2016, our most awesome year

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Sports championships, a congressman on the preliminary list for vice-presidential candidate, and a major Youngstown connection to a record-breaking film, among other things, leads to one conclusion: The Mahoning Valley and our big-city neighbors – Cleveland and Pittsburgh – are having a pretty awesome year so far.

The roll we’re on could be trumped if the Republican National Convention next month in Cleveland turns ugly. But if the first major sports title in 52 years didn’t cause Cleveland to spontaneously combust like a Spinal Tap drummer, things shouldn’t be too bad when the Donald Trump circus and a not-so-merry band of protesters come to Cleveland.

Still, after decades of being on every top-10-worst list you can imagine, the Valley is feeling good.

When it comes to pro football, the region’s Steelers and Browns fans agree on only two things: They hate each other’s team, and both despise the Baltimore Ravens.

Because there’s no NHL team in Cleveland and no NBA team in Pittsburgh, many local fans didn’t look with disgust when the Cavaliers pulled off a most un-Cleveland-like miracle in beating the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals after being down 3-1, and when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in six games.

As Youngstown is centered between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, it’s not unusual for some to root for both the Cavs and the Pens.

No, Cleveland sports fans, the Cavs’ title run wasn’t a dream. “Believeland” finally became a reality.

In fact, the “30 for 30” ESPN film on the futility of Cleveland sports will re-air June 30 on the network with a new ending. This time, grown men are likely to cry for a different reason.

But if you think there will be a championship parade for the Browns in your lifetime, it’s time to wake up.

This is the team, after all, that drafted future reality-show train wreck Johnny Manziel.

When the U.S. Open ended Sunday in Oakmont, Pa., about 60 miles from the Valley, Jason Kokrak, a 2003 Warren JFK High School graduate, was in the field and finished a respectable 37th (even though he was 4-over-par on both Saturday and Sunday).

As for the RNC, the Valley will be well-represented by quite the showpiece in Cleveland during the convention: a 7-foot-tall, 3,000-pound Trump bobblehead.

The body is sand-based, and the head is plastic with metal inside.

Insert your own joke here.

Youngstown State University had the 3-D printer to make Trump’s head. Humtown Products of Columbiana had access to a printer large enough to make Trump’s body. Freshmade 3D of Youngstown, a Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio company, had the capability to design the showpiece.

Another YBI portfolio company, Enyx Studios, a video-game development studio, is involved in developing Sony’s new virtual reality game system.

Meanwhile, Ed O’Neill, Youngstown’s most-famous and beloved actor, is the voice of Hank, a grouchy octopus in “Finding Dory.” The Pixar movie set a record for the strongest box-office weekend opening for an animated film with $136.2 million.

O’Neill, who stars in “Modern Family” on TV, steals the film, according to The Washington Post.

Hank’s goal in life is to be taken to an aquarium in Cleveland so he isn’t touched by kids.

On the entertainment front, the Covelli Centre is traveling back in time with concerts booked there for August and September including Alabama, KISS, Bryan Adams and Lionel Richie.

Tickets for Richie’s Aug. 27 concert sold out Monday, less than a month after nearly 6,000 seats were put on sale.

Politics in the Valley can be as entertaining as movies and music. Usually the area makes national news for government corruption.

But according to a report last week in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, is among those being considered by Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, as her vice-presidential running mate.

The report listed Ryan among nine potential running mates, adding that none has been vetted. Ryan found out about it when someone told him he was mentioned in the article.

Ryan is a long-shot pick. But it’s the Valley, so you never know.