‘Hail, Valley, Hail’

I’ve always been impressed with the support of Valley student-athletes and athletics shown by our local high school administrators.

Friday night, draped in Warrior red while wearing moose antlers, a group of Wasilla High administrators boldly showed their support of Valley sports, belting out the lyrics to the Palmer High School fight song.

Here’s some background information.

I host a Valley sports radio show — “Valley Sports Huddle” — on KMBQ 99.7, which airs weekly, Sunday night at 7 p.m. During the prep football season, on the Sunday prior to the 2012 Potato Bowl, Wasilla High principal Amy Spargo and Palmer High principal Reese Everett were in studio to help us preview the big game. We’ve had school principals on before, but this time I wanted to do something different. With the help of my co-host, Jason McCourt, we put together a little wager for the principals and surprised them live on the air.

We could have suggested something simple, like coffee and doughnuts for the winner, but we pushed all our chips in, not knowing if they’d ever agree to it.

Our proposal: the principal of the school defeated in the Potato Bowl would have to sing the school fight song of the winning team during halftime of a varsity basketball team between the rivals on the winning team’s home court.

Live on the air, Spargo and Everett shook hands, and the bet was set.

Palmer earned the Potato Bowl win, leaving Everett in the clear — and Spargo in the spotlight.

Because McCourt and I are nice guys, we included the schools’ activities directors in the bet, Palmer’s Jeff Thiede and Wasilla’s Paul Cossette. We didn’t think they’d mind … too much.

Friday, Spargo brought her a trio with her, Cossette, assistant principal Jeff Nelles and assistant principal Ed Ripley. And the Warrior foursome pulled off a great rendition of Palmer High’s “Hail, Palmer, Hail.”

Now, let’s be honest.

There are many administrators who would have bailed, but not in the Valley.

It was all in good fun, and you could tell everyone in the Palmer High gym Friday night was having fun.

Spargo and Everett are relatively new in their positions, Spargo in her second year as Wasilla principal, Everett in his first at PHS. Both succeed a predecessor whose support of high school sports was unquestioned. Former Wasilla High principal Dwight Probasco was a staunch supporter of extracurricular activities. Before his retirement in 2011, Probasco told me he stressed the importance of the administrators presence at extracurricular events.

“We don’t go because we have to,” he said. “We go because we want to.”

Former Palmer High principal Wolfgang Winter was also a consistent presence at Palmer High events. He still is, even after taking a new position within the district.

He was there Friday night.

Now, Spargo and Everett are following that same path.

You can’t deny their support of their school, their activities, their students.

I know if Wasilla had won, Everett would have been out there with his fellow administrators belting out the Wasilla High fight song at WHS.

After Spargo and her backup band finished singing “Hail, Palmer, Hail,” they turned to the other side of the gym and sang the Wasilla High fight song.

It was a great moment celebrated by all.

Friday night was more than Palmer pride or Wasilla pride.

It was about Valley pride.

Contact Mat-Su Valley sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.