News & notes

For nearly two decades, Section II has tried and failed to win a state championship in hockey. LaSalle was the last team to bring a state title home, back in 2000.

Queensbury keeps trying, but they keep coming up short. The Spartans dropped the state title game, 6-1, to Skaneteles on Sunday.
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Meanwhile, the city of Troy gets to celebrate another state title.

Lansingburgh High's bowling team took home the state title over the weekend. The efforts of the Colonial Council and Section II champions have flown under the radar, due to local press showing a preference toward basketball this time of year.

Considering certain local papers won't cover the reincarnated Albany Patroons, either.......
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Speaking of the Patroons, the wheels have fallen off of late. Headed into last Friday's road game at Mesquite, Texas, the Patroons had dropped down to fourth place in The Basketball League. Still time left, though, to make a run back to the post-season.
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Maybe Iona men's basketball coach Tim (Count The) Cluess wasn't joking when he asked if the Long Island school could schedule their home games at Times-Union Center, sharing the arena with Siena.

The Gaels won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament on Monday night, and are seemingly invincible on the Saints' home floor. Quinnipiac won the women's tournament, beating Marist.

Problem is, those will be the only schools representing the MAAC in the NCAA tournament, beginning next week, due to the NCAA's bias against mid-major schools, preferring to load the bloated field with as many teams from "Power 5" conferences (i.e. SEC, ACC) for the benefit of television ratings. They're not going to change their business model for anybody, not Joe & Jane Public especially.

And it doesn't help that those "Power 5" teams routinely pad their stats by fattening up on schools that are only on the schedule so their presidents can pick up fat checks for agreeing to the sacrifice of their teams at the altars of Duke, Gonzaga, Syracuse, et al.

And you wonder why some folks want college athletes to be paid, since they're using the colleges as a way station toward the pros.