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This One's Going Long..
Posted by pblackwell | 06/03/08
At the start of this entry, I apologize for its inevitable length. Then again, too much has happened in the last few days and it's going to take a while to try to explain it - and that's just the Stanley Cup tilt.
Man, what a Game 5. The Penguins had it and blew it, the Red Wings had the silver chalice ready to be presented and let it slip away (thank you Maxime Talbot), and after three grueling overtimes, Petr Sykora won it - just as he told NBC. I guess late nights will turn anyone into Joe Namath.
So now it's back to the Igloo for a Game 6 nobody counted on after Detroit went up 3-1. Either the Wings close this out and the marathon is nothing but a historical curiosity, or it goes to a Game 7 and the pressure on the men in red gets suffocating...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: hockey, high school, playoffs, baseball, election
Real, Genuine History
Posted by pblackwell | 06/04/08
We live in an age of hyperbole. Whenever something remotely out of the ordinary takes place, we blow it it up into ludicrous stratospheres.
Too often, we toss around phrases like "History will be made!" or "You are witnessing history!", when the occasion is neither significant nor historical. As a result, we might be sleeping when something truly remarkable takes place.
But there is no way to get around the fact that what took place on June 3, 2008 will resonate through the generations and will get talked about long after all of us are gone...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Obama, nomination, race, baseball, lacrosse, playoffs
Handing Out Titles
Posted by pblackwell | 06/05/08
We've reached the point of the year where there's equal parts joy and despair as Section III titles get decided in all the spring sports.
In Class C boys lacrosse, Skaneateles brought an end to a six-year championship drought by handling CBA 11-7. It all got decided when the Lakers put up six unanswered goals in a six-minute span late in the third quarter to break a 4-4 tie. Hat tricks by junior Oliver Moore (the hero of the LaFayette semifinal comeback) and Kelly Donigan helped push the Lakers to the top.
Carthage also earned its first title since 2002, ending Jamesville-DeWitt's reign as state champs with a 10-6 victory. The Comets totally dominated the first 18 minutes, rarely letting the Red Rams possess the ball and building a 5-0 lead before J-D got on the board...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: playoffs, lacrosse, baseball, softball, Red Wings
Of Cats and Celts
Posted by pblackwell | 06/06/08
All right, natives of Syracuse, who out there is awake? Who out there is asleep?
Likely, we'll be fluctuating between the two on this steamy Friday after an overnight that included some loud and potent storms. The cloud-to-ground lightning strikes numbered in the hundreds, a few thousand lost power, and some house fires were caused by it. I hope everyone is okay.
Feeling best this morning, though, must be West Genesee's boys lacrosse team, who has the Class A title for the seventh straight year after ripping Auburn 15-3 in Thursday night's championship game at Coyne Field.
Late in the second quarter, WG took over, going from 3-2 to 6-2 in a hurry, and it got more lopsided after the break...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: playoffs, lacrosse, track, Celtics
Big Brown's Big Bust
Posted by pblackwell | 06/07/08
In the two and a half minutes that it took Da'Tara to win wire-to-wire in the 140th Belmont Stakes, the legend of Big Brown, built by two ridiculously easy romps in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, wilted right before us.
Now the weather in the shadow of Gotham gave horses and humans alike a reason to wilt - 93 on the thermometer, they said. And maybe that injured hoof was a lot worse than Big Brown's charges will let on.
But the backlash, from the same folks that gave Big Brown the Triple Crown weeks ago, is bound to be strong. Rick Dutrow will feel it most, the loquacious trainer all but guaranteeing victory just as he did at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, only to get burned by the time the race reached the first turn...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Big Brown, Belmont, Jim McKay, playoffs
What Is..And What Might Have Been
Posted by pblackwell | 06/10/08
Mostly we'll discuss baseball in this blog entry - both the local teams pursuing state championships, and the Major League squads dealing with milestones and misadventures.
Just a quick word on the NBA, though. Yes, the Celtics dominated most of Game 2, but it didn't hurt that they got to camp out at the foul line. Leon Powe, in limited minutes, taking more free throws than Kobe Bryant? Just like Paul Pierce and his "agonizing" injury in Game 1, a certain amount of disbelief is attached. We'll see if the Lakers can turn it around at home.
Back here, the goals are a bit more modest - but three baseball teams in Section III are still in hot pursuit of state titles...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: NBA, baseball, state playoffs, Griffey, family
Column: A kinder, gentler Open?
Posted by pblackwell | 06/11/08
Ah, Southern California – not just a place, but a state of mind.
Relaxation, calm, refreshment, freedom from stress and worry, all are thoughts that come to mind when one considers SoCal – especially San Diego, a place where the sun shines at least 300 days out of 365 every year.
Not far from San Diego, hard by the Pacific Ocean in the town of La Jolla, sits Torrey Pines, a municipal golf facility with 36 holes that straddle a spectacular series of cliffs, offering views that rival Pebble Beach in terms of pure beauty...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: U.S. Open, Torrey Pines, course, preview
Still Going In Some Places
Posted by pblackwell | 06/12/08
One must say that Section III has enjoyed a successful spring, with two teams reaching the state semifinals in each of the four primary team sports - boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse, baseball and softball.
They finally caught up after all the hot and wild weather early in the week, with memorable results.
Carthage finally made it to Vestal for the Class B boys lacrosse regional against Chenango Forks, went up 7-2, and perhaps relaxed a bit, knowing the semifinal against Hamburg would come the next day.
Forks nearly kept the Comets from getting there, coming all the way back and going ahead, 9-8.
But Rob Grimm would save the season, tying it with 1:04 left, then winning it with 11.9 seconds to play...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: state playoffs, Carthage, softball, NBA, baseball, U.S. Open
You Gotta Put It Away!
Posted by pblackwell | 06/13/08
Yes, Day 1 of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines had its moments. The course was benign to many, cruel to others, and had two Who-The-Heck-Is-That players (Justin Hicks and Kevin Streelman) setting the pace at 68 as more familiar names, like Woods and Mickelson, battled the hype surrounding their pairing as much as Torrey Pines itself.
Elsewhere in SoCal, the Boston Celtics all but sealed the NBA title. Face it, Laker fans, anyone that fails to hold on to a 24-point lead, even if it was early on, doesn't deserve to be a champion. Just brace yourself for all the obnoxious New Englanders in the weeks ahead - and just imagined how much worse it would be had the Giants not won the Super Bowl, or they'd have the triple crown, with the Red Sox and Patriots having done what they did...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Open, NBA, playoffs, West Genesee, Carthage
Roller Coaster
Posted by pblackwell | 06/13/08
You know how there are moments where the entire air of a room can get deflated?
That was about my feeling Friday, around the dinner hour, after coming back from SUNY-Cortland.
There had been happy, but hot times down there. West Genesee (by crushing Lancaster) and Skaneateles (by handling Honeoye Falls-Lima) had found their way to Saturday's state girls lacrosse championship games. And while Carthage bowed out (to Brighton) in Class B, the excitement and anticipation of seeing two Section III teams possibly claiming state titles (never mind all the others trying to do Saturday in boys lacrosse, softball and baseball) was reason enough to smile and feel pumped up.
That is, until I got home, turned on the computer, and found out that Tim Russert had died...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Tim Russert, lacrosse, U.S. Open
Running Out of Superlatives...
Posted by pblackwell | 06/14/08
We started this Saturday hoping the rain would hold off and it did, for the most part, leaving the field free for all the state championships to be decided - and it ended in front of my TV, still wondering how the heck Tiger does it when it counts the most...
The West Genesee lacrosse program rules, both genders, allowing for a pair of hero's welcomes in Camillus - police escort, fire trucks out in force, happy people.
Early in the day on Long Island, the boys Wildcats did not sweat too much in the state Class A final against Syosset, even when it fell behind 6-2 in the third quarter.
What followed was a Wildcat takeover - a 6-6 tie by the end of the third quarter, then a thorough domination of the final period...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Wildcats, state champs, U.S. Open, Tiger
Column: McKay, the master storyteller
Posted by pblackwell | 06/15/08
(Note: This is the first of two columns over the coming days that will explore the lives of two television giants we lost in the last couple of weeks, Jim McKay and Tim Russert. This is the piece on McKay.)
An orchestra swells a theme of majesty and glory as images of men and women in pursuit of glory fly across the screen. Then the voice enters, tense and concise, offering appropriate words for the spectacle on your TV screen.
“Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport…the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat…the human drama of athletic competition…”
Only in the pre-cable era of television could this happen, a show as novel and memorable as “ABC’s Wide World of Sports”...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Jim McKay, ABC, Wide World, Olympics, Munich
An Open For the Ages...
Posted by pblackwell | 06/16/08
So Rocco Mediate's par putt slipped past the hole, and Tiger Woods has claimed a third U.S. Open championship at Torrey Pines. That's the short version.
The longer version might take a volume or two to explain. What occurred on the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, through five days and 91 holes, will never be forgotten by anyone even closely associated with this grand game of golf.
Twice, Rocco was one putt, made or missed, from realizing his life's dream. Twice, Tiger snatched it from him - first with that downhill knee-knocker on the last hole of regulation, then again on the 18th hole of as fine an 18-hole playoff as you could ever imagine...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: U.S. Open, Tiger, Rocco
Buffalo’s favorite son
Posted by pblackwell | 06/17/08
Look ahead, for a moment, and picture the night of Nov. 4, 2008. We know that, in some way, it will be historic, regardless of whether Barack Obama or John McCain is elected the 44th President of the United States.
Each of the TV networks will be live, streaming out numbers and exit polls and graphics that will boggle the mind after a while. Someone will win, and someone will lose. One will concede amid somber dignity, the other will celebrate amid unrestrained joy.
And it will all feel a bit empty because the most able and reasoned voice, the best possible tour guide, will not be in that NBC studio, white board in hand, making sense of it all and sharing our wonder and awe at the spectacle of democracy in action...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Tim Russert, Buffalo, life, NBC
Even More Remarkable Now..
Posted by pblackwell | 06/18/08
So the Boston Celtics' 17th NBA championship was attained Tuesday night, and in dominating style. Put together, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, with ample help from a determined supporting cast, closed the Lakers out in six.
L.A. was too young, not ready yet, and God knows Kobe Bryant didn't get much help. But he'll get blamed for it all anyway - at least if the past is any indicator.
Yet even that signifcant achievement, and the requisite Beantown gloating about it all, got forgotten the moment we found out Wednesday that Tiger Woods was going to shut it down for the rest of 2008 and get surgery on the most famous injured left knee on the planet.
It had to be done...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Tiger, injury, what next?
True Faith
Posted by pblackwell | 06/23/08
Well the last few days I've done something novel - namely, not write.
They call that a vacation. Though when I picture vacations, they tend to involve beaches, palm trees and oceans - or maybe theme parks, lakes, cottages, camping, sunscreen...in other words, things that were not on this itinerary the last five days.
No, it was just going home and seeing everyone in the immediate family, doing a little laundry, playing a little golf (and breaking 100), seeing my niece graduate from kindegarten, a bit of shopping, plenty of good eating...but most of all, the proudest day in the life of a young man who has become something close to family for us...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: vacation, ordination, Galen
Catching Up A Bit...
Posted by pblackwell | 06/25/08
Okay, so it's been a week since anything sports-related has appeared on this blog.
Hey, it's good to think about and write about other things once in a while, but events churn on despite ourselves.
By the time last week concluded, three MLB managers had been axed, the Mariners and Blue Jays joining the Mets in blaming their skippers for woes past and present.
Did they work? Well, Toronto and Seattle are still stuck in the cellar, and Jerry Manuel hasn't exactly ignited the Mets' cause, even though the Phillies are doing their level best to hand the NL East to somebody else...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: baseball, Euro, Shaq, Imus, election, Carlin
A Most Improbable Champion
Posted by pblackwell | 06/26/08
Since in the last two decades USC, Stanford, Cal State-Fullerton and Pepperdine have all claimed NCAA baseball championships, the fact that Fresno State joined that club on Wednesday night would, on the surface, not be a gigantic surprise.
Then again, none of those previous champs had 28 regular-season losses and started out as one of the 16 bottom seeds in the tournament.
If you want to know what it would be like if someone like Lehigh or Belmont or Valparaiso or any of their lower-seeded ilk ever won an NCAA basketball championship, then you tuned in to Omaha, and the College World Series, to see Fresno State basically pull the same thing off...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Fresno State, unlikely, baseball, national championship
Weekly Column: Baseball, halfway there
Posted by pblackwell | 06/27/08
Sure, we’re only inching our way into July, but already I’m sure those executives at Fox are getting down on their knees and offering up some prayers.
They’re envisioning a late-October baseball climax with the Yankees or Red Sox on one side, the Cubs on the other, and ratings gold. Too bad this game, like all other games that aren’t rigged in advance, has its own vagaries and might end up with another combination.
Yet that tantalizing prospect presents itself as Major League Baseball hits its halfway mark. Here’s a summation of who’s hit big, who’s missed big and who just acted in character.
AL East - Of course Boston figured a challenge would come to their supremacy. They just never figured it would come from Tampa Bay...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: baseball, midway point, analysis, projections
New Rulers Everywhere..
Posted by pblackwell | 06/30/08
These days in sports, perhaps Wimbledon is the lone place where tradition and continuity - or to put it another way, the same people winning every year - remains the rule.
Roger Federer appears destined for another final with Rafael Nadal. The Williams sisters have the path cleared for them after a barrage of first-week surprises that took out, among others, top seed Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova.
Elsewhere, though, upheaval and fresh new faces made the biggest marks during the weekend.
Start with Spain, the new European soccer champions. The last time they won anything this big was the Euro crown in 1964. Since then, all the Spaniards got was a reputation for underachievement that Bart Simpson would have envied.
Not this year, though...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Wimbledon, Euro, Spain, LPGA, baseball, Hall of Fame
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