Well, did you get your fill of the Great Darke County Fair both event wise and food wise? Lemon shakes, sausage sandwiches, sugar waffles and all of the other fried delicacies have surely satisfied even the most demanding palates of faithful fairgoers! Now it’s time for all Darke County students (not to mention teachers!) to face the beginning of another school year—be sure to watch out for little ones boarding buses or walking to school!
What a great event took place Monday evening at Alumni Stadium in Greenville with the annual Band Spectacular. The move from the traditional grandstand at the Fairgrounds provided an instant hit with the ease of accessibility, comfortable seating, convenient concessions and restrooms, the turf football field, outstanding sound system, and impressive amount of volunteers who were recruited on fairly short notice!
Congratulations to the event organizers and all young musicians, directors, and support personnel from participating units—what an opportunity to conclude the evening with the massed bands creating a true “big band” sound worthy of many college marching bands! Let’s hope this returns to the City Park again next year!!
We lost a truly loved entertainer in Dolly Parton this week. Her legacy will live on in not only her music but in the many philanthropic causes she sponsored!
College football got underway this past weekend with a somewhat abbreviated schedule as the season truly “kicks off” this week with all schools swinging into action. There will be a few games of major interest and impact and more than a few “blowouts” as the tailgating and second-guessing begin once again! It’s a whole new ballgame at the upper college levels with unlimited NIL money and a wide open transfer portal!
How about a quick look at the high school football scene after the first two weeks of play? First of all, let’s continue to keep Celina’s senior quarterback Parker Wynk in our thoughts and prayers. After watching the well-liked signal-caller suffer a spinal cord injury in the first half of the opening game with St. Henry, the entire Celina and Mercer County area has rallied around Parker and his family. I know that he underwent a long surgical procedure a few days ago, but as of this writing, I don’t have an updated prognosis on his condition. We can only hope for the best for the young man!
In the Miami Valley League, Vandalia-Butler and Fairborn have gotten off to quick 2-0 starts as league play began Friday. Greenville’s Wave rallied from an opening game setback to beat West Carrollton 36-14 behind senior running back Gage Denham’s four touchdowns. Coach Steve Channell’s charges will open the home portion of the season hosting Piqua’s Indians this Friday at Alumni Stadium.
In the Western Ohio Athletic Conference, Ansonia, Dixie, and Tri-Village remain undefeated. Highlight the 18th of September on your sports calendar as the Tigers travel to New Madison to face the Patriots in what could be the game of the year in the WOAC.
Up north in the Midwest Athletic Conference, Coldwater (coming off huge wins over Valley View and Clinton-Massie), Marion Local, New Bremen, and Versailles are all off to 2-0 starts, but every week in the MAC will be a battle!
Next week we’ll take a look at the other interscholastic fall sports as their seasons progress.
My curiosity led me to do a little in-depth research after reading a brief item in the great sportswriter Hal McCoy’s latest article in the Dayton Daily News. Rawlings Sporting Goods is the provider of all Major League baseballs, over two million annually. But did you know that only Holstein dairy cows are used for the cowhides that cover the balls? Cows that have reached the end of their productive years or “cull” cows are processed at a Cargill plant in Wyalusing, PA, approximately 1,500 per week. Only Holsteins from northern states and Canada have typically thinner hides that are relatively bug and infection-free due to the cooler, shorter summer months and longer winters, making for better quality leather to withstand the impact of a wooden baseball bat.
Thirty-six thousand hides are shipped annually to a tanning facility in Tennessee, which produces the finished leather, with each hide producing around 100 balls. 20,000 square feet is then delivered weekly to a manufacturing facility in Costa Rica where each ball is hand-stitched by skilled artisans. It takes between ten and fifteen minutes to make each ball, which consists of 108 double stitches. That’s a specific number that provides ideal aerodynamic drag, balance, and grip for standard gameplay. Did you know that the raised red stitches create tiny ripples or “turbulence” in the air, with the resulting drag allowing pitchers to control the ball’s movement, hence the breaking pitches such as curves, sliders, and sinkers.
All of the work that goes into the making of a game ball finds the typical ball having a life span of only SEVEN pitches in a major league game, as each home team is required to have 156 balls on hand per game. Used balls end up in the minor leagues or as batting practice balls. And now you know more than you ever dreamed about a baseball!
Finally, the classic cartoon character Wile E. Coyote is suing the Acme Corporation for pain and suffering in a new movie soon to hit theaters across the country. The outdoor scenes for the semi-animated film were shot near Albuquerque, but what is really interesting is that the New Mexico state bird is the Greater Roadrunner!! Beep, Beep!!
