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Pheasant left mark on Altoona athletics
Gary Wayne Pheasant (1954-2022) graduated from Altoona Area High School in 1972 one year after me.
I knew him from playing football and baseball for the Mountain Lions. He was a superlative athlete with good size, great foot speed and excellent power.
Our first encounter was on a baseball field, playing a practice Teener League game. He was on the mound throwing nothing but heat, clearly demonstrating he was no ordinary athlete.
He was a wide receiver for the Purdue Boilermakers football team, but a subsequent, unfortunate turn of events led to his abbreviated stay.
His finest sport may have been baseball, as he possessed the physical attributes of a major leaguer. As an outfielder, he threw right-handed and batted left.
During high school practice at Mansion Park baseball field, he would hit blasts that very few players could manage to do except the likes of the late legendary Ralph Williams.
Pheasant's nickname was "Bird," and he was a tough one at that. However, he suffered setbacks in pursuit of his athletic goals and later experienced, at age 29, a real tragedy in his life with the unexpected and tragic death of his mother.
I was thankful for one last conversation with him while most of the dust shadowing his life had settled. Our talk was brief but connective, serving to remind me that we were two men the same.
May Gary "Bird" Pheasant bat a thousand on a field of dreams as his two greatest fans, his mom and dad, celebrate his long awaited journey home.
Galen Bickel
Altoona
NCAA redshirting policy making careers too long
It's always a must see when Penn State takes on Iowa in wrestling and that held true this past week, with the Nits edging the Hawkeyes 19-13.
A few takeaways:
Is the whole Iowa wrestling team following the Tommy Boy guide to completing college? As his buddy Richard states, "Yes Tommy, a lot of people go to college for seven years. They're called doctors."
All schools redshirt, then comes the medical redshirt, then COVID-19 so they give them another year. Some of these Iowa guys must be in their mid 20s. Michael Kemerer and Jaydin Eierman have some gray on their unshaven faces.
And on the COVID subject: I get offering the athletes another year if they were truly shortchanged a season played three games out of 15, that type of thing.
But this was clearly not the case last year. Almost all the major programs completed most of their schedule, including the Big Ten tournament and the NCAAs, where Iowa won.
So in my opinion, that's it, ride off into the sunset. You don't get another year. Ridiculous.
My other point, how discouraging is it to see half the Iowa team from Pennsylvania? You'll never hear a negative word from me about Cael Sanderson, but c'mon big boy, protect the borders.
I know there's some connection with the super strong Young Guns wrestling club and a PA guy who turned into an Iowa guy who filters the studs west. Sanderson needs to get that under control.
Finally, kudos to the local kid, Max Murin of Central Cambria High School.
Tough as a two-dollar steak and love watching him go at it, leading each match pretty much with his face.
After the final whistle, he always looks like he just left a knife fight with only a squirt gun in his holster.
I just wish he was in blue and white.
Jeff Bartlett
Bellwood