Locals have watched Nits’ new OC grow

January 16, 2021

Two local high school football coaches have first-hand experience with new Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. R.J. Albarano roomed with him in the late 1990s while the two were on the football team at California (Pa.) University. “He played QB for us at Cal,” Albarano, a longtime Hollidaysburg assistant and ex-Cal lineman, said. “Even at Cal, you could tell — most of the players took to Mike because he’s a good leader.” Golden Tiger head coach Homer DeLattre met Yurcich, 45, when the latter was on the Edinboro staff (2005-10) as quarterbacks coach and ...

Plenty to choose from when talking about Flash all-time wins

January 9, 2021

When Saint Francis opened its 2020-21 basketball season with a shocking 80-70 upset at Pitt, my immediate reaction was to call the victory the best of Rob Krimmel’s nine-year tenure. But where did it rank in annals of the Red Flash program? Though its place on the national landscape has not been continuous, certainly with the sustained NIT success in the 1950s and the trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1991, Saint Francis has a proud history with decorated players and an impressive amount of notable wins. If you asked me the top victories in Penn State football history, I could tick ...

From 2020’s best play to its weirdest incident

January 2, 2021

The Associated Press will hand out its individual NFL awards on the night before the Super Bowl in Tampa. Until then, here are some off-the-beaten track honors to consider. BEST GAME: In Week 9, the first professional matchup of Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray lived up to the hype. The two young quarterbacks traded pinpoint passes, timely scrambles and other big plays in a dazzling show of the league’s future. Miami won 34-31. Tagovailoa led a 93-yard drive to tie it before Jason Sanders made a 50-yard field goal. Arizona’s Zane Gonzalez missed a 49-yarder that would have tied ...

Making time for the feeding of winter birds

January 2, 2021

Photography has long been one of my favorite hobbies and a perfect complement to all my other outdoor pursuits. Needless to say, I was delighted to count a new camera as a Christmas present this year. Okay, in full disclosure, it was really a gift to myself. I just couldn’t resist the holiday sale price offered for a model I had my eye on. A new camera is always a special treat, but winter isn’t always the most photo friendly in our part of the world. Sure, a blanket of fresh snow can turn the landscape into a winter wonderland with unlimited photo opportunities, but once deer ...

Tiny Bible school is fast becoming Washington Generals

January 2, 2021

ATLANTA — Carver College has become college basketball’s equivalent of the Washington Generals, barnstorming from city to city, playing games almost every night, enduring one enormous beating after another. Appalachian State 105, Carver 23. Wofford 111, Carver 37. Georgia Southern 92, Carver 27. Yet there’s one big difference between the Cougars and that hapless foil of the Harlem Globetrotters. Carver always takes the court expecting to win, even though there’s virtually no chance of that happening unless the other team fails to show up. “I don’t have that ...

Pitt basketball’s COVID-19 issue offers perspective

December 29, 2020

Prior to his team’s trip to play Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener earlier this month, Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel joked about traveling to a place with nicer weather but not being allowed to enjoy it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Capel coached the Panthers ...