Sports this 'n' that

I was reading the sports page of one of the local newspapers at lunch yesterday, and did a double take when I noticed that even though classes don't start for another week in high schools in New York, the season has already started for some schools' golf & volleyball programs.

SAY WHAT???

I know football practices, like their college & pro brethren, begin in the summer. For high schoolers, it's in August, keeping the kids away from Saratoga Race Course for a few hours. Like, you know they'd like to tag along with the parents just to get a look at the old Spa. Digressing. I also know school has started in other states, with New York one of the few to still start after Labor Day. But boys' golf? Girls' volleyball? In August? Boggles the mind! My alma mater, Troy High, isn't one of the schools that has gotten a head start. Yet.

Meanwhile, while the Tri-City Valleycats won their 3rd straight Stedler Division title, they actually backpedaled into the title, since they've had a run of bad luck lately. Right now, they're the #2 seed in the New York-Penn League, meaning they'd face #3 State College in the 1st round next week, while Hudson Valley would draw the wild card, be it Brooklyn or Connecticut. In today's Albany Times-Union, manager Ed Romero was quoted as saying he felt his team had suddenly started quitting on him. The problem, really, may be a team-wide malaise of complacency, with the division wrapped up. During Tuesday's loss to Vermont, Romero was seen pulling out his lineup card after Terrell Joyce fanned for the 3rd time, perhaps contemplating pulling Joyce. He didn't follow through, and Joyce grounded out in his last at-bat.

Now, I realize the 'Cats' offense has been depleted, as their top players have been promoted within the Astros' chain as the season has progressed. That means the players who are still in town need to turn up the intensity and drive in order to reach the championship round again, vying for a 2nd straight league title.

I didn't get to see her pitch, but you have to feel that, a week after her Philadelphia Little League team was eliminated in the Little League World Series, teenager Mo'Ne Davis should be relieved that the tournament, and the attendant media scrutiny, are over. Her future, by her own admission, lies in basketball. She wants to go to UConn and swap out her glove & bat for hoops after high school. However, should she make good on her goal, Mo'Ne will have to face the bright camera lights all over again. If the media can leave her alone for the next five years, she'll be fine.