ProfessorBriggs.com
THE Sports
Authority in Mercer County!
Note: This does not reflect the opinion of Grove City College, WSAJ-FM, The Herald, or their respective sponsors and supporters.
Professor's Proverbs -- June 30, 2008
Yes, Professor Briggs is aware that it has been 104 days since he last updated the site. That's about 90 days too long. I realized it had been entirely too long when a young man working at a local grocery store asked me when I was going to update the site.
So, as summer progresses, I will get back to more regular updates of the site. I have a new desktop computer, which will aid in this process. It is much more user-friendly than the laptop, which to be honest, was a bit of an obstacle for me in trying to do web work.
Although I have been busy with several things, most notably the Shenango Valley Modified Softball League, Professor Briggs has still been keeping an eye on the local sports scene.
> What a great spring sports season for our local
scholastic athletes! In baseball, both Hickory and Sharon made great runs into
the state tournament that included District 10 titles. The Wilmington boys won
the state Class AA track and field title and several of our local athletes
captured state titles last month at Shippensburg University:
*Fawn Miller (Lakeview) -- Javelin, 167-2 (State record; won title by almost 21
feet!)
*Kara Mostoller (Reynolds) -- Long Jump, 18-8 1/2
*Kristy Woods (Grove City) -- Discus, 143-8
*Kristy Woods (Grove City) -- Shot Put, 44-11
*Paul Yohman (Wilmington) -- Shot Put, 52-6
*Chris Burns (Wilmington) -- Long Jump, 22-9 1/2
Just looking through the PIAA Track and Field Championships results is quite an interesting experience. I am constantly amazed at the quality of athletes and teams that come out of our small area, year-in and year-out. I know this is nothing new; Mercer County teams and athletes have excelled on a district, state and national level for generations and I know that will continue. Still, it is great to see our local young men and women representing their communities and schools so well.
> Speaking of representing the area, Lakeview High School sophomore Fawn Miller -- the state champion in the girls' javelin -- recently competed in the United States Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Miller placed 15th at the Trials despite being the only high school athlete in the field. What a tremendous accomplishment for her! I remember several years ago when I worked as sports editor at Allied News in Grove City and the Lakeview youth track and field results would be submitted. At age 7 or 8, Fawn Miller was excelling in all of the events and to see her continuing to blossom as an athlete is very exciting. Sometimes at those young ages, a kid might be a little bigger or stronger than his/her peers and has an advantage. In Fawn's case, it is simply her sheer athleticism and hard work that have allowed her to maintain that standard of excellence.
> Another young athlete with local ties is also looking to make the United States Olympic Team. Swimmer Caleb Courage, a rising senior at Grove City College, is competing in the Olympic Trials in Omaha this week. Courage, an 11-time NCAA Division III All-American, will compete in both the 50- and 100-meter freestyle races. Best wishes to Caleb.
> Several coaching changes on the local scholastic basketball scene in recent weeks. Longtime Greenville boys basketball head coach Kelly Jones stepped down and has been replaced by former Thiel ace Mark Batt. Coach Jones had been our area's longest-tenured head basketball coach and had several great seasons with the Trojans. I vividly remember Greenville winning the District 10 Class AA title at Edinboro in 1997 when I was a senior in high school. As a radio guy, it was a real thrill for me to watch the 2004-05 Greenville squad that advanced to the second round of the state tournament. That team is easily in my top two or three of favorite teams to watch and cover over the past 10 years. Although I maintain impartiality, I always liked to see Greenville do well because of Kelly Jones and the type of young men he produced from the program.
Best wishes to Coach Jones and also to Coach Batt as he inherits a young squad that put together a very solid 14-10 mark last year.
Longtime area assistant Joe Montone is the new head girls coach at Mercer. He replaces Art Amos, who stepped down following the season. I have known Coach Amos for many years, during his time as an assistant coach, head baseball coach and head girls coach at Mercer. He is one of the true gentlemen in the game and his presence will be missed. Coach Montone brings a strong and varied background to this position and is a sound choice to continue Mercer's resurgence.
Slippery Rock High School is looking for a new head boys basketball coach after fourth-year head coach Sean Strickland resigned to take a position at Baldwin-Wallace College. This is a good move for Coach Strickland, career-wise, as Baldwin-Wallace is one of the preeminent women's basketball programs in NCAA Division III. Best of luck to him in his new position.
> Interesting story that ran recently in The (Sharon) Herald about the tightening of the dress code for faculty and staff in the Sharon City Schools. I don't know what the teachers and staff in the district have been wearing, but I do applaud the decision of Superintendent John Sarandrea to tighten things up. Teachers are professionals and they are also role models for the students. Does wearing a tie necessarily make someone a better teacher? Not directly. But I, in my semi-trained opinion, do think that students will be more receptive to someone dressed sharply and professionally. I also think that when someone takes pride in his or her appearance, they will also take additional pride in their performance, regardless of the occupation.
From a personal standpoint, I know that I feel I perform better when wearing a shirt and tie, whether it is in my "straight" job as a sports information director or moonlighting as a radio guy in the fall and winter. Not that I do shabbily when I just have a collared shirt on, but there's something to be said about taking the extra two minutes and putting on a tie.
> In a related sidebar, Herald Editor Jim Raykie wrote an excellent column about the standards of clothing that have devolved over the past decades. He makes great points about the general disheveled-ness that plagues our society today. This is not about people who may not have much in terms of money; you can still look presentable without having to spend a lot of money. It is about the people who go places wearing pajama bottoms or some ratty shirt and generally looking like a bum simply because they didn't take five minutes to change into something decent.
Professor Briggs feels that this is simply one more example of how laziness continues to eat away at our society. From people typing "r u" in e-mails and text messages to wearing the clothes you slept in, there seems to be a real lack of initiative among people today. Yes, a lot of them would be classified as "young people," but they had to learn this behavior somewhere, right?
> Keep the proverbial cards and letters coming. You can e-mail me at ryanbriggs@zoominternet.net