BG deserves homecourt edge, too

February 8, 2020

Perhaps the most interesting boys basketball game of the season in Blair County is set to be played Monday night. The concern centers around how many people will actually get to watch it. Altoona will visit Bishop Guilfoyle’s Pleasant Valley Gymnasium for the first time in four years, and with both teams playing well, tickets are hard to find — impossible, in fact, for some people. Bishop Guilfoyle’s gym seats about 700, and BG sold around 600 tickets, including for its student section, which is positioned on a stage below one of the baskets. According to Altoona athletics’ ...

He’s seen it all in KC: Altoona native Moore part of Chiefs’ lore

January 29, 2020

Bob Moore’s cell phone has been blowing up lately. That’s what happens when you work for a team set to play in the Super Bowl. Moore has spent 40-plus years with the Kansas City Chiefs organization, first as its public relations director and the last 10 as the team’s historian. “People are calling me that I haven’t heard from forever,” Moore, a 1965 graduate of Altoona Area High School, and a ’69 grad of Saint Francis, said. “They ask about the family, but I know what they want.” Of course, they want tickets. Moore, 72, has been through the drill so he ...

Excitement builds with start of D6 2A Duals

January 28, 2020

The excitement of the 2019-2020 wrestling season gets ramped up a little bit more tonight when the first round of the District 6 Class 2A Duals begins. Glendale (13-1) enters the Duals as the No. 1 seed, while returning runner-up Huntingdon (11-3) is the second seed. Yes, Huntingdon beat Glendale, 46-34, at the Juniata Duals, but the Vikings have more points, 147.69-143.08, in the seeding system. Other area teams participating are sixth-seeded Philipsburg-Osceola (10-5), eighth-seeded Penn Cambria (6-4), 10th-seeded Central (5-7) and 12th-seeded Tyrone (4-7). Glendale, Huntingdon, ...

BTN continues to pay off for PSU

January 26, 2020

It’s a big night of back-to-back Penn State action Friday on the Big Ten Network. A home hockey game against Notre Dame (6 p.m.) starts the evening and a wrestling match at top-ranked Iowa (9 p.m.) completes the doubleheader. Sure, football drives BTN — the popularity of that sports accounts for much of the Big Ten Conference’s overall television revenues, some $54 million every year, to member schools — but nights like Friday reflect the promise of the conference network come to life. Few besides then-commissioner Jim Delany probably envisioned a night with hockey and ...

Bellwood-Antis displays good sportsmanship

January 21, 2020

Sometimes you hear about the ugly side of high school sports like riots, shootings, trash-talking fans and fights in the stands. Then there’s the good side, like what happened at Thursday’s wrestling match at Bellwood-Antis. I figured there was going to be a big crowd for the Blue Devils’ match against Glendale when I didn’t find any parking outside of the high school. I got lucky when I circled the block once and, after a vehicle left, found an open spot right outside the gym entrance. That big crowd showed their appreciation for a milestone when Glendale junior Brock ...

Zero tolerance policy needed in pro sports

January 21, 2020

I grew up with a hard-core, old-school coach. My Dad preached the values of athletics to us from a very young age. While participating in sports, we were to learn skills, but also values; good habits, but also important lessons; and the biggest lesson of all was sportsmanship. We were to respect our teammates and coaches, our opponents, the officials and the rules of the game. No matter what. So the latest allegations and fallout of two more professional sports cheating scandals are not just disappointing. They literally hurt. The NFL is investigating the New England Patriots for ...