The World Series is now set, and it should be a fun ride.
The Kansas City Royals punched their ticket for a return to the Fall Classic Friday night, defeating Toronto, 4-3, to win the ALCS in six games, despite 2 homers from Jose Bautista. The teams had to endure a 30-45 minute rain delay in the 8th inning before finishing.
Up next for the Royals are the Mets, with the Series starting Tuesday in Kansas City. In terms of pitching, the Mets' Young Guns, hot as they are, match up well with Kansas City, who haven't named their Game 1 starter as of press time. The bullpens are about even, as the Royals' Kelvin Herrera has proven to be, well, mortal this postseason. Of course, the Mets are milking the excitement, with some of the players appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Friday, as Kimmel wrapped a week of shows in Brooklyn.
Final pick coming on Monday.
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New York's Section II began football playoff action Friday night. Troy High, the Class A Southeast Division champs, had to grind out a 14-6 verdict over Green Tech, extending the Eagles' losing streak to 4 games after a 4-0 start. Troy goes to 8-0, and awaits the winner of today's game between Mohonasen and Queensbury. Queensbury is one of the few schools that doesn't have lights, hence their home games being on Saturdays, and this is their home finale, as a win sends them back to Troy, where they lost on Opening Night last month.
Back to Troy. Green Tech took the opening kickoff and marched down the field before Azir Turner took it in from 5 yards. The 2-point conversion failed, and the Eagles led, 6-0. However, Troy came right back to tie the game as John Germinerio threw a TD pass to Tavon Moore. Point after failed, and it was 6-6 at halftime.
Damani Soares has been one of the offensive stars for Troy this season, but on this night, he also contributed on defense with an end zone interception to stop a Green Tech drive in the 3rd quarter. Troy, in all, recorded 4 interceptions, as Joe Casale's pick in the 4th quarter, his 2nd of the night, iced the game. On the other hand, the Flying Horses also committed 4 turnovers, as Germinerio had two picks, and Soares & Nick Pastore each lost a fumble. Soares found the end zone in the 3rd, after having an earlier TD called back on a penalty, and Troy hung on.
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A former Troy star provided some inspiration. Iowa senior Jordan Canzeri returned home for the game, with the Hawkeyes enjoying a bye week. Canzeri was named an honorary captain, and likely gave the current club a pep talk at halftime after a sloppy first half.
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Meanwhile, Troy's soccer teams are also in the postseason.
The women's soccer team, in their maiden season in the Suburban Council, finished 3rd in the Grey division with a 5-11 overall record, but the boys were even worse. Unfortunately, not all game results were submitted to the local papers, and so one wondered about 4 boys games which weren't reported, which left the boys otherwise winless. They still won their first round game Wednesday night, upsetting Catholic Central, while the girls blew away Amsterdam, 8-0, with 7 goals in the 2nd half. The teams are on the road today, with the guys in Burnt Hills, and the girls in South Glens Falls. I have to believe the golf, tennis, & volleyball teams were even worse, not qualifying for post-season play.
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And as the fall seasons in high school are winding down, hockey season is underway. RPI started their season a couple of weeks ago, and the AHL's Albany Devils have their home opener today. Part of the reason I don't go to hockey games much is the ticket prices. $18 for a minor league hockey game's a bit steep, but then, everything at Times Union Center is overpriced, as Dinosaur Bar-B-Que's about to find out. The Troy eatery has opened a concession stand at the TUC, just in time for the Devils' games today & tomorrow. Like, who really wants to spend 3-6 dollars for soda? This ain't Yankee Stadium, you know.
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Former major league ballplayer Tino Martinez was the main attraction at a health fair at Colonie Center last week, though two locally-based Ring of Honor stars, Bobby Fish & Dalton Castle, were also on hand. The line for autographs, mostly for Martinez, was ginormous. The grapplers were long gone by the time I came out of the multiplex after seeing (and later reviewing) "Goosebumps". The line was so long, you could've whipped out your cellphone and ordered dinner to go, and it'd be delivered to you while you're still in line!
Just wait. Should the Mets win the World Series, and any of their stars come upstate, they still won't get the same kind of attention, due to upstate being more split between the Yanks & Red Sox. Rodney Dangerfield would understand.
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