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Mahomes, Chiefs must win it all this year to challenge Pats’ dynasty

If Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are going to challenge Tom Brady and the New England Patriots’ unprecedented two-decade run of success, they have to win a Super Bowl this season. Mahomes and the defending champion Chiefs are facing their toughest road yet to a Lombardi Trophy. They have to go to Baltimore and take down the No. 1 seed Ravens in front of a hostile crowd. After hosting the last five AFC championship games, the Chiefs finished with the No. 3 seed so they didn’t get a bye or home-field advantage. They shut down Miami at home in the wild-card round and ...

Game Commission’s seedling sale begins

The past few weeks have served up an ample dose of winter weather throughout our region in the form of frigid temperatures, high winds and several inches of snow. Those harsh conditions often prompt some well-meaning folks to make an effort to feed wildlife during the winter. While this might seem like a worthwhile and compassionate gesture, the conventional wisdom on this practice is simply “don’t do it.” In most cases, putting out food for wild animals usually does more harm than good for any number of reasons. And in some situations, doing so may be illegal. Most of ...

Conference championships set with familiar faces, new arrivals

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are back in the AFC championship game for a sixth straight season and probably taking Taylor Swift with them along with Travis Kelce’s older, shirtless brother. Dan Campbell has the Detroit Lions one win away from the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance after securing a spot in the NFC title game on the three-year anniversary of his teeth-kicking, kneecap-biting introductory news conference. The Chiefs and Lions advanced with tough, down-to-the-wire victories on Sunday. Both teams moved on to face the No. 1 seed in their conference: ...

O’Brien will return to PSU — with Bucks

Some Penn State related notes while the NFL takes center stage: There is no offseason in college football anymore with personnel movement 12 months a year. One of those moves happened Thursday night when news broke that former Nittany Lion head coach Bill O’Brien would be returning to Beaver Stadium next season — as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. After the NCAA sanctions in 2012, when he went 8-4, was the national coach of the year and posted a two-year record of 15-9 before leaving for the Houston Texans, O’Brien should be credited with saving the Penn State program. ...

Hot Stove season brings plenty of excitement

Notes and observations from Major League Baseball as a very interesting Hot Stove offseason heats up: The 2023-24 offseason is shaping up as one of the most intriguing in quite awhile, for numerous reasons. The Dodgers broke the bank, spending over a billion dollars in total so far and signing the plum of this year’s free-agent market, pitcher-designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, to a 10-year, $700 million contract in December. Even though Ohtani had arm surgery and won’t be pitching this season, his acquisition is the coup of the offseason and was followed shortly thereafter by ...

Frye’s work good enough to earn top coaching award

In addition to leading his u-16 FC814 girls Team Energy to a championship in the Great Lakes Conference National Classic League, winning the PAWest u-15 girls state championship, and being a finalist in the national President’s Cup Tournament, coach Marc Frye was recently chosen by the PAWest Soccer Association as the Classic Girls Coach of the Year. He will receive the honor at its annual banquet on Feb. 3. “This is a team award as much as an individual award,’’ Frye said. “Without the success of the girls’ efforts you don’t get this award. The girls had to win the ...