After mild winter, fishing season inches ever closer

February 12, 2023

In my never-ending pursuit of perspective, I submit this observation that regardless of whether the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles win today’s Super Bowl, we are just a few weeks from the return of our walleye fishing. The same can be said for the Pennsylvania groundhog’s recent announcement about six more weeks of winter. Phooey to Phil! Spring’s coming and the walleyes will be running. By mid-February, during more winters than I care to count, I was ready to bust out the spinning rods. I was checking my waders for leaks and packing pocket-size boxes with ...

Guides a valuable aid during fishing trips

February 5, 2023

Ocean tides are among nature’s unstoppable forces. Their ebb and flow is as reliable as the sunrise and sunset, adding energy to influence the life that relies on the water, which in turn exerts its own pull on those who love to fish. The water last week pulled friend Bob Marcoux and me as we boarded the fishing boat of Captain Will Geraghty at Naples (Fla.) City Dock. The sun had breached the palm-studded east bank of Gordon River and lit up the morning with the kind of radiance that anglers take whenever they tote their gear to the water. Dolphins rolled near the boat as Geraghty ...

HS seniors take their next step

February 2, 2023

National Signing Day is a day that high school seniors around the country look forward to each year. They take a seat at a table in the gymnasium of their high school, or in some cases a local restaurant, or even at the kitchen table of their family home and they sign their National Letter of Intent on the dotted line. They secure where they’ll spend the next four years of their life playing the sport they grew up learning and practicing. Wednesday was no different for seniors in the Mahoning Valley as several athletes from around the area chose where they will continue their ...

YSU coaches laud weekend crowds

January 30, 2023

YOUNGSTOWN — Ahead of Youngstown State’s games against Oakland and Detroit Mercy, the Beeghly Center was shown a highlight video that began with Jerrod Calhoun’s introductory press conference. Among the statements Calhoun made that day that were shown in the video, perhaps none sticks ...

Fishing, like all sports, filled with unique jargon

January 29, 2023

Ribbees, gimmees and mulligans are among the terms that add color, fun and uniqueness to the sports we play and watch. They are words that are in the special lingo of baseball and golf, two sports with especially unique vocabularies. Baseball fans and golf nuts can jabber on and on with their kindred spirits in conversations that may very well leave an uninitiated outsider clueless. Every sport — indeed every vocation, hobby, church, club and more — have their own special terms to describe and communicate what they are doing to others within their circles. Fishing, too, is a ...

Valley offers great venues for football

January 16, 2023

Back during high school football season, there was a lot of talk surrounding football venues given schools’ hesitation to host playoff events. Obviously with OHSAA taking gate revenues, there’s less incentive than ever for schools to prepare everything. It’s a shame, because we have plenty of great places to watch a game in the Mahoning Valley. And of course, I’d love for our playoff games to stay local as long as possible. It’s a lot cheaper on the gas tank. This situation led my brain to think about some of my favorite venues in our area to catch a football ...