Sunday, September 30, 2018

Sports this 'n' that

As the Mets close out their 2018 season today with one last game vs. Miami, the team has already bade farewell to 3B David Wright, who was activated from the disabled list Tuesday, but was clearly being saved for the Miami series. Wright played his last game Saturday, and, understandably, was lifted early so that the team's radio & television announcers could interview him during the remainder of the contest, which the Mets won in 13 innings, 1-0. Waiting 2 1/2 years to get back on the field was certainly worth the wait, and it makes the team's decision to sign local product Todd Frazier away from the Yankees in the off-season a very good one.
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El Cheapo Media blew an opportunity two weeks ago, but when Troy High played Ballston Spa Friday night, a 27-14 win for the red-hot Flying Horses, El Cheapo finally deigned to send a reporter when they could've done that for the Collar City Cup game vs. LaSalle, too.

Still working under an embargo imposed by Troy schools superintendent John Carmello in 2017, reporter Stan Hudy took no chances, but his game report, which only saw things from the losing point of view, something we've seen in high school hockey coverage as well in recent times, needed help.

Troy's newest offensive weapon, Ari Holmes-Parsons, a transfer from Columbia, will play against his former team on Homecoming on Friday. I've never seen any of the administration at home games, be it basketball or football. Hmmm, I wonder why.......
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It feels like the Boston Red Sox are coasting into the post-season, and that could come back to haunt them. The BoSox have lost the first two games of their season-ending series vs. the Yankees by a combined 19-11 score, and so Boston needs to win today to have any momentum going into the playoffs. The Yanks, meanwhile, will be hosting a Wild Card game vs. Oakland on Wednesday, with the winner ticketed for Boston next weekend. It would help if they played the games at a faster pace, but apparently, they'd rather milk the drama for maximum effect, MLB edicts aside.
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More Troy High: The boys' soccer team is now 0-9-2 after dropping a 7-1 decision on Saturday to Saratoga. What's sickening about this one is that the only goal scored for Troy was an own goal by a Saratoga player. The Flying Horses have five games left, and continue their three game road trip at CBA on Tuesday. If I'm coach Mike Murnane, I pass on the sectionals this year. The women's tennis team is 0-11 after getting blanked by Burnt Hills on Thursday. The Lady Spartans also beat Troy in volleyball in straight sets. Troy coach Tara Valenti has seen her squad win just three matches this season, and this is coming after a 10 win campaign in 2016.

So what's the problem? There just isn't enough talent on the tennis, volleyball, soccer, golf, & track teams. The cross-country & golf teams are also winless. The school only promotes their football & basketball teams, when everyone else should be getting some attention, too.

To that point, LaSalle has three teams that make the cash registers ring, hockey being the third team, and that's largely due to renting Robert Conway Arena at neighboring Hudson Valley Community College, and I would suspect the same would hold true in baseball if the Cadets moved their home games to Bruno Stadium, which is more accessible to fans than Geer Field, where LaSalle currently plays most of their varsity home games, save for one game at the Joe for Coaches Against Cancer. The administration at LaSalle gets it. The public schools, such as Troy & Lansingburgh, should follow suit, but what would it take?
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Fox decided to be el scrimpo with their studio program for Thursday Night Football when it launched this week. Fox NFL Sunday anchor Curt Menefee, a former New York sports anchor, got the night off, and at halftime, you only had Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw, and the busiest man in the group, Michael Strahan, was anchoring the halftime coverage. He had to leave early, since he had a wake-up call for Good Morning, America the next day, leaving Long & Bradshaw for the post-game show. Where was Jimmy Johnson? Probably in Washington giving grooming tips to the President. Long's the most articulate of the bunch, which explains his endorsement deals in recent years for Chevrolet and Skechers. Bradshaw? I fear we'll see him doing some infomercial in the next 3-4 years.

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