Roe scores 28 in Wellsville victory

LEETONIA — Junior Darnell Roe had a career-high 28 points and eight rebounds in leading Wellsville past Leetonia, 73-46, in Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference play Monday.

Roe scored 10 points during a 22-9 third-quarter run that allowed the Tigers to pull away.

Jeron Jackson contributed 14 points and six assists. Haydin Oliver added nine points.

The Tigers improve to 8-10 overall and 8-4 in the EOAC, while the Bears drop to 5-13 and 3-9 in league play.

Dylan Johns paced the Bears with 17 points. Dylan Brown added 10.

There was no junior varsity game.

Both teams return to league play tonight as Wellsville hosts EOAC leader Columbiana and Leetonia travels to East Palestine.

W: 16-18-22-17–73

L: 10-15- 9-12–46

WELLSVILLE SCORING: Jeron Jackson 4-1-14, Hayden Oliver 4-0-9, Darnell Roe 9-9-28, Austin Adkins 3-0-6, Andrew Mackey 1-0-2, Cooper Frank 2-1-5, Clayten Kersey 2-0-4, Gate Vance 1-1-3, Zack Banks 0-0-0, David Chase 0-0-0, Noah McDowell 0-0-0, Eric Dowling 0-0-0, Zaiven Williams 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 28, 12-18: 73.

LEETONIA SCORING: Ethan Mathia 3-1-7, Jason King 2-3-7, Dylan Johns 7-3-17, Kyle Brown 0-0-0, Aiden Hunter 0-0-0, Chase Bondi 1-0-2, Dylan Brown 4-2-10, Grayden Henderson 0-0-0, Caleb Hamilton 0-0-0, Kadyn Taylor 0-0-0, Camden Price 1-1-3, Caleb Falcon 0-0-0. TEAM TOTALS: 18, 10-19: 46.

Three-point goals: Wellsville 5 (Jackson 4, Oliver).

Crestview scores sweep

STRUTHERS — The Crestview bowling teams topped Lowellville at the Holiday Bowl on Monday.

The Crestview boys won, 2189-2061, as Peyton Mellott rolled a 397 series. Brody Brubaker had a 208 game and 381 series. Chris Johnson added a 333 series and Milton Scott a 290 series. For Lowellville, Cooper Jones had a 353 series and Levi Moore a 350 series.

Crestview girls also won, 1825-1532, as Blasey Biser had a 364 series. Kylee Wolfe had a 188 game and 337 series. Lyv Barnett followed with a 271 series and Catie Best a 249 series. For the Rockets, Natalie Macejko had a 143 game and 271 series.

West Branch wins another

BELOIT — West Branch’s offense was off an running in a 59-47 win over Carrollton in freshman boys basketball action Monday.

Dane Martucci led West Branch with 17 points. Logan Hawk contributed 15 points and Kolin Kaley 12. Michael McCartney added eight, Judah Kutz six and Chris Thomas two.

After starting with an 0-4 record in the Eastern Buckeye Conference, West Branch finished 6-4 in league play and wrapped up the regular season at 6-10. Tournament play begins Wednesday.

Goodell says 18 games is ‘not a given’

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Not so fast on an 18-game NFL season.

A week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft made it seem inevitable, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said expanding the regular season to 18 games is “not a given.”

“We have not had any formal discussions about it and, frankly, very little, if any, informal conversations,” Goodell said Monday at his annual state of the NFL news conference ahead of the Super Bowl. “I’ve heard people talk about it in the context. It is not a given that we will do that. It’s not something we assume will happen. It’s something we want to talk about with the union leadership.”

Last Tuesday, Kraft made it seem 18 games was a foregone conclusion.

“I want to tell you guys that we’re going to push like the dickens now to make international (games) more important with us,” Kraft told 98.5 FM last week. “Every team will go to 18 (regular-season games) and two (preseason games) and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.”

Clearly, word reached Goodell.

He mentioned that the NFL Players Association will be going through a leadership transition and that the conversation will be complex. Goodell pointed out player safety concerns, competitive issues, the potential need to add another bye and roster sizes as areas that have to be addressed through collective bargaining.

The current CBA between the NFL and its players’ union expires in 2030.

“As (the NFLPA) determines their priorities, we are doing the same at the ownership level so that when we get together, we can address these issues together,” Goodell said.

The momentum for an 18th game took off when Goodell made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show at the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit and said: “I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season (game) any day, that’s just picking quality. If we got to 18 (regular season) and two (preseason), that’s not an unreasonable thing.”

He’s walked it back previously but not to this point.

The NFL added a 17th game in 2021 in the most recent CBA.

MLB to produce local broadcasts

(AP) — The Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays will have their local television broadcasts produced and distributed by Major League Baseball this season.

The Royals, Marlins, Brewers and Cardinals made their plans official on Monday with the other two clubs expected to make their announcements in coming days.

The six clubs — along with the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels — terminated their deals after the Main Street Sports Group, which operates the regional FanDuel Sports Network stations, did not make scheduled rights payments. The Braves, Tigers and Angels still have not made a decision about their local coverage plans.

Atlanta though signaled that it will not be striking a new deal with Main Street.

“The Atlanta Braves are aware of the reports regarding Main Street Sports Group. While disappointed with this development, we have been actively preparing for this outcome and are well on our way towards launching a new era in Braves broadcasting,” the statement said.

MLB will produce broadcasts for at least 13 teams this season. It also added the Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners during the offseason.

“Our focus, particularly given the point in the calendar, is to maximize the revenue that’s available to the clubs, whether that’s MLB Media or third party,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said last month. “The clubs have control over the timing. They can make a decision to move to MLB Media because of the contractual status now. I think that what’s happening right now clubs are evaluating their alternatives. Obviously they’ve made significant payroll commitments already and they’re evaluating the alternatives to find the best revenue source for the year and the best outlet in terms of providing quality broadcasts to their fans.”

MLB has touted expanded market reach when it takes over production of teams due to a combination of being on local cable systems, satellite and direct-to-consumer streaming.

Diamond Sports Group was the largest owner of regional sports networks when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2023.

At the time of the filing, Diamond operated 19 networks under the Bally Sports banner and had the rights to 42 professional teams (14 baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL).

The networks emerged from bankruptcy proceedings last March under the Main Street Sports Group with its networks rebranded as FanDuel Sports Network. However, the networks are on the verge of insolvency and going out of business if a new majority owner or investors are not found.

Main Street currently has 15 owned and operated networks under the FanDuel banner with the rights to 20 pro teams: 13 NBA and seven NHL.

The NBA and NHL teams have been crafting contingency plans if Main Street suddenly goes out of business, an increasingly possible scenario over the past three weeks even though the company has committed to carrying hockey and basketball through the end of the regular season.

“FanDuel Sports Network is continuing to broadcast NBA and NHL games, and we appreciate the leagues’ engagement in ongoing discussions on our go-forward plans,” a Main Street Sports Group spokesperson said in a statement. “We appreciate the relationships we have had with these MLB partners and their fans over many years, and we wish them the best.”

MLB took over broadcasts of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2023 season and the Colorado Rockies in 2024. It added the Cleveland Guardians and the Minnesota Twins last season.

Manfred said last month that local media provides more than 20% of industry revenue.

“The local media landscape is evolving very quickly. It’s still a very robust audience on the traditional cable model. But the economics are changing. They’re becoming more of a challenge,” Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger said on Monday. “The bundle that fortified all of the large rights fees in the ecosystem of 15-20 years old is changing, and we’re adapting to it. The universe is going to be there. There’s going to be a local game element to baseball.

“Whether that evolves from the typical RSN model to solely streaming or a hybrid or other forms, to be determined. I think the fans will have optionality for local games. There’s so many games that we deliver — 162 — there’s plenty for everybody. I feel good about the future, even though I can’t predict where it’s actually going to land and when it’s going to land.”