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Feeling right at home with local sports Dave Konopki OPINION

Friday October 30, 2009 | 05:03 PM

My response to the comment initially drew laughter. When I repeated it, there was a brief – albeit awkward – silence.

During halftime of a local high school football game on a recent Friday night, someone in the press box told me it was a shame I couldn’t get media credentials to the Major League Baseball playoffs.

I told him I did have credentials, but made a decision to cover the local sporting event instead. I guess everyone thought I was kidding, prompting the laughter.

When I responded with “I’m serious,” the laughing stopped.

Don’t get me wrong, I love baseball. I enjoy watching players such as Ryan Howard, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter make a very difficult game appear almost simple at times.

But as a member of the sports department at The Times Leader, I’ve always felt local sports should come first. If I worked at the New York Post, I’d feel differently.

I don’t work in New York. I work in Wilkes-Barre.

Believe it or not, the world of sports doesn’t come to an end with the start of the baseball playoffs – even when the Phillies and Yankees are involved.

That’s especially true in the Wyoming Valley Conference. In fact, if you’ve only been paying attention to the MLB playoffs in the past few weeks, you’ve missed a lot of good local stories.

Here are just a few:

• Nanticoke boys soccer coach Mark Matusek ended his season in style, winning his 200th game earlier this week.

• Wyoming Area golf coach Len Coleman is also retiring from his coaching duties after 35 years. And he couldn’t have scripted a better ending. Warrior senior Vicky Petrosky battled back from a tough start this week to earn a medal at the PIAA Golf Championships, becoming the first Wyoming Area golfer to win a state medal under Coleman.

• The GAR football team – and the WVC in general – mourned the unexpected passing of Grenadier offensive coordinator Bill Silvi early this month. A few days after mourning the passing of their coach, the Grenadiers posted a 40-16 win against Wyoming Area in Silvi’s memory.

• Kurt Mattes left Wyoming Valley West five years ago as one of the premiere football players in the conference. In a few months, the offensive lineman will leave Northwestern with a master’s degree in public policy and administration. In the meantime, Mattes has a game against Penn State this weekend and a bowl game await.

The list could go on and on.

Valley West soccer player Joseph Schmid in the midst of finishing up a fantastic career. The Dallas football team getting to an 8-0 start a year after winning just two games. Tunkhannock cross country standout Reece Ayers running past, over and around every opponent this season.

Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee tossed a gem at Yankees Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series two nights ago.

But the real jewels of the sporting world can be found right in our own backyard.