A bounty of mullets, the notion that every truck includes a gun rack, and it\u2019s a city that \u201cdoesn\u2019t sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the information I was given about Kent before I moved to the area a little more than 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
Of course, the mullets-and-gun-rack theory came from the local comedy show Almost Live! As for the part about a city that doesn\u2019t sleep, well, that came from a local police officer, whom I now believe mixed up Kent with Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
None of those traits seem to be Kent specific these days, though I do see mullets from time to time.<\/p>\n
Sure, Kent once was tabbed the \u201cLettuce Capital of the World\u201d due to its fertile farmland, but that idea has since literally been paved over.<\/p>\n
So what is Kent about? What\u2019s it\u2019s trademark?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a big-time sports area,\u201d said Steve Turcotte. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to think Thunderbirds and all the high school sports, heck, Kentwood won the state baseball and state basketball titles all in the same year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turcotte just might be on to something. And of all people, he should be. Turcotte, who has spearheaded this weekend\u2019s ShoWare Shootout 3-on-3 basketball festival, has essentially become the Don King of Kent, minus the sleaze and crazy hair.<\/p>\n
Think about it.<\/p>\n
In the last decade, essentially since I first came to town, Kent high schools have produced state championship teams in football, basketball (boys and girls), baseball and tennis among others. The high schools have become a hot bed for some of the state\u2019s top wrestlers, track athletes, and gymnasts. Pretty much in any sport you can think of, Kent has at least one \u2014 and generally multiple \u2014 state champions across the board.<\/p>\n
Heck, since 2005, when Kent was named by Sports Illustrated as Sportstown Washington, the Seattle Thunderbirds, Seattle Majestics, Seattle Mist and the Kent Predators all have come to town.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m still not quite sure why the Mist and Majestics call \u201cSeattle\u201d home, but that\u2019s a column for another day.<\/p>\n
New to the scene this weekend (Aug. 7-8) will be the ShoWare Shootout, which has become Turcotte\u2019s baby. In recent years, Turcotte has brought professional golf tournaments to Kent, and the Les Schwab Shootout.<\/p>\n
But make no mistake, this weekend\u2019s event is the Big One.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this thing is a monster now,\u201d said Turcotte, who noted that he actually had to turn some teams away when the 16-division basketball festival reached 160 teams, which is an increase of 100 squads during the final week of registration. \u201cThis thing is going to be unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Spokane Hoopfest, which is the blueprint for which Turcotte followed when designing the ShoWare Shootout, is any indication, this should be a huge event. The Spokane Hoopfest, which takes place at the end of June, draws more than 5,000 teams and 25,000 players from around the nation each year.<\/p>\n
For now, consider the ShoWare Shootout the little brother of the Spokane Hoopfest as the event is in its first year.<\/p>\n
But, if all goes well this weekend, this could grow into something truly special.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just going to be a good community event that shows off that Kent\u2019s a big sports town,\u201d Turcotte said.<\/p>\n
With all due respect, I can only hope a sports town minus the mullets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
SHOWARE SHOOTOUT<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 WHAT:<\/b> The ShoWare Shootout presented by Allied Waste.<\/p>\n
\u2022 WHERE:<\/b> ShoWare Center parking lot.<\/p>\n
\u2022 WHEN:<\/b> August 7-8. Competition begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and runs through 4 p.m. The festivities begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday and the championship games are tentatively schedule for 11 a.m.-2 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 WHO:<\/b> 160 teams of all ability levels and genders across 16 divisions.<\/p>\n
\u2022 OF NOTE:<\/b> There will be a special area at the event specifically set up for young children. There is no admission and a concession stand will be available.<\/p>\n
\u2022 NBA APPEARANCE:<\/b> Guard Aaron Brooks of the Houston Rockets will be putting on a 30-minute clinic on Saturday at noon. Brooks, a Franklin High and University of Oregon product, averaged 19.6 points per game last season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A bounty of mullets, the notion that every truck includes a gun rack, and it\u2019s a city that \u201cdoesn\u2019t sleep.\u201d
\nThat\u2019s the information I was given about Kent before I moved to the area a little more than 10 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-20206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20206"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}