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If Blitz is here, football not far away

By Michael Boytim mboytim@altoonamirror.com The Mirror’s 11th annual Blitz magazine is now on newstands including most Sheetz locations, Martin’s and Weis grocery stores and also available for purchase at the newspaper’s office at 301 Cayuga Ave. during regular business hours. Blitz serves as “opening day” for the Mirror’s scholastic sports coverage of the 2023-2024 school year. The magazine, like our day-to-day coverage, is something we take a lot of pride in and hope you will support, much like an opening-day game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. There’s plenty of ...

Snyder’s ouster win for franchise

Football fans in the nation’s capital are enjoying their biggest victory since Joe Gibbs’ Hogs won their third Super Bowl 31 years ago. It may take a while before Washington celebrates similar on-field success. Getting rid of owner Dan Snyder is the first step toward rebuilding a once-proud franchise, but it won’t be easy after decades of decline. The Commanders’ new ownership led by Josh Harris and including Magic Johnson have plenty of major challenges ahead. Harris outlined his priorities Friday. “I’m stressed. Training camp is next week and the first game is six ...

PSU Altoona gives wrestling in area a boost

This week’s announcement that Penn State Altoona was bringing back men’s wrestling and also implementing a women’s program, both for the 2024-25 season, was tremendous news for the sport in our area. Think about college wrestling in our area past the high school level. We have the best collegiate wrestling dynasty, maybe in the history of NCAA wrestling, just down the road from us at Penn State. Lock Haven and UPJ also aren’t too far away, and Pitt, Clarion and Edinboro are all a nice day trip. The problem is these are all NCAA Division I schools in wrestling, with the ...

TV sports landscape changing

In a recent trip out of the country, one thing that stood out was the vast difference in the sports that were featured on television. Cricket, cycling, soccer, tennis, auto racing, and even pickleball seemed to be more heavily covered than baseball, basketball, football, and/or hockey, America’s most popular sports. With that said, I have to wonder what non-Americans think of our sports landscape? The Super Bowl and the World Series may be the biggest sporting spectacles in the United States each and every year, but outside of our own borders, these events might be more of an ...

No need to play waiting game: Pirates should fast-track Skenes to MLB roster

Notes and observations as the second half of the Major League Baseball season begins: n The 2023 MLB amateur draft is history, and the Pittsburgh Pirates made the best choice that they could have by drafting LSU right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes with the very first pick. It was not just the best choice for the Pirates — realistically, it was the only choice, despite all the suspense leading up to it. In order to have a realistic shot at success, a team needs a minimum of two quality top-tier pitchers — and probably three — leading its rotation. The Pirates currently have ...

PIAA makes significant changes

The PIAA decided on some rule changes at its latest meeting Wednesday in State College, and the impact on high school and junior high basketball will be immediate. One-and-one foul-shot opportunities are now a thing of the past. The PIAA adopted the National Federation of High Schools’ rule change that all common fouls after a team has reached the bonus will mean two free throw attempts, regardless of the result of the first attempt. Teams will reach the bonus once they commit five fouls in a quarter, and team fouls will be reset after each quarter. NFHS Director of Sports Lindsey ...