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Pirates’ lack of energy needs addressed

I watched the Pirates on Tuesday, April 15. They were playing the Nationals, and I could not believe the team’s lack of energy. There were errors and missed plays — easy plays — and no direction of who is in command on the field. When there’s a fly ball to the outfield, somebody has got to take charge. We learned that in Little League, when I played for Cadle & Fornwalt at the Altoona Little League field before the highway and 17th Street came in. Also, on offense, the entire team is not performing. Sometimes you would see maybe one or two players get in a slump but the ...

Green Bay draft experience most unique

I had a simply unbelievable experience at the NFL Draft in Green Bay. From 1992-2015, I went to almost every single NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall, but in 2015 the draft began going to cities around the country. Last year in Detroit was my first non-New York draft. I flew to Green Bay from West Palm through Chicago into the Appleton, Wisconsin Airport. Small town hospitality cannot begin to describe landing in Appleton as the “host ambassadors” offered to carry my bags, talked about the annual air show (the largest in the world), and had free shuttles for the 30-minute ...

The conversion of a Division I skeptic

Lately, I’ve wondered why I’m so upset about the drop to Division III at my alma mater, Saint Francis University. For many alumni, their reaction grew out of a long-term investment in the athletics program as athletes, spectators, or believers in the prestige of a Division I program atop a mountain in west central PA. In contrast, my understanding evolved over several decades. I attended Saint Francis from 1986 to 1990. I was not an athlete, so attending a Division I institution was not a deciding factor for me. I chose Saint Francis for its academic offerings, size, ...

Sadly, more will follow Saint Francis

I am retired high school and college basketball coach in the state of Indiana, and I just read with interest the article about Saint Francis dropping to D-III. I must say, I am very disheartened at what is going on with college athletics in terms of the NIL and transfer portal issues. I don’t like any of it, and I am very disappointed to see that the people in the so-called “ivory towers” making the decisions could be so foolish. Both the transfer portal and NIL are ruining what once was a crown jewel of amateur athletics, and now consequently schools such as Saint Francis ...

Crawford set a standard in the Cove

I just read the touching news article detailing Barry Crawford and his courageous fight with ALS in today’s Altoona Mirror (March 12). Well done. Barry has been a huge influence on me not only on the basketball court but through education and career exploration and just plain life. In fact, Barry is my second cousin. When I was 14 years old, he persuaded me to give basketball a try after I had wrestled in elementary school and experienced some success. But I was approaching 5-foot-10, and Barry saw my coordination and competitiveness and thought basketball was a better ...

SFU’s 1991 title team now has company

On the evening of March 2, 1991, I was sitting with some family members and friends in the section of Saint Francis University’s Maurice Stokes Athletics Center now known as “Krimmel’s Korner.” We were part of a crowd of 3,517 that jammed into the Stokes Center that night to see the Red Flash men’s basketball team defeat Fairleigh Dickinson, 97-82, in the 1991 Northeast Conference championship game. I may have had an adult beverage that evening to celebrate Saint Francis’ first-ever NEC title. I don’t remember. I did have an adult beverage — a limited-edition Coors ...