–The Ohio Valley lost a gem with the passing of the 85-year-old Hugh Stobbs last week. His love for running ultimately led to the creation of the Elby’s Distance Race held on every Memorial Day weekend for almost 50 years. The first race was in 1977 over a rigorous 12.4-mile course, and it attracted some of the best distance runners in the world, including American star marathoners Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers, the winner of that first race. In its heyday the Elby’s race earned respect as one of the most prestigious 20K courses in the United States, and top runners from all over the world came to Wheeling to compete in it. In addition to his work with the distance race, Stobbs was active in community affairs and served for a number of years on the Ohio County Board of Education. Hugh was a great guy, who truly loved Wheeling and the Ohio Valley. He will be missed!
–It certainly wasn’t any surprise to learn that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s increasingly pathetic and sadly embarrassing mouthpiece for baseless claims and inane lawsuits, had contracted COVID-19. Following the lead of myriad Trumplets, Giuliani has eschewed wearing a mask and practicing social distancing in open defiance of the advice and direction offered by a plethora of doctors and healthcare professionals. Obviously there is no telling how many other people Giuliani has infected in his travels, but it’s probably a drop in the proverbial bucket to the infection spread in the wake of Trump’s notoriously maskless rallies.
–A 90-year-old grandmother in the United Kingdom became the first patient to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine last Tuesday.
–Several days ago CNN ran a piece showing protesters screaming, yelling, and chanting, against wearing a mask. Their protest was aimed at the doctors and healthcare professionals who say that wearing a mask is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I’m sorry, but this is just beyond my realm of comprehension. Certainly I understand that people with breathing problems should not have to wear a mask if it threatens to suffocate them, but all others should want to wear one so that we can get rid of this damn virus. Then again I guess I should realize that there are some people who will protest against just about anything. However, some of these people are basing their objection to wearing a mask on the fact that the pandemic is a hoax. Try to convince the families of nearly 300,000 fatalities that the deaths of their loved ones aren’t real. In the midst of the massive carnage caused by this virus, how can these people say that it’s a hoax? That is tantamount to saying something as ludicrous as sunshine is not real, and that instead it is caused by aliens shining giant cordless lamps at a huge mirror in outer space, and at night they simply drape a black cloth over that mirror. Good night. Go figure!
–Once again last weekend COVID-19 caused the cancelation of more college football games, but the best story from the college football world involved the Big Ten. You may recall that at the beginning of the season, the Big Ten powers voted to cancel the entire season to protect the health of the players. As an Ohio State fan, I was disappointed; nevertheless, I applauded the decision and hoped that other conferences would do the same. Well, some did, but others didn’t, and therein lay the rub. While some other college teams began playing, the Big Ten fans, players, and parents (many of them from Ohio State) began putting the pressure on the conference officials to change their minds. And to their discredit the bigwigs caved in and decided that the teams in the Big Ten would play an eight-game schedule, and additionally each team would need to play at least six games to qualify for the conference championship game. Thus the abbreviated season began, and unsurprisingly the virus forced the cancelation of a number of games. Because each team had only eight games on the schedule, there was no room to make up games. Well we came to the end of the season, and only one Big Ten team was unbeaten. Yes, Ohio State concluded its season with a record of 5-0 in the East Division, while Northwestern led the West Division at 5-1. Now the conference championship pits the winner of the East against the winner from the West. But wait a minute! Ohio State managed to play only five games! The runner-up in the East was Indiana with a record of 6-1, but that lone loss came at the hands of the Buckeyes. So how will the Big Ten wiggle out of this problem. Easy. Change the rule requiring six games so that Ohio State can play for the championship. AND THAT’S WHAT THEY DID! This ridiculous development is a perfect ending to a football season that shouldn’t have been played in the first place. Now what happens if Ohio State can’t field a team next Saturday? Easy. Just award the championship trophy to the team that didn’t show up. All is fair in love and war and the Big Ten!
–Ponder This: A noun and a verb were dating, but they broke up because the noun was too possessive.
