McCoy to be honored at Reds game - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

The Dayton Daily News will partner with the Cincinnati Reds tohonor hall-of-fame baseball writer Hal McCoy prior to the Reds-Astros game on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Game time is 7:10 p.m.

McCoy, 68, is retiring in October after covering the Reds for 37years.

Fans can buy tickets for Hal McCoy Night for half price,compliments of the Dayton Daily News, at reds.com/halmccoy. Theprice range for tickets is $5 (bleacher seats) to $21 (infield boxseats).

'We are pleased to be part of this event and hope fans fromDayton make the trip to Cincinnati to honor Hal,' Dayton Daily NewsSports Editor Brian Kollars said. 'It's only fitting that we honorhim at the ballpark.'

'You have to be balanced' ; Beavercreek's Sobota ranks No. 1 in class of 650; also played on state runner-up soccer team. - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

Luke Sobota's instructors in kindergarten discovered how giftedhe was when they had students memorize Bible verses. While the restof the class finished one workbook during the year, Luke wentthrough three.

By the time he reached second grade, his teacher told his parentsthat Luke was blessed with a photographic memory.

But Darleen Sobota, Luke's mother, wasn't content with raising anacademic whiz kid. She taught him to embrace sports, believing he'dlearn more life lessons in athletics than he would by keeping hisnose in a book.

A former marathon runner who graduated from the Air ForceAcademy, Darleen Sobota began reading the Dayton Daily News sportssection to Luke when he was 4 years old, and he's invested just asmuch of himself in athletics as he has in academics.

Soccer, swimming

Ranked No. 1 in a senior class of about 650 at Beavercreek HighSchool with a 4.66 grade-point average, Luke was captain of the swimteam for the Beavers and was a defender and midfielder on the boysDivision I state runnerup soccer team last fall.

'You have to be balanced,' he said. 'If you get too obsessed withacademics, you might get overwhelmed and stressed out. And if youget too obsessed with sports, you'll forget about academics.'

Luke said he appreciates more than ever that early nudge towardsports.

'I'm really glad we got to the state final in soccer,' he said.'It was tons of fun, the whole entire journey. I know there weresome guys thinking about not coming back this year (seniors whodidn't think they'd play). But everyone is glad they did because itwas such an amazing experience.'

Darleen Sobota can't help but see the growth in Luke from histime in swimming and soccer.

'As he's gone through sports, we say he's learned the game oflife. ... He was given a lot of responsibility (as a former teamcaptain). He learned leadership. He learned a lot of timemanagement,' she said.

That time management skill has come in handy for Luke in anotherarea of his life: making room in his schedule for his girlfriend,Greeneview co-valedictorian Kylie Cook. Despite attending separateschools, the two have been dating since eighth grade and have helpedeach other in their studies.

Cook -- who played softball as a freshman and sophomore beforegiving it up to get a job to pay for a car -- has mastered Englishand history, while Sobota breezes through math and science.

'She edits my papers,' he said.

'And he puts math for me in simpler terms,' she noted.

Off to Ohio State

Cook and Sobota will attend Ohio State this fall and each hasearned about $9,000 in academic scholarships, which essentially willcover tuition. He'll major in chemical engineering and she injournalism.

They'll live on separate floors in Siebert Hall, an honors dorm,and they've already picked out roommates -- choosing a pair ofBeavercreek grads who share their love for sports.

'Luke said, 'I can't be in an honors dorm where all they want todo is talk about academics and study. I need someone who isbalanced,' ' Darleen Sobota said.

Applications being accepted for Si Burick scholarship ; Scholarship provides tuition to students who are interested in journalism. - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

Applications are being accepted for the annual Si BurickJournalism Scholarship. The scholarship, now in its 21st year, isnamed for Si Burick, the legendary Dayton Daily News sports writerand editor for 58 years who also was a WHIO radio and TVpersonality.

Burick wrote his first sports story for the Daily News when hewas 16, and became sports editor when he was 19. He remained withthe newspaper until his death in 1986. He wrote four to sevencolumns and stories a week, and his ability to attract local andnational readers led to his being elected by his peers in 1982 andinducted to the writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.

The scholarship, aimed at helping students who are interested injournalism, is awarded by the Dayton Foundation from an endowmentcontributed to by individuals and corporations in Burick's memory.

Si Burick scholars also can participate in the Mickey DavisSummer Internship program, which is available to recipients duringtheir four years in college. Davis, a reporter, editor and columnistfor the Journal Herald and Daily News, died in 1997. He was one ofthe first Burick scholarship judges.

Students in Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Butler, Shelby, Darke,Preble and Warren counties are eligible. The scholarship goes towardfirst-year college tuition.

UD place to be for baseball junkies ; Exhibit at Roesch Library featuring the massive collections of Si Burick and Miriam Jacobs opens today, free to the public. - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

DAYTON -- Of course, the famous Babe Ruth-Hank Aaron-Sadaharu Oh-signed Si Burick baseball will be on display, as well as WorldSeries pins and programs and a trove of pre-1962 baseball cards oncecollected by Daytonian Miriam Jacobs.

Built around two large collections of sports memorabilia donatedby former Dayton Daily News sports editor Burick and Jacobs, Daytonat Bat! is being presented by the University of Dayton libraries andtheir partners for most of the next five months.

'We have these wonderful collections in our special collections,'said Jane Dunwoodie, UD's assistant to the dean of libraries, 'andonly people who know about them get to see them. We wanted to get itout to the public and bring people through our doors.

'Some people think we're only going to show books. We have muchmore than that.'

Burick, who was sports editor from 1928 through his death in1986, long ago donated his collection of awards and programs, WorldSeries pins and other memorabilia to UD. Jacobs, an avid collectorof baseball cards, also donated her collection years ago. Itincludes more than 7,000 cards as well as yearbooks.

The university has decided to open exhibits to the collectionsbeginning today, Feb. 10, with a Roger Freeman minor league baseballphotographic exhibition. Other exhibits and events will run throughJune 14, all free to the public.

Also free is access to the collection for anyone doing researchon the subject matter.

Highlights of the exhibitions, most held at the Roesch LibraryReference Room:

Feb. 15: Bat Chat with former Dayton Journal Herald and DailyNews sports writer Bucky Albers and former pro players discussingthe game and their careers. 1:30 p.m. Visitors are encouraged tobring their collectibles to be evaluated by experts at 3 p.m.

March 29: A tribute to Burick beginning at 2 p.m.

April 19: Reds historian Greg Rhodes will discuss the history ofthe team. 2 p.m.

May 3: Matthew Shank, Ph.D., will talk about the game's biggestscandals beginning at 1:30 p.m. At 3, a game of vintage baseballwill be played at Baujan Field featuring the Dayton Clodbusters andColumbus Muffins -- with 19th century rules.

In 1928, the Babe and Lou swung for fences in Dayton ; The Yankees stars were on a barnstorming tour after World Series. - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

CINCINNATI -- There was a small dust-up prior to the exhibitiongame featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at Dayton's North Side Park80 years ago Saturday, Oct. 25, 1928.

Ruth wanted to make certain that the baseballs used in the gamewere hard enough to hit home runs. The ball that Cincinnati attorneyDan Rosenthal said his father had signed that day by the twosluggers certainly appeared to fit the bill.

Ruth and Gehrig were on a post-World Series barnstorming tour(they had disposed of the Cardinals in four games earlier in themonth). They were playing with local amateurs, and Ruth asked then-Dayton Daily News Sports Editor Carl Finke about the baseballs to beused in the game at the field northwest of Leo Street and Troy Pike.

'Say Finke, can you find out what kind of baseballs they aregoing to use in today's game?' Ruth asked the writer.

'Over in Columbus, they had 50-cent balls that you couldn't hithard. And then the fans were disappointed because Lou and myselfdidn't hit any home runs. The fans want to see us knock them out ofthe lot, and they are disappointed when we fail. If they use cheapballs today, I just won't play.'

They must have used suitable balls. Gehrig -- with a sore wrist -- hit four homers in five at-bats, and Ruth slugged a grand slam.Gehrig's McCalls team beat Ruth's Yellow Jackets 14-7 or 14-8,depending upon which report you read. On a chilly day duringfootball season, 1,400 fans turned out for the event.

At one time, Ron Dabbelt had a ball just like Rosenthal's,although it was so worn that he isn't certain whose autograph was onit.

'My dad, Nick Dabbelt, played center field for the YellowJackets,' Ron said. 'He told me he caught the ball to end one of theinnings, and kept it. He was very proud of it.'

Ron Dabbelt said he sold it some time ago. The autograph on itmay have been of T.J. Hickey, a longtime minorleague commissioner.That autograph also is on Rosenthal's baseball, next to the logothat says Wilson Official League. It also says it has a horsehidecover and 1-ounce rubber center. Its stitching is red and black.

'My dad was only 14 at the time, and he went to the game,'Rosenthal said. 'He told me the story many times. Si Burick (who wasonly 19 and a couple of weeks from becoming the new DDN sportseditor) took him to the Van Cleve Hotel, where Gehrig and Ruth werestaying. They knocked on their doors and asked for theirautographs.'

Ruth's signature is on the 'sweet spot,' opposite the Wilsonstamp. Gehrig's is off to the side. Both are fully legible, in blackink, obviously written with a fountain pen.

Rosenthal said his father told him Ruth appeared at the doorwearing only a towel around his waist, and a woman was in the room.

The Rosenthals eventually moved to Springfield (includinggrandfather Charlie, who ran a wholesale tobacco company in Dayton),where the younger Dan was born.

He cherishes the ball -- obtained from his sister, Sue Ann -- atleast as much as the Pie Traynor ball he found in an old shoe box ofhis father's. The elder Dan Rosenthal grew up in Dayton, but wasborn in Pittsburgh.

But that's another story.

Hamlin says WHIO, UD have been good team - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

At a time when broadcasting college basketball on localtelevision was rare -- and airing them in prime time was rarer still-- University of Dayton games were beamed throughout the MiamiValley by WHIO-TV.

The first season was 1951-52. Don Wayne and Bill Kehl were the TVcrew. And the Flyers were coming off their initial appearance in theNIT the year before, making a splash on the national stage with arunner-up finish.

'It's been a great 60-year hook-up, and I'll tell you why:Channel 7 would pre-empt (prime-time programs) when the network wasreally sacred,' said Tom Hamlin, who became the primary TV and radiovoice in 1960. 'Nobody would do it. And we did it. As a result,that's what helped build the great fan base for Dayton.'

UD celebrated its 60-year partnership with Cox Media Group, theparent company of WHIO-TV and radio and the Dayton Daily News, byrecognizing Hamlin and others at the Duquesne game Wednesday.

Lou Emm and longtime Dayton Daily News sports editor Si Burickwere the first radio duo, while current play-by-play man MikeHartsock has worked TV games for the last 30 years.

Hamlin, 84, is the oldest living regular broadcaster for UD. Hegrew up listening to boxing matches from Madison Square Garden onthe family farm in the Franklin-Carlisle area. By the end of hisfirst season, he had done a regular-season game and three NITcontests from the fabled arena.

'I had to pinch myself,' he said.

Hamlin did simulcasts (radio and TV at the same time) during theearly days of his 29-year career, working with color analyst LouHinchman. He called the Flyers' 1962 and '68 NIT championship yearsas well as the run to the '67 NCAA title game, which ended with a 79-64 loss to UCLA.

'It was 20-4 after about three minutes, and I said silently tomyself, 'Oh Lord, keep the clock moving.' ' Hamlin said.

Scorching: Duquesne was 11th in the Atlantic 10 in 3-pointshooting at 32 percent, but the Dukes hit their first five bombs andseven of 10 while building a 30-15 lead.

The visitors shot 61.3 percent from the field and 62.5 on 3s (10-of-16) in the first half. And it's been a recurring theme. In a four-half stretch, including the second half of the St. Joe's loss andthe defeat to Rhode Island, UD opponents shot 60 percent from thefield and 50 percent on 3s.

'We believe with mostly guards in our lineup, we have to shoot itwell to be good,' said Dukes coach Ron Everhart, whose team finished12-for-23 on 3s. 'We have good passers. We're going to get open. Wejust have to be able to make them, and, fortunately, we were able todo that tonight.'

Take a seat: Josh Parker started in place of the slumping PaulWilliams, who was 1-for-15 from the field in his last two games andwas shooting 33.3 percent this season and 22.6 in A-10 play.Williams went 1-for-8, Parker 0-for-2.

Four figures: Junior point guard Kevin Dillard needed threepoints to score 1,000 for his career, counting his two seasons atSouthern Illinois, and he tallied 22.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING.(Sports) - The Cincinnati Post (Cincinnati, OH)

'There's no sense of regret, no sense of shame, no sense of the damage he did to baseball.'

-- Former commissioner Fay Vincent

'I feel he has embarrassed me. I must have asked Pete 20 times, 'Did you bet on baseball?' He would look at me, blink his eyes and say, 'I didn't bet baseball. I have too much respect for the game.' '

-- Roger Kahn, who co-authored Rose's first autobiography, 'Pete Rose: My Story,' published in 1989.

'In the absence of evidence that his betting affected his performance on the field, he should be in the Hall.

-- Former Cincinnati Mayor David Mann

'It would be hard to trust Pete to manage. Now that he's admitted gambling, every little thing in his managerial style is going to be questioned.'

-- Former Red Eric Davis

'He committed the cardinal sin of baseball. If you give him a chance, how about the next guy who does it?'

-- Former major league manager Tommy Lasorda

'The only reason he's confessing now is that he finally realized it's the only way he'd be reinstated.'

-- Dayton Daily News sports writer Hal McCoy, a member of the writers' wing of the Hall of Fame.

'I have no problem voting for him if he gambled when he managed. He wasn't a very good manager and he's not going to go into the Hall as a manager. If I find that he gambled when he played ... I'd have to take a hard look at it.'

-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Rick Hummel

'Maybe he's starting fresh and wants that slate clean. If I were him, I would want to put it all behind me. I would just have done it a lot sooner.'

-- Two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen

'It's time to clean the slate. It's time to take responsibility, and I'm 14 years late.'