Bumming around town with Bill Bumerton

Bumerton is a retired Navy fighter pilot who had been missing in action for several years while he traversed the globe looking for greener grass. He discovered the grass is only greener here (it’s blue in Kentucky), so he returned to again take charge of his 1954 green Hudson Hornet that had been in storage, refilled his pipe, and is continuing his smokin’ ways. Here is what he recently told us at the Sports Paper.

Big Dawg, I do believe that things are being done the right way at the University of Washington in football. That new coach, Chris Petersen, is not just a good football coach, but a good guy who is pressing good core values on the program, the most important of which is the, drum roll, please, that the student comes before the athlete. He is allotting time for his players to take care of their academic concerns, giving them time off it they need it, and where have you heard that before from a big-time college football coach? He has also made it clear with his decision to suspend quarterback Cyler Miles and wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow that his job at Washington is not just all about football, but about the lives of those players that are part of the program. The guy is doing it right, and not many times can you say that about college football. Now if he can be as good on Saturdays as he was at BoiseState, the Huskies may rise up once again and become a national power. …

Ty Michaelson, coach of Northwest Washington Wrestling Club, reports that one of his sons – Thor Michaelson – and Diego Clemen earned All-American honors by placing in the top eight in their respective age and weight divisions at the Cliff Keen USA Wrestling Folkstyle National Championships in Cedar Falls, IA. Thor Michaelson, 10, took second in the Intermediate 75-pound Division and Clemen, 9, placed fifth in the Intermediate 87-pound Division. Also competing from the club were Lars Michaelson in the Intermediate 60-pound Division and Stone Hartford in the Bantam 55-pound Division. This tournament was the first of the annual triple crown that also includes the Freestyle and Greco-Roman nationals. The Freestyle and Greco-Roman nationals will be held in June at Orem, UT for ages 14 and under. The Junior and Cadet Freestyle and Greco-Roman nationals for ages 15 and older will be held in July in Fargo, ND.