Breaking News

Sports Columns

Bob Huggins still has a job, somehow

The abhorrent word rolled easily from Bob Huggins’ lips. Not once, but twice. That should’ve been enough to earn an early retirement, but college athletics has no shame. So, Huggins remains the men’s basketball coach at West Virginia. A bit poorer, but hardly a pauper. And, yeah, he’ll be suspended for the first three games of next season, but that conveniently allows him to miss blockbuster contests against Missouri State, Monmouth and Jacksonville State before returning just in time for a trip to sunny Fort Myers, Florida. To say Huggins got off lightly is a huge ...

Davis right where he needs to be … for now

Henry Davis is raking. Every time the ball leaves Davis’ bat, it leaves in a hurry. That much was proven to be very true Tuesday night when both of Davis’ homers left the bat at 109 and 111 mph, respectively. Yeah, that’s good. His leading all Eastern League players with a 1.175 OPS (on-base plus slugging) is also very good. So too is being fourth among all Minor League Baseball players in OPS and sixth in slugging percentage at .711. He’s tallied eight homers and 17 RBIs through 21 games for Altoona this season. Those are also pretty good. So why isn’t he in Triple-A ...

Derby day toast to (my) dear old dad

Today is the Kentucky Derby, the greatest two minutes in sports. If you’ve been reading this column for a few years — actually a few decades now — first, thank you, and second, you’re aware that I make an annual derby pick. Since I know almost nothing about horse racing, I would consult the older and wiser. Years ago, I met Glenn Stevens through friends at Sinking Valley and learned he was an expert in racing. Glenn attended big races, performed blood testing for horses at West Virginia tracks and studied pedigrees. If he didn’t pick the derby winner, he could at least ...

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com As longtime readers of this column know, there are special occasions or situations that call for the Mirror helicopter to fly in for a closer inspection. And surely anyone following Bishop Guilfoyle’s sudden dismissal of boys basketball coach Chris Drenning and its ensuing search for his successor would agree, this is definitely one of them. So after some preliminary paperwork and Mirror air-space clearances, we plotted a trip. It helps that BG is practically located right next to the Mirror and looks even closer from above. First ...

Application process set for doe licenses

At their regular quarterly meeting on April 15, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave final approval to a new system of how Pennsylvania hunters will apply for antlerless deer licenses. For generations, state law required all antlerless deer licenses to be issued only by county treasurers. Before the adoption of Wildlife Management Units, antlerless deer licenses were allocated on a county-by-county basis, and hunters were obligated to submit their antlerless deer license applications to the treasurer of the county where they desired to hunt. In the early 2000s, the ...

Franklin makes the right call on QB battle

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State coach James Franklin wants to make the first quarterback battle his team has had in four years a competition until the season opener. While it’s understandable and maybe even honorable to keep it open, Drew Allar was the favorite to win the job over Beau ...