Some of West Virginia’s greatest athletes and coaches have come from right here in Wetzel and Tyler Counties. I was telling someone the other day about some good athletes that came from the Shortline area and we mentioned the 1969 boys basketball team from Pine Grove. It was a good team with ...
It is exciting to inherit something that is awesome and then accept the challenge of maintaining the status, but there is something extra sweet about building a contender from the bottom up. When any athletic program, regardless of what sport it is, hires a new coach you immediately hear the ...
I asked a high school coach this week what it will take to get our local teams back on the winning track. He answered very cautiously, but was also very humble in his attempt to not downgrade anyone or do further damage to an area that saw limited success on the field of play. He reminded me ...
This week I want to shine a light on something I have been thinking about a lot lately. Marching Bands. I know this is a sports column but bear with me for a while. I’ve had a chance to see area bands perform during the season when attending football games in the valley, and I have noticed ...
Everyone has a right to be proud of their kids or family members who play sports, or participate in any school activity. It’s great to see kids putting forth effort to improve themselves and their teams. I received some emails this past week from some frustrated parents who felt their kids ...
It was homecoming for Tyler Consolidated this past weekend. Many other area schools have celebrated their homecoming already or will very soon. It is a special time of year when alumni return to visit the campus and current school students mark the traditional occasion by attending a football ...
I’ve got a couple anniversaries coming up. I have been covering sports for the paper for almost a year now, and my wife and I were married here in Sistersville 45 years ago in November. Yes, the second deserves more than a mention in the paper, but we never had the opportunity to live in the ...
I am not unlike many area residents. I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan since I was a kid growing up on South Wells Street in Sistersville listening to games with my dad on KDKA radio and later watching on television. My wife, who I used to tease and didn’t own a single pair of tennis ...
I had a young boy tell me last week he wanted to play football at a local high school this season, but he was bullied by some other kids and their parents so he never went out. I didn’t know what to say to him, and wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. I did some leg work on this and found ...
With COVID once again raising its ugly head, everything is hanging by a tread and the 2021 sports season is in jeopardy. Last season we saw several area teams and athletes who had legitimate chances for state recognition lose out on the opportunity due to the virus. Let’s hope we can avoid ...