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Page 24 January 2, 2008 Spotlight Newspapers
Varsity
schedule
Thursday, Jan. 3
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Berlin at Loudonville Christian,
5:30 p.m.
BOYS BOWLING
Ballston Spa at Shaker, 4 p.m.
Mohonasen at Colonie, 4 p.m.
GIRLS BOWLING
Mohonasen at Colonie, 4 p.m.
BOYS SWIMMING
Mohonasen/Schalmont at
Shaker, 4:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
Shaker at Rutland (Vt.), 5 p.m.
Ballston Spa at Colonie, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 4
BOYS BASKETBALL
Heatly at Loudonville Christian,
7 p.m.
Bethlehem at Colonie, 7:30 p.m.
Shaker at CBA, 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Colonie at Bethlehem, 7:30 p.m.
Shaker at Ballston Spa, 7:30 p.m.
HOCKEY
CBA at Canton, 7 p.m.
Shaker/Colonie at Auburn
Tournament, TBA
Saturday, Jan. 5
GYMNASTICS
Saratoga at Shaker, 10 a.m.
HOCKEY
CBA at Potsdam, 1 p.m.
Shaker/Colonie at Auburn
Tournament, TBA
INDOOR TRACK
Colonie at Hispanic Games,
9 a.m.
Shaker at Southern Tier Classic,
TBA
BOYS SWIMMING
Shaker at Amsterdam diving
meet, 9 a.m.
WRESTLING
Colonie at Ilion Tournament,
TBA
Shaker at Cohoes, 10 .am.
Sunday, Jan. 6
INDOOR TRACK
Colonie, Shaker at Williams
College, 8:30 a.m.
Monday, Jan. 7
BOYS BASKETBALL
Doane Stuart at Loudonville
Christian, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Loudonville Christian at
Germantown, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 8
BOYS BASKETBALL
Amsterdam at CBA, 7:30 p.m.
Averill Park at Colonie, 7:30 p.m.
Mohonasen at Shaker, 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Colonie at Averill Park, 7:30 p.m.
Shaker at Mohonasen, 7:30 p.m.
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Sports Spotlight
in the
25 things I still like about sports
With all of the steroid scandals,
player arrests and other bad
behavior by players and coaches,
the good things about sports
tend to get overshadowed. So it’s
good once in a while to remind
ourselves what makes watching
sports fun.
I sat down at the computer and
came up with a list of the 25 things
that are still good about sports.
Granted, this is not a defi nitive
list, and your choices may be
different. But I think these are
things we should all keep in mind
the next time a baseball star is
accused of using human growth
hormones or a young NBA player
is arrested for an altercation in
front of a club at 2 a.m.
In no particular order …
The fi rst day of high school
fall team practices. There is an
optimism on every field and
the anticipation of crisp autumn
evening games when these
squads start practicing that make
the dog days of August feel a
little less hot and humid. You
don’t get that when winter teams
start practicing because the fall
season is still going on, and you
don’t get that when spring teams
start practicing because they’re
often inside gymnasiums while
the fi elds thaw from a late-winter
snowstorm. Plus, it jolts me back
into action after taking it easy for
10 weeks.
Friday night football games.
Yes, there are far more games
played on Friday night than
Saturday afternoon around
Section II. But there’s still
something about playing under
the lights that brings out the
best in both the players and the
fans. Perhaps it’s the “spotlight
effect” (no pun intended) – which
states that a high school athlete
must get more psyched up when
a light shines on him or her in
the dark – that creates such
an atmosphere. Or maybe it’s
knowing that you’re playing in
front of family, friends and a
good chunk of your community
From the
S Desk
ports
Rob Jonas
that does it. Either way, it’s an
electric evening (again, no pun
intended).
Sectional/state championship
games. This correlates to the
atmosphere of a Friday night
football game, except that the
stakes are much higher and
everyone’s emotions are ratcheted
up 10 levels. The players push
themselves to performances
that can sometimes border on
legendary status. Coaches can
become so demonstrative that
you actually fear their heads will
explode if one more call goes
against their teams. Fans react
to every play like the fate of their
world hinges on what happens
next. You just can’t beat that, at
least at the local level.
Saratoga Race Course.
Honestly, is there a better place
to be in the Capital District on
an August afternoon than the
oldest thoroughbred track in the
United States? Great racing, great
weather (usually) and a great
atmosphere. And you don’t even
have to be trackside to have a
good time. Just pack a cooler and
hang out in the picnic area behind
the grandstand all day. You’ll get
a better view of the horses as
they’re led through the paddock
than if you stood in the pack along
the rail near the fi nish line, and
you might make some friends
with the group next to you.
Seeing a local player/team
make it on the national stage.
In other regions of the United
States, this wouldn’t be a big deal
because so many athletes and/or
teams from their cities and towns
play on the national stage. But
when Niskayuna’s André Davis
returns a kickoff 97 yards for a
Houston Texans touchdown or
the University at Albany men’s
basketball team beats Vermont
for the America East title on
national television (two years in
a row, I might add), it’s a big deal
around here. Seriously, is there
a Capital District resident who
doesn’t remember where they
were the day Siena upset Stanford
at the 1989 NCAA Tournament? I
remember where I was — in the
family room of my parents’ house
thinking this was the greatest
thing to ever happen to the town
of Colonie.
Mid-major college teams.
Other people like following major
NCAA Division I teams like
Duke, North Carolina, Michigan,
Southern California and so on. But
growing up in the Capital District,
I have more of an affection toward
the mid majors like Siena and
UAlbany. There’s something
about watching a mid-major
team play a major program that
makes me automatically pull for
the smaller school. Heck, I’ll root
for Gonzaga (which is bordering
on becoming a major basketball
program) if it’s playing against
someone like Florida or Syracuse.
It’s just fun to pull for the smaller
school in that battle.
Nutty student cheering
sections. Nothing adds fl avor to
a sporting event like a creative
cheering section. Look at what
the Cameron Crazies do for the
Duke men’s basketball team at
home games. Besides creating
a near-constant soundscape,
they get inside the heads of
the opposing players by fi nding
one little thing about them or
their school and chanting it at
them. A little mean spirited?
Perhaps. But it’s still better than
seeing people sit on their hands.
Locally, we’re starting to catch
on with such student sections
as Bethlehem’s BC Hooligans
(the only known soccer-specifi c
section I’ve seen), Guilderland’s
Red Sea and Mohonasen’s Black
Hole.
Mascots. I know they can
be an annoyance to the serious
sports fan. But a good mascot
can add something to the live
sporting experience. How can
anyone hate the Philly Phanatic?
I mean, he’s goofy looking, and he
can sometimes block your view
of the fi eld with his big, green
body. But he also pokes fun at
the umpires, the visiting players
and the opposing team’s coaches
in that good-natured, wouldn’treally-harm-a-fly
sort of way.
Also, it’s fun to see a mascot get
a come-uppance once in a while.
Anytime Syracuse’s Otto the
Orange gets pummeled on a “This
is SportsCenter” commercial,
I can’t help but laugh. Maybe I
secretly hate walking oranges. I
don’t know.
The Super Bowl. This is
simply the greatest American
sports spectacle. First, there’s
the two weeks of hype leading up
to the game. Then, there is the
four-hour pregame show where
every aspect of the match-up is
analyzed to the fi nest point – that
is, if there is time between the
player profi les, the tear-jerking
feature on the struggles of an
athlete’s family and the guest
appearances from celebrities paid
by the network to come on to the
set and yap about their upcoming
projects and a little about football.
Follow that up with an overthe-top
national anthem and a
halftime concert by a legendary
(or washed up) music act, and
there you have it. Oh yeah, there’s
also a game involved somewhere
in all of that.
Spring training. Nothing
gives us Northeasterners hope
that spring is around the corner
quite like the day when pitchers
and catchers report to their
Florida and Arizona training
facilities. The hot stove can cool
off as baseball fans start analyzing
their teams’ chances to win the
World Series (unless you root
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