Thursday, June 7, 2018

Sports this 'n' that

Hockey season could end as early as tonight, unless the upstart (Las) Vegas Golden Knights can find a third gear and bounce back, down 3-1 in games to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup finals. All Vegas netminder Marc-Andre Fleury needs do is flash the two rings he won with Pittsburgh to remind his teammates of the task at hand. They are home. They will have the 7th man, if you will, the home crowd, behind them. This will be appointment television the rest of the way if Vegas can recover.
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Exam week for local high schools officially begins next week, which means that spring sports season wraps up no later than Sunday. Eight Section 2 teams are still alive in baseball (3) & softball (5), while one of the the section's top lacrosse teams, Niskayuna, lost in a state semi-final at Adelphi University on Long Island Wednesday. There could be some state titles coming home by Saturday, and you know, I think we could have at least one, maybe two. We'll see.
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Meanwhile, UAlbany lacrosse star TD Ierian has been released from his scholarship commitment, though the option still exists for him to return to the Great Danes next season. He has a brother who is enrolling at Cornell as a freshman, and that would explain his decision to leave Albany. I respect the fact he wants to be close to his sibling and help him along.
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The Albany Twilight League, one of the oldest amateur leagues in the country, has already started its season, but all we ever see are box scores in the Albany Times-Union. With the Tri-City Valleycats and the Albany Dutchmen about to begin play in their respective leagues next week, the ATL doesn't get the press coverage it used to get back in the day. Yes, the standings are kept up-to-date, but I think all the games are played at ancient Bleecker Stadium, which is sorely in need of renovation. Just sayin'.
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ESPN knows the Yankees mean big ratings, and decided to move the Bombers' July 8 home game vs. Toronto into a Sunday night berth. However, right before that decision was made, the Yankees had agreed to a double-header at Baltimore, to make up for one of last weekend's rainouts, on July 9. The Yankees, though, took things a step too far, threatening to boycott ESPN if they didn't change their minds. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed, and the Yankees & Blue Jays will play a matinee on July 8 after all. Whomever's in charge of flex scheduling at ESPN should've considered those rainouts in Baltimore first.
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If he ever leaves the WWE and reality TV behind, Michael "The Miz" Mizanin has a future as a sports commentator.

Speaking as a fan of his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, Mizanin appeared today on ESPN's First Take, with the Cavs down 3-0 in games to Golden State and game 4 tomorrow night. Mizanin had the Cleveland homies behind him, and got into a heated debate with Stephen A. Smith, more so than with Max Kellerman......



For once, I would've been happy to see Miz talk the Cosell wanna-be under the table. Then again, just about anyone can take Screamin' A. to school........

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