Randy Dase has been a fixture at Towson High School for the better part of 40 years. He’s never wanted to be anywhere else.

As a Generals basketball player in the late 60s and early 70s, he always hoped to return to Towson to coach the boys basketball team. He did that right after graduating from college. He’s been there ever since. (Oh, and he’s a social studies teacher, too.)

He doesn’t plan to leave the school anytime soon, but Dase has decided to retire as boys basketball coach. He will stay on as head coach of the boys soccer team, which has won two state titles and was runner up twice during his 19 years.

In 1997, Dase gave up the head boys lacrosse job after 18 seasons and eight state championships. But leaving basketball was a little different.

"It was a very difficult decision," Dase told me on Tuesday. "To be truthful, in life there’s one thing I always wanted to do. I always wanted to go back to Towson High School and coach basketball. I remember the first time we took the court. I bawled like a baby, because it was the only thing I ever really wanted in terms of a position."

In 1977, he took the JV coaching position offered by head varsity coach Randy Walker, who had coached Dase at Towson. He took over the varsity when Walker retired in 1986.

In 1972, Dase was the point guard for the Generals when they won the Baltimore County championship and played in the final four at Cole Field House. He returned to Cole in 1987 and 1988 as the Generals' head coach. He is the only coach in Baltimore County to have gone to the final four at Cole as a player and as a coach.

Now, he will have more time for sons Austin, a sophomore at Gilman, and Hunter, 10. They both play sports and Dase often leaves his high school games to coach rec games.

As if that’s not enough to keep a guy busy, Dase also co-produces and appears on the television program, High School Sports Scene, which showcases Baltimore County public school athletics programs. He created the show 24 years ago and still works on one each month for The Education Channel.

Although Austin is a swimmer, Dase said he has been asked to be an assistant coach for Gilman’s varsity basketball team, which has a new head coach this season. He agreed.

"When you’re a head coach at a high school, you spend so much time on it, but this way, I can still keep my hands in the game, because I love the game, but I can cut down on the responsibility," said Dase, 54.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

And the winner for best game day program is ... the C. Milton Wright girls soccer team!

I caught up with the Mustangs on Monday when they hosted Harford County rival Fallston and was greeted at the gate with a top-of-the line program that included a roster, photos and biographies of all the team's senior players. This thing even had advertising in it.

One of the best games of the season followed with some of the most highly-skilled players in the area on display. For fans at the game, I'm sure it was nice to be able to place the names with the numbers they were seeing on the players' backs.

From a self-serving standpoint, it would be great to have programs at every game I go out to (please make sure all names are spelled correctly and it's a bonus if you also include the opposing teams' roster).

Putting together a program is ideal practice for students interested in a writing or design career. Get creative, ask for extra credit, raise some money maybe and help make the game-day experience that much more enjoyable to proud parents and supporters.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Looking around the hockey field at Severna Park yesterday, what struck me first was the more than 500 fans who jammed the few bleachers and short hill along one side of the field. On second look, I saw that probably half of them were young girls -- pre-high school age.

I soon discovered that it was Green Hornets Day at the game. It probably drew most of the 230 girls from grades three through eight who participate in the Green Hornets program, run by the Greater Severna Park Athletic Association, Inc.

The Green Hornets left happy after watching No. 1 Severna Park defeat No. 3 Broadneck, 3-1.

Seeing so many young field hockey players in attendance certainly made the coaches happy.

"It’s the future of the program," said Severna Park coach Lil Shelton.

But it also makes an impression on the high school players.

Falcons senior Lelan Bailey remembers having big dreams when she played for the Green Hornets.

"It’s great to see them all," said Bailey, "because I was there once and I know when you’re a Green Hornet, your dream is to play for the high school team. It’s just great support seeing them and they really did cheer us on. I hope that one day they will get to experience playing for the high school."

Broadneck senior Katie Matteo played for a similar program in her area, Broadneck Area Youth Sports (BAYS). Girls from that field hockey program were in attendance too, proudly wearing their gold uniform shirts.

"It’s really, really fun for me to see them," said Matteo. " I do camps and stuff like coaching and I always see them all the time. They come to almost every game. I hear them on the sideline and it gets me really pumped up, because it’s fun to know they’re cheering for me."

-Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Hereford High School is only an hour away from The Baltimore Sun offices on Calvert Street, but much further in terms of atmosphere.

When you drive into the parking lot at Hereford, following the one-way signs, and circle around the building, you see field hockey fields and tennis courts tucked in between rolling hills. You drive down a sloping hill and continue to circle and proceed through what in the city would be called an alley, but in the country might be perceived as a simple winding lane, past the gym. Past a parking lot.

And still, you haven’t seen the football field.

To get to the field, you have to get back on York Road and follow it north another 100 yards and turn right onto a road that winds up another hill to a parking lot. Up there, you’ll see the field, a little above you still. Ringed with lights on a foggy, misty night.

Fans, dressed in their team colors and carrying blankets and a few umbrellas are eager, hurrying up the hill, looking for a bleacher seat before they’re all gone. The Perry Hall cheerleaders are laughing happily as they find their way to the sidelines. Hereford’s marching band is positioned in the stands, ready to play the National Anthem and pep songs.

Friday night, it was standing room only, as about 1,300 fans from Hereford and Perry Hall made it to the game where then-No. 5 Hereford was hosting then-No. 9 Perry Hall in a newly fashioned rivalry.

"I used to coach at Overlea," said Perry Hall coach Keith Robinson. "So I’d been to Hereford before. But the Hereford-Perry Hall game has an intensity the others don’t have."

It’s an old-fashioned football game. With a new, but old-fashioned rivalry. Just four years old, it fell into place when Hereford moved up to compete at the Class 3A level, making them a challenge for 4A Perry Hall. In four games, the Gators of Perry Hall have gone 3-1, but each game has come down to the closing moments. The last three to the series. The last two to the last play. A goal line stand. A field goal. And Friday overtime, when a missed Hereford field goal assured Perry Hall a 17-14 victory.

Throughout the night, as the players slipped and slogged through the wet grass and mud, the fans cheered and booed. At one end of the field, the Hereford mascot -- Harry the Hereford bull -- dug his feet in the ground. At halftime he appeared at midfield on a leash and frolicked in a threatening way, his horns seemingly pointed at the group of Perry Hall fans in the stands.

It’s the country, where a live bull mascot can spend the night acting as a symbol of strength for his team, and at the same time be a representative of the beef industry.

A trip to the concession stand and a question about the burgers and hot dogs, brings this information: "Our burgers are wonderful. They’re made from real Hereford beef, raised right over there," said a volunteer at the stand, pointing generally across the field in Harry’s direction.

The hamburger was good.

The game was even better.

And Harry the bull could take pride in both.

-- Sandra McKee

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When we last saw Kristen Malloy, she was racing her way to the state Class 3A cross country championship last November on a Hereford course she all but owned during her junior year. Not long before the state meet, she won her second consecutive Bull Run title, breaking the course record she had set a year earlier.

As the cross country season picks up, we wondered just what Malloy, last season’s All-Metro Runner of the Year, has been up to since she moved away in January. She left Hereford when her family followed her father, a doctor, to a new job at a Connecticut hospital. She enrolled in Glastonbury High, outside of Hartford.

Malloy, now a senior, said she is doing just fine. Glastonbury, which had a stellar girls running program when she arrived, has been a good fit. Not only is she running well, but she is ranked No. 1 in her class academically.

Two weeks ago, she won the Hartford Riverfront Invitational, her first big cross country meet.

"That race was a great race," said Malloy, 17. "I was behind until 700 meters and I started feeling great. I had a great kick at the end."

This past weekend didn’t go quite as well. Running the Ocean State Invitational in Warwick, R.I., she finished 18th.

"It wasn’t that hilly, but it was really muddy," she said. "My life is really busy right now and it was one of those days.

After Saturday’s race, Malloy headed to Dartmouth to make an official visit as she narrows down her list of colleges. Princeton, Syracuse and a few others also remain on her list.

Glastonbury coach Brian Collins said Malloy’s performance at the Riverfront meet established her as one of the runners to beat for the state open (all classification) title.

"We’re very happy with her," said Collins, whose team is ranked No. 2 in the Northeast by dyestat.com. "She’s worked very hard and she fit in with the girls instantly. Especially when you have a runner of that talent, it can be difficult, but there was no jealousy. The girls took an instant liking to her."

Collins, whose team won the Riverfront and Ocean State titles, said Malloy should feel no pressure coming into a program that has won multiple state titles recently in cross country, indoor track and track and field. Malloy also was part of the New England champion 3,200-meter relay during this past indoor track season and she won the 3,200-meter run at the Journal Inquirer Invitational during the spring.

Now settled into her school and her team, Malloy has set high goals for this fall season.

"It’s a little bit different here. We have a state (LL classification) championship, the state open championship and the New England championship. Then, there’s the Nike regional meet that can qualify you for nationals. I guess my goal – I would like to win state opens and New Englands if I’m feeling good and make it to Oregon for nationals."

Although she’s running courses all over New England, Malloy said there is one thing she has yet to find – a course to challenge Hereford’s grueling hills.

"No, nothing. Not even close. The courses here, there are some with hills and the state course is pretty hilly, but I’ve never seen anything like Hereford in my life."

-Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

During the past couple weeks, I’ve talked with three impressive young men about their commitments to their Muslim religion and how they balance playing sports with fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Much of their story appeared in yesterday’s article.

All three -- Randallstown soccer player Ousmane Toure, Oakland Mills football player Fuad Suleiman and Gilman cross country runner Adil Agha Khan -- have strong convictions about their religion. That’s something I find very impressive in an age when many teenagers, and even adults, can’t seem to find a place for a strong faith in their busy, demanding lives.

One of the things that I could only touch on in the story was how all of them talked about how their religion is a peaceful one. Because extremists and terrorists grab the headlines, many people think Islam is all about violence. But that could not be farther from the truth, the boys said.

And their example is spreading that truth.

Oakland Mills football coach Jim Riss said he has learned a lot about Islam from Suleiman and the other Muslim athletes he has coached.

"All we hear is what we see on the news," said Riss, "and you think, ‘Oh, they’re bad,’ but it’s not like that. It’s really a morally-grounded religion and it’s unfortunate that the extremists give it a bad name, because people who are ignorant, like I was, make an assumption. It’s kind of like the Ku Klux Klan claiming they’re doing everything in the name of Christianity."

Because of his belief in non-violence, Suleiman nearly quit the Scorpions football team during August two-a-days when the competition for roster spots grew intense.

"In a sense, football in my religion would be haraam. It means sinful because it’s a very violent game," he said. "So I believe it was the second or third day of two-a-days and I walked up to coach. This is how serious I am about it. I played football for two years, right? I love the sport, but as soon as I heard it could be haraam, I was ready to quit the game, just so I could stay on the righteous path."

Riss convinced Suleiman that the game is really about fun. Although it’s hard-hitting, it’s not meant to be violent.

"I mean, hell week was hell week," said Riss, of two-a-days. "We were trying to weed out the weak of heart, body and mind and Fuad said, ‘Coach, it’s not fun and it’s not part of my religion to go out and try to hurt people.’ I said, ‘We’re not trying to hurt people, but it’s football and unfortunately, at times, people get hurt.’"

"I said, ‘I’d hate for you to give up on football just because this week has stunk so bad. It’s going to get fun again once we get past this.’"

So Suleiman stuck around.

But he, like Toure and Khan, keeps sports in the right perspective. As Toure said, and all three demonstrate every day, "Religion comes before sports."

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Every day brings 24 new hours to be explored. They can be useful, or not.

Last weekend, at a Fort Hill vs. Dunbar, D.C., football game in Cumberland, the Dunbar coach pulled his team in the third quarter, alleging racial taunts including the use of the "N" word. While leading 14-8, but in the middle of a Fort Hill drive that was being helped along by unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Dunbar’s players and coach, Dunbar coach Craig Jefferies made the decision to discontinue play.

"They were trying to upset us, calling my guys the N-word," Jefferies told The Washington Post. "I had one guy in tears. I had to take him off the field."

The incident is being investigated by the Maryland attorney general’s Office of Civil Rights and by Fort Hill officials.

One of those officials, Fort Hill principal Steve Lewis, took the opportunity to tell The Cumberland Times-News, this:

"I’ve harped on this before, but we need to play local football," Lewis said. "When you play teams from out of the area that you don’t really know, it’s good in some situations and bad in others. ... When we stay local, we all know each other, our programs and our personalities. We know what we’re getting. We get along with each other and like each other, and we play great football. We need to play local football."

An unfortunate action by a coach and an incredible statement from an educator.

Football is supposed to help teach young players how to deal with adversity. An educator is supposed to teach young people about the world and those in it beyond their immediate, comfortable environment. Both coach and teacher are charged with building character and enlightening the students they serve.

Last Friday, whether the Fort Hill players actually used racial slurs or not, opportunity knocked for Jefferies, as one reader of the WUSA9 Web site pointed out: "This incident (if found to be true) would have been a great learning lesson for the young men of Dunbar by not walking away but standing strong and defeating FH and the bigotry attached to it. That thrill of victory is what legends are made of, i.e. Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Author Ashe [sic], Wilma Rudolph, Jim Brown etc., who ultimately gave each of those men the RIGHT to be on the field with FH."

Even if the incident was simply one of pure frustration for Jefferies and his players at the way the game was going, standing strong while facing adversity was still a lesson there for the learning.

Instead, the Dunbar coach had his players quit.

And, on Monday, Lewis’ answer was that the door to the rest of the high school football world – who may not look, act or think like the folks at Fort Hill – should be closed.

Here in Baltimore, City College coach George Petrides admitted being shock by all of it.

His team had played at Fort Hill in the opening game of the season because Petrides wanted to give his players a new experience.

"I wanted our team to feel a football atmosphere," said Petrides. "The whole city closes down there and comes out to the football games. It was a little road trip to a place with a different atmosphere. Except for the loss everyone enjoyed the trip."

It had been a tight football game, 6-6 at the half, and 14-6 Fort Hill with less than four minutes to play.

"We scored a touchdown with two and a half minutes to play that was called back," Petrides said.

Through it all, there were no racial incidents he was aware of.

After Friday’s incident, Petrides said he got a call from Fort Hill’s athletic director asking him to ask his players if there had been any racial slurs used during their game. Petrides asked.

"I don’t know what happened in the Dunbar game and I have no comment on that," he said. "But our fans and their fans got along great in the stands and there was nothing controversial in our game. It was a real good football environment."

Petrides said he would use the Fort Hill-Dunbar situation as a teaching tool.

"We’ll talk about it," he said. "On the field, there is always trash talk. That’s in every game. I tell my kids all the time to ignore it. To let their blocking and tackling do their talking."

Each day brings opportunity. It’s up to each to us to decide how to use it.

- Sandra McKee

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Scanning my e-mails a couple weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to come across one from the former boys soccer coach at Francis Scott Key, Granville 'G' Hibberd.

When I first started at The Baltimore Sun in the early 1990s, I was assigned to Carroll County and had the chance to cover some of his games each year.

Back then, Francis Scott Key was the smallest of the five public schools in the county (now there are seven and Key still remains one of the smallest) and, thus, the Eagles always seemed to take on the role of underdog against the bigger schools in the county. From Hibberd's teams, I always saw a group that played hard to the very end with a lot of character. And there also were some characters.

Hibberd, who coached from the 1980s through the 1990s, has recently written a book, The Final Score: It's About the Team, about his time spent as coach at Francis Scott Key. The book consists of 55 or so anectdotal stories talking about the team's two state title years; various players who made sacrifices for the benefit of the team; and other interesting experiences Hibberd had with being a high school coach.

It's a must read for any alumni of Francis Scott Key and it's a good read for anybody who has had any involvement in small-town high school sports. The book can be found in Westminster at Curves and the Locust Book Store.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This weekend’s weather forecast -- a swirling nor’easter blowing up the East Coast, bringing lots of wind and rain -- comes at just the wrong time for local cross country runners. Saturday is the annual Bull Run at Hereford, the most anticipated meet of the season, drawing teams from over 100 schools.

Hereford’s grueling, hilly three-mile course is often run just fine in the rain, but I remember a few times when there was way too much rain to run and a few others when mud chewed up and spit out runners well short of their best times.

Then again, Hereford’s Kristen Malloy managed to set a course record in the rain in 2006.

A search through The Sun’s archives found the first mention of rain from reporter Paul McMullen, who wrote of "great rains in 1975," when the event was known as the Hereford Invitational.

More recently, it has rained on three of the last five Bull Runs, including 2003 when it was canceled after two attempts. Hurricane Isabel washed out the initial date. Officials tried to make up the meet a week later, but it rained again. After many JV runners slipped and fell in the mud during the first race, the rest of the event was canceled.

A year later, another hurricane struck on Bull Run weekend, but Ivan wasn’t so powerful. It slowed the course but the meet went on as usual.

Hereford coach Jason Bowman has raced the Bull Run’s Reunion Run in the rain, so he knows how challenging it can be, especially at its most infamous incline, The Dip, which runners must navigate twice -- 1¼ miles in and again about a half mile from the finish. The Sun’s freelancer Todd Karpovich once described The Dip as being so steep it could be a novice ski run.

"I remember people falling down and slip sliding away. I remember myself just sliding all over the place," Bowman said. "The obvious spot it gets you is in The Dip, but that first mile has a little valley that has you running on uneven terrain and that can be treacherous. The Dip is really treacherous, because there’s not a lot of grass there."

Fortunately, no Bull Run can match the awful conditions of what was likely the worst racing day ever on the Hereford course -- at the state championships in 1990.

That was November and it was cold and windy, not to mention the rain that just flowed down the hills.

Freelancer Bill Blewitt covered that state meet for The Sun and wrote "A steady, wind-blown rain produced conditions that one official described as the worst in 30 years. Scores of runners fell on the course and at least 15 were treated for hypothermia."

In the first race, Fallston’s Jenny Howard fell three times and was covered with mud as she crossed the finish line, but she still won her third state title. So did Centennial’s Pat Rodrigues, who managed to stay on his feet.

It certainly won’t be that bad on Saturday and here’s hoping that remembering all this will jinx the forecast and the sun will shine on the Bull Run.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When it comes to the game of soccer, everybody in the United States has always begged for goals, goals and more goals.

Yesterday afternoon, I found a not-so-unusual case where there may have been one too many goals when the River Hill girls soccer team came away with a 1-0 win over Wilde Lake.

The goal came on a first-half penalty kick and there was no dispute the referee made the right call. A ball was sent inside the penalty area, it took an unexpected bounce off the turf and the result was an unintentional hand ball by a Wilde Lake defender. The ball was not directed on goal or anywhere near the goal and no advantage was gained by the Wildecats leading up to the whistle.

But rules are rules and this one makes no sense to me. There was no scoring opportunity when the hand ball took place, but the end result was the best scoring chance of all -- a penalty kick which River Hill's Kathryn Rodgers did well to finish off.

While baseball, football, basketball and other sports have constantly made rule changes to improve their respective games, soccer -- the world's game -- rarely budges.

This commentary was brought to you by a lifelong defender who will continue to otherwise stick up for the fine sport of soccer!

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
        

If you carefully checked all of our high school polls Tuesday, you might have noticed an extremely rare feat. One school appears in all seven of them.

River Hill is ranked in six sports and is among those considered in the seventh. Most of those rankings are pretty high, too.

The Hawks are No. 1 in football, boys soccer and girls cross country. They are No. 2 in girls soccer, No. 6 in boys cross country and No. 9 in volleyball. They are also among those considered in field hockey -- just below the Top 15.

Consider how difficult it is for many schools to have just one ranked team. Consider also that River Hill is a Class 2A school -- among the smaller 50 percent of all schools in the state.

However, the Hawks’ success in the fall is nothing new. Last fall, their teams won five state titles in the fall -- football, boys soccer, girls soccer, boys cross country and girls cross county. They also had the girls individual cross country champ in Katie Harman.

--Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Today is the day to get out and see the most highly-recruited athlete in all of area fall sports -- perhaps in any sport for the entire year. Since it's Tuesday, you've probably guessed you won’t be going to a football game.

She plays volleyball.

Major college coaches from here to California have had St. Paul’s senior Bailey Webster on their wish lists for more than two years. At the summer national tournament when she was just a sophomore, she already had college coaches crowding around her court to have a look.

Now 6-foot-3, she’s still growing into her potential, but her future appears so bright that PrepVolleyball.com recently named her the No. 1 recruit in the country from the Class of 2009.

Last fall, Bailey raked in the accolades after leading the Gators to the IAAM A Conference championship. She was The Sun’s All-Metro Player of the Year and the Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year. Over the summer, she helped the United States win the gold medal at the junior world championships in Mexico.

As for those college offers, Alabama, Florida, Texas and Stanford remain in the running after she declined thos from Penn State and UCLA.

So if you have some time this evening, go see her play.

The No. 3 Gators play host to No. 2 Mount de Sales at 5:15 p.m. The Sailors, led by junior hitter Katy Buck, are much deeper than the Gators, so Bailey and the largely new cast she has around her could have their hands full.

But it will be worth the trip, because you'll see great high school volleyball and you’re always likely to see something spectacular from the nation’s top recruit.

--Katherine Dunn

Posted by Kevin Eck at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

In more than 20 years of covering high school field hockey, I had never seen anything as scary as the direct hit in the forehead taken by Garrison Forest defender Bayley Mullan on Friday afternoon. The sound of the impact alone was frightening, not to mention the blood.

It’s amazing that Mullan didn’t even spend the night in the hospital. She had 19 stitches and that’s all. No fracture. No concussion.

She even went to practice Sunday morning and hit around with her teammates.

"I must have a hard head," Mullan said with a laugh, last night from her home in White Hall.

Mullan has heard accounts of the sights and sound of the accident from her teammates and other witnesses, but, she said, the initial impact didn’t scare her as much as it scared everyone else.

"Really, it just came so fast, I didn’t have time to react. I didn’t even realize I was bleeding until people around me started screaming and saying that I was bleeding," said Mullan, 16.

Once the initial bandages, put on at the field, were removed, her head didn’t even hurt.

"In the ambulance and at Sinai (Hospital), my head was wrapped up so tight and it was throbbing. When they took it off, I felt OK."

Friday evening, she went from Sinai to St. Joseph’s hospital where a plastic surgeon stitched her forehead. By 11 p.m., she was on her way home.

Her face remains swollen, but doctors have cleared the junior defender to play as early as this afternoon’s game at Archbishop Spalding, said Garrison coach Traci Davis. However, Davis said she does not plan to play Mullan today. It’s just too soon despite the medical clearance, said the coach.

Mullan, however, is undaunted and ready to get back on the field: "Maybe she’ll change her mind."

Two other Grizzlies players, who had breathing problems during Friday’s game are fine, said Davis. Sarah Krolus had a severe asthma attack and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and Davis’s daughter, Cody Magness, sat out late in the game struggling to catch her breath. Krolus returned to Garrison and Magness was breathing easily by the time the game ended.

"I just think for Sarah and Cody, that was a little anxiety brought on by watching Bayley take that shot," said Davis.

For the No. 1 Grizzlies, who lost Friday’s game 3-1 to No. 5 Fallston, two of their top league rivals are up next with No. 7 Spalding today and No. 6 Bryn Mawr tomorrow.

Mullan said the Grizzlies are ready to move on and leave Friday’s experienced behind them.

"We all agreed how bizarre of a game it was," she said. "We concluded that we can look back at that game as a bonding experience. It brought us together. If we can get through that game, we can get through anything."

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by Kevin Eck at 7:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and they may be right.

As the high school football season was about to start a photo of St. Frances players with their coach drew an e-mail from reader Mike Greenhill who posed this question:

"Why is it that everyone in [the St. Francis photo], including the coach, is not smiling?"

Baltimore Sun photo by Monica Lopossay / Aug. 29, 2008

Greenhill contends this has been going on for "at least 20 years". He says high school girls smile in their photos, "but 99 percent of the time" boys, in a posed photo, do not.

"Why do they all have to look [so tough]?" he asked. "It must be the ESPN Magazine cover syndrome, though it started before that rag was formed ... Is there some code that says if a guy smiles, then he’s a wimp? And the coaches, too?"

Our Millersville reader is not the only one to have observed the trend.

So why is it that male athletes don’t smile?

I think it is an act.

A macho thing. Scowls equal toughness; smiles being a wimp.

Katherine Dunn, who covers girl’s high school sports, says she has noticed even the girls on some teams -- especially the girls’ basketball teams -- tend to leave their smiles in the locker room when having a picture taken.

"I think they’re just putting on their game face," Dunn said.

In the case of the boys, I think they’re repeating what they’ve seen the older players, their predecessors, do. If they’re going into a big game, do they want to smile and look like a bunch of pushovers? Or, do they want to be a little intimidating and get the opposing team thinking about how difficult the coming game may be?

But Greenhill says it has to stop and wonders if the reporter, the photographer or the coach can simply say, "We’re not leaving here and the photo’s not being taken until you’re all SMILING!"

Which opens up a whole different issue.

The face a player displays for the camera says everything about the message he or she wants to convey. If someone says, "Smile!" and the player smiles when he doesn’t want to, is that telling a player to lie? Is the picture a misquote -- a misinterpretation or a misrepresentation?

In my e-mail conversation with Greenhill, he says the more important issue is "the inability of males to smile spontaneously is so detrimental to their development (and society’s) that I think that making them smile needs to be attempted. It’s almost like what Jim Palmer once said about Earl Weaver: "He’s not happy unless he’s not happy."

But I don’t think the lack of a smile in a sports photo indicates unhappiness or meanness. While I’d like to see the players smiling, showing the enjoyment they get from playing their sport, I think the gruff exterior is just a pose.

Behind the stone faces just might be a kid who is laughing at the very idea of looking tough.

-- Sandra McKee

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I am covering the Dunbar-Poly football game being played tomorrow evening at Mervo. It will be my first high school game in years.

How many years? Let’s just say that female reporters were as rare as four-leaf clovers when I covered my first high school football game.

Getting ready for this game has brought back memories.

It was in Warrenton, Va. and I was working for the Fauquier Democrat, a large circulation weekly newspaper, and the local team was the Fauquier Falcons. One of my many jobs at the Democrat, where I was a feature writer, sports editor, copy editor, staff photographer and dark room technician, required me to write an advance for the Falcons’ game against the Osbourn Yellow Jackets of Manassas.

Dutifully, I called the Osbourn coach, whose name has long since left my memory, and asked him all the requisite questions about his football team.

He told me everything.

The story ran and game time arrived. As the game progressed, it became very clear the opposing coach had told me absolutely nothing. Everything he had said was the opposite of what it actually was. His power running game turned out to be a deep-route passing game. His "small" defensive backs were all over 6 feet tall. Even the jersey numbers and names of the players failed to match up.

After the game, when I approached him while wearing my press pass and was introduced by the Falcons’ coach, Osbourn’s coach had the good grace to be embarrassed.

"I’m sorry," he said immediately. "I thought you were a friend of the coach or a player’s girlfriend calling for information to take advantage of us. I never once thought you were a real reporter."

Acceptance did come. In fact, a few years later, a new coach at that same school invited me to go through two-a-day workouts with his team so I’d have a better understanding of the game. It was a wonderful learning opportunity. But it was also painful. Even today, I still cringe when I see a player take a big, jarring hit.

Tomorrow, I will be safely on the sidelines, looking forward to the competition between two of the stronger teams in the area. I’ll also be looking forward to the post-game interviews in which -- I’m sure -- both sides will tell me everything there is to know.

-- Sandra McKee

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

When you pick up The Baltimore Sun this school year, you will see more box scores than you did a year ago. We’ve renewed our commitment to getting as many of them as we can into the paper rather than running line scores for some sports as we did a year ago. Something that comes along with that commitment is striving to be as accurate as possible.

Accuracy can be a challenge, especially when coaches or managers who call in or e-mail the box scores don’t know the names of some -- or any of the players – who scored for the opposing team. One football coach, calling in a box score this season, knew the yardage for every scoring play by both teams, but he didn’t know the names of any of the guys on the opposing team. When that happens, we can only run the line score. It’s not fair to the guys on the other team. We don’t like to see N/A (not available) as much as we’re seeing it in soccer and field hockey box scores either.

Imagine that one of your best players runs for 200 yards and scores a couple of touchdowns only to pick up the paper on Saturday morning and see N/A where his name ought to be. How about the field hockey goalie who makes 20 saves and looks at the paper only to see N/A where her name should be?

We realize that a lot goes on during a game and the coach can’t be everywhere. We also understand that most managers are students and that they make mistakes sometimes just like their counterparts on the field. We know too that the rain of the last few weekends has been an issue, but we still received a lot of complete results despite the drenching.

We really would like to be accurate with all of the box scores. For many student athletes, this is the only place they will ever see their names in the paper.

One thing that may help is for the visiting team to bring printed rosters to the games, because the home team is usually responsible for reporting the score.

That could also help with spelling names correctly. We take a lot of heat when names are spelled wrong and, yes, we can turn an S into an F and a P into a T sometimes. Still, box scores do come to us with names spelled wrong and we have no way of knowing. When I cover a game, I always ask for a printed roster, because the names aren’t always clear in the score book, they don’t always include first names and the student managers don’t always know how to spell everyone’s name.

Each box score seems so tiny in relation to the rest of the high school sports page, but for the athletes who don’t make the headlines, one box score is the most important thing on the page. Please help us get them right for all the athletes who deserve that recognition.

--Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

One of the more enjoyable parts of the job as a prep sports reporter is the Q&A profile that now runs every Thursday in our weekly prep page in the various counties we cover. It's an opportunity to meet with quality student-athletes and get to know them without their helmets or shin guards on.

Along with talking about the respective sports they play, it's interesting to learn about their extra-curricular activities in school; outside hobbies and activities; and what plans they have for the future. I also like to hit them with some random questions that sometimes come with interesting replies. Below are a few of my favorites.

Earlier this fall, I asked Broadneck senior soccer standout Alex Workman: What is one thing nobody knows about you? He replied: "I can't snap my fingers. I've tried for so long [laughs]... I just can't do it."

Last year, I asked Oakland Mills then-senior Gabby Barnes, a point guard on the Scorpions' basketball team, what was the best advice she has ever received. She said it wasn't necessarily advice, but a slogan that she saw from Adidas: Impossible is Nothing. She added: "That really makes me want to do everything I can possibly do."

Also last year, I asked Wilde Lake then-senior Dave Klotz, the center on the football team, what will be the first thing he asks his mother to make after he goes off to college and first returns home. His mouth was watering when he described what she calls 'San Francisco stew.' "It has beans, beef, bacon, onions and some brown sugar in it. It was my grandma's recipe," he said.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Thursday's Varsity page includes a Q&A with Perry Hall football player Dave Stinebaugh, who has committed to play tight end at Maryland next season after also considering Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers. Stinebaugh is one of the most versatile players around, regularly playing tight end, wide receiver, defensive back, defensive end, linebacker and punter for the Gators.

Here are more of his thoughts on football:

When did football become your main sport?

Once I started to get into the older age groups in rec. [leagues], it kind of became the main focus, that and lacrosse. Once I got to high school, I became a tight end. I played line all throughout rec. [football], so freshman year I got real serious.

What other sports have you played?

I’ve played baseball, lacrosse, football and basketball. I’ve played basketball, football and lacrosse all three in a year for probably eight years. I played lacrosse last year [at Perry Hall]. I didn’t play basketball.

During a single game do you play a bunch of positions on each side of the ball?

This year I haven’t moved around as much, but I will move around depending on what game it is and where I’m needed. Some games, I play safety, linebacker, corner all in the same game. Offense-wise, I play tight end, wide receiver. I’ve played a little bit of quarterback this year. I also punt.

How did the punting come about?

I’ve always had a strong leg. When I got to high school and over the last couple of years, it kind of progressed and I got the form down a lot better and got better at it.

How do you think you developed that kind of versatility?

I guess playing the variety of sports I played helped out a lot. Just being real versatile and when you play that many sports and that many years around, I guess it kind of helps out. Over a while, it just kind of blurs into one big sport.

When did football coaches start making use of your versatility?

Freshman year, I started on JV and they were only going to put me at tight end, but then we were doing some drills and I played linebacker and I ended up starting there. Halfway through [the season], I went up to varsity and I used to do kickoffs and extra points then too, so I went up there to help kick because they needed a kicker. I played free safety up there too. I guess as time went on, I was one of those players you could move around.

Do you think your versatility helped during the recruiting process?

Yeah. It’s good if you can play one position, but if you can play two or three or four and you get [to college] and they have your position filled or they need help at H-back, which is [similar to] a tight end, you can play that position. You can play tight end and slot receiver at the same time. They can move you where you need to be in the offense, depending on the week or the personnel you’re playing. It’s just a big help being able to move around.

What was the highlight of last year's 10-2 season at Perry Hall?

It was a good year. A lot of my good buddies were seniors and they just graduated last year. There’s a lot of good memories. Probably the big ones from football were the Franklin game where I threw the game-winning touchdown pass and the first playoff game against North Carroll when I caught the game-winning touchdown.

What are the team goals for this season?

We graduated like 19 people. We’ve got a lot of young guys. They have talent. They just haven’t had the experience yet. We’re progressing. We’re getting better each week. We still have the goal of going out there and winning the county championship and winning the regional championship, which is definitely accomplishable. I don’t think really anything has changed, just a lot of new faces and a lot of young guys who have to step up and help out.

How does it feel to finally be a senior?

It’s big because being up on the varsity level, playing with all the seniors you see what they passed down to the other players and the school. Seeing how they took it, just seeing how they accepted it and had fun with it. Senior year is supposed to be the most memorable year of high school and when you look back in 30 years, you’re going to remember your senior year. Knowing that I’m a senior, this is the last football game I’ll ever play in high school. I want to end it right.

How about leadership? Do you have to take a bigger role in being a team leader this year?

Yeah. I’ve been a leader. Last year, I was one of the leaders, but this year, there’s more on my shoulders considering I’m the one who’s been here the longest and I know what goes on. I know what happens in games. If things get tough or something happens, the guys are probably going to look to me, and I just can’t show anything. I’ve got to be the one who says, "This is what we do. We’ve just got to step it up."

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I stopped by a couple of field hockey games yesterday that featured Top 10 teams and what struck me the most was the superb goalie play by all four keepers.

Sure there were terrific offensive plays, but in each game, the goalies made a handful of highlight-reel stops and kept their teams in the games. The goals that were scored were near perfect – shots the goalies had little or no chance at.

At No. 1 Garrison Forest’s 2-0 win over No. 10 St. Mary’s in Annapolis, Saints goalie Lyndsey Munoz made several diving stops and fought off the Grizzlies off the goal line at least three times in making 17 saves. Garrison’s Emily Cain didn’t face as much action, but she made a terrific split save in the second half and had some other fine stops among her six saves.

In the nightcap at Broadneck, the No. 3 Bruins got a fine effort from Maddie Koch, including an aggressive play in overtime to upset a fast break and give her team a chance to finally edge No. 4 South River, 2-1, in double overtime. She made six saves in the game and her counterpart, South River’s Emily Melanson, had some equally impressive stops among her four saves. She forced the game into overtime with a diving stop late in the second half.

All four of these goalies were fearless, aggressive and exceptionally agile with lightening quick recovery. And they aren’t the only ones like this. They have plenty of company in their peers on many of the area’s other top teams.

In local field hockey, this may be the year of the goalie. So might next year. All four of these goalies are juniors.

- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Take your pick, high school sports fan. Today's schedule is filled with quality games in every sport for your viewing pleasure.

In boys soccer, the big showdown comes in the MIAA, where No. 2 Mount St. Joseph plays host to No. 4 McDonogh. The visiting Eagles were knocked off their No. 1 perch over the weekend when Perry Hall stunned them in overtime, 2-1. How McDonogh responds in an important league game against the undefeated Gaels (3-0, 2-0 in league play) will give you an idea as to what the defending league champ Eagles are all about this season.

There's a ton of quality girls soccer matches with No. 1 McDonogh going up against emerging Notre Dame Prep; No. 11 Mercy visiting No. 5 Spalding; No. 15 Marriotts Ridge up against No. 8 Wilde Lake; and two defending champs squaring off when No. 2 and Class 2A champ River Hill heads to Glenelg to take on the defending 1A champ Gladiators.

Field hockey has No. 4 South River up against No. 3 Broadneck in Anne Arundel play; No. 1 Garrison Forest traveling to No. 10 St. Mary's in IAAM action; and Century at No. 12 North Carroll to try to get the upper hand in Carroll County.

Volleyball has a big one as well with No. 3 Severna Park at No. 7 Broadneck.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

One of the closest races in all of fall sports gets underway tonight when South River’s field hockey team travels to Broadneck for a 7 p.m. match on the turf. If this is anything like last season among the top Anne Arundel County teams, it will be a tight-as-a-drum race to the finish for those two and Severna Park.

A year ago, South River went undefeated through the regular season and Broadneck lost only to South River. That put the two in the Anne Arundel County title game where Broadneck avenged its loss to the Seahawks with a 2-1 victory that gave the Bruins their first county crown.

This race isn’t just big as far as the county goes. All three teams are in the same region and only one can advance to the Class 4A state semifinals. Last season, Severna Park got the last laugh and the biggest prize.

The Falcons, which had lost to Broadneck and South River during the regular season, ousted both from the regional playoffs -- Broadneck, 4-1, and South River, in a shootout -- and then went on to win their 18th state championship.

This year's county title contenders might not be decided until the final day of the regular season, Oct. 17, when Severna Park plays at South River. The Falcons play host to Broadneck on Sept. 29. Then, they will start all over again later in October for a berth in the state final four.

- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This space is dedicated to all the defenders out there, whether you are playing soccer, football or field hockey.

These are the players that quietly go about their business with little recognition. They can stop a top forward or running back nine out of 10 times over the course of a game, but chances are that one score will be celebrated somewhere in the newspaper or a web site.

In boys soccer on Saturday, Perry Hall defender Ray Rogowski found his way in the spotlight. How? After helping hold down the top-ranked McDonogh Eagles to just one goal through 98 minutes of soccer, Rogowski found himself at the other end of the field, waiting on a long throw-in and heading home the game-winning goal to pull off the upset.

Not surprisingly, it was the first goal of the season for Rogowski and also the biggest one he has ever scored.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Tournament time has a double meaning for a lot of high school teams around here. First, there's the early-season tournament usually against teams you would not otherwise have on the schedule – a time to tune up for league play. Later comes the post-season tournament – a time to have everything fine-tuned for a run at a title.

Eight of the top 12 ranked field hockey teams played in the first kind of tournament over the weekend. Most of the teams look in pretty good form already, but there were still opportunities to work on different parts of the game.

No. 1 Garrison Forest rolled through its Grizzly Tournament, beating North Harford and McDonogh by a combined 12-0, but coach Traci Davis said the experience was more valuable than the scores might indicate.

"It’s nice to be able to relax and try some things that we might be a little more reluctant to try within our conference games," said Davis, whose team won the tough IAAM A Conference tournament last season. "I think we try to play the same hard way every day, but it’s helpful to try to tune some things up and to improve on some things that you might not have done over the course of the preseason."

At Roland Park’s Sally Nyborg Tournament, which draws the strongest field of any area field hockey tournament, No. 5 Fallston split its games. The Cougars dropped a closer-than-it-sounds match to No. 2 Severna Park, 3-0, and then topped No. 13 Hereford, 2-0.

"This is a great tournament, because you get to see what we’re made of going into the real season," said Fallston coach Alice Puckett, whose Cougars are the defending state Class 3A champs. "It doesn’t count against our standings in the region and we played two teams before this that weren’t this caliber, so it allows us to see what exactly our problems are."

- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I was flipping through the channels last night and stumbled upon ESPN2 and the Old Spice High School Football Showcase, featuring Texas powerhouses Sulphur Springs and Rider.

The game had almost everything: Good execution on offense countered by some fine defensive play and a close contest to the end. What I didn't see was every seat filled. When the cameras panned to the stands, they were about halfway full, which led me back to my high school days in the 80s.

Growing up in football-rich Western Pennsylvania, Friday nights were all about football at my alma mater, Butler High. The routine was just that -- routine: We rounded up the troops at a little before 6 o'clock and started the 30-minute walk to the stadium, stopping at a local bakery to pick up donuts for the trek.

If we got sidetracked -- even for a minute -- we were pressing our luck because the lines were long and fans were sometimes turned away. I'm guessing around 4,000 fans consistently filled the stadium to root on the Golden Tornado (don't ask about the mascot!) and we were a team to be reckoned with in the state's highest classification.

Any time I talk about Golden Tornado football, my first story is about the night we took on and beat Central Catholic, a Pittsburgh-based power that had a guy named Dan Marino throwing its passes.

So think about going out and watching some high school football sometime soon. There's some potentially good matchups tonight with Arundel visiting Old Mill in Anne Arundel and Joppatowne traveling to Havre de Grace in Harford, among others.

Watching Dunbar's record-breaking senior running back Tavon Austin or state champion River Hill and its efficient play on both sides of the ball is worth the price of admission alone.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Every year, Roland Park hosts a field hockey tournament best known for great competition, but it is much more than just an athletic event.

The Sally E. Nyborg Field Hockey Invitational, which will be held tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m., raises money for lupus research.

Sally Nyborg played field hockey for Roland Park, but in May of her junior year, 1998, she died of complications from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease which affects the joints and organs.

According to the Alliance for Lupus Research Web site, about 1.4 million people in the United States have lupus. Nine out of 10 are women.

Sally loved field hockey. She played in the Futures Program and was on the Reds’ varsity team, so the fall after she died, the Reds held their inaugural Nyborg Tournament. Sally’s parents, Rich and Jan Nyborg, were there and they have been there every year since.

"I think Sally would be tremendously honored that they would think enough of her and her love of the game to hold this tournament every year in her honor," said Rich Nyborg.

This is the 11th time the tournament has been scheduled although it was canceled after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and it was rained out by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

Although the tournament expands to six teams this year, it began with four. Severna Park, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes were in the first one and have returned every year since. Fallston and Hereford join them in the field tomorrow.

"One thing I think is so special is four schools have been with it from the beginning and it’s so great to have really fantastic programs that come to this tournament every year," said Rich Nyborg. "I guess it shows the respect they have for someone who really loved field hockey. They come in here not only for the high tournament level but to keep the memory of a young lady alive."

Even when the tournament was canceled in 2001 and 2003, some of the teams donated their entry fees anyway.

Last year, Roland Park couldn't host the tournament, because artifical turf fields were being installed, so Severna Park stepped in and the tournament was played there. That tournament raised $500. Through the years, the event has raised $7,000, which has been donated to the Lupus Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Sally would like that. She raised money for good causes too. In October 1997, she ran the Marine Corps Marathon and raised $1,800 for the Luekemia Society.

Rich Nyborg said donations can be made to the Lupus Center at Johns Hopkins, through the Johns Hopkins Division of Rheumatology, c/o Development Office, Mason F. Lord Bldg., Center Tower Suite 4100, Baltimore, MD 21224.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It looks like the same ol', same ol' in the MIAA A Conference boys soccer scene, but there's a whole lot of new making sure it stays that way.

McDonogh, Mount St. Joseph, Loyola, Calvert Hall and Archbishop Curley once again have formidable sides to bring a high level of play to every game. Who is bringing that quality level is different, which should make the season fun, unpredictable and, once again, stellar. Gone are, among others, Chris Agorsor and Andrew Bulls at McDonogh; Calvert Hall's Christian Barreiro and Loyola's Steele Stanwick.

Asked to step up and do more are the likes of McDonogh's Julian Griggs and Mamadou Kansaye; Mount St. Joseph's Greaton Caltabiano; and Loyola's Matt Jablonski and Tim Peitsch.

As for a freshman to watch? Mount St. Joseph forward Jalen Robinson answered that emphatically with a fine two-goal effort in the Gaels' 3-1 win at Curley on Wednesday. More answers will continue to pour in starting this afternoon when Calvert Hall travels to Loyola at 4.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Today’s Varsity page includes a Q&A with Loch Raven field hockey goalie Kirsten Kyne, who played hockey in Europe this summer on a Sport EuroTour to England, Belgium and Holland. In each country, she and her teammates conducted a camp and played matches.

Here is more of my interview with Kyne, a 17-year-old senior who also plays for the Hymax club team, talking about her field hockey career.

On the EuroTour:

What’s different about their style of play in the countries you visited?

It was a lot faster and they stayed really spread out (on the field) and they also lift the ball a lot more than any team I’ve ever played. They [played] to have fun. They didn’t get very intense about it. They had fun with it. They were relaxed.

What did you bring back from that experience that you can apply to your game?

I learned some new diving techniques and I also learned to speak to my field players more than I had in the past and that’s actually already helped improve my game a lot.

On her path to goalie:

How did you get started in field hockey?

In gym class in 6th grade. I liked it more than soccer and my friends and I decided to switch. I played soccer for nine years before.

What did you like about field hockey?

I think I was just getting tired of soccer and I wanted something new.

How did you end up in the goal?

We didn’t have a goalie during my 8th grade year and I volunteered and I ended up being good, so I played all season. Then I tried out for a club team that winter and I made that and I was hooked from then on.

On playing the position:

What do you think is the biggest challenge in being a goalie?

Not knowing where the ball is going to go sometimes and trying to get your defense to listen to you and mark up. But my defense has gotten a lot better at that and it’s really helpful having a good D.

Talk about the mental challenge of the position?

I’ve learned to block out all other noises except for the whistle and the stick hitting the ball, so I’ve also been able to zone it out so I only see the field and I don’t see anything else. I’ve learned to relax and not get too hyped up about it and that helps a lot.

You can do a little bit more as goalie this season with stopping the ball, can’t you? Some rules have changed?

Yes. You’re not allowed to bat at the ball with your hand or stick but you’re allowed to guide it in different places instead of just letting it drop right at your feet. It gives you more control because when you let it just drop, then you’re all frantic trying to kick the ball too. But if you guide it, you can get it out to the side easier.

More questions:

Do you want to play in college?

Yes. I’m starting to narrow down schools and so that’s really helpful. I’m down to four or fivish, right now. I’m looking small Division III.

What’s your most prized possession and why?

My new goalie stick. I had been looking for three years for a new stick and I could not find one that I like. Over in Amsterdam, I found my new stick and I fell in love with it. It’s my new baby. Also, the necklace my mom got me for Christmas two years ago. It says "GK60" and it’s my lucky necklace. (It stands for Goal Keeper No. 60.)

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

From the simply-not-fair department:

McDonogh senior soccer standout Megan Gibbons won't have the chance to help the No. 1-ranked Eagles bring home an IAAM A Conference championship, which they have been methodically building toward since a young group of freshmen came together four years ago.

During the preseason, Gibbons partially tore her anterior cruciate ligament in one of those fluky, non-contact deals during practice. She had a tough choice to make -- try to play through the injury and hope for no more substantial damage or have surgery and see a promising senior season come to an abrupt end before it started.

Gibbons, who is set to play at Maryland next fall, wisely chose the latter and will have surgery in a few weeks. McDonogh coach Maurice Boylan Jr. strongly supported Gibbons' decision by telling her how hard she has worked over the years at the ultimate goal of playing college ball.

A fast and highly-skilled wing midfielder who puts pressure on defenses every time she touches the ball, Gibbons is greatly missed on the field. The Eagles don't have to look far to find her, however, as she has continued to be part of the team with encouraging support on the sidelines.

Here's hoping Gibbons gets back to her usual high level sooner rather than later and goes on to have a fine career for the Terrapins.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Right now, Bailey Webster has to feel as if she is the grand prize in a really big sweepstakes.

Last season’s All-Metro Volleyball Player of the Year and the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year, Webster is now a senior at St. Paul’s and college coaches are in hot pursuit.

This week, the 6-foot-3 outside hitter was named by PrepVolleyball.com as the top recruit in the country for the Class of 2009.

Four colleges remain in the running to sign Webster, said St. Paul’s coach Kelli Wilkinson: Texas, Florida, Stanford and Alabama. Webster will visit each one over the next four weekends. Wilkinson said the coaches from Alabama and Stanford both have been in town in the last week.

"It’s a whirlwind," said Wilkinson, "but how often do you get to coach the No. 1 recruit in the country?"

Webster’s stock was already high with her immense presence at the net and her 6.38 kills per game average from a year ago when she led the Gators to the IAAM A Conference championship. Over the summer, she rose to another level, making the junior national team and helping it win the gold medal at the NORCECA World Championship in Mexico in July.

Not much changed when she returned to the Gator green. In her first two matches this season, both three-game sweeps, Webster had 47 kills – a 7.8 per game average.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

At first glance, River Hill boys soccer coach Matt Shagogue had some concerns when he saw his No. 2 Hawks set to open the season against No. 5 Bel Air on Monday with Howard County rival Mount Hebron do up the very next day.

It all worked out favorably though. The Hawks played exceptionally well in a 4-0 win, got every player on the field and each left without injury. After the game, Shagogue said it turned out beneficial to get the positive effort from his Hawks and enter today's big game against the Vikings feeling good about themselves.

There's another side to the argument, however. Would it be more beneficial to have a light practice to prepare for a big county or league foe? How tired are the legs after playing an actual game? And what about the emotional factor as far as having to get up for big games on consecutive days.

The Archbishop Spalding girls soccer team ran into a similar situation on two occasions last year. Midway through the season, the Cavaliers, then ranked No. 1, took a long ride to McLean, Va., to take on Potomac, winning comfortably, 5-0, before having to get right back on the bus the next day to face IAAM A Conference foe Pallotti -- settling for a 1-1 overtime tie that put the team's mark at 9-0-1.

Later in the season, the Cavaliers traveled to Frederick to take on Thomas Johnson, getting another win, and then had to take the long jaunt to Bel Air to face fellow IAAM power John Carroll. In a gutty effort, the Cavaliers fell, 1-0, to end their 37-game unbeaten streak and lose out on the regular-season league title and the top seed.

Spalding coach Bob Dieterle likes the steady flow of challenges, but sometimes they could simply be better timed. Had the Cavs not had games the previous night before the important conference contests, he would have had light practices with more tactical work. Spalding will find itself in the same spot later this month when it hosts state power Good Counsel Sept. 22 and then has to come right back and play top-ranked McDonogh. Fortunately for the Cavs, that is a home game so this time they won't have to travel.

- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Mary Rivera and Carli Swift have spent a lot of time on the hockey field together. Teammates on Westminster’s 1996 state championship team, the two started playing the game as eight graders. Now they coach rival Carroll County high school teams.

"She’s actually the one that got me to play field hockey," said Swift, who went on to play at Maryland. "She just said, ‘I think I’m going to play field hockey in the fall,’ and I said, ‘OK, me too.’ I never would have thought about it if she hadn’t."

Back then, the two were known as Mary Dickensheets and Carli Harris. When they got to Westminster it was a state field hockey powerhouse and they helped keep it that way.

Yesterday, the two were back on the field at Westminster High School, but this time, on opposite sides. Rivera coaches her alma mater and Swift coaches Winters Mill, which is also located in Westminster. While they squared off as JV coaches four years ago, this was the first time they had met as varsity head coaches. Swift took over at Winters Mill last fall, but she got married and was on her honeymoon when the Falcons played Westminster, where Rivera has been head coach for three years.

The first victory in the varsity coaching "rivalry" went to Rivera, whose Westminster team dominated en route to a 3-0 victory. During the game, there was plenty of friendly banter between the two coaches.

How do the long-time friends like coaching against each other?

"I like it, but I don’t," said Rivera. "It’s fun. You still have that competitive drive and everything else but at the same time, you want their team to do good too, because you’re friends. I’d rather coach against someone I didn’t know."

Swift agreed that it’s a balance.

"It’s fun. We call each other and talk after games about who we’ve played and who we’re going to play. We joke around, but at the same time, we’re still both very competitive."

No matter what happens, they are still friends at the end of the day – a good example for their players to emulate.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The phone call on Friday's busy opening night of high school football came to The Sun's sports desk between 9 and 10. Douglass rookie coach Steve Simmons was obviously proud and elated when he passed on word that his Ducks came away with a 14-8 overtime win against Carver. The win featured drama, resiliency and plenty of heroics.

Simmons talked about the poise of his quarterback Carlos Crossland, who connected with DeAngelo Johnson for a two-yard touchdown in the final minute and then found him again for the two-point conversion to tie the score at 8. On defense, Cleveland Williams made the big play, forcing a fumble in overtime that set the stage for Crossland to hit Roland Brandon with an eight-yard touchdown to win the game.

A cup is annually presented to the winner of the game and it had been awhile since Douglass had proud possession. After going 1-9 last season -- the win coming by forfeit against Crossland -- the Ducks already have matched the effort and have proof to show for it.

- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Opening day of any sports season rarely features top-notch league contests, but Carroll County’s field hockey teams dove right into the thick of things Friday – with results that could make a big difference in the county race come October.

No. 10 Century and No. 11 Winters Mill, sort of co-favorites in preseason, both lost by the narrowest of margins on Friday to the other two top contenders. No. 15 North Carroll and unranked Westminster, which graduated 12 seniors, were expected to be in the four-team race, but they upended it right from the get-go. North Carroll nipped Winters Mill in penalty strokes and Westminster edged Century, 2-1, in overtime.

The next round comes today when Westminster plays host to Winters Mill at 4 p.m. Then, North Carroll plays Century a week from tomorrow.

Not all of the fireworks will end in the first two weeks though. The final meeting among the big four doesn’t come until North Carroll plays host to Westminster on Oct. 17, the last day of the Panthers’ season.

-- Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Tomorrow is supposed to be a very big day for many high school soccer and field hockey teams with dozens of tournaments scheduled all across the area. But an unwanted visitor named Hanna just might wash out the entire schedule -- football games and all.

With Tropical Storm Hanna expected to blow through central Maryland late tonight and tomorrow, heavy rain and high winds could make it impossible to play anything even on artificial turf.

Hanna’s timing really stinks, because some of these soccer and hockey tournaments feature excellent matchups and many of them may not be able to be rescheduled. It takes a lot of work to run a tournament and even more to move one – along with a little luck to find the same hole in the schedule for all the teams involved.

Teams already have two games scheduled for most weeks during the season, so to add a tournament would bring the week total to four, but public school soccer and field hockey teams are not allowed to play four games in a single week.

Most of the tournaments, and the football games, scheduled to be played in Baltimore County have been canceled or postponed. County coordinator of athletics Ron Belinko said he has recommended it

"Why wait until tomorrow morning when it’s raining," said Belinko. "This forecast looks like it’s 150 percent certain."

In Eastern Baltimore County and other coastal communities, bad memories remain of the last tropical system that washed out high school games – Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

During her visit to Maryland, Isabel, which came ashore in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane, caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage with a storm surge that flooded coastal areas from Havre de Grace to Annapolis.

But for the comparatively insignificant world of high school sports, Isabel wasn’t as damaging to the schedule as Hanna might be. Isabel struck on a Thursday night and Friday, Sept. 18 and 19. Schools closed both days, but Isabel didn’t hit a big tournament weekend. Regular-season games are more easily rescheduled.

Fortunately, it appears that Hanna will move out of here quickly, bringing a sunny Sunday to dry fields for next week's competition. We sure don't want to do this again next week, so here’s hoping Hanna takes her younger siblings Ike and Josephine with her.

--Katherine Dunn

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Are you ready for some football?

Really, it's a dumb question that never needs to be asked in football-crazed America. Here, the high school season kicks off this weekend and no team is more ready than the top-ranked Dunbar Poets. The two-time defending Class 1A state champs -- winners of five state crowns overall and led by two-time All-Metro Offensive Player of the Year Tavon Austin -- will get a stern season-opening test tomorrow when they travel to Prince George's County to take on fellow perennial state power Gwynn Park. Game time is set for 2 p.m. in Brandywine.

Dunbar coach Lawrence Smith is excited about the challenge presented by the Yellow Jackets, who won a state title in 2006 and are ranked 15th in the state by MDVarsity.com. It's a chance for Smith to see what his team is made of right out of the gate and prep for league foes like Edmondson, City and Poly.

"We're really excited. Gwynn Park is always one of the better teams in the state, so we'll have to play an error-free game and hope to come out with a victory," Smith said.

That was the case last season when the Poets earned a 27-6 win against Gwynn Park, getting the Poets primed for a 14-0 season that culminated in a 58-34 win over Allegany in the title game.

With the anticipation and excitement of the season opener continuing to build, Smith is trying to keep his Poets grounded, downplaying the hype and keeping them focused on the task at hand. His pre-game message to his squad will be straight to the point: "I'm basically going to tell my guys that everybody is coming at us with their A game and the biggest thing is that it's easier to become a champion than to stay a champion," he said.

-- Glenn Graham

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)