News & notes

The Tri-City Valleycats have come back down to earth.

Avenging their loss in the NY-Penn League championship series 11 months ago, the Hudson Valley Renegades ended the 'Cats' 6 game winning streak on Thursday, sweeping both ends of a double header set up by a rainout last month. The Renegades, who also won last night, 9-1, will look to sweep out the Valleycats tonight in Wappingers Falls. The Renegades currently lead the McNamara division, while the Valleycats are in the Stedler division basement.
======================================
After 13 seasons as women's basketball coach, Paul Bearup left the Troy High bench at the end of the 2017-18 season. I don't know how long he's been coaching the golf team, but let's give him some credit for trying something different this season as Troy seeks to shake off the doldrums of four years of losing on the links in the Suburban Council.

Troy High's website is advertising open tryouts for both boys and girls for golf this season, with the season to start in less than three weeks. The bowling team experienced its best season since joining the Suburban Council by going co-ed last year, so Bearup is hoping the same thing happens on the golf course. Good luck.
======================================
20 years ago, the Albany Firebirds brought an ArenaBowl championship to the 518 by dispatching the Orlando Predators. That year, the ArenaBowl was broadcast on ABC.

This year, step-sister network ESPN2 has the game, which will be played at Times Union Center on Sunday night (it was known as Pepsi Arena 20 years ago). The 1999 game was a matinee, but this is about ratings, of course. Firebird legend "Touchdown" Eddie Brown, whose son, Antonio, is embroiled in a dispute with the NFL over helmets, of all things, delaying his debut with Oakland, will be an honorary captain for the Albany Empire. Will lightning strike twice in the same place twenty years later? We'll all find out together tomorrow night.