Well, it’s hard to believe July is in the rearview mirror. August on the calendar in the West Branch Valley goes hand-in-hand with baseball, football, and back to school. The back-to-school thing still makes me cringe, even though I haven’t been a student in decades. This, of course, was coupled with the fact that two-a-day
READ MORECongratulations to my friends at West End. Our 16u All-Stars are heading to Branson, Missouri, for the Babe Ruth World Series on August 8th. They will compete against the galaxy’s best. The boys were impressive in the Middle Atlantic Regional. They went 4-0 and thumped Atlantic Shore from New Jersey 10-0 in the final. This
READ MOREA new start time and a slightly shorter parade route are among the changes to the always highly anticipated Annual Grand Slam Parade on Tuesday, August 13. Instead of the parade beginning at 5:30 p.m., it will begin at 5 p.m., and instead of the parade starting at Susquehanna Street and West Fourth Street, it
READ MOREWillie Nelson’s On the Road Again recording might as well have been our theme song earlier this month as we took Jean’s constant reminder to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to go see things that interest us. My absence from this space last week was the result of a trip to the
READ MOREDuring a recent ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecast, veteran announcer Karl Ravech (best known locally for his long-tenured association with the Little League World Series) conducted a pre-game interview with Baltimore Orioles sensational shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Henderson, a member of the American League all-star team and participant in this year’s Home Run Derby, showed excitement
READ MOREThis column comes with a forewarning — if you’re not a baseball fan, have little sense of sports royalty, and journey through life with little sentimentality, please turn the page and see what is on Jamie’s mind. Hopefully, I’ll catch you next week. Despite my lifelong love affair with sports, I am not one to
READ MOREIt’s not about the color of a man’s skin; it’s about the person within. These are words I strongly believe in. During my lifetime, the one place I’ve found the best example of this is on the athletic field and within those that support sports. In our great nation, athletics, competition, and the passion of
READ MOREThe numbers flashed on the scoreboard at Penn State University’s softball field closed the final chapter of South Williamsport’s season but did nothing to take away the excitement, accomplishments, and memories contained in the many pages of the year-long story penned by the young ladies proudly wearing the Mountaineers blue & white. From the bitter
READ MOREAs I’m sitting here in the early morning hours at my desk on the South Side, there’s only really one thing to lead off with this week. My longtime friend Tom O’Malley has the Mountie softballers on the doorstep of a PIAA State Championship. What an exciting time in these young ladies’ lives and for
READ MOREAs May entered its final days, there was plenty to cheer about on the local sports scene. Softball teams from Jersey Shore, Loyalsock, Muncy, and Williamsport had earned themselves entry into the PIAA state tournament, while South Williamsport’s baseball and softball teams both remained alive, and the Williamsport Crosscutters were making final preparations for the
READ MOREThe Bowman Field faithful will have lots to look forward to this year as the Williamsport Crosscutters begin their fourth season in the MLB Draft League. As usual, there will be the fantastic line-up of interesting and unique promotions. One of the most interesting will be an appearance by WWE Wrestling Hall of Famer Tito
READ MOREThe high school baseball and softball regular seasons conclude this week, and area fans may want to heed the words of Terrell Owens to “get your popcorn ready.” The PIAA district playoffs begin next week, and a bevy of area teams have spent the past few months prepping for the upcoming opportunity to make deep
READ MORELittle League Baseball Inc. is expecting another banner season for the summer camp program which runs from June 23 to August 16. Officials at L.L.B. headquarters in South Williamsport expect a full capacity for about 500 boys for the 4 regular two-week sessions. The new Green Acres campsite at Hillsgrove in Sullivan County will be
READ MOREHave you taken note? The cover date of this week’s Webb Weekly is 042424. There might be lucky numbers in there somewhere — but if there aren’t, don’t blame me! Speaking of numbers, fans who have recently attended South Williamsport baseball home games at the recreational complex have been greeted by a new scoreboard beyond
READ MOREWhile April Fool’s got this month started, it didn’t take long for its first two weeks to make a memorable positive mark on the sports calendar. Major League Baseball began on a high note for fans of the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates; UConn and South Carolina proved without a doubt they are the
READ MOREMost of us who live paycheck to paycheck (or, in my case, from Social Security deposit) do not understand what makes the rich tick. Yes, we know that they can get to wear the finest clothes, go to the nicest restaurants, travel wherever they want, etc., but the rich generally take all that for granted.
READ MORE‘Bucket lists’ are an unusual commodity. Sometimes, they have holes in them; other times, they overflow with expectations. As the years have passed, my ‘bucket’ has continued to be worked on, especially regarding baseball-related items. Checked off has been witnessing Major League Baseball games at all 30 MLB stadiums and taking a road trip to
READ MOREOriginally, there were eight holidays that everyone knew about. There were the major holidays of Christmas and Easter, along with Independence Day (July 4) and Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November). The minor ones were: Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12), Washington’s Birthday (February 22), Memorial Day (last Monday in May), and Labor Day (First Monday in
READ MOREWith the winners of the NFL championship games determined, the debate will rage on for the next twelve days as to which team will emerge from Las Vegas as the 2024 Super Bowl champ. Both opinions and money will flow freely as it is estimated between 20 & 25 billion dollars will be wagered on
READ MOREI taught an elective course on Future Studies at a business college in Europe. The students were quite interested in knowing what skills and possibilities in employment would be out there when they entered the working world. It is obviously a shaky science as we have no way of knowing the future and, at best,
READ MOREThe Crosscutters Hot Stove League Banquet, held on January 17th, was considered a success by attendees and organizers. The banquet was highlighted by the presence of former standout Pirate relief pitcher Kent Tekulve, ESPN sportscaster Tim Kirkjian, newest Bowman Field Hall of Fame inductee Chris Carlin, and newest Williamsport Sports Walk inductee Denise Day. Regrettably,
READ MOREDuring this winter’s coldest stretch, last week’s annual Williamsport Crosscutter Hot Stove Banquet served up before a sell-out crowd was a reminder that baseball’s spring training opens next month, and the locals MLB Draft League campaign is not that far behind. The brainchild of Cutters VP of Marketing Gabe Sinicropi, the annual event gave attendees
READ MOREThe one comment I receive more often than any other from this column is the discovery of the role of county government. Most citizens focus their attention to local government and those who are directing it: city or borough council members or township supervisors. This is normal because Pennsylvania was designed this way. Townships and
READ MOREThanksgiving is the time of year when families gather far and near It’s been a tradition since 1620 that includes a feast of plenty, There’re many hugs for those we hold dear and football teams for which to cheer, Pause and reflect those memories great, enjoy the day, and celebrate! If your family’s Thanksgiving is
READ MOREThe year 1923 was a big year for professional baseball in Williamsport. In that year, the Williamsport team became a charter member of the newly formed New York-Pennsylvania League, later to become the Eastern League. Williamsport fielded a very good team in the new league that year and captured the league’s first championship. The team
READ MOREIf you’ve been around the church for any length of time, then you’ve likely experienced church conflict or scandal. For those of us in the church world, it’s always difficult to reconcile the various troubles that churches experience. So often, we have thought, “How can Christians treat each other like that?” and “Shouldn’t we be
READ MOREIt was a private ceremony without any witnesses. In the approaching twilight of October’s first day, the annual ritual was carried out with the solemn resolve that the MLB season had concluded in much the same manner as recent seasons. As an ardent and all too often suffering fan of the Boston Red Sox and
READ MOREFrom our 45-yard line seats six rows from the top of massive AT&T Stadium, we were among the 80,000 Cowboy faithful reveling in the proceedings below. “America’s Team” was in the process of grounding the invading New York Jets in the team’s home opener in an impressive Micah Parsons-led dominant performance. While white Cowboy rally
READ MOREOne of the sensations of the current college football season has been the performance of the Colorado Buffalos team, which has had several poor seasons lately. This year, they have jumped out to a 3-0 start. Their head coach is the flamboyant Deion Sanders, who may have been one of the best and most versatile
READ MOREThroughout the 12-day run of last month’s Little League World Series, a familiar face to both the fans in the stands and those watching TV was that of ESPN’s multi-lingual reporter Sebastian Salazar, whose insightful interactions with players and spectators brought to life stories beyond the playing field. Raised in Washington, D.C., the son of
READ MOREAs August is about to be in the rear-view mirror, I have so many thoughts as the kids head back to school. I am sure many parents, grandparents, and those who take care of the kids over the summer are happy to hear the words “school’s open,” which I always follow up with “drive safely”
READ MOREAs the planning for Bitburg, Germany’s 1973 Little League World Series team reunion began to unfold eighteen months ago, players began to look back with fondness and look ahead with eagerness to a return trip to Williamsport. It has been fifty years since they had experienced the magic of the World Series, and most of
READ MOREI want to congratulate my friends at Little League International. The 2023 Little League World Series was off the charts. Thanks for another great experience. The tournament gets better and better. Jensen and Grandpa Mike made it over to the complex on a few occasions. Hopefully, they will continue this tradition. We are all proud
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