The Yankees postponed their Thursday matinee vs. Kansas City a full five hours before game time due to inclement weather. The Mets, who were also home, should've taken the hint.
Instead, the injury-cursed Mets dropped their 2nd straight to San Diego, as the team was determined to get the game in, such that Thursday's scheduled starter, Jacob deGrom, was held back to tonight at Pittsburgh because of the same threat of rain that forced the Yankees to postpone their game until September 25. The enigmatic Rafael Montero, who's never had the same kind of success with the big club that he's had in the minors, went just three innings due to a high pitch count (nearly 90 pitches, half of them in the first inning alone), giving up three runs and took the loss. The way announcers Gary Cohen & Ron Darling were discussing Montero, neither believes Montero will be long for the team once Seth Lugo and Steven Matz return from the DL. The Mets have gone 3-10 in their last 13 games, which doesn't bode well in the long term.
=======================================
They say half a loaf of bread is better than none at all.
They also say you don't let facts get in the way of a good story.
Unfortunately, those homilies don't apply to the financially challenged hometown paper.
Reading reporter Nick Topping's account of Wednesday's Albany Academy-Saratoga Central Catholic Class B title game in Thursday's Record, I could see that, due to deadlines, Topping didn't have time to conduct interviews with players & coaches on both teams. Topping only talked to SCC coach Alphonse "Phonsey" Lambert. Yes, that's right. The losing coach.
SAY WHAT?
I went online and re-read the account of Saturday's LaSalle-Niskayuna game. Again, only the losing team was profiled, not the winners.
That is not good journalism, especially not the way I was taught in high school nearly 40 years ago. Now, I get that Topping was rushing to get the story in, and despite the fact that readers have complained often over the last few years about the early deadlines getting in the way of timely reporting, the core principles of reporting the news have been cast aside. It wouldn't hurt to take a few extra minutes to get both sides of the story, and let the deadline go, thus allowing a more detailed account to appear a day later. Readers such as ye scribe have reminded the editors via Pulse of the People and/or Sound Off frequently that not everyone has internet access, but if this is the editors' idea of meeting us halfway, contrary to what the Partridge Family sang nearly 50 years ago, in this case, it's not better than no way.
========================================
Thursday's rain also affected the Class AA baseball title game, which was postponed to tomorrow afternoon, giving Shenendehowa and Niskayuna two extra days of rest. In all probability, Nisky's Nick Insognia, who twirled a 1-hitter vs. LaSalle, will be right back on the hill for the Silver Warriors.
And that leads me to one more rant.
New York's Section II Baseball Committee schedules the 5 sectional title games (AA-D) across a 3 day period, failing to recognize that the 4 pm (ET) games will be sparsely attended, as Albany Academy vs. SCC was on Wednesday, due to parents and alumni being at work, although some parents will take vacation days. It would make more sense, and minimalize the potential for rainouts, if they scheduled the games across a 5-day period, one game per night, to ensure everyone has a chance to come to the game after work and/or school. Section II's basketball committee has similar scheduling issues during sectional play at Hudson Valley Community College (where Bruno Stadium is located), although in that case, it's mostly not giving the paying customers enough time to leave when their team's game is finished before fans of the teams in the next game are filing in.
Now, last Saturday's Class AA double bill didn't exactly fill up Bruno Stadium the way it usually is during Valleycats games, but the nightcap was delayed 25 minutes to give LaSalle & Nisky more time to prepare while fans were in transition in and out of the stadium. That's exactly what they should be doing during the basketball tournament. I don't know who's on the committee, but I picture in my mind that they've probably been on the committee seemingly forever. Kind of like the Supreme Court, or the Seven Dwarves, take your pick. There's still room for change, guys.
==========================================
Finally, condolences to the family of Seattle Seahawks Hall of Fame DL Cortez Kennedy, who passed away earlier this week. A seemingly perennial Pro Bowl selection, Kennedy's only regret perhaps was retiring before the team won its first Super Bowl.
No comments:
Post a Comment