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Hoping new normal doesn’t last long

If sports in this unfortunate year of COVID-19 have taught us anything, it’s to embrace the non-traditional. While Toronto and Edmonton were playing host to the NHL playoffs, NBA teams were competing in a bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The entire World Series was played in a ballpark that is home to a team that didn’t even qualify for the postseason. And, as the calendar flipped to November, Coastal Carolina was undefeated and resting comfortably in the AP college football rankings for the first time in the program’s history, which dates all the ...

Disorganization spooking 0-2 Lions

UNIVERSITY PARK — On Halloween night, in an eerie backdrop under a full moon, with only family and staff dotting cavernous Beaver Stadium, Ohio State was anything but spooked. In fact, the only people scared are the legion of Nittany Nation fans suddenly dealing with an 0-2 start following Ohio State’s 38-25 domination. The Buckeyes’ Garrett Wilson busted a 62-yard run on the game’s first play, Justin Fields shredded the Penn State pass defense for 318 yards and four touchdowns, and the Lions were swimming upstream all night. “There’s a bunch of things we’ve got to ...

Nittany Lions must keep offense on field, Fields off it

Coming up Saturday: Ohio State (1-0) at Penn State (0-1) Time: 7 p.m. TV: ABC Latest line: Nittany Lions are 11.5 underdogs. If there’s one thing that last week’s loss at Indiana accomplished, it quickly took the shine off tonight’s matchup with Ohio State and the pressure that ...

Altoona has night to savor

As I sat down in the Mansion Park press box for Altoona’s District 6 Class 6A championship game Friday night, I sent out a tweet about the two latest high school football games canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’d heard about them earlier in the day, but had avoided sending it out because I just was tired of it. Tired of reporting about canceled games, deleting preview stories I had already written and replacing them with stories about missed opportunities or teams forfeiting. This, of course, is after we lost the entire spring scholastic season and six area teams vying for ...

Another search for elusive success at PSU

Since everything has been said during this virus-extended offseason about the latest opener in the modern era of Penn State football — the 1887 team (PSU’s first) opened Nov. 5 — my usual pre-game column will shift today. Besides, there was a bigger Penn State story this week with the sudden resignation of Nittany Lion basketball coach Patrick Chambers. Chambers went 148-150 in nine seasons, and under his watch, Penn State beat 18 ranked teams, the most of any previous coach. He had his moments, certainly, and it was most unfortunate that this year’s team, led by star ...

Elliott’s time is now to race into title round

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chase Elliott again has a chance to take the next step in his young but quite celebrated career. He’s back in the round of eight for a fourth consecutive year, once again trying to drive through to his first championship finale. Is he a true contender? The time has come for him to prove it. Kyle Busch is out of the way, eliminated Sunday after Elliott won on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch won’t race in the final four for the first time since 2014, and there will be a new Cup champion this year. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, winners of a ...