Glow of Friday night lights

In March of 1986 the sports department at KXLY TV was overwhelmed with more reporting than they had time for on the air.

There were the final days of State B Tournament at the Coliseum in Spokane. And scattered across the region were the teams in the Greater Spokane League and many others in the smaller schools.

“It’s just basketball everywhere, boys and girls,” recalled Rick Lukens, one of the sports reporters at the time.

With sports director Bud Nameck out of town, Lukens’ co-worker, Dennis Patchin, approached management to somehow give them more time to show all the highlights.

The way Luk...