Learning to select the right spinner

January 25, 2020

In the millennia that have passed since anglers first started tinkering with pieces of shiny metal to add flash and vibration to their fishing lures, spinners have accounted for uncountable numbers of fish catches. Like most of us here in northeastern Ohio, I have caught hundreds of fish on spinners over the years. Long before I learned about crankbaits, jigs and plastic worms, I tinkered with inline spinners. The first artificial lure I used to catch a fish was the venerable C.P. Swing spinner. My father taught me the ins and outs of trolling the old Junebug Spinner with a gob of ...

Gradishar more than Hall of Fame worthy

January 19, 2020

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has been known for questionable, or frankly, downright stupid decisions over its lifespan. The Hall of Fame class for the NFL’s centennial season was a chance to make up for all the mistakes that have been made. All the legends over the years who have yet to get the call to Canton — Roger Craig, Clay Matthews Sr., Drew Pearson, Randy Gradishar. The latter, a Champion High School graduate, once again has been kept out of the Hall of Fame and, to me, it gets more egregious every time. There are 10 linebackers in NFL history with seven Pro Bowl ...

Penguins look for rebound tonight

January 18, 2020

FAIRBORN — The bus exited BB&T Arena in Northern Kentucky, only a 15-to-20-minute drive north toward downtown Cincinnati. Silence. Not much was said by members of the Youngstown State University men’s basketball team. Many were listening to headphones or ear buds. It was a time for reflection and regrouping after a 25-point loss at Northern Kentucky. Friday’s hour-long trip to the Wright State University campus was about focus, concentrating on the ESPN-Plus rebroadcast of the Cleveland State at Wright State game. Looking at the media screens on the team bus, all you ...

Attracting success in home of Norse

January 17, 2020

HIGHLAND HTS, Ky. — The drive from downtown Cincinnati is about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the traffic flowing out of the city on Interstate 471 toward a bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky. The trek into the Bluegrass State starts with a blue sign with a white outline of the horizontal state. Didn’t realize (or forgot) this was the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. That’s my fun fact for the day. The drive doesn’t take long as the interstate soon becomes a major four-lane road. Turn left and there’s the Northern Kentucky campus. You can see cluster of the yellow and ...

Can YSU remain among the best?

January 15, 2020

Is Youngstown State one of better teams in the Horizon League? My friend Mike laughs at the thought. ‘Who have they beaten?’ he asks. He starts rattling off Thiel, Westminster, USC-Upstate, North Carolina Central, SEMO (Southeast Missouri State), Robert Morris, Binghamton, along with wins against IUPUI, UIC, Oakland and Detroit in the Horizon League. Eleven wins, seven losses; that’s the Youngstown State University men’s basketball record. They are 8-0 at the Beeghly Center for the first time in decades. Mike wonders what is the overall record of the teams they played. Here ...

Gritty wins define these Penguins

January 11, 2020

Quiet. Michael Akuchie could hear the sounds of silence inside the confines of the Beeghly Center after basketball games. His squeaking shoes echoed. The sound of the bounces of the inflated, leather basketball, or as it grazed nylon baskets or clanked off the metallic rim reverberated in the abandoned space. The 6-foot-8 junior from Plantation, Florida, spent countless hours in the quiet basketball arena honing his craft, putting up shot after shot with a Youngstown State University men’s basketball student assistant there to corral the errant shots. It has paid off this season, ...