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License fees mean better fishing

March brings spring’s arrival, the start of a new fishing season and the obligation of anglers to invest in the management of the Ohio’s fish and fisheries. For many years, March 1 not only signaled the beginning of the end of winter, but also the time when a new fishing license was required for the upcoming season. New license options give those who enjoy fishing more options, but many still use the beginning of March as the time when they buy their 12-month license. An Ohio resident fishing license costs $25 and is valid for one year from the date of purchase. The money ...

A new style starts today with Phillips

There have been a lot of different approaches to restoring order within the Youngstown State football team since Jim Tressel stepped down as coach 20 years ago. Three coaches with varying styles tried their hand at building a consistent winner, and while there were some good years, two playoff appearances are hardly what Penguin fans had in mind after Tressel’s run of dominance. Today brings a new attitude, a new plan, and new YSU coach Doug Phillips’ style differs from the rest. It started with Jon Heacock, Tressel’s predecessor, and he probably came the closest to ...

To wrestling community, Joe is not just average

This past weekend, the Eastern Ohio Wrestling League had its annual tournament at Fitch High School in Austintown. It has become quite an event, as the league has grown to 25 teams spanning seven different counties in Northeast Ohio. This year, wrestling fans once again got to witness some of the best wrestlers in the state of Ohio right in our own backyard. However, there is an important story to be written within that narrative, and it must be done from someone outside of the media circle. You see, this year the league decided to honor a member of the local media for the first time ...

Plenty has happened since last Browns road playoff win

Let’s put the recent Cleveland Browns playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in historical perspective. If you have been a Cleveland Browns fan as long as I have, you may have experienced these life “stressors” and / or milestones between Browns road playoff wins: ¯ Getting cut by your Little League baseball team after the first spring practice; ¯ Falling “in love” with Marcia Brady after watching the first episode of “The Brady Bunch” on primetime Friday night on ABC-TV. In proceeding years, the above “crush” subjects would include Farrah Fawcett and the ...

Appreciation for fishing, life needed after 2020

In many ways, the dawn of 2021 is like the start of a new fishing day. When I go to the lake at sunrise and slide the boat off the trailer at the ramp, the day spreads out in front of me with opportunity and optimism. I can build on yesterday’s positives. But I also can learn from yesterday’s failures. The failed casts, broken lines and lost fish literally are history. What didn’t work then informs the decisions I will make in the day just beginning. So now it is 2021 and the slate is clean. Last year’s successes and failures are the lessons for this year’s living — ...

Couch Fan offers wishes for New Year

As part of the new normal, us “boomer” sports fans have to get used to: ¯ Downloading apps to our televisions in this post-cable, post-satellite television universe. Now, does that Cleveland baseball team play on Fox Sports Go or just the regular Fox Sports app? ¯ Telling the difference between which Collinsworth is speaking during NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Maybe we can trade in one of them so Carrie Underwood can come into the booth to sing the theme song live. ¯ Going to any sporting event with our facemasks on. Maybe it won’t be all that bad if the Browns can ...