While I never had a chance to meet Joey, it sounds like it would have been an honor to do so. While there are no words to express how terrible of a situation this is, I hope his friends and family find solace in the fact that their loved one touched the lives of so many. RIP westsider, may you now have the best seat for every sporting event.

Sad, sad news! Prayers sent.

So sorry to hear of his passing, will keep his family and friends in my prayers. The downside to BGP is that even though you may not have met someone, you come to think of other posters as friends and it hurts when we lose someone.

 

Well said 75.

 

RIP Westsider.

Always sad to lose someone in the BGP's family, hate to hear this.....

I had never met westsider, but I always thoroughly enjoyed his posts and really respected his opinions on all things baseball-related (overlooking the fact that he was a Cubs fan). As someone put it, the downside to BGP is that you lose a friend when a person you've never met passes away.

 

He became a BGP member in '01, several months before I joined in '02. Over the years, we had many discussions, mostly centered on baseball, and some more civil than others. He was a poster that I really grew to respect and I always looked forward to reading his thoughts. Westsider is one of the first people I think of when I think of BGP.

 

By all accounts, it sounds like westsider was a terrific person and leaves behind a few children. May he rest in peace and may his family find solace in the fact that he was loved & respected by so many.

Much too young. God bless his family.

This rocks me to my core, he was a very close friend and the biggest advocate of sports in Western Kentucky in my lifetime. I am going to miss him beyond words. Through Joey I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you in person from BGP. I have incredible memories of my times with Joey at the state football championships which we attended ever year together for many years and all the fun we would have when he would cover my Mayfield Cardinals. His passing happened unexpectedly and very quickly after a walk here in Mayfield with his girlfriend he had a massive heart attack. I am grateful he did not have to suffer but I am just crushed. Please pray for his family. His contributions to this site are enormous. For those who are wondering about his arrangements, Milner and Orr Funeral Home in Paducah will be handling the arrangements. I spoke to family last about 5 this morning and that is all that had been set as of then but I will posts details when I am notified.

While Joey passed away just as the weekend was complete, his weekend started with what he loved... covering football at the Kentucky / Illinois all star game this past Friday night.

 

Here is his last story...

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Unsung players, defense spark West Kentucky rout

 

 

by By Joey Fosko [email protected]

 

Jun 15, 2013

 

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The West Kentucky All-Stars turned in a dominating performance, some of the highlights coming from players that probably won’t be playing football on Saturdays for the next four seasons.

Marshall County linebacker Casey White, who had two pass deflections that ended up as interceptions (one of them was returned for a touchdown), earned defensive Most Valuable Player honors as West Kentucky thumped its counterparts from Southern Illinois 42-20 on Friday night at Saluki Stadium in the annual matchup of high school stars from both sides of the Ohio River.

White, who played in just three games for the Marshals last season because of various knee injuries, is forgoing a shot at college football to enter the pipefitters’ union, so he went out with a bang in his final game as a football player. White broke up a middle screen early in the second quarter, knocking the receiver out of the play with the ball appearing to deflect off his shoulder into the hands of Trigg County defensive tackle John McGee. McGee gladly made the 5-yard trot to the end zone for a score that extended the West Kentucky lead to 21-6.

“I didn’t even know if the ball hit me or not,” White said. “I was just putting the hit on the running back, and I looked up and heard everybody going crazy and my man in the end zone with the ball.”

White also tipped a pass that ended up as a pick for Murray linebacker Jaleel Lee, the second of the West Kentucky defense’s three interceptions. Through three quarters, West Kentucky had held the host squad to three first downs and 76 total yards while bolting to a 35-6 lead.

Some of the lead cast of characters on the defense were expected — Mayfield linebackers Jonathan Jackson and Dondre Jackson, among others, turned in fine performances. Then there was Lone Oak defensive end Zach Perry, who had a sack and a tackle loss in Southern Illinois’ second series before playing sparingly in the final three quarters because of an arm injury.

Perry has lost 25 pounds since the end of football season, slimming down from 240 to 215. Some of the weight was shed during basketball season, and Perry has gained some quickness out of the exchange. That led Lone Oak teammate Jason Smith, an offensive lineman heading to Eastern Kentucky, to remark that Perry “needs to play somewhere.”

“I’m not as strong as I was, but I feel a lot quicker,” said Perry, who long ago turned down some interest from small colleges with the intention of attending Murray State as a non-student-athlete. “I haven’t even looked into walking on or anything, but I’m kind of thinking about it now.”

The offensive MVP was Christian County tailback Kory Mosley, who had 113 yards on 15 carries and was one of six West Kentucky players to score a touchdown. Graves County’s Zach Katzman had 75 yards on eight carries and drew first blood with a 9-yard run midway through the first period.

And Calloway County quarterback Tyler Greer sparked the offense in the first half, setting up Katzman’s touchdown with a 26-yard scramble and connecting with Christian County’s Jeff Alexander on a 40-yard strike on the first play of the second quarter.

Greer had a walk-on offer from Murray State and was also considered a college prospect on the baseball diamond as one of the area’s best shortstops. But his immediate plans are to attend Kentucky.

 

W. Kentucky 42, S. Illinois 20

West Kentucky 7 14 14 7 — 42

Southern Illinois 6 0 0 14 — 20

SCORING

WK -- Zach Katzman 9 run (Alex Ward kick), 3:49, 1st.

SI -- Jake Cowan 1 run (run failed), 2:04, 1st.

WK -- Jeff Alexander 40 pass from Tyler Greer (Ward kick), 11:53, 2nd.

WK -- John McGee 5 interception return (Ward kick), 8:28, 2nd.

WK -- Kory Mosley 2 run (Ward kick), 8:19, 3rd.

WK -- Garrett Fann 17 pass from Ryan Knight (Watd kick), 5:14, 3rd.

SI -- Dylan Sheeks 1 run (run failed), 7:06, 4th.

WK -- Jonathan Jackson 1 run (Ward kick), 5:46, 4th.

SI -- Austin Butler 21 pass from Matthew Lewis (Butler pass from Lewis), 0:50, 4th.

TEAM STATISTICS

W. Kentucky — First downs: 16. Rushing attempts-yards: 44-253. Passing-yards: 10-20-1 120. Total yards: 373. Penalties-yards: 9-93. Fumbles-lost: 1-1.

S. Illinois — First downs: 9. Rushing attempts-yards: 23-69. Passing-yards: 19-33-3 185. Total yards: 254. Penalties-yards: 6-54. Fumbles-lost: 1-1.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing — W. Kentucky: Mosley 15-113, Katzman 8-75, J. Jackson 4-23, Greer 6-31, Weir 4-12. S. Illinois: Bradley 4-53, Baxter 4-23.

Passing — W. Kentucky: Greer 7-10-0 97, Knight 3-10-1 23. S. Illinois: Lewis 10-17-2 142, Sodsaikitch 4-11-1 15, Cowan 4-4-0 26.

Receiving — W. Kentucky: Brown 3-21, Alexander 2-48, Fann 2-24, Mosley 1-15, Brummitt 1-7, J. Jackson 1-5. S. Illinois: Sheels 2-43, Reno-Gibson 2-33, Restivo 2-9.

 

Call Joey Fosko, a Paducah Sun sports writer, at 270-575-8661.

 

Read more: The Paducah Sun - Unsung players defense spark West Kentucky rout

Through Joey I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you in person from BGP.

 

You introduced us in the middle of War Memorial's field about 7 years ago and for that I am grateful.

I am in shock. Haven't seen him in years, but he was impossible to miss on here. So sad.

Wow, RIP my friend. So sad to hear that. I always enjoyed his insight when talking about baseball.

I am truly saddened to learn this morning of Joey's passing. I met Joey through BGP many years ago. I have had the chance to hang out with him at sporting events, etc. over the years. He was always such a nice, whitty and all around good guy.

 

Joey, rest in peace! You will be missed my friend. Many prayers to your family and friends. :down::depressed:

Man, this sucks. Losing a fellow journalist is bad enough, especially someone who had so profound an impact in his coverage area.

 

What makes it harder is that he was such a great guy. I'll miss seeing him at the big events, and hate that I didn't have the time to visit with him when I passed through Paducah a couple weeks ago.

How sad. I didn't know him, but simply reading the facebook post his GF left taught me how much loved he was by many who knew him.

 

RIP Joey, prayers are with your family and may God welcome you to his kingdom with open arms.

Devastating loss for Region 1 sports. Joey covered all sports in this area. He was always willing to talk anything sports related.

 

He always spoke his mind even when others didn't agree when he wrote his articles. He was always fair with his writing. I have known Joey for a long time as he has covered my teams and he was always on top of things.

 

Crazy thing is that we know each other and talked numerous times through the year but I never knew he was on here. I thought he was but never knew for sure.