Clearing out the notebook with some thoughts, observations, and a couple of rants that will probably not win me any friends, but my Momma still loves me, so there ya go.
First off, kudos once again to the OVAC Wrestling Tournament poohbahs for pulling off another wonderful event. If you’ve never been to one, go next year and be there for the opening ceremonies when the teams come out one-by-one, Olympic-style. You can feel the pride and nervousness permeate and dominate Wheeling’s Wesbanco Arena, as the athletes are getting primed to roll.
I was told by more than one old-timer that this year’s tournament was perhaps the most talented ever, which would mean, of course, that wrestling is really thriving in the Ohio Valley.
Parkersburg South’s Braxton Amos, in fact, may be the best high school wrestler EVER from the state of West Virginia. The U. of Wisconsin recruit, a 220-pounder, is ranked by a service called FloWrestling as the No. 1 wrestler in the nation, pound for pound. Wow.
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The West Virginia U. basketball team fizzled Saturday at Kansas State, and I didn’t see that one coming, but it was well deserved. The Mountaineers came out flat and were jacked around by a fired-up, last-place Wildcat team that was much better prepared for the challenge.
We’ll know a lot more about Bob Huggins’ team Monday when Texas comes calling. Meanwhile, to those who constantly complain about the national rankings, how about letting the season play out and see how it shakes down. The journey is 99 percent of the fun. If WVU is meant to be a top 10 team, we’ll know soon enough. It’s just not today, and that’s all right.
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Meanwhile, the WVU baseball team is rated 15th in the nation in the NCAA’s pre-season rankings. Pretty heady stuff for Coach Randy Mazey’s crew, which has to replace a great deal of its starting pitching from a year ago, including Alek Manoah, last year’s first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays. (The last WVU pitcher taken in the first round of the draft was Chris Enochs, 1997, from Oak Glen High School.)
Heartbreaking news hit home Saturday as former John Marshall and WVU baseball great Jarod Rine passed away. Just 38, Rine was one of the finest athletes in JM history, and was the Big East Player of the Year at WVU in 2003.
I knew Jarod, and he was a really good guy. Right after the 2003 draft, when he was taken in the ninth round by Baltimore, I asked Jarod to come speak to my 7- and 8-year-old baseball team. He couldn’t have been more gracious, despite everything on his plate at the time. RIP, Jarod Rine.
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The Cincinnati Bengals don’t deserve Joe Burrow, but it looks like they’re getting him anyway. Burrow’s 2019 LSU team was one of the finest of my lifetime. The Tigers won seven games against teams ranked in the Top 10 at the time, and their victims this year ended up winning — follow along, now — the ACC, the Big 12, the SEC East, the Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Citrus Bowl, the Alamo Bowl, and the Texas Bowl.
Burrow won the Heisman Trophy by the biggest margin ever because he had a record 60 TD passes, 65 TDs total, second-best completion percentage ever, and third most passing yards ever. It’ll be tough to screw up this guy’s NFL career, but I wouldn’t bet against the Bengals.
If Cincy doesn’t trade the pick, the AFC North will have three Heisman Trophy QBs: Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Baker Mayfield, along with Ben Roethlisberger. who has two Super Bowl wins on the resume.
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Speaking of Mayfield, do you remember when he threw the Browns’ medical team under the bus in early December after one of Odell Beckham Jr’s injury tirades? Mayfield later apologized, which has become a strong staple of his when tidying up his devisive diva drama.
I mention this because the Pro Football Athletic Trainers Society just named the Browns’ staff as the 2019 Training Staff of the Year. It’s a big deal in the industry. One of the Browns’ trainers is Stefan Varner of Moundsville, a former John Marshall High and Averett University grid star.
I’m thinking that if Mayfield and OBJ were as dedicated to their craft as is Stefan Varner, the Browns could be more respected than rejected. Meantime, Mayfield will begin his third year as the Browns’ QB next season with his third head coach. ‘Nuff said.
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And what’s with the rush to anoint football immortality upon retired NFL head coaches?
Last week’s made-for-TV announcements of Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson getting elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame made for great theater, I’ll give you that. But … really? They’re Hall of Fame worthy? I’m not so sure.
My Steeler fan friends — and I expect to hear from many — will point to Cowher’s regular-season record and … yadda, yadda, yinzer, yinzer. C’mon. Is Bill Cowher a historic NFL coach? I mean historic like Don Shula, Bill Walsh, Sid Gillman, Paul Brown, and, yes, Chuck Noll. I just don’t see where Cowher and Jimmy Johnson qualify.
If YOU’VE GOT to put in two coaches, I would rather see Buddy Parker and Don Coryell go in. They certainly had more significant careers. But then the TV moment wouldn’t be nearly as touching, I suppose. Especially for Buddy Parker, since he died in 1982.
Or, better yet, let’s spin this another way: Why do two coaches have to go in? They’ve set the limit at seven for induction for the modern era. Why not seven players, instead of five?
Wouldn’t you rather see Alan Faneca get into the Hall of Fame than Bill Cowher? Hines Ward? They’re infinitely more qualified than Cowher or Johnson. But they’re not on TV all the time so … Is Cris Collinsworth sliding in next year?
