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Some good advice for new year
The region's two revenue sports - football and wrestling - had their share of struggles, while non-revenue teams such as soccer, girls basketball, golf, baseball, softball and track each won team championships and produced a long list of future Division I athletes.
The element of surprise dominated the early months, from the Peters Township girls basketball team advancing to the WPIAL Class AAAA championship to Fort Cherry finally deciding to name its football stadium after its legendary coach, the late Jim Garry.
The spring was packed with good stories.
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The fall months gave us a state playoff run by Peters Township boys and girls soccer and a long list of Division I athletes, from Waynesburg golfer Rachel Rohanna to Chartiers-Houston tennis player Karlyn Timko.
It's been one heckuva year, one that ranks ahead of 2007.
The past year will be difficult to top. How often does a local coach reach 500 career victories? Washington's Ron Faust did so in December, the same month Carmichaels boys basketball coach Don Williams won No. 400.
Yep, 2009 has a tough act to follow.
These New Year's resolutions can serve as an instruction manual to make this year better than the last.
n Resolve to never give up.
Avella's football team did not win a game during the 2008 season. The Eagles only came within 20 points once. But no football team inspired as many people.
Avella battled through player defections - the Eagles' original starting quarterback was crowned homecoming king days after quitting - and several injuries to play in and finish each game on the schedule.
Competing with anywhere from 10 to 18 players, Avella faced impossible odds. Showing up and playing hard, the Eagles earned the respect of every opponent.
n Resolve to make the most of second chances.
To gain entrance into the PIAA Class AAAA baseball playoffs, Canon-McMillan faced an elimination game against North Allegheny. The Big Macs needed extra innings before winning the WPIAL's third-place game by one run.
In the first round, Canon-McMillan played Allderdice.
The Big Macs, superior in talent but playing in the PIAA playoffs for the first time, hardly had the look of a champion in another one-run win. It marked the fourth consecutive one-run game in C-M's postseason.
It also was the last tightly contested game the Big Macs played.
After inching past Allderdice, the Big Macs turned the Quad-A bracket into their personal playground. The Big Macs beat Peters Township by eight runs, Central Mountain by 12 and, finally, Spring-Ford by eight in the state championship game.
n Resolve to experience something new.
Holiday basketball tournaments offer high school teams an opportunity to play opponents from various regions throughout the WPIAL and beyond.
Such tournaments often provide increased competition and a glimpse of what to expect in the postseason.
So what do many local basketball teams do? Play each other.
Does anyone else understand why a four-team tournament would include three teams from the same section? One reason is to pad the win total and the statistics of the leading scorers.
This strategy looks nice heading into postseason play. Too bad it usually results in a first-round exit.
There are reasons why teams from Washington, South Fayette and Monessen annually contend. Look at the schedules. No cupcakes allowed.
n Resolve to lend a helping hand.
Avella football, the most inspirational local sports story of 2008, also provided one the more rousing individual tales.
Anastasia Barr, one of the better players on a solid Avella girls basketball team, supported the football team for weeks as one of the Eagles' cheerleaders. As players defected, Barr offered more than support.
The 5-8 junior joined the team and actually played toward the end of a couple games.
As wrestling teams struggle to fill weight classes and junior high basketball programs dwindle, Barr wanted to, and did do, the right thing.
Hopefully, a few of her classmates got the message.
Mike Kovak can be reached at mkovak@observer-reporter.com.
