News & notes

 The Tri-City Valleycats have now lost three straight after dropping a 7-2 decision to the NY Boulders on Tuesday. Carson Powell drove in both runs for Tri-City with a 2 run homer in the top of the 9th, but not nearly enough. They're back at it tonight at 6:30, provided, of course, that it doesn't rain.

=======================================

Four days after Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons pitcher Colin Campbell tossed a no-hitter, Troy High's Mike Kennedy served up a no-no of his own.

Kennedy, a junior already committed to LSU, fanned 14, walked 2, and drove in a couple of runs early with a triple to carry Troy (8-4) to a 4-0 win over Averill Park. Assuming the rain holds off, Troy will have Senior Day today vs. CBA.

=======================================

The recent string of fan incidents during the NBA playoffs the last few days recalls some unpleasant incidents in Section 2 as well.

A few years ago, a women's basketball game between Albany & Bethlehem ended a wee bit abruptly when some Albany parents got salty over how, as they saw it, the game was being officiated in favor of the Eagles in a matchup of two of the top women's teams in the Suburban Council. Not so long ago, a women's soccer match between Niskayuna & Schenectady was tainted because of some racial slurs being directed at some of the Lady Patriots, who have the worse burden of being one of the worst teams in the league. And there was a fight that broke out on the court between players from Averill Park and Bethlehem in a men's game a couple of years ago.

And, then, there's the story most of you probably don't know.

During the 1980-1 season, Troy & Linton were in a heated rivalry in the Big 10. The Blue Devils swept the season series, and that should've been all. The real drama, it turned out, was off the court.

After the February game at Troy, students from both schools engaged in a ice brawl, with only one Troy student being sent to jail. A couple of days later, it was the subject of conversation in the halls, and that's when the rest of the story came out.

When the two teams played at Linton in Schenectady, some Linton students rubbed it in by shaking the team buses. Yes, that's right. Buses. Plural. Not just the bus for the players & coaches, but one for the cheerleaders as well. You can chalk it up to kids being kids, but what was the point of shaking the buses in the first place? The perception created was one of the Linton kids being arrogant and disrespectful, in sharp contrast to the Troy kids, and the players on both squads.

This all went away, of course, when Linton & Mont Pleasant were merged into the current Schenectady High, the 2nd school to bear that name, but the bus shaking incident should never have been allowed to happen. Period.

Lesson: There's always going to be a few jokers in the deck, no matter what the schools do to prevent these things from happening.