Sharpsville reunion full of good sports

Last weekend, my wife and I attended Sharpsville High School’s 55th class reunion at the newly remodeled Sharpsville VFW.

So what does this note have to do with sports and why is it on the sports pages?

The reason: Sharpsville High’s Class of 1952 was jam-packed with good sports.

The Blue and White “Armada” was never really that large with close to 70 in my graduating class and about 34 (including spouses) adorned the dining room at the VFW last weekend. They came from hither and yon to enjoy a night of good food, fellowship and a lot of reminiscing. It was a great evening.

Go Blue Devils!

Overpaid?

Peyton Manning is the quarterback of the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts. That in itself makes one believe he is one of the highest-paid quarterbacks of all time.

But Peyton is drawing some loose change from all angles these days, especially in television commercials and other regular shows like Saturday Night Live, etc. His commercials have been flooding the market and it leads one to think, “Is this the only guy making commercials?”

In a recent game one of the sports announcers talked about Manning’s numerous commercials. Said the announcer, “Manning’s having a great start. He was 17-29 in the first half. No I’m not talking about his passing stats; I’m referring to his commercials.”

Nice gesture

LSU not only has an outstanding football team this season, perhaps the No. 1 team in the nation before it’s all over, but the university band showed its true colors during half time of the LSU-Virginia Tech contest held recently on LSU’s turf.

The Tigers band played the Virginia Tech alma mater in view of the terrible tragedy that took place on Tech’s campus earlier this year. There were very few dry eyes in the stands at that one. It was a beautiful gesture to a school that could use a lot of uplifting, coming from a school in a state that has had ample heartaches of its own. You can’t say “Our hearts are with you” any better than that.

Somebody had to go

General manager Dave Littlefield was given his walking papers by the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this month and by the looks of the Bucs’ current record, one can understand why somebody had to go.

There could be more firings before it’s all over as the Pirates have already suffered their 15th consecutive losing season, nearly a major league record in futility.

Littlefield, however, is not the only member of the Pirates’ personnel leaving the fold. Kevin McClatchy, managing general partner, is resigning at the end of the season. So the Pirates will be operating with some new faces next season. The status of second-year manager Jim Tracy is also upcoming. His record is also sub-standard.

It was not too many years ago that both Littlefield and Tracy appeared as guest speakers at the annual Mercer County Hall of Fame Sports Banquet in West Middlesex. Both were excited and looked to a much brighter future for the Pirates. You had to expect that, though.

Good intentions do not always make for good results.

The Buc organization judged Littlefield on his past six-year performance. He was not judged on the Pirate record alone. The Pirates showed negligible progress on the field and the farm system didn’t do much better. Littlefield’s replacement is Director of Player Development Brian Graham, who will maintain the position probably until the end of the season.

Bob Nutting, who took over as controlling owner last January, said that the move to release Littlefield was an important one from a baseball standpoint and that it was the right thing to do. He said he was not satisfied with the overall progress and performance of the team.

Littlefield is just 47 and Tracy believes he will find another position rather quickly. The two are great friends and worked together a few years back with the Florida Marlins.

Under Tracy this past season, the Pirates caught fire after the All-Star break and it appeared for awhile that things were going to turn around. That didn’t last long, however, and they went back to their old ways. They at one time went on a homer spree, hitting seven in one game against Houston. They were also tough at times against the front runners of the NL Central, especially the Cubs, Cards and Brewers.