NOTE-We at Howard and in the Howard County community have been fortunate to have outstanding coverage of athletics from the Howard County Times staff. They do a phenomenal job of highlighting student athlete’s accomplishments, getting to know the coaches and students they work with, and promoting spirit and spectatorship across the county. They also like to have a little fun, so, it is with that spirit in mind, that we present our season previews:

Tim Schwartz Preview

by Michael Duffy, AAM

Entering his third season working the sports department at the Howard County Times, Tim Schwartz is looking to break through this year.  Tim will again be responsible for covering volleyball, football, wrestling, tennis, and boys’ lacrosse.  After a disappointing 3^rd place finish among favorite Howard County Times sports reporters in 2015-2016, Schwartz feels that this will be his year to stand atop the podium.  When asked what will make this year different, he said, “Sure Monica (D’Ippolito) gets video of every goal, and Brent (Kennedy) has every student in Howard County stalking him; but I believe my postgame interviews will be what puts me over the top.  Neither of them can show the human side of high school athletics like I can.”  He also stated that he bought a new hat and thinks that the wardrobe change could be beneficial to his overall coverage.  “The old one was kind of gross and people could not stop staring at it.  I think it distracted them and the interviews suffered as a result.”

Schwartz, a 2009 Reservoir graduate, believes his success will rest on his ability to improve on last year’s Periscope shortfalls.  “Yeah, I know a lot of times my Periscope skills looked like the phone was attached to my head as I was doing jumping jacks.  I worked all summer on trying to maintain a steady hand while filming.”  Look for Tim’s Periscope coverage during tight games this fall to help him take the next step in his reporting development.

Though no AAMs would speak about him on the record, several did state they felt his coverage had improved since his early years.  Perhaps what will continue to separate him from other reporters is that he has not played favorites and covers all the teams in Howard County.  With his drive to improve and work towards stories that highlight the best in Howard County high school sports, we feel that 2016-2017 could be the year of Tim Schwartz.

Brent Kennedy Preview

by Nick Novak, Principal

Beginning his fifth year as sports editor at the Howard County Times, Brent Kennedy is looking to build on a successful 2015-2016 season that saw him record personal bests in retweets and a county record for number of students “stalking” him on social media and in real life. The 2002 Howard grad will be flexing his journalistic prowess through his coverage of golf, boys soccer, boys basketball, and softball.

Brent is optimistic about fixing some of the mistakes that marred an otherwise flawless season last year. “I spent way too much time last year stuck in traffic when I should have been sitting on the sideline in my lawn chair livetweeting a softball showdown,” Kennedy shared. “I’ve been working over the summer to map out some shortcuts  between schools and I downloaded the Waze app, so I’m hoping you won’t find me caught in a back up on Route 32.”

In addition to focusing on better navigation, Brent is also working to hone his video footage skills. Although he was great about capturing extended moments on Periscope, Kennedy struggled at times to get a clip of the winning goal, the buzzer beater, or the walk off hit. To improve his game, Brent enlisted the help of Howard County Times’ resident expert in this area: Monica D’Ippolito. “Monica has this knack for knowing what’s going to happen before it happens and getting it on film,” Brent said. “I’ve been training with her all off-season and now I’m putting all her tips and suggestions to use on the golf course. It’s a little slower than the other sports, but I’ve already found how easy it is to make sure I get a good angle on recording a drive or taking a picture of a birdie putt.” Kennedy is hopeful that his success will translate to faster paced sports like soccer or basketball saying “I’m hopeful that my success will translate to faster paced sports like soccer or basketball.”

Coaches and AAMs agree that the sky’s the limit for Kennedy this year. With a renewed focus on the details and a social media game that scouts say is ready to blow up in a way we’ve never seen, Brent just might be working towards a unanimous selection to the All-Metro Sports Journalism Team!