Exciting times ahead for Sarasota sports

I’m not much of a New Year’s resolutions guy.

I believe people should make changes in their lives if and when they are ready to make them, not on an arbitrary date on the calendar. The changes are more likely to stick if you’re making them for yourself, and not because it’s a socially cool thing to do for the month of January before dropping them.

At this time of year, instead of resolutions, I get excited about looking ahead in my life.

The past 12 months have flipped the script on my life, mostly in a positive way. If the next 12 are anything similar, I can’t wait to find out what is in store for me. There are a few things in particular that I’m interested to experience in the new year.

The biggest thing? Orioles spring training baseball at Ed Smith Stadium.

I mentioned in my debut column that I grew up an Orioles fan in Maryland. I’ve taken in hundreds of O’s games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and elsewhere around the United States. The one thing I always wanted to do growing up was travel to Sarasota for a week or two and take in spring training.

I imagined myself as Jimmy Fallon’s character from the 2005 movie “Fever Pitch,” in which he plays an obsessed Boston Red Sox fan who travels to spring training every season. He and his friends don’t just watch the games, they scout the players, just in case management ever asks for their opinion.

I may not be scouting players this year, but I will get to live out a childhood fantasy, and that’s pretty cool.

Riverview football will have my eye in 2017 as well. The Rams surpassed all expectations last year, winning their first playoff game since 2004. They lose senior quarterback Mike Welcer to graduation, though, and he was a large part of their success. Riverview beat teams on the ground, and Welcer’s legs were enough of a threat to open up the offense on option plays. They’ll need to develop someone who can replace that production.

On the plus side, running back Ali Boyce will be a junior, and the team can lean on him when it needs tough yards. The defense should be stout. They lose the do-it-all Vince Sellers and hard-hitting linebacker A.J. Franco, but the Rams rotated 20 players on defense, so they should have enough depth to be OK.  

If they make the playoffs again in 2017, the school deserves credit for sticking with head coach Todd Johnson through some down seasons. He looks to have the program on the rise.

I’m also excited for the World Rowing Championships, coming Sept. 23 to Nathan Benderson Park. I’ll be honest, though. I’m more excited for the spectacle than the actual rowing. Fans from across the globe will be in attendance, bringing their culture with them. Learning about different culture through observation, watching people as they cheer on their friends and family, is something I find fascinating. My goal is to talk to one person from each country represented at the championships.

Mostly, though, I’m excited about meeting more of you all. I started at the Observer on Sept. 22, and my readers have been nothing but supportive. All the area schools have been a dream to work with, a welcome change from the team I covered at my last stop. Anyone who sends me stats and scores, you’re more helpful than you know. The people of Sarasota who I’ve met have all been affable, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed getting to know the community.  

It’ll get a bit colder though, right? I’m still a Maryland man at heart. I need my winters to feel like winter.

Oh well. Maybe I will make one resolution — take advantage of pools being open all year. That’s not a bad trade-off with the weather.