NFL star Jerome Bettis was the guest speaker at the Volunteers of America benefit dinner at the Woodlands Inn & Resort in 2005.
Times Leader file photo
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NFL star running back Jerome Bettis was the guest speaker in 2005 at the Volunteers of America benefit dinner at the Woodlands Inn & Resort, and he volunteered his opinion on several subjects.
Without being asked, Bettis offered his thoughts on Penn State eventually replacing Joe Paterno.
“The next guy you bring is in not going to get the top kids unless he’s a top coach and creates a super-duper buzz,” said Bettis, who earned the nickname The Bus for his bruising running style. “And Penn State is going to have to fork over some tall bucks.”
Bettis also voiced his displeasure on how Notre Dame fired coach Tyrone Willingham in 2004 after just three years.
“The Willingham debacle was done very poor,” said Bettis, who was drafted 10th overall out of Notre Dame by the Los Angeles Rams in 1993. “It was not something I felt was the right thing to do.”
A crowd of 400 attended, a third bigger than the previous year when Notre Dame legend Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger was the guest speaker.
1958
Plains lefty Johnny Timko struck out 15 and allowed one hit as the Red Raiders damaged Wilkes-Barre Township’s divisional title hopes with a 2-0 victory in Luzerne County League high school baseball.
The performance gave Timko 55 strikeouts in his last 27 innings. In his last three starts, he had a no-hitter and two one-hitters.
1970
Carl Kern won the low hurdles, 100 and 220 for Lake-Lehman, which lost 98-52 to Wyoming Area in Wyoming Valley Conference track.
Kern went on to play football at Ohio State under coaching legend Woody Hayes. He was Lehman’s head football coach from 2006-09, finishing with a 15-26 record.
Anthony DeAngelo won the shot put and discus for Wyoming Area. Bob DiPietro won the long jump and triple jump.
1973
Wyoming Valley West won the sixth annual Wyoming Valley West Relays Carnival after finishing runner-up in four of the previous five years.
The Spartans finished with 60 points followed by Williamsport with 48 and State College with 45.
1985
Georgia Tech second baseman Jamie Sims, a Wyoming Valley West grad, tore ligaments in his left knee during a double play against Tennessee Tech. Sims was leading Tech in homers with nine and was second in RBI with 47.
Sims finished his four-year career at Georgia Tech with a .333 batting average with 34 home runs and 164 RBI. His 41 career stolen bases is tied for 20th on the school’s all-time list. He earned All-ACC second-team honors in 1985.
1986
Wilkes hired 24-year-old Jodi Kest as the head coach for its women’s basketball team.
Kest coached at Wilkes until 1990, compiling a 48-49 record. She went on to a long coaching career and retired in 2018 after 12 seasons as the head coach of Akron University. She was the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in 2010 and finished with a 405-348 career record.
2017
The Holy Redeemer girls track team needed a win the final event against Wyoming Area. Caroline Banas provided it.
Banas’ high jump of 5 feet, 4 inches was enough for the Royals to defeat Wyoming Area 77-73 in a battle of unbeaten Wyoming Valley Conference Division B teams. Redeemer went on to win the divisional title by one game over Wyoming Area.