Although I’m not a die-hard tennis fan, I always enjoy watching The Championships at Wimbledon, particularly the men’s and women’s finals. This year’s ladies’ final was a 6-0, 6-0 whitewash by Iga Swiatek of Poland over Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. Anisimova had nothing left in the tank after upsetting world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday in the semifinals and then running into a buzzsaw in Swiatek.
The two “young guns” matched up in the men’s championship with Italian Jannik Sinner defeating two-time defending titleholder Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in four sets. Sinner ended a personal five-match losing streak to the Spaniard in claiming the Wimbledon trophy and further cementing his world ranking at number one. With the retirement of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and the semi-decline of the aging Novak Djokovic, the upper echelon of professional tennis has been taken over by the 23-year-old Sinner and the 22-year-old Alcaraz.
Let’s take a look at the Major League Baseball standings at the All-Star break, with the sports’ finest taking the field in Atlanta Tuesday night. In the American League East, the surprising Toronto Blue Jays (can you name three of their players as I can’t?) lead the Yankees by two games, with the surging Red Sox and Rays not far behind. Even the Orioles have finally gotten healthy and started to play good ball in trying to overcome a dreadful start.
The Tigers, with a major league best 59 wins, have run away from the rest of the AL Central with the Twins, Royals, and Guardians all hovering around the .500 mark and the White Sox struggling once again.
In the AL West, the Astros have played great ball the past six weeks or so and have opened a five-game lead over the Mariners, while the Rangers, Angels, and Athletics (the team with no city name) provide the opposition.
In the more familiar National League, to the good people of West Central Ohio and Eastern Indiana, the Phillies and Mets have separated from the Marlins, Braves, and Nationals in the East, with the Phils up by half a game.
In the NL Central, the Cubs and Brewers are proving to be the class of the division, with the Cardinals and Reds both worthy of that least desired of all expressions, “they’re meeting our expectations”. I still think that the Reds will bounce around three or four games above or below .500 the rest of the season. Meanwhile, the Pirates continue a seemingly never-ending string of rebuilding seasons, even though they do have some good young talent, such as pitcher Paul Skenes.
The Dodgers, who a few weeks ago seemed invincible in the West, have fallen on some hard times offensively and suddenly find the Giants and Padres nipping at their heels. Arizona is at best a middle-of-the-pack ball club, and the Rockies continue to pursue MLB history for the most losses in a season.
Here’s an interesting item from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics. The median number of years wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 3.9 years in January of 2024, down from 4.1 years in January of 2022. Think back, how many years were you with or are now with either your longest or current employer. I know that the days of an employee staying with one company or business for an entire career are few and far between!!
The OHSAA recently posted divisional breakdowns for high school football this fall (hard to believe but the first week of “Friday Night Lights” is less than six weeks away!). There will be 706 schools eligible to participate, assigned to seven divisions as in the past. Each division will have 48 teams qualify for the playoffs. School enrollment figures are based on the number of boys in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade as of the fall of ‘24, plus any out-of-district enrollees.
Taking a look at some area schools and their division assignments for this season:
D-I (72 schools, enrollments between 1,340 and 592). Northmont and Troy (the Trojans being the smallest D-I school in the state) are slotted here.
D-II (the rest of the divisions have approximately 105 schools each. D-II covers schools with enrollments of 591 to 378). The majority of Miami Valley League schools fall in this division: Fairborn, Sidney, Xenia, and Stebbins, with Butler, Piqua, and West Carrollton being among the four smallest in the state.
D-III (377 to 268). Wapakoneta, Celina, St. Marys, Tecumseh, Tippecanoe, Greenville, and Alter populate this category.
D-IV (267 to 202). This is where you’ll find Eaton, Valley View, and Brookville, among others.
D-V (201 to 157). Versailles, Milton-Union, Preble Shawnee, Miami East, and Arcanum are all among the smaller schools, with Arcanum’s Trojans the smallest.
D-VI (156 to 112). Parkway, Coldwater, Anna, Dixie, National Trail, Covington, Tri-Village, and Troy Christian, with the last two being the smallest in the state.
D-VII (111 to 36). Perennial powerhouse Marion Local, Ft. Recovery, New Bremen, Twin Valley South, St. Henry, Ansonia, Tri-County North, Ft. Loramie, Minster, Mississinawa Valley, and Bradford, with the Railroaders being among the four smallest in the state with an enrollment of 5.
Finally, following up on last year’s question concerning your favorite meats to put on the grill, what’s your favorite flavor of homemade ice cream? I don’t think you can beat a good vanilla recipe, knowing you can always add syrups, fruits, and/or nuts, etc.!!
