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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 ...

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Athletes using their platform to speak out is a good thing I would like to talk about the rights of athletes and sports teams as a whole to protest. In recent history, we have seen many athletes protest for their beliefs and feelings, whether that be Black Lives Matter or whatever else they believe in. Colin Kaepernick comes to mind right away as one of the most prominent protesters in the sports world, known for kneeling during the national anthem to display his belief of racial and ethnic equality. The NBA playoffs from a few years ago also come to mind. Three games were ...

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 ...

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Incident shows some referees need more training I’m a grandfather and great grandfather who attends all my grandsons’ basketball games and many others. I’m also a former coach and referee. I witnessed a girls game recently — Bishop Carroll at Penn Cambria — that shocked me and all the other spectators. The referee was told he made a bad call on one of the players. I have to admit some people get caught up in the moment at these games, but the referees do make some obvious bad calls at times. So this referee stopped the game and made an entire section of spectators ...

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 ...