Tide almost shocked the world
Once it looked like the Columbia boys’ basketball team was going to qualify for the state playoffs, I started researching what teams the Tide might play.
Two Saturdays ago when Columbia beat Milton Hershey to place third in the District 3 playoffs, I pulled out my file on Strawberry Mansion.
The file included scoring averages, who they played, information on the Public League and that team picture.
When I started showing around the team picture, the reaction was like “some of those guys have to be 30 years old and there’s no way Columbia could hang with them.”
During the course of the season, thanks to our cable system (what someone thanking Comcast these days), I had seen a couple of the better Class AA teams in the state play.
And despite some of the snickers from people, I thought Columbia might have a chance to shock the world on Saturday at South Philadelphia High School. No, I wasn’t smoking anything either.
I just saw our team play with a lot of heart this year and despite being badly under sized, I got geared in for a great afternoon of basketball.
There were some things I knew ahead of time about SM. One, it was there first trip to the state playoffs and I have seen some teams from the Public League just fold up their tents. Two, they probably knew nothing about Columbia, and three they would probably be over confident.
The only concern I had last week was whether or not any fans would want to travel two hours to see the Tide. Thanks to some parents, three fan buses were filled and South Philly High turned into a home game for the Tide.
Despite the odds and the talent at the other end of the floor, the Tide was up to the challenge and as coach Mark Wisler said in the CHS gym afterwards, “Columbia basketball is back on the map,” because of Saturday’s performance.
Not only did the Tide come within a couple of shots from shocking the state, it also showed the state, there’s a pretty good brand of basketball played in these parts.
Just witness what I read on line on Sunday and Monday from Ted Silary from the Philadelphia Daily News. He and the SM players were very complimentary toward our players and fans.
Sure, Columbia basketball really never disappeared from the radar screen at the county, district and state levels. Until Saturday and this year, it was just a little small part on the radar screen.
The work ethic and effort put forth by this team and their coaches this year will long be remembered as one of the best teams to come out of Columbia in a number of years.
I know they’ve probably heard it a thousand times throughout the season and a thousand more times since Saturday, but thanks for the memories.
It was a blast!
There’s no need to hang your heads over anything that happened this season.
Two Saturdays ago when Columbia beat Milton Hershey to place third in the District 3 playoffs, I pulled out my file on Strawberry Mansion.
The file included scoring averages, who they played, information on the Public League and that team picture.
When I started showing around the team picture, the reaction was like “some of those guys have to be 30 years old and there’s no way Columbia could hang with them.”
During the course of the season, thanks to our cable system (what someone thanking Comcast these days), I had seen a couple of the better Class AA teams in the state play.
And despite some of the snickers from people, I thought Columbia might have a chance to shock the world on Saturday at South Philadelphia High School. No, I wasn’t smoking anything either.
I just saw our team play with a lot of heart this year and despite being badly under sized, I got geared in for a great afternoon of basketball.
There were some things I knew ahead of time about SM. One, it was there first trip to the state playoffs and I have seen some teams from the Public League just fold up their tents. Two, they probably knew nothing about Columbia, and three they would probably be over confident.
The only concern I had last week was whether or not any fans would want to travel two hours to see the Tide. Thanks to some parents, three fan buses were filled and South Philly High turned into a home game for the Tide.
Despite the odds and the talent at the other end of the floor, the Tide was up to the challenge and as coach Mark Wisler said in the CHS gym afterwards, “Columbia basketball is back on the map,” because of Saturday’s performance.
Not only did the Tide come within a couple of shots from shocking the state, it also showed the state, there’s a pretty good brand of basketball played in these parts.
Just witness what I read on line on Sunday and Monday from Ted Silary from the Philadelphia Daily News. He and the SM players were very complimentary toward our players and fans.
Sure, Columbia basketball really never disappeared from the radar screen at the county, district and state levels. Until Saturday and this year, it was just a little small part on the radar screen.
The work ethic and effort put forth by this team and their coaches this year will long be remembered as one of the best teams to come out of Columbia in a number of years.
I know they’ve probably heard it a thousand times throughout the season and a thousand more times since Saturday, but thanks for the memories.
It was a blast!
There’s no need to hang your heads over anything that happened this season.
Labels: PIAA playoffs
posted by Tide talk at
3:43 PM
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