A little of this and a little of that in sports

It’s been a while since I have commented on anything in the world of sports. The winter sports season, although it still feels like winter, is over and the bats, gloves, javelins and shot puts are out.


First off, congrats to the Columbia athletes for all the hard work they put in over the winter. They worked hard and improved as the season went on.

Second, congrats to senior wrestler Marcus Fischer, for representing Columbia at the state wrestling championships.

Yes, it was not all rosy for the winter sports season in 2010-11, but I prefer to look ahead not back.

A few weeks back, I attended the basketball banquet and a couple of things stuck with me that night.

I, myself have seen it developing this year as well. I think the championship drought on the hill will end next season in a big way. I heard some coaches speak that night and a couple of senior players, about the need to get the “Colunbia Chip” back on our shoulders. Yes, there is the ability to win multiple chanpionships next season, but it comes down to a few things.

One is the off-season commitment of the athletes who will wear the crimson and gold. Not to be labor the point, but championships are not won from September to November or December to February or March to May, they are won on the off-season. That means hard work in the off season. If that happens, only then will the school on the hill have to add banners to the gym rafters.

It’s possible.

There has been a bunch of other things that have happened in the past few weeks/months as well.

First, at the local level.

I had heard the rumors before it became public knowledge that Lancaster Catholic was looking to move from Section 3 to Section 1 in football. Yes, its about time they step up to the plate and make a move that will drastically improve the quality of sports in the L-L League.

Will Columbia miss playing Catholic? Yes, because it was a good rivalry, although Columbia hasn’t beaten then in about eight years.

Will. Catholic succeed in Section 1? It’s a different brand of football, more physical. Would it have been better to jump up to Section 2 first? Probably.

I won’t comment any farther about the “r” issue, but there were some comments made in the newspaper story that was a little upsetting. One was a comment made about the lack of competition in Section 3 as Catholic’s front line players only got to play half a game in league play. I saw a few games where the front line players were in late into the game up 35, 40, 45 points. Not a great way to develop depth for the big move. And if Section 3 hurt them, I thought they did well in the post-season the last two years.

I would hope Catholic would consider a move in basketball as well.

Speaking of moves, heard that Steel-High will be playing Class A in boys’ basketball in the next schedule cycle at the request of the Mid-Penn Conference. They were having trouble scheduling boys’ games in one division/class and girls in another.

Moving back to the L-L League, finally happy to see Hempfield as a new football coach in Ron Zieber, a former coach at Boyertown and Exeter. Don’t know the guy, never heard of him, but he better be the best thing since sliced bread. That’s because of who the Black Knights passed over – Jim Cantafio and Mark Evans.

I thought given the success of the other Hempfield fall programs (state champs in soccer and volleyball), they would make a splash with the football hiring.

Well, they put two solid coaches through the interview ringers, only not to consider either one in the end. Both are solid football minds. Sure, Jimmy C must have had some baggage attached to the old resume, but football-wise, he’s smart. The same goes for Evans, who I happen to think is on the top five of coaches in the L-L League behind Mike Williams and Dave Gingrich.

Given the fact that a new coach wasn’t named until two weeks ago, don’t look for the Black Knights to get back to being winners this season, unless this guy is a miracle worker.

Now finally, the other day I was in a discussion about school colors. The talk centered on how do I want to put it, alterations to those colors. I tend to agree say if a schools are red and black; crimson and gold or purple and gold, that’s what they are. Enough said.