So, did you hear the news?
In hyphen-related news, rapper Jay-Z –– after going a few years sans hyphen –– has added the horizontal line back to his stage name ahead of his upcoming album release.
No, you didn’t hear and you didn’t care? Count yourself among the many who, probably unlike me, don’t love slow-news-days tidbits. With schools out and the number of events to cover in the summer seemingly few and far between, it’s easy to overlook some notable news coming in from the wide world of sports and entertainment.
In area news, Cole Peterson on Monday signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers, officially making him a professional baseball player. The Johnsonburg graduate and St. Bonaventure junior was drafted in the 13th round of last week’s MLB Draft.
The Bonnies’ head coach Larry Sudbrook, in a story that appeared in Saturday’s Era, hinted that it should be a no-brainer for Peterson and fellow Bona draft pick Aaron Phillips to choose a signing bonus and start their professional careers instead of returning for their senior seasons.
When he is assigned to a minor-league team in the Detroit system, Peterson will become the first former Bonnie to play for the Tigers. Peterson is the first Johnsonburg graduate to be drafted since 2012 when Seth Streich was taken in the sixth round out of Ohio University to the Oakland Athletics.
Interestingly, Streich and his older brother Tobias -– himself a Twins pick in 2009 out of West Virginia –– were teammates with Cole Peterson’s older brother, Seth, when Johnsonburg were state finalists in 2007.
In 2013, Cole Peterson became the sixth pitcher to ever toss a shutout in the PIAA finals as the Rams brought gold medals back to the Paper City. The coach on both occasions? Jeff Peterson.
There is potential that Peterson will play home games close to the area again –– Detroit’s Class AA affiliate are the Erie SeaWolves. For now, he’ll likely be assigned to the Tigers’ short-season Class A team in Connecticut.
Elsewhere in the area, Pitt-Bradford Athletic Director Bret Butler is in the midst of his second straight busy summer filling head coaching vacancies. Last week, Lady Panthers’ basketball coach Sean Brown was announced as the new men’s basketball coach.
Butler still has to fill coaching roles for the women’s soccer team and find Brown’s replacement for the Lady Panthers, a job that includes returning conference player of the year Ali Rinfrette, who should set the school scoring record this winter as a senior.
In other sports news, the Discovery Channel announced on Thursday that Michael Phelps will feature in a special “Shark Week” show called “Great Gold vs. Great White.”
Yes, the greatest Olympian of all-time –– who, mind you, retired after last year’s Rio Olympics –– will race a great white shark. Talk about raising the bar for retirement activities.
Some quick thoughts on this venture: where will the race be held? Using my public school education and reassurance from Google, sources say sharks are saltwater creatures, while 31-year-old Phelps is more comfortable in a chlorine-filled pool.
Also, how bored is Michael Phelps in retirement? Discovery Channel is either throwing a boat-load of cash his way, or the 28-time Olympic medalist was totally lying about not wanting to compete in the 2020 Olympics.
If he really needs a job, the Pirates could use an eighth inning guy in the bullpen.
And finally, you can impress your friends with this bit of on-this-day trivia: In 1994, O.J. Simpson was arraigned on murder charges against ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Why his name is still attached to the Bills’ New Era Field is a mystery, unlike the double murder.
