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Weird start to 2020

It was weird. I guess I should be grateful for fall sports to be back, more so for a sport I’ve covered for almost two decades — cross country. Nothing has made sense in 2020. That includes the distance runners in this area. A 3.1-mile run starts. Normally, a word sparsely used nowadays, runners start on a line with their teammates and bottleneck toward the course on the noise of a starter’s gun. The gigantic wave of runners coming toward you is something to behold, like an enormous wave overtaking as you stand still. I had the pleasure to experience that years ago with the ...

Preparing for a football season unlike any other one

High school football in Ohio is set to begin in four days after the most difficult and convoluted preseason that followers of the sport have seen. Despite not knowing whether or not the governor’s office would even allow games to be played, players and coaches prepared as if the season would be held. The season itself, with the playoffs beginning in what would normally be Week 7, all teams eligible for the playoffs, and the possibility of a team playing regular-season games after being eliminated from the playoffs, promises to be a little different also — without even considering ...

Patience is virtue during a bad day on the lake

Some fishing days are easier than others. Thursday was not one of the easy days, but it provided yet another learning experience. I hitched up the BassCat in the cool inkiness before sunrise and arrived at Mosquito Lake just as dawn broke in a molten gold splash across the lake over Cortland. The morning seemed to hold promise as I met fishing friends “Fast Freddie” Woak and his son, Tyler, at the ramp. With two boats and cell phones to share success, figuring out a productive approach seemed like a slam dunk. The fish, however, had other plans. Perhaps they slept in. ...

Spring ball isn’t all bad for Penguins

Let's start this column with a game. It’s called, “Words I never want to hear again after 2020.” 1. Social distancing. 2. COVID-19. 3. Mask up. 4. Fluid situation. 5. Spring football. Feel free to email me your list. I’m curious to see which ones drive you mad. I don’t know if Youngstown State football coach Doug Phillips would agree with me in regards to the “spring football” choice. Sure, Phillips would have liked to coach some games in the fall as much as anyone. The first-time college head coach is a competitor and almost certainly wants to see how he can do as the ...

OHSAA plan more about its budget

A flexible regular-season schedule of at least six games with expanded high school football playoffs is the new plan. The Ohio High School Athletic Association lost its spring sports season and, more importantly, the winter sports postseason because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Money was lost by the OHSAA. According to the organization’s financial statements ending the 2018-19 school year, the basketball state tournament amassed $843,041, track and field was $575,216, state wrestling was $532,094 and girls state basketball was $456,135. Those are the second through fifth top moneymakers ...

Six weeks are better than none

So, the Ohio High School Athletic Association went and did it. The organizing body for high school sports in the state conferred with all the right people — school superintendents, principals, athletic administrators and coaches — and came up with a plan for high school football this fall that is designed to have something for everyone. Of course, since they didn’t confer with each individual Joe Fan in Ohio, most of them will think the plan is terrible. Whatever the decision the OHSAA came up with — and it still hinges on Gov. Mike DeWine’s office allowing football to be ...