John Bassetti’s stories are sure to be missed

April 28, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

As I got up this morning and headed for the front door to get The Vindicator, as I do every morning, I couldn’t wait to see if there would be an article about the concert last night (April 20) at the Cellar in Struthers. I have been a Dave Mason fan all my Life and was just curious how it went.

I started flipping the pages and all of a sudden I saw an article that John Bassetti had written about his retiring from writing for the sports department of The Vindicator. I immediately started reading it because I know John, being from Hubbard and knowing his family. I have always enjoyed his writing and there have been articles he has written for me in the past. In fact, one article hangs on my wall in my bedroom. It was a story about my time trying out for the Youngstown State University football team. I will always treasure it because it was at a time when my father was still living and had a chance to see me play my best football.

I wouldn’t have anyone else write that article but John Bassetti. Whenever I would want to have something put in the Vindicator I would call on John. I wanted to call him one time when I ran in the Youngstown Peace Race because another sportswriter wrote an article about it (after running in it himself) and I wasn’t real crazy about that article. It never told the whole meaning of the Peace Race. John Bassetti would have covered it a lot better.

I believed that very much and I wish I could have had him write about it. John liked to hear from someone and their experiences and he liked the real aspect of the story. He is “homegrown”and lived his whole life here. I hope The Vindicator has some kind of reward for his all of his great stories over the years because if anyone deserves an award, it’s him.

A recent article, fromon March 16 headlined, ”Binding ties don’t always last,” should be entered into a contest.

There was never an article I found in today’s paper about the Dave Mason concert, but i found an even better one about my friend John Bassetti. I hope he is “Feeling Alright” and will enjoy his retirement. Thanks, John for all your writing it has always been “good for me.”

The next time I see you in church, I will shake your hand.

God bless you.

Tony Ball, Hubbard