Round Two: The time I interviewed the legendary Lou Holtz
- Tom Hardesty. When I heard the news earlier this week that Lou Holtz had passed away at the age of 89, my mind immediately drifted back to a spring evening 32 years ago.
Round Two
Round Two: Rockin’ and rollin’ in Kent, plus a tribute to Paul Murphy
- Tom Hardesty.
I recently finished reading Chas Madonio’s book “Bars, Bands, and Rock ‘n Roll: The Golden Era in Kent, Ohio,” which was published by Kent Historical Society Press in 2022. Like I said awhile back, I had a stack of books to get through, so I got to Chas’ eyewitness account of the wild Kent bar scene in the 1960s and ’70s a little late.
Round Two: Crowdfunding pay-to-play
- Tom Hardesty.
What happened? Where were all the football players? That’s what Novell wanted to know. Joe Adolph had some answers – and together they have come up with what they hope is a solution.
Round Two: Happy Father’s Day, Dad
- Tom Hardesty.
July 1 will mark 20 years since the day my dad died. He was only 63 years old and looked great. I had just talked to him on the phone two days earlier, and he sounded great. That was a Wednesday afternoon. By about 7 o’clock Friday evening, he was gone, the victim of a heart attack while sitting on the couch in his living room. Toward the end of our Wednesday conversation, Dad was trying to think of something […]
Round Two: Why Shedeur Sanders is a good draft pick for the Browns
- Tom Hardesty.
I was all set to write this as soon as the 2025 NFL Draft ended, but I figured: A. I’d let the dust settle a little bit, and B. Browns fans were crowding the ledge after the Shedeur Sanders pick so better to make sure everyone had gotten safely back inside.
Round Two: Fools need a whole month
- Tom Hardesty.
April having come and gone, it got me thinking: April Fools’ Day just doesn’t cut it. Yeah, it’s a day for jokes, pranks and assorted other mischief, some of which are repeated year after year, others which are new and inventive. Some are clever, others are downright cruel. Some result in belly laughs and guffaws, others in fistfights.
Round Two: Thanks, Coach Murphy
- Tom Hardesty.
Late July, 1983. I was camped out on the bed in my mom and dad’s room, my leg sporting a cast from the foot to the knee and propped up on some pillows, and sweat dripping from every pore in my body in the sweltering heat of the little bedroom, which, thanks to the fact our house didn’t have air conditioning, was like sitting in a blast furnace.
Round Two: The Buckeye road to victory
- Tom Hardesty.
Buckeye Nation has been basking for a month now, Ryan Day has made the rounds on the talk show circuit, and the national championship trophy sits in Columbus, Ohio.
Round Two: Christmas, like Hanukkah, can offer a lesson in resilience
- Tom Hardesty.
It’s been the better part of 40 to 50 years now, but I still vividly remember the big Christmas Day family gatherings at my grandparents’ house in Brimfield.
Round Two: Sifting through the rubble of Ohio State’s debacle against Michigan
- Tom Hardesty.
A lot of you probably spent the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 30 like I did: watching the Ohio State-Michigan game.
Round Two: Things that go bump, slide, scratch in the night
- Tom Hardesty.
In November 2001, my wife Kim and I decided it would make for a nice little Thanksgiving trip if we went to see the Oglebay Winter Festival of Lights in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Round Two: Remember to thank a vet tech
- Tom Hardesty.
A year ago at this time, I wrote about the trials and tribulations of the 2.5 years I spent working in animal care.
Round Two: Thanks, Mom
- Tom Hardesty.
Oct. 2 marked 10 years since the death of my mother, Laura (Willoughby) Hardesty.
Round Two: Early lessons in college football writing
- Tom Hardesty.
So I’m right in the middle of reading Gerry Faust’s 1997 book “The Golden Dream,” detailing his tumultuous time as head coach at Notre Dame and the University of Akron, and it’s turning out to be quite the nostalgic experience for me — as well as a lesson in human nature.
Round Two: No medals for Kent State, but Conners ties for 9th in golf
- Tom Hardesty.
The 2024 Paris Summer Games didn’t net Kent State’s seventh Olympic medal, but Corey Conners of Team Canada showed once again that he’s one of the world’s elite golfers.
Round Two: An update on how Kent State’s Olympians are doing
- Tom Hardesty.
Checking in on how our three Kent State Olympians are doing at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris …
Round Two: Kent State athletes to compete in Paris Olympics
- Tom Hardesty.
The Kent State University athletic program has a long and rich history with the Olympic Games. And when the 2024 Summer Olympics get underway today in Paris, the Golden Flashes will once again be well represented.
Round Two: More on college sports confusion
- Tom Hardesty.
Last week in Round Two, I discussed how almost nothing about college sports makes sense anymore, including simple math (the Big Ten Conference has 18 teams) and geography (two California schools, Stanford and Cal, are now in the Atlantic Coast Conference).