Veteran Observer-Reporter sports writer Mike Kovak offers his take on high school sports.
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Friday, January 7, 2011
Bling
Got a chance to see one of South Fayette's PIAA championship rings from last basketball season. It belongs to Joe DiDonato, who keeps the book for the SF varsity team and is the oldest of the DiDonato brothers. Took a pic. It's not very clear.
The picture might not be clear, but what is clear is someone is receiving some improper benefits. I thought you were supposed to be an impartial reporter. What, I guess you'll be getting a banner in the gym next, huh Koovac?
why must everybody hate on this website...south fayette is the only school winning anything, obviously these viewers are jealous, because every other school around here is doing nothing...please tell the school you are for, to actually win something once in awhile, to give mike something else to cover
Not jealous, just wondering why a school that is not it Washington or Greene Counties gets all the press from the Observer-Reporter which once prided itself on serving Wash-Greene Counties! Just Wondering!
Not jealous, just wondering why a newspaper that prides itself in serving Washington and Greene Counties gives so much print and awards to a school that is not in either county! Just Wondering!
interesting comments, some people sure do hate sf. i appreciate the fact that they have a good athletic program and enjoy watching them. but we'll see if they can keep it in going for years or are they just in a good cycle of athletes or did they pay for some good coaches, iguess we'll see next year. meanwhile i say good luck to them this year because they(along with cv) are this areas only shot at some playoff success. i hope some of my favorite teams get their programs going again starting with some good coaches.(like sf and cv)
anon asked a good question. Why so much envy or misguided attitudes. This blog is a mirror as to society in general, jealousy, envy, etc. This blog is about high school sports 15-16-17-18 year old kids, we should be happy for our fellow man or in this case our fellow kid if they have some success, yet the attitude here on and about young people is ashame.
I am a coach and want to win as much as anyone, yet I am happy for the success of others. Live and let live. The crazy part of the envy is in a lot of cases it is with your own school and kids. If you cant wish your own well how can you wish anyone well. Many of you need to look in the mirror and start there with the evaluation, and lighten up on the coaches and kids. It would be nice to see someone say what a great effort a coach or team is displaying, cut the coaches and kids a brake, and realize less than 1% of the high school players will go on to play college sports, put it in its proper prospective and enjoy it for what it is, a game played by kids for the kids. Again, look in the mirror, were you a high school star? not in your own mind, but by others standard. Did you play in college? have you coached a high school or college team in victory or defeat? If not,what do you know about what it takes. I wish the best to all coaches and players for having the guts to go out and put it on the line with all watching, unlike the complainers who will never know the true meaning of what we do or what stand for. .
As stated before, this paper's coverage of South Fayette dates back to the 1980s. The mailing address of the high school is in Washington County.
Why should we not try to cover a growing area that's been covered for a couple decades?
I agree with a few of these posts. There never seemed to be much of a problem when we covered South Fayette when they were just playoff regulars.
My first story on my first day at the O-R was a feature on SF quarterback Niel Loebig. It ran in September of 1999. Never heard one negative comment from that story.
This isn't the first time, a school has tended to own coverage to a certain extent. I recall driving down to Waynesburg a couple times per week back in the glory days or their football program or being at Wash High Stadium to cover the Prexies every Friday. I've been to more Wash High boys basketball games than I could count.
As a business, which this newspaper is, why shouldn't we be able to make decisions for ourselves as opposed to let someone tell us how to operate under the veil of anomymity?
And please come up with a better reason than "serving Wash-Greene counties." If that's the case, we'll stop running Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt, Penn State and WVU stories.
I am a coach within the Washington County area as well, and I do think we need to write about successful programs within the area.
South Fayette has had success and we should all be happy for them and not envy their success. I wish all the teams in the WPIAL the best this year, and I hope Mike will continue to post about successful programs in our area.
No but how about this: Monessen's boys basketball team is proving to one of the WPIALs strongest teams in all divisions. They have 3-1 non conference record against AAAA teams, all at the size of single A school. Additionally, the girls team is also very strong in their own regard. Do we see anything about our Greyhounds? Not to mention that the post gazette informed us about extremely rare news: Monessen freshman Justice Rawlins has been named to the U.S. Air force ALL-AMERICAN FIRST TEAM DEFENSE. I would consider that pretty rare and outstanding news. More importantly, No one from South Fayette made the list. Actually no one else in PA made the list. Thats real news, but thats a pretty "ring picture" too....
Call me what you want anon, but did you happen to read what it said about Rawlins in his bio?
I think it was something about making the O-R team. But I'm guessing you didn't read how Rawlins made the O-R Elite 11, the only freshman on the team.
Rawlins had an excellent season, made the Freshman All-American Team, an outstanding achievement.
My apologies for not having this in the O-R the very second it was posted. Maybe I should spend all day, every day looking at Max Preps and other sites. That way I can avoid such mistakes.
Keep in hating anon, but please keep coming back to the site.
No doubt I will! I love to hate and you give me more ammo then a person could ask for. After-all, Isn't it our jobs to criticize your every word? If you were any good, honestly, would you be writing for the O.R.? Really..... My name will follow in the coming weeks. I'm taking a stand and putting a face to these fine critiques. It may come as a shock to some so "Hide Yo kids, Hide Yo wife".
22 comments:
The picture might not be clear, but what is clear is someone is receiving some improper benefits. I thought you were supposed to be an impartial reporter. What, I guess you'll be getting a banner in the gym next, huh Koovac?
No improper benefits of partiality on this end KiPA, but if anyone wants to raise a banner, all I ask is for a week notice.
You have to be kidding me!!!! You lost a viewer...hopefully more will follow. Get a life dude
Not to be taken seriously anon ... if you frequent this site, you'd probably notice we're not 24-7 suit jacket and tie.
If that's what you're looking for, you should probably go somewhere else.
why must everybody hate on this website...south fayette is the only school winning anything, obviously these viewers are jealous, because every other school around here is doing nothing...please tell the school you are for, to actually win something once in awhile, to give mike something else to cover
Kipa is giving Ringold Realest a run for the biggest jurk on the blog.
Mike I have a Clairton state championship ring from last season and one on the way from this season. Ill send you a pic of them next to each other...
Not jealous, just wondering why a school that is not it Washington or Greene Counties gets all the press from the Observer-Reporter which once prided itself on serving Wash-Greene Counties! Just Wondering!
Not jealous, just wondering why a newspaper that prides itself in serving Washington and Greene Counties gives so much print and awards to a school that is not in either county! Just Wondering!
interesting comments,
some people sure do hate sf. i appreciate the fact that they have a good athletic program and enjoy watching them. but we'll see if they can keep it in going for years or are they just in a good cycle of athletes or did they pay for some good coaches, iguess we'll see next year. meanwhile i say good luck to them this year because they(along with cv) are this areas only shot at some playoff success. i hope some of my favorite teams get their programs going again starting with some good coaches.(like sf and cv)
Exactly what is improper about Mike Kovak seeing, and taking a picture, of the South Fayette scorekeeper's state championship ring?
I don't know what's worse--the fact that NOBODY posts on Joe's wrestling blahhhhg, or that this one's frequented by morons....
anon asked a good question. Why so much envy or misguided attitudes. This blog is a mirror as to society in general, jealousy, envy, etc. This blog is about high school sports 15-16-17-18 year old kids, we should be happy for our fellow man or in this case our fellow kid if they have some success, yet the attitude here on and about young people is ashame.
I am a coach and want to win as much as anyone, yet I am happy for the success of others. Live and let live. The crazy part of the envy is in a lot of cases it is with your own school and kids. If you cant wish your own well how can you wish anyone well.
Many of you need to look in the mirror and start there with the evaluation, and lighten up on the coaches and kids.
It would be nice to see someone say what a great effort a coach or team is displaying, cut the coaches and kids a brake, and realize less than 1% of the high school players will go on to play college sports, put it in its proper prospective and enjoy it for what it is, a game played by kids for the kids. Again, look in the mirror, were you a high school star? not in your own mind, but by others standard. Did you play in college? have you coached a high school or college team in victory or defeat? If not,what do you know about what it takes.
I wish the best to all coaches and players for having the guts to go out and put it on the line with all watching, unlike the complainers who will never know the true meaning of what we do or what stand for.
.
As stated before, this paper's coverage of South Fayette dates back to the 1980s. The mailing address of the high school is in Washington County.
Why should we not try to cover a growing area that's been covered for a couple decades?
I agree with a few of these posts. There never seemed to be much of a problem when we covered South Fayette when they were just playoff regulars.
My first story on my first day at the O-R was a feature on SF quarterback Niel Loebig. It ran in September of 1999. Never heard one negative comment from that story.
This isn't the first time, a school has tended to own coverage to a certain extent. I recall driving down to Waynesburg a couple times per week back in the glory days or their football program or being at Wash High Stadium to cover the Prexies every Friday. I've been to more Wash High boys basketball games than I could count.
As a business, which this newspaper is, why shouldn't we be able to make decisions for ourselves as opposed to let someone tell us how to operate under the veil of anomymity?
And please come up with a better reason than "serving Wash-Greene counties." If that's the case, we'll stop running Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Pitt, Penn State and WVU stories.
Alum ... I'd be happy to see the Bears' rings.
coach-BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
mike- you do seem to mention south fayette a bit much. Is that where you went to school?
I did not attend high school within the WPIAL.
Would people prefer Mike to frequent Mapletown?
I am a coach within the Washington County area as well, and I do think we need to write about successful programs within the area.
South Fayette has had success and we should all be happy for them and not envy their success. I wish all the teams in the WPIAL the best this year, and I hope Mike will continue to post about successful programs in our area.
No but how about this: Monessen's boys basketball team is proving to one of the WPIALs strongest teams in all divisions. They have 3-1 non conference record against AAAA teams, all at the size of single A school. Additionally, the girls team is also very strong in their own regard. Do we see anything about our Greyhounds? Not to mention that the post gazette informed us about extremely rare news: Monessen freshman Justice Rawlins has been named to the U.S. Air force ALL-AMERICAN FIRST TEAM DEFENSE. I would consider that pretty rare and outstanding news. More importantly, No one from South Fayette made the list. Actually no one else in PA made the list. Thats real news, but thats a pretty "ring picture" too....
Call me what you want anon, but did you happen to read what it said about Rawlins in his bio?
I think it was something about making the O-R team. But I'm guessing you didn't read how Rawlins made the O-R Elite 11, the only freshman on the team.
Rawlins had an excellent season, made the Freshman All-American Team, an outstanding achievement.
My apologies for not having this in the O-R the very second it was posted. Maybe I should spend all day, every day looking at Max Preps and other sites. That way I can avoid such mistakes.
Keep in hating anon, but please keep coming back to the site.
No doubt I will! I love to hate and you give me more ammo then a person could ask for. After-all, Isn't it our jobs to criticize your every word? If you were any good, honestly, would you be writing for the O.R.? Really..... My name will follow in the coming weeks. I'm taking a stand and putting a face to these fine critiques. It may come as a shock to some so "Hide Yo kids, Hide Yo wife".
I know I can't wait for the big unveil anon.
Until then, please continue to enlighten us with your anonymous awesomeness.
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