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Sunday Sports MailBag

Sunday Sports Mailbag

Penn State football plight: It’s stuck with Franklin This entire Penn State coaching staff lacks accountability, starting with our overpaid head coach. Excuses galore but no results. Where do we (re)start? Coaches: I know we are now stuck with James Franklin until he demands another raise, but is it too much to ask for him to actually coach? The top coaches (Saban, Smart, Swinney, Fisher, Day and even Schiano) are much more engaged in the game than Franklin. His M.O. seems to be good recruiter, below average coach. His trick plays don’t fool anyone. I will ...

Mailbag

Potts epitomized Bellwood spirit I was shocked and saddened to read in the Altoona Mirror obituary page of the passing of two former Bellwood-Antis High School athletes: Ronald Patrick Blazier and Glenn Randal “Randy” Potts. John Hartsock wrote a fine feature article in the Mirror on Blazier, who went on to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies. I had not known Blazier but as the Bellwood-Antis JV basketball coach when Randy Potts played on the 1977 varsity team, I had the opportunity to witness his unparalleled love for the game. Potts had good skills in high school, but ...

Mailbag

Talking elite and getting there are different Is the glass half empty or half full for Penn State with James Franklin’s new contract? While the contract keeps Franklin in tow for awhile now it also deprives the Penn State faithful of seeing an elite coach. It would be nice to think that a nationally recognized or relevant coach might be leading the football program one day, but sadly the Penn State fan base won’t get that opportunity anytime soon. They certainly don’t have a nationally recognized or relevant head coach in Franklin. Those coaches mentioned in Neil ...

Mailbag

Here’s an elite timetable for Franklin to follow The 10-year contract extension given to James Franklin as head football coach at Penn State is sure to raise some alumni eyebrows — including mine. He himself has used the word “elite” to describe his vision of what the program aspires to. During the past eight years of his head coaching tenure his teams have not even rated the ranking of very good, let alone elite. According to Associated Press national rankings since 1936, the top 10 colleges that have been ranked number one, and thus might claim to be elite, are Alabama ...

Sizing up 10 teams with best Super Bowl chances

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press Close games and unpredictable outcomes have been a staple this NFL season. Thanksgiving Day was the latest example. The Bears beat the Lions on a last-second field goal. The Raiders upset the Cowboys on a field goal in overtime. The league and the networks must love it, and fans stay entertained. Going into Thursday, the 23 games decided by a winning score on the final play were the most such games through Week 11 in league history. Victories by Chicago and Las Vegas increased that total to 25. So far, 39 games have been decided by a ...

Miller played the game ‘with gusto’

In the mid-1970s, I had the pleasure of playing baseball with Pat Miller in the Altoona City League on a talented E.L. Dinges team. Of this special cast of players, Miller was the heart and soul. He was a talker and played with gusto, fitting of the excellent catcher that he was. I always looked up to Miller with respect and admiration — not only because he was one year my senior — but also for possessing special qualities of a fine athlete and man. His intelligence and leadership were immediately apparent to all on the baseball diamond. Behind the plate, he caught ...