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Your 15 Eagle Newspapers community weeklies are archived here, in PDF format. Search now! |
Weekly Column: The NFL Starts Again
Posted by pblackwell | 09/04/08
Here’s the dirty secret about the National Football League – whatever you might think at the start of September, the full truth doesn’t emerge for four months – at least.
Really, could anyone have foreseen the Giants’ run a season ago? In going to Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay to snag the NFC championship, then venturing to the Arizona desert to deny the New England Patriots perfection in Super Bowl XLII, Big Blue matched Pittsburgh’s late ascendance to the crown two years earlier.
And it’s impossible to tell, right now, which team will weave that kind of magic in 2008-09. In the meantime, it’s best to scan the divisions and search for possible clues, especially with so many teams dealing with serious injury concerns...
CATEGORY: Football (American)
TAGS: NFL, season, preview
Our Special Section
Posted by pblackwell | 09/02/08
Beginning next week - Sept. 10, to be exact - Eagle Newspapers will present the high school football season in a whole new way.
"Gridiron Round-Up" will be a 12-page section that will summarize each week of high school football at 15 different locales that cover our area.
Baldwinsville, CNS, Liverpool, Jordan-Elbridge, Westhill, Solvay, West Genesee, Skaneateles, Marcellus, F-M, J-D, ESM, CBA, Bishop Ludden, Bishop Grimes, Cazenovia - they will all be covered with game recaps, statistics and commentary from our coaches.
And there will be plenty of action photography, too - and on that front, we humbly ask for your help...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Gridiron Round-Up, photos, help
Weekend Recap
Posted by pblackwell | 09/02/08
So high school sports has started, with football teams going through the grind of a scrimmage and those in other sports getting into full-blown action.
The first serious wave was generated Thursday, when Fayetteville-Manlius nearly saw its girls tennis win streak of 14 years ended by Baldwinsville, needing comebacks in two doubles matches to squeak out a 4-3 decision over the Bees.
Then, on to the weekend, where B'ville dominated its own girls soccer Kickoff Classic and the boys, defending the AA title, knocked off Red Creek 1-0, and even the boys golf Bees went unbeaten through the weekend. Also, Cortland's girls had a strong start to its Class A title defense, beating archrival Homer 2-1...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: opening weekend, college football, U.S. Open, Singh, Gustav, Palin
Witnesses to History
Posted by pblackwell | 08/29/08
A day later, the mind and the heart still marvels at what we all saw in a football stadium in Denver - and it had nothing to do with the Broncos.
We see it every four years - the presidential nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties getting up in front of thousands of partisans and millions watching at home to accept their bid and tell their story.
See it long enough, and often enough, and even one of the great rituals of our democracy becomes a numbing routine, especially with staged conventions planned to the nth degree so that absolutely nothing comes as a surprise.
Yet nothing in our recollections could possibly prepare for the flood of pride and emotion so many Americans felt when, just after 10 p.m...
CATEGORY: Government
TAGS: Obama, acceptance speech, history, Palin
Weekly Column: Setting the College Scene
Posted by pblackwell | 08/26/08
Perhaps more than any American sport other than baseball, college football touts tradition, nostalgia and yearly ritual as a selling point – which is both an asset and a liability.
It’s great in that you can count on frenzied crowds and enthusiastic Saturday afternoons (and evenings) of pulse-pounding action. Plus all those fierce rivalries that cap the journey, from Harvard-Yale and Ohio State-Michigan to Alabama-Auburn and Army-Navy.
Yet it’s bad in that the season always seems to end without satisfaction, thanks to the antiquated bowl system, the ever-changing BCS and the endless debate about which conference trumps the others. Plus, the overwrought Heisman Trophy speculation tends to obscure the great contributions of other players...
CATEGORY: Football (American)
TAGS: college football, preview, analysis
Particularly Proud
Posted by pblackwell | 08/25/08
So the Summer Olympics have ended in Beijing. By all accounts, the Chinese ran an efficient games and its people treated everyone quite well. Whether the nation changes and finds out that total freedom is not a bad thing is another matter.
Yet it can be said, without dispute, that if you had a rooting interest in those with Central New York ties, it was a particularly great 17 days.
It started with Lopez Lomong, the inspiring Sudanese refugee who came of age at Tully, carrying the U.S. flag at the opening ceremonies. So what if Lomong didn't make the 1,500-meter final - his mere presence elevated these Olympics, as he proved to be a a remarkable ambassador on and off the track. Even his foster parents from Tully got media attention...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Olympics, local heroes, medals, convention
Good Times..And A Good Choice
Posted by pblackwell | 08/24/08
A couple of days ago, I wrote with trepidation about what my 15-year reunion of the Maryvale High School Class of 1993 would look and feel like. Turns out, there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
From the moment I ascended the stairs at the Steer, a cool Buffalo establishment right down Main Street from UB's South campus, and got the first warm "It's Phil!" greeting, it was like being with family again.
What we quickly discovered was that 15 years had completely erased whatever lingering doubts or small resentments had existed.
We had all grown up, moved on, found careers, started families, and turned out quite well...
CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Maryvale, reunion, thoughts
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