Trending
The cliche that years go by faster and faster as you get older is something you hear as a kid and think "yeah, yeah, yeah!"
As I get older and older, I find that expression to be more and more accurate each year.
Here we are again. Christmas weekend and 2023 basically a week away.
As we look back on 2022, it was a challenging year in more ways than one. Personally, I lost my dad, Joe, in May after a bout with cancer. We lost two dogs (Pitches and Albert), dealt with a pair of power outages that were tough to fathom and obviously there are the day-to-day challenges that we face in life.
But, here we are. I miss my dad and our dogs greatly, but take solace that he's not suffering anymore and we treasure our memories with him as well as our two dogs.
As tough as losing a parent is, and I've experienced it twice already, the year wasn't all doom and gloom. I was honored to be inducted to the OVAC Hall of Fame in August, enjoyed covering another year of prep sports in the Ohio Valley and continuing to make strides to simply be a better person in all ways possible. Obviously, the latter is a day-to-day task.
I am very excited for Christmas. It's the best holiday of the year, in my opinion. Time with family and friends trumps any gift or food that may be given or eaten. On top of that, there are literally no prep sports again until Tuesday, meaning three days, in the middle of the season basically, to recharge. And we'll get a couple more next weekend, too.
I've tried to resume a tradition that I used to look forward to each year in the Wheeling newspaper when the late Nick Bedway would pen his annual Christmas column where he gives gifts to area sports personalties. Never do I believe I can hold a candle to Bedway in this profession, but here's a look at Santa's list:
COLTON MCKIVITZ, San Francisco 49ers -- Already has a NFC West Divisional Championship, so a NFC title and a Super Bowl Ring are next up.
J.R. BATTISTA, Bellaire -- Some nerve pills because his Big Reds' squad seems to have a thing for down-to-the-wire games this season.
RYAN CLIFFORD, St. Clairsville -- A do-it-yourself manual for the installation of the new lockers and other work involved in the St. Clairsville boys basketball locker room project.
JERRY AMES, WKKX -- A chance to broadcast a lengthy post-season run for the Wheeling Central boys and girls basketball teams.
BOB GABEL, Basketball Official Assigner -- An increase in officials for the 2023-24 season, so junior high games don't have to be postponed due to a lack of officials.
MICHAEL JEBBIA, Wheeling Park -- A chance to play Morgantown a fifth time with a state championship on the line.
NICK LEVI, Linsly Swimming -- Received his gift earlier this year when he was hired as the new Cadets coach, meaning he had a pool to utilize at his disposal.
DOUG WOJCIK, Michigan State Basketball -- A chance to go deep into March Madness with the Spartans and the chance to see his two sons (Paxson and Denham) meet in the Palestra with the Ivy League title on the line.
AVERY HENRY, Ohio State Football -- Continued prayers and support from all over the Ohio Valley and state of Ohio as you embark on your battle against cancer.
MARK CISAR, John Marshall Baseball/Football -- A lot of ice bags to make sure your arm is well cared for from throwing batting practice.
BRETT CLOUGH, WKKX -- A strong West Virginia basketball season to make up for the tough football season you endured.
DAVE WOJCIK, Linsly Basketball -- Ample opportunities to watch your son, Jake, play at Fairfield University when the Cadets aren't playing.
KIM NORTH, Intelligencer -- A large delegation of wrestlers to cover at both the West Virginia and Ohio State Tournaments in March.
BUBBA KAPRAL, T-L Sports Writer/Basketball Official -- Multiple youth basketball games to officiate nightly for the remainder of the season.
DAVE REASBECK, Martins Ferry -- A new medicine kit to help keep his Lady Rider basketball as healthy as possible for the second half of the season.
ANTHONY REASBECK, Martins Ferry baseball -- An early game time on the first Saturday in May, so you're able to fully enjoy the festivities surrounding the Kentucky Derby. More importantly, continued health for your new-born daughter, Rilyn.
KAYE SECHREST, Union Local Volleyball -- As many accolades and congratulations as possible for leading the Jets to the Division II state volleyball tournament, which had never been done in Belmont County sports history.
MIKE YOUNG, Wheeling Central -- A quicker than normal resolution to the Maroon Knights 2023 football schedule.
RENO SACCOCCIA, Steubenville -- Continued success to stack more and more wins on top of the Ohio wins record he set this past season.
BRETT MCLEAN, St. Clairsville -- Gift came early this winter when his 2023 football schedule was completed before spring.
SAM JONES, OVAC Football Commissioner/Umpire -- All football schedules submitted on time to begin the officiating assignments and a state baseball tournament assignment.
MIKE BECK, Martins Ferry Golf -- Successful fundraising season, so you're able to add as many courses as possible to the golf simulator for the Riders players.
SCOT MCMAHON, Buckeye 8 President, Bellaire HS Principal -- A shiny gavel to be able to call future league meetings to order in a quick manner and many Bellaire-related tweets to use the always-trending #BigRedsBaby hashtag.
DR. DAN DOYLE, OVAC Wrestling Commissioner -- A smooth and headache-less OVAC Wrestling Tournament next month.
CHRIS DAUGHERTY, Wheeling Park -- Enough hours in the day to continue to be able to balance your duties as athletics director and head football coach with the Patriots.
SCOOTER TOLZDA, Union Local Girls Basketball -- A return trip to Dayton for the Division III Final Four.
MARK ROMICK, River Boys Basketball -- The second Division IV Eastern District Championship of his highly successful tenure as the Pilots head coach.
TODD FITCH, Ohio State Football -- At least two more games this season that he gets to coach quarterback C.J. Stroud.
ADAM STEWART, Ohio State Football -- Enough hours in the Woody Hayes to work your physical therapy magic on both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TreVeyon Henderson to get them healthy for the NFL Draft and a return to the Buckeyes' lineup, respectively.
BEDE LORI, Caldwell -- A membership in the Ohio Valley's illustrious 2,000-point club.
KOBE MITCHELL, University of Akron -- Continued increase in minutes and production for the Zips men's basketball team.
RYAN YOUNG, Wheeling Park Girls Basketball -- Victories against Morgantown in the most meaningful games of the season such as OVAC Championship, sectional final and state final.
SEAN BLUMETTE, Brooke Athletics Director -- Continued health and well being for your new-born child.
BILL BRUBAKER, OVAC Swimming Director -- A lot of success and patience as the OVAC expands the swimming championship two a two-day meet.
RICK DELUCA, OVAC Basketball Championships Director -- Quick reports on boys and girls basketball scores, so the standings for the tournaments can be compiled with ease.
MIKE COX, Baseball Umpire Assigner -- Very few rainouts to impact the assigning of umpires for the 2023 prep baseball season.
RUSS HALL, Softball Umpire/Basketball Official -- Peaceful games in both sports -- at all levels -- through the rest of the seasons.
BLAKE ALLEN, Barnesville Football Coach -- An stress-free process of getting new artificial turf at Shamrock Stadium this spring and summer.
MEL STEPHENS, Wheeling Central -- Continued patience as his youthful Maroon Knight basketball team continues to develop as the season moves along.
ZAC BRUNEY, Wheeling University Football Coach -- Received part of his gift during the season when his Cardinals put forth their best season to date with seven wins. The second part of his gift is a strong recruiting class and portal success to continue building the Cardinals program.
BERNIE DOLAN, WVSSAC Executive Director -- Power to alter the Mountain State's prep football playoffs, so neutral sites are utilized in the state semi-final round.
MARK BOWMAN, MLB.com Writer -- Chance to get back to the Ohio Valley for some of his favorite pizza during the Braves' trip into Pittsburgh this season.
AIDEN DAVIS, Wheeling Park Basketball -- NIL opportunities to come to West Virginia High School athletes, so you can offer lessons in free throw shooting.
SARA PELEGREEN, Wheeling University Softball -- A successful return to coaching at the place where your head coaching career started.
JOHN ISCHY, Monroe Central A.D. -- An increase in all participation numbers for Seminoles athletics, starting with spring sports.
KRISTIN MAZGAJ, T-L Photographer -- A Griffon or two and continued patience to tolerate this writer!
ALL READERS and ADVERTISERS -- A safe, healthy and prosperous 2023.
Merry Christmas to all!
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com