High school athletes enjoyed a rare Saturday off from practice amid this huge snowstorm, but that didn't necessarily mean they weren't getting a workout.
North Carroll's Caitlin Bach figured she worked out plenty helping to shovel the driveway of her Carroll County home and those of some of her neighbors. She likes the snow and said it might not be a bad thing to have a few days off from basketball practice.
"I think sometimes with the whole mental aspect of it, it's a good thing to have a little bit of a break," Bach said. "With staying in shape, a couple days shouldn't hurt too much, especially with shoveling show the whole time. That's quite a workout."
It's also a chore that might last a while.
"I like snow, but I don't know about all the wind. We probably have two feet by now.
Right when you shovel it, you look and it's already covered again. it's very frustrating," said Bach, who recently set the all-time Carroll County girls basketball scoring record.
Her family, including sister Sarah who is a freshman basketball player at Manchester Valley, had been looking at pictures to see when they last had this much snow. The 17-year-old said it was when she was 5, but she thinks this one will drop more snow before it ends.
More snow means more money for Atholton's Matt Robinson, who was watching the Georgetown-Villanova basketball game in the late morning but planned to get out in the neighborhood in the afternoon or evening.
"Once the show stops, I'm going to go out and make some money on my street with my shovel. I think depending on how many houses I can do, I can get up to around $200 on a day like today. The one we had in December I did pretty well," said the senior football and basketball player who will play football in the fall at Maryland.
Robinson and Bach said they tried sledding for a while, but that it was too cold to continue. For Robinson, the shoveling likely will be followed by video games at a friends' house.
City football player Adrian Coxson said he also had indoor plans, spending his day on Facebook. He won't get his workouts in, but he said he just won't eat too much, so a few days out of the weight room shouldn't hurt.
He is not a fan of snow, so watching it pile up outside his window makes him happy to think about next winter when he will be playing football at Florida.
"I'm just going to stay in the house," Coxson said. "[Next year] I know it is going to be warm all the time and I won't have to worry about walking around out there."
Digital Harbor's Asia Logan and Arundel's Talen Watson planned to stay inside on their day off from basketball practice.
Logan said she caught up on some sleep and was cleaning her room. Saturday afternoon, she planned to watch some basketball games and get on the computer.
"I was a snowbunny when I was younger, but as I grow up, I just like staying in the house," said Logan, who would have been at practice between 8 and 10:30 Saturday morning if not for the snow.
Watson, who would have practiced from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., said she was watching basketball games on television with her mother. A big fan of the Big East men and women, she was also catching the Georgetown-Villanova men's game.
"I do like snow," Watson said. "I was born in Hawaii and we never really experienced snow there, but when I came to Maryland, I experienced snow a lot. I don't like being out in the snow, but sitting there drinking hot chocolate, watching a cool movie while the snow is falling, it's enjoyable."
Logan and Watson won't be escaping the snow next year in college as Coxson will. Logan has signed with Pitt and Watson with Massachusetts.
As for when these athletes might actually get back to class and court?
Coxson has the most faith in the public works departments guessing Tuesday. Robinson agreed, but said it might take until Wednesday. Bach and Watson agree on Wednesday. Logan heard there might be more snow on Tuesday or Wednesday, so she's guessing Thursday or Friday.
I didn't ask them when they thought the snow might stop ...
