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PSU’s Franklin paying big price this season

As the cloud of the coronavirus darkens the entire sports world with uncertainty, James Franklin is planning a major sacrifice. He confirmed earlier his week that he will coach the football season without his family in State College. In an interview with Bryant Gumbel of HBO Sports, Franklin said the decision was made for his wife, Fumi, and two daughters, Shola and Addison, to remain at the family’s home in Destin, Florida and have the girls home schooled this year. Addison, 12, suffers from sickle cell anemia, making her more vulnerable to the virus, and the family felt this is ...

Sad to see RMU leave NEC, but it’s not all bad for Flash

Saint Francis lost not only its biggest rival, but also its biggest ally earlier this week when Robert Morris announced it’s leaving the Northeast Conference to join the Horizon League. While the Colonials’ departure is sure to bring about some sadness for longtime Saint Francis fans, the bright side is that it also presents some good opportunities for the Red Flash men’s and women’s basketball programs. Robert Morris’ departure from the NEC had been expected for some time, with the writing on the wall after the school opened its gorgeous new on-campus basketball arena, ...

Cue up Kool & The Gang, let celebrations start again

The PGA Tour became the latest sports league to resume activities this weekend, but plenty of us are still feeling a big void in our lives. Sports aren’t essential to living as we have all learned the past few months, but they do bring a lot of meaning and happiness to a lot of people’s lives. I write this as not only a sports writer who depends on events taking place to make a living, but as a fan of watching sports my entire life. Regardless of where you stand on the safety aspects of everything, the coronavirus pandemic has not only killed thousands, it has disrupted the ...

Young kids, parents of athletes have had to miss out on so much

Personally, I have not missed pro sports. Having the NCAA Tournament canceled was a huge bummer, because I’m a college hoops junkie. It’s certainly very sad that so, so many high school athletes had their seasons taken away, especially seniors. I’m proud that the Mirror has found a way to honor so many of those athletes in our area with feature stories over the past few months. Still, there are two other things which haven’t received a great deal of attention that sadden me about the sports shutdown. One involves young kids, while the other centers around parents of ...

Majors impacted Turchetta’s football career

Tom Turchetta hadn’t seen Johnny Majors in 10 years, but they lived near each other in Tennessee, would talk occasionally and had planned to arrange lunch sooner than later. Instead, Turchetta received a message last Wednesday from Majors’ wife, Mary Lynn, that the coach had passed away. His last season was 1996 at Pitt — Turchetta was on the staff, one of his five years with the Panthers — but Majors still led an active life. “I would touch base with him once every couple months since we all left Pittsburgh, just to see how he was doing and staying in touch,” ...

Shut up and dribble? No. Time to listen

A column is normally a spot for pontificating, to speak bluntly on the issues of the day and receive a gamut of feedback, from effusive praise to slanderous insults. Not this time. Now’s the time for those of us in the privileged class to listen, really listen to what African-Americans and people of color around the world are expressing in the wake of George Floyd’s brutal, senseless death. Their fear. Their frustration. Their anguish. Shut up and dribble? No way. Now’s the time to hear from some of the athletes. And if some of their most poignant words can change ...