The words Bob Gibson doesn’t pop up in many football conversations, and it’s not because he shares the same first and last name with that baseball pitching great.
Gibson, an offensive coordinator, left the National Football League in 1978, never to return...
It happened on a Tuesday, on election night, out of view of most of sports nation, but by Wednesday the words LeMoyne 82, Syracuse 79 were on everyone’s lips, and lots of snickers and potshots were being delivered the way of the Orange.
They were all deserved, at least in the short term. No team of SU’s caliber, regardless of all the big missing pieced it needs to replace in 2009-10, should ever, ever lose to a Division II foe, even one that plays lights-out the way the crosstown Dolphins did.
Of course, Chaminade once beat Ralph Sampson and Virginia. And by the time Big East play starts, this will all be a faint memory (except to LeMoyne alums) as full attention turns back to college basketball again.
This has not been a smooth off-season...
Mid-November, and we've been a bit spoiled around here. Aside from that cold snap around the start of the month, it's been rather quiet, even warm at times.
Football likes to romanticize its toughness, its willingness to play in all elements, through all levels of pain. Yet the elements part was missing for the five regional games played last weekend in the Southern Tier, so it just came down to who was better - or would play better on that particular day.
From the Section III side, three teams would prove successful, all on Saturday - Whitesboro in Class A, Baldwinsville in Class AA, Westhill in CLass B...
What had started, earlier this week, as a possible struggle for all of Section III's championship soccer teams in the state playoffs turned out quite well by the time Saturday rolled around.
The first bits of regional play took place Tuesday, both on the girls side, against Section II foes. First-time Class A champion Jamesville-DeWitt met Burnt Hills, and Watertown IHC faced Mechanicville.
Neither the Red Rams nor Cavaliers would win. IN J-D's case, the painful resolution came through a penalty-kick shoot-out, and what made it worse was the fact that Burnt Hills would go on to reach the final four.
As for IHC, it only hoped to reach overtime, but it didn't quite happen as Mechanicville topped them 2-1. And you guessed it, Mechanicville also reached the semifinals...
Sharp contrasts could be made just over what happened to Section III athletes in cross country and field hockey when they ventured into the state championship realm on Saturday.
For the runners, it was nothing but good stuff in the NYSPHSAA state meet at SUNY-Plattsburgh, especially from Fayetteville-Manlius, which won both ends of the Class AA competition again.
Even without Alex Hatz, the Hornets rode the steady efforts of Brendan Farrell, Paul Merriman, Mark McGurrin, Andrew Roache and Joe Hartnett (all in the top 30) to overcome favored North Rockland and win, 48 points to 63...
Tonight, when Chicago and San Francisco kick it off, so begins the second half of the NFL regular season for everyone not named Giants or Texans.
So it's a good time to take stock, see where we are, and make bold, exciting predictions for the two months ahead...or maybe just shut up and watch them play it out.
AFC East - Just like old times, with New England in charge and everyone else paying rent. Oh, the Jets teased us in September with that 3-0 start and a win over the Patriots, but October brought reality for Rex Ryan and all the Gang Green partisans that have been teased before. No tease in Miami, just a Dolphin squad that can't find any consistency outside the running game...
They are having fun at the University of Cincinnati. Once a football afterthought, the Bearcats are now the ruling kings of the Big East, powering to a second straight conference title. Oh yeah, and they’re unbeaten.
Maybe you haven’t heard much of Texas Christian University, but you ought to. The Horned Frogs of Fort Worth play some of the best defense in the country, and are mauling the rest of the Mountain West. And they’re unbeaten.
Up amid the mountains and blue turf of Idaho, Boise State continues its dynastic run atop the Western Athletic Conference, trashing foes left and right with what could be its best all-around team...
