Who’s on your school’s Mount Rushmore?

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It’s been a few weeks since the 2016 class of the Clinton County Sports Hall of Fame was inducted.

Whenever those newest members receive their plaques, it makes me think about all of the great athletes who have graced the courts or fields of Clinton County high schools.

And somewhere along the way, the talk of who was the very best always comes up. While there may be a few who are automatics for each school, filling out an all-time list is more difficult than you might think. I mean, every person who thinks about might have a completely different list from the next person.

I saw on the Internet — can’t remember who did it, I just know this is not an original idea — an organization was picking a Mount Rushmore for each school. The Mount Rushmore would be made up of the top four sports figures in each school’s history.

Who would be on your school’s Mount Rushmore? What say you Blanchester? Clinton-Massie? East Clinton? Wilmington High School? Wilmington College?

Let’s go back a bit. How about the four carved heads for Adams Township, Clarksville, Jefferson, Kingman, Martinsville, New Vienna, Port William, Sabina or Wayne? Other schools?

I think for the pre-consolidation schools it would be difficult but still easier than the post-consolidation institutions. After all, boys sports have increased in number and we’ve added girls sports to the mix.

But let’s keep it to four per school and see who we can come up with. Send me your thoughts on your school’s sports Mount Rushmore via email ([email protected]). If I get enough I’ll publish some of the results.

PETE: The Hall of Fame induction for Pete Rose is this weekend in Cincinnati. A bobblehead of Pete will be given away, but I had to scratch my head when I saw a photo of the bobblehead.

To be honest, I would never have guessed it was Pete Rose if I didn’t know better. Granted, he is in his HOF red jacket and not his Reds’ uniform but still the face just didn’t automatically tell me is the Charlie Hustle. If I was a bobblehead collector, I would be a bit disappointed.

MORE REDS: I must admit, I like the direction the Reds are headed. In fact, I’ve watched more Reds baseball on TV this year than the previous five years combined, which isn’t a spectacular feat because I watched very little.

The rebuilding process is always painful. This season’s woeful start was made worse by two issues — injuries to starting pitchers and the pathetic bat of Joey Votto.

The pitching is coming into focus. Votto’s bat is still a blur — unfortunately, a $20 million blur.

As the pitching gets healthy, I think we are seeing what is possible with this team. Honestly, the Reds might be a .500 team had the bullpen not been historically bad early in the season. From here on out, I expect the Reds to finish the season with one of the top five overall records in the National League. Not overall record, just the record from this point forward. We shall see.

The statement would be easily obtainable if Votto would simply earn the money he’s being paid. At $20 mil a year — it might be $25 mil a year, but I was afraid to check — Votto should be a contender for NL MVP each season. Guys who make $20 mil are not just team leaders, they are league leaders.

Alas, Votto has been neither, a fact that will continue to hamstring the Reds’ payroll flexibility. He’s not productive enough at $20 million a year that someone would want him. I would love to see Votto get hot and simply earn his keep. I wouldn’t squawk if he earned his $20 million a year by hitting like a $20 million player.

The only hope would be for Toronto to be contending for an AL title and need Votto to return to his home and lead the way. Or, maybe Votto doesn’t like hitting .240 and decides to retire and giving up his remaining money.

Right.

Go Toronto!

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Mark Huber

Sports Editor

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