Sports this 'n' that

It appears that, for one week at least, The Record was able to actually interview Troy High football coach Bob Burns and star players Joe Casale & Joey Ward after Troy decimated Shenendehowa on Friday, 50-14. Maybe it was the choice of reporter that had something to do with it, as Stan Hudy (& the Blowfish) was assigned the game, rather than Sam Blum, whose attempt at old school muckraking journalism back in March got him in hot water with THS administration. Maybe the icebreaker came a week earlier, after women's soccer coach Justin Haviland, a biology teacher, was named a Master Teacher by Governor Cuomo, and was subsequently interviewed by the hometown paper. In any event, it's great to see that wiser, cooler heads have finally prevailed.
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ESPN radio/televison trouble magnet Stephen A. Smith is at it again.

Smith, on his radio show, got on Cleveland Cavaliers star J. R. Smith about wearing a Nike-issued hoodie, which passes for a NBA warmup jacket these days, on the bench during a recent game. J. R. Smith took to Twitter to rip into the Cosell-wannabe. My message to "Screamin' A", who gets a Dunce Cap for his blatant on-air stupidity, is just be a journalist, not a wannabe member of the Fashion Police. In other words, shut up.
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Game 1 of the World Series may have been a bit of an anomaly, considering how slow the pace of play has been of late, despite Major League Baseball's attempts to speed up the game. Tuesday's opener was completed in just under 2 1/2 hours, but each of the last three games have gone 3 hours-plus. Well, game 2 couldn't be helped, as that went 11 innings before Houston won.

Game 1 starters Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) & Dallas Keuchel (Houston) are rematched tonight. Can we hope for an encore?
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Some things never change in college sports around these parts.

Union swept a home-&-home hockey series vs. RPI the last two nights, and have owned the Engineers on the ice in recent years. They'll meet again later this season for their annual visit to the Times-Union Center, but only one of these teams will likely still be playing come March. Care to guess which one? The schools' football teams will meet in a couple of weeks in the annual battle for the Dutchmen's Shoes at Union's Frank Bailey Field, and both are doing very well this season. Hmmmm.

After playing at UAlbany's SEFCU Arena last year, Siena will welcome the Great Danes back to the T-U Center next month for their annual basketball game. There's been some griping in recent years since the game almost always is played at T-U Center, mostly because the venue is much bigger, but with the new Capitol Center just up the hill, maybe the Danes could rent that for a home game next year?
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This is just too good to resist:



On Senior night in Atlee, Virginia, Sepp Shirey, who is playing despite Cerebral Palsy, was playing his last varsity game in front of the home fans. Varina High had a big lead, so they could afford a little charity, and helped escort Shirey to the end zone, cheering him on.

Proof positive that anyone can triumph over adversity.