SPORTS TALK
with Michael Betteridge
Confession Is Good for the Soul
Traditionally in this column, I’ve always reserved January as a time to look back at the last year, to take stock of the new year, and to make some bold predictions. Let’s take that journey together again.
For the past several months in this column, I have tried to make sense of a disappointing 2024 sports season at Catoctin, especially after so many successes in 2023. But I think we can encapsulize the Catoctin High School sports season last year into two simple words: challenges and changes.
Challenges in 2024
Star basketball and softball player Taylor Smith suffered a devastating knee injury on March 9 in a state basketball quarterfinal. Catoctin lost a leader on the hardwoods and the softball diamond.
Sensational football and baseball player Logan Malachowski suffered a knee injury snowboarding, which effectively ended his promising baseball season. Another leader watches from the sidelines.
Catoctin baseball was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Brunswick. Catoctin softball was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Liberty.
Catoctin football, following a disappointing three-win season, was eliminated in the first round by Boonsboro.
Changes in 2024
Athletic Director Keith Bruck retired.
New Athletic Director Brett Campbell arrived from Waldorf, Maryland.
Head Basketball Coach Zach Woodward resigned.
New Head Basketball Coach Mike Wagner from everywhere arrived.
And, finally, the BIG change…after taking over the reins of our 2019 championship football team, Head Coach Mike Rich has resigned.
Coach Mike, a man of strong Christian faith, faced adversity from the start. He watched helplessly as COVID claimed his first season. He struggled to put together a makeup spring team, with football players in masks staring at empty stands. He battled against disappointing key injuries and a schedule that would make the best teams weak in the knees, yet he never let down. He looked for the positive in everything and kept battling each day to make his guys better men and better football players. Coach Mike was also watching his two beautiful little girls growing up fast and realized his time with them was limited, so he made the right decision: family first! Congratulations and thank you Coach Mike for being an inspiration to all of us.
Last year, spending more time with my family was one of my New Year’s resolutions. As I have mentioned, I am great at making them and terrible at keeping them. Coach Mike made a resolution that is focused on the right priorities!
My resolution for the New Year: Never make any sports predictions in this column again.
Last January, I was one for three in my predictions for 2024: Catoctin girls basketball didn’t make it back to States. Catoctin baseball didn’t beat Clear Spring; it was Boonsboro instead. Catoctin softball didn’t repeat in the state championship. And, finally, a special thanks to Deb Spalding, who is having a blast in Arizona, and who kept me from a complete prediction embarrassment.
Speaking of predictions…there is something that I must come clean with, so I will bare my soul here. I love watching football on TV and listening to it on the radio in my car. But when a game is “out of reach,” I tune out. Knowing this, we always attempt to bring you the most competitive sports broadcast we can, which requires an ability to predict outcomes. Every week, my broadcast team and I sit down and talk about which game will fit that category. We discuss at great length, and then we pick our “game of the week.”
This football season was a miserable failure for me, with six shutouts and seven running clocks and a combined 208 to 19 score in five football playoff games, with all five games in a fourth quarter running clock gasser! And the next to the last game, we broadcasted in a 38-degree, 20-knot hurricane on the roof of a metal press box. The worst game of my broadcast life! We were knocked off the air five times that evening in Berlin, Maryland. Talk about poor choices!
Oh well, they say confession is good for the soul. So, my final resolution is to try to do better picking games to broadcast. If my resolution history holds true, I’ll just make it through basketball season.
Happy New Year!+
