Tom Archdeacon
Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon is an old-school storyteller who writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy or yours.
Latest from Tom Archdeacon
Dayton’s heartbreaking loss to VCU Saturday came with at least two heroes for the Flyers: The sold-out crowd at UD Arena and redshirt junior Ryan Mikesell. Just before the start of the much-anticipated Atlantic 10 showdown – with the music cranked up louder than usual and beloved former UD stars Scoochie Smith and Kendall Pollard...
Once practice ended Friday afternoon, one of the first tasks for Sinclair basketball coach Jeff Price was to go to his office, grab a black marker and add Indiana’s name to the tally board he keeps on the wall. Bill Comar, the Hoosiers’ assistant athletic director for basketball administration, had called just before practice...
After Loudon Love pulled down the rebound with one hand because Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald had hooked his other arm and was holding it down – after the referee’s whistled a Flagrant 1 foul and the large, revved-up Nutter Center crowd cheered wildly and Love responded with a biceps-bulging muscle pose – Parker...
They are a mother and daughter on quite a ride. One can be found astride a red and black Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe motorcycle. The other is roaring along as the point guard of the Sinclair women’s basketball team that is 19-3 and now has won eight straight games. Wednesday night – following the Tartan Pride’s 127-53...
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On Valentine’s Day, here’s the story of Side Pony and the Hall of Famer. “I don’t know if it was on purpose or an accident when she’d be getting ready in the dark, but when she put her ponytail on, it was always on the side of her head,” former Wright State basketball star Vaughn Duggins said with a chuckle...
Wayne Embry was a little taken aback. “You remember that?!” he said. “That’s not one of my proudest moments. You’re going back to that?” Yes, because if that had not happened, then Saturday – Wayne Embry Day at Miami University – might not have happened either. In the 1940s and early &lsquo...
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies learned Thursday night what Wright State has known for more than a month now: You can’t keep Malachi Smith down. He’s a basketball version of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” But instead of ending up in a Broadway musical and popular 1960s movie as she did, the back-up freshman guard has seen...
They are not your run of the mill college basketball players: One already has a national championship ring. The other is Shak. While University of Dayton point guard Shakeela “Shak” Fowler spells her nickname a bit differently, she is named for Shaquille O’Neal. “As the story goes, when I was a kid my grandad would...
He may have lost a step, but he hasn’t lost his Super Bowl ring. “Everybody always wants to look at it and try it on or take a photo with it and I used to say, ’Yeah, you’re not faster than me, so go ahead, you can put it on,’” Jim Lachey said with a chuckle. “But I can’t say that anymore. Not...
Symone Simmons was full of surprises Thursday night. “I play the saxophone,” the Wright State senior guard said. “All four of them: alto, tenor, soprano and baritone. I started playing with the middle school band and when I got to high school I was in the jazz band.” Another thing you might not expect: When the 21-year-old...
Before he became the talk of next Sunday’s Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, Sean McVay was a little kid from Kettering and was mesmerized as he rubbed shoulders with NFL players. “I’ve got a framed picture here on the kitchen counter from about that time that I’ve got to send you,” Tim McVay, his dad, was saying by...