It is playoff time in high school basketball. A time for the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat to quote the old "Wide World of Sports" program. Afterall, only one team can win a state title in each bracket, everyone else finishes behind them. Going in, three area teams are ranked number one in their respective brackets. The Villa girls are tops in AA, Mercyhurst Prep girls number one in AAA and the General McLane Boys top the charts in AAA. Plus, other area teams, like the North East Boys at 21-1, the McDowell boys at 21-2 and the Girard girls are state ranked with high expectations in the post-season. I'm pretty sure we'll at least get one or two teams to State College in mid-March for the PIAA Finals. It should be a lotta fun over the next few weeks following these teams try to finish things off with a championship.

Now,one other post-season thought, off the court. Let the players play and the coaches coach. I've seen a few fans (probably parents) in past years, take things a little too seriously at this time of the year. Yelling at the officials or the coach or even your own son or daughter, making a fool of yourself before thousands. Remember why your son or daughter got into sports in the first place. Keep it in perspective. Sometimes the kids keep it in perspective better than the adults this time of year. Don't blame the media if your favorite team loses. We don't make up the hilites or final score, we just report on who wins and who loses. (I had one phone call telling me we were unfair to their team when they lost by 23 points) It's pretty simple, keep it that way and you'll have a lotta fun in the next month.