High School Football: The Gridiron Grump mourns Kelso's Coach Laulainen
Legends Never Die – Bracing for emotional peaks and valleys across The Blast Zone in Week 4
The Gridiron Grump special to Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
High School Football / Grumblings
Let’s cut straight to the chase here folks. I’m not even grumpy this week. I’m just sad.
And so is all of Kelso, and a great many burgs beyond, after the passing of Hall of Fame coach Ed Laulainen. The legendary Hilander left this ethereal gridiron late last week at the age of 88.
I’m not a local, but I’m a lurker, and it’s clear as the flowing waters of Rose Valley how important that man was to the fabric of the “Truck Stop Town” along I-5. Laulainen coached for more than three decades himself and the branches of his coaching tree would count as an entire forest if transplanted to other, less football-serious, towns.
“We are… Kel-so! We are… Kel-so!…”
You may have heard that before, and if you were on the opposite side of the 50-yard line when it echoed in your helmet — it was likely a harbinger of bad news. And there was no time when that chant was more menacing than in 1983, when the Scots marched all the way to a State title.
But it’s never really stopped.
Just like yours truly, Laulainen never stopped coming around even after retirement. It’s just that Coach was invited. And when he spoke, people actually listened.
Heck, they named the gal’darn stadium after him. And that’s Kelso’s defining landmark by a landslide.
In this neck of the woods there are two bets that you can bank your brother’s rent check on each autumn; The setting sun is sure to bask Laulainen Stadium in an angelic orange glow right around kickoff time. And, a new crop of young Scots are listening and learning the same lessons as their forefathers.
How do I know?
Because I was hanging in the shadows when former head coach Pat Hymes returned to talk to the Hilanders at practice on Thursday right around dinner time. By now Hymes is two head coaches removed from his own remarkable tenure at the helm on Schroeder Field, but each and every Scots gathered round and listened intently to what he had to say. Just like they did for Laulainen right up until the very end.
Because in Kelso they still salute retired generals. And Friday night at Laulainen Stadium the Scots are fixing to send off one of their own with a 21-gun salute against Bremerton.
No offense to the Knights. That’s just what Kelso does. After all, “The Truck Stops Here!”
Coach Laulainen would certainly agree with that sentiment.
He was one of the few old school guys left who’ve been hanging around football fields even longer than I have. And just like some of the old Scots I run into late at night at seedy watering holes, my mind is also stuck reliving my grainy highlights from ‘83.
Come to think of it, somehow I’ve come dangerously close to being the old guy around here, and that makes me grumpy as ever. So let’s change the subject right quick and talk about the upcoming week of prep football action
That’s what Coach Laulainen would have wanted anyway.
Editor’s Note: The Hilanders will honor Coach Ed Laulainen’s memory at halftime of Friday night’s game. The Laulainen family will be back to serve as honorary captains prior to a home game on Oct. 3, and a full memorial service will be held in the Kelso High School gymnasium on Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. Be sure to keep checking www.blastzonemedia.com for additional coverage on the life, times, and legacy of Coach Laulainen.
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