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Sports writer’s farewell thoughts

There was never a moment during my childhood where I considered being a writer, not even a sports writer. All I cared about were sports, and my goal was the NFL or Major League Baseball. There wasn’t really a Plan B, not until college hit, and flag football and slow-pitch softball were the only sports I was playing. As a struggling sophomore in college, an English professor named Alyssa Lenhoff brought to my attention that Youngstown State University’s student newspaper, “The Jambar,” was in need of a sports editor. I remember asking: “So, they’ll basically pay me to ...

Give back to community through fishing

For 21 years, a hundred or more anglers have gathered at the boat ramps of two Aqua Ohio lakes the first Saturday after Memorial Day to compete for big bass and bragging rights. They will go to Evans and Pine lakes again June 5 to continue the two-decade tradition of anglers raising money that helps fund family services and other programs supported by the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. Today known as the Muransky Companies Bass Classic, the annual fundraising bass tournament has returned to the calendar after 2020’s edition was canceled due to the COVID ...

The best time to go fishing is whenever you can

Do you know children who mope and pout when they fail to get that thing they really want? That’s me when the weather is perfect, the fishing is excellent and I’m unable to hitch up the Bass Cat for a quick trip to a lake. After a lifetime of waiting for seats at restaurants, vacation time to arrive and the next opportunity to go fishing, my patience sometimes wears thin. So, like the spoiled child who was denied a favorite treat, I was in a pouting mood Thursday, a day that I often reserve to enjoy a mid-week fishing trip. I had visions of pitching lures to shoreline cover for ...

All-Stars in the area this weekend

Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions will make a three-day swing through our region this weekend beginning Friday with a stop at Lernerville Speedway just south of Butler, Pa., on Route 356. The show also will include Lernerville celebrating its 1,000th sprint-car race. Joining the All-Stars will be the RUSH sprints and the Allegheny 305 sprint tour for an all sprint-car show. Gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 6:45. The next stop is Saturday at Sharon Speedway for the Buckeye Cup. The Hartford oval will be celebrating its 92nd season of auto racing since 1929. The RUSH ...

Phillips, Penguins face many challenges

This probably wasn’t an easy decision. Then again, the Penguins had their reasons. The Youngstown State football team chose to end its season without playing the final game — a rescheduled contest — last weekend against North Dakota. It made sense to most, except for maybe the Fighting Hawks, who were on the playoff bubble (they made the postseason anyway). Still, YSU had had enough. The Penguins battled through a 1-6 spring season. They played more Missouri Valley Football Conference games than any other team going into the final week. They showed major signs of progress — ...

Wrestlers go after state glory on weekend

Some things in sports are tough to watch, and other things in sports are downright excruciating to watch. In the last year, most fans just want any sport to watch (I saw the “Blue Jays” take on the “Cardinals” in an epic duel at the bird feeder during the quarantine). Now that most sports are back, the watching has returned — and so has the agony. This past weekend provided a tough moment for a local wrestler. Hubbard’s Nick Bowser had done the unthinkable and qualified for the state tournament as a freshman — a rare accomplishment that, according to Eagles coach Ralph ...