Paying a visit to the variety store...



Still coming...

The gestures and fond words of remembrance keep rolling in for Pymatuning Valley High School principal Jeff Meddock, who passed away at age 38 at his Roaming Shores home Friday.

For example:

n PV assistant football coach Kevin Brown and head coach Jason Root stenciled “JM” on the side of every Laker football helmet, to be worn the rest of the 2008 season, starting with Friday night’s non-conference home game against St. Thomas Aquinas at Laker Stadium.

n Dr. Thomas Eden emailed the following from Boulder, Colo.:

“I wanted to thank you for writing about the late PV principal,

Jeff Meddock. What a tragedy!

“Personally, I didn’t know the man, but your story shed some nice light on a man who was looked on quite admirably by his peers and the community around him.

“Again, thanks for nice story.”

n Karen Kaczmarek sent along the following message:

“I wanted to write and thank you for writing such wonderful words about Jeff.

“Jeff is the cousin of Scott Phillips, who is a good friend of mine. I have talked with Jeff several times and always found him to be positive and motivating.

“But I wanted to thank you for your articles. I cannot come to the memorial (Wednesday night) but will go to the visitation in Ambridge (today).

“I cannot tell you the number of tears I have shed for our loss. Jeff will always be one of the most uplifting people I have ever met.”



Datebook

Conneaut athletic director Dawn Zappitelli reports that the Spartans’ Northeastern Conference football game at Geneva originally scheduled for Friday, Oct. 17 has been moved to Thursday, Oct. 16.

The Week 9 game will kick off at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field.



Rebel yell?

Curtis Vineyard is caught in the middle of a crossfire. He is a freshman at the University of Kansas, and he likes going to the football games, which means he has a decision to make every Saturday, each time the Jayhawks kick the ball off to their opponent: Should I do the chant or not?

Thus far, Vineyard has decided yes, joining in with the thousands of students who yell, “Rip his (expletive) head off!” at the top of their lungs.

“I do, kind of just because everyone else does,” said Vineyard, a native of Marysville, Kan. “But it’s probably not one of those things we should do.”

Hey, that’s college. Every student has to battle peer pressure. With seniors like Brandon Leddy in support of the chant, it’s hard to say no.

“I try to start it,” said Leddy, a Wichita, Kan., senior. “I’m a big-time football fan. I can say whatever I want.”

Ever since the chant began years ago — based off a line from the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy, “The Waterboy” — Leddy’s has been the prevailing logic. But this week, Vineyard and the rest of the Kansas students are going to hear a different message about the potentially embarrassing chant as the Jayhawks’ home game against Colorado on ESPN2 approaches.

Senior Matt Erickson, the editor of the University Daily Kansan, is leading a student-driven initiative to stop the chant.

The Jayhawks are defending Orange Bowl champions, hosting nationally televised games, and the student section is packed. The chant can be heard on TV, and, after Colorado, all three of the Jayhawks’ remaining home games have potential for a national broadcast.

“Because KU is on a national stage now, that’s not the kind of image we want to put out about who the students are,” Erickson said. “The additional national exposure makes it more embarrassing for me as a student.”

Fellow senior Joey Scanga, didn’t seem to think anything would work.

“I just don’t think there’s anything they can do,” Scanga, a Wichita native, said. “Just them trying to tell us not to say it, it makes kids want to say it even more.”



The Associated Press contributed to this report. McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.