It has been a very enlightening 48 hours for high school sports fans across West Virginia. Turns out there can be large gatherings in the midst of this “tsunami” of a pandemic — if, of course, they are profitable for the governor. Jim Justice might have been talking and walking tough ...
While it may be easy for some people to say COVID-19 robbed 2020 of enough great sports moments to fill a top 5 list, that is codswallop. Curious minds need only dig a little deeper. Then the many victorious moments pop out like a sore thumb, this first one however may have been a bit obvious: ...
For the past three decades, WVU Mountaineer fans have become accustomed to dreary holiday bowl seasons. Take away the four years of Pat White at quarterback and West Virginia’s bowl record since 1987 was a paltry 3-18. During one stretch of Don Nehlen’s tenure the Mountaineers lost 11 of 12 ...
Despite enjoying a nearly perfect state champions’ existence over the past three years, the PHS girls’ basketball team isn’t immune to the passage of time. Ask anyone inside the program if the good times could flow in perpetuity, and they’ll tell you that graduations still impact ...
Basketball coaches across the Mountain State had a monkey wrench thrown at them last month when Jim Justice, the governor, squashed the start of winter sports until at least Jan. 11. Like golf and volleyball before them, high school coaches and athletic directors went into scramble mode ...
WILLIAMSTOWN — What can be said that hasn’t already been said about Williamstown cross country? Years at the top for Larry Cassady’s girls and a breakthrough with a state meet appearance in 2020 for Cliff Taylor’s boys give the ‘Jackets plenty to be excited about in 2021 and ...
In the wake of Madeline Huffman’s recent arrival on the Fairmont State women’s basketball team, whispers have started being spoken that Parkersburg Catholic girl’s basketball’s state championship window has closed. Don’t be one of the nonbelievers. Don’t listen to any of the ...
That’s exactly what the governor of the Mountain State, Jim Justice, did last month when he axed winter sports until at least Jan. 11. Needless to say, basketball coaches and other winter sports leaders were none too happy about his executive order. I talked with veteran Ravenswood head ...
Highest on the list of problems the opposition faces when it comes to the Gilmer County girls’ basketball team is the fiery trio of Trinity Bancroft, Emma Taylor, and Carrah Ferguson. Highest on the list of problems is their combined will to win. Highest on the list of problems is their ...
Late Wednesday afternoon it was announced that the Saturday game with Oklahoma was postponed due to Covid issues in the Sooner program. It has been rescheduled to December 12th. But Mountaineers fans were not deterred, as they immediately pivoted their focus to watching Bob Huggins and his ...
A young Webster County girl showed a flair for the game of basketball from the time she was four-foot-six and playing with boys in AAU tournaments. During her first few contests, her enjoyment was plain to see. Smiles and a willingness to go up against the boys signaled she was right at home ...
In the eight years since WVU joined the Big 12, Mountaineer fans have been accustomed to weekly shootouts which became the norm of conference play. During the tenure of Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia won 33 conference games, but only four of those were achieved by scoring less than 28 points. ...
The Texas Longhorns are considered the flagship university of the Big 12 Conference and West Virginia was reminded of that designation in an excruciating 17-13 loss in Austin Saturday. WVU played a solid competitive game and controlled most of the second half but came up short by not being ...
As sports fans, many of us fall into the trap of putting far too much emphasis on the most recent game played by our favorite team. When an outcome is negative, we often view future prospects through a dark, cloudy prism. So after the losing performance at Texas Tech a couple of weeks ago ...
The West Virginia Mountaineers had fought back from an early deficit to tie the game against Texas Tech. With nine minutes to go the WVU defense, after a rocky start, seemed to be taking control. With a strong fourth quarter wind at their back the Mountaineers began a series at the Red Raiders ...
I’ve always joked the only goal after covering a high school football game on the sideline is to walk off the field without getting trucked. If one doesn’t know what getting trucked is, it’s basically when you get gobbled up and knocked to the ground after you get smashed by one or more ...
It's hard times for a lot of folks at the moment and I'm not just talking about the sports world. Basically five months into this COVID-19 pandemic, national health official experts have been warning of the dreaded possible second wave. I'm not going to get into the stats of things, but if ...
Andy Waddle’s been involved with football for a long time, but he’s never had to deal with anything like this. Nobody has. “It’s a strange time for sure,” said Waddle, entering his eighth season as the Marietta College head football coach. “Everything just continues to be ...
New Parkersburg South athletic director Jennifer Null and first-year Paden City head football coach Zach Heasley might have two entirely different jobs, but they’re trying to put in all the necessary work to be as successful as possible. Indeed, Null has a plethora of things to concern ...
Each day folks are hoping for more clarity about what the future in the sports world will hold. When I was at Parkersburg Country Club on Monday to cover the Callaway Junior Tour playoff series event, I had several interesting conversations. One of those was with St. Marys High School head ...