CULTURE

Your Trusted Boat Propeller Shop Since 1962

At Precision Propeller, we specialize in repairing and selling boat props so you can make sure your boat is performing at its peak ability.

5626 N Freya St, Spokane, WA

509-489-7765 • precisionpropco.com

At Comtemporary Marine Flooring, Nice Matters!

Certified fabricators of SeaDeck non-skid marine flooring. Custom made for your boat and available in many colors, styles and textures.

21623 E Euclid Ave, Otis Orchards, WA

509-995-6293 • contemporarymarine.com

Ranger Starcraft Starweld Honda Yamaha Mercury Suzuki

Our goal is to help you find the perfect watercraft to fit your lifestyle

Ranger FS Pro 620c

Starcraft Pontoons

Spokane Valley Marine is prepared to exceed your expectations. Our knowledgeable and friendly staff will find the perfect new or used watercraft to fit your lifestyle, including the right parts and accessories. Our unparalleled selection of boats includes aluminum, deck, fishing, jon, pontoon, ski/wake and outboard. We’re prepared to make sure your experience is outstanding as we assist you every step of the way, from choosing your boat, to financing, customization and ongoing maintenance.

Sea Ray Bayliner Heyday Boston Whaler Crestliner Cypress Cay Pontoons

Third generation, family-owned boat dealership since 1948

2020 Heyday WT-Surf

2020 Crestliner Sportfish

Trudeau’s Marina, family-owned and operated for 73 years, proudly offers new and used boats and pontoons from the biggest brands. We have leisure boats from 13’ - 35’ like Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner family boats, Heyday surf boats, Crestliner aluminum boats and Cypress Cay pontoon boats, all powered by Mercruiser and Mercury outboards, plus trailers from Shoreland’r, Karavan and EZ-Loader. We specialize in the latest innovations in boating technology. Trudeau’s is your one-stop dealership for sales, service, and fun!

304 E Sprague Ave, Spokane, WA

509.624.2102 • trudeausmarina.com

Scarab Glastron Monterey Trifecta Pontoons

Support your local boat and recreational vehicle store and save money!

Scarab 215 ID

FIND THE BOAT FOR YOU!

LOCAL BOAT DEALERSHIPS AND MORE!

Nordic Boats Hallett Mercury Racing

SPOKANE VALLEY

The new one stop shop in the Inland Northwest for all your boating needs

Hallett 275

Trifecta Pontoons

We are proud to carry a large selection of new and pre-owned inventory. When you are ready to invest in a new boat, our friendly and knowledgeable sales, financing, service, and parts departments are prepared to make sure your experience is outstanding, from assisting while you’re making your choice to ongoing maintenance and customization. At NW Boats & RV, we value the opportunity to create a long-term relationship with our customers, and we do that by giving you the best customer service available.

Nordic 26 DB

Legend Performance Marine is a Mercury/Mercury Racing, Hallett and Nordic boat dealer with a full-service center. Our expertise is built from over 50 years of combined experience in the industry, which affords us a wealth of technical knowledge to serve you and to make your boating experience the best it can be. Because we are boating enthusiasts, we understand that your time on the water is important, so we offer on the water service calls.

Jan. 27 - Feb. 6, 2021

Tige Boats ATX Boats Veranda Luxury Pontoons

The best surf in town!

2020 Tige R21

Veranda Pontoons

Midway Marine is your new Tige Boat dealer serving north Idaho and eastern Washington. As your Tige dealer, our goal is to provide a complete boating experience at competitive prices. World class performance tow boats by Tige and ATX at ultra competitive pricing And huge Spokane Boat Show discounts! The industry’s only “All Aluminum” Luxury Pontoon by Veranda starting at only $39,990 with trailer and 115hp Yamaha motor included. We have the boat to fit your needs and the service you deserve!”

Bennington Pontoons Duckworth Chaparral Cutwater Ranger Tugs Nautique Moomba Supra Robalo

2020 Supra SL

Duckworth Advantage XT

For over 70 years Tobler Marina has been a staple in the Inland Northwest. With products ranging from entry level to high end luxury models, we can accommodate your unique needs and budget. A Top 100 Dealer for the past 13 years, and a 5 Star Certified Dealer for the past 10 years. We want to make your boating season more convenient and enjoyable. Come find the boat to fit your needs at Tobler.

13400 N Clovis Rd, Hayden, ID

208.772.3255 • toblermarina.com

SunCatcher Pontoons Yamaha Sea Doo

Serving North Idaho and Eastern Washington for over 25 years

2021 Sea Doo RXP-X

SunCatcher Elite 324

At Specialty Recreation & Marine we’ll help you find the perfect fit for whatever experience on the water you desire. We offer the best in pre-owned and new boats from Yamaha and SunCatcher Pontoon boats, plus personal watercraft and accessories from Sea-Doo and Yamaha. We’re excited to help you discover the fun and adventure that a quality boat or PWC can bring into your life! We look forward to helping you and your family. Largest Marine Parts & Accessory selection in the Inland Empire

Lund WeldCraft HewesCraft ThunderJet Godfrey Avalon Powered by Yamaha and Mercury Outboards

Lund 1875 Crossover XS

2021 Avalon Catarina

For over 50 Years Mark’s Marine has brought the highest quality marine products in sales, accessories, and service to the NW. As your Aluminum Boat Headquarters we look forward to showing you the Mark’s Marine Difference! We carry the finest Fishing and Pontoon Boats from Lund, WeldCraft, HewesCraft, ThunderJet, Godfrey, and Avalon, powered by Yamaha and Mercury outboards. Boats, Accessories, Electronics or Service, Mark’s Marine has you covered.

14355 N Government Way, Hayden, ID 208.772.9038 • marksmarineinc.com

Your Coeur d’Alene Pontoon Superstore

Crownline Boats Berkshire Pontoons (Forest River)

South Bay Pontoons (Forest River)

Fish Rite Heavy Duty Aluminum Fishing Boats Larson Boats

2021 Crownline 240 SS

South Bay 222CR LE

We want to provide boat owners and their families with the best boating experience by maintaining a passion for quality products and service. Coeur d’Alene Marine Sports is a family-owned business offering new and used boats since 2017. In addition to helping you find the right boat for your family, we can assist with your boat maintenance and repair, boat rentals and boating supplies. We also offer water sport rentals including stand-up paddle boards and kayaks.

“DYNAMIC DUO,” CONTINUED...

Suggs is the highest-rated recruit in Gonzaga history, having been ranked by ESPN as the sixth best prospect in the class of 2020. As a high school senior, he won Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball award as the state’s best boys basketball player. The Zags’ competition on the recruiting trail included teams like Baylor and Iowa, both of which have spent this season in the top five of the AP Poll, and Ohio State. Not the Ohio State basketball team, though. The Buckeyes, who just last week played in college football’s national championship game, offered Suggs a scholarship to play on the gridiron. He wasn’t just Mr. Basketball in Minnesota — he won Mr. Football as well.

That background led to a team-building exercise that pitted Suggs against another former high school quarterback now playing basketball at Gonzaga.

“It was a Friday night in the summer, and we were all sitting around bored. Joel [Ayayi] suggested we go play football,” Kispert says. “We played some seven on seven until it was too dark to see. It got really intense. It was super, super fun, and it was a good ice breaker for the new guys on the team.”

In postgame interviews and on Twitter, the two have enjoyed hinting at their battle without necessarily giving away too much about the result.

“Me and Corey were obviously the two quarterbacks,” Suggs says. “He showed me a lot of good things. I think that QB1 battle was definitely a close one. Corey’s a great guy, a great teammate. I love being around him; I love learning from him.”

On court and off, there’s no better teacher on this Gonzaga roster than Kispert. Aside from Aaron Cook, who transferred from Southern Illinois, Kispert is the team’s lone senior. That alone puts him in a leadership role, but it’s his background that makes him the perfect guy to lead by example.

When he arrived at Gonzaga in fall 2017, the Zags were coming off a trip to the national championship game. The program was operating at as high a level as it ever had. But Kispert wasn’t a newfangled, fancy recruit. He fit the traditional Gonzaga mold. An in-state kid from the west side good enough to start from day one but who spent most of his freshman year coming off the bench as a role player. Every season that followed saw Kispert’s game take a step forward. These two former high school quarterbacks could be key to Gonzaga winning its first national championship. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

“Every summer since I’ve been here I’ve picked one those that came before it. thing, two things, that I really hone in on and work hard “That’s the great thing about this program — enough at,” Kispert says. “Last summer it was defense and ball is never good enough,” Kispert says. “A Final Four isn’t handling. This year I wanted to shoot close to 50 percent good enough. All the years we’ve made the tournament from three and be more versatile in my scoring.” isn’t enough. We’re always pushing for more, and we’re

While working on his offensive game, Kispert was not satisfied with where we’re at. I think that’s what also considering his future. He was projected to be a made the continued success and the Cinderella story that late second round pick in last year’s NBA draft, but he is Gonzaga so great.” ultimately chose to return for his senior season. It was an opportunity to bet on himself and improve his draft stock. “I knew I was either going to play in the NBA or The Zags have had a senior leader for what feels like forever now. They’ve had talented rosters for 20-plus years. They’ve had a handful of players come back for my senior season, so I knew I had to make who were talented enough to leave early for the NBA, a jump no matter what I decided to do,” Kispert says. too. This year though, they have all of that at the same “That was the rhetoric after I decided to come back here. time. And the pieces comprising Gonzaga’s puzzle are Every game I get a chance to prove that the bet came out better than normal. in my favor. I’m really relishing every single game that I Suggs would be playing in the NBA this season if the get to play.” league’s rules allowed for players to do so straight out of high school. He made that very clear just “A Final Four isn’t good enough. We’re 30 seconds into his first collegiate game by slamming down an alley-oop dunk against then No. 6-ranked Kansas and has shown it always pushing for more, and we’re not all season long with an ever-growing list of jaw-dropping passes. He’s a pro in a college satisfied with where we’re at.” uniform. Even after he committed to Gonzaga last January, in a ceremony aired live on ESPN2,

This season Kispert is the team’s leading scorer (20.9 there was a real possibility he could be lured overseas points per game) and has achieved his goal of shooting by a lucrative one-year professional contract. Instead of close to 50 percent from three. He’s surpassed 1,000 taking the money, he stayed true to his word and came points scored for his career and climbed into the top 10 in to Gonzaga. Every year a handful of elite recruits choose Gonzaga history in three-pointers made and games won. to play overseas or in the NBA’s developmental league, On the most talented roster Gonzaga’s ever assembled, which allows players who are coming straight out of high Kispert is arguably the best player and without question school. A ton more choose to leave college early to play the team’s leader. for a paycheck. Gonzaga’s got two who did the opposite.

That’s business as usual, though. The Zags almost Much like Kispert’s bet on himself this past offseason, always have at least one senior starter who has spent Suggs’ decision to come to Gonzaga has paid off. his entire career at Gonzaga. Last year it was Killian Despite taking incredibly different paths to get here, Tillie, and before him guys like Przemek Karnowski, these two players have become among the biggest names Kevin Pangos, Robert Sacre and Jeremy Pargo held that in all of college basketball. There’s a very good chance position. This year, it’s Kispert. The last time the team they’ll both have their names listed among the first 10 didn’t have a guy who fit that criteria was 2006, when a picks in the next NBA draft. mustachioed junior named Adam Morrison took college Until then, though, this one-and-done freshman and basketball by storm. fourth-year senior will continue to help push Gonzaga to

Somehow though, this season feels different than all new heights. n

JANUARY 21, 2021 INLANDER 23

Thug Life

My first time… reading Bill Buford’s soccer hooliganism classic Among the Thugs

BY DAN NAILEN

The best sports books are about far more than whatever game is the focus and can appeal to readers with absolutely no interest in athletics as much as they appeal to hardcore fans and historians.

The Boys of Summer is ostensibly about the Brooklyn Dodgers of the mid-1950s, but it’s really about community, fame and aging. Friday Night Lights is purportedly about high school football, but it’s really about class and small-town America. Levels of the Game is professedly about one Arthur Ashe tennis match, but it’s really about race, politics and the divisions in the country in the late 1960s.

Bill Buford’s Among the Thugs is, at face value, about one American becoming a fan of English Premiere League soccer (“football” across the pond, of course) in the 1980s. But it’s really about racism, class warfare and group psychosis in the name of rooting for your favorite club, and the 313 pages of the paperback version I recently read alternate between mesmerizing and horrifying.

All of it is incredibly enlightening in terms of the dangers of a riled-up, dangerous crowd — a point that became

24 INLANDER JANUARY 21, 2021

more emphatically clear with the events at the U.S. Capitol a full 30 years after the riot Buford experienced at the 1990 World Cup. That event was the culmination of a decade in which violence regularly marred the English Premiere League as well as international matches played by England’s national team. Clashes between different teams’ fans, and between British fans and their international rivals, led to a lot of death, destruction, even an effort to ban England from international play for a spell.

Buford was in the midst of that mayhem throughout, researching organizations and fans, attending games, even joining some of the most fanatic instigators as they planned their tactics for avoiding police, inflicting damage on their foes’ supporters and still making it inside the stadium for kickoff. The only thing more shocking than scenes of children being kicked by drunk hooligans or the regular stabbings as part of the fans’ hand-to-hand combat might be Buford’s willingness to put himself in the middle of situations any sane person would avoid. Case in point: spending an evening at a party and initiation ritual of violent British white supremacy group the National Front.

What makes Buford’s work more than a read about violence is the humor he infuses throughout, often in describing his own naivete about the events he was getting involved in, or in describing characters like Mick, a Manchester United fan with no noticeable employment, but a voracious appetite: “In addition to a newspaper full of fish ’n’ chips, his two cheeseburgers, his two meat pies, his four bags of bacon-flavored crisps, and the Indian takeout order he was about to purchase on his way to the station.” He washed all that down with the better part of a bottle of vodka and 18 pints of beer. Plus a few cans in his pockets for later.

Meeting the occasional charming lout, though, does nothing to blunt the horrors to come as Buford explores the sociology and psychology of the violent crews who marauded through the streets of various European cities while Buford was working on Among the Thugs. This is where the comparisons come in to modern American groups like the Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys and various other MAGA supporters on hand in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and at other violent clashes and Trump rallies the past few years.

The football fanatics Buford writes about are just a small percentage of the teams’ fans, but they have an oversized influence on the culture of the game, and in the media’s coverage of the sport. And they share some characteristics no matter which club Buford is hanging out with; they’re invariably white, often overtly racist, generally considered “working class.”

As individuals, they can come off as attractive rascals, scamming the airlines for free flights to away matches, drinking too much and coming up with creative ways to ditch work on game days. When those individuals come together, though, things almost invariably take an ugly turn. There are racist chants at Black players and physical attacks on police and innocent bystanders. They have a sense of belonging and community thanks to the group, sure, but the group in turn encourages a mob mentality that results in horrific violence against anyone the group considers the “other side.”

Buford’s analysis of the dynamics of a crowd is what makes Among the Thugs transcend simply being another sports book. How those crowds form and gain power, and make individuals act in ways unimaginable when you meet them over a beer or fish ’n’ chips, makes for an excellent read. And a timely one, too. n

THE TALENTED MR. LING

In their podcast Finding Drago, Australian comedians Alexei Toliopoulos and Cameron James played internet detectives searching for the enigmatic author behind some bizarre Rocky IV fan-fiction. It was a funny, surprising dive into internet ephemera, and they’re back with another baffling audio mystery called Finding Desperado. This time, they’re on the hunt for one Sidney Ling, who was listed in an old edition of the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s youngest movie director, but scant evidence of Ling’s career and his supposed trailblazing film (1973’s Lex, the Wonder Dog) exists. Their hunt includes diversions into the arts community of Ibiza, a woman who believes she is Marilyn Monroe’s secret daughter, and a man who claims to be a centuries-old mystic. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

There’s noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online Jan. 22. To wit:

MOON TAXI, Silver Dream. The Nashville indiepoppers deliver some breezy new tunes.

STEVE HACKETT, Under a Mediterranean Sky. He’s a prog-rock god, so I can only assume this album is one long boring song.

VARIOUS ARTISTS, Cuba: Music & Revolution - Culture Clash in Havana Cuba - Experiments in Latin Music 1975-85 Vol. 1. With a title that long, there’s no space to describe how excellent it should be. (DAN NAILEN)

Turn the Page

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

The chaos and weirdness of the last 10 months have required us to adapt, to get used to being more alone, to adjust our previously steadfast habits. And last month, I did something I never thought I’d do: I bought a Kindle. I’m now living in the high-tech, Jetsons-like world of 2011.

This is unbelievably minor in the grand scheme of things, I know, but I’ve long been a book purist. The very idea of e-readers was anathema to me. When I read a novel, I want to be able to hold a physical copy of it, to feel the pages between my fingers, to visualize how much progress I’ve made and how much I’ve left to go.

THE BUZZ BIN

There’s also a sense of accomplishment in turning the last page and finally closing that back cover. Reading a book on a screen, meanwhile, doesn’t feel all that different from scrolling to the end of a long internet article. There’s a reason people don’t log those on Goodreads.

If I can, I prefer to own the books I read. When Seinfeld derided people for keeping books in their house like trophies, I wanted to respond, “Yeah, exactly!”

I’ve been reading more than usual because of the lockdown, ordering new titles from Auntie’s and Portland mainstay Powell’s. But it was after my fourth or fifth shipment that I came to the conclusion that my bookworm/packrat proclivities are becoming untenable. I cling to just about every form of physical media — books, yes, but also records, BluRays and even VHS tapes — but there’s one major downside to owning a lot of this stuff: Eventually, you run out of space.

A recent assessment of our household bookshelf inventory revealed that, even after casting off armfuls to a free library, they were fit to bust. So I gave in, and threw some money at a Kindle Paperwhite, which is about the size of an old dime-store paperback.

And I have to admit — it’s pretty awesome. I can read in bed without a lamp or book light. I can read magazines and newspapers on it. I can download e-books from the public library — which has been an absolute godsend during the pandemic — and they pop up instantly on my device. They’re just as easy to return when I’m done.

I realize this makes me sound like the hundredth caveman to think he discovered fire, but the stigma against e-books was merely self applied. It’s a big step for a Luddite like me. Come 2026, maybe I’ll finally buy that PS5. n

SURVIVE AT ALL COSTS

By the fifth season of The 100, I started to worry things were getting a little too crazy. Teenagers cast to Earth from a space station to see how survivable it is a century after nuclear destruction? Sure. Surviving fights with murderous survivors? Totally. (SPOILERS AHEAD) But fighting a biotoxin that makes people want to kill each other and only gets released when binary stars eclipse each other on the Earth-like moon of a Saturn-like planet? Inside a compound maintained by a cult? You’re starting to lose me. Still, I love when a series wraps up in any meaningful way, and those who stick through the seventh season on Netflix will not walk away wondering what could have come next. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

READ THIS NOW

A new piece by Spokane author Sharma Shields (The Cassandra) is always reason to rejoice, and Humanities Washington is hosting the celebration. It took me a minute to catch up with Good Steak on the state arts organization’s blog, and the tale is one you should read right now, featuring Little Boy Blue, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater and, in a starring role, the Man in the Moon. Find it at humanities.org/blog/ good-steak. (DAN NAILEN)

SECRETS & LIES

True crime miniseries are a dime a dozen, and while HBO’s Murder on Middle Beach has a lot of the genre hallmarks, it’s unusual in that it’s as much a mystery as a memoir. Director Madison Hamburg details his relationship with his mother, Barbara, and the circumstances surrounding her 2010 murder, a heartbreaking odyssey that involves a multilevel marketing scam, his estranged father’s shady business dealings and his relatives’ outlandish theories about the crime. There’s no clear-cut solution by the end of the four-episode arc, but it’s still an engrossing study of grief and family secrets. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

The Pints burger YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

OPENING BURGER BASE

Pint House Burgers & Brews brings casual pub menu and vibe to Spokane’s Indian Trail neighborhood

BY CHEY SCOTT

Anew pub in Spokane’s south Indian Trail neighborhood was just getting a feel for the ebb and flow of service when its staff had to quickly pivot to takeout-only.

Washington state’s second lockdown came just three weeks after Pint House Burgers & Brews’ grand opening in late October, says owner Josh Blair.

While the restaurant, with a focus on burgers and broad selection of regional beer, could only debut at half capacity back then, Blair says it easily hit or came close to that 50 percent mark each night those first few weeks. Support from customers in the northwest Spokane neighborhood hasn’t wavered even as the restaurant had to close its large dining room, which normally seats about 150 people. ...continued on page 28