and for McMaster, this was his first title. Warren Cox and Korey Coleman both shot 300s in the tournament. The Kitsap Medical Solutions Tournament will be held Saturday at Hi-Joy Bowl. It is also KSBO’s Toys for Tots tournament. Entrants are being asked to bring non-perishable items, new toys or cash to donate. The KSBO has been involved with the Toys for Tots program since 1985 and have raised in that time $12,993 for kids. A raffle will be held during the tournament to further the effort for Toys for Tots.