Many of the complaints you will find associated with the rules and traditions of Major League Baseball involve not wanting to change things that have been associated with the game for decades. But for me, the most frustrating rule in professional baseball is a new one. The original addition ...
Major college football will be played in some manner this fall, and there’s one major reason that will happen. Money. I just want to make it clear that this column, for me, is not about whether or not college football should be held. I’m not an expert in the medical field or politics. I ...
Williamsburg’s Loc O outpaced seven-time 15K winner A.J. Kelly of Altoona by more than two minutes to win the 48th running of the Angie Gioiosa Memorial Fourth of July Race on Saturday. But the top two finishers didn’t gather on a medal stand to congratulate each other. In fact, no one ...
There haven’t been many players step into a batter’s box at PNG Field or its previous name of Blair County Ballpark wearing an Altoona Curve uniform who went on to play 14 years in Major League Baseball and lead the American League in a statistical category. In fact, there might only be ...
The PGA Tour became the latest sports league to resume activities this weekend, but plenty of us are still feeling a big void in our lives. Sports aren’t essential to living as we have all learned the past few months, but they do bring a lot of meaning and happiness to a lot of people’s ...
Before I get into all the reasons attending a live sports event is better than watching it on television, please remember that my co-worker is arguing that you should voluntarily stay cooped up in your house where most of you have been trapped for months. If that isn’t the biggest argument ...
While I was out on my daily walk recently pondering how competitive the Blair Regional YMCA 2-mile walks will be after so many people have picked up the hobby during the corona-virus pandemic, I saw a kid at a baseball field. He had just one ball and a bat. During my circle around the outside ...
We have all been cooped up long enough now that anyone who has an old video game system has probably pulled it out and tried a few of their old games, maybe for the first time with their own children. As a kid who grew up in the late 1980s and early 90s, I got to experience a wide range of ...
It looks like my first point-counterpoint has me as a pretty big underdog. As ESPN’s documentary “The Last Dance” continues to chronicle Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dynasty for both fans who enjoyed watching the original run and people just being introduced to it now, the Bulls’ ...
Throughout my 15 years working in the sports department at the Altoona Mirror, I have had to conduct some very emotionally tough interviews. Talking with Juniata Valley girls basketball coach Rachelle Hopsicker and her team after the Lady Hornets led Jenkintown by nine points in the 2018 PIAA ...
Living without spring sports gives everyone a chance to reflect on some of their memories of years past. Staring out the window into the sun and an empty baseball field while visiting my father in Tyrone a couple weeks ago, I started to think about one of the most memorable high school ...
Readers of our newspaper should be pulling out their sports pages to read about last night’s Altoona Mirror Basketball Classic. It could have been one of the most memorable yet, with at least seven future NCAA Division I girls players set to lace up their shoes and one of the strongest ...
I’m never quite sure whether professional wrestling stories belong in the sports or lifestyle section of the newspaper, but with concerns over the coronavirus, pro wrestling may be the closest thing to sports still appearing live on our televisions every week. Friday’s Smackdown on Fox ...
Friday’s announcement by several school districts that spring sports will not take place until at least April was just another in a string of postponements across the world of athletics. The shock of a few baseball, tennis, softball and track and field events being postponed or canceled ...
Perhaps the most interesting boys basketball game of the season in Blair County is set to be played Monday night. The concern centers around how many people will actually get to watch it. Altoona will visit Bishop Guilfoyle’s Pleasant Valley Gymnasium for the first time in four years, and ...
Most of the area’s teams have played at least 11 games, meaning the regular season is more than half over. So let’s take a peek at where the teams in the Mirror’s coverage area stand and where they might be by the time the playoffs begin. We’ll start on the girls side where once ...
CLAYSBURG — When Tuesday’s game at Claysburg-Kimmel was briefly stopped to honor Alli Campbell’s Blair County scoring record-breaking basket, it may have been the only moment Campbell felt out of place during the game. She was trying to get back on defense. Suddenly, teammates were ...
BELLWOOD — Friday night was a special one for Bellwood-Antis coach Jim Swaney, who won his 500th game as a head coach. But as happy and emotional as he was after the game, he likely felt somewhat awkward during it. His Lady Blue Devils overwhelmed a rebuilding Moshannon Valley team that ...
On Wednesday, two more District 6 football games, Bishop Carroll at Bellefonte and Portage at Conemaugh Valley were canceled. Those games joined the Clearfield at Philipsburg-Osceola game, which was called off on Monday. The Mounties will also be forfeiting their game at Penns Valley next ...
Though there are probably still some students who haven’t memorized their class schedules yet, we’re already halfway done with the high school football regular season. So let’s take a quick look at where our area’s teams stand in the District 6 and District 5 playoff hunts. Class ...