Local High Schools Prepare for Upcoming Sports Season

The summer heat is rampaging all across the Ohio Valley, but that isn't stopping local high school sports teams from practicing at one hundred percent in order to prepare for the upcoming season. In particular, Steubenville Big Red's shooting team got in its first practice of the summer this morning, and we got a chance to see senior standout Daequon Butler (left) first hand. The three year letterman is coming off of a strong 2010 season, and told us that he may head straight to the pros right out of college.

"Yea I got like a bunch of different offers of all sorts I got to consider before I think about college," says Butler. "Today a scout from the Crips was here lookin' at me, said I got a good future with them."

Big Red coach Jim Fisher told us that although Butler is a sure lock to go pro, he still has to keep his mind on where he is now.

"He's got the rest of his life to think about being a Crip, Blood, or Chicago Boy," Fisher said. "We're trying to keep our focus on Big Red right now. If he does that, he might end up getting an offer from the FBI."

Fisher took an unorthodox approach to practice this morning, by making his team rob a local downtown grocery store. Five of the students were arrested.

"That's how we make our cuts," Fisher added. "If you can't rob a store, maybe you're a better fit for the Chess Club. We need only the best to compete with Edison this year."

Steubenville's arch-rival, the Edison Wildcats (right), were hard at work today as well. Edison coach Preston Adams told us that the rivalry was started because the two teams use opposite techniques.

"We shoot our guns by looking down the sights," said Adams. "It's a much better way to ensure that you hit your target. Steubenville on the other hand, they shoot their guns by holding them sideways. It's less accurate, but you get the shot off quicker."

Other schools across the Valley are making some changes for the upcoming year. In a trip over to Weirton, West Virginia, we got to meet Tokey (left), the new mascot for the Weir High Fighting Stoners. The mascot was selected by the students from a shortlist of four that included Tokey, Bud the Bud, Kiefer the Kief, and Smokey. The change is part of a whole 're-imaging' program for the school, which was forced to drop its logo after a lawsuit from The University of Wisconsin-Madison. The school then settled on a marijuana leaf, but had to change that as well after The Ohio State University threatened legal action.

The logo dispute is reminiscent of the earlier incident involving the Buckeye Local School District and Anheuser-Busch. Despite the imminent lawsuit, the school's football team is keeping their minds on the field. Head football coach Anthony Barsch discussed with us some problems that the team faced with scheduling games this year.

"We were originally supposed to play Youngstown East in week two," said Barsch. "But our AD Sam Jones told me that they called in and said they didn't want to play us anymore because it would take at least a 92 point win in order for the win to mean anything because we were so bad last year."

Luckily for Barsch and the Panthers, Jones had a very unique solution.

"I got a hold of a team from Grove City that said they would be delighted to play us," said Jones. "It's just what both of our teams were looking for, a very competitive game."

Jones found the team by way of a want ad on Craigslist. The team, the Grove City Cowboys (right), is a Pop-Warner powerhouse and is expected to be at least a 3-1 favorite.