Lots to talk about in this week’s award-winner, so let’s get going. High school fall sports swing into full action this week, with boys and girls golf already having a full week’s worth of competition with invitationals taking place. There are a lot of good young players taking to the links this fall in all divisions with special early mention to several Greenville golfers: Piper Jenkinson, the freshmen recording rounds of 74 and 77 to date in winning two invitationals; junior Hayden Null who set a new school record shooting a 67 earlier in the week at the Arrow Invitational; and senior Michael McMahon who had a hole-in-one on number seventeen at Turtle Creek in the Greenville Invitational!
The first football scrimmages over the weekend gave both coaches and fans a first look at what’s been achieved and what needs to be done after just one week of official practice. Always interesting to watch teams and individuals develop over the course of a season!
This will be the second year of the OHSAA’s football playoff format with 12 teams qualifying from each of four regions in all seven divisions. The top four seeds have a bye the first round beginning October 30, with seeds 5-8 hosting games against seeds 9-12. According to the Dayton Daily News last year’s first-round home teams won 77% of the time while top-four teams in second-round action won 76% of the contests. The most common upset predictably occurred in the 4 vs 5 matchups. Only one 12-seed advanced past a 4-seed, that being Fort Recovery in D-VII, region 28. Every regular season game is important in determining placement on the bracket, isn’t it?
Continuing with football, here’s today’s trivia question for you gridiron fanatics. Name the conference affiliations of the following college teams this fall: Stanford, SMU, Arizona, Western Kentucky, Sacramento State, Northern Illinois, Navy, and Central Florida. Answers to follow!!
The NFL pre-season schedule goes full throttle this week with the Bengals hosting the Lions, the Colts traveling to New England, and the Browns visiting the Bears. Football from now until Super Bowl LXI on February 14th in Inglewood, CA, so for all of you football widows it’s going to be a long haul!!
Here are a few quick-hitters:
—A great quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower that applies to West Central Ohio: “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the cornfield”. How true, as most area farmers would agree!
—What’s up with Buc-ee’s and the dispute with the Beaver Minimart in Beavercreek? Seems like a fairly easy solution, just have the minimart sign an agreement not to go national! Good grief!! It’s been entertaining to see all of the support given to the “little guy” by various businesses around the area, including Sam’s Place in Glen Karn!
—Where were you when President Richard Nixon resigned from office on August 9th, 1974? I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with two friends on our way back from a 6,000 mile trip out West when Gerald Ford assumed the presidency saying “Our long national nightmare is over”.
—Former Major League pitcher Tommy John is struggling health-wise, the 83-year-old penning a farewell letter to fans as he is under hospice care in Bradenton, FL. The winner of 288 games (the second most by any pitcher not in the Hall of Fame since 1900) over his 26-year career is even better known for the procedure named after him, one that replaced the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow back in 1974. Today the operation is commonly performed on hurlers of all ages, it seems, extending and rejuvenating the careers of countless players.
Finally, Stanford is in the Atlantic Coast Conference as is SMU (both schools obviously having campuses on the Atlantic!); Arizona is in the Big 12 while Western Kentucky is a member of Conference USA; Sacramento State is now competing in the Mid-American Conference (along with UMass!) and Northern Illinois, famous for majestic mountain views, is now in the Mountain West but only for football. Navy (along with Army) suits up in the American Athletic Conference, and Central Florida faces traditional rivals in the Big 12. And you wonder whether television revenue drives conference and league affiliations!
Have a great week, stay active and healthy!!
