Sports gives much thanks for service

November 19, 2019

A pastor friend recently provided opening remarks at a business meeting I attended, using the opportunity to remind us the month of November should be spent in giving thanks. The traditional holiday of turkey and football first came to mind: the heat of the oven warming the kitchen; the television blaring the gridiron games of the day; family playing a pick-up game of football in the backyard. However, the pastor, a former Air Force mechanic and military chaplain, began his thanks with the November observance of Veteran’s Day, and showing gratitude to those who have served in the ...

PSU a huge underdog against Buckeyes

November 18, 2019

Penn State’s players say they’re ready for Ohio State. Vegas disagrees — in a big way. The Nittany Lions are 18-point underdogs for this week’s huge showdown in Columbus that will decide the Big Ten East regular-season champ and a whole lot more. The Buckeyes have throttled everyone all season, and outside expectation is they’ll clobber PSU, as well. No matter what, Penn State has a chance. It controls its own destiny, and that’s all any team can ask for in week 11. If the Lions can pull off the big upset, then go on to win the Big Ten championship game, they almost ...

Lions need to get better defensively

November 17, 2019

UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State is 9-1, which means the valley is happy. Right? Well, almost. The Nittany Lions held off Indiana, 34-27, on a cool, sunny Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium, but for the second straight week, their defense raised another caution flag. It just may be the strength of the team isn’t. At least it isn’t lately. Chief among the concerns is the way the defense has been torched early by Minnesota last week and now Indiana. Those two combined to gain 348 yards while completing 14-of-16 passes for 277 yards as opposing receivers and the Lion defenders ...

Lions will roar this week against finesse Hoosiers

November 14, 2019

We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback the past few years about this weekly point-counterpoint feature, in large part because sports fans love to take sides and debate. That’s why clowns — yes, I said clowns — like Screamin’ A. Smith and Max Kellerman can go on TV and yell at each other with fake outrage over various sports issues of the day. Does anyone truly believe those guys disagree about everything with such fervor that it warrants a TV show every weekday? No. It’s all contrived, orchestrated. They’re arguing for the sake of arguing. And our hot take society ...

Time for hard truths after PSU defeat

November 11, 2019

Seeing Penn State ranked in the top four of the College Football Playoff last week had to be pretty cool for all Nittany Lion fans. But be honest here: Didn’t it feel like a bit of a mirage? The Lions had the resume, relative to everyone else, to deserve their No. 4 ranking. No question about it. But what I’m asking you is: Did you ever truly believe PSU was the fourth-best team in the country? The Lions are a year ahead of schedule. Most people predicted 8-4 or 9-3 this season, and the team is sitting here at 8-1 following Saturday’s overall poor showing in a 31-26 loss at ...

Pirates’ general manager switch will impact Curve in big ways

November 8, 2019

Firing GM Neal Huntingdon was the appropriate move for the Pirates, without question, but it may not have been the best thing for the Curve. That might not mean much to a lot of fans who only care about the success of the big league club. But if you’ve become spoiled by watching a great product on the field in Double-A over the years, it’s worth noting that there will be some huge changes in store beginning next season. The Curve made the playoffs five times and won their only two Eastern League championships (2010 and ‘17) during Huntington’s tenure as the Pirates’ GM. ...