As YSU prepares for Southern Illinois on a bye week, I thought it would be appropriate to do a story on a local player.  As it turned out, I got one of my best interviews.  Marc Kanetsky graduated from Hubbard High School with honors of every kind.  There were the athletic honors of breaking records for his passing (5,042 yards and 47 TD’s), being nominated for Trumbull County Athlete of The Year, breaking basketball records in season and career categories for assists, and getting All-Ohio recognition for football twice.  More impressively to me was a 4.0 GPA, being named valedictorian of his class and continuing his academic excellence at YSU.  I recently interviewed Kanetsky and took a liking to his glib persona.  Hubbard deserves praise for producing a prototypical student-athlete.

Paneech:  Besides YSU, who recruited you out of Hubbard?

Kanetsky: I had alot of Ivy League and Patriot League schools like Holy Cross and Colgate because of my grades.  Being undersized hurt with the bigger schools, but I found a good spot here and received a full academic scholarship. 

Paneech:  Being the local guy, do teammates pressure you into being their tour guide?

Kanetsky: Not really.  Most of the older guys know their way around.  Some of the younger freshmen guys I take around when they first get here, but besides that, they usually find their way around and find the party spots before I can let them know where to go.

Paneech: You have carried a 4.0 grade point average for awhile, have you decided on a major yet?

Kanetsky: I am a Biology major and I am thinking about Dentistry after Biology.  One of my brothers graduated from Dental School at Ohio State, and the other one is about to.  I’m leaning towards that, but I still have a couple of years to see what happens with the economy.

Paneech:  If you were in charge of recruiting a student-athlete to play football, how would you convince him that the YSU academics are second to none?

Kanetsky:  I am part of the honors program here.  We have a 99% placement rate into your professional school after you graduate from here.  It’s kind of self-explanatory, if you want to get into school when you are done with the undergrad program here, it will happen.  Get in the honors program, keep your grades straight and work hard.  Get involved with other stuff, that always helps out on a resume.

Paneech:  How hard is it for you to be ready at all times to go into a game if called upon?

Kanetsky: It’s kind of tricky because you always have to be ready.  You sit on the sidelines the whole game and it could be any play.  All week, I sit in the film room to be just as prepared as Brandon [Summers], and I spend equal time going over stuff with the coaches.  Come Saturday, you could get in for an entire half, you could get in on the second play of the game, or you could end up just sitting.  I could just be used to hold on four PAT’s and that will be it.  It’s tough not getting to play, especially coming out of high school where you are the stud athlete, and that is what are used to.  You always have to be prepared, but as far as getting the job, you just have to wait your turn.

Paneech: Did you prosper at Hubbard more under Coach Bayuk or Coach Hoffman ?

Kanetsky:  (laughs) I would say I prospered equally under the two great coaches.  My Sophomore and Junior year (under Bayuk), we had a line that was just unreal.  When those lineman graduated, we only had a couple of experienced guys back so we weren’t able to power it down a team’s throat but rather had to rely on speed.  We definitely threw the ball around more under Hoffman.  Under Bayuk, we were just a well-oiled machine because we could run the ball whenever we wanted to and set up play-action passing which is easy when there are eight guys in the box and only three defenders in coverage.

Paneech:  You played baseball and basketball while at Hubbard.  Do you ever get the urge to go Bo Jackson here?

Kanetsky: No (laughs).  I would have liked to play basketball but I’m too small and I can’t jump.  I’ve got good vision and I play good rec ball.  No aspirations of collegiate ball.  If I wanted to do that I would have played Division-III somewhere where I could have played both.  I still miss basketball, but football is the way to go.

Paneech: How has your experience at YSU changed you as a person so far?

Kanetsky: It has opened me up to different lifestyles.  You get guys coming here from California that have never seen snow.  There are guys from Florida, a guy from Africa here.  All kinds of different guys that you wouldn’t talk to otherwise, and then you join the team and they are your friends that you hang out with on the weekends or going and eating with them after practice.  It’s a great experience, you end up friends with guys you could never see yourself hanging out with in a million years.

Paneech: Walk me through a typical Wednesday during the season.

Kanetsky: I wake up around 7:30, take a shower, and get ready for class.  I go to Spanish class at 8 o’clock for two hours.  Then I go to my American Government class at 10.  Then Organic Chemistry kills me at 11.  I run over here [Stambaugh Stadium] to lift at noon.  I get done lifting at about 12:45 and I run and get something to eat.  I get back here at 1:30 and try to watch a bit of practice film from the day before and then we have meetings at 2:12 followed by practice.  Then whatever after practice, alot of interviews (laughs). 

Paneech:  Do people besides family from Hubbard come to the games to support you?

Kanetsky: I’d like to think so.  I know alot of my friends starting coming when I got moved to number two on the depth chart against Southern Illinois.  I know there alot of people who know my parents and followed me in high school.  I think if I ever get the chance or get in one week and do something positive that more people from Hubbard would come to the games. 

Paneech:  Tell me what it is like playing for Coach Heacock.

Kanetsky: He is a no-nonsense guy.  He’s a great motivator and a great football coach.  He goes out and gives everyone a chance and he doesn’t discriminate against anyone.  He preaches team, family, and faith which is everything you need. 

One Word Answers

Favorite Board Game:   Settlers of Catan.  (I never heard of this game which prompted Marc to laugh.  After researching,  it is a game where you are trying to be the dominant force on the Island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads.)

Best Chicken Wings In The Area:  The Lube.

Favorite TV Show:  Sportscenter.

Browns or Steelers:  Browns.

Who Wins The 2009 World Series:  The Phillies.

Favorite Flavor of Handel’s Ice Cream:  Apple Dumpling.

Best Class Offered At YSU:  Athletic Participation Class where you just get an “A” for being on a team.

Word Friends Use To Describe You:  Quirky.

Best Album / CD Ever Made:  Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell.

Favorite Fruit:  Pineapple.

Rockband or Madden:  Madden, actually NCAA Football.

Nicest Thing Someone Has Ever Done For You:  My mother gave birth to me, that was a good deal.