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Lovable losers should have limit

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror The MLB lockout produced something unexpected in early February when, amidst the posturing of owners and players, Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Paul Sewald spoke candidly about the impact of a new collective bargaining agreement on the fans. The fans. You know, those people who attend the games, buy the merchandise, and suffer through the seemingly endless string of television commercials so that $2 billion in ad revenue can pour into the game’s coffers. To be sure, during his enlightening interview with a Seattle radio station, Sewald ...

Good noise and bad noise of PGA

Lessons learned from Phoenix Open By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Four days in the Arizona desert, particularly the weekend of the Phoenix Open, provided a clear reminder of what the PGA Tour has sorely needed. A sport best performed in silence is most entertaining when there is noise, as long as it’s the right kind of noise. For the PGA Tour, there has been far too much clangor to start the new year. And it’s not just the sound of beer cans pelting the 16th green at the TPC Scottsdale that caused undue delay (funny how ...

PSU wrestling doing just fine

This letter is in response to Jeff Bartlett’s letter last weekend on several NCAA wrestling subjects. I do not disagree that the extra COVID year was not necessary, but in wrestling’s case, it was probably due to the NCAA tournament not being held in 2020. What I take offense to is Bartlett’s other rants. Regarding the Pennsylvania kids going to Iowa, we need to look how this came about. There is no doubt that losing Spencer Lee was a major disappointment, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort by Cael Sanderson. The fact that Lee’s girlfriend was enrolled at ...

Shiffrin’s treatment stirs lessons

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press BEIJING — When Mikaela Shiffrin careened off the course, another expected gold medal slipping away before she hardly got started, the announcers from NBC let her have it. “One of the bigger shockers in Olympic alpine skiing history,” play-by-play man Dan Hicks bellowed. “Almost a rookie mistake,” analyst Ted Ligety, a two-time gold medalist himself, chimed in harshly. The cameras homed in on Shiffrin, who clicked out of her skis and plopped down on the artificial snow — head bowed, arms resting on bent knees — as she tried to ...

Mailbag

Pheasant left mark on Altoona athletics Gary Wayne Pheasant (1954-2022) graduated from Altoona Area High School in 1972 one year after me. I knew him from playing football and baseball for the Mountain Lions. He was a superlative athlete with good size, great foot speed and excellent power. Our first encounter was on a baseball field, playing a practice Teener League game. He was on the mound throwing nothing but heat, clearly demonstrating he was no ordinary athlete. He was a wide receiver for the Purdue Boilermakers football team, but a subsequent, unfortunate turn of ...

Portal is game of musical chairs

By Bill Contz For the Mirror If recent local transfer portal activity is any indication, future scholarship offers to borderline Division I recruits (those rated three-star or lower) may go the way of the eight-track tape. Pitt lured receiver Konata Mumpfield away from Akron where he posted monster numbers during his freshman campaign, noteworthy since the Zips were the only FBS school to offer him a scholarship. Western Kentucky’s Mitchell Tinsley, along with his 85 catches and 1,402 yards, heads to Happy Valley to nab spirals from either Sean Clifford or highly-touted newcomer ...