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Area support for Shackley appreciated

Over the past four years, our community has had the opportunity to witness the performance of arguably one of its greatest-ever athletes — swimmer Leah Shackley of Rainsburg. The incoming North Carolina State swimmer who earned a full athletic scholarship has a list of accomplishments that are too many to mention here, but a sampling includes six PIAA titles, including the fastest female high school swimmer in PA history in both the backstroke and butterfly. And most recently competing in her second USA Olympic Trials where her best finish included a finals appearance and a ...

Little League title memories endure

In a world so divided, so wrapped up in electronics, so polarized by our lack of face-to-face communication, sports still bring us together. Fifty years ago, a group of kids were brought together to play baseball. We were coached by three men who loved the game so much they stole time away from their own families to invest it in 16 of us 10-12 year-old boys. I was fortunate enough to be one of those 16. Now I am 62 years old, and 50 years have passed since that winning season. We played for Ward Trucking in the then named Recreation Little League. Our games were played at ...

Golf in the Olympics is starting to catch on

One of the best indications that golf was starting to catch on as an Olympic sport came from a player who never even made it to the podium. Rory McIlroy was part of a seven-man playoff for the bronze medal at the Tokyo Games, eliminated on the third of four extra holes. He said when it was over, “I never tried so hard to finish third.” McIlroy was among those who skipped the Olympics when golf returned to the program in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. He said then he wouldn’t be watching golf, only “the stuff that matters.” The next time around, he was all in. And he’s not ...

Stanley Cup atmosphere like no other

The final minutes of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers were as intense as anything I have ever witnessed in sports. The Oilers, needing just one goal to force overtime, were firing shot after shot at the net, while the Panthers and their goalie, Sergei “Bob” Bobrovsky, were throwing their sticks, pads and bodies everywhere to keep the puck out of the goal. I was sitting behind the Panthers net, and for an instant the puck just sat motionless, hidden in clean sight, inches from the goal-line, while the 12 players were hitting, ...

Mays’ death brings ‘flood’ of memories about

By Bill Behe For the Mirror I will always remember the first time I ever laid eyes on Willie Mays. It was July 18, 1959, at old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. I went slack jawed when he stood in the batting cage and launched six long taters over the 406 mark in left-center field. Then he grabbed his Rawlings and went out and toyed with ground balls at shortstop. In the eighth inning, he ripped into a hanging hook from Harvey Haddix and stroked another one over the 406 mark. This one counted. The Giants sunk the Pirates, 4-3. In my humble opinion, The Say Hey Kid was the best ...

Kentucky has two guards ranked in AP’s top 13

By Aaron Beard The Associated Press John Calipari turned Kentucky into a factory for NBA talent, including 28 one-and-done players becoming first-round picks. Now at Arkansas, Calipari’s last crop with the Wildcats features two headlining guards in the NBA draft next week in Reed ...