News & notes

 Once upon a time, Little Falls was home to a Mets minor league team.

Today, Little Falls is home to the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs of the Perfect Game Collegiate League. The Dawgs have been in playoff contention, but then, the Albany Dutchmen decided to play spoiler, and beat the Dawgs, 6-4, Sunday. With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Dutchmen have won four straight, building momentum toward possibly getting into the playoffs themselves.

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The Tri-City Valleycats needed just over 2 hours to defeat the Evansville Otters, 5-0, Sunday at Bruno Stadium. Dan Beebe went 7 2/3 innings to get the win, and has been another jewel in the 'Cats' developing rotation.

Tri-City heads back to Ottawa, Ontario, for a rematch with the Titans on Tuesday before coming home to play the NY Boulders this weekend, and the Joliet Slammers July 25-27.

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LaSalle grad Zach Remillard didn't play Sunday vs. Atlanta, but he did have an impact on Saturday, as the Chicago White Sox won both days, upsetting the NL East leaders. Remillard drove in a run on Saturday to get the ChiSox started.

Remillard and the White Sox will be in Queens starting tomorrow for a series vs. the Mets, so figure there'll be a contingent from the 518 to cheer on the former Cadet.

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Prior to the pandemic, Raycom Sports had a syndication deal for Atlantic Coast Conference football & basketball. At the time, the games aired on WNYA, which is also home for selected Siena men's basketball games.

Starting in September, Raycom & ESPN will beam ACC football & basketball on the CW (locally, WCWN, Spectrum channel 1212). Siena fans know that WNYA picks up the feed from ESPN3 for home games at MVP Arena, so this is not too dissimilar.

The action starts September 9, and, hopefully, there will be no conflicts with the Mets, unlike last week, where WCWN chose a LIV golf tournament over a Mets game, likely on orders from corporate parent Sinclair Broadcasting.

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Some sad news to close this report out.

20 years ago, Funny Cide captured the attention and imagination of local racing fans by winning the Kentucky Derby & Preakness, but fell short of the Triple Crown, as Empire Maker exacted revenge for an earlier loss in winning the Belmont Stakes.

Funny Cide put Saratoga's Sackatoga Stables on the map, and won 11 races overall.

File photo courtesy The Daily Gazette.

On Sunday, Funny Cide passed away at 23 from complications due to colic. Funny Cide spent his final years on a stud farm in Kentucky. His passing was front page news in today's papers, and almost certainly, there will be tributes at Saratoga all this week.