SIDNEY — It was an amazing year for sports — 1973.
Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in a battle-of-the-sexes tennis match. The incomparable Secretariat won horseracing’s Triple Crown. The Ohio State Buckeye football team completed a 9-0-1 season and, on the first day of 1974, beat the University of Southern California in the Rose Bowl. O.J. Simpson set a record by running for more than 2,000 yards in 14 games with the Buffalo Bills and was named the Associated Press male athlete of the year. In Cincinnati, Pete Rose earned top baseball honors as the National League’s most valuable player.
And near the end of that memorable year, Ken Barhorst joined the sportswriting staff of the Sidney Daily News. Still here after almost 44 years, he’ll retire July 31. A reception, open to the public, will be from 4 to 7 p.m. that day in the newspaper offices, 1451 N. Vandemark Road.
“I tried college,” the 1970 Piqua Catholic High School graduate said of the beginning of his career. He attended the University of Dayton. But he liked writing and there was a job open at the Piqua Daily Call.
He spent two years at the Call before jumping to the Sidney paper, which at the time was owned by Amos Press.
“I feel blessed that I was able to work for a family like the Amoses for as long as I did,” Barhorst said. “They treated their employees fairly. I have such respect for them. They’re such great people.”
John Amos, of Sidney, was publisher when Barhorst was hired.
“He knew how important basketball was to county schools,” Amos said about why Barhorst got the job. “He’s a hard worker. I tried to get him help once and he turned it down.”
Barhorst would object to that.
“It would be difficult to do this without part-time help, and I’ve had a lot of great helpers,” he said.
Barhorst began his career in high school by writing class assignments for Connie, a friend who was in a journalism class. She got really good grades on what Barhorst wrote for her.
“The next year, I thought I should get in the class,” he said. He did. And a few years later, he married Connie.
He became a professional writer just as local sports, based mostly in the schools, was burgeoning. Title IX of the federal education act had been passed in 1972, and it required that schools provide an equal number of sports opportunities for girls as for boys.
“When Anna started football for the boys, it had to start soccer for the girls,” Barhorst said. “They had girls field hockey at Sidney High School when I first started. It didn’t last long.”
Ice hockey is just about the only sport he didn’t have to cover. Barhorst has filed stories about football, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf, track and field, cross country, swimming, bowling, auto racing, county fair horseracing, horseshoe pitching, hunting, fishing, wrestling and gymnastics. There may be more.
His first assignment for the Daily News, he recalled, was to cover a basketball game between Minster and St. Henry.
“The game went to 102 to 100. Minster won in overtime. I thought, ‘Are they all going to be like this?’” he said.
It’s been awhile since the veteran writer has covered a game onsite.
“The newspaper business has changed over the years. Our deadlines were undoable, so I made a decision to stay in the office and get information on as many games as I could,” he said. On nights when multiple games are played, he’s at his desk, with a radio running, two phone lines and a cell phone ringing and the computer streaming.
“I can’t just go and cover one game,” he said. “They’re all important.”
Coaches call to provide wrap-ups of their contests. Barhorst commiserates or congratulates and pounds the keys as the stories evolve. Because of the relationship he has with them, the coaches know they can trust him to get the story right, whether it’s a tale of victory or of defeat: “That was a tough break, coach. How are your kids taking it? What do you think was the turning point for the team?” Barhorst will ask. He can say just about anything to a coach, because he says it in a way that doesn’t judge, threaten or offend.
For a preview of the week’s games, an educator might hear, “Hi coach. What do you think about this week’s challenge? Your opponent looked awfully good last week …”
Ever self-effacing, Barhorst has often needed coaxing to put a byline on what he writes.
His first bylined Daily News story appeared in the Dec. 31, 1973, issue: “Tipp City knocks Cavs from unbeaten.”
Hundreds of others have not gone unnoticed. He was named Sidney Daily News sports editor in October 1975. He won Ohio Associated Press awards in several years for sportswriting and for special sections comprising fall and spring sports previews. In 2007, he was honored by the Ohio High School Athletic Association when he received the Southwestern District Media Award. The nomination for the award came from high school coaches. In 2016, he was inducted into the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Hall of Fame, and the Shelby County Athletic League honored him for his dedication to the county’s athletes. In addition to covering Shelby Oaks golf, the bowling alley and Eldora Speedway, he’s repsonsible for reporting on games and people in 15 school systems.
Despite his penchant for anonymity, Barhorst is well known in the area.
“When I grew up, our sports editor was Zach Crusey. He was there for years and years and became an institution in the community. Ken’s sort of following in those footsteps,” Amos said.
Daily News Editor Melanie Speicher echoed the sentiments.
“Ken is the face of the Sidney Daily News,” she said. “He’s here day in and day out, making sure that all the athletes in our coverage area receive the recognition they deserve. His name is synonymous with sports coverage here. It’s hard to imagine another sportswriter or editor whose dedication, daily output and accomplishments could equal Ken’s. He has indeed served with exceptional distinction and honor the profession he has loved for more than 45 years.”
For his part, Barhorst recognizes the role he has played.
“You become a part of the whole system. You touch base with these coaches on a weekly basis. They appreciate that,” he said.
When asked if one story about a game or an athlete stands out from all the rest he has written about, Barhorst didn’t hesitate.
“The Jackson Center 1985 boys basketball team that won (the) state (championship),” he said. “Mike Wick was a stringer photographer. We drove over to the game. It came down to the last shot — like what you do in your driveway: pretend it’s the end of the big game and go for the shot. A kid came off the bench, Jeff Teeters, and hit the basket. (Later) Mike said, ‘I got a shot, but I don’t know if it’s that shot.’ We checked the stat sheet and it was. They still have that (newspaper) in the trophy case at Jackson Center.”
The writer sounded more proud of Teeters and Wick than of his story. And he still gets excited when great athletes surface in local schools.
“Or the Sidney Legion’s teams’ going to state is exciting. We’ve had a lot of teams go to state,” he said.
He recalled Friday nights when, after the games, the sportswriters and editors would “hang out” in the newsroom.
“We had a lot of fun,” he said. Among the Friday night group was longtime Daily News Editor Jeff Billiel.
“I learned a lot from him,” Barhorst said. “I owe him a lot. And Natalie (Buzzard, the current Daily News general manager) has been fantastic.”
His former publisher however, noted that the sports editor isn’t perfect. Amos, a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan, said, “He does have one downfall: he’s a Browns fan.”
Matt Zircher will take over as sports editor, Aug. 1. He first worked with Barhorst some 30 years ago, when the sports editor and Billiel established a writing program for high school students, who covered junior high games for the paper. Barhorst and Zircher have served sports journalism together, off and on, ever since.
Barhorst doesn’t have big plans for retirement.
He may go fishing, “if the river ever goes down. We don’t like to travel. We’ll go to Columbus,” he laughed. That would be to visit his grandchildren. He and Connie are the parents of son and daughter-in-law Brad and Jana Barhorst, of Anna, and daughters and sons-in-law, Katie and Travis Moriarty and Kendra and Bo Comer, all of Hilliard. They have six grandchildren, Lindsey Barhorst, 17, Ally Barhorst, 15, Casey Jo Moriarty, 15, Ryan Moriarty, 13, Lucas Comer, 7, and Lily Comer, 1.
