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Gradishar’s selection a long time coming

It’s over. It’s finally over. It might be 35 years overdue, but the wait for one of football’s greatest linebackers, Champion alumnus Randy Gradishar, has finally come to an end. The cynic in me wants to point out that if Gradishar were a Cowboy or a Steeler, he would have been enshrined in Canton a long time ago. Or how it took his fourth time as a finalist to be selected. But this isn’t a moment for complaining about what should have been. I’ve complained each of the last few years. I want to take this time to celebrate a local legend and someone who has played ...

Muransky sees competitive side of angling

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers suiting up for tonight’s Super Bowl have something in common with anglers that the casual observer might not realize. But Youngstown businessman Ed Muransky can see it clearly. He is a passionate angler who happens to own a Super Bowl XVIII championship ring earned when his Los Angeles Raiders toppled Washington 38-9 in the 1984 NFL title game. Our series of columns exploring the “Why?” behind anglers’ passion for fishing brought us to Muransky on Super Bowl Sunday. We asked him about football and fishing – two sports in ...

Schrader’s ‘why’ is enjoying nature, learning

Intuition driven by the experience Bill Schrader of Canfield gained across the Great Lakes region prompted him to flip the switch last June to win the Muransky Companies Bass Classic, hosted by Aqua Ohio at Pine and Evans lakes. Schrader and teammate Eric Sevenich blew up the scales with more than 22 pounds of largemouths to win the Pine Lake half of the 2023 tournament benefiting the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. Fishing aboard Schrader’s vintage Ranger boat, the winners made a mid-day move that proved pivotal in their pursuit of the victory. The defending ...

A blessing in disguise leads Doyle to fishing

A defining moment in Rich Doyle’s fishing life came in 1962 when the Little League baseball team manager posted a roster that did not include his name. To cushion the disappointment, young Doyle’s dad took him to a local hardware store and bought him a fishing rod and reel. The father and son then went to Pine Lake south of North Lima, and the rest is history. The stinging cut and the subsequent fishing trip certainly contributed to the “Why?” that lit the fire for fishing that burns in Doyle’s soul. “I was an OK ball player, but I was the last guy cut,” he said, ...

Frosty winter serves as a break from the waters

As passionate as I am about fishing, I do draw the line at enduring bone-chilling cold to satisfy my yearning to get on the lakes. Perhaps it is age (or let’s call it “experience”) that has changed my attitude about sub-freezing weather, or perhaps I’ve just become a wimp. Whatever, it is a fact that once the frosty days outnumber the balmy, I tuck the Bass Cat away for the winter. Cold weather is not the only hiatus in my fishing schedule. I’ve suffered months-long stints away from the boat several times because of various encounters with surgeons’ scalpels. Those were ...

Anglers best be well-stocked of supplies

The two activities that keep me busy when I’m not writing columns or enjoying good times with Barb are remarkably similar in their appetite for my discretionary spending. The activities are fishing and golf. While I do catch a bunch of bass and hole out a few pars and the occasional birdie, I am not especially talented at either fishing or golf, especially when I compare what I spend to the results that I achieve. In business, one measure of performance is ROI — return on investment. CEOs can be fired when ROI disappoints stockholders or receive big bonuses when the return ...