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Mishandled Alabama case sending wrong message

By Gene Lyons For the Mirror My own basketball coaching career ended many years ago, when my 13-and-under Billy Mitchell Boys Club squad lost to the Guy Thunderbirds in a one-sided blowout. My guys had laughed their foolish heads off all the way from Little Rock to Guy, a little country town in Arkansas’ Faulkner County. What were they going to play with, cow pies? As an inveterate reader of the sports pages, I knew something they didn’t. Guy-Perkins won the Class B high school championship most years. It’s a basketball town. My guys were strictly Boys Club all-stars. ...

Coaches’ attire can speak volumes

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror Not that long ago, a man who worked in sales for one of our country’s largest steel manufacturers was expected to wear a coat and tie to the office each day. That man took pride in his appearance and in the sense of obligation he felt to create a positive reflection on the company. Then one day, he came home from work and announced to his family that coats and ties were no longer required. In fact, business casual was the company’s preferred dress code. It may seem like a small adjustment, but for that man, it was a shock to the system. The ...

Star QBs need to uncloud free agency

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press NFL free agency kicks off next week and the biggest questions surround two star quarterbacks who aren’t on the list. Will Aaron Rodgers retire, return to Green Bay or get traded to the Jets or another team? Will Lamar Jackson get a contract offer from any team knowing Baltimore can match it? The league’s legal tampering period opens Monday and plenty of free agents will be on the move when players can officially start signing new deals Wednesday. Quarterbacks, of course, get the most money and attention. Derek Carr, Geno Smith and ...

Despite extraordinary success, Franco Harris never changed

By Ron Rossi For the Mirror When Altoona Mirror managing Editor Neil Rudel reached out to me in December to ask for comment on the sudden passing of my good friend, Franco Harris, I simply responded by texting him, “There are no words.” Now, after reflecting more than two months, the words are slowly coming. In the fall of 1968, as a 17-year-old freshman at Penn State, the first new friend I made was Lydell Mitchell. The second was Franco Harris. Lydell had an outgoing personality and was a member of the freshmen football team. We initially got acquainted over a ...

In college sports, one size doesn’t suit all

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror Athletes and coaches do not always dictate the narrative of a sporting event. Sometimes the venue is a prominent player. That is especially apparent at Penn State these days. Whether a wrestling meet is held in Rec Hall or the Bryce Jordan Center, the atmosphere is immeasurably charged, despite significant differences in seating capacity and design. Rec Hall’s appeal is forged in nostalgia, tradition and the unique structural features of a building that is nearly 100 years old. The heat generated by a capacity crowd in Rec Hall is almost ...

USA Basketball feels confident

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press USA Basketball put together different rosters for all six World Cup qualifying windows, and coach Jim Boylen noticed the same two things with each of those groups. One, every player beamed when putting on the “USA” jersey for picture day. Two, by the third or fourth day of practice, the players were coaching each other. It took 52 players and more than a year, but the job is done — USA Basketball is going to the World Cup in the Philippines this summer. The U.S. won’t have to sweat it out this weekend when the final spots in the 32-team ...