News & notes

Could Arena Football be returning to the 518?

The folks in charge of the Times-Union Center certainly hope so, as they've been in negotiations with the owners of the Orlando Predators, who now play in the National Arena League, about a new franchise in Albany. The Albany Empire folded after winning ArenaBowl last year, and the Arena Football League followed soon after.

According to the Times-Union (natch), Empire coach Rob Keefe is being considered for the same position should Albany land a franchise in the NAL.

The Predators, historians will remind, lost to the Firebirds in the 1999 ArenaBowl.

As for a team name, they could stick with Empire, revive the Firebirds brand, or go with something else. Stay tuned.
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Siena basketball fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

Manny Camper will return to the Saints for his senior season after withdrawing from the NBA draft. I think he feels like there's unfinished business after the 2019-20 season was halted during the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament in March, after Siena won the MAAC regular season title. The departure of Don Carey to Georgetown might've also had an influence on Camper's decision.
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Last night's ICBL double-dip between the Albany Athletics & Albany Dutch has to be filed under "you had to be there".

The Dutch, acting as the home team at Amsterdam's Shuttleworth Park, had issues with their live stream on their Facebook page, so unless you were brave enough to venture out to Amsterdam, you were shut out, which lends credence to the argument that the ICBL should've considered a minor radio and/or television deal.

The first place Athletics won the opener, 1-0, but Albany Academy graduate Johnny Decker (Stony Brook) turned the tide in the nightcap with a grand slam, as the Dutch inflicted just the 2nd loss on the Athletics this season, 6-2.

Standings after Wednesday's play:

Athletics: 14-2-2.
Dutch: 10-8-2.
Mohawks: 6-9.
Independents: 1-15.

The Athletics & Mohawks will play two tonight at Shuttleworth.

News & notes

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced Monday that their fall sports schedule has been postponed, possibly until spring 2021. This move was anticipated, and as of right now, none of the colleges in the 518 will have sports this fall.

Meanwhile, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) confirmed that the fall sports season has been delayed until at least September 21.

Where that could be problematic might in fact be the most popular fall sport, football. Because the players are in such close quarters on the field, football has the greatest risk of a fresh surge of coronavirus.

Cross country track, tennis, golf, and soccer can be played safely under appropriate guidelines. What the state is looking into now is whether or not athletes in those sports would actually be ready by mid-September. Stay tuned.
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In ICBL action last night, the Albany Athletics rallied from behind to clip the Amsterdam Mohawks, 3-2. The Albany Dutch swept a doubleheader from hapless Glens Falls, 7-4 & 4-2.

Standings:

Athletics 13-1-2.
Dutch 10-5-2.
Mohawks 6-9.
Independents 1-15.

News & notes

With three weeks in the books, here are the updated Independent Collegiate Baseball League standings:

Albany Athletics 12-1-2.
Albany Dutch 8-5-2.
Amsterdam Mohawks 6-8.
Glens Falls Independents 1-13.

Glens Falls has had two doubleheaders cancelled in as many weeks due to weather.

Tonight sees the Athletics vs. Amsterdam in a single game at Shuttleworth Park at 6:45, while the Dutch & Independents renew acquaintances at 5:30 in a doubleheader.
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Bertranda not only was a winner at Saratoga the other day, but the ownership includes management of the Albany Dutch and Athletics. Everything seems to be going Albany's way these days, doesn't it?
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It's been confirmed that the Mets will not be appearing on WCWN (Spectrum digital channel 1212), as, aside from two games having already aired on ESPN, and some games soon to air on Fox, SNY is not producing any games for WPIX in New York.

What we're not sure of is if WPIX/WCWN will be shut out of Yankee coverage. Speaking of the Bronx Bombers, the AL East co-leaders' game vs. former manager Joe Girardi and the Philadelphia Phillies has been postponed, an indirect result of the Miami Marlins, who played the Phillies over the weekend, having a total of 14 players and coaches testing positive for coronavirus.

Maybe in hindsight, the Marlins as a whole should've opted out.......

News & notes

The rain came to the 518 early enough Thursday, such that the Independent Collegiate Baseball League was able to get both scheduled doubleheaders in, after the Albany Dutch-Glens Falls Independents twin-bill on Wednesday was cancelled due to inclement weather, the 2nd cancellation for the Independents this season. Thursday? A different story.

The league leading Albany Athletics swept Glens Falls at East Field, winning a competitive first game, 2-1, before blowing out the hosts, 22-5, in the nightcap. Ouch! Over in Amsterdam, the Dutch, designated as the home team on this night, blew away the Mohawks, 16-6, in game 1, then completed the sweep with a 7-1 win in game 2. Amsterdam is on its 2nd 4-game losing streak as we approach the halfway point of the season.

Standings:

Athletics 12-1-2.
Dutch 8-5-2.
Mohawks 4-8.
Independents 1-11.

Play resumes Saturday.
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At Saratoga, Christophe Clement saddled three winners Thursday to take over the training lead from Chad Brown. Clement has 9 winners over the first six days, with Brown at 8. Things could change today. Among the jockeys, Joel Rosario has the lead through six days, despite Irad Ortiz, Jr. picking up 5 wins on the Thursday card. Ortiz ties brother Jose for 2nd place in what has been a spirited competition.

If you can't be home to watch the races on OTB-TV (Spectrum digital channel 1250) on the weekends, WTMM (104.5 FM) has you covered, as they'll have live broadcasts on Saturdays & Sundays, as long as it doesn't conflict with Yankees baseball, and it likely will this Sunday.

News & notes

To follow up on a recent story, former Siena basketball player Don Carey has found his landing spot for next season.

As a graduate transfer, Carey will play at Georgetown University under head coach, and 80's Hoyas icon, Patrick Ewing. Carey upgrades from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) to the Big East, so we'll see plenty of him on TV--maybe, if they do play this winter.
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The Liberty League announced Wednesday that they will not have any sports until January 1 at the earliest, which wipes out the Division III schedules for the three league members from the 518, RPI, Union, & Skidmore. RPI & Union had previously announced they wouldn't play football this year, so essentially, the other shoe has dropped.

As we reported yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo had announced that there would be no fans at any college events this fall. Cuomo can breathe a little easier this morning, knowing that at least the Liberty League has done him a favor, whether they realize it or not.

To that end, I suspect the same stipulations would apply to high school sports, assuming they can start play in late September.
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Even though it'd been announced that Section II was delaying the start of the 2020-21 sports season until at least September 21, Schedule Galaxy has a non-league soccer match between Troy High & LaSalle scheduled for September 5. Talk about wasting time posting it on the map, as the game won't be played. Would've been good for a Labor Day weekend brunch, though......

News & notes

As racing resumes today at Saratoga, Mechanicville native Chad Brown sits atop the leaderboard among trainers, having saddled six winners in the first four days. Joel Rosario & Jose Ortiz share the lead among jockeys, as each has won 8 races.

NYRA is reporting an increase in betting handle over the first four days, despite the fact that there have been no fans in attendance. Chalk it up to an increase in online betting.
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Fonda Speedway has been dark the last couple of weeks, and have announced plans to resume racing next month. They'd be well served to get a minor TV deal with a local station for the duration of the season. Just sayin'.
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The Albany Athletics managed to gain a measure of revenge on the Albany Dutch as the top two teams in the Independent Collegiate Baseball league met again on Monday. The first game ended in a 6-6 draw before the Athletics won the nightcap, 2-0.

Ex-Tri-City Valleycat Chris Salamida pitched the full 7 innings in game one, fanning 9, then moved to the outfield in game 2, and drove in a run for the Athletics. Troy High grad Nick Pastore had another big night, homering in game one, and driving in the other run in the second game. Tim Carroll & Anthony Raimo had the other homers for the Athletics in the first game.

Current standings:

Athletics 10-1-2.
Dutch 6-5-2.
Mohawks 4-6.
Independents 1-9.
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Governor Cuomo announced Tuesday that if there are college sports this fall, there won't be any fans in the bleachers. Not a surprise, and that announcement lends itself to the speculation about more schools going to online streaming so fans won't be shut out. I'd recommend the same things for high schools.
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UAlbany has slightly tweaked its Great Dane logo so that it's now:



You were expecting maybe a licensing deal to use Scooby-Doo?
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Sad news to close. Former area sportswriter and columnist Mike Dyer, one of the few to have worked for all three 518 dailies (Daily Gazette, Albany Times-Union, Troy Record), recently passed away at 81, according to Pete Dougherty of the Times-Union. Dyer had retired to Florida with his wife of 54 years, Carol, who has also passed away. Dyer has a Wikipedia page that has not been updated as of press time. His golf & bowling columns, especially the latter, at the Record were must-reads back in the day.

Rest in peace.

ICBL notes

Through two weeks, the standings in the Independent Collegiate Baseball League look like this:

Albany Athletics 9-1-1.
Albany Dutch 6-4-1.
Amsterdam Mohawks 4-6.
Glens Falls Independents 1-9.

Yes, you read that right. The Independents snapped an 8 game losing streak in beating the Dutch in Saturday's opener, only for the Dutch to bounce back and win game 2, 2-0. The Dutch return to Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam to play the Athletics tomorrow night. Amsterdam is idle until Thursday.

Speaking of the Mohawks, all the momentum they had after sweeping Glens Falls on Thursday evaporated with another doubleheader loss to the Athletics. Jason Savacool (Baldwinsville/Maryland) started, and ran out of steam in the 3rd inning, as the Athletics scored three runs in the frame. Savacool took the loss as the Athletics won game 1, 7-2. Nick Pastore (Troy High) reached base five times (HBP, Walk, error, 2 hits) and drove in a run, scoring a couple more, for the Athletics, while Brendan Harris added a late homer.

Harris also went yard in game two, as the Athletics completed the sweep, connecting in the first inning off Mohawks starter & loser Dale Stanavich (Amsterdam/Rutgers), en route to a 6-2 win.

Notes: It may be just two weeks, but the ICBL, if they have to return next year, may have to re-think the idea of one centrally located umpire in the center of the infield, behind the pitcher's mound. It leads to the occasional confusion on fair/foul calls on the baselines in the outfield. If they don't it creates more problems than they can immediately solve.

Amsterdam pitcher David Montalvo might just be the 2nd coming of former Met John Pacella.

Allow me to explain. In the early 80's, Pacella, who spent a couple of years in Flushing, had an unusual habit of having his cap fall off on virtually every pitch. In three appearances this season, Montalvo, whose retro-'do will remind Met fans of pre-2018 Jacob deGrom, is having the same problem, no matter which hat he uses. Might need to have his hat size reexamined.