Good news in sports
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
If you look around in Highland County, you can get away from all the negativity in sports these days.
The other night, I was driving home and saw a bunch of kids playing baseball under the lights at Shaffer Park.
So I slowed down just enough to get a good look at was going on. The image is still stuck in my head of the lights and kids playing the game for a simple reason … to have fun.
I've seen this before with tee-ball in Greenfield and at Liberty Park in the past. Kids just learning the game for the first time. Kids learning that sports, in their purest fashion, can be fun.
For people who say college sports are played at its purest form, I say yeah right. Look at this past week alone with the untouchable Buckeye football program and their sweater-vested, perfect-to-a-tee head coach, who for all the wrong reasons lied to the NCAA. Like I told some co-workers this week, I think it's safer to lie to a higher power than it is to lie to the NCAA. At least there is a good chance the higher power will forgive you. As for the NCAA, I don't see any forgiveness coming to Columbus.
Maybe the University of Southern California and "The" Ohio State University can have a Banned Bowl game after the end of the regular season. The game could take place at the home of the ultimate rule-breaking college football program in Southern Methodist University (they were given the death penalty), and the game can be presented by the Bernie Madoff School of Investing. Maybe former NBA referee Tim Donaghy (who was caught cheating during games he was officiating) can learn the rules of football and officiate the game. Maybe, now this is just an idea, the game could be televised on truTV, formerly known as Court TV.
But if you look around just in Highland County and nowhere else, there are a lot of good sports stories to keep us away from all the bitterness going on in towns and cities.
One of the good stories this week was the event honoring Dan W. Reed and Frank "Squeak" Collins at Richard Shaffer Park, with two scoreboards bearing their name. Though I didn't know either man, I'm jealous of those who told me stories about how great these men were and all they did for the youth of this community.
Bruce Davis said it best: "I'd like someday for someone to look at the scoreboard and say 'Who is Dan Reed?' Or, 'Who is Frank "Squeak" Collins?' And somebody would know they are the reason kids are able to play ball out here now."
It's good to see people all around the ballparks in the county (in different roles), volunteering their time by coaching and working with the future of this county. They are continuing the legacy set by a lot of great men and women before them who have given their time and effort for the improvement of this area. Plus, it is always good to see those from our past honored.
That is something to be proud of.
One of the bad things about sports are people who have agendas when it comes to voting all-whatever teams. I can't stand the fact these votes aren't made public. If you read (or remember) my column from last fall about voting for all-whatever teams, you know that if I think a player was overlooked for the wrong reasons, I'm going to say something about it.
This week, a player from Highland County was kept off an All-State team voted on by coaches. Answer this for me please: How does a player who had almost 20 wins, well over 100 strikeouts (just in the regular season) and 10 (possibly more) shutouts, along with a 40 2-3 innings streak of keeping runners from scoring any runs (yes, there was help from the defense, but bear with me) not make a state team? This player was all-league and first-team all-district and didn't give up a run in the postseason until the regional finals. Even if the vote took place and just included stats from the regular season … forget it … I'm flabbergasted!
In the words of Charles Barkley … "I may be wrong, but I doubt it."
Back to something more pleasant.
I had the opportunity to meet and talk with two very talented student-athletes in Luis Rivas and Felicity Peabody of McClain High School a couple days before their state meet appearance. Greenfield should be proud of how these two represented their town with their work ethic on the track and their politeness and manners off the track. Best of luck at the state meet for these two.
Another bad part of sports is the current state of professional football and all the lockout, strike and money talk that is going on.
The only way I want to hear about strikes and sports in the same sentence is during a baseball game.
Sure, pro sports are my favorite, that is no secret, but when I can find more articles talking about how there might not be a season than about how my team is going to fix their offensive line problem, well, that makes problems for me.
Let me know when the season starts.
But when you think all hope is lost in whatever county, city, township or village you live in, remember there is always something positive going on at a local ballpark.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com.[[In-content Ad]]
The other night, I was driving home and saw a bunch of kids playing baseball under the lights at Shaffer Park.
So I slowed down just enough to get a good look at was going on. The image is still stuck in my head of the lights and kids playing the game for a simple reason … to have fun.
I've seen this before with tee-ball in Greenfield and at Liberty Park in the past. Kids just learning the game for the first time. Kids learning that sports, in their purest fashion, can be fun.
For people who say college sports are played at its purest form, I say yeah right. Look at this past week alone with the untouchable Buckeye football program and their sweater-vested, perfect-to-a-tee head coach, who for all the wrong reasons lied to the NCAA. Like I told some co-workers this week, I think it's safer to lie to a higher power than it is to lie to the NCAA. At least there is a good chance the higher power will forgive you. As for the NCAA, I don't see any forgiveness coming to Columbus.
Maybe the University of Southern California and "The" Ohio State University can have a Banned Bowl game after the end of the regular season. The game could take place at the home of the ultimate rule-breaking college football program in Southern Methodist University (they were given the death penalty), and the game can be presented by the Bernie Madoff School of Investing. Maybe former NBA referee Tim Donaghy (who was caught cheating during games he was officiating) can learn the rules of football and officiate the game. Maybe, now this is just an idea, the game could be televised on truTV, formerly known as Court TV.
But if you look around just in Highland County and nowhere else, there are a lot of good sports stories to keep us away from all the bitterness going on in towns and cities.
One of the good stories this week was the event honoring Dan W. Reed and Frank "Squeak" Collins at Richard Shaffer Park, with two scoreboards bearing their name. Though I didn't know either man, I'm jealous of those who told me stories about how great these men were and all they did for the youth of this community.
Bruce Davis said it best: "I'd like someday for someone to look at the scoreboard and say 'Who is Dan Reed?' Or, 'Who is Frank "Squeak" Collins?' And somebody would know they are the reason kids are able to play ball out here now."
It's good to see people all around the ballparks in the county (in different roles), volunteering their time by coaching and working with the future of this county. They are continuing the legacy set by a lot of great men and women before them who have given their time and effort for the improvement of this area. Plus, it is always good to see those from our past honored.
That is something to be proud of.
One of the bad things about sports are people who have agendas when it comes to voting all-whatever teams. I can't stand the fact these votes aren't made public. If you read (or remember) my column from last fall about voting for all-whatever teams, you know that if I think a player was overlooked for the wrong reasons, I'm going to say something about it.
This week, a player from Highland County was kept off an All-State team voted on by coaches. Answer this for me please: How does a player who had almost 20 wins, well over 100 strikeouts (just in the regular season) and 10 (possibly more) shutouts, along with a 40 2-3 innings streak of keeping runners from scoring any runs (yes, there was help from the defense, but bear with me) not make a state team? This player was all-league and first-team all-district and didn't give up a run in the postseason until the regional finals. Even if the vote took place and just included stats from the regular season … forget it … I'm flabbergasted!
In the words of Charles Barkley … "I may be wrong, but I doubt it."
Back to something more pleasant.
I had the opportunity to meet and talk with two very talented student-athletes in Luis Rivas and Felicity Peabody of McClain High School a couple days before their state meet appearance. Greenfield should be proud of how these two represented their town with their work ethic on the track and their politeness and manners off the track. Best of luck at the state meet for these two.
Another bad part of sports is the current state of professional football and all the lockout, strike and money talk that is going on.
The only way I want to hear about strikes and sports in the same sentence is during a baseball game.
Sure, pro sports are my favorite, that is no secret, but when I can find more articles talking about how there might not be a season than about how my team is going to fix their offensive line problem, well, that makes problems for me.
Let me know when the season starts.
But when you think all hope is lost in whatever county, city, township or village you live in, remember there is always something positive going on at a local ballpark.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com.[[In-content Ad]]