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Get out of the seats and make some calls

So, you are sitting in the stands watching your son or daughter (or grandson, or niece, or granddaughter, or family friend, etc.) play. Varsity, junior varsity, middle school, even non-school competition, it doesn’t matter. Inevitably, there is a bad call by an official. At least it looks bad from your perspective in the stands. You make sure you let the official know you think he or she missed the call. Funny how it seems you are always a little louder when criticizing a call that goes against your kid’s team. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone yelling at a ref ...

Coming together a huddle at a time

YOUNGSTOWN You can see it out on the grassy area, yards ahead from the starting line. Clusters of athletes wearing their tank tops, shorts and sweatbands, or other thermal wear — depending on the conditions. Each cross country team gathers before the race. Sometimes the coach has a few words to rile up their team. Others meditate and reflect. Either way, it’s a time to gather. Then there’s those teams that have that swagger because they’ve been there before. I’m talking about Maplewood and McDonald’s boys cross country teams. Each school had seven state ...

Taylor honored for work in volleyball

Longtime Lakeview volleyball coach Scott Taylor was honored this weekend by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association, receiving the organization’s 2017 Jim Muth Sportsmanship Award. Taylor spent 21 years — 17 as head coach — coaching volleyball at Lakeview where he also was a teacher. His varsity teams posted a record of 278-106 for his career. While coaching, Taylor often worked unselfishly, mentoring other less-experienced coaches as they worked to build their programs. He was an excellent resource for new coaches or those who wanted to improve, volunteering his ...

It’s not about 88-point margin

YOUNGSTOWN — Jerrod Calhoun said it three times, three times too many in my book. You should never have to defend hard play, no matter how much the grumblings of some whiners would like you to do so. So Calhoun’s Youngstown State basketball team scored a school-record 134 points. You should’ve have to apologize for a 134-46 victory? Ridiculous. I heard someone in the crowd Tuesday night ask why YSU was still pressing? Read on and I’ll tell you why. So the YSU men’s basketball team played a Division III team ... like it was their preference. If this Youngstown State ...

Rome (YSU) won’t be built in a day

AKRON — Youngstown State’s team couldn’t even move about in a cramped locker room inside the James A. Rhodes Arena. The men’s basketball team took to the adjoining hallway to get some last-minute stretching in, jump a few raised hurdles no bigger than a foot off the ground. Some spent the time reflecting, having a their Beats headphones enveloping their heads as the music was used as a motivator. Tyree Robinson, a junior college player in Odessa, Texas, for the past two seasons, pounded his chest a few times as he sat down in the hallway at the University of Akron ...

QB duel had fans buzzing

The question was posed throughout the season by all kinds of fans, coaches, players and media who follow high school football in the Mahoning Valley, and the debate picked up quite a bit over the last week. The area’s two best quarterbacks (arguably) finally squared off, and the result was an epic duel that won’t soon be forgotten. Girard’s Mark Waid and Lakeview’s Zach Rogers put on a show during their Division IV, Region 13 first-round playoff game — with one player making a big play only to be outdone by his counterpart on the next drive. And even after the game, the ...