Well, this sports writer will be off once more this year for a while. I’m having my other knee operated on and will be out of commission for about five to six weeks. But, I should be ready to cover the fall sports programs starting in September.

In the meantime, my partner Bill Abraham, along with Chuck Clegg, R.J. Goode, and Tyler Star News Sports Editor Judy Light will chip in until I get back in early September.

I hope that this will be the end of my knee problems, and can get back to normal.

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I will be celebrating my 40th wedding anniversary in March next year and Lynne and I are going back to Scotland sometime between late June to early August. So this is a huge reason I’m having the knee done now, so I will be able to walk those hills in Scotland.

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My eldest granddaughter, Tianna, came to West Virginia for two weeks and we could not have been any happier. She is quite a girl for being just nine years of age. She already knows her Bible and can tell you all the books of the New and Old Testament, as well as the names of all the disciples. Now all she needs to do is teach her Pap-Pap. I’m so proud of her and the way she is being brought up.

The last time she came to visit us in West Virginia, she went with me to a Paden City girls’ basketball practice, and ran, ran, and ran every time the girls missed a layup. (Boy, they missed a lot of layups.)

The girls were very upset that she had to run for them missing shots, but she volunteered. She told me if the girls saw how a little girl run for them missing that, maybe they would concentrate more and start making more baskets.

Tianna went to work with me a couple of days this week. And, evidently, she made a very positive impression of the staff. On Tuesday, as Bill was going home after work, he whispered to me, “Bruce, she hasn’t said a single word. Has never complained about being bored. Has never asked for anything. Not once! She is a princess!”

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It was nice to see the Ohio and West Virginia OVAC Football coaches trying to get at least one player from each OVAC high school football team to participate in the all-star game.

For the Buckeyes, there is Evan Eggleston and Nick Asturi participating from River High School, while Magnolia’s Tanner Hanna and Stephen Rogalski and Tyler Consolidated’s Hunter LeMasters and Alex Doak will be there, as well for the Mountaineers.

Also representing area schools for the game will be Chris Varner from Hundred and Spencer Mason from Valley High School. In addition, Blaine Stewart, son of the late Bill Stewart, will be playing for the Mountaineers.

In the Queen of Queens pageant, Eliza Cain and Taylor Clem from Magnolia and Tyler Consolidated, respectively, will represent their schools. New Martinsville’s Bill Stuart and former MHS Head Football Coach Jack Flanagan, who played in the OVAC game 50 years ago, will be recognized during halftime.

Others who will join in the OVAC festivities include Samantha Roberts and Amy Mason from Valley in the band, along with classmates Allison Grimm in the flag corps and Bailey Brown on the dance team.

Lynnsie Parsons from Paden City and James Jeffers, Kayla Adams, and Makayla Clegg from Magnolia will be there to cheer for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

I believe those all the area participants that will be in the OVAC All-Star Classic. Just a note that few people may know or remember is that Valley’s Spencer Mason played in the OVAC Band during his freshman and sophomore years and will be the first person to play in both the football game and OVAC Band.

Only seniors participate in the OVAC football game, while students in any class may play in the band.

I will be in Ohio Valley Medical Center at the time of the event, recovering from my knee replacement surgery.

But I will be watching it on television, rooting for both the Buckeyes and the Mountaineers, to support all our kids.