When I was switched from covering Ravenna High School athletics to the Kent Roosevelt beat in 1996, one of my early assignments was to write a story about the Rough Riders’ newly hired boys basketball coach.
If you’re out and about at Portage County athletic events this autumn, you’re likely to run into former Record-Courier sports editor Tom Nader as he doggedly builds his new enterprise, Portage Sports.
I will turn 55 years old in a little more than a week. That’s partly a statement of fact, partly how could I possibly be 55 years old? In a lot of ways, I still feel 25. In other ways, I feel 125.
The chapter titles alone are enticing, like Marty Hill and the Impossible Dream: The 1975-76 Bombers, the Legend of the 1978 Bombers, The 84-86 Football Teams-The Evolution of a Champion, and even Windham’s Original Ghostbuster: Thomson Jay Hudson.
Portage County lost two giants of the community when Roger Di Paolo and John Keegan died four days apart earlier this month. And I lost two friends when John passed away June 14 at age 71, followed by Roger on June 18 at age 66.
My piece in the March 25 edition of The Portager detailing now-former Ohio State football player Harry Miller's struggles with depression, highlighted by his emotional March 21 in-studio appearance on NBC's "Today" show, stressed the importance of society taking mental health seriously to combat the continued increase in suicide rates.
In the spirit of rank negativity, allow me to channel my inner fickle fan and rattle off some things about sports that make me wonder why I continue to subject myself to such constant disappointment and frustration.
In the world of sports, the focus is on the player and their accomplishments, and often the coach is overlooked. After volunteer coaching for many seasons with Ravenna Parks and Recreation, I would like to recognize a coach that stands out among the rest: Eric Allen, with Kent Parks and Recreation.
Between 1971 and 2021 — with the exception of a four-season span from 2013-16 — the Rough Riders golf program (and later the boys golf team when girls golf became a varsity sport at Roosevelt in 2011) has been coached by either Dick Pfeiffer or his son, Brent. In that time, father and son combined to win 84% of their matches and capture 25 league championships.
Science says cats can see things we can’t.
The college football preview magazines are out for the 2023 season, and it’s obvious what the prognosticators expect from your Kent State Golden Flashes this fall:
Next to nothing.