A Monday afternoon on a hot July day and thoughts of football are somehow wafting through the muggy air. NFL training camps will be opening soon with Bengals rookies reporting on July 20th while the Browns first-year hopefuls arrive on the 22nd. The veterans of both squads check in on the 23rd, the Stripes on the practice fields outside of Paycor Stadium, and the Clevelanders to the facility at Berea with a week or so in the hills of West Virginia to break the monotony.
College football at all levels won’t be far behind in getting started with D-I having a “week zero” kickoff on Saturday, August 24th, with the Seminoles of Florida State meeting the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech in that hotbed of American football Dublin, Ireland! Over the following week games of interest include North Carolina at Minnesota on the 29th, Georgia facing Clemson on the 31st along with Notre Dame at Texas A&M, and on Sunday, September 1st, LSU lining up against USC.
THE begins the season with the first of eight home games this fall on the 31st. Bet you can’t name the first three opponents in a power-packed start to the year. How about the Zips of Akron, the Western Michigan Broncos, and the Thundering Herd of Marshall? Lots of “appearance” money being collected by those three for showing up at the ‘Shoe!!
High school football finds August 1st the beginning of official practice with the week of the 19th heralding the onset of regular season play, the 23rd being the first Friday night of action. That leads us to the question that’s been on Greenville football fans minds since the night of the tornado damaging venerable Harmon Field back on May 7th; where will the Green Wave be playing this fall?
Greenville City Schools Superintendent Doug Fries says it’s been a “two month nightmare” of dealing with various insurers, situations, and problems that are not evident to the general public. Needless to say he can’t provide answers when no answers have been forthcoming as of yet in dealing with the various entities involved.
If Harmon Field isn’t ready for the start of the season, two possibilities that could be on the table as far as home games are concerned would be utilizing in some form the Jennings Track Complex north of the stadium or playing “home” games at the sites of other schools which have made their facilities available to GHS.
Everything is still up in the air at this time but rest assured that the administration and school board are doing their best to make the right decisions both in the short and long terms for the schools and the community. As things develop we’ll keep the public informed here at MyCountyLink.
Here’s an interesting question for you sports fans out there—what do Garrett Crochet, Cole Ragans, Isaac Paredes, Shota Imanaga, Ryan McMahon, and Ketel Marte all have in common? Answer to follow!
The Championships at Wimbledon are entering the second week of competition as the tennis world watches. The Ladies Final is scheduled for Saturday the 13th with the Gentlemens Final set to go with the traditional “Breakfast at Wimbledon” on the 14th. Strawberries and Cream for everyone!
I have mixed emotions concerning LeBron James’ son Bronny being chosen in the second round of the NBA draft by the Lakers, setting up a father-son reunion on the hardwood. The younger James overcame a cardiac event caused by a congenital heart defect last summer to play last year for USC so I admire him for that. It’s also got to be almost an impossible task to try to live up to his father’s standards as one of the all-time greats in basketball history, so you have to feel for Bronny. On the other hand, I have to think that there are many more talented players who were overlooked in Los Angeles drafting the 6”2” youngster, who averaged less than five points per game in his only collegiate season. You have to at least consider that Dad extended his contract with the Lakers based on the club drafting his son. We’ll have to see how things develop, but many are skeptical of the signing!
Crochet, Ragans, and Paredes were all selected to the American League roster in the upcoming All-Star game while Imanaga, McMahon, and Marte will represent the NL. Now, can you match the players with their teams? Crochet pitches for the White Sox, Ragans takes the mound for the Royals, and Paredes plays third base for the Rays. Marte holds down second base for the D’Backs, McMahon third for the Rockies, and Imanaga hurls for the Cubbies.
Finally, the 17th edition of the Warner Family Reunion was held over the weekend in Rochester, Minnesota, hosted by my brother Mark and sister-in-law Mary Ellen. Almost 70 Warners of four generations gathered for what has become a tradition like that of many other families. We meet every other year (some say we couldn’t stand seeing each other yearly!) with different cousins hosting at various locations around the country, from San Diego to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, with stops at places such as Estes Park, Colorado, Nashville, and Philadelphia.
The one thing we all gain (other than a few pounds because the food is always tremendous!) from these reunions is that as we get older, we all appreciate the sense of family that we’ve been able to experience; we’ve been fortunate and wish the same for other families!
