Mount Vernon News

To the Editor:On Oct. 20, you published an article on J.D.

Utica ends six-year conference drought, tops Lakewood 31-0. With many battles for the play-offs in progress, a game involving two winless teams took center stage as it ended a long drought and gave senior athletes their first program win.

Last-minute heroics, first-place finishes and stars. The Mount Vernon News sports department’s sixth group of ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations continues the established trend of spotlighting student-athletes’ skills and performances on the fields and courts of action. This week’s nominees come from three different sports and three different schools, and each athlete is a winner.

Let’s talk sports nicknames. To add color and electricity to the game, whether it is baseball, basketball, football or hockey … an athlete often is attached to a nickname that seems to transcend the sport and the athletes themselves. Now, some names themselves that have a ring to them … Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard saying “Numbah seven, Mickey Mantle, numbah seven” had an ethereal quality. Many ballplayers didn’t need nicknames, but many players have earned ones that stand the test of time.

OngoingKnox Public Health has posted a notice on vaccine availability that will be updated regularly as conditions change.

Centerburg holds on to hand Northmor its first loss, 14-12. Centerburg jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held on to beat previously undefeated Northmor, 14-12 in KMAC football action, Friday evening. Freddies come from behind to top Pirates 20-14. On paper, it looked like a lighter game on Fredericktown’s schedule, but Cardington-Lincoln (1-7, 0-5 KMAC) gave the Freddies (4-5, 2-4 KMAC) all they could handle before knocking them off 20-14, on Friday.

OngoingKnox Public Health has posted a notice on vaccine availability that will be updated regularly as conditions change.

Football and Volleyball rule the local sports worldThe Mount Vernon News sports department’s fifth group of ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations take up where the previous student-athletes left off … with talent and performance.

Let's talk sports rivalries. What’s not to love about great sport rivalries? The adrenalin … the bragging rights … the excitement and the out-and-out disgust toward your most polarizing opponent. It makes sports and friendships more exciting. We all know a close friend or family member who is on opposite sides of our favored sports teams. We still love them … but …

Ongoing: Knox Public Health has posted a notice on vaccine availability that will be updated regularly as conditions change.

Heath sweeps Redskins in close volleyball action. Sometimes the end result does not reflect the real ebb and flow of a match. The final score was Heath 3, Utica 2, in high school volleyball action.. However, the competition was much closer than the final result. Lords remain unbeaten in conference play. The Kenyon College men’s soccer team went on the road to defeat conference-rival Denison University, 2-0. The Lords improved to 8-1-1 on the year and 3-0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. Lady Cougars end Quad-Tournament with pair of wins. The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s volleyball team came from behind to beat Roosevelt University and Lourdes University in the final day of the Cougar Quad-Tournament.

Golfers, runners, spikers and gridiron stars lead the pack. The Mount Vernon News sports department’s fourth group of ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations take up where the previous student-athletes left off … with talent and performance. This week’s nominees show a predominance of links work, some football, some runners. Volleyball and our first two second-time nominee. There are seven nominees – four boys and three girls – representing four schools.

Let’s talk sports broadcasters. In today’s sports world, broadcasters are part of the entertainment. The thing is, I don’t want to be entertained by them. I want to watch the game, get some play-by-play, some background color and analysis and some silence. I want to watch the game. I realize I am not part of their target audience that seems to need constant talk and entertainment, but I want to WATCH THE GAME.

Vaccines

Let's talk baseball and robot umpires. Analytical data shows that umpires will miss about 30,000 wrong ball-strike calls this season. The difference of one strike in an at-bat can be huge. For example, hitters are batting .318 with an .840 on-base-plus-slugging percentage through Aug. 1 when the count is 0-1. That drops to .142 with a .369 OPS when the count is 0-2. It spikes back to .339 with a .918 OPS if the count is instead 1-1. Bring on the robots.

This week, for The Mount Vernon News Male ATHLETE OF THE WEEK, football reigns supreme: we have two football players from East Knox, one from Fredericktown and one from Mount Vernon; and a soccer player (called “football” in the UK), from Mount Vernon. Female ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations include a cross country runner from Fredericktown and a Mount Vernon soccer player.

LET's TALK SPORTS Let’s talk student-athletes making money Back in the day, amateur athletes were, well, amateurs, and were not paid for their skills. Amateur sports was considered pure, as money didn’t enter into the athletes’ love for their games. That may have been an innocent motive, but others were making lots of money off the amateur performances. Times change and consideration of the athletes has changed. Even the Olympics, a traditional bastion of amateur sports has long allowed professional athletes to compete for the “Gold.” In 1986, professional athletes were given permission by the International Federation to compete in each sport of the Olympic Games.

The Mount Vernon News sports department’s inaugural ATHLETE OF THE WEEK nominations are an outstanding group of student-athletes.

Little gets a sports crowd as energized as great sports music in the background, or at half-time. Many people think all high school marching bands sound alike – must be all the brass -- but your local high school band is the best … it is ALWAYS THE BEST.

To the Editor:I would like to respond to a recent Mount Vernon News article, dated Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.