Parkersburg Rundown 7/16

Titletown Rally at Stadium Field on July 18th--Its official, when ESPN comes to town on July 18th, the party will be at Stadium Field and it starts at 6 p.m. It was announced Wednesday that the community rally celebrating Parkersburg’s designation as a TitleTown USA finalist will include a television presentation that will showcase some of city’s 192 state championships, as well as interviews with school officials and tours of the city’s sporting venues.

It is the desire of rally organizers that one side of the stands be filled to capacity so camera crews can create a ESPN Gameday feel to the event. To encourage fan attendance, the first 600 fans will receive commemorative TitleTown USA rally towels. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with filming for the broadcast beginning around 6 p.m. Concession stands will be open during the event, and entertainment in the form of school marching bands and cheerleaders will supplement the activities.

Rich-Rod Forced To Payout Contract--The saga that was Rich Rodriguez vs. WVU is officially over. On Wednesday it was announced that Rodriguez had settled with suit with his former employer, agreeing to pay the 4 million dollar buyout clause that was outlined in the contract he broke last December. As outlined in the settlement, Rodriguez himself will pay $1.5 million of the buyout, and his current employer, the University of Michigan will pay the remaining $2.5 million. It was announced that Rodriguez will pay the 1.5 in three annual payments, to be concluded by the year 2010.

One has to wonder what WVU really won in this case however. In his parting comments Rodriguez stated that he “had to do what he felt was right, even if it is more painful.” The comments appeared throughout the national media, and in-turn paint Rodriguez as the victim in a vengeful suit on behalf of WVU and the target of slanted judge in the Mountain State. Fans in West Virginia have a very different opinion of Rich-Rod, as expressed by the various death threats and tee-shirt slogans, however WVU is endangering a status they have worked hard to create. The Blue and Gold became fan favorites when Bill Steward and his happy go lucky bunch of blue collar heroes toppled Oklahoma in Glendale. With this ruling, the university and program need to tread lightly as it is easy to paint the school a villain against a coach who simply took a “better” job.

South Targeted in OVAC Expansion--For those who don’t know the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference is a mega-conference comprised of schools from Ohio and West Virginia. With schools ranging in size of that Fort Frye high school to Wheeling Park, the OVAC has functioned more as a means of affiliation than a typical conference. In the case of the Patriots, the school has played in the OVAC before (1975-76) winning a football title in its only year.

Should South join the OVAC they would likely play fellow OVAC tier one schools Brooke, John Marshall, Wheeling Park, and Zanesville. The addition of such schools would pay immediate dividends for schedule makers as it seems the school has struggled to find gridiron opponents. This year two Washington D.C. schools will travel to Parkersburg for a game, ultimately guaranteeing South a sparsely attended home game. South will continue to play PHS, and will likely keep Marietta on schedule as it has been rumored that Marietta was also in talks of joining the OVAC.

State Board Rejects AAAA Proposal

So much for that. What looked like a strong possibility quickly became a dead issue as the state board of education ignored overwhelming support from school administrators, and cast a unanimous 8-0 vote against expansion.

The move comes as a surprise to several school administrators as it was believed the 78-37 passing vote among administrators would carry more weight into negotiations between the board of education. Sadly for schools who hoped to see their prospects of winning a state championship increase, division expansion is far from being on the agenda of the current board.

Initiated by Paden City High athletic director Warren Lee Grace, the proposed expansion sought to create a fourth division, one that would pull a select number of AAA schools with enrollments larger than most AAA schools into a separate division. Reworking division enrollment limits, the proposal would have brought larger AAA schools such as Parkersburg and Parkersburg South into AAAA, and larger A schools such as Williamstown and Wheeling Central into AA. The division wide expansion was believed to improve competitiveness within the football, baseball, and basketball tournaments, as well as allowing the smaller WV schools a chance at post-season success.

However, following the July 10th verdict, the proposal will likely be put away until the current members of state board of education have departed. The unanimous 8-0 vote against the proposal was a definitive answer to an issue that has many school administrators up in arms.

What can be inferred from the decision is that the state board of education feels overhaul of the existing format is far from necessary. Of course why should they feel the system needs tweaking? With brand names such as Parkersburg, Parkersburg South, Wheeling Central, and Huntington winning scores of state championships on a yearly basis, the system has proven to be successful in getting the schools with the largest fan followings through to the finals.

In the opinion of this writer, parity is overrated. In terms of sports, parity is just another word for watered-down. It works for us here in Parkersburg, to have the divisions top heavy. This city is home to two of the perceived Goliaths, and it would only hurt our programs if the divisions were reconstructed. As a fan we love going to Stadium Field or the Rod Oldham Athletic Center and watching our teams slaughter visiting schools. There is a reason Parkersburg was nominated for TitleTown USA, and the number of championships this city has compiled is why.

For any person in the city of Parkersburg to want such an expansion to occur is simply asking for trouble. Sure sounds from Parkersburg Catholic and Williamstown may be deafening for a while, but in all seriousness the answer to their problem won’t be found with AAAA expansion. The answer to the problems at Williamstown and any other A school for that matter can be found in the creation of a parochial school division. Despite board rejection of the AAAA proposal, the creation of a public school only tournament is still a possibility.

Marietta Rundown 7/16

Marietta Considered in OVAC expansion--It was reported last week that along with Parkersburg South, a Marietta athletic department official was present at a recent meeting regarding membership in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference. Before persons begin to suggest Marietta is leaving the SEOAL, please read this next section.

The OVAC is a loosely affiliated league that does not require divisional round robin play. While holding a championship, the OVAC does not have mandatory scheduling. The OVAC does maintain a game number requirement for winning a league championship, however, AAAA schools such as Steubenville, Beaver Local, and Zanesville have failed to qualify due to not playing enough games, despite each having made the OHSAA playoffs in recent years.

Should Marietta join the OVAC it would be for the purpose of helping them fill out sports schedules. This year Marietta will venture to Hilliard Darby to open the season, however should Marietta join the conference, they would likely play six or seven SEOAL league games, with the three remaining games being played against OVAC division AAAA opponents. Current members of the OVAC- AAAA division are: Beaver Local, Brooke (WV), Buckeye Local, Cambridge, East Liverpool, Richmond Edison, Indian Creek, John Marshall (WV), Steubenville, Weir (WV), Wheeling Park (WV), and Zanesville (current SEOAL member). As you can tell, Marietta has already initiated home and home series with members of the OVAC (Cambridge, Zanesville).

The question remains however, why would Marietta consider such membership. Is scheduling that much of a problem? Sure Hilliard Darby is not close in terms of proximity, but then again neither is Steubenville or Wheeling Park. It seems that this union looks good in terms of providing Marietta with schools who will help fill the schedule, however the distance in travel to play these games is a tad worrisome. The affiliation with the OVAC seems a nice fit as Marietta seeing how they already play a couple of these teams. The only detractor is with joining the OVAC games against local foes Morgan, Philo, or even PHS would be unlikely. Are they willing to trade a game with Morgan at Morgan for a OVAC conference game at Brooke? Time will tell.

Here is a breakdown of distance in miles to OVAC schools:
Marietta to Parkersburg South, WV 17 mi.
Marietta to Glendale, WV (John Marshall H.S.) 71 mi.
Marietta to Zanesville, Ohio (Zanesville H.S.) 73 mi.
Marietta to Wheeling, WV (Wheeling Park H.S.) 98 mi.
Marietta to Wellsburg, WV (Brooke H.S.) 109 mi.
Marietta to Steubenville, OH 116 mi.

May Takes Formula 2 Title at Riverfront Roar

For Bill May a victory of any kind on the APR Powerboat Super-league circuit is one worth cherishing. After Sunday’s victory, May might have one trophy on the mantle he holds just a bit more pride in than all the others.

The Tallahassee Florida native and 2002 APR champ, notched his second victory of the season and won his first ever World Championship Sunday, taking the 8th annual Riverfront Roar Formula 2 title, outlasting a record breaking field.

Posting a winning time of 17:45.100, May turned his pole position deficit around quickly as he jostled in front of pole sitter Rob DiNicolantonio around the first buoy. Taking a hard inside line for a majority of the race, May was able to fend off challengers for all 30 laps.

“We did a great job of setting up our boat to handle well today. I was disappointed we didn’t get on the pole in qualifying, I was a little too conservative, but it worked out today. Working through traffic is my knack if I have one, and it helped that Rob (DiNicolantonio) gave up the lead right off the dock, noted May. That made it a lot easier for me.”

Easier indeed, unlike previous years, the 30 lap free for all was decidedly more tame Sunday as there were no cautions or stoppages to speak of. Unlike previous action, there was no need for expertly timed restarts, or three wide jockeying as it seems the field was intent on catching the number 71 Cuzzy’s Key West Sauce boat. Sadly for the 19 racers who participated, there would be no opportunity to overtake May as his machine skidded flawlessly around turn after turn taking the inside lane on virtually every occasion shaving seconds off each lap.

“Racing on the Ohio River is difficult no matter what the weather is, and as choppy as the water gets it is important to keep your prop out of the wake. Taking the inside track was a good thing for us because we knew we had a good handling boat thanks to the weight and our prop (propeller) choice.”

After hoisting the coveted W.W. Vadakin Cup and taking UIM gold, May was quick to thank the thousands of fans who lined the river this weekend and tipped a cap to tournament organizers.

“We as racers love it here, it is great to be downtown at the center of everything and the events make it one of the best weekends on tour.”

With the victory, May figures to jump into the top three of the APR Super-league standings having entered the weekend in 6th place at 190 points. Points leader Donnie McDowell managed a top ten finish (8th) while the second place driver Kelly Kidwell finished 9th.

“It could have been a lot better today, but it could have been a lot worse”, noted Kidwell.

“We are running the experimental engine and it was a little tricky, my visor got all fogged up, so I had to open my shell with one hand and hand the boat with the other for a little bit.

While this year’s race in Marietta was awarded a World Championship by the UIM, it is still uncertain whether Marietta can host a race of this caliber in future years. In speaking with an official it was relayed that the governing body based in Abu Dhabi typically rotates such events and the gap has stretched to as many as 15 years between championship sites. With upwards of 35 race teams making the trip to Marietta this weekend, the status of the race in the APR league schedule will become a point of emphasis in future years. One thing is for certain, teams and drivers love coming to the River City, and with quality racing and friendly faces abounding, Marietta’s place among the APR circuit is secure.

Riverfront Roar Race Results