Columns Sports

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the July 25, 2018 print edition of the News Journal... I have mentioned before that I was a member of the North Laurel Jaguars football team back in the early-to-mid-2000s, when Corbin’s own Greg Duncum was serving as head coach. Years later, I have found myself in the position of covering Corbin High School athletics for the News Journal while Coach Duncum is back in red and white as a member of the Redhounds’ football coaching staff. It’s been a cool experience getting to see him on Friday nights again during the past several seasons, but I recently heard the bad news that he...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the July 11, 2018 print edition of the News Journal... In last week’s column I looked ahead to the upcoming high school soccer season. This week, let’s preview what could happen with our coverage area volleyball teams in 2018… Corbin Lady Hounds – Corbin won 50th District and 13th Region championship titles last year before seeing their season come to an end with a loss against St. Henry in the first round of the KHSAA state championship tournament in Louisville. Seniors Sophie Anderson and Natalie Wiseman were big contributors in 2017, helping the Lady Hounds to 28 wins on the year, and their presence will...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the July 4, 2018 print edition of the News Journal... With World Cup mania running wild right now, I thought I’d take this opportunity to go ahead and talk a little bit about what we can expect in the upcoming 2018 varsity soccer season. 2017 was a big year for our four coverage area squads, with both Corbin teams advancing to the Elite Eight of the KHSAA state championship tourneys, the Whitley County girls ending the season with a second-best win-loss record in the region of 13-5 and the Whitley boys showing signs of continued improvement, nearly knocking off North Laurel in round one of the...

The following From the Sidelines column appeared in the June 27, 2018 print edition of the News Journal... I just recently completed my fifth full school year as a sports reporter for the News Journal. That realization got me reflecting back on all of the history-making events that I’ve covered since 2013. In the grand scheme of things that hasn’t been that long ago, but boy, we sure have experienced a lot in that amount of time, haven’t we? Just for fun, I decided to go back in our archives and look through all of my end-of-the-year top stories lists in order to get a full picture of all the amazing...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the print edition of the April 4, 2018 News Journal as part of special coverage from the 2018 13th Region All "A" baseball and softball tournaments, as well as the upcoming 2018 All "A" state championship tourneys... It has been a big school year for coverage area teams in regional All “A” competition. Things started back in the fall with the addition of the brand new Williamsburg Lady Jacket volleyball team to the annual 13th Region All “A” championship tournament. Also in the fall, Lady Jacket golfer Morgan Owens-Lewis qualified to appear in the 2017 All “A” state championship invitational. This past winter we saw...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the March 7, 2018 print edition of the News Journal... Oh my goodness, what a region tournament it was in 2018! Record breaking crowds and top-notch round ball action were featured nearly every day between last Monday and this past Monday, when everything culminated with the Corbin Redhounds overcoming the South Laurel Cardinals in what was probably the single most exciting game of basketball I have ever personally witnessed. You can read this week’s top story to get the full rundown of how things unfolded in the tournament finale, but I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my own personal feelings about...

The following From the Sidelines column appeared in the January 24, 2018 edition of the News Journal: It brings me absolutely no pleasure to write this column. It brings me no pleasure at all, because in this entire situation there are no winners. There are only losers, and so far the biggest loser of all has been Corbin Redhound Andrew Taylor. Just in case you’ve been under a rock for the past several days, allow me to explain the aforementioned “situation.” Corbin hosted Knox Central in a boys-girls basketball double header last Friday evening. The boys’ game was a highly anticipated rematch after the Panthers defeated the Redhounds in the finals of...

The following From the Sidelines column was featured in the December 6, 2017 edition of the News Journal... Here are my thoughts on last Friday’s Class 3A state championship game between Corbin and Boyle County… Getting to cover a game at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field was a very cool experience for me personally, and the fact that it was under the lights made it even better. They made an announcement during the game that the crowd on hand to witness the Redhounds versus the Rebels broke previous attendance records for the Class 3A finals. Well done, everyone! Corbin quarterback Camron Sizemore was called “Jared Lorenzen” by the announcer at one point...

This From the Sidelines column was part of the special Corbin Redhounds state football championship coverage in the November 29, 2017 edition... When the Corbin Redhounds take the field against Boyle County in this Friday’s Class 3A state championship game several interesting storylines will unfold. I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss just a few. First, and most obvious, is the fact that this will be Corbin’s first appearance in a state championship game since they were defeated 51-0 by Breathitt County back in 2002. And who was leading the charge for the Bobcats in that game against the Redhounds? None other than quarterback Justin Haddix. That’s right. It’s been well...

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the Wednesday, November 8 print edition of the News Journal... I was speaking to a friend the other day about the importance of supporting your local athletic programs. Now, when I say “supporting” that certainly means cheering on those teams that you associate yourself with during games and competitions, but it also goes way beyond that. There are no shortage of folks out there who say they support a particular school and/or team, but do all of those people truly understand the amount of work that leads up to putting those teams on the field, track, court or mat? This week I’d like to give...