Man, it’s tough being a fan of professional football in Ohio these days isn’t it? Both the Browns and Bengals continue to disappoint the faithful week by week as evidenced by this Sunday’s outcomes. Both franchises displayed a lack of offensive cohesiveness in losing to the Bears and Ravens respectively as the Brownies fell to 3-11 and the Stripes to 4-10 setting up an “epic” clash in the final week of the season between the two squads in the Queen City.
Joe Burrow had an interesting press conference earlier this week basically saying he “wasn’t having any fun”, understandable with the lack of offensive line support which leads to numerous sacks year-after-year and a seemingly endless run of injuries of various extent. Also, the Big Three of Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins have only been on the field together a little over a third of the offensive plays this season for one reason or another. Tough to win that way!!
Meanwhile, up on Lake Erie, the Browns have three weeks to figure out whether Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel is the long-term answer to the quarterback situation or whether they should spend one of the top picks in the 2026 draft on another signal caller. The revolving door at QB just keeps turning for the Brown and Orange doesn’t it?
Two teams that you wouldn’t want to face in the upcoming NFL playoffs who have been flying a little below the radar this fall are the 9-5 Texans and the 10-4 Jaguars. Both have been playing solid, winning football and are dangerously good!!
Congratulations to the Greenville boys and girls basketball teams for winning their first games of the young season this past week. The Lady Wave took home victories over first Troy and then Xenia as first-year coach Shane Hillard recorded his first wins with the Green and White while the Green Wave boys knocked off Troy in home court MVL play before falling to Xenia Friday night.
Staying with Green Wave athletics, the boys bowling team is 4-4 thus far with a solid core of keglers featuring Conner Leas averaging 177, Michel Thompson 175, Lenny Lennartz 171, and Johnathan Floyd 168. On the girls side of the alleys the Lady Wave are 2-6 and are paced by Marissa Boney’s 154 average along with Addy Arnett at 134 and Karstyn Davidson and Haylee Fisher both at 131. Not bad considering that both teams have to travel to Union City’s Woodcrest Lanes to practice!
In the MVL bowling standings you’ll find Piqua and Xenia both at 4-1 in boys action while Piqua and Troy are both undefeated in girls play with Stebbins and Xenia not far behind.
High school basketball is off to a good start. It’s a little early to really determine how most teams, both boys and girls, will fare this season although several squads are easy to identify as being likely powers through both league and tournament action. Tri-Village, Preble Shawnee, and Arcanum in the WOAC should rack up impressive win totals this year while Tipp is expected to continue to be a dominating factor in the MVL along with Butler, Xenia, and possibly Stebbins. I’m not sure of some of the other conferences in the area as of now as I haven’t gotten a chance to see them in action or heard much about them. By the end of December everyone should have a pretty good feeling for how the season will play out.
Have you got your snacks and beverages ready for the start of the college football bowl season that starts this week? Thirty-six Bowl games along with eleven playoff contests will be producing revenue for not only the participating schools and leagues but also ESPN and other network affiliates. Unfortunately most of the earlier matchups will hold little interest for most fans other than alumni and diehard viewers. Oh, by the way, how about those Irish?
A quick glance at the NBA shows how one player can make a huge impact on a team. Last June the Indiana Pacers were defeated in the Finals by the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games, the end of a great season for our neighbors to the west. Unfortunately, star guard Tyrese Halliburton went down with a torn Achilles Tendon in game six, an injury which will sideline him for the entire 2025-26 season. Without him (and a few others) the Pacers are 6-19 so far this year. Coach Rick Carlisle has recorded 999 coaching victories and will become one of a select group of coaches with 1,000 or more NBA wins.
Gregg Popovich recently retired with a record 1,390 victories, all with the Spurs. Can you name at least three of the other Top Ten coaches in the all-time win list? Answer to follow!
How’s this for a list of insignificant NBA teams, at least for this year and possibly a few earlier seasons? The Hornets, Nets, and Wizards in the Eastern Conference and the Kings, Clippers, and Pelicans in the West. No wonder we never see them on television!!
I’m a big fan of Cartoonist Mike Peters, both his editorial cartoons and his daily comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm. Had to laugh at Saturday’s panels in the Dayton Daily News— Mother Goose’s boyfriend Hiram says—“Our cable guy died today”. Mother Goose responds “Really? What time is his funeral?”. Hiram answers, “Sometime between 8 A.M. and 6 P.M.”!! Isn’t that the truth?!?!
Finally, Rick Carlisle will be joining an elite group of NBA coaches with over 1,000 wins including these in the Top Ten—Gregg Popovich, Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley, George Karl, Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown, and Rick Adelman. If you named more than six or seven of them, you are truly an NBA junkie!! Have a great week!!
