Flame still burns for Washington stat man
October 9, 2010
by
Don Ketchum,
AZPreps365
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One of the greatest things about being involved with high school sports is the number of people you get to meet – players, coaches, officials and support staff.
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Some move on to other jobs and fade away. Others are there year after year and you become friendly with them. Some are focused on a particular sport and when you see them. For example, you say, “Oh, there’s so-and-so. It must be football season.’’ "="">
That was the case for me on Friday night (Oct. 8) when Glendale Cactus played at Phoenix Washington.
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There on the Washington sideline was a familiar face, one I had not seen in about 25 years. I wasn’t quite sure if it was the same guy at first because it had been so long. We’d both gotten older and wiser. Wider, too, in my case.
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Sure enough, I knew when I heard the voice. It belonged to Jerry Kopke, keeper of Washington’s long-time statistics flame. He is 70-plus, has served as a substitute teacher after retiring from full-time duty 10 years ago, and still prowls the sideline with an eagle eye. Fifty-something years in all.
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He can probably tell you just about every stat for every player, from quarterback Mike Pagel of the mid-1970s to today’s signal-caller, Devonte Smythe. He remembered the time when I had asked him to help out with a game in Tucson -- I was the prep editor for the old
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