Cassius Clay or Clay Pigeon? Which kind of Clay would Martinus “Magnificent” Clay end up being?  Billy Lyell definitely took the fight to Clay for eight rounds.  Dominant performance where Lyell won the fight unanimously on every scorecard, 80-72 in front of a partisan crowd.  Simons Promotions rolled out the red carpet in a very nice atmosphere for a decent night of boxing which was capped with Lyell’s dominant performance.

In round one, Lyell came out fast and strong.  He controlled the pace of the fight with his jab and swelled the nose of Clay early.  Give round one to Billy Lyell.  Clay threw punches but only hit Lyell squarely a couple of times.  Lyell threw a lot of punches but did some damage in winning the opening session handily.

The second round saw Lyell further establish his dominance of the tempo.  Lyell throws some haymakers and doesn’t get cheated, Clay was learning this the hard way.  After two, it is all Billy Lyell in Morgantown.

Rounds three and four were Clay’s best rounds of the fight to this point, But he probably still lost the rounds.  Lyell was punishing Clay on the ropes with a minute or so left in both rounds.  Lyell takes shots too, but he throws many more and lands with a higher frequency.  So far, I see it four rounds to none, Lyell.

In round five, Lyell continued to peck away at the face of Clay.  Clay was still throwing back, but Lyell was definitely in control of the pace.  Five rounds to no rounds, Billy Lyell.

In round six, Lyell had Clay covering up every time he would mount some offense.  Clay would also clinch, the couple of times he failed to clinch Lyell up, he paid dearly on the ropes by taking three or four solid shots.  Lyell stunned Clay with a left hook right before the bell and Clay wobbled for a second before he realized the bell had saved him.  Lyell was ahead on my card, 6-0.

In the seventh of eight, the boxing lesson continued.  Lyell was so fast with his counterpunches that Clay would throw first and land second.  Lyell was that much faster and showed no signs of fatigue.  7-0.

The final round, Lyell put the exclamation point on the fight despite taking a couple of shots.  Give this round to Lyell also.  Billy Lyell 8 Martinus Clay 0 was my count.

The judges saw it pretty much the same and Lyell won on all three cards 80-72.

After the fight, Keith Burnside, who trained Lyell was happy with the effort.  “Billy threw a lot of punches tonight and looked in control.  We have been working on him throwing more and you saw that tonight.”

Lyell was happy with the win as well.  “I give credit to the great team around me.  I wanted to finish him with a knockout, but I wasn’t disappointed at all with the performance.”

When asked what is next, Lyell responded, “Whatever comes my way, I am ready.”

Solid performance for Billy Lyell in running his record to 22-8 with 4 KO’s in Morgantown.  Burnside and the corner staff also mentioned that the move to 154 will help Lyell as it is more his natural weight.  In his last fight, Lyell took a last minute IBF middleweight title shot against Sebastian Sylvester in Europe and made a respectable showing but came away empty.

Greetings from Morgantown, West Virginia! Simons Promotions was holding a boxing card at the beautiful Waterfront Place which would feature the Mahoning Valley’s Billy Lyell squaring off against Martinus Clay of Philadelphia.   The card featured five preliminary bouts before the Lyell fight.  Four of the ten participants in those fights were from Morgantown, so there were some definite fan favorites.  Here is how the undercard went:

In a 139 lb. battle, Ronnell Green of Wheeling, West Virginia took on Tyrone Gamble of Baltimore, Maryland.  Gamble threw maybe ten punches before being knocked out in the first round.  Green drilled Gamble with a solid right to floor him for the ten count.  The opening fight lasted a grand total of a minute and seventeen seconds.

The second undercard fight featured two hometown boys locking it up as Eric Watkins and Wilton Bunn, both of Morgantown, did battle in a 195 lb. amateur tilt.  Can you imagine the in-town hype on this one?  Bunn and Watkins probably saw each other at the neighborhood Burger King a few weeks back and declared the other guy had no chance.  The all-Morgantown portion of the card was entertaining.  Bunn took the decision.

The next prelim featured two heavyweights as Ernest Gwynn of Reidsville, North Carolina and Mel Bankhead of Morgantown in a scheduled four-rounder.  An interesting sidenote, Bankhead owns a strip club in Morgantown and he definitely received the loudest applause to this point.  The proprietor of Lady Godiva managed to score a first-round TKO with a strong boy punch that doubled up Gwynn.

The next bout was a battle at 154.  Vance Garvey (black trunks) of Indianapolis, Indiana did battle with Matt Berkshire of, you guessed it, Morgantown.  Berkshire floored Garvey, knocking out his mouthpiece (above) in the third but to his credit, Garvey got up and stormed back in the fourth.  From a boxing perspective, it was definitely the best match to this point of the card.  Berkshire cut Garvey in the fifth but took a solid shot himself to end the round.  In the eighth and final round, Berkshire cemented the win with a forceful knockdown.  Give Garvey credit for getting up again, but in the end the judges saw the fight as a majority draw.  Berkshire got the short end of the stick in this one.

The last undercard fight featured heavyweights Octavius Smith of Indianapolis and Jason “Ironman” Bergman of Washington, PA.  Bergman made short work of Smith, flooring him twice in the round before the ref halted the contest.

The Youngstown State Softball team is struggling to win games, but the overall product is so much more polished than it used to be. Credit Coach Campbell and his staff for the great work to make this program more respectable than it has been in years.  One of the cogs in the new machine is Haley Thomas. Haley is a Phys Ed Major from Southern California who aspires to teach and coach when her college days come to an end.  As the Penguins head into tournament play this weekend, Thomas will be doing what she has all season, batting leadoff and playing CF for Youngstown State.  Just a Sophomore, Thomas started all 48 regular season games.  In those games, she has racked up eight home runs.  She leads the team in runs (40), total bases (105), walks (23), on-base percentage (.453), and batting average (.376).  I recently caught up with Thomas to discuss her future, getting homesick, and realizing her potential.

Paneech: How many years have you been playing softball?

Thomas: I just finished my tenth year.

Paneech: Have you always been an outfielder?

Thomas: No.  I started playing in the outfield.  I tried catcher and did that for awhile, and then when I got to YSU, I went back to the outfield.  I play some first base also.  I can play all three of those positions.  I have never pitched in my life.  I don’t really know how.

Paneech: What do you credit your big numbers to this season?

Thomas: I wouldn’t be leading the team in total bases and runs unless somebody was batting good behind me.  The team motivates each other to work hard.  Last year, I didn’t have a whole bunch of extra base hits.  I have worked on just trying to hit the ball hard without swinging harder, I use my natural swing.  Same swing every time – see the ball and try to hit it squarely.

Paneech: Do you prefer the 80 degree weather that we are having now, or were you more content when it was 45 degrees?

Thomas: I like the hot weather better for softball.  I grew up in California, so I was used to the hotter weather.

Paneech: Why Physical Education for a major?

Thomas: It is something that I am involved with every day, as well as something I can see myself involved with in the future.  I want to be happy doing something, so if I am not going to be happy there is no use in doing it.  I want to get involved with teaching and coaching.  I am not sure if I would accept a position as a volleyball coach somewhere, I don’t know enough about it.  I did play soccer though, so if I couldn’t coach softball, soccer would be okay.

Paneech: Are you homesick at all?  When will you be heading back West?

Thomas: I do get homesick sometimes.  I am taking a class in the Summer, but I will make my way home in July.

Paneech: Explain this season to me.

Thomas: The team has made a lot of improvement since last season.  We fought hard and played more consistently this year.  Although it may not show on paper, the quality of the team is so much higher than last year.  We don’t always get rewarded in the win column, but mentally we all know that we are striving to make a difference.

One Word Answers

Favorite Breakfast Food: A bagel with peanut butter and jelly.

Biggest Phobia: I don’t know.

Favorite TV Show: Survivor and Grey’s Anatomy.

Sport You Watch Other Than Baseball: Football, I’m a Pittsburgh Steeler fan.

Favorite Movie: Shooter, Band of Brothers.  Any war movies.

Snack You Can’t Stop Eating: Chips.  All kinds, BBQ, Salt and Vinegar.

Worst Habit: Second guessing myself.

Haley and her teammates start Horizon League Tournament play this weekend, where she claims they will “try to win one game at a time, not the whole tournament at once“.  Best of luck Lady Penguins and congratulations on an outstanding effort this season.

The New York Knicks have reported record season ticket activity for next season based on the hype alone.  For the past couple of seasons, LeBron James has been in the rumor mill as going to New York when his contract expires at season’s end.

The good news for Knicks fans anticipating the big move is that you will get to see LeBron play in Madison Square Garden next season.  The bad news is that he will still be wearing a Cavs uniform and you paid too much for those couple of games.  The newly crowned MVP will stay put.

The Jets stepped it up in the offseason, doing Yankee-like things that New Yorkers have grown to expect.  Now the people want a basketball team to spend a fortune too.  You can afford LeBron, but he is home where he sits now.  It’s his backyard and his friends and family can drive less than an hour to watch.  All the hype about a number switch as of late has barely been mentioned in Knicks conversations, has anyone who did any of the junk photoshop stuff try to use the number six?

The Cavs hold a 1-0 lead over Boston in their current quest to get “The King” a ring.  New York fans are Cleveland fans, for now.  When this supposed deal never takes place, LeBron will be booed from the Eastern end of the Bronx through Manhatten, and he will probably enjoy it.  Click your red Nike’s together three times and repeat after me… ‘There’s No Place Like Home.’

Brian Mellott has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Northeastern Ohio Chapter of The National Football Foundation. Candidates were chosen from 11 colleges which fall into the Northeastern Ohio area, spanning 15 counties.  Last season, Mellott started all eleven games at right guard and was named a First-Team Academic All-American.

In other YSU related news, Donald Jones was signed by the Buffalo Bills to a free agent contract.  Jones has been unavailable for comment, but is surely disappointed that he was not drafted.

They are at the post… and they’rrre off!  The 2010 Kentucky Derby runs this Saturday at Churchill Downs.  This is the 136th running of the famed race where first place will pay $1,425,200 – a far cry from a claims race.  2009 saw Mine That Bird charge from way back to win the big one.  Is there another longshot capable?

Here is the starting position, followed by the horse and jockey and current odds:

1. Lookin At Lucky (Garrett Gomez)  3-1
2. Ice Box (Jose Lezcano)  10-1
3. Noble’s Promise (Willie Martinez)  12-1
4. Super Saver (Calvin Borel) 15-1
5. Line of David (Rafael Bejarano) 30-1
6. Stately Victor (Alan Garcia)  30-1
7. American Lion (David Flores)  30-1
8. Dean’s Kitten (Robby Albarado)  50-1
9. Make Music For Me  (Joel Rosario)  50-1
10. Paddy O’Prado (Kent Desormeaux)  20-1
11. Devil May Care (John Velazquez)  10-1
12. Conveyance (Martin Garcia)  12-1
13. Jackson Bend (Mike Smith)  15-1
14. Mission Impazible (Rajiv Maragh)  20-1
15. Discreetly Mine (Javier Castellano)  30-1
16. Awesome Act (Julien Leparoux)  10-1
17. Dublin (Terry Thompson)  12-1
18. Backtalk (Miguel Mena)  50-1
19. Homeboykris  (Ramon Dominguez)  50-1
20. Sidney’s Candy (Joe Talamo)  5-1

The one horse and the twenty horse, Lookin At Lucky and Sidney’s Candy respectively, are starting at opposite ends of the gate, but the experts see them finishing side by side.  Garrett Gomez is a much better jockey than Joe Talamo, but starting from the inside will be tough as all of the other nineteen horses try to close to the inside.  I see (1) Lookin At Lucky getting boxed in and playing no factor in the outcome.  Sidney’s Candy will finish somewhere in the top three.

My longshot to bet is the #8 horse, Dean’s Kitten.  I like Robby Albarado atop this horse and think that it is a blessing to start in the middle.  Another longshot worth checking out is (19) Homeboykris, co-owned by New York Yankees Manager, Joe Torre.  Homeboykris should lose by twenty lengths, but if he loses by more than that, expect jockey Ramon Dominguez to be pitching out of the Yankees pen in middle relief by July.  Post time is 6:24 pm and the weather is calling for a good chance of precipitation.

Winner:  #4  Super Saver.  Calvin Borel lives for this day and loves the limelight.  Expect his magic to continue.

Trifecta:  #4 Super Saver, #20 Sidney’s Candy, & #8 Dean’s Kitten.

Leave a comment and let me know what you predict and good luck!

Sigh.  Rather than list the best teams in baseball for 2010, I have opted to expose the five worst.  Unfortunately when any game is played, there is a winner and there also must be a loser.  Some teams have made a habit of losing, others have found new ways to embark on the shame of a wasted season.  Without hesitation, here is my list of the five teams who stink for the year 2010.

1. Washington Nationals.  They are off to a respectable start, but don’t expect that to last too long.  Ivan Rodriguez and Adam Dunn both need to oil their leg joints before they can run.  The pitching staff is horrid and will only be semi-horrid when cheap-o management decides to bring Stephen Strasburg into the mix.  Too many no-names, too many washed-up veterans, and too many guys who never reached their potential elsewhere.  The Nationals will finish with the worst record in baseball this season.
2. Houston Astros.  The slow start only magnifies the problems this team has in 2010.  Lance Berkman is back, but has nobody to help him on offense, assuming he can even get it going.  Berkman looks like he wants to compete against Kobiyashi on Memorial Day to see who can eat more hot dogs in New York.  Roy Oswalt is the ace of a staff filled with inconsistencies from the bullpen to the rotation.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates.  I wish this team did not fall into the “worst teams in baseball” category every year.  Shamefully, it has been 17 years that they have been below the Mendoza Line and this year will be no different.  Pirate fans beware, this team is so low on the talent scale that management may try to deceive you into thinking that they are actually trying to build something in the Steel City.  Don’t be fooled, the inventory of players other teams want is so low, you can count them on one hand.
4. Chicago White Sox.  Ozzie Guillen has run out of ways to motivate, so the White Sox brought in some new players for him to dazzle with his unique approach.  Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones are way beyond their prime and will not be contributing in July or beyond.  I guarantee you both go on the DL at some point.  This team being on this list is debatable, but cash your check in October when all the votes are in.
5. Cleveland Indians.  Travis Hafner has been a disappointment over the past few seasons.  Don’t look for him to join Kerry Wood at the Cleveland Clinic soon.  Too many babies on this team.  Russell Branyan?  What is next, Richie Sexson or Doug Jones?   The Indians have gone the Pirates route in the past couple of years trading their marketable talent for money.  The attendance at Progressive Field ranks among the worst in baseball so far this season.  This is the same stadium that sold out four seasons in a row, now it has regressed to a reminder of old Municipal Stadium where you could buy a ticket by the flagpole in right and be in the third row by the end of the second inning.  The fans have spoken.

Honorable Mention:  Florida Marlins.  Hanley Ramirez is the only player on this team who is worth a hill of beans.  Their farm system has produced absolutely nothing, people talk about the Miami Dolphins and Heat all year, and Bobby Bowden is more recognizable by a 21-year old walking through a Florida mall than any member on the team, including Ramirez.  This team needs a complete overhaul or perhaps a new approach.  Maybe Florida could do their Spring Training in Canada to drum up excitement when the actual season starts.  Just a thought.

Things did not go as planned in Atlantic City for Team Pavlik.  “The Ghost”  lost his championships and Sergio Martinez danced around the champ all night.  Jack Loew and Pavlik did not make any excuses, they took the loss with dignity.  The conversations in Youngstown are swirling around gaining twenty pounds and fighting heavier and slower despite coming in as strong as ever.  Another public gripe has been the work of Sid Rumbuck, the corner cut man who could not stop blood for very long in any round.

Negativity stated, I refuse to jump ship.  I have great respect for Kelly Pavlik and below are the five biggest reasons why I will keep rooting for him.

1. Loyalty.   Too many times when a person becomes famous, they have a tendency to forget where they came from.  Pavlik has always represented Youngstown and has vehemently stated he does not want to go anywhere else and that he is happy here.  “Defend Youngstown” instilled a sense of pride into a beaten community.  Saying it was one thing, but living it was an elevated statement.  To live in the greater Youngstown area, I admire Pavlik for staying home and representing this area with such passion. 
2. Pride.  Martinez won the fight, but this war is far from over.  When Pavlik said he doesn’t like to lose and he will get his belts back, he hinted where his heart is.  If he opts to move up to 168, he better drop the sledgehammer and trade those monster truck tires in for a jumprope.  Pavlik can dominate at 160 as long as he can keep making the weight.  The decision that Team Pavlik is weighing is a tough one.  I think the pride factor will kick in and Pavlik will exercise the rematch clause he has with Martinez.
3. Heart.  Roberto Duran screamed “No Mas” and wasn’t really even cut.  Pavlik took all Martinez had for the last four rounds and still didn’t get knocked out.  He didn’t quit either.  All too often in sports, an athlete is called a warrior.  Seldom does the title accurately describe the effort, even in a loss, that a participant displays.  For Pavlik to fight with limited vision and just catch punches throws him into warrior status for not quitting.
4. Jack Loew.  Loew has been paramount to the success of Kelly Pavlik.  Nationally, people sputter and shoot their mouths off about how much better Pavlik would be without Loew.  Loew is the most underappreciated person in boxing.  He knows the game and knows what his fighters are capable of.  He is quick with a quote, fast to defend what he believes to be the truth, and understands what needs to be done to win.
5. Champion.  Ray Mancini, Harry Arroyo, Greg Richardson, Ken Sigurani, Roland Cummings, etc.  None of them, including Boom Boom, held a title as long as Pavlik did.  In my eyes, that would make him the best.  Being a champion means you dictate what happens in your career.  Pavlik plays golf and darts with his friends, but he also spends so much time and effort on charity work.  Almost every major fundraiser in the area was not a draw unless Pavlik would show.  Using that sort of leverage in positive ways makes him a special champion. 

If you were a Pavlik fan but decided not to be anymore because he lost, you were never really a fan.  If you are still a Pavlik fan, embrace the future with a sense of optimism.  With the recent  loss, I would make him the marshall of any parade in Mahoning County for what he has achieved, but more importantly, what is still left to achieve.

Way back, even before the days that the great Honus Wagner donned a Pirates uniform, someone envisioned baseball in Pittsburgh’s future and started a team.  Despite the fact that Pittsburgh has not had a winning season in 17 years, they managed to sink to yet a new record-low getting clobbered 20-0 by Milwaukee.  The loss was the worst in franchise history.

Gone are the Spring training games that Pittsburgh did all they could to win in hopes of dazzling the locals into buying season tickets.  The flowers are not even really growing in Pennsylvania yet, but the weeds at PNC Park were sprouting in abundance Thursday.

This game was brutal on so many fronts that expose the Pirates as a misled, uncompetitive bunch, yet again.  Management knows what’s up, they only have two bobblehead nights this season.  The Brewers bullied Pirate pitching as they banged out 25 hits.  It’s what Prince Fielder needed to get going as he hit his first long ball of the season.  It allowed Jim Edmonds to believe he still has it.  It turned Randy Wolf’s start into an early Christmas present.  Pirate starter Daniel McCutchen was quoted after the game as saying, “I felt like I was throwing batting practice out there.”  Good luck finding a job as a batting practice pitcher in your future Daniel.

Oddly enough, the pitied Pirate fan can vouch that it could have been 100-0, it is still only one loss and that the Pirates are 7-8 and still on pace to go .500.  The rest of the civilized world can scratch a team out of the playoff hunt now.  The season is over, don’t even think about going .400.

The next question would be, when does the auction start?  You know that players will be moved, probably before the All-Star Break this time.  More problems, the cupboard is just about empty and nobody will be beating the door down for Lastings Milledge or Joel Hanrahan.  Pittsburgh needs to spend a little to get somewhere, the soil can not be turned over so many times and still yield a marketable product.

For now, get your weed whackers out, because PNC Park will be full of them this year.

Kim Klonowski is enjoying Youngstown State.  She has started all 39 games this season for the Penguins softball team and has more than respectable statistics batting .316 with 5 home runs and a team-high 31 RBI.  She was a Second-Team All-Horizon League pick last year as a sophomore and always poses a threat to smack one out against opposing pitchers.

Refreshingly, Klonowski gets it.  She understands that there may not be a million dollar contract to play softball professionally.  She understands what “student-athlete” means.  She is majoring in chemical engineering and takes her education very seriously.  She also was very good-natured and a tip of the cap to her parents for the great measure of respect she shows both on and off of the diamond.

Paneech:  How did you settle on chemical engineering for a major?

Klonowski:  I would like to think I am a good student (laughing).  My sophomore year of high school, my dad sat me down and said “find a major“.  He is an engineer and my uncle is a chemical engineer so I got into it and looked around.  The choice was then chemical or biomedical, and YSU had chemical.  I chose YSU because they had the engineering and they had softball, so it was a really good fit for me.

Paneech:  You lead the team in RBI with 31 and have hit a few bombs this year.  What do you attribute the power to: pitch selectivity, bat speed, or mechanics?

Klonowski:  I pretty much credit bat speed and mechanics.  [Coach Brian] Campbell has done alot with us to make sure we hit inside the ball and drive right through it and that has definitely been the difference.  I am getting comfortable hitting for power, but when you get one out you are lucky.

Paneech:  I came to a couple of games this year and quite frankly, it was freezing.  Do you think that the season should be moved back a month to play in more favorable conditions?

Klonowski:  No, I think you have to learn to play in the elements, no matter what.  When you play a game in the cold, it is a disadvantage to everyone who is playing in it.

Paneech:  Do you follow Major League Baseball?

Klonowski:  Yes, I am a Tigers fan, but Albert Pujols is my favorite player.  My favorite Tiger is Miguel Cabrera.

One Word Answers

Favorite TV Show:  Real Housewives of Orange County.

Fast Food:  Wendy’s.

Biggest Phobia:  I am a germaphobe, big time.

Best Movie Ever Made:  A League of Their Own.

Favorite Soft Drink:  Diet Coke.

Worst Habit:  I am constantly putting on hand sanitizer.

Favorite Cereal:  Cinammon Toast Crunch (every morning).

Musical Preference:  Rock, like Shinedown and Fallout Boy.

Worst Class Ever Taken At YSU:  Organic Chemistry 2.  It was so hard!

Best Class Taken At YSU?  All of my engineering classes are real cool.

Quotable:  “This year’s team has alot of fight.  We can be down a few runs but one person sparks a rally and everyone goes, it is very contagious.  We never give up, and that’s great!”