The Paul Monitor #2: Lovin’ the Cardinal

First things first — no, this blog will not be about the Arizona Cardinals. Great story in the NFL, but I’m here to talk about the Cardinal District. More specifically, boys basketball in the Cardinal District. 

Okay, gimme a second to set this up. I love my job. I get to watch sports for a living. Problem is, my friends don’t really understand my passion for high school sports. They have boring jobs that force them to wake up early and fight traffic on the way home. Their escape is sports. My life is sports. When they want to talk about Tim Tebow — I wanna talk about Thomas Keith. They want to talk about Clinton Portis. I want to tell them what De’Antwan Williams did last Friday. My girlfriend wants to talk about American Idol. I wanna talk about Danni Jackson. My dogs want to talk about that squirrel in the backyard. I want to — well that squirrel is kinda interesting.

That’s why I’m learning to love this blog. Because, right now, my friends want to talk about the Big East or ACC. I want to talk about the Cardinal District — and if your reading this blog, you probably want to talk about it as well. 

Looking at the standings right now (which you can find here, by the way), C.D. Hylton holds a one-game lead over Woodbridge with a perfect 3-0 record. Everybody else is two games back with a 1-2 record in district play. That doesn’t tell the whole story though, because on any night, any team could win. 

Look at what has already happened three games into the district schedule — pay attention, I’m gonna quiz you afterwards. 

Woodbridge has beaten Freedom and Gar-Field, but lost to C.D. Hylton. 

Gar-Field has lost to Hylton and Woodbridge, but beat Potomac. 

Potomac — they beat Freedom but lost to Forest Park and Gar-Field. 

Forest Park, they beat Potomac but lost to Freedom and Hylton. 

Freedom beat Forest Park and lost to Woodbridge and Potomac. 

C.D. Hylton? They’ve beaten Gar-Field, Woodbridge (by 2) and Forest Park.

Right now it looks like Hylton is the favorite, but what’s gonna happen the next time they play Woodbridge? Can they beat Keith Honore and the Potomac Panthers, who are starting to gel as a team? Do you think Kwasi Amponsah and Jeremiah Johnson from Gar-Field are gonna let the Bulldogs beat them twice? 

These are the questions that I want answered. These are the questions that will be answered over the next month. I can’t wait. 

As you may have noticed, unlike the football season, I have shied away from posting weekly rankings. This was mostly because I didn’t know squat about the teams that I was covering for a good month into the season. After that, it felt like I would be late to the party. 

What’s that? You say you are dying for my opinion? Okay, fine, if you insist. Here’s my top five in Prince William boys basketball right now:

I think C.D. Hylton is the most complete team right now. I believe that Keith Mitchell and Darrell Patterson represent the best one-two punch in Prince William. Woodbridge has the dominant Raphiael Putney and sharpshooter David Thomas. Battlefield is going to win the Cedar Run District by a large margin. Gar-Field has the most exciting player in the district in Amponsah. Potomac is still trying to get into a grove in what should have been a rebuilding year. They get better by the day. 

All that and I haven’t even mentioned the girls side, which has two of the best teams in the state in Forest Park and Stonewall Jackson — not to mention how exciting the young Yellow Jackets are — and how about legendary coach Kendall Hayes coming back to coach the Potomac girls?

I’m rambling now, which means it’s time to bring this blog to a close. 

I’m interested though: Which team tops your list midway through the season? Who is the best player in the district in your eyes? Email me at pfrommelt@digitalsports.com. If you keep it friendly, I’ll post your email next Friday.