with Michael Betteridge History Doesn’t Repeat Itself… Sports Columnists Do High school fall sports in November means playoffs, and the playoff structure is always a moving target.  The governing body of high school sports, the MPSSAA (Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association), determines which schools are in the four divisions: 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A.…

with Michael Betteridge What Happened To Mountainball? High school sports opened the fall season officially on Tuesday, September 3, with golf, soccer, and volleyball. The following day, girls flag football and field hockey kicked off. The opening fall season sports week continued on Friday, September 6, with football, and then cross-country track on Saturday, September…

with Michael Betteridge If Rodeo Was Easy, They’d Call It FootballMy 21-year-old granddaughter, Maida, lives on a farm up in Ortanna, Pennsylvania. She is an accomplished barrel racer, competing often at the Chambersburg Saddle Club. For many years, I coached her brother, Stephen, in Fairfield youth football. My daughter, Corinne, their mother, and her family…

with Michael Betteridge For the second year in a row, I had the honor of broadcasting the Thurmont Little League All-Stars Maryland District 2 tournament. It was amazing to watch this special group of community leaders, parents, and young boys. The time, dedication, and organization that goes into making these tournaments a reality is commendable.…

with Michael Betteridge High school sports fans, now that the high school sports season has ended, let’s put a ribbon on the 2023-24 high school sports season with a few highlights, our local athletes of the year, and a personal July reflection. 2023-24 Season Highlights Football Best Cougars football game of the year: September 22,…

with Michael Betteridge Catoctin High School spring sports began with some pretty big news. With the retirement of Athletic Director Keith Bruck, who moved up north to take over at Fairfield, Catoctin began the search process for a new athletic director.  Since WTHU arrived on the sports scene in 2008, Catoctin High School has had…

with Michael Betteridge Memo to Catoctin Athletics: Do NOT schedule any baseball or softball games at Boonsboro next year! Last year, two remarkable Catoctin teams—baseball and softball—rode the bus all the way down to the tiny little town founded by Daniel Boone’s cousin, William Boone. That little Washington County town of Boonsboro was the scene…

with Michael Betteridge March is always depicted as such an angry month. After all, March is actually named after the god of war: Mars. This came from the Roman calendar, and modern historians know that because their military campaigns began in March. The original pre-Julian calendar didn’t even bother to name the winter months. They…

with Michael Betteridge Summer Is Here… Let’s Celebrate Most of us have seen the silly antics of NFL football players doing their handshakes, dances, and performances in the end zone after a touchdown. It’s not sports, it’s performance art at its finest. It started out with the “spike” years ago; at first, the officials threw…

with Michael Betteridge What Are They Putting In the Food at Catoctin High School? Whatever they are feeding those kids up in Thurmont, it’s working. Two out of the four spring sports teams at Catoctin (baseball, softball, lacrosse, and tennis) are in first place, and the third team of the four, boy’s lacrosse, is in…

with Michael Betteridge There Is Something Special Happening on Sabillasville Road It’s not like Catoctin Baseball Coach Mike Franklin has never been mentioned here on these pages before. Coach Franklin is in his 24th season coaching Catoctin baseball. He was honored here in the Banner as Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coach of the Year in…

with Michael Betteridge “How Do We Measure Success?” What has been the most successful team in Catoctin Cougars’ history? Was it the 1986 football team, or that amazing 2009 football team, or the 2019 football team winning it all over again a decade later in Coach Doug Williams’ last game? Perhaps, it was the 2013-14…