Breaking News

Golfers have been arrested before during tourneys

By Eric Olson The Associated Press Scottie Scheffler’s arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn’t the first, though. Tiger Woods and John Daly are probably the highest-profile golfers to wear handcuffs, but Scheffler’s arrest is very different because it happened while he was competing in a tournament — a major championship, no less. Woods was arrested in 2017 on suspicion of driving under the influence when he was found asleep in ...

Conklin’s proposal to separate PIAA championships misses mark

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror Ah, the annual rites of spring in central Pennsylvania. Temperatures are rising, flowers are blooming and consternation is peaking over the number of private, charter and parochial schools that won 2024 PIAA boys and girls basketball championships. A significant difference this year is that State Representative Scott Conklin of Centre County has injected himself into the discussion of the hottest recurring topic in PA scholastic sports. Conklin is the prime sponsor of a bill which proposes that the PIAA be allowed to establish separate playoff ...

Hall missed chance to honor Rusnak

Hall missed chance to honor Rusnak On this sunny spring day, we will pay our last respects to coach Marty Rusnak. There will be former wrestlers, students, friends and family members present to remember the man who left a lifetime impression on all of us. Altoona Mirror writer John Hartsock wrote a fitting tribute to the “Legendary coach” published on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. That article and his beautiful obituary published in the Mirror captured the life and impact Coach Rusnak made in his 81 years as father, husband, teacher, friend and coach. As a former wrestler ...

Draft is super-sized NFL carnival

By Ira Kaufman For the Mirror Last week I traveled to the Motor City to attend the NFL Draft. I had previously attended 15 NFL Drafts — all in New York City, at either Paramount Theater in Madison Square Garden or in Radio City Music Hall. When I first started going to the draft, it was easy to get cheap tickets, and the NFL handed out awesome gift bags to encourage people to show up. Before 1995, the draft was held, without fans, in various hotel conference rooms in NYC. In 1980, when ESPN asked the NFL for the rights to cover the draft, the NFL thought ESPN was ...

NIL continues to evolve in college sports

By Jessica Johnson Creators Syndicate When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of college athletes being compensated nearly three years ago, the era of name, image and likeness (NIL) began, and even though schools would have to revamp their fundraising and recruiting efforts for their athletic departments and teams, the longtime pay-for-play debate was settled. College athletes, especially stars in revenue-producing sports, were finally going to profit financially from their hard work. After the court’s ruling in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston, the NIL path ...

Hershey deserves its bandwagon

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror Bandwagon fans get a bad rap. Sometimes there are very valid reasons for adopting a new rooting interest. It would be particularly hard to find fault with someone for jumping aboard the postseason express of a team from their home state. With the Penguins and Flyers sidelined for the postseason, their fans need not be ashamed of joining the cheering ranks of a team that still has aspirations of sipping champagne from the cup. That would be the Calder Cup. The Hershey Bears, an affiliate of the Washington Capitals, have won a record 12 ...