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STATE-RANKED MATCHUP
BELOIT -- The Salem at West Branch football game tonight will be a state-ranked matchup.
Both teams are 8-1 with the Quakers ranked 10th in Division III and the Warriors ranked 12th in Division IV.
West Branch is 5-0 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference and has clinched at least a share of its seventh straight league title. Salem is 4-1 and needs to win to grab a share.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the Warriors will hold senior night before the game. Kickoff set for 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for reserved seats, $8 for adult general admission and $5 for student general admission.
Online tickets are encouraged and can be purchased at wbatheltics.org and clicking the “Tickets” tab at the top of the page.
TRUMP BLASTS LEBRON
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday accused LeBron James of disrespecting the United States after the NBA star appeared to continue his warmups while the national anthem was performed before Philadelphia’s season opener on Tuesday.
“I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE,” Trump said of James in a social media post sharing the video. “LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!”
James appeared to practice a golf swing and jump shot as “The Star-Spangled Banner” was performed Tuesday at New York’s Madison Square Garden. James, starting his first season with Philadelphia, was lined up alongside teammates who mostly stood still during the anthem.
Trump and James have been critical of each other for years, occasionally trading public swipes.
The 41-year-old James, in his record 24th NBA season, made his home debut for the Sixers Thursday night against Cleveland, and he did not comment publicly or post on social media about Trump’s gripe before the game.
James put his arms behind his back and bowed his head while Boyz II Men sang the anthem ahead of the opener. James was introduced to a roaring ovation from the crowd of roughly 20,000.
SERIES CREW
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Nic Lentz and Gabe Morales will make their World Series umpiring debuts, part of a crew headed by James Hoye for the matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays that starts Friday night.
Dan Bellino, Vic Carapazza, Tripp Gibson and Jim Wolf also will work the Series, Major League Baseball announced Thursday. It will be the third World Series for both Hoye and Wolf, and the second each for Bellino, Carapazza and Gibson.
Lentz made his big league debut in 2016 and at 36 will be the youngest Series ump since Pat Hoberg in 2022.
Morales will be the plate umpire for Friday’s opener, with Lentz at first, Hoye at second, Carapazza at third, Bellino in left and Gibson in right.
Wolf will work the plate in Game 2 and be followed by Lentz, Hoye, Carapazza, Bellino and Gibson.
Bellino will be the crew chief in Game 3, when Hoye is the reserve.
PROUD BREWER
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Bob Uecker would be “incredibly proud” of these Milwaukee Brewers, the family of the Hall of Fame broadcaster said Wednesday in a statement released by the team.
The Brewers are making their first World Series appearance since 1982 and less than two years after Uecker died Jan. 16, 2025, at the age of 90. The Brewers host the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 on Friday.
Uecker broadcast Brewers games for 54 years and continued working through the 2023 and 2024 seasons while battling small cell lung cancer.
“Some moments are worth waiting for,” Uecker’s family said. “Generations of Brewers fans have held hope in their hearts, season after season, that someday this city would have its chance at another championship.
“That day has come. And with it, a truth we’ve always known is finally getting its due: Milwaukee is special. Its people are special. Our team is special. We are filled with elation and pride, but also longing. A wish that Bob was here to see it, too.”
6-FOOT-9 GOALIE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Florida Panthers goalie Cooper Black skated onto the PPG Paints Arena ice alone during pregame warmups on Thursday night, a time-honored hockey tradition given to rookies everywhere.
It took Black fewer strides to make the memorable lap than most.
Call it one of the upsides of being 6-foot-9.
Black made NHL history in his first career start when he became the tallest goaltender to ever appear in a regular-season game in a 4-0 loss to the Penguins. Black is listed as two inches taller than Ben Bishop, Ivan Fedotov, Mads Sogaard and Mikko Koskinen, all 6-7.
The 25-year-old from Alpena, Michigan, who started playing when he was 8 and had a 5-inch growth spurt between his junior and senior years in high school when he shot up from 6-0 to 6-5 and kept right on going, made 18 saves in a 4-0 loss.
“It’s cool right, growing up, all the guys you kind of saw and watched as a kid, even as a goalie,” Black said. “Cool experience to play against the guys, would have been nicer to win.”