Greg Beals is a great baseball coach with beautiful facilities at Marshall. All he needs now is better baseball players, and the time to get them. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Something a bit different from the usual Reader Speaks, we get to some long-neglected questions from Press Pros readers what we do, why we don’t do more…and the best we’ve ever seen. And thanks for sharing your time with us.
If you’re a veteran reader of this site no you’ve doubt read the regular Reader Speaks feature from PPM readers with comments about past posts.
But sometimes we get not comments, but questions from those same readers about why we do what we do, why we don’t cover this or that, or…are you ever going to cover cheerleading (in the case of one).
Enjoy the following frequently asked questions:
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“Is there a reason why Press Pros doesn’t cover the Cincinnati Reds, especially with Hal McCoy being one of your regular contributors. I’m sure there are lot like me who would enjoy reading.” … Don Motz
(Ed. Note: Funny you should ask, Don, as Hal just submitted a piece we’ll run some time over the next 24 hours that has a lot to do with why we don’t do more with the Reds. That’ll be his take. My own take is that the Reds are so up and down that even Cincinnati media cannot hide their own disenchantment with a team that sweeps the Yankees and then gets their doors blown off by the lowly Detroit Tigers. I don’t know if Hal would say this, or not, but the Reds aren’t terribly friendly to independent media sources, and personally I can’t discern any commitment on the part of the Castellini’s to do what’s necessary to make them a perennial contender. A prediction: Don’t get too enamored with Elly De la Cruz, as reports are circulating that he can’t wait to play for the Yankees or the Dodgers. I have no faith that the Reds would ever compete for his services, financially.)
“I have read your posts in the past about Marshall baseball coach Greg Beals. I’m sure you know him well from Ohio State, and after two struggling seasons wondered your opinion about him ever turning the Marshall program into a winner?” … Bob Callahan (Huntington, W VA)
(Ed. Note: Bob, I will happily respond to your question about Greg Beals, and I’ll be frank. The reason they’ve had two struggling seasons has nothing to do with Beals. It has nothing to do with Marshall, or the facilities (which are gorgeous). But it does have a lot to do with not having the players it takes to win in one of the toughest baseball conferences in the NCAA baseball. You might note that Coastal Carolina is the last non-Power Five conference member to win the College World Series, in 2016. Simply put, Greg Beals needs players, he’s a good recruiter, a great coach and high character guy, and he’ll attract the kind of talent that wants to develop in that kind of environment. But it’s going to take some time.)
Ohio State baseball coach Justin Haire.
“I’ve been looking for information about the new Ohio State baseball coaches. Can’t believe you haven’t had them on the site yet. What’s the deal?” … Dominic Calderone
(Ed. Note: Dominic, the issue is that Justin Haire and his staff won’t get to Columbus until later this week. And while we have reached out, Haire has been busy coaching USA Baseball and otherwise distracted. Besides, there isn’t that much to write about yet. But keep looking.)
“Is there a reason why Press Pros never covers the competitive cheerleading events.” … Linda Worley
(Ed. Note: One, we don’t have the staff with which to do it. Two, while we have experts in football, basketball, baseball, and track, we don’t know squat about cheerleading. Three, I would be concerned about readership, given that competitions like that lack regularity. The ideal exception would be a crossover cheerleader/outstanding athlete in another sport.)
“Why do you sometimes write about old songs and musicians on a sports website? Not my thing.” … James DeLyle
(Ed. Note: To begin with…because we can. Two, it’s something that actually generates a lot of reader interest because it’s the story behind the story of songs and artists that remind readers of the past. People, by nature, ten to be nostalgic about things like that and I’m not different. If I’ll write about Willie Mays, I’m just as interested in writing about Willie Nelson.)
“I know you’ve been asked this before, and you’ve written about it. But does someone, or some team, have to win a state championship for you put them on Press Pros?” … Harold Gillenwater
(Ed. Note: Hal, not necessarily, but again it’s about readership, and Press Pros is read now across all 88 counties in Ohio. And just like it is with other media platforms, you get more readers with better, more compelling competition.)
Tyler Mescher’s dramatic free throws with seconds remaining stunned Division IV followers and gave Marion Local the 2018 boys title.
“What’s your all-time best high school game you have covered in football, and basketball?” … Brian (Wheelersburg, OH)
(Ed. Note: OK, I really like this question because there are so many choices. As for football, though, I go back to the Coach John Reed days at Coldwater and their state title win over Youngstown Cardinal Mooney in the 2007 Division IV title game. Coldwater came from behind to beat Mooney 28-27 in the final seconds of the game. Mooney fans were so sure they were going to win that they were making celebration reservations during halftime. As for basketball, it’s either the Div. II Dunbar/Upper Sandusky game when Jon Diebler scored 48 and lost…or the Marion Local/Cornerstone Christian Div. IV final in 2018. Marion Local won that game 52-51 in two overtimes with a couple of clutch field goals from Nate Bruns…and a couple of clutch free throws from Tyler Mescher to ice the game with no time remaining. No one in Value City Arena sat for the final ten minutes, and by far it was the best game of the 2018 tournament, so I pick Marion Local/Cornerstone.)
Former Buckeye Tanner Tully would be the choice as starting pitcher on our all-time team (since 2010). Tully is still in baseball with the New York Yankees.
“What year, and who were the original writers when Press Pros began, and how many of them are left?” … Bob Heineman
(Ed. Note: Press Pros first posted in 2010, and the original writers were Hal McCoy, Chick Ludwig, Jim Morris, Dale Meggas, and Sonny Fulks. Only Hal and Sonny are still with the website and actively writing. Chick Ludwig, who covered the Bengals for many years, is now weekend radio personality on WLW, in Cincinnati. Morris and Meggas are now deceased.)
“If you could name an all-time starting lineup for Ohio State baseball since you started covering them, what would it be, and how many are still in professional baseball?” … Rob Nein
(Ed. Note: Great question, and something like this: Catcher (Dillon Dingler, now with Detroit), first base Zach Dezenzo (also played short, and now with the Astros organization), second base (Troy Kuhn), shortstop (Henry Kaczmar), third base (Nick Sergakis), left field (Ronnie Dawson, playing in Korea), center field (Troy Montgomery, out of baseball), right field Dominic Canzone (playing presently with Seattle Mariners), starting pitcher (Tanner Tully, AAA currently in Yankees organization), reliever (Seth Kinker, out of baseball). But…there were a lot of other good ones we could have picked, too.)
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