Having trouble knowing when your high school spring sports teams are scheduled to play or compete? Each of the area conferences in West Central Ohio, as well as many of the individual schools, have outstanding websites that are easy to find and follow.
If you are a fan of the Miami Valley League, the Western Ohio Athletic Conference, the Three Rivers Conference, the Southwestern Buckeye League, the Western Buckeye League, the Central Buckeye League (we must live in the Buckeye state!), the Midwest Athletic Conference, the Greater Western Ohio Conference, or the Shelby County League you should be able to navigate your way to springtime fun supporting your favorites!
I had a chance to see three of the better local softball teams in action Saturday at Lady Wave Stadium in Greenville. Tri-Village’s Lady Patriots (only one senior on the roster) downed both Covington’s Lady Buccs (one senior also) and Greenville’s Lady Wave (three seniors), with Greenville defeating the girls from Covington. A great early season learning experience for all three young squads, who should not only be league contenders but also have a good chance of going deep in the state tournament brackets.
Speaking of high school sports, the next edition of The Round Table here on MyCountyLink.com will feature Greenville High School Athletic Director Aaron Shaffer as the guest of Gaylen Blosser, Mike Stegall, and myself. There are a lot of things to discuss concerning Green Wave athletics, including the new stadium and coaching changes—the episode will be available by mid-week.
The azaleas are starting to bloom in Augusta, Georgia so that can only mean The Masters golf tournament is ready to tee off, beginning next Thursday the 10th. The first major of the year is always a classic as it is the only one held at the same location annually. It’s also the only one that holds my attention from first to last; have to love the traditions of Augusta!!
The Reds and Guardians, along with the rest of Major League Baseball, got things off to a fast start the past few days with the return of the Boys of Summer. One of my go-to guides to the upcoming season is Sports Illustrated’s annual preview issue. The experts at SI predict that the Yankees will defeat the Tigers (Detroit!) in the American League Championship Series, with the Dodgers handling the Braves in the National League. Cleveland is the choice to win the AL Central, while the Reds are picked third in the NL Central. Who do the scribes at SI pick to win the World Series, you ask? How about those wearers of the pinstripes, the Bronx Bombers! That and a dollar or two will get you a cup of coffee somewhere!!
Continuing with the SI theme of rankings, eight of the magazine’s beat writers listed the major league ballparks in order of favorite places to view a game. With Tampa Bay and the Athletics (called just the Athletics this year as they have a three-year wait to move into a new stadium in Las Vegas) playing in minor league venues this year (the Rays in the Yankees spring training site while Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg is repaired following hurricane damage and the Athletics in West Sacramento) the other teams’ home parks were rated from 1 through 28.
The three worst places to spend nine innings were the homes of the White Sox (28th), the Marlins (27th), and the Rangers (27th in a stadium only in its fifth season!). The Great American Ball Park, home of the Reds, was 21st, with the Indians’ (oops, the Guardians) Progressive Field at 20th. The top three consisted of PNC Park in Pittsburgh (3rd), Oracle Park in San Francisco (2nd), and, of course, the venerable ivied walls of Wrigley Field and the Cubs (1st).
Get ready, football fans, the NFL draft is only a few weeks away, beginning April 24th. Here’s today’s trivia question—where is the annual extravaganza being held this year?
Thank goodness there were no major injuries or fatalities following Friday’s high-speed chase on I-70 and later up Route 127 and the bypass around Greenville. With a pickup traveling north in the southbound lanes and the resultant crash near Kruckeberg Road, it was fortunate that nothing worse happened. Have you ever come across a wrong-way driver in a similar situation? I did many years ago at the intersection of Route 36 and the south end of the bypass while on the way home one evening. Fortunately, I was able to get the driver’s attention as he pulled into the wrong lane and got him stopped before he could have caused some real damage.
The last and only time the mens’ Final Four featured all four number one seeds was in 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA all reached the semifinals with the Jayhawks beating Memphis in overtime in the championship game. If you went strictly with the top seeds this time, your bracket has to be looking pretty good—Duke, Houston, Auburn, and Florida all punched their tickets to San Antonio for the final dance. Who do you like to take home the trophy?
All of you Packer fans can rejoice, the smallest city in the NFL (population 106,000 cheeseheads) will host this year’s draft at Green Bay’s iconic Lambeau Field. As always, it should hold the attention of Mel Kiper, Jr. acolytes for the entire 48 hours! Have a great week, stay active and healthy!
