Sandpoint is the city of Champions

Friday night's Bulldog football victory was the best high school football game I have ever seen.

Sandpoint and Post Falls were pretty evenly matched. There was the ongoing chess match between the two coaches. There was the huge crowd that circled the field. There was the lousy officiating.

The game was winner take all. Win and stay home next week for the first round of the state playoffs. Lose and travel to Boise Friday to face perennial powerhouse Bishop Kelly.

The opening play from scrimmage even added to the fever pitch. Blake Mehler caught an Eric DeMers' pass in stride and outran the Post Falls defense 56 yards for a score. Bedlam erupted and the very loud hometown crowd went wild.

There is nothing better than a high school football game at Barlow Stadium. If there is a more breath-taking venue, I haven't seen it.

The Bulldogs foray into the state tournament isn't anything new. The football team won the title in 1998 and has qualified most years. Last year's second-place finish was awesome but was almost a letdown for a team with high aspirations.

Congratulations to first-year Bulldog coach Sean Dorris and his staff.

We hope the entire region attends Friday's playoff game in Sandpoint against Caldwell. Come early. We'll see you there.

Go Bulldogs!

Saturday's twin state championships in boys and girls soccer was equally awesome. Is there a better soccer town in Idaho than Sandpoint? Not if you examine the records. When Sandpoint doesn't win a soccer championship, it's news. When the Bulldogs do win it all, they deserve a pat on the back.

Many of us have watched these soccer kids grow up. Kyle Van Dyk, Gunner Paulsen, Alex Crossingham, Anthony Sorentino and most of the boys' championship team grew up kicking the soccer ball Saturdays in SSA and later Strikers. Coach Randy Thoreson got the most out of a talented squad.

On the girls side, they wanted to avenge last year's state championship loss. Coach Adam Tajan made sure they worked hard enough and smart enough to do it. Allison Gillis, Elle Carne, Margo Lane, Angie Menghini and Tori Allmaras and others have played together so many years, the players joke about it being boring.

Congrats to all the soccer players, coaches and parents on a job well done.

If our state representatives wanted to do something fun in Boise this session, they would introduce a bill naming Sandpoint the soccer capital of Idaho.

Friday has been officially proclaimed "Sandpoint, city of Champions" Day. Mayor Ray Miller will present the proclamation to Cheryl Klein, SHS athletic director, at halftime of the state playoff game.

The state champion soccer teams and the state champion academic award to the SHS volleyball team will be recognized at that time.

In addition, Mayor Miller will be collecting funds for the last time this year for the Memorial Field improvement fund.

Miller and the Bee have teamed up this week to raise money for the fund. The Bee is selling a support banner and advertising that will be in the Friday paper with hundreds of extra copies to be distributed free at the game.

There should be a sea of red Bulldog pride at Friday's game and in and around Sandpoint.

The Bee is donating 10 percent of all funds raised to the improvement fund.

If you are interested in supporting the Bulldogs and the Memorial Field improvement fund, contact the Bee at 263-9534.

Clark Fork also begins its run at a football title on Friday. We are also putting together a support page and pennant to back the Cats as they face Mullan Tigers at 7 p.m. The Cats have been impressive this year and Frank Hammersly and his team should go deep into the playoffs.

The Bee is also donating 10 percent of any support ad for the Cats to the Clark Fork High School athletic fund.

Co Cats, take state!

Mayor Miller's daughter, Ann, grew up around wrestling and coaching. When Miller was the wrestling coach at SHS, Ann was always in the gym. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Ann likes wrestling.

It might surprise some, though, that this Sandpoint High School grad is the head wrestling coach at Highland High School in Bakersfield, Calif.

The second-year math teacher was tapped late last year to lead the squad. Neither coach Millers know of any other female head wrestling coaches in the country.

"At first I was in shock," said the elder coach Miller. "But it is pretty neat."

Ann helped with the wrestling program for five years at Concordia College in North Dakota. She set up tournaments and ever ran practice a few times but she never dreamed of being a head coach.

The Daily Bee's Super Auction is now on. Check today's paper for opportunities to bid on many items from the Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint area.

The auction is like eBay, only more local and better. If your aren't computer savvy, you can also call the auction hotline to bid.

The 376 auction items range from art work to dinners to a day in the life as publisher of this paper. The auction concludes Saturday. So far the bidding has been light and there are many bargains to be had.

I'm excited about several of the items and I plan to start bidding on a few Christmas gifts on Wednesday. Visit Bonnercountydailybee.com to get in on the action.

Don't forget to vote today. If you have any questions about where to vote, call 265-1432. Don't wonder about how to register or where to vote. This year every vote is going to count. People died for our right to vote, we owe it to our forefathers to exercise that right.

One of the more hard hitting political slogans I have seen on T-shirts and bumperstickers this year is: Vote Or Die. That's pretty strong, although it is possible in Bonner County. Vote Orr, Dye. Couldn't resist.

The Daily Bee online poll has picked a winner. With 620 people casting online ballots, 55.8 picked Sen. John F. Kerry while 44.2 picked President George W. Bush. We couldn't count the votes coming in from Florida … it's a long story.

Next week we will get off the political track and talk up much of the national press this area continues to receive. The latest being the November issue of Mountain Bike Action, which features a huge spread on Schweitzer. It's cool.

David Keyes is publisher of the Bee. His column runs Tuesdays.