George Guido: Skyy Moore showing Chiefs his best

New Kensington native Skyy Moore quickly is becoming the hit of the Kansas City Chiefs training camp.

The second-round draft pick from Western Michigan and former quarterback at Shady Side Academy has been making his share of spectacular plays for the Chiefs at their St. Joseph, Mo., facility.

Among the most impressed is quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“He’s a tough player,” Mahomes told reporters covering the camp. “He’s thinking a lot because he’s a rookie getting thrown into the offense, and we’re not holding back at all. He can be a big part of our offense moving forward.”

Besides running receiver patterns, Moore is learning to return punts. He returned just three punts during his time at Western Michigan.

Moore, wearing number 24, told reporters Thursday that the return game has been a challenge, but he is getting more comfortable.

The Chiefs are hoping he can help replace the explosiveness of wideout Tyreek Hill, now playing for the Miami Dolphins.

Some of Moore’s training camp highlights are compiled on YouTube.

Coach Mom

There’s a unique situation taking place this season at Cheltenham High School, just north of Philadelphia.

Kion Wright, a linebacker considered one of Pennsylvania’s top players, is also a pass-rusher deluxe for the Panthers.

And his position coach is his mother, Star Wright, who played linebacker for a Philadelphia-based women’s league.

One would think there might not be a similar situation anywhere else in the country.

The most well-known athlete thus far to come out of Cheltenham is MLB great Reggie Jackson. The future “Mr. October” graduated from Cheltenham in 1964 and was recruited to play football for Arizona State and coach Frank Kush, who had considerable ties to New Kensington and Natrona Heights during his days with the Sun Devils.

After injuries, Jackson turned his focus toward baseball.

Keeping the ‘s’

While some WPIAL schools are grappling with what to do with Native American nicknames and mascots, a controversy has erupted in New Castle.

Is it “Red Hurricanes” or singular “Hurricane?”

As New Castle was in the process of replacing the artificial turf at Taggart Stadium, the original architectural drawings approved by the school board was to have New Castle printed in one end zone and Red Hurricanes in the other.

But school board president Gary Schooley issued a change order that leaves the “s” off Hurricanes, and that met with disapproval from a number of fans.

The school didn’t have a nickname in the early 1930s — many schools didn’t. There are two legends: One had a 1932 sports editor Charles “Bugs” Walther (did all sportswriters have nicknames then?) describing a red-jerseyed player “streaking down the field like a red hurricane.” Another had a radio announcer in 1933 describing an offensive drive as New Castle “moving down the field like a red hurricane,” according to the late PIAA historian Roger B. Saylor.

That was the nickname’s origin, and Schooley insists there should be no “s” at the end.

Other school board members and townsfolk are upset because the school board didn’t formally vote on the matter like other change orders.

A petition is circulating through the community to officially restore the “s.”

The school board meets at 6 p.m. Monday, and you can bet what the discussion will be.

At this point, Butler (Golden Tornado) is the only WPIAL school whose nickname isn’t pluralized.