Sports this 'n' that

The Tri-City Valleycats maintain a 2 game lead in the NY-Penn League's Stedler Division after beating State College, 2-0, on Saturday night in Happy Valley. In case you don't follow sports too closely, State College is the home of Penn State University, and is nicknamed Happy Valley.

The downside is that the Spikes, affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, don't visit Troy this year, and neither do the Williamsport Crosscutters (Philadelphia affiliate), which won 2 of 3 from the 'Cats earlier this week. The bizarre quirks in the NY-P schedule are just mind-boggling.
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Speaking of the Cardinals, they dismissed manager Mike Metheny Saturday after a loss to Cincinnati. St. Louis is barely above .500, in 3rd place in the National League Central behind the Cubs and Brewers, but haven't made the playoffs in a couple of years. Hitting coaches John Mabry, like Metheny a former player for St. Louis, and Bill Mueller, were also cut. Bench coach Mike Shildt (Who, you ask? Exactly!) was named interim manager, but immediate speculation has Joe Girardi leaving his TV gig and taking over next year. Speculation also centers on Miami bench coach Tim Wallach.
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Call it karmic justice, tennis style.

After President Trump dissed German counterpart Angela Merkel the other day, Germany's Angelique Kerber captured the Wimbledon ladies' singles title, defeating Serena Williams on Saturday. The more the President tries to treat the rest of the world like it's one gigantic corporation, of which he sees himself as the CEO, the more likely it is we'll see more results like this.

On the other hand, I'd rather that Trump dumped the Ugly American act, pulled out his Bible, and started governing this country as a good Christian president should. Problem is, while former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, to name two, were open about their faith, their decisions often left them open to ridicule and scorn, and Trump has been ridiculed ever since he took office. Now, if Ms. Kerber could duplicate her success in New York during the U. S. Open in late August-early September, we might have something......
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The Albany Empire are a win away from reaching the Arena Bowl in their very first season, duplicating the Las Vegas Golden Knights' run to the Stanley Cup finals last month. The Empire needed overtime to beat Washington, 57-56, on the road Saturday night. The scene shifts to Times-Union Center next Saturday, but be warned. Should Washington finally win one over Albany by two points or better, the last place Valor would advance, and this is because it's about total points in the two-game playoff. The Valor, counting last night, are 0-5 vs. Albany this year. It would be totally embarrassing if Washington does advance.....
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The Albany Dutchmen may be in 3rd place in the Eastern Division of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, but they're just 1 1/2 games behind first place Amsterdam, whom they beat, 8-0, on Saturday night. Albany has played three fewer games than Amsterdam, and four fewer than second place Saugerties. It's going to be interesting in the final weeks.
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Come Friday, horse racing fans will descend upon Saratoga for the start of the thoroughbred season, which runs until September 3. City and track officials are hoping Triple Crown champ Justify can make at least an appearance, but it doesn't look like Justify will race at all this summer after suffering an ankle injury recently. Trainer Bob Baffert brought the previous Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, to Saratoga three years ago, only to see him lose.
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El Cheapo Media has brought back Sound Off!, but only in the sports sections of The Record & The Saratogian. This time, though, they'll take comments not only over the phone, but on their Facebook page. The topic du jour today is the ongoing debate over player "protests" during the national anthem. Most folks who submitted comments put on their patriotic best, with at least one dissenting voice reminding that the kneeling during the anthem was originally about protesting police brutality toward African-Americans in particular.
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Monday's baseball Home Run Derby is slanted toward the National League, with only Alex Bregman of the World Series champion Houston Astros representing the American League. Defending champion Aaron Judge of the Yankees chose not to compete this year, and the same for teammate Giancarlo Stanton, who won for Miami in 2016. Whatever happened to evening things out? Should be four from each league in the eight man tournament.

The real drama for the television audience is whether or not ESPN will bring Chris Berman out of hibernation for the event......