For the past 10 years, I have been confronted with a question by numerous people.
"Why are they opening baseball season on the first day of trout?"
Good question! I do not know. I was an avid baseball player, and I played for nine years when I was a boy and then a teenager.
I also was an avid trout fisherman.
The people who make these schedules should be well aware of where they live as well as other people's activities that they may enjoy. It may be just fine in their mind to schedule such things as opening baseball on the opening day of trout because they do not fish.
Well to me that is selfish and ignorant to live where you do (in the middle of some of the finest trout fishing in the east) and to a population that enjoys this activity so much. There are an estimated 1.6 million people who fish on that day in the state of Pennsylvainia. A good portion of them live in the central part or rural part of the state.
This is a tradition that has been part of our heritage and one I am proud of and one that should be respected. This is a day for family and friends.
Just the other day I was confronted by a fine young baseball player and his dad about this situation. I just shook my head. The young man wants to miss the opening day of baseball so he can fish. I must say I do not blame him. I am 49 and have not missed this tradition in over 40 years.
Fishing and baseball can co-exist.
Mid-April is not the best time for kids to be throwng baseballs in a meaningful manner yet. It's still too cold and this can lead to injury. My son can attest to that. People should compromise.
Do not make these young kids have to choose between two things they love.
Ron Mazzocco
Altoona
BG grad, proud of it
As a 1976 graduate of Bishop Guilfoyle High School, I couldn't be more proud of the 2008-09 PIAA champion Lady Marauders.
With their fifth state title in the record books, the Lady Marauders have secured their place in Pennsylvania High School basketball history; and they, like all of the previous BG teams, have done it the hard way.
The Lady Marauders don't play in a huge gymnasium (although it's always packed and loaded with state championship banners). They play "up," routinely taking on teams from higher classes and are more often than not victorious, and they do all of this on an athletics budget that pales in comparison to other schools.
Finally, they play as a team with no one player garnering all of the accolades. What they lack in some areas, they make up in others.
The Lady Marauders play for the best basketball coach (girls or boys) in the entire region. They play in front of a spirited and creative student body. They play with a tradition that dates back nearly four decades, and they play with a passion that can be summed up simply as, BG pride! Congratulations, Lady Marauders state champions yet again.
Kirk J. Dodson
Duncansville
