The Chase

I can't wait until the day when I can add to the headline above. It will read "The Chase Is On."

Let me explain.

Last night Bill and I were watching the KREM-2 news. In the sports segment which, at that moment, was focusing on soccer, Bill asked, "Isn't that one of Jeannie's boys?"

I looked closer, and sure enough it was. I had the wrong boy though. I told Bill it was Jason, even though I thought it looked more like her second son Chase.

Jason lives in Spokane, and the last I heard about Chase he was heading to Norway to play soccer. He'd already been there once, and if I recall correctly, he was accompanying little brother Halvor to the home of his dad Rik's ancestors.

Well, a lot happens in between conversations, I guess.

This morning I picked up the sports section and read the headline "Mikkelsen advances to Sounders tryout." My instinct had been correct; my blurt to Bill last night, mistaken.

The story from today's Spokesman:

Chase Mikkelsen, a former Spokane Spiders player who still lives in Spokane, was one of three finalists during an open tryout Sunday for Seattle Sounders FC.
The Major League Soccer club, which begins play next season, is holding tryouts in Yakima and the Seattle area later this month in addition to the Spokane tryout Sunday at Plantes Ferry Park. Three finalists from each tryout move on to a tryout in Seattle; one player from the tryout will make the Sounders' roster.
Spiders technical directory Al Brown believes Mikkelsen, who played for the team during its inaugural 2007 season, has a good chance of making the MLS squad.
"He's the type of player who has everything you're looking for," Brown said.

For the record: Jeannie Mikkelsen works with Bill at the Idaho Department of Lands; her husband Rik was one of my colleagues at Sandpoint High School. I taught their son Chase for two years of his English studies at Sandpoint High. And, most importantly, in Bill's mind, Jeannie is a member of our Lodgepole Society.

We like having her as part of the society because she renews her membership with an annual plateful of fresh frybread---the best by the way.

The Mikkelsen family has many reasons to be special to us. Probably the most impressive came one day in the mail. It was an invitation for Bill and me to attend Chase's "Giveaway Party," shortly before his high school graduation. Later, Jeannie called to make sure we were coming.

At the time, I had no idea what a "Giveaway Party" was. Now, I know, and I must say it is one of the more meaningful events of my life. Jeannie is Gros Ventre Indian, and the giveaway occurs when a child takes his/her Indian name. There's food, there's a touching ceremony and there are gifts----not for the child but for the people who have made a difference in that child's life.

All of us, besides family and neighbors, who were invited to Chase's party silently wondered, "Why us?" There were four of us who had worked with Chase through his growing up years---Donna Lang, his elementary teacher; Mike Flaim and me, his high school teachers; and John Roche, his high school soccer coach. By the way, I recall the banner in the yard which Chase had earned: Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year.

After an unforgettable feast, Chase stood on the Mikkelsen family deck that evening and explained to each of us why we were there. His mother and grandmother stood next to him with bags of goodies---and Indian star quilt, earrings and sweet grass. To say that each of us recipients treasures the memory and the gifts is an understatement.

So, for each of us this morning to learn that Chase is entering another possible milestone in his life, it's nothing short of exhilarating. And, for Mike Flaim, who can't pick up the Spokesman sports section because he now teaches in The Netherlands, I'm passing the happy word.

Chase is a phenomenal young man, as are all of Jeannie and Rik's boys. We wish him the best. Our fingers are crossed, and I can't wait to put that headline at the top of my blog: The Chase Is On--the Sounders, That Is.

And, one more thing: our daughter Annie, a year-round soccer player herself, has purchased a season ticket for the Sounders, who will play their first season for Seattle next year. Maybe, if Chase makes the team, Annie will find a way for us to watch him in action.

Congratulations, Chase. We're pulling for you.