The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

On this day, it didn't matter from what side of the bridge one came
Playoff games offered fans a chance to root for Garrett County

Commentary by Tara Fike
March 10 -- We ALL knew that it was going to be a special day, but little did we know how exceptionally special it would become. It began with glitter glue…red AND blue. It was with much self-discipline that I only painted my daughters face and not my own. “NHS” in blue on the right, “SHS” in red on the left. REALLY? I laughed out loud as I looked as her. (After all, she can get away with it (I hoped), she is 5).

Again...a special day. It wasn’t until just now that I realized how significant that glitter paint positioning would be.

Upon arriving, the ushers at Frederick Community College directed us to the right for Northern…but then added, that Southern fans would be seated on the left side, for the later game. A tad inconvenient, but whatever. We filtered to the right. How fitting that the Northern side reminded me of an American flag…BLUE, WHITE and oh, yes...RED! RED? Yes, RED…and more than you may think!

I fear that I may break some sort of sports journalistic integrity laws here, being that I am not a journalist, so I must direct you to the sports pages of The Republican, Phdispatch.com, and The Cumberland Times News, for the better than wonderful coverage of the games. To which, I’m very sure you have already read.

One thing that they may not report, though...was the HEART. You see, the Northern Huskies aren’t just friends; they are an amazing group of ATHLETES that have trained hard for many years - TOGETHER! They fought hard for this day and deserved to squeeze every bit of excitement out of it that it could possibly bring. What a pleasure and honor it has been to watch these girls play, (*ahem*) I mean ladies. They define the true spirit of the game and they certainly are “all in.” Kaitlynn, Terra, Morgan, Allison, Kiersten and the rest of your amazing team, you may not have had the height, but you had the FIGHT…and that is all that you needed! I must admit that I didn’t see many dry eyes in the house when the Husky’s fought and brought that BIG win.

So that extraordinary Northern game was over. Wait, what do we have to do? Oh yes, change sides….right! As we got up to move, WE ALL GOT UP TO MOVE. Leaving was apparently not an option for the Northern fans. It was a little hard not to giggle, when I realized what was happening. (Frederick Community College really should have planned ahead on this one.)

We ALL moved to the other side and found our places…yet again. And again, the American Flag-like colors, blanketed the bleachers except this time it was on the LEFT instead of the RIGHT. RED, WHITE...BLUE. The Husky team positioned - front row, the amazing and infamous SHS bleacher/sixth man crew (newspapers in the pockets, I am sure), in close proximity.

It was another amazing game, but unfortunately, just short of a win. In the words of Pete Brosnihan - one of the Northern coaches, “Southern boys, you played your butts off.” No truer words have ever been spoken. I’m not one to cry foul (pardon the pun), but Calvin’s Globetrotter-esque drive to the net, near the end of the game, was NOT A WALK.

That referee obviously doesn’t watch much good basketball. I’m just sayin’. He must have been so surprised at his amazing display of fundamental skills, that he accidentally blew his whistle. He had to “save-face” by calling something. You have to admit that you don’t see many refs blow the whistle and yell, “Oops! Never Mind, MY BAD!” We could have only been so lucky.

Nice to watch Wyatt “McThree”, Joey, DREW (*we all know how we say it: “Druuuuuuuuuuuu!”*), Calvin, D.J., and Kurt and the rest of that amazing group of boys, (*ahem*) I mean men, have such an amazing season.

So, with 3:00 or so left in the game, Williamsport was on a good run, with a lot of momentum. The Southern crowd hits a dramatic and obvious lull. One person from the crowd gets up and runs across that gymnasium. She is waving her hands in the air, in an attempt to get them back in the game. Who was it? Kaitlynn Fratz, point guard for the Northern Huskies. I have never witnessed or been more proud of such a grand display of sportsmanship.

The bridge…well, on this day at least, it was a bridge that brought us together, not divided us. We “bridged” that gap. Rivals? Not on Saturday, 3/5/11, at least.

We ALL knew that it was going to be a special day, but little did we know how exceptionally special it would become.

Tara Fike
Bruceton Mills, W.Va.

The writer's son is a student-athlete at Southern Garrett. Her husband is a Northern Garrett alum.