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Big changes in Bellwood

It’s hard to argue that any school in the area has had more of a shakeup over the past year than Bellwood-Antis. Legendary football coach John Hayes’ passing last Saturday is the latest loss to the community’s strong tradition in high school sports. The changes started last year when the school decided to leave the Inter-County Conference to join the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference in all sports. Soon after, longtime cross country and girls track and field coach Julie Roseborough stepped down after 57 years coaching B-A girls track. The Bellwood-Antis girls basketball ...

Lions can’t play down to Wildcats

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com Some nitpicking as the Nittany Lions hit the road to Northwestern: n Talk about going from the best atmosphere in the Big Ten to the worst. Penn State enjoyed the White Out last week, drawing 110,830, nearly setting a Beaver Stadium attendance record and creating a spectacle that is admired throughout not only college football but in all of sports. The Lions responded accordingly by treating their fans to a 31-0 domination of Iowa. It will be a total comedown today (noon, BTN) at Ryan Field, which seats 47,000 and will be lucky to have ...

Game lands tours set for October

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced it will host a series of tours on state game lands around the state during the first half of October. Three tours are scheduled for state game lands in our region in the coming weeks. The first of those will be on Sunday, Oct. 8 at the 12,000-acre State Game Lands 26 in Bedford County near Blue Knob from noon to 3 p.m. This 7-mile tour begins off Route 869 near the Bedford/Cambria County line and will feature habitat improvements in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation and other cooperators. On Sunday, Oct. 15, a ...

Time to head north for some elk viewing

Hearing a bull elk bugle in the distance on a crisp autumn morning is a special experience for anyone who appreciates the natural world. The bugle is an eerie high-pitched, nasal squeal that bull elk employ to attract potential mates and establish dominance over rival males. The first time I heard an elk bugle, the shrill sound of it struck me as oddly out of place coming from such a large and magnificent animal. But after having the opportunity to observe and listen to bull elk several times here in Pennsylvania and out west in Yellowstone National Park, their haunting mating call ...

PSU point-counterpoint: What is your biggest reason for optimism with this team? (Rudel)

Allar has already elevated ceiling on Nits’ potential By Neil Rudel It really boils down to Drew Allar. Yes, Penn State has plenty of talent at nearly every position, but to get to the College Football Playoff, you need “The Guy.” Times have clearly changed since the Nittany Lions’ finest hour — beating Miami 14-10 for the national championship in 1986 — and nowadays it takes scoring 40 points to be crowned. And you can’t do that with John Shaffer at quarterback — nothing against Shaffer, who was the consummate winner and leader. You can’t even do it with, though ...

PSU point-counterpoint: What is your biggest reason for optimism with this team? (Giger)

Nittany Lions cannot waste coaching staff this year This is the best overall coaching staff James Franklin has had during his Penn State tenure, and there’s a lot of reason to be optimistic that the guys he’s surrounded himself with can help the program reach the next level. But it may need to happen this year, before one extremely vital member of the staff departs. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was a phenomenal hire by Franklin after Brent Pry left to become head coach at Virginia Tech. With all due respect to Pry, who did excellent work, Diaz just brings a different level of ...