An open letter to 2018 on the state of area sports

Ah, 2018.

You feel the same as 2017 did to me, at least for now. That might be a good thing, though, because you have big footsteps to follow. (Am I mixing phrases here? Perhaps, but it’s my column, so, you know.)

2017 brought some of the best high school sporting events I’ve ever seen. How can you top watching Sarasota High’s Jaasiel Torres leap 300 feet (approximately) in the air to bring home a state title? Or having the Riverview High boys swim team win its fourth consecutive state title? Fourth! That’s amazing! What about the Sarasota High baseball team’s incredible run to the Final Four, or the Booker High boys basketball team’s resurgence, or the Cardinal Mooney High volleyball team’s turnaround, or the Riverview football team’s playoff run, or ...

Sorry. This isn’t about 2017, is it? Didn't mean to offend. It’s about you, 2018, and what you’ll bring folks over the course of your 12 months. Some of it, the winter sports, is carrying over to January. The Booker boys basketball team is undefeated as of this writing, and with a roster that talented, it might stay undefeated a while. Like, long past a lot of people’s New Year’s Resolution expiration dates. (Don’t get me started on those.)

February is around the bend, and that means spring training is, too. Last year, I was lucky enough to take in a youth day at Ed Smith Stadium and write about how the whole thing made me feel like a kid again. I can’t wait to return.

Also, I know it just ended, but I can’t wait for the high school football season. I’m a sucker for the fresh uniforms; the running of the team through blow-up mascot heads or with sledgehammers or what-have-you;, the anticipation before the first snap of the season, with both teams staring at each other, preparing to physically dominate, and then one of them failing to do so, and the other entering euphoria. It’s the best theater on Earth.

Before then, 2018, you’re still gifting us with plenty. Both the Riverview and Cardinal Mooney lacrosse programs proved their potency last year, and this year they hope to take the next step, from “good” to “great,” while earning respect from around the state. I hope they do, and that it keeps catching on with our area’s young athletes. Then there’s the track and field season, where Sarasota’s Ben Hartvigsen will try to match his cross country state title with one in what he calls his primary sport.

Then there’s the summer, when, uh ... well, we’ll get through that together. Somehow.

One last thing, 2018, before I hit send. As stated above, I’m not huge on the whole “resolutions” movement, but I will make a promise to readers, and it’s this: I’m going to get weird this year. I don’t know with what, exactly. Or when. It’ll happen, though. That means more stuff like rappers writing songs for their former teams, or asking older runners why the heck they continue to run.

Here’s to a great 12 months, 2018. Hope you live up to the hype.