Boxing update

Perhaps you recall about a year ago The Sun covering a fight at Suffolk County Community College in Selden.
The bout pitted Patchogue-Medford graduate Derrick Rossy (pictured) against "Fast" Eddie Chambers in a battle of unbeatens that was aired live on ESPN's "Friday Night Fights."
While neither Selden, Patchogue nor Medford is in our coverage area, we thought "Ah, what the heck. When are we ever gonna get the chance to cover a fight so close by?"
As it turned out, the bout was a solid one, with Chambers knocking out Rossy in seven rounds.
The other day I was wondering what each of those fighters is up to. What I found is they both fought abroad this weekend in major bouts.
Rossy, who won the Hansen Award while playing football for the Raiders in 1997, secured a unanimous decision over "Merciless" Ray Mercer — yes, he's still fighting — in China Saturday. The bout was for the WBO NABO heavyweight title, the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council heavyweight title, WBF International heavyweight title.
Mercer is a 46-year-old former WBO heavyweight champ with a resumé that includes fights with Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Shannon Briggs, Larry Holmes and Tommy Morrisson (the lone victory on that list). The fight was broadcast in 150 million homes in China.
Rossy extended his record to 18-1 (10).
According to boxing Web site secondsout.com, "Rossy bossed the fight for long periods and had Mercer in all sorts of trouble, but it was the 46 year-old veteran that floored his fellow American in the 12th and final round."
Chambers 30-1 (14), meanwhile, suffered his first loss, a narrow decision, Saturday against Alexander Povetkin (14-0) in Berlin. The bout, which was aired on HBO as a prelude to the Jones/Trinidad replay, was to see who would get a crack at Klitschko for his IBF belt.

SWR girls win League V, Mustangs take second

Just arrived home from the League V and I girls track championships. What a race between Shoreham and Mount Sinai in League V. The Wildcats, as they always seem to do in these league championships, pulled out a victory by seven points. Shoreham totaled 137 while Mount Sinai scored 130.

The girls on both sides deserve a lot of credit. Everyone performed well, so well in fact that every other team competing were nothing more than afterthoughts.

In the league meets athletes can compete in three events. Both Shoreham and Mount Sinai had several girls run in three distance events, which is no easy task for a 2 1/2 hour meet. With the scoring so close, both coaches knew they needed their best runners in as many events as possible.

The deciding event here was likely the 1,000-meter run. Mount Sinai super-freshman Janie Turek placed first in 3 minutes, 12.05 seconds. Stephanie Capasso finished sixth. Shoreham's Stephanie Anderson and Codi Mullen followed Turek in second and third. The Mustangs scored 11 points to Shoreham's 14, but the Wildcats very easily could have ended up with three points. Mullen ran 3:19.68 and Capasso ran 3:20.89. Had Anderson and Mullen slipped to three-four, with Capasso still sixth, the Mustangs win it by a point.

Alas, by a second, the Wildcats won it.

The other key for Shoreham was the shot put, which has been a strength for a while now. Ashley Clasen won with a throw of 33 feet, 1 inch. Courtney Fleming took third (29) and Jalise Norwood was fifth (27-09 1/4). That was 18 points to Mount Sinai's zero. A big difference in the final tally.

The Mustangs excelled in their own events, though, including anything Janet Mellor ran. The sophomore finished first in three events — the 55-dash, 300 and 600. Mount Sinai coach Bill Dwyer elected to leave Mellor out of a relay event, knowing that she could win three events on her own. Normally she runs in the 4 x 400, but the Mustangs' 'B' team was good enough to take first anyway.

There was a lot of strategising by both coaches as to where to run each athlete. Both teams scored about as many points as possible, Shoreham's depth was just a bit too much.

Brooke Johnson had a terrific day for Shoreham, winning the 3,000 and 1,500. She also anchored the second-place 4 x 400 relay team.

Turek ran three events as well, a real gutsy performance from a freshman. She finished third in the 1,500 and 3,000.

Kathryn Sheehan ran three events for Shoreham, taking second in the 3,000 and 1,500 as well as the 4 x 800 relay.

Both teams will contend for the small school title Thursday night, with Sayville and Bellport in the mix. The scoring will obviously be harder to come by in that meet. Most fifth or sixth place finishes in the league meet will be wiped out.

Any team will have a hard time matching Johnson-Sheehan in the distance events or Mellor in the sprints to middle distances.

Nice job by both teams.

As for League I, the Longwood girls took third. Sachem East ran away with it, scoring 134 points. Ward Melville tallies 80 and Longwood had 68.

A look at playoff scenarios

February is almost here, so it seems like a good time to start looking ahead to the playoffs.

Several teams have already clinched playoff spots, so let's go through some scenarios.

Boys Hoops:

CLINCHED: Longwood (7-1 League I, Class AA)

SOON TO CLINCH: Miller Place (6-2 League VI, Class A)

BUBBLE: Rocky Point (5-4 League V, Class A)

ELIMINATED: SWR, Mt. Sinai

The Lions have been living on the edge, most recently a 61-60 win on the road at Sachem East Saturday. The win comes on the heels of a 53-51 win on the road at Sachem North. The latest win locked up a postseason berth for the Lions who are in position now to take a run at the League I title. Lindenhurst has one loss as well, so if the Lions can beat them at home Feb. 5, they'll be in the driver's seat. 

Aside from the Lindenhurst game the Lions will also face a tough test on the road Feb. 11 at Brentwood. The Indians are a legit team and gave the Lions a battle at Longwood a week ago.

Now, should the Lions close out undefeated (my hunch says they drop at least one of their last six), that could put them in position for a three or four seed in the playoffs. Last year they went 8-4 and took an eight seed.

Walt Whitman and Hills West should be locks for the one and two seeds, so then it's a matter of where everyone else falls. Bay Shore looks good to earn a three seed and the four seed will then likely go to the League I winner. If Longwood doesn't win the league and finishes 12-2 or 11-3, the Lions will probably land at around a six seed. Not bad. Last year you remember the Lions had to go on the road in the second round to top-seeded Copiague, not the ideal place for a second-round game.

Miller Place got smacked by John Glenn today. Not sure what happened yet, but the Panthers lost 91-38 according to the score listed on Newsday.com today. Ouch.

The Panthers have been a real surprise this season, putting together one of their best seasons in a few years. They'll be in the postseason with one more win, which should come Tuesday at home against Shoreham. After that the Panthers' toughest test comes Feb. 6 at home against Bayport-Blue Point. The Phantoms beat Miller Place the first time around.

In Class A East Hampton will be the one seed and it looks Glenn will be the two. Where everyone else falls after that is up for grabs. Harborfields, Bayport, Islip and Miller Place are all bunched together.

I don't see anyone beating East Hampton, though, so this is all a battle for second.

As for Rocky Point, a win against Sayville Friday moved the Eagles to 5-4 and two wins away from the postseason. I think the Eagles get in, judging from their remaining schedule. The Eagles have five games to go, including Comsewogue Tuesday. That should be a win, which means the Eagles need one win in their last four (@Eastport, vs. East Hampton, @ Harborfields, vs. Huntington). Eastport and Huntington are both winnable games. 

It would definitely be nice if we get a first round game of Rocky Point vs. Miller Place. Probably won't happen, but I think that would be a great matchup, even without taking into account how close the schools are.

Girls Hoops:

CLINCHED: SWR (7-1 League VI, Class A)

BUBBLE: Longwood (3-5 League I, Class AA)

ELIMINATED: Miller Place, Mt. Sinai, Rocky Point

Not the most exciting season in girls hoops. Shoreham has had a nice season and should earn a high enough seed to avoid an outbracket game like last season when the Wildcats beat Bayport before heading to Huntington. The Blue Devils are putting together another terrific season at 8-0 in League V and should be the top seed again. John Glenn or Harborfields will be two or three. If Harborfields can beat Huntington Tuesday, it might be able to take the top seed itself. We'll see.

I think the best Shoreham can hope for is a four seed, which would at least get the Wildcats a home game. That could change of course if the Wildcats beat Glenn, but ... I don't think that happens.

Boys Bowling:

CLINCHED: Longwood (203 points, League III), Mt. Sinai (265.5 points, League V)

Girls Bowling:

CLINCHED: Longwood (353.5 points, League II)

Brentwood 36, Longwood 16

OK, so this one wasn't quite as close as hoped.

Brentwood put on a very impressive display Friday night at Longwood High School to hand the Lions are a rare defeat, 36-16. It was the fifth straight win for the Indians against Longwood, dating back to 2004. The Indians all but locked up another League I title, while the Lions suffered their first league loss. Brentwood has one league dual meet to go against Ward Melville to secure the title.

The Indians won 12 of the 15 bouts (96 and 285 were wrestled) although none by pin. And only one by technical fall.

The only pin of the night actually came in the final match at 285 when Lou Scala pinned Caleb Piene in 1:42.

Other wins for Longwood came at 145 by Will Fechter, a senior who's emerged as the Lions' top gun. Nicky Hall, who is just a seventh grader, won his match handily at 103, 10-2, against Humbolto Garcia. Hall is going to have quite the high school career by the time he graduates in 2013. 

Battle of the 'Wood (Part II)

Longwood vs. Brentwood.

This week it's wrestling and it should be one of the premier dual meets of the season. Brentwood is the top-ranked team in the county for dual meets and tournaments. Longwood is right below (3rd and 4th), even with a young squad.

The Lions lost a tough one to the Indians on the road last year, 37-17. That meet determined the League I champion, as should tonight's meet. Brentwood has to be the favorite going in, but if certain matches fall in the right place, the Lions could pull it out. The Indians are so deep, though, every wrestler they throw out there is tough to beat. There are no gimmes an opposing team can mark down as victories.

The Indians have two wrestlers ranked tops in the county: Ricardo Gomez (119) and Josue Mendez (171). Three wrestlers ranked third in the county: Alex Gomez (112), Michael Hernadez (160) and Jahsua Marsh (215). One wrestler ranked fourth: David Manzueta (189). One wrestler ranked fifth: Jesus Cartagena (189). One wrestler ranked sixth: Jonathan Murray (112).

I covered Mt. Sinai against William Floyd last week and after the match coach Matt Armstrong asked if I was going to his team's match tonight against Miller Place. I told him I was going to Brentwood-Longwood, to which he responded: "I don't blame you."

So if you're a wrestling fan, the Longwood gymnasium is the place to be tonight.

Can the Lions pull it out? We'll find out.

A visit with George O'Leary

In an ironic twist, the video posted below of the SportsCenter studio during Y2K looked pretty similar to the Times/Review office this week. I think Ryan Creighton came through with a baseball bat and smashed a few computers. An upgrade in software and hardware at our main office, which is designed to make our workflow more efficient, specifically in updating our Website for readers, nearly went horribly wrong.
Let's just say we're very lucky to have a paper this week. The problem, though, seems to be solved, so not to worry.

Anyway, I got to spend some time Tuesday with George O'Leary, the Central Florida football coach. Shoreham's Brendan Kelly committed to play football there in August and will officially sign Feb. 6. O'Leary's a fascinating coach and a guy who's been in some strange situations. He's probably best known around the nation, though, for accepting the Notre Dame job in 2001, a post he held for all of five days. Apparently his resume had been exaggerated from earlier in his career and the inaccuracies stuck with him as he moved up the ladder. When it became public after taking the Notre Dame job, which is probably the most highly visible coaching position in college football, the school asked for his resignation.

It's a shame it turned out that way, but O'Leary deserves credit for bouncing back and building himself back up. He's got Central Florida on the up and coming and the school is becoming more of a threat to Florida and Miami for the state's top recruits.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how Kelly can perform on the next level. He's got the work ethic and desire, but you never quite know how a star high school player will adapt to college. We can at least be assured he won't turn out like Jason Gwaltney.
I asked O'Leary about the adjustments a player needs to make in going to the next level and he talked about the speed of the game. Everything is faster. Linebackers are quicker to the ball. Linemen are quicker.
A lot of times the best high school athletes will tell you how the game seems to slow down for them. That doesn't happen right away in college.
There's also a huge mental aspect to adjust to. College life can be hard enough at first, without worrying about football. That's why so many players red-shirt their first year. O'Leary has played true freshmen in the past and he said he's willing to do so if the player is ready. Of course, he doesn't want to waste a player's year of eligibility, so the player needs to be able to perform.

O'Leary couldn't comment specifically on Kelly or any recruits until Feb. 6, but I'll try to ask him then about Kelly's future and what kind of role he sees him in. He probably won't be willing to commit too strong one way or the other on if Kelly will red-shirt, but it's worth asking.

Keep an eye out for the Feb. 8 issue of the Sun for a story on Kelly signing.

Who remembers Y2K?

I made a reference to Y2K in my column this week in an attempt to figure out why the championship banners at Shoreham-Wading River stopped going on the walls somewhere around 1999. Well Y2K as you remember was the issue regarding computer software needing to be updated to go past '99.' A lot of people thought this would be the end of the world. Seriously.

Most of 1999 you couldn't pick up a newspaper or watch TV news without a Y2K story. The other day in the office a couple of us sports guys were killing time by watching SportsCenter commercials on YouTube. It brings me back to one of my favorite commercials of all-time, the Y2K SportsCenter commercial. An absolute classic, which was funny on several fronts.



My favorite part of this is obviously Charley Steiner at the end, who really steals the show. Steiner was one of the original SportsCenter anchors and played a tremendous role in the first commercials. I was lucky enough to meet Steiner once out in Palm Springs at an award dinner. We talked for a few minutes and he asked me where I lived, so I said East Patchogue. To which he replied, "That's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out there on the Island." To which I replied rather awkwardly, well it's not that far...
He must not have vacationed in Montauk too often.

Anyways, at the end of the commercial, I love how Steiner is wearing his tie around his head. "Follow me! Follow me to freedom!" was a phrase I, and I'm sure many other kids at the time, repeated over and over.

But I also love Mark McGwire smashing computers. It's funny to think about how McGwire was really a beloved sports figure for a time. Then we find out the obvious that he was juicing and C-YA lata.

This commercial was also great because it made fun of just how stupid the entire Y2K issue was. People really thought that at the strike of midnight, it would be chaos like that commercial. Didn't happen. A good thing. Maybe in the year 2999 people will be smart enough to avoid a Y3K problem. If not, we may at least get another great SportsCenter commercial out of it.

Battle of the 'Wood tonight

Big game tonight at Longwood as the Lions host the Brentwood Indians at 6 p.m. The battle of the 'Wood is always a classic match-up in any sport, especially boys hoops. This one should have some extra intrigue as both teams come in 4-1. After Lindenhurst stumbled out of the gate because of some injuries, the Bulldogs have been on a roll to jump out to a 5-1 League I record. The Bulldogs, last year's league champion, appear to be the team to beat now that they're healthy. So tonight's game will go a long way in determining which team can give Lindenhurst the best fight for the league title, or at least take second place and a higher seed in the playoffs. Longwood's lone loss came against Lindenhurst.

The Lions are a young team, playing without any seniors, but they've gotten off to a great start. Coach Dennis Terry preaches his players to play within themselves and when they do that, with each player believing in the system, the results are positive. And it always helps having an athletic big man like Marcus Hunter to grab boards and disrupt plays on defense.

Longwood beat Brentwood twice last year, including a wild 61-60 game at Brentwood. Longwood won easier the next time at home, blowing away the Indians 72-43. Longwood has won the last four meetings between the two teams. The Indians' last win against the Lions came Jan. 27, 2005 at Longwood. The Indians won that game 61-56.

Can the Lions keep the streak alive? We'll find out tonight.

Speaking of Rocky Point wrestling

Here's an instant youtube classic. Escobar vs. Keith set to the bizarre sound of Jimmy Soul's 1963 classic "If You Want to Be Happy." I don't know if it's supposed to be, but it sure is funny.
Enjoy.

Eagles suffer a setback

Expectations were obviously high around the Rocky Point wrestling program coming into this season. After a strong start to the season, which included a couple dominant dual meet wins against the weaker teams of League V, the Eagles hit their first bump in the season when they lost to Huntington Friday, 26-20. League V, with Islip, Sayville and Harborfields, is a brutally tough league and the Eagles will need a win this Friday at home against Islip to keep their hopes of a league title alive. Even the one loss may be too much. Huntington, Islip and Sayville are all undefeated at 3-0. Assuming the Eagles can beat Islip and Sayville, they’ll need one of them to then knock off Huntington to potentially create a four-way tie with each team finishing 6-1. More likely is one team goes undefeated.

Huntington has the early edge, having already beaten Rocky Point. Islip and Sayville haven’t faced the top teams in League V yet. Sayville has beaten Harborfields, but it would appear the Tornadoes are a notch below the other three teams. Sayville closes its League V season home against Rocky Point, at Islip and at Huntington. It would seem unlikely they win all three of those, especially with two on the road.
Islip, after Friday’s match at Rocky Point, gets Huntington at home and Sayville at home before closing out the season at Harborfields.

Against Huntington the Eagles won six bouts while Huntington took seven. The core middle weights (135-152) for Rocky Point all delivered, with Anthony Volpe, Jerry Ceccio, Billy Coggins and Anthony Pantori winning. Brandon Escobar won at 112. Huntington won 160-215 as well as 103, 119 and 130.

A disappointing loss for Rocky Point came at 103, where Matt Ross was shut out in a 17-0 tech fall by senior Jose Vasquez, the top-ranked wrestler at 103. Ross is the top-ranked wrestler at 96, but wrestles up a class in most dual meets where there's no 96 match. Ross is still a freshman so Vasquez clearly was the favorite heading into that match and one I’m sure he would expect to win. It’s a lesson learned for Ross, who will do just fine in his 96-pound class. We saw Shoreham’s Steven Keith lose a couple matches at 103 in dual meets last year and went on to win a state title at 96.

Perhaps the most shocking loss for Rocky Point came Saturday at the Rocky Gilmore Tournament at East Islip. Escobar, who had been the top-ranked wrestler at 112, lost in the finals to Alex Gomez of Brentwood, 6-2. Escobar slipped to fifth in the latest rankings posted Sunday. Keith is now ranked first, ahead of Jake Benedetto (Islip), Gomez and Glenn Donatelli (Bayport).

Escobar doesn’t lose very often, so I’d expect him to bounce back strongly.

The Eagles finished third at the tournament, a respectable showing behind Brentwood and Hauppauge. Ross won the 96-pound title as the only Rocky Point champion. Pantori (152) was the only other wrestler to make the finals.

Brentwood and Hauppauge were expected to be the top two teams in the county this year and they showed why. It looks like as good as the Eagles are, they’re still a step below those two teams.

Longest streak? What about MP?

A lot has been made recently of the Brandon (Fla.) high school wrestling team losing a match for the first time after winning 459 straight. It made the top of the "Go Figure" section of this week's Sports Illustrated. The streak was listed as a national high school record for any sport. But ... what about the Miller Place badminton win streak, which spanned 504 matches?

This was brought up on the New York State Sports Sportswriters Association's Web site.
Here's what is said:

Streaking: The blog item earlier this week regarding the end of Brandon (Fla.) High's 459-match wrestling winning streak has generated some e-mails about the Miller Place badminton program.

NYSSWA member Jason Molinet covered the story for Newsday when Miller Place finally lost on April 12, 2005, after 504 consecutive co-ed wins over 32 seasons. The streak ended at the hands of Smithtown, 10-5, but seemingly should be recognized as the national record for a high school sport.

The problem is that few schools offer the sport. There were only U.S. 218 boys teams and 424 girls teams (mostly in California), accounting for 14,961 athletes, playing badminton in the 2006-07 school year according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. The National Federation record book does not track marks in badminton or several other more popular sports such as bowling, water polo and weightlifting.

According to Molinet, Miller Place broke the old mark of 292 straight wins, held by the Amherst Sweet Home girls volleyball, on April 7, 1992.


Here's how the Sun covered Miller Place's first loss:


After 504 wins, team (gasp) loses
April 15, 2005
By Michael Gasparino

The agony of defeat was something that the Miller Place High School badminton team had never experienced.

The Panthers went unbeaten in their first season of play in 1973 and kept on winning, posting 32 perfect seasons in a row to build the longest team sports winning streak in the nation. When Miller Place defeated Smithtown last May for the Suffolk County championship, it was, incredibly, the team's 500th victory without a loss.

Four more wins were added to the streak this season, but on Tuesday afternoon at Smithtown High School, the steamroller stopped rolling. Miller Place lost to Smithtown, 10-5, ending the streak at 504 straight victories.

"They were definitely the better team today," said Miller Place coach Dave Hartman. "They were very well prepared and they outplayed us. We had our best team out there and they beat us."

The result became official when Smithtown's Jenna Marks rallied to beat Stephanie Garritano at girls' second singles, 5-11, 11-4, 11-1. That match gave the Bulls their eighth point, clinching the victory and achieving something that no team had been able to do for more than three decades.

"I think that their main focus was to beat us after the county championship last year," said Hartman, who took over the Panthers this season from Patrick Murphy, who resigned to pursue a career in administration. "It's obvious that they've worked hard. There were matchups where we beat them last year, they beat us this time."

Miller Place won four singles matches but only one doubles match against Smithtown. Brittany Tokar won at girls' first singles, and eighth-graders Amanda Christie and Lauren Garritano won at girls' fourth and fifth singles, respectively. Josh Dietrichson, a freshman, won his match at boys' second singles, and the duo of Sonja Tenzler and Jocelyn Rizzi won their match at girls' first doubles.

Smithtown won a huge match at boys' first singles, when Chris Hotzak came back to defeat Chris Goubeaud, 12-15, 15-10, 15-9.

Hartman said that while the Panthers put up "a brave front" in post-match interviews, the loss was tough to take. "It was a very somber bus ride home," the coach said.

"I told them that the new streak starts tomorrow," Hartman added, and he was right. Miller Place defeated Commack on Wednesday, 11-4, to improve to 5-1. Tokar won her match at girls' first singles, 11-5, 11-0, over Sarah Chaudary. Goubeaud defeated Sid Chadha, 15-3, 15-2, at boys' first singles.

According to the National High School Sports Record Book, the longest current high school winning streak belongs to a wrestling team in Brandon, Fla., which has won 413 straight matches since 1973.

Hartman noted that Smithtown has become a force to be reckoned with, and the Bulls stand out among the rest of the Panthers' competition in Suffolk County. But that's not the only change that has affected Miller Place badminton.

"It's a reflection of the change in priorities at Miller Place," said Hartman, who has taught physical education at the high school for more than 30 years. "They're adding other girls' sports, de-emphasizing badminton in gym class. It's changing. They're not playing [badminton] as much as they used to."

Hartman noted that the addition of other girls' sports like lacrosse, while a positive for female athletes in general, comes with a price for badminton. "You take three or four good athletes out of badminton and it just dilutes the talent," Hartman said. "It just shows an evolving athletic program. There are just more opportunities for the girls."

Suffolk County badminton teams are coed and play a 15-game schedule, with the six teams in the county playing each other three times. Miller Place meets Smithtown twice more, including the regular-season finale May 19 at Miller Place High School.

Mustangs could use Washkau

Here's someone the Mustangs could have used Friday night: Jared Washkau. You may remember him as one of the Mustangs' top players last year in what was just his sophomore year. Unfortunately for Mount Sinai his family moved to Jersey, so now he's a Highlander, playing for West Morris. Looks like he's doing pretty well.

From the Daily Record last week:
"Junior Jared Washkau put together his third 20-point performance of the season, finishing with 23, as the Highlanders' up-tempo game was too much for the Lancers."

The photo came from a loss to Morris Catholic in December. Photo from the Daily Record, by Ashley Twiggs.

It's too bad the Mustangs didn't have Washkau suiting up this year. He would have been worth a couple victories by himself. You don't see players changing teams very often in high school sports like in the pros or even college where players transfer all the time and some leave early for the pros. But it can happen.

Panthers win battle of locals, 58-47

MILLER PLACE—Matt Rodecker scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Miller Place boys basketball team to 58-47 win against League VI rival Mount Sinai Friday night. The Panthers improved to 4-1 in league after dropping their first game Tuesday on the road at Bayport-Blue Point.
The Panthers will travel to Amityville Tuesday for what should be a huge game in determining the League VI champion. A rough season continued for the Mustangs, who fell to 0-5 in league and 1-8 overall. Brian Shields led the Mustangs with 12 points.
Miller Place led by as many as 25 in the third quarter before Mount Sinai crept back against mostly the Panthers' subs.
More to come on www.northshoresun.com.

Welcome to the Sun Sports blog

You can’t venture onto the Internet these days without encountering a blog. So here’s another: The North Shore Sun Sports blog.

As you may have noticed for the Suffolk Division I football championship game between Longwood and William Floyd, Sun editor Grant Parpan kept a running diary (at least mostly until the second half become a bore) of all the action for those who didn’t want to splurge on the $6 admission. With the winter sports season now in full swing, it’s as good a time as ever to continue where we started with the blog. That means more information, analysis, pointless anecdotes, sad attempts at humor, yada, yada, yada.

Of course Grant is the news editor of the Sun, although he still helps out in sports at times, so most of the posting here will be done by yours truly. But the best part of a blog is the interaction it allows with the readers. That would be you. So I’d welcome you, plead with you, beg you to post comments to the posts. Offer up a thought, suggestion or criticism. Just keep it PG of course.

This is a work in progress, but I hope it catches on and you enjoy reading. There is always plenty of information that doesn’t make the final pages of the paper.

Now I’m off to get ready for Mt. Sinai vs. Miller Place hoops.