Lindsay's Lessons

One of the topics turning up frequently in my blog is a recurring theme of "What's the Matta," outlining my frustrations and challenges with the Ohio State men's basketball program. You may also recall that I've been clamoring for OSU to get a 'big man' coach for the team because clearly that's an area where we've struggled to exploit any of the talents we've had on board.

It turns out, I'm not the only one who was a little frustrated with our use of Kosta Koufos this past season. Rumor has it that Koufos himself may have been a little frustrated, and in a recent article in the Canton Repository, Koufos's high school coach doesn't hold anything back regarding his opinions of Thad Matta. Check out the article to see why the coach thinks Matta is "clueless."

I'm sad to report that Ohio State Coach Thad Matta's long-time assistant and number two man, John Groce, has accepted a position as head coach at Ohio University. While there's no doubt that Groce deserves his chance in the spotlight after having played second fiddle to Matta throughout his career, I sense this is going to be a great loss to the OSU program.

Those of you who follow the Bucks will remember Groce as the guy holding up the white board on the sidelines and calling the plays. You'll also remember that in many cases, he was handling timeouts and coaching perhaps more actively than Matta. Groce has been by Matta's side for a very long time, so it will be very interesting to see who steps into that role and what is yet to come.

On a side note, former center Kosta Koufas, who opted out of another season at Ohio State went as a disappointing 23rd pick in the NBA draft. There was already some question as to whether or not Koufas was ready for the jump to the NBA and this can't help but reinforce the fact that maybe a number of NBA outfits were asking themselves that same question.

It's going to work out just fine for Koufas though, because he's now headed to Utah to play for the Jazz and is guaranteed $941,100 this season and $1,011,700 his second year. I'm sure he's plenty Jazzed about that!

I was recently contacted by a young man who asked us to be involved in an Ag Day at a school in our community. Having known this young man my entire life, being a friend of his family, and having watched him grow up from a toddler to a young man showing hogs at the county fair, I couldn't help but agree to get involved.

Later, I learned a little more about how the event came about. It turns out that Ben Logan student, Joel Penhorwood, ran for middle school student council president last year. One of Joel's campaign platforms was that, if elected, he would organize an event to teach his fellow students about the importance of agriculture.

When the election was over, Joel got the nod and quickly went to work organizing the event he had promised his classmates. In the end, students from Ben Logan Middle School enjoyed a day rotating through various stations where they learned about farm machinery, honey bees, horses and more. Yes - even a little about farm radio and some current ag issues!

In talking with the other presenters at the conclusion of the event, we all agreed it was fascinating to see so many young people in a very rural community who had no prior exposure to agriculture. While some students seemingly had all the answers and were obviously well-versed in where there food comes from, the larger majority had a very vague concept of what happens before it arrives on the grocery store shelf.

Thank goodness for events like Ag Day - and especially for young people like Joel - that educate our youth and help them understand that everyone is connected to agriculture.

Those of you who know me well, know that I graduated from Riverside High School in De Graff (that's in Logan County for those who are scratching their heads). With about 60 students in an average graduating class, my alma mater is like many small schools that struggle financially and are especially delighted when our young people receive recognition.

I am proud to say that one group of students is receiving not only local attention, but national attention as well - the Riverside Power Lifting team. Coached by Scott Stewart, the team was started just a couple of years ago. Even in their first year, the team accomplished some pretty extraordinary things. And recently, the young men stole the spotlight at a national drug-free power lifting meet by winning numerous categories, armfuls of trophies and a bid to the world drug-free power lifting meet in Belgium.

Upon learning of this achievement in the local paper, I became intrigued. I contacted Coach Stewart and was extremely impressed with what I learned about the program and these outstanding young men. I learned that power lifting is not yet sanctioned as an official sport by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, thus it does not receive any school funding. As a result, the burden falls on students, parents, coaches and community members to support the program with necessary equipment, protective wear and travel expenses.

Unfortunately, the trip to Belgium proved cost-prohibitive and involved a scheduling conflict with other activities in our small school, so the team will be unable to compete this fall.

The silver lining is that the next national meet takes place later this month in Indiana, so our talented team will once again have the opportunity to compete, and possibly qualify for a bid to the world meet. If they were to qualify again, the next world meet also takes place in Indiana making the trip much more realistic.

Taken by the work that these young men are doing, and thrilled by the positive recognition they are bringing to our community, Andy and I are spearheading fundraising efforts to send the team to the national competition and to secure funding for them to compete throughout the year. Of course, making a repeat showing that is so extraordinary will no doubt be a tough challenge. Whether they come in first or last, we just want to make sure they are afforded the same opportunity to compete as other young people and we're extremely proud of the hard work they are doing.

I'd like to thank the men of Boggs Lodge 292 in DeGraff, who kicked off our fundraising efforts by offering a donation that would cover the team's entry fees in the national meet. In the words made famous by Jerry Reed in Smokey and the Bandit, "We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there," and we appreciate all who will show their support to this outstanding team!

Country music star Chris Cagle, famous for hits such as I Breathe In, I Breathe Out, My Love Goes On and his current hit What Kinda Gone played over the weekend in Columbus. Much to my surprise, and thanks to friends Rick, Connie and Lauren Williams of Hillsboro, I got a meet and greet with the star before the show.

Needless to say, I had a great time!