The Joshua Yoder Blog

 This past weekend was quite a fun ride for me and my twin as we got to witness the return to Lewistown, our older brother Cody who was visiting from New York. Codeman made his way to home safely on Thursday, which I wish I knew that before me and Chad had left our local Wal-Mart because we could have gotten some Nardones Pizza. Maybe next time lol. Again, I was just so thankful that he got here safely, when we returned home, I was happy to finally see him. Gave Codeman a big ole hug! It isn't really too often that I get to hear from him, let alone see him in person, of course being a father of two children now, Love you Lukey, Love you Ava, I can not blame him. By nightfall, we all just got to chill around the living room watching some football. Before we all headed for bed, Codeman suggested about all three of the Yoder brothers spend some time again with each other all day Friday. And hung out we did, Cody had asked us if we wanted to hitch a ride with him in his Bronco and head...

 For those who know me it will be no surprise that I love to talk about B Movies as well as TV movies and last night, I found an old TV film that was released in 1997 called Assault on Devil's Island starring the late Hulk Hogan, Carl Weathers and Shannon Tweed. This movies also featured veteran actors like Martin Kove of Karate Kid fame, Billy Drago (RIP), Trevor Goddard (RIP) and Billy Banks. The story follows Navy Seals portrayed by Hogan and Weathers who after, being betrayed by one of their own. Soon join forces with Tweed who plays as an DEA agent and together, they attempt a rescue mission to free an American Gymnastics All Star team who have been taken hostage to Devil's Island and it is up to them to rescue the hostages. The movie itself had a budget of 4 million dollars which is crazy to think seeing how big movie budgets are nowadays. And also, like mentioned earlier, this film came out in 1997 on TNT. Which is also insane to me because this was during the height of ...

 It is crazy to think that this underrated faction is 30 years old, but nonetheless, the Triple Threat was one of my personal favorite pro wrestling groups of all time. As mentioned earlier, the Triple Threat was formed in 1995 with the original incarnation featuring "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit in Extreme Championship Wrestling. I must saying, although I never saw this version during its original run, getting to see them on the WWE Network and YouTube really was fun to watch. What I like about the trio of Benoit, Malenko and Douglas was how each of them were such great technical wrestlers (which is the kind of wrestling I prefer) and how they could make anyone that they wrestled against look amazing. Sadly, this trio did not last for very long which is unfortunate. I am a bit curious to see how far the original incarnation of the Triple Threat would have worked if it had at least a year under their belts. But one can only ponder. Fast forward ...

 Yes! I'm so excited! For it is Halloween night. A night of scares, costumes and most of all, trick or treating to bring me candy that gives me so much delight. So many different kinds of candy there is no end in sight. It is nearly impossible to resist try as I might. Brings me back to a lot of old memories of when I was a child. So much joy from dressing up in costumes, being around loved ones, letting our little imaginations run wild. When it was over I checked my bag and found chocolate and caramel. And as far as I can tell, there were no more doors to go up to and ring that bell. I will always remember and be grateful of those times of innocence. But it sure was fun to look back and reminisce. Until Next Time! Happy Halloween! God Bless and Be Safe Everybody! 🙏🙏🙏

 With Halloween closing in on us like a good horror monster, I thought I write about one of my favorite shows of my childhood called Are You Afraid Of The Dark. Are You Afraid Of The Dark was an horror anthology series that was created by the dynamic duo of DJ MacHale and Ned Kandel and was aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996 before being revived in 1999 to 2000 and lastly from 2019 to 2022. Despite the different series, it still centered around the group of teenagers called the Midnight Society. Each episode features the group  as they settle around a campfire during the night at a secret location where one member of the Midnight Society would tell a scary story. However, rather than just telling story, it was displayed for the viewers at home. Each storyteller would begin their tale by saying "Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story (Story Name). They would then took into the fire some "Midnight Dust" which I recently learned that it wa...

 Yesterday, myself and my twin brother Chad went down to little ole McVeytown for the annual Halloween parade. It is always fun to see the parade because it is always amazing to see people from a small town come together to create such a fun event.  Of course, things didn't start off so good for me and my twin as we were go our way down the Mattawana hill but were halted by the train. Normally, it wouldn't take too long of a wait for us, unfortunately though we ended up waiting for an hour lol. I honestly thought we were going to miss our chance to see the parade, but thankfully I got the time wrong and we managed to find a place to park and we were back in business lol. We got to see some of our friends, some of which were going to be a part of the parade itself. Which to be honest, it is crazy to see them with children of their own. It is just another reminder that time flies and that we should appreciate the time we have. Seeing the excitement and people going after the can...

 Well, this past weekend was quite an exciting time for me and twin brother Chad as we once again set sail and went over to the Heritage Fire Company in Lewistown, Pa to visit our friends from the HWF as they hosted their Heritage Harvest show Saturday evening. Tonight was especially exciting because this show was going to feature one of the greatest tag teams in pro wrestling today, the Machine Gun Karl Anderson and the Big LG Doc Gallows, better known as the Good Brothers. Man, have I been waiting for this moment for sometime now, when my buddy Matt Silks told me that the Good Brothers were going to booked on the show a few months back, I had this day circled in my mind and just couldn't wait to cover this event for Hometown Sports. I must admit though, I was extremely nervous to meet both Anderson and Gallows. I was a fan of both of them before Bullet Club even happened in the crazy world of professional wrestling. I remember seeing Karl Anderson when he was a solo act in New Ja...

With Halloween closing in on us, I thought it be cool to look back into my childhood and remember one of my fondest moments during the Halloween season and that was getting to make Creepy Crawlers.  Creepy Crawlers, also known as Thingmaker was created by a company called Mattel back in 1964. What I found interesting about it, was the simple that it originally used a series of die-cast metal molds resembling bug-like creatures which is then heated in an open-face electric oven heating the mold to about 390 degrees helping shape the mold into the creature. To be honest, this completely surprised me when I read that. For about ten years, this was how people made creepy crawlers. That was until it was discontinued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission because it used heat. Several years later, a company named ToyMax revived Creepy Crawlers with a much safer version in the early 90s. This is the one I remember using the most as a kid. I loved being able to create spooky bugs along ...

 You know a movie is good when it still looks just as good as it did when it first came out and Jaws certainly has lived up to the standard it set 50 years ago. Sorry if I made anyone feel old lol. One of the things that I learned about during my research for this blog was the simple fact that this movie was based on a book that was written by Peter Benchley (RIP) a year earlier. In fact, Benchley admitted that he regretted writing it because he believed that it caused fear and fake rumors about sharks, so he became an advocate for marine conservation.  The film stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shank), go on a hunt for a human eating great white shark that has been eating beachgoers at a New England summer resort. Jaws was the first major motion picture to be filmed on the ocean and it constantly had issues throughout it's production from going over budget and sc...

 One of the most underrated series ever in my humble opinion and it was called Medabots. Now, when I first saw Medabots, it was an anime series that aired on the Fox Kids block in the early 2000s. It was a part of the whole anime craze for me as a kid which included other awesome stuff like Pokemon and Digimon. What I didn't know until recently, was that Medabots originally started as a video game series in November of 1997. Fun fact, it was not even called Medabots when it started, it was actually called Medarot in Japan where it was originally from. The series was originally created by Rin Horuma and has since been owned by a Japanese company called Imagineer. The very first video game that was created was Medarot in 1997 and it was played on the Nintendo Game Boy with the latest game being five years ago in Medabots Classic Plus which was only released in Japan. The plot usually involves around living in the future where many different types of Medabots along with their partners...

 This month marks the debut of the very first game of one of my favorite gaming franchises and it was called Command and Conquer. 30 years ago is incredible game make its way to the MAC, PC, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and the original Playstation. The game was created and published by Westwood Studios who sadly are no longer in business (RIP). The game is set in an alternate history and tells the story about a war between two rival factions. The first faction is the United Nations funded GDI (Global Defense Initiative) and the other is a revolutionary militant organization called the Brotherhood of Nod led by a mysterious figure only known as Kane. Both factions use what is called a Mobile Construction Vehicle which are used to help gather resources to help develop their respective bases as well as produce troops and armor. The only way to win each level is to either destroy or capture the enemy base. The setting of the game again follows an alternate history where in 1995, a meteor ...

 With the remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater recently hitting the store shelves, I thought it be cool to go back and look at the history of the Metal Gear franchise itself. And WOW! It never really donned on me how old this franchise is until I started doing my research for this blog. But the Metal Gear franchise has been around for nearly forty years now 🤯. And it has set the standard for all stealth video games that came after it. Metal Gear was created by Hideo Kojima and was published by Konami with the first game being released back in 1987 on the NES. The story follows a soldier named Solid Snake who is a part of an elite military group called FOXHOUND. Snake is on a mission to sneak inside the headquarters of a group called Outer Heaven and destroy a walking tank that can fire nuclear missions from anywhere in the world, AKA the Metal Gear. Along with bring stealth games into the forefront, the Metal Gear franchise can also be credited for setting the foundations for...

 Although, it has become common knowledge, by many of us who live in Mifflin County. But former Huskies' great Trent Hidlay pulled off an incredible comeback and became the 2025 World Wrestling Champion in Croatia at 92 kg. After being down 10-2, Hidlay powered his way back to defeat Amanula Gadzhimagomedov 13-10 to win the World's Gold Medal. This is such an inspirational story that needs to be told because stuff like this does not happen very often, especially in a small community like Mifflin County.  To me, the story of Trent is all about never giving up and continuing to push forward as well as hard work and dedication. What this young man has done is truly remarkable. I have been covering local sports for over ten years now and seeing where Trent has started to where he is now really puts a smile on my face. I mean this kid has won two State championships when he was in High School before moving on to Division 1 college wrestling at NC State. While there, Trent was a fou...

 Sorry about this everyone, I was having trouble putting all of the photos in my previous blog post. So I decided to dedicate this blog post to some of the other photos from the Rothrock Fair. Hope and Pray you all a great time!

 This past weekend was the annual festival we have here in little ole McVeytown. It is called the Rothrock Fair which is a three day event that features fun events, music and some delicious food 😋. Despite living in a small town, we all try our best to help build up our little community with special events such as the Rothrock Fair. Unfortunately, I did not get to go on Thursday, but my twin brother Chad and I got to go down on Friday and had ourselves a good time. Although it was hot and humid and issues with my twin's camera, we still went out there and had fun. As we arrived, we bumped into so many people that we know like the Sunderlands, Lindsay Diven, Kody and Sierra Hassinger, the Feathers and so many more which is really cool to see a bunch of people there. One of the first stops for me and Chad was checking out the McVeytown Eagles Chicken BBQ meal that included colesaw, rolls, baked beans and a drink. This dinner was being used to help create funds for the youth football...

 After hearing about it for many months, I finally decided to go check out the brand new stadium for the Mifflin County Huskies.  I really didn't know what to expect to be honest with all of you, but nonetheless, I was very excited to be going to see it. And I had the perfect excuse to go, the Mifflin County boys soccer team was competing at the stadium that night so I wanted to cover it for Hometown Sports. Selfishly, I also wanted to see one of the most influential people in my life, and that is the current Head Coach of the boys soccer program, Mr. Yoder. Coach Yoder was one of my coaches as well as one of my teachers during my time in Lewistown Area High School (Now Mifflin County) and he certainly saved me through a ton of dark moments in my life and I was so happy to see him become the Head Coach for the soccer team. Walking through the entrance way and getting to see the stadium in person, my first impressions of it was WOW. I worked my way onto the field which is the s...

 You know over 60 years ago, this incredible sit-com came into the world and has been entertaining us ever since. The Addams family is an gothic sit-com which was based on the comic strips that were created by Charles Addams in 1938. The premise of the show follows the Addams family who are a tight knit group who are into macabre interest and supernatural abilities. Although, to be fair the show never really did explain their supernatural gifts.  The Addams Family Casting List: John Astin as Gomez Addams Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester Ted Cassidy as Lurch (Addams Family Butler) Blossom Rock as Grandmama Addams Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams  Ken Weatherwax as Pugsley Addams And of course, we can not forget about Thing, the disembodied hand that moves around the Addams Mansion. Oh man, I loved this show! One of the reasons why I loved the show was the comedy of it, the whole running gag throughout the series was how despite the unusual natu...

 I was down at good ole Mount Union High School the other day to cover some high school football for Hometown Sports magazine and something unexpected happened to me. I went into the stadium, found my way into the press box before getting me something to eat. I decided to get myself some cheese fries and when I got there I recognized someone that I use to cover has now graduated college and is now a teacher. Her name is Morgan Brumbaugh and I use to cover her playing softball for Mount Union. I have been writing my whole life whether it be writing my thoughts down on my journal, my poems, stories as well as my blog. But I have been covering sports for over ten years now and I am starting to see more and more student athletes that I use to cover now become adults with different careers whether it be a teacher, working in the medical field, military, playing at the college level through different divisions as well as different sports.  I have witness State champions, major upset...

 This past weekend marked the end of an era as Lee Corso picked his final selection when he picked Ohio State over Texas which turns out to be correct as Ohio State defeated the Texas Longhorns 14-7. And I got to be honest with you guys, it is going to be really weird not having him around anymore. Being a young fellow, I only really remember Corso as a sports analyst. But the more I looked into his career, he was once a Head Coach among the college ranks. After his playing career at Florida State, Corso joined the Seminoles as an assistant before moving on to Maryland.  After a few seasons with the Terrapins, he went over to the Navy Midshipmen for a couple of years before getting his first Head Coaching job with the Louisville Cardinals from 1969 to 1972. Corso then took over as the Head Coach of the Indiana Hoosiers and remained there for ten seasons and led the Hoosiers to two winning seasons. In one of those seasons included a Holiday Bowl win over the BYU Cougars by the ...

 Today's blog post is sad as one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history has tragically passed away. His name was Lee Roy Jordan and he was 84. Obviously, Jordan was a head of my time growing up watching the great game of football. But thanks to many of the older generation and history books as well as NFL films, I got to learn about him and what he had accomplished as a player. If there is one word that can best describe Jordan, it would be champion. Everywhere Jordan played, he was a winner. He was a part of the 1961 Alabama Crimson Tide squad that were not only SEC champions, but also National champions under legendary Head Coach Bear Bryant. In fact, coach Bryant had given him high praise throughout his time there at Alabama. Even going as far as saying that he was one of the finest players that he had ever coached and coming from someone like Bear Bryant, goes a long way in football. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. Lee Roy was then drafted by t...

 Today, if you would like to go out and enjoy some movies, then come on down to Mifflintown, Pa and celebrate the 75th anniversary to the Midway Drive-in. The event will begin at 3:30 p.m. and will go on till 2:30 a.m. Adults will have to pay 15 dollars while ages three to eleven will have tickets for 10 dollars and ages two and under get in for free. There will be several different activities including pony rides from 4 to 6 p.m., face painting, 1950 costume contest, a hula competition, there will be a DYI photo booth, a vintage car parade and live music starting from 4 to 7 by Jake & Friendz Trio. To finish off the evening, three movies will be showcased. One of those movies will be Dog Man. The next movie is the classic Grease and then finally, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I think that this is really cool idea. It is not too often it seems that many of us go out and enjoy watching movies like we have in years past, especially when we would go out with friends and family w...

 We are nearing the begin of a whole new season of College football and you know what that means, it means the return of Notre Dame Football. The Fighting Irish will look to build on their success from a season ago where they were able to make it all the way to the National Championship game only to fall to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Notre Dame is heading into year four of the Marcus Freeman era as the Head Coach of the Fighting Irish. The Irish will head into the season ranked sixth in the nation according to the AP Rankings which, if I am being perfectly honest, I am not quite sure how I feel about that.  Reason being is that there are plenty of new happening in South Bend in terms people joining. For starters, the Irish will be without Al Golden who has moved onto the NFL as the DC for the Bengals and was replaced by Chris Ash. Not only is there a new defense, a lot of experience from last year are now gone as well including such great players like Rylie Mills, Jack Kiser, Be...

 As I continue to push for some more positive thoughts in my mind, I thought about writing about my big brother Cody. Especially since today is his Birthday 🎉. It truly is amazing how time flies in this life, it only seems like yesterday we were just chilling out at home and playing some video games, whether it be Genesis, NES, PS1, Dreamcast, etc. But now he is now 39 years old, married to his college sweetheart, has a sweet little pup named Macy, a chip off the old block little son named Luke and soon to become a father for a second time. Not to mention he is an award winning video editor in a variety of different platforms whether it be for sports or awesome stuff on YouTube. My big bro has accomplished a lot in his life and I am extremely proud of him. If only he wasn't over five hours away, but then again, he probably prefers it that way lol 😁. To be fair though, I basically told him to go and live out his dream. I still remember that crazy night when he pulled me to the sid...