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Texas, Okla. could cue big shakeup

If you needed even more evidence that the college football world as many of us have known it for the last 50 years is changing, it arrived this week with word that Texas and Oklahoma will be joining the already-loaded SEC. Rest assured it won’t be the last seismic move to rattle the sport. First off, the transition is effective July 1, 2025. Having the two highest profile teams in the Big 12 swimming in lame-duck territory for four seasons in all sports just can’t happen so expect an accelerated timetable. Already you’re hearing inevitable speculation that the SEC may not ...

Genter-Hall triumph was one for ages

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to witness many local best-ball tournaments, both as a participant and a spectator. Each event has been interesting in its own way, but I must say that I have never witnessed a more thrilling ending to a tournament than the finish at this year’s Park Hills Classic. And it’s not even close. For perspective, the first team in last weekend’s championship flight finale was the top-seeded, defending champion team of Anthony DeGol and William Smith, who progressed to Sunday’s final match with three methodical victories. Every local ...

No one is an expert on all: Opinions on what is sporting can vary

Immediately following the conclusion of any hunting season it is the lot of the outdoor writer to hear all manner of gripes and opinions on outdoor subjects. We can get pretty firm about what we view as the “unsporting practices” of other hunters. As if enduring the harangues of anti-hunters is not enough, it is surprising how we snipe at fellow sportsmen for using methods or equipment foreign to our own way of thinking. Every time something new is introduced some group gets vocal about how “unsporting” it is. Remember the flap about using crossbows? The same rhetoric was ...

Glittering, empty pool epitomizes misfortune

TOKYO — The aquatics arena near Tokyo Bay is an impressive structure indeed, the shimmering blue water of its two pools surrounded on three sides by towering rows of seats that, in a normal Olympic year, would’ve been packed with some 15,000 boisterous fans. Of course, there is nothing normal about these Summer Games, which means the Tokyo Aquatics Centre is destined to be viewed a symbol of poor planning, gluttonous spending and terribly unfortunate timing. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, these are the made-for-TV Olympics. No fans allowed. Hardly any of those 15,000 seats ...

British Open always a treat

It’s hard to believe that this week’s British Open is the last major championship of the year. I enjoy following all the majors, but there are so many reasons I love watching this tournament in particular …from the tall fescue rough, to the deep pot bunkers, no other event has scenery like this one. When you add in the possibility of bad weather, which the tournament is famous for, it’s so much fun to just sit back and enjoy the action. Golf in the British Isles is so different than the sport we play here in the United States, and it’s fun getting to see the best players in ...

Thank you, Ryan Malone: Celebrating the Lightning’s title

Thank you Ryan Malone. You changed my life. There was no hockey culture in Altoona in the late 90s. The sports gods played at Three Rivers Stadium and Beaver Stadium. When I learned how to skate, you had two options in the area and only one of them had ice — Sir Skate behind the VA Hospital and Greenberg Ice Pavilion in State College. But when Galactic Ice opened, a small, but strong hockey culture started to grow and so did my love for the game. Along with that grew a love for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In my house, I’m not sure I would have been fed if I wasn’t a ...