Ohio
Ohio State football fans want night games over noon kickoffs; Caitlin Clark speaks out
Here we (probably) go again. You may recall that in 2024 Ohio State played six consecutive football games that kicked off at noon. You may also recall the resulting kerfuffle among fans who complained that noon starts mainly benefit only Baby Boomers – ahem – whose heads hit the pillow by 10 pm.
“Give us night games or give us death,” the youngsters demanded. Or something like that.
Well, Fox Sports heard the cries of the OSU vampires, but that doesn’t mean the network listened. No official kick time has been announced, but if Fox follows its normal modus operandi the Ohio State vs. Texas season opener in the Horseshoe will trend more toward party pooper than super duper, which is to say another Big Noon Kickoff.
Mike Mulvihill, who oversees research analytics and strategic planning for Fox, said last year, “There’s a belief that prime time is somehow inherently better (than noon), but that’s not really matched up by the analysis.
“It’s our job to put the schools that we’re partners with in front of as many people as possible. If we can provide our schools as much exposure as possible, that should not just benefit Fox, but that should benefit those programs. What we’ve found over the last six years is that it’s very clear that putting our best game on at noon is what delivers the biggest audiences for these games.”
In other words, ratings overrule stadium atmosphere.
To be fair, I’ve covered noon games where the vibe is electric, and covered night games that were snoozers. People tend to forget that a full day of alcohol consumption often results in a zombie crowd effect. But overall, with the exception of the Michigan game, night games top nooners as exciting spectacles.
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But before grabbing torches and pitchforks to hunt down Fox executives, remember the Big Ten, which partners with the network, is no innocent bystander. The conference knew how Fox operated when it signed up to receive $7 billion over seven years.
Adding spice to this made-for-TV drama is the grandstanding move of Ohio Rep. Tex Fischer, who last week introduced a bill requiring Ohio State football games against top-10 opponents to start at 3:30 p.m. or later. The bill, which exempts the Ohio State-Michigan game, proposes a $10 million fine for broadcasters violating the start time rule.
Personally, I think 3:30 p.m. is the kickoff sweet spot time for fans. Enough time to tailgate. Not too late to doze off during the fourth quarter. Regardless of start time, OSU-Texas should be a ratings bonanza and in-person humdinger.
Kudos to Indiana Fever players for speaking out
They could have shrugged or remained silent, but Caitlin Clark and her Indiana Fever teammates chose to wag a finger at some of their own fans who allegedly taunted Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese during a game May 17.
“There’s no place for that in our game, there’s no place for that in society,” Clark said, adding she appreciated that the WNBA was investigating the matter.
Social media posts during the Fever-Sky game claimed hateful remarks or noises were made toward Reese after a third-quarter incident in which Clark fouled Reese to prevent a layup. Reese confronted Clark, but was restrained by Indiana’s Aliyah Boston.
Any time players from the home team speak out against their own fans it adds power to the message that unruly fans need to pipe down and stop with the personal attacks.
Listening in
“I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior yesterday on Hole 16. As professionals, we are expected to remain professional even when frustrated and I unfortunately let my emotions get the best of me. My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on.” – PGA Tour player Wyndham Clark, posting Monday on X after flinging his driver following a poor tee shot May 18 during the PGA Championship. The tossed club came within a few feet of striking a tournament volunteer standing behind the tee box.
Off-topic
Recently visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, and while the gigantic home (178,926 square feet) is indeed impressive, the most incredible sight was the view out the back window of the distant mountains and valleys, proving once again that natural beauty beats man-made every time.
Sports columnist Rob Oller can be reached at roller@dispatch.com and on X.com at@rollerCD. Read his columns from the Buckeyes’ national championship season in “Scarlet Reign,” a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Dispatch. Details at OhioState.Champs.com
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GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.
These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.
The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.
“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven
“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.
O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.
Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
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It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
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