Coverage update • July 2024
When you come to a fork in the road, take it
Even after all these years of writing about local sports I’m still caught off guard at times when someone recognizes me or remembers my name.
I know, I know: My name was at the top of the 10,000 or so stories which appeared in the local newspaper over the decades; my likeness appeared on billboards and once was even plastered on the side of delivery trucks in order to promote the product.
These days you might notice my name on the sports shirts I wear to games; gotta promote the website, you know.
Still, I was a little surprised as I settled into my seat in the press box at Hershey’s Memorial Field last month when the guy seated next to me said: “Hey, it’s Mike Drago.”
I didn’t recognize him but it turns out we had met more than 40 years earlier: Jeff Gergic played shortstop for Hershey High School in 1982 when I was covering the team for the Lebanon Daily News.
That Hershey team was one you don’t forget: The kids kept pulling out close games and unexpectedly advanced all the way to the PIAA championship game, which they won, 5-4. Along the way they beat Muhlenberg, which had a shortstop by the name of Brian Kopetsky (now the Muhls’ head coach).
Gergic is now the head baseball coach at Hershey. Bumping into him was one of those full-circle moments, the kind that make you reflect on life, and a fitting way to close out the baseball season – my last season covering baseball, as it turns out.
After nearly 45 years of chasing deadlines, of late late-night hours, of working weekends, of missing family events, of missing the chance to be a fan, I’ve decided to back off a little.
I am not retiring – heck, I’ve already started prepping for the football season and have written several stories geared for the 2024 season. I have a long list of preseason stories I can’t wait to tackle.
I remain committed to providing the most in-depth coverage of Berks high school football possible; once again this season we will be covering every team, every game, every week. No one in Berks County comes close to that kind of sideline-to-sideline coverage.
We’re also expanding the coverage to include Livestream games each weekend; we’ve got a 20-game schedule planned.
As far as the other sports, namely basketball and baseball — games I’ve been deeply connected with for decades — it’s time to step back a little.
When it comes to covering a sports beat I’ve never been able to do it halfway. I’m all-in, all the time. That’s the biggest reason I launched this website three years ago: It gave me an opportunity to cover high school sports the way I believe they should be covered, top to bottom, inside and out, 24/7. It’s what sports fans want and what I think they deserve.
That’s why I couldn’t stay at my old job. I wasn’t about to do things half-assed. That’s not my part of my DNA.
This kind of commitment to a job comes at a price: You miss a lot of other stuff.
I love college basketball but I’ve only been to the Palestra twice. The first time I saw some skinny kid for Navy drop 50 points on Drexel. His name was David Robinson; you might’ve heard of him.
I need to get back to the Palestra, to visit the Dean Dome, Cameron Indoor Stadium, see a Big Ten game at Indiana or Wisconsin or Iowa. I can’t do that if I’m out four to five nights a week covering Reading High, Wilson and Berks Catholic – much as I’ve enjoyed that.
I love baseball but covering it full-time, as I did for years with the Reading Phillies, later Fightin’ Phils, and here on the high school level, doesn’t leave much time to do a baseball road trip. I want to see the Giants’ Oracle Park, the new Yankee Stadium, make a return visit to Wrigley Field, make more frequent visits to Camden Yards.
Not complaining; it’s all been a thrill.
Watching Bob Rentschler orchestrate Oley Valley to three PIAA baseball championships in the 1980’s was like watching Bruce Springsteen create a song in the studio: pure mastery.
Watching Lonnie Walker IV run the court was exhilarating; seeing him lead Reading to its first state championship in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Giant Center was a moment in time we’ll never forget. And then to see the Red Knights do it a couple years later, defying all the odds against a stacked Archbishop Caroll team, was even more amazing.
I’ve interviewed more than two dozen baseball Hall of Famers. I count them off each summer as they’re introduced in Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame ceremony: Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Rollie Fingers, Fergie Jenkins, Bob Feller, Willie Stargell, Tom Seaver, Rickey Henderson . . . You can’t put a price tag on an experience like that.
That said, there are other things I’d like to do now. I’ve visited France, Spain and Portugal in recent years but there are a whole lot of other European destinations on my bucket list that need to be checked off.
I want to spend more time with family . . . play more pickleball . . . sit on the beach and listen to the waves crash . . . maybe even read a book.
And continue writing one. I’m far from done putting my name at the top of each story, it’s just time to do that a little less often.
MikeDragoSports.com remains committed to providing the most in-depth coverage of Berks football: Every team, every game, every week.
Coverage of the 2024 Lancaster-Lebanon League season is already underway.
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