Dynasties continue to dominate

January 5, 2019

Sports dynasties aren’t dead in the 21st Century after all. Clemson vs. Alabama, Part 4, in the College Football Playoffs occurs Monday night. From 2015 to 2018 the NBA Finals featured the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Golden State Warriors for world basketball surpemacy. In Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won every National League West Division title since 2013 and have appeared in — and lost — both the 2017 and 2018 World Series. In the meantime, the Boston Red Sox have won World Series titles in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 — not bad for a team whose ...

YSU men work hard to change culture

January 3, 2019

YOUNGSTOWN — Jerrod Calhoun hasn’t minced words since he’s taken over theYoungstown State University men’s basketball program. He wants to win, something that has happened as many times as you can count on one hand in the past three decades. Losing has permeated around this program like an ill-timed expulsion of flatulence. Calhoun knew that when he came here. How bad it was, well that was something else. He inherited a Penguins team coming off of the team’s first-ever Horizon League Tournament semifinal appearance since the late 1990s. A day after, coach Jerry Slocum, ...

#Save The Red Dragons

December 19, 2018

BO Rein Stadium is directly in front of you, the arch and iron metal gates welcoming you into the home of the Red Dragons. The sense of history envelops you quickly. The streak of 48-straight games without a loss in the 1960s, a state championship. Legendary figures like former coach Tony Mason. The adjacent high school had its War Memorial Gymnasium, an ominous building with the window above shining in light — reminding you of those greats who once took to the hardwood. Now, the light is gone, giving way to a smaller, more modern gymnasium. The statue of William McKinley stands ...

Raining 3s in McDonald with Kennedy

December 17, 2018

I can’t forget the lines streaming out of Warren G. Harding High School during an early March evening in 2017. Onlookers from around the Mahoning Valley wanted that coveted ticket to this Division IV Regional boys basketball semifinal between John F. Kennedy and McDonald. It was slated to be played at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse, the best place in the state of Ohio to watch a high school game. Mother Nature took care of the teams traveling more than an hour southwest to the Pro Football Hall of Fame City with the bombardment of a late-winter snowstorm. It became the must-see ...

Wrestling is good for football players

December 16, 2018

There have always been certain stigmas when it comes to wrestling. And no, I’m not talking about how pro wrestlers take steroids. That’s not a stigma. That’s as obvious as their terrible attempts at acting. I’m talking about high school wrestling, and the specific stigma of weight loss. Yes, some wrestlers diet. The practice rooms can be pretty warm, and there are kids who drop weight in an unhealthy manner. Back in the day, they used to wear garbage bags and multiple layers of clothing in a scorching hot room, often losing five pounds (sometimes more) in a single practice. ...

Vision of what’s to come for YSU

December 14, 2018

Picture this ... Hot chocolate in one hand, a soft pretzel with extra salt in the other, both providing a brief respite of warmth to the extremities. Concrete is below each step as the sudden rush of bone-chilling air rushes over the body. It’s a blustery day on a cold, harden seat three-quarters of the way up the home stands at Stambaugh Stadium. The late fall air seems unbearable, leaving you to wonder why the warm, 68-degree confines of your house wasn’t suitable for a Saturday afternoon. What is your problem? Bundle up next time. It’s football weather. Reality sets in as ...