Altered States No. 6

Altered States, No. 6
February 27, 2009

So another basketball playoff season has now started, and if last night is any indication this one could be fun.

I was at Northern, where the Patriots knocked off Largo. Our Prince George’s Content Manager James McCray III was at Westlake where the Wolverines fell just short of the Wolverines of Potomac. So now we get to see the Patriots at No. 1 seed Friendly and Potomac at No. 2 seed Lackey on Monday. And rest assured, these aren’t the usual first-round type of games for the 3A South’s top seeds.

Had the opportunity to go up to the Prince George’s County championship games on Wednesday with McCray, and something again struck me. The gap that used to be a canyon separating SMAC from the P.G. County in basketball circles isn’t nearly as wide as it used to be. When I look at the 3A South bracket this year, I see six or seven teams that could realistically win it depending on how the cards fall. That wasn’t the case in the recent past.

And thinking of that, I think the 4A East and 2A South are going to be pretty competitive on the boys side, too.

On other fronts, there’s been and will be a bunch of college signings this week and next. Among them, Patuxent receivers Justin Ford and Eric Farmer are headed to Shepherd and Kyle Catterton earned the proud distinction of becoming the first North Point football player to sign. Catterton will be playing for Viriginia State.

And thinking of football, I just can’t believe that Brian Dawkins might be going to Denver …