Friday Night Lights are back!

St. Joseph-Ogden senior Coby Miller waves to parents and fans at the SJO Kickoff last Friday. Miller and the Spartans will host Monticello to start their campaign for a 2021 football playoff berth. Prior to the opening kick, a service remembering head coach Dick Duval, who passed away Thursday evening after a long battle with cancer, will be held. Also, during halftime, this year's SJO Hall of Fame Class will also be recognized at Dick Duval Field. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Guest Commentary: Give women a fighting chance

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

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Afghanistan has guns but they are in the hands of the wrong people.

Television news reports have confirmed the Taliban has our helicopters, our tanks, our trucks, along with billions of dollars of our American tax payer bought military weapons and more.

Afghanistan already had a strict gun policy. The Taliban’s is stricter. You aren’t allowed to own automatic weapons or handguns. Thus, while the Afghan citizens have struggled for defense weapons, the Taliban and other terrorists have had access to any and all they have wanted. The bad people have guns. The good people do not have guns. The bad people have taken over the country, murdering and raping as they do what they want to do without anyone interfering or fighting back.

We can only imagine the pain and heartache of the Afghan women. The previous Taliban rule enforced a strict fundamentalist style of Islam religion that confined women to their homes, banned television and music and held public executions. Women were relegated to a dress code that required a burka or similar clothing that covers the woman’s face. Women were treated as slaves and sex objects. Their every move was controlled by the Taliban’s interpretation of an oppressive Islam religion. The Taliban has not changed their ways. Why would you think they have? They continue to kill, plunder weapons and take over government buildings or whatever they want for their own use.

In a nation where guns are restricted the Afghan women have no way to protect themselves. They have no one to protect them.

The Taliban has the finest American tax payer bought weapons in the world. The everyday citizens of the country and the helpless women of the country aren’t allowed to own guns. This means they aren’t allowed to protect themselves. Attackers, rapists, evil men can come and go as they please assaulting the average citizen, the women and children and no one has access to guns to utilize for protection.

What if all the women in Afghanistan had access to automatic rifles? Our military should assign our guns to the citizens including all the women of Afghanistan. Their army won’t protect them, they have no one to protect them. Give the women of Afghanistan a fighting chance.

Can you imagine if America begins to restrict our guns? What happens if we aren’t allowed to have guns or it becomes so restrictive that people give up trying to own guns? We become as vulnerable as the Afghan people. We have zero ability to take care of ourselves.

It’s very troubling and America hasn’t made it any better. Equipping Terrorists with guns only breathes more years of life into their evil mission.

Give our guns to the desperate citizens of Afghanistan and make sure every woman and teenager has a gun. The young girls of Afghanistan do not want to be raped and married off to men to become part of a slave harem. They have a right to fight.

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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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Prep Sports Notebook: Spartan teams open season with victories

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SJO volleyball tops Trojans

There is nothing better than starting a new season with a victory. The St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team return to action this month with Kennedi Burnett leading the Spartans' offensive effort with 13 kills. Becca Steinbach tallied 32 assists, nine digs and a couple of blocks in the non-conference match on Monday. After dropping the first set 23-25, the Spartans roared back to take the next two, 25-20, 25-18 for the road win.

Addie Roesch served up three aces while senior Hannah Fox led the team's defensive effort with 16 digs. Junior Shayne Immke contributed another nine kills and six digs.

The Spartans, who will host their first home match of the season on August 31, will play their next three contests on the road starting with Georgetown-Ridge Farm on Wednesday followed by another Vermilion Valley foe, Bismarck-Henning, 24 hours later on Thursday. SJO's road campaign ends on Monday after a trip to Decatur for a showdown with St. Teresa.

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Soccer avenges last season loss

Will Page settles the ball while playing in last Friday's Spartan Kickoff against teammates. Page scored one of two goals against the Comets on Monday.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Back in March, the Oakwood-Catlin soccer coop crushed the SJO soccer team on their home turf, 6-2. On Monday, the Spartans invaded the Comets' home field, scoring a goal in each half for a 2-1 season-opening win.

Aiden Cromwell notched the program's first goal of the season in the first half to put St. Joseph-Ogden up 1-0. Senior Brennan Haake was credited with the assist on the play. Later, in the second half, junior Will Page nailed a penalty kick to give SJO a 2-0 lead before an Oakwood-Catlin kick from Saul Carillo found net.

Starting keeper Hunter Ketchum fended off 15 attacks on his goal.

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Coaches, please send us your game scores

The 2021 fall athletic season is here and we want to make sure all Sentinel high school coaches know where to send box scores and other sports information this year. The Sentinel needs your game scores and stat leaders after each game. Our goal is to keep fans, college recruiters and area readers well-informed.

The Sentinel is looking forward to the days, hopefully soon, when we will have enough business advertising with us to help expand our coverage to more teams at each school as well as outstanding individual athletes and their accomplishments. Until then, we'll do what we can with the limited resources at our disposal. We really rely on coaches, managers, ADs, parents and even players emailing or calling us to let us know the stories, final scores and interesting features we are missing. If you don't see it on The Sentinel, it is probably because no one took the time to tell us about it.

If the team you would like us to cover has a team website, Facebook page or Twitter feed, do us a favor and email the link to us. If your team is posting scores, stats, and achievements it will give us a place to check. Send us a link so we can bookmark it. Let us know who is getting what honors from All-League and All-Conference, who is going to sign their NLI, and so on. The best way to send box scores and other info is via email to sports@oursentinel.com or editor@oursentinel.com. Do you have a player on the verge of breaking a school record, got a story idea or hot news tip? Don't hesitate to send an email to either address.

The Sentinel looks forward to covering your 2021-2022 season.

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