THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Let’s hear it for the moms — from their kids

My mom was working in the concession stand during one of my postseason basketball tournament games at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City.  

I was an eighth grader at St. Vincent School in Salt Lake at the time. 

(That was back when Clover Club potato chips were still a thing, but that’s a story for another day.) 

Anyway, during the game I noticed that she had taken a break from the concession stand, and was seated in the front row of the corner of the gym — just in time for me to drill a 3-pointer from the corner, right in front of mom. 

(OK, it would have been a 3-pointer, except those weren’t a thing in the early 1970s — at least in our Catholic school league, though they were a thing down the hill with our local ABA team, the Utah Stars. 

And that 3/2 was part of a 38-point night — give or take 36 points or so.) 

Anyway, the fact I remember that moment with my mom after all these years is still telling — and a nice feeling, especially with Mother’s Day approaching. 

If you’re an athlete, or a former athlete, I’m sure you have similar memories of your mom at a game, or memories in general of what your mom meant (or means) to your sporting career. 

I’d love to hear, and share, those stories.  

Email me a few thoughts on your mom, along with a photo of you and mom, to [email protected]

In the past, in this space, thanks to their sons, we’ve been able to share stories of wonderful moms like Mrs. Winger and Mrs. Rasmussen — well-known in the community, but at home, they were mom. 

Let’s hear about your mom.

RAY HUSSA didn’t have a winner in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby — but perhaps he will in one of the next two Triple Crown races. 

Hussa, through MyRacehorse, owns shares in Caldera, a 3-year-old which has a win and three second-place finishes in six races since last November, but didn’t have enough “points” to run in the Derby. 

Hussa said the plan is for Caldera to try to race in two weeks, at the Preakness Stakes on May 17 in Baltimore, or in a prep race around that time. 

Another option is the Belmont Stakes, on June 8 in New York. 

Hussa helped form Green Hill Stables in Coeur d’Alene years ago, though now he lives in Texas, working as a bloodstock agent, evaluating horses and trying to find potential winners for some of the top horse racing people in the industry. 

MyRacehorse is a new-ish idea which offers racehorse ownership to anyone, with shares as low as less than $100. 

Last year, through MyRacehorse, Hussa and a couple of his teammates from the 1966 Kellogg High state boys basketball championship team, Randy Haddock (a longtime insurance agent in the Coeur d’Alene area, now retired) and Tim Olson (a star on that Wildcats team), bought in to Seize the Grey (as did some 2,600 others). Seize the Grey went on to win the Belmont Stakes. 

Along with Hussa, Haddock and Olson are also shareholders in Caldera, trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, who has trained four Kentucky Derby winners. 

GET READY for a new thing in high school baseball this weekend. 

In most divisions, at four sites around the state, three teams will gather to play for one berth to a four-team, double-elimination state tournament May 15-17. 

(In 4A, where Timberlake won its district title, there will be four two-team best-of-3 series to determine the four state berths.) 

The Idaho High School Activities Association, which approved the new format, has asked that these games this weekend be referred to as a “play-in series.” 

But several newspapers statewide are already referring to them as “Super Regionals,” based on the format now used in NCAA baseball and softball. 

In truth, what is happening with Timberlake and the other 4A teams is a true Super Regional — two teams playing a best-of-3 for a berth to, in the NCAA’s case, the College World Series. 

The three-team double-elimination series in the other divisions are more like what happens in the regional round prior to the Super Regionals. In college, four teams meet at one site and play a double-elimination to determine one berth to the Super Regional. 

In Idaho, it’s three teams per site, playing for one berth to state. 

This is the first year of a two-year trial run for this in our state. And it will be interesting to see which name for it sticks. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.