When you pick up The Beachcomber this week, you might have to pause for a second and ask yourself: Wait… is this a sports paper now?
An accidental — but very happy — situation unfolded as we were putting together this edition. Somehow, our pages filled up with a lot of sports coverage. We have three football stories alone: a photo spread from the homecoming game under the Friday night lights, a detailed game rundown and a feature on how the team is feeling overall this season. Beyond that, there’s soccer coverage and a story on Vashon’s own Jacob Plihal, who recently competed on the world stage in rowing.
It’s not just us. This fall has been a distinctly sports-centered one across Washington. Just this past Sunday, the Seahawks and Mariners played on the same day — a rare overlap that seemed to set the tone for a week when athletic energy is everywhere.
Of course, The Beachcomber hasn’t permanently rebranded into a sports weekly — promise. Our regularly scheduled news, arts and community coverage will be back in full force next week. But every so often, the rhythms of island life take center stage in ways that surprise us, and this week, that rhythm happened to be the sound of cleats on turf, soccer balls hitting the back of the net and rowers slicing through the water.
As the leaves turn red and the air grows sharper in the mornings, there’s something fitting about devoting a week to local sports — the shared rituals, the underdog stories, the community pride. And beyond the sports pages, don’t miss our big ferry update, with important details on fare increases, the peak-season surcharge, and — hallelujah — an extension on the multi-ride pass expiration date.
Also, The Beachcomber won big this week — taking home 27 Better Newspaper Contest prizes, and we couldn’t be more excited by the recognition. Islander Michelle Lassaline created the most fitting, lovely, and so Vashon cartoon to mark the occasion, and we hope it brings a smile to your face as much as it did to ours.
So for now, settle in with this issue, enjoy the season’s shift and cheer on the Pirates.
