YSU

YSU

Heacock makes excuses
for YSU’s performance

Fanfare:

Let’s talk about these so called unrealistic expectations Mr. Sweeney wrote in [a recent] Fanfare.

First off, I don’t think it’s funny at all about the criticism of Coach Heacock. When you sit at the head of the table, you have to be able to take the heat that comes from the kitchen next to it.

Putting things into perspective as Sweeney puts it, Jim Tressel is no aberration. He proved himself in I-AA and is proving it now in Division I football.

Yes, Tressel did start 2-9 his first year, but went 8-4 in his second. I don’t think that happened with Heacock. And as Heacock keeps piling up the excuses each year why his teams don’t make the playoffs, one only wonders how many he can make till the powers that be at YSU wise up and look elsewhere.

Let’s take a look at the excuse this year. “We did what we could do; we’re 7-4, so they’re going to have to make that decision for us again this year. Again, it’s out of our hands.”

Yes, Heacock was there for the majority of YSU’s success but as an assistant. When he took over in 2001, it was not a lose/lose situation for him. Yes Tressel laid the foundation but it was a sound foundation for Heacock only to improve, but instead he let it get out of hand.

Yes he looks very incompetent but only by his own doing. How many times have we seen the Penguins be in charge of games only to let them slip away?

I agree athletes aren’t clamoring to come here to play anymore, but that has more to do with recruiting than the sad state of Youngstown. Simply put, Heacock doesn’t know how to recruit. He can hardly get even local talent to play for YSU.

It is easy to put down Heacock by comparing his record to Tressel’s. But I am in no way trying to do that at all. What I see, in my view, is nothing short of excuses coming from Heacock.

It’s time for him to start over again from scratch, starting from bare fundamentals of football to learning the finer points of recruiting to build up this program again. He’s not that far off. He’s just got to stop making excuses.

JOHN MIRTO

Hubbard

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Ursuline, Mooney have
advantage over S. Range

Fanfare:

After reading [the Nov. 17] article about the South Range and Ursuline game, I have to respond to [Ursuline] Coach [Dan] Reardon’s remark. He said his team and him took exception about the talk of good athletes going to their school and that’s why they won.

He tried to downplay this remark, but the truth is area public schools like South Range have their players there from grade one on or close to it. They are from their little district. But Mooney and Ursuline draw good athletes from [three] counties.

Yes, Mr. Reardon, you got to where you are because you draw good athletes from all areas. When Mooney and Ursuline were built, they were for each taking half of the Catholic kids in Youngstown. How far do you think you would get if that is all you had? Nowhere near like South Range does year after year.

PERRY SANTANGELO

New Middletown

Parochial schools deserve
respect for their success

Fanfare:

Ursuline vs. South Range once again stirred up the old parochial vs. public school football debate that occurs around this time every year. There are so many untruths and rationalizations in the arguments against parochial schools and for “parity” that it would take pages to address.

But here are a few things to consider:

1. If they won, South Range had a rare opportunity to make a sport’s history for their school that would have been remembered for years (see the movie “Hoosiers” and Appalachian State vs. Michigan). Sometimes just having such an opportunity is its own reward.

The boys from South Range will remember the Ursuline game, even though it was a loss, longer than they will remember some victories. You demean the South Range players by acting like they had no chance — I’m sure the team would play Ursuline again this week if they could.

Earlier in the year, Ursuline dressed 15 players for a freshman game at Division I Massillon Washington, who dressed 45 players. The Ursuline freshman lost by two points in the last 40 seconds and not one player complained about being out-manned. The players play, the parents rationalize about “parity”. If there was true parity, all games would end in a tie.

2. The biggest factors in the Ursuline victory were a great game plan by the coaches and great execution by the players, not athletic ability.

3. South Range and other schools should start playing schools in higher divisions, like Ursuline and Mooney do, during the regular season. Those games are invaluable in preparing a team for the playoffs. They might not go undefeated, but they’ll be a better team for it.

4. For those schools that want Ursuline and Mooney to move to a higher division, get together and send us some of your students to push the enrollment up. I am sure the principals at each school will be more than happy to take them and you will not have to play us again in the playoffs.

5. Be happy that Ursuline and Mooney represent this area so well and root them on to victory.

FRANK D. DUNDEE

Boardman