ER Sports: What not to read, what not to miss
What not to read, what not to miss, and gridiron picks from our resident sports expert.
I hate telling people what to do, but I have a couple of suggestions for the *Erie Reader's sports fans.
Suggestion number one: DO NOT read a book titled *NFL Brawler, by Ralph Cindrich: a former football player at Pitt, in the NFL, and a players' agent. Apparently the author thinks his subject was the greatest high school wrestler, one of the best performers in Pitt history, someone who would've been the greatest player in NFL history if he wasn't injured and the top sports agent ever. He was also one of the baddest dudes ever: a person who was going to beat up other players, coaches, and general managers if they disagreed with him. That tremendous person is none other than Ralph Cindrich, himself.
I bought the book for various reasons: he was two years younger than me and I like reading about people from that era, I knew someone who went to Pitt with him and told me he was a "good guy," and he was agent for Erie's Mark Stepnoski. He did have kind words for the former Cathedral Prep, Pitt, and NFL standout in the book.
However, once I got through the chapter on Stepnoski (unfortunately it was more than halfway through this tedious read), I had enough of Superman and turned off my Kindle, hoping it would never again be able to recharge.
On a more pleasant note, if you want an enjoyable afternoon, attend a Mercyhurst University-Gannon University football game at MU. The venue is perfect.
The recent matchup featured beautiful weather conditions, two outstanding football teams, and a contest that wasn't decided until the final play of the game.
It was a perfect football game and it didn't matter if you were an MU fan or a GU fan — or just a plain-old football fan.
On a related note, best wishes to Mercyhurst Sports Information Director Dave Leisering who has accepted a position at Bloomsburg University. He did a great job and was a pleasure to work with.
Week 7
HIGH SCHOOLS
DuBOIS 34 Bradford 12
LAKEVIEW 38 Saegertown 12
Conneaut 32 MERCER 20
GREENVILLE 27 Reynolds 22
Sharpsville 36 EISENHOWER 18
West Middlesex 28 Cochranton 14
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 34 Girard 12
Farrell 40 GROVE CITY 14
Harbor Creek 36 UNION CITY 14
FORT LeBOEUF 20 Corry 19
GENERAL McLANE 22 Slippery Rock 21
MEADVILLE 44 Warren 22
FAIRVIEW 26 Franklin 20
Sharon 26 NORTHWESTERN 24
Oil City 30 TITUSVILLE 26
CATHEDRAL PREP 27 Buffalo St. Francis 20
McDowell 24 AUSTINTOWN FITCH 21
Maplewood 22 MERCYHURST PREP 20
North East 30 STRONG VINCENT 20
TOP 3 GAMES
3. SENECA 22 Iroquois 20 — Upset Special!
2. Hickory 28 Wilmington — Two very good teams.
1. Karns City 28 CENTRAL TECH 26
COLLEGES
GANNON 30 Edinboro 20
Slippery Rock 31 MERCYHURST 17
STANFORD 27 UCLA 20
Pittsburgh 24 GEORGIA TECH 23
Alabama 30 TEXAS A&M 20
MICHIGAN 24 Michigan State 21
LSU 27 Florida 24
OHIO STATE 27 Penn State 17
GEORGIA 30 Missouri 21
PROS
STEELERS 27 Cardinals 24
Broncos 31 BROWNS 17
Bengals 20 BILLS 17
Week 8
HIGH SCHOOLS
WILMINGTON 34 Lakeview 14
Reynolds 28 MERCER 12
Sharpsville 24 FARRELL 22
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 38 Union City 14
COCHRANTON 38 Youngsville 8
Eisenhower 22 MAPLEWOOD 20
IROQUOIS 46 Saegertown 14
Corry 24 WARREN 22
Greenville 42 TITUSVILLE 12
Hickory 40 GROVE CITY 14
SHARON 26 Slippery Rock 20
FAIRVIEW 28 Northwestern 24
Harbor Creek 26 FORT LeBOEUF 20
NORTH EAST 28 Mercyhurst Prep 18
Seneca 34 GIRARD 20
DuBois 36 FRANKLIN 30
Meadville 46 Oil City 28
CONNEAUT 48 Bradford 14
CATHEDRAL PREP 28 General McLane 24
McDOWELL 38 Strong Vincent 14
WEST MIDDLESEX 34 Homer City 18
CENTRAL TECH 46 East 16
COLLEGES
Gannon 27 SETON HILL 21
Mercyhurst 24 EDINBORO 21
UCLA 27 California 24
USC 21 Utah 20
STANFORD 28 Washington 21
ALABAMA 38 Tennessee 24
OLE MISS 31 Texas A&M 24
Pittsburgh 24 SYRACUSE 22
Duke 27 VIRGINIA TECH 20
NORTH CAROLINA 37 Virginia 21
PROS
Bills 27 JAGUARS 14
RAMS 28 Browns 17
Steelers 21 CHIEFS 20
For the record:
Week 5
High Schools: 16-3, Colleges: 4-3, Pros: 1-2
Week 4
High Schools: 12-1, Colleges: 6-2, Pros: 1-2
Season: Overall: 143-45
James R. LeCorchick can be contacted at JRLSportsReport@gmail.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @JRLSports.
