Quotes are the way we see life sometimes

July 15, 2013

Sports tend to stir our emotions in a lot of ways. We can remember where we were at times when we heard a specific quote from a specific person after a specific game. We also tend to remember the quotes from our favorite players or coaches from our favorite teams. We also remember those from members of the teams we really don’t or didn’t like. I grew up in San Diego before moving to El Cajon, Calif., at age 9. Yet, I was a fan of UCLA and Lakers basketball and listened to Chick Hearn call a gazillion Lakers games. I was not a Dodgers fan at all, but could listen to ...

Role models are a part of life

July 22, 2013

Role models are an important part of our society.As a father, I do my best to be a great role model for my daughter and son.I will fail at doing so at quite often, but that doesn't mean I stop.I would be a naive father to think my sports-minded son doesn't look at professional athletes as role models.He does and I know it.His two favorite athletes are LaDainian Tomlinson and Kobe Bryant.The two are opposites in being a role model, both have their positives and negatives.It is quite natural for young athletes to look at professional athletes as role models.We must acknowledge that and we ...

Let’s play ball

August 5, 2013

Regina Blanchard had a vision to help the kids.And, that vision can be seen Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center in Steubenville.The program - Let's Play Ball - begins at 5:30 p.m. on those days and Blanchard wants kids off the streets and into the gym where they can play ball in a structured environment and be mentored.But, more important, she wants them off the streets.Bob Platt, Larry Neptune and others are volunteering their time to help these kids and it starts at age 6.She is always looking for more men to step up and be a leader to ...

Life around sports worlds

September 2, 2013

San Diego State Aztecs head football coach Rocky Long was asked about how devastating a 40-19 loss to Eastern Illinois was for a team that now has to take on Ohio State in Columbus."You wanted to talk about next weekend all along in fall camp," he told reporters after the game. "I told you about it. I told you not to. I told you how good Eastern Illinois was. I told you. I told you a long time ago, but nobody wanted to listen. I mean, one game does not make a season."We'll regroup. Competitors regroup after they've been embarrassed and beat up like that. Competitors regroup and they go ...

Turn up, turn out

September 9, 2013

Time to help a neighbor.Mallory Blanton is ready to begin her fifth year as the Toronto girls basketball program.The early years weren't easy.The Red Knights had a 37-game losing streak before a simple win on Dec. 2, 2011, got the girls their first taste of victory in two years."I can't even explain how good that feels," she said that night. "Last year was so rough and we started this year rough, but tonight's motto was prove a point and we did that. I'm happy with that."Rough doesn't entail what Blanton has gone through since January.She found out in November that she and husband Jake ...

Under the lights

September 16, 2013

The person who had the toughest Friday night had to be former Edison head football coach Mike McKenzie.After being run out of Richmond, he was on the sidelines at Jimmy Carey Stadium as the offensive coordinator for the Weir Red Riders.Across the field was first-year Wildcats head coach Derrick Stickles and the young men McKenzie had coached.He had spent seven years as Edison's head coach, stabilizing a program that had gone through years of hardships.After giving up a position he loved with kids he loved and a community he loved, McKenzie landed on his feet at the Hancock County school ...