The Star Beacon; Ashtabula, Ohio

Sports

November 8, 2009

A Don McCormack column: Meyer stands by former player Hewitt

Paying a Sunday morning visit to the variety store...



Loyalty

Mitch Hewitt was a great football player during his high school days at Chardon, then went on to an excellent career at the next level at Bowling Green State University.

Tuesday night, the former Hilltopper was the top votegetter among a field of seven for four seats on Chardon City Council.

Already very well known in his community, Hewitt received a heavyweight endorsement the week before the election.

A campaign mailer that was sent out by Hewitt included a photograph of him with his college football coach.

The coach?

None other than Ashtabula’s own Urban Meyer, a 1982 St. John High School graduate.

Now perhaps the best-known college coach in the country with his University of Florida Gators having won two of the last three BCS National Championship games, the photograph includes the following quote from Meyer:

“You were as a good player/person/leader as I’ve ever been around.”



Congrats

Two of the nicest people in the world, Tom and Kathie Watts, were recognized for 50 years of marriage at a open house and in their honor at the Jefferson Nazarene Church’s Fireside Lounge yesterday.

Tom and Kathie are perhaps best known for their decades of service to the Jefferson Area Girls Softball league, where Kathie managed a ton of championship teams, with Tom always serving as her trusty sidekick.

The couple raised two children, son Brad, who was a standout defensive back and kicked off on the great Jefferson football team of 1984 coached by Reid Lamport, and Valerie, who was a fine softball player for coach Ed Pickard at Jefferson.

However, Tom and Kathie have given so much to so many through the years, having opened the doors of both their home and their hearts as they have been the host family for countless foster children through the years.

My sincere congratulations go out to Tom and Kathie on your half century together.

Here’s wishing you many more wonderful years together.



Kicked in the...

A University of Montana student who kicked a field goal to win a $10,000 prize likely won’t get the money because he hadn’t been away from the sport long enough.

Matthew Brenner, a sophomore, kicked a 45-yard field goal during UM’s “Kick for Cash” contest last Saturday.

But he didn’t meet the qualifications to be a contestant because he hadn’t been away from football for five years. Brenner kicked a 27-yard field goal to lift his high school team, the Sidney Eagles, to a 2007 homecoming victory.

Brenner says he wasn’t asked about his athletic background and didn’t really read the contest contract before he signed it.

Dan Ingram, account executive for contest organizer Grizzly Sports Properties, says the group is trying to come up with a consolation prize.



Perspective

OK, so the Buffalo Bills really... stink.

Any team that finds a way to come on out the short end against Eric the Dread’s Cleveland Browns as they did on their home turf a few weeks ago, 6-3, in a game that set professional football back to the stone age, is lucky to draw flies, let alone a crowd.

However, as the Buffalo News pointed out in a story last Monday, the smaller crowds at Ralph Wilson Stadium have made security detail much, much easier.

Check this headline on a story by News staff writer Janice Habuda: “Lousy game leads to fewer arrests.”

Though only 14 arrests were made last week at the stadium — about half the normal amount, according to Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz — three of the incarcerations deserve um... special mention.

Three Canadian men “borrowed” a golf cart to make their way through the parking lot before kickoff. According to Benz, a Bills employee reported the theft and the Three Stooges were shocked to see officers waiting for them when they pulled up in the stolen vehicle at Gate 1, where they were promptly arrested.

Bryan W. Bendo, 23, Steven L. Henry, 27, and James M. Hester, 46, were all charged with a felony count of grand larceny and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, which is a misdemeanor.

They were released after scraping together $400 bail apiece.

Makes the infamous “Bottlegate” episode at Browns Stadium a few years ago seem terribly deficient in the creativity aspect of knuckleheaded behavior, huh?



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

Text Only
Sports
  • mat Riverside sneaks past Edgewood

    Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.

    February 10, 2012 1 Photo

  • Madison rolls past Geneva

    Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.

    February 10, 2012

  • Boys tourney returning to county

    On Feb. 27, for the first time in 20 years, postseason boys basketball will return to Ashtabula County when the Division II sectional-district tournament comes to Lakeside high school.

    February 10, 2012

  • Dragons dump Lakers in drink

    Despite the fact his girls have been through a tough season, Lakeside coach Rob Livingston spoke as though he had sensed that better things might be around the corner.

    February 10, 2012

  • Mustangs dominate Heralds

    In their last home game of the season, the Grand Valley Mustangs rose to the occasion on Senior Night, defeating the SS. John and Paul Heralds, 59-28.

    February 10, 2012

  • Clark, Francis help give Falcons Liberty

    Paige Clark led an attack that saw three Jefferson players reach double figures and Rachel Francis had a triple-double as the Falcons blasted visiting Liberty, 59-17, in an All-American Conference game Thursday night in Falcon Gym.

    February 10, 2012

  • Scholastic Statistics:

    WRESTLING
    NON-CONFERENCE
    Riverside 31, Edgewood 28
    at Edgewood

    February 10, 2012

  • Scholastic Schedule:

    FRIDAY, FEB. 10
    Boys Basketball
    n Lakeside at Madison
    n Conneaut at Edgewood
    n Liberty at Jefferson (WFUN)
    n South at Geneva
    n PV at Bloomfield
    n Grand Valley at Southington
    n Riverside at North
    n Harvey at Perry

    February 10, 2012

  • pv PV prevails

    Cody Miller and Zach Campbell knew what they had to do in order for the Pymatuning Valley wrestling team to complete a come-from-behind victory over Jefferson on Wednesday at triangular match at PV.
    The pair delivered exactly that and the Lakers pulled off the win, 37-36.

    February 9, 2012 2 Photos

  • Eagles bounce back

    The Geneva girls didn’t have much time to regroup. But just one day after a heartbreaking defeat, they were able to knock off a strong Perry team on the road, 39-33.

    February 9, 2012

Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
House Ads
AP Video