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COLUMN: Instant replay could have helped in the Fort Frye vs. Waterford football game

BEVERLY — Eric McCutcheon probably wishes high school football had instant replay. The Waterford High head coach definitely would’ve liked a review of Wildcat quarterback Peyten Stephens’ run for a 2-point conversion with less than a minute remaining in Friday night’s game at Cadet Field. If the Wildcat signal caller had made it, the contest would’ve been tied at 22-all, and the Waterford-Fort Frye rivalry contest probably would’ve had to have been settled in overtime. (There was still some time remaining on the regulation clock.) But the refs apparently ruled that Stephens ...

COLUMN: Parkersburg South’s Grant Hussey has summer to remember

Baseball gifting big, shiny packages to Parkersburg South’s Grant Hussey shouldn’t be surprising by now. The Patriot dedicates sizable quantities of time, sweat and energy to the sport he has loved since childhood. This fall giving up basketball to focus on baseball fulltime. Effort not ignored by the baseball gods. Already a recipient of prodigious diamond talents, Hussey unwrapped the summer of a lifetime shortly after Hurricane eliminated the Patriots from the Class AAA high school regional tournament, 4-3, on May 24. Three months spent playing ball in front of college ...

Sports Talk: Are we sure big time college sports betting is a good thing? 

While Ohio won’t be ready in time to accept college sports bets, three other states make history this weekend as the first outside of Nevada to allow mass legalized collegiate gambling in the United States. New Jersey, Delaware and Mississippi become first states flaunting victory after a battle N.J. governor Chris Christie started in 2012. The federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) was ruled unconstitutional on May 14, 2018. An outcome opening the flood gates for individual state’s self-governance of a particularly favorite American vice. (We ...

Marietta, PHS boys play to 2-2 draw

DEVOLA — Marietta High was 2 minutes and 19 seconds away from a win on the pitch. But it was at that time on the clock that Parkersburg High senior captain Isaiah Owen booted home the equalizer, and the two cross river rivals ended up tying 2-2 in boys’ soccer action at Jerry Brock Field ...

Thoughts on Sonny Bidwell

Early Monday evening with the sun shining ever so brightly, a light shower escorted me to work. It was kind of strange wearing sunglasses and having the car windshield wipers on. Usually when it rains, it tends to get dark and cloudy. When I arrived at the Channel Lane offices, I was stunned to learn of the passing at the age of 56 of Fort Frye coach Sonny Bidwell. After thinking about it for a bit, I began to imagine if maybe those were tears instead of raindrops falling from the heavens. ***** A few years ago, Fort Frye baseball skipper Sonny Bidwell was coaching first base when ...

Tough decisions for the Redlegs

The Cincinnati Reds are almost certain to trade right handed pitcher and free agent to be Matt Harvey to a playoff contending team before the non-waiver Major League baseball deadline on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see the approach that new Reds General Manager Nick Krahl, along with Team President Dick Williams, take with the remainder of the Reds roster as they appear to be at the ending of the major rebuild the club has undergone over the past four years. A 3-18 beginning to the 2018 season eliminated any hopes the Reds had of contending this season but the club has rallied ...