Mark’s Musings – October 10, 2018
Mark Fortune
The 167th Coshocton County Fair is as wrapped up as a freshly made Italian sausage sandwich with only bits of paper and tufts of livestock hair blowing across the fairgrounds. A flurry of activity before, during and after the fair results in about three weeks of busyness for those that are involved in the fair with projects, livestock or displays. The reality of this is that preparing for the fair really starts well before that for many including the members of the fair board. They are to be congratulated for a well-run and well organized county fair. I am sure that a simple thank you when you see one or more of them is always appreciated.
The Cleveland Indians will have either tied up the Division Series when you read this or the boys from the shores of Lake Erie have gone home for the winter and the Astros are moving on. It seems that in the case of the Indians coming within one out of winning a World Series may be as close as we get for the foreseeable future. You only get so many opportunities to win the big one – as they say.
Meanwhile, the Browns are quite possibly on their way to a positive winning season – they are certainly in a better standing than last year!
On the college level the Buckeyes are rolling through the 2018 season and despite a sluggish first half against the talented Hoosiers the scarlet and gray piled it on in the second half to remain undefeated. Minnesota is up next who should not be a threat but you always play a week at a time – not looking ahead. It would seem though, that the only threat remaining on the regular season schedule would be TTUN. A team that is more than meeting expectations is West Virginia. The Mountaineers are undefeated, a scoring machine and – moved up to number six in both national polls after several other teams stumbled. The 2018 college football season is gearing up for some exciting matchups as we head toward rivalry and conference championship games in six to seven weeks.
Our community lost a dear friend and a true champion of area high school athletics, local athletes and coaches with the passing of Tom Thompson on Saturday. Tom was a positive influence on hundreds, if not thousands of area athletes and his more than four decades long career at WTNS is certainly one for the record books. His natural talent to always find the positive and his ability to report on the best in teams regardless of their record earned him the respect and admiration of athletic directors, coaches, players and fans not only in Coshocton County but across the region. Tom tackled everything with passion – including his battle against cancer – a battle that he fought like a true champion. You know that that is the only way he would do it. Tom had an uncanny knack for announcing games with an equal dose of passion regardless of the circumstances. He got excited whether it was a state championship contest or the final game of a long and winless season. That is hard to do – but he did it. Tom was the definition of a real champion – a champion for his family, co-workers, area athletes, coaches, fans, families and our community. We will miss you.
Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion
