Mother Nature 2, Guth 0
Rain outs seem to follow me around.
I was supposed to cover Laurel Highlands at Belle Vernon baseball Thursday when Mother Nature decided to rear her ugly head. I know, Mother Nature is beautiful when the sun shines brightly.
Before digressing too far, I promise this column will not be about the weather. I thought about all of the neat venues I had been to over my eight years of covering sports in the local area.
I also would like to include some of the schools and the individuals that have had a major impact on my career. If anyone feels that I forgot them, please forgive me, or send me an email regarding the oversight.
However, this is subjective, so my opinions are protected by the first amendment. Or, at least I think they are.
The venues and the individuals mentioned are in no particular order of importance or chronology, they are just what came to my mind. Most are amateur, but I did include a few professional encounters.
Any event at Laurel Highlands is always a treat to cover, and Barry Rosner, the voice of the Mustangs, is the primary reason. Rosner always makes sure that I have a seat and provides with any information needed. If he does not know, he seeks out the answer. High schools generally don鈥檛 have sports information directors, but I would say Rosner is the Mustangs鈥� SID.
LH always has the best food at football games, and plenty of it. In addition, Rosner announces that we are at the game covering over the PA system. Sometimes, I wish he didn鈥檛. It usually leads to questions on why we don鈥檛 cover a particular event. If you are reading this, Mr. Rosner, please continue to announce our presence. At least the fans know we exist.
While we are on the topic of food, Frazier football feeds the media pretty well. I haven鈥檛 covered a game there in probably six or seven years, but the announcer constantly encouraged me to eat up, even when I told him I already had dinner. That was when I weighed about 35 pounds less. Maybe it蘑菇视频 good I don鈥檛 cover Commodore games anymore.
If I can return to the Mustangs for just a moment, I enjoyed my interviews with former LH football coach Jack Buehner, who calls me 鈥淏ig Jon鈥� to this day. That makes me feel pretty good coming from a guy that is a foot taller than me. Boys basketball coach Rick Hauger and Mark John, the LH athletic director, are fine interviews and great guys. It is always fun to cover the Mustangs.
As a proud Red Raider alum, Bill Power Stadium and the old AJ Everhart Memorial Gymnasium hold a place in my heart. I also find great satisfaction in my postgame interviews with John Fortugna and Rob Kezmarsky. I only wish I could have spoken with the late Dave Shuck.
The new gym is OK, but I miss my old stomping grounds.
Joe LaPresta added a great deal of humor in the press box at Bill Power Stadium. I don鈥檛 think he was trying to be funny, but he always made me laugh. I can鈥檛 say too much about the food, but at least I got a drink and a bite off the sandwich ring.
Most of the wrestling events I cover are at tournaments that are not run in the area, but Connellsville provides solid wrestling and Tom Dolde, Jr. is a great coach to talk to. Duane Dupont is always there for you when you need a quote and Albert Gallatin has a nice setup when they turn down the bright lights and enter the gym WWE style.
Frank Vulcano handles numerous WPIAL tournaments, but also runs the prestigious Powerade tournament at Canon-McMillan High School. It is not in our coverage area, but Vulcano also provided the media with cool T-shirts last year at Powerade. It is always a hectic, but enjoyable time at Powerade.
Switching to the professional ranks, I had the privilege to cover a UFC event at the CONSOL Energy Center four years ago. I had a meal with steak and salad, access to a media room, a seat ringside and a post-fight press conference. It was the most organized event I have ever covered. It was also the most watched with the event being broadcast on the Versus Network. Versus is now the NBC Sports Network.
Recent success by the Karpency brothers has led me to cover several boxing events in the last few years. Tommy, Jeremiah and Dan蘑菇视频 sister, Rachel Dyer, has been a tremendous media contact. She also promoted several of their fights at the Waterfront Hotel in Morgantown, W.Va.
Dyer made sure I had a ring-side seat and access to her brothers after the fight. All three brothers are great interviews, as well as their father, Tom Sr. I look forward to more fights that feature the Karpency brothers.
With baseball season in full swing, I can鈥檛 forget about America蘑菇视频 pastime.
California High School has a great team and a great venue to boot. I covered a game Tuesday between the Trojans and Carmichaels and was very impressed. The field has a press box where they play walk-up music for each player and songs during inning breaks. You have a nice view of the strike zone and the lineups and rosters were provided.
Nick Damico, who I covered in the Fayette County Baseball League, is in his second season as head coach of the Trojans. H e provides great quotes and knows baseball. He is an all-around good guy. The Mikes鈥� Dickie Krause, who is back at the helm at Carmichaels after spending years in the county league, is always a great interview and treats me with a great amount of respect and compliments my stories every time I see him. Krause is a newspaper person himself, and that is flattering as a writer when someone that has been in your shoes compliments your work.
The first game I covered involving Krause was in the County League when his Carmichaels team lost. I was in my first year as a stringer and I made the cardinal sin of not interviewing Krause. He was a tad upset because of the loss and I guess I was a little intimidated.
The next time I interviewed Krause, the Copperheads lost again, this time worse that the first meeting, but he told me to never be shy to ask for an interview with him. We have had great talks whether they won or lost since then.
Last but certainly not least is Tom and Brian Sankovich, Breakneck Field and Bud Murphy蘑菇视频 baseball.
That probably says it all if you know the team, venue and individuals mentioned, but with both Tom and Brian, there is always a story.
My first experience with Tom and Brian Sankovich was covering a Bud Murphy蘑菇视频 game at Hutchinson Field in Hopwood. Hutchinson is nice, but Breakneck is the Wrigley Field of the County League.
Bud蘑菇视频 won and I went over to interview Tom. He asked Brian to speak, but Brian said he declined. Tom and I had a nice interview and from then we had a great relationship.
He also told me one night that Breakneck was the best field in the county league. Some may argue, but it does have an aura about it. No walk-up music for the Bud蘑菇视频 players. Not even a lineup card, but they always had the book ready, and Mr. Sank knew every single detail about the game.
Brian was the power hitter on Bud蘑菇视频 team and he was involved in many big games with Bud蘑菇视频. The sports bar in Connellsville sponsored the team. Unfortunately, there is not a Bud Murphy蘑菇视频 team anymore.
Probably the best thing about Coach Sankovich is that he always buys me a beer at Bud蘑菇视频 when he sees me.
I hope the memories continue as I move forward in this crazy profession that no one seems to understand.