Odds and Ends from the weekend and who knows where—
According to the Dayton Daily News, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has sanctioned a state championship tournament next spring for Girls Flag Football!! With over 80 schools fielding teams last year, the OHSAA has decided to make the sport the next fully recognized competition in the spectrum of prep athletics here in the Buckeye State.
Competing on a field that measures 70×25 yards (two 10-yard end zones with 50 yards of playing field), the teams consist of five players with a quarterback, three receivers, and a center who becomes eligible to catch passes after snapping the ball. The game lasts forty minutes with two twenty-minute halves and a five-minute halftime.
The game has exploded on the national scene, as evidenced by the coverage of the national championship series on ESPN this weekend. Backed by the NFL, the sport is seen as a natural progression to provide another athletic choice for girls to participate in and has been well-received around the country.
Scottie Scheffler dominated the competition at The Open golf tournament played at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland this weekend, thus cementing his ranking as the number one golfer in the world. The 29-year-old has now won four Major titles in the past three years and seemingly can hit about any kind of shot when needed in competition. With all of the outstanding pro golfers on the PGA and LIV tours, Scheffler continues to outshine the others!
If you haven’t had a chance to catch the Netflix series “Quarterback” that debuted a few weeks ago, and are a football fan, you need to make time to watch it. Featuring the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, Jared Goff of the Lions, and Kirk Cousins of the Falcons, the show follows the three throughout the 2024 NFL season, both on and off the field. Another in an excellent production from Netflix, it’s an interesting glimpse into the pressures and rewards, along with the downs, of playing pro sports most important position. It makes you appreciate the talent and mental acuity needed to perform at the sport’s highest level, as well as the human feelings exhibited by all three QBs.
Here’s a question for those of you who like puzzles and mind games of all sorts. What’s your favorite of the following; the Word Jumble, Wordle, a crossword puzzle, or Sudoku? Personally, I do a crossword every day and have gotten into a jumble as well, while my wife is a whiz at Sudoku. Anything to try and keep the mind sharp!!
Here’s one thing that has always given me grief in talking about mind games. Did you ever take an aptitude test as a high school student that was to point out your strengths and weaknesses when considering future endeavors? I was always, and still am, miserable at looking at a laid out diagram of a box or something similar and trying to figure what the piece would look like when assembled. That and jigsaw puzzles give me instant headaches.
Speaking of which, I was quite proud when I finally completed a jigsaw a few years ago in only three days—the box said “two to four years”!!
While playing golf the other day with my friend Dick Wright, we got into a discussion of family ancestors. Among many in my lineal background, one of my favorites is my distant cousin on my mother’s side, one William Wells. Captured at the age of 13 back in 1784 by a raiding party of Miami and Delaware Indians, he was adopted by the Miami tribe and eventually led a group of Miami sharpshooters in the defeat of St. Clair’s army in 1791, which marked Native Americans’ biggest victory against the U.S. Army. He later became the son-in-law of the great Indian chief Little Turtle by marrying the maiden “Sweet Breeze”.
Wells eventually returned to the American side after his brother persuaded him to become a scout and spy for the Legion of the United States and served under General Anthony Wayne. Later in life, he led a group of Miami from Fort Wayne to rescue a garrison at Fort Dearborn (now known as Chicago) from the Potawatomi warriors who sided with the British in the War of 1812. He heroically sacrificed himself for the safety of the others and was slayed by the enemy, who sought to gain some of his courage by consuming his heart!
You’ll find Cousin Wells in the center of the famous Howard Chandler Christy painting of the Treaty of Greenville, which hangs in the Ohio State Capitol building. He’s depicted in the bluish buckskin during the peace ceremony and treaty signing, which opened the Northwest Territory for settlement. I’ve other relatives who’ve made a name for themselves over the years and might just have to write about them in a future Shots in the Darke!
Finally ,the WNBA seems to have exploded on the sports scene the past two years with television viewership and attendance up over 25%. Caitlin Clark and a host of other young players have captured the imagination of the fans to the point where the demand for more equal pay, similar to the NBA, has arisen. Definitely will be interesting to watch what unfolds after the current players’ master agreement expires at the end of the ‘25 season! Have a great week!!
