People
Where Are They Now? Best Athlete
D
N OV E M B E R 1 8 - 24 , 20 0 4 F R E E
espite Best Of voters’ choices over the years, there’s no debating who really is the Best Athlete on this list — JOHN STOCKTON. He’s an Olympic champion (twice), he played an Ironman-like 19 NBA seasons (resulting in tons of records and a Hall of Fame membership) and always showed a work ethic every kid should emulate. Our voters
FROM MARTINIQUE TO PARIS TO SPOKANE: RONNY TURIAF’S AMAZING JOURNEY
COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW 16
Ronny Turiaf made the Inlander cover back on Nov. 18, 2004. have loved him, too, from that very first 1994 ballot. This year, he was voted Best Celebrity. What Stockton doesn’t have yet is a local statue in his honor. Now of course he would never want one — he’s low-key that way — but this is civic malpractice, people! And back in 2000, we asked: Best Local Subject for a New Statue in Spokane. Resounding answer: John Stockton. C’mon, Mayor Condon, Salt Lake City has one. Make it happen! Of course Stockton brought his family back home from Utah after he retired; you can see him watching his son David play in the Kennel or coaching his daughters.
Best Public Official
Back in the day, Stockton, Mark Rypien and Ryne Sandberg so dominated this line of questioning that in 1999 we finally asked you to name the Best Local Athlete Not Named Stockton, Rypien or Sandberg. You gave us JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL, the former tennis pro and Mead grad who made the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2000. Gambill is retired from the pro circuit and now lives in Hawaii, does a little coaching and plays some exhibition tennis for charity. It’s great to have fellow Mead grad ADAM MORRISON back on the scene. He had a best-ever three-year run as Best Athlete. Morrison is back in the ’Kan and worked out with current Zags over the summer; he’s been spotted back in the Kennel, too. But you’ve got to say the basketball gods are smiling on 2005 winner RONNY TURIAF. It didn’t look good at first: Drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers that spring, the team discovered he had a major heart problem. One successful openheart surgery later, and Turiaf was off to a busy NBA career. (He’s already played for six teams.) Last year, he won an NBA ring playing alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for Miami. This year he’s setting screens for Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on the high-flying Los Angeles Clippers. One of the most loved Zags ever, Turiaf takes life easy, but he’s for real — he’s played in the Olympics for France, speaks, like, five languages and even founded the Ronny Turiaf Heart to Heart Foundation. They say that good things happen to good people. — TED S. McGREGOR JR.
B
ack when The Inlander first started asking your opinion about elected officials, it was all about TOM FOLEY. It makes sense: As Speaker of the House, he had risen higher than any Washington state politician ever. The readers liked him so much, they even chose him Best the year after he was sent packing. Now 84, Foley still lives in the D.C. area; he was recently featured on a TV ad for Gonzaga University, where he went to college and taught in the School of Law. The first really big controversy of the Inlander era was the River Park Square public financing battle, and STEVE EUGSTER was the lightning rod for it all, good and bad. In 1996, readers voted him Best Activist; in 2000, once he was a city councilman, he was voted both Best Person to Be Immortalized on a Pez Dispenser and Best Candidate for Strong Mayor. Now 69, Eugster says he had to slow down: “I do not want to be in the public eye anymore, I’m just a lawyer.” But as the author of the city’s strong mayor form of government, he still follows local politics. “I like the way David Condon is using the strong mayor office in a positive way — he’s taking control, making decisions. That’s the way it should be.” Eugster has been back in private practice since 2010, and also manages some downtown property he owns with his brothers. In recent years, this category has become more of a “Who’s-the-mayorthis-year?” kind of thing, which is odd as we like to fire them first chance we get. And that thought brought
P a st Wi nne rs
us back to the first strong mayor, JOHN POWERS, who won three Best Ofs in a row between 2001-03. We caught up with Powers at his new job as executive director of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance in Bremerton. “Whenever I tell someone what I do, I say ‘I’m an economic developer, and I caught the bug while I was
Steve Eugster brought out the Best — and worst — in readers over the years. serving as mayor of Spokane,’ ” says Powers, who was hired as CEO of the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County just after losing his re-election campaign. “One thing I am still proud of,” Powers adds, “is that on that same primary ballot was a measure to repeal the strong mayor system; unions wanted to get rid of it. But the people of Spokane stayed the course with strong mayor — that was really the most important election that year. “Losing was bittersweet,” adds Powers. “It was a turning point, but it’s been a natural progression that Bonnie and I have been thankful for.” — TED S. McGREGOR JR.
Past W in n e r s
1994: John Stockton
2003-04: John Stockton
2010: Matt Bouldin
1994-95: Tom Foley
2001-03: John Powers
2008, 2010: Mary Verner
1998: Ryan Leaf
2005: Ronny Turiaf
2011: Courtney Vandersloot
1997: John Roskelley
1999: Jan-Michael Gambill
2006-08: Adam Morrison
2012: Kevin Pangos
1998-99: George Nethercutt
2003-05: Dirk Kempthorne (North Idaho winner)
2011: Best Democrat: Mary Verner
2001: Casey Calvary
2009: John Stockton
2004-05: Jim West
2011: Best Republican: Cathy McMorris Rodgers
28 INLANDER BEST OF the inlander nw 2013
2000: Roberta Greene
2007: Dennis Hession