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September 7, 2005

Johnny Smith looks ahead to OCHS' 25th anniversary

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


At this time last year there was lots of excitement at Ocean City High School. A long-awaited new building was opening and the first night football game in school history was just days away.

This year things are a bit more normal as seniors, juniors and sophomores return to a school they now know. Only the freshmen are stumbling around, trying to find their way. But it makes you wonder what things will be like around OCHS when the building celebrates its 25th anniversary, in 2029.

So, we called on Johnny Smith, of the successful USA Network summer series, “The Dead Zone”. The character, created by Stephen King and played magnificently by Anthony Michael Hall, can simply shake hands with someone and see things that happened in their past or that will happen in the future. Or he can touch a doorknob or window and get similar visions.

Smith was escorted around Ocean City for a few days, shaking hands and touching objects, trying to get a feel for the future in Ocean City.

And here is what he came up with for 2029.

The school year starts with OCHS principal MIKE PELLEGRINO welcoming everyone back to the school. He promises that the tennis courts across the street will be finished by Halloween.

Football coach GARY DEGENHARDT, who broke John Oberg’s South Jersey record for career wins in 2028, announced that 2029 would be his final season. He is hoping that “handsome, young DOUG COLMAN” would be interested in taking over the Ocean City program. Colman, the head coach of the New York Jets, had no comment.

BUD RINCK flew in from his retirement mansion in Florida on his private jet to open the football season on radio. His normal broadcast partner, BUTCH GLEASON, would miss the first game because his granddaughter, Kai, will be coaching her first game as women’s soccer coach at Notre Dame University. Rinck will work the first game with former OCHS coach FENTON CAREY.

Ocean City mayor WALT TUCKER announced a change for home football games. “We must replace BRUCE BEAVER on the sideline chain crew,” Mayor Tucker said. “Our people tell me that every time there is a measurement and he brings out the chains, his walker makes ridges in the field.”

SCOTT WAHL, whose Coastal Broadcasting purchased WFPG-FM in early 2029, completing ownership of the entire Atlantic-Cape May market, has started a new cable network – all Three Stooges. They call it Moe-TV and are aiming for the NASCAR crowd.

Raider boys basketball coach PHIL SCHAFFER expects another successful season in 2029-30. And his father, Gary, announced plans to add a wing onto his home to house all the tapes he has made of every game Phil has played and coached.

MARK SOIFER, Ocean City’s public relations director who celebrated his 100th birthday over the summer, indicated that the Miss America Pageant would be held on the Music Pier in 2029. They are hoping for a TV deal with Moe-TV.

New Jersey State Senator ROB SEITZINGER will turn down an offer to run for Congress. He vowed to stay in the state senate until all the traffic lights have been removed from the Garden State Parkway.

Ocean City girls basketball coach CHELSEA BRUNO had another successful series of summer camps and is expecting her team to challenge for the South Jersey title they won in 2028.

Head wrestling coach BILL NICKLES announced, for the 28th straight year, that this might be his last season. But the entry into the freshmen class of Patrick Lynch Jr. has caused many to not believe him.

Another member of the freshman class is the final child of JIM and LEEANN GINN - Arturo. The daughter of his older sister, Jamie, will also be a senior in 2029.

Former Ocean City coach SKIP ANGELO finished in the top 10 for the second straight week on the PGA Seniors Tour. “And doesn’t he have a great smile,” said his caddy and brother-in-law, AL HARRIS.

OCHS girls cross country coaches TRISH HENRY and BRUCE WELCH won their 23rd South Jersey title. “We think the dual coach experiment is a success,” said Ocean City athletics director MATT CHILA.

BRIAN CUNNIFF announced the field for the 162 games in the Boardwalk Basketball Classic for December 2029. “We didn’t think we could squeeze a fourth court into the convention center,” he said, “but we did.”

Plans were being made by GREG DONAHUE for the 75th anniversary of the OCYAA. “This year we expect to complete the entire season by Memorial Day,” he said.

If Johnny Smith is right again, it looks like some things will change and some will remain the same after a quarter-century at the new OCHS.



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