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Sports means a lot to fans

The first time I saw full-out, unbridled passion for a sporting event came from an unlikely source. It was my mom. My mom doesn’t mind sports. To my knowledge, she was never an athlete, but she didn’t have much of a choice but to learn to like them when she married my father (and then had three boys). Still, she isn’t one to sit on the edge of her seat and throw things at the TV when a game is on, but this day was different. We were at a Liberty High School boys basketball game, circa 1990, and I was probably 7 or 8. My mom was holding my hand, and the entire place was ...

Fishing can be calm distraction from daily stress

As we come to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is increasingly evident we are in a crisis like none in recent history. When we think we’ve seen it all, a new day dawns with another wave of bad news. What the virus already has done is scary enough. What it might yet do is still unclear. Still we want to be optimistic. We want to find a diversion from the onslaught of worries. But diversions are increasingly difficult to find. We can’t just throw on our Carlos Carrasco jersey and Indians cap and drive to downtown Cleveland for a ballgame. We cannot enjoy a cozy dinner at ...

My idea of paradise is to get away for a few days, head for the sun of the southwest and take in a few spring training baseball games. The experience last week at the Goodyear, Arizona, training camps of the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds, plus side trips to Las Vegas and Prescott, Arizona, turned up a few former Mahoning Valley residents and former players from the Valley’s minor-league baseball team. Consider: ¯ John Brown, son of Warren at-large Councilman John Brown and former assistant athletic director at Youngstown State University, is now business development ...

Hurt turns to focus for YSU

CHICAGO — Steve McClain looked over and saw Darius Quisenberry on the floor, crying. The UIC coach helped the Youngstown State University men’s basketball leading scorer to his feet. It looked like Garrett Covington, YSU’s junior guard and defensive specialist, had shed a few tears himself before talking in a postgame interview. The Penguins’ Horizon League quarterfinal matchup on Thursday didn’t go as expected. It usually has been a stumbling block for the Penguins program — advancing only once to the Horizon League quarterfinals. That was the 2016-17 season on a ...

Tuesday another step for YSU men

Jerrod Calhoun sat in the second-floor film room inside the Beeghly Center surrounded by his assistant coaches. They discussed how to approach last week’s trip to Green Bay and Milwaukee. Eight, 12 and 17 wins. That’s the first three years for the Penguins under this coaching staff. Calhoun told me this YSU team isn’t done, not by a long shot — referring to the team’s progress and culture change. Tuesday, YSU (17-14) is the fifth seed in the Horizon League Tournament — hosting eighth-seeded Milwaukee (12-18), starting at 7 p.m. YSU ended the regular season Saturday ...

Some can laugh in the face of fear

Perspective. It’s a word we hear a lot as an adult. We probably heard it from time to time as children, too, but we’re carefree. We brush it off as some deep word parents use. You find out why they do when you get older. You realize life can change in an instant, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. It’s a helpless feeling. It can infuriate even the strongest-willed people and send them spiraling into misery. But sometimes, there are people who think differently — no matter the tragedy or terrible news. Regardless of what lies ahead or what the prognosis is, these ...