Breaking News

Local Sports Columns

ALBRIGHT: Webster County’s Sydney Baird is must-see this season

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 competing in not only a tougher version of the sport, but also playing against older competition. Those bumps and bruises were going to help her should she carry on with the sport as she grew up. Sure enough, Sydney Baird became a member of the Webster County High School girls basketball team last ...

MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: WVU heading in right direction

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. WVU had exceptional play at the quarterback and skill positions, but defense was most often a liability. The template has changed under second year coach Neal Brown. In the seven conference wins during his one and one half year regime, WVU has given up an average of just 16 points per game. Playing ...

Monday Morning Quarterback: WVU hurt by lack of key plays

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 able to make the key plays when needed or overcome three clearly questionable calls by the officials in the second half. In the third quarter a well thrown pass into the end zone from quarterback Jarret Doege hit the hands of receiver Winston Wright. Wright failed to catch the ball cleanly—-the ...

MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: WVU pulls off upset

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 there was a scramble to exit the bandwagon. That included your Monday Morning Quarterback. Now just a week later, we have egg on our face. To avoid accountability I considered claiming someone hacked my Twitter account. Except I don’t have a Twitter account. The first quarter Saturday was an ...

TUESDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: WVU’s fight falls short vs. Raiders

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 42, and it looked as if they were poised to take control of the game. And then the play that decided the game occurred. Sam James caught a pass in the flat, and as he was fighting for extra yardage fumbled the ball into the hands of a Texas Tech defender who raced into the end zone for a touchdown ...

Keeping head on a swivel

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 players. Knock on wood, I’ve been really lucky on more than one occasion. Several years ago while at Morris Stadium there was a real close call during a Glenville State College tilt. One needs to remember even on the Division II level the action usually happens a lot quicker than on the ...