Odds and ends in several different areas are the topics to be covered in this week’s award-winning column as daylight continues to shorten—less than six weeks until the days will start to lengthen again so hang in there those of you who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder!
The Greenville Athletic Hall of Fame committee of which I’m a member has selected three new nominees for induction in ceremonies to be held on January 25th. Incoming past greats include Shane Gibson, Class of ‘01; Jonathan Edwards, Class of ‘12; and Paige Keller, Class of ‘14. As always it’s a tough task in narrowing down a list of former athletes worthy of consideration but after much discussion the fifteen-member committee once again made some excellent choices for this year’s inductees.
The OHSAA football playoffs have reached the regional semifinal stage in all seven divisions following last weekend’s contests. Several area teams saw their seasons come to a grinding halt as others moved on down the tournament trail. The three remaining MVL teams entering the second round all fell to strong opponents—Butler at the hands of Anderson and Xenia to Harrison in D-II while number one seed Tippecanoe was upset in D-III by St. Marys. Tri-Village ran into the Marion Local steamroller in D-VII as the Flyers advanced their state-record winning streak to 60 games.
There are some great games scheduled at neutral sites for the third round Friday evening-
D-III action sees St. Marys take on a tough London squad at Piqua while Wapakoneta tangles with Bellbrook from the SWBL in Troy.
In D-V, Editor Gaylen Blosser’s alma mater, West Liberty-Salem, faces Waynesville at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.
D-VI games highlight Coldwater and St. Bernard at Trotwood with the Anna Rockets taking on Cincinnati Country Day at Monroe.
Finally, DVII matchups will see Ansonia’s Tigers having the unenviable task of playing Marion Local in Lima while Minster goes to Sidney to hook up with Cincinnati College Prep.
Staying with high school sports for a while, the state volleyball finals were held this weekend at the Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State. Congratulations go to the Lady Redskins of Fort Loramie on winning their second state title in D-VII and to the Lady Cavaliers of Coldwater on capturing their first state crown in D-VI. Something that continues to be evident in girls volleyball, even with the move to seven divisions this fall, is the unproportionate amount of private schools making the Final Four in each grouping. This year twelve of the twenty-eight teams winning regional titles were either private or parochial.
In the state D-I girls soccer finals, Springboro defeated Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit in overtime. After 110 minutes of scoreless action, the Lady Panthers won on penalty kicks 4-2 to secure their first state title. As always, I don’t understand why there isn’t a better way to end these games—couldn’t they play, say, 3-on-3 at one end of the field with each team having three shots rather than just standing 12 yards away and blasting kicks at a mostly defenseless goalie. But again, what do I know!!
Changing to a few different areas, college football as always, had its usual interesting weekend with Georgia falling to Ole Miss; Miami (FL) losing for the first time this fall to Georgia Tech; BYU remaining undefeated with a controversial win over Utah; and Indiana advancing to 10-0 for the first time in school history by taking down Michigan. Oregon, THE, Notre Dame, Texas, and Alabama all posted easy wins, but the team that impressed me the most was Army, remaining unbeaten with a time-consuming offense and stout defense in ousting North Texas— it was truly old-school football that would have pleased Woody Hayes no end!!
On the college hardwood, Dayton’s Flyers overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to knock off the Northwestern Wildcats 71-66 at UD Arena, while Wright State used a strong second half to beat Miami (OH) 81-68. With all of the transfers populating college rosters this year it will take a few months to get a good handle on who’s playing for most of the more recognizable teams. I do know that Duke, Kansas, and UConn will be tough, especially the Huskies as they seek a third consecutive national title.
Are the Chiefs living on the edge with their 9-0 record? A 26-25 win over the Bengals, an overtime win over the Buccaneers, and a 16-14 victory over the Broncos by virtue of blocking a 35-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the game Sunday, plus four other wins by a touchdown or less all lead you to think that maybe the defending Super Bowl champions are ripe for the taking more than once down the stretch of the regular season. On the other hand, great teams always find ways to win!!
Finally, this news from the Washington Post—more American women have tattoos than American men, 38 percent to 27 percent. About a third of all Americans have at least one tattoo, including 56 percent of women ages 18 to 29 and 53 percent of women ages 30 to 49. In related news, 23 percent have tattoo regret as the number of tattoo removal procedures has increased by 46 percent since 2020. Number one reason for trying to rid oneself of a tattoo you might ask? You guessed it, a change in partners!! Don’t know about you but this old boy doesn’t like needles that much—I’m afraid to even ask how many of you readers out there have exposed and/or hidden artwork!
