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Page 28 August 4, 2010 The Spotlight
Sports in the Spotlight
Sports Survey III
Well, here it is – Year 3 of the Spotlight Newspapers Sports Survey.
You know how this works by now. I give you a bunch of multiple choice questions, and you
select the answer that best fi ts your opinion. Then you send me your answers, I tally them up
and come up with a pithy article describing the results. It’s simple, it’s fun and it totally fi lls up
the sports pages. Clever, eh?
The hard part was determining this year’s theme. In the end, I decided to turn you – my
faithful readers – into prognosticators. And don’t worry about trying to be perfect like Paul the
Octopus was in picking World Cup results. This survey is meant to be a snapshot of current
Capital District sports fans’ opinions and nothing more. So relax, grab a pen and have at it.
1. How will the Siena Saints do in their fi rst
year after Fran McCaffery’s departure?
A. NCAA Tournament appearance
B. NIT appearance
C. Winning record
D. .500 or worse record
2. Was Mitch Buonaguro the right choice to
replace McCaffery at Siena?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Not sure
3. Which former Siena basketball player
will be the fi rst to stick and stay with an NBA
team?
A. Kenny Hasbrouck
B. Edwin Ubiles
C. Jack McClinton
D. None of the above
4. Which local college basketball program has
a brighter future?
A. Siena
B. University at Albany
C. Other
5. Which local college hockey team will get
to the NCAA Tournament sooner?
A. RPI Engineers
B. Union Dutchmen
C. Skidmore Thoroughbreds
D. None of the above
6. Can RPI and Union reach elite status in the
NCAA hockey world?
A. Yes – their coaches are young and talented
enough to do it
B. No – their coaches can’t compete for the
talent needed to do it
C. Not sure
7. How many years will the Albany Devils be
here (lease length is fi ve years)?
A. More than 5 years
B. 3-5 years
C. 1-3 years
8. How will the Albany Devils do?
A. Calder Cup contender
B. Playoff team, but will be ousted in the fi rst
or second round
C. Non-playoff team
9. Which minor league team has the best
chance to thrive in the Capital District?
A. Albany Devils (AHL)
B. Albany Legends (IBL)
C. Tri-City ValleyCats (New York-Penn
League)
10. What pro sports league would succeed in
the Capital District?
A. Major League Lacrosse
B. Arena Football League
C. NBA Development League
D. None of the above
11. What major national/international
sporting event could this region successfully
bid for?
A. NCAA Basketball Tournament
B. NCAA Hockey Tournament
C. United States Olympic Trials
D. 2022 Winter Olympics (in conjunction with
Lake Placid)
12. Who will run the Saratoga Race Course
meet in 2011?
A. NYRA
B. A private company
C. A state-run organization
13. What should be the maximum length for
the Saratoga racing season?
A. 6 weeks
B. 7 weeks
C. 8 weeks
14. How many more years will the New York
Giants train at UAlbany?
A. 1 year
B. 2-3 years
C. 4 or more years
15. What will be the fastest-growing
spectator sport in this decade?
A. Soccer
B. Lacrosse
C. Hockey
Now that you’ve answered the questions, mail your responses to Spotlight Newspapers, P.O.
Box 100, Delmar 12054. Your responses need to reach my desk by Monday, Aug. 30 to be counted
in this year’s results. The poll will also be available on-line at www.spotlightnews.com from July
21 through Aug. 29. On-line responses can be e-mailed to jonasr@spotlightnews.com.
Thanks for
participating!
Area athletes
earn medals
Loux continues
wrestling
dominance
The following athletes
competed in individual
events at the Empire
State Games July 21-25 in
Buffalo.
Bowling
Masters division
Roberta Fox (Delmar)
– fourth place team
competition, 3,001 pins;
fourth place women’s
trio, 1.409 pins; 14 th place
women’s all around, 1,755
pins; 14 th place mixed
doubles, 913 pins; 15 th
place women’s singles,
397 pins
Canoe/kayak
Chad Staubach
(Altamont) – silver medal
two-man canoe 200, 52.39;
bronze medal four-man
kayak 500, 1:58.42; bronze
medal men’s single canoe
200, 53.99; bronze medal,
two-man canoe 500, 2:15.63;
fi fth place two-man kayak
200, 55.85
Lawrence Staubach
(Altamont) – bronze
medal four-man kayak
500, 1:58.42; fourth place
two-man kayak 200, 50.35;
sixth place men’s single
kayak 200, N/A; fourth
place two-man kayak 500,
2:08.74; sixth place men’s
single kayak 500, 2:44.53
Lucas Staubach
(Altamont) – bronze
medal four-man kayak 500,
1:58.42; fi fth place two-man
kayak 200, 55.85
Jesse Chartier
(Voorheesville) – gold
medal, two-man canoe 500,
2:06.19; silver medal twoman
canoe 200, 52.39
Alexandra Loucks
(Altamont) – bronze medal
women’s four-person
kayak 500, 2:56.39; fourth
place two-person kayak
500, 1:10.92; fifth place
women’s kayak single 200;
1:32.91
Cycling
Open division
Matt Goedeke (Delmar)
– silver medal, team
standings, 1,846 points;
16 th place, men’s road race,
3:15:26; 35 th place, men’s
time trial, 24:18.72
■ Medals Page 27
Fenway Follies
with Bill & Rob
If New York City
is “the greatest city From the
in the world,” how
S come so many of
its residents leave ports
there on summer
weekends? While Desk
you’re pondering Rob Jonas
that, it’s time to
move on…
File this under the title, “Bill and Rob’s Not-soexcellent
Adventure.”
I went to visit my friend (and former Spotlight
Newspaper editor) Bill Fonda and his wife, Suzi, last
weekend outside Boston. The highlight of this annual
trip was to be my fi rst Fenway Park experience, as Bill
had acquired two tickets for last Friday’s Red Sox-Detroit
Tigers game.
First of all, for those of you who have never been to
Fenway Park, it is best to use public transportation to
get there. From what I could tell, parking lots are almost
non-existent near the stadium. There was one lot, but to
get to it, you had to navigate through the mass of Red
Sox paraphernalia-wearing Bostonians.
Bill and I rode the Boston subway system’s red line
from the Braintree terminal to a stop in the heart of
the city, then changed trains to get to the area around
Fenway. It was a telling moment when the red line train’s
conductor said as we got off at the Park Street station,
“Go get ‘em, Red Sox fans.” Being born and raised
New Yorkers, I think we both threw up a little bit in our
mouths when he said that.
It was also the last smooth ride we had on the red
line that night. More on that later…
When we got inside Fenway Park, we discovered one
of its quirks — beams. As in big, green, steel beams that
could make watching a baseball game nearly impossible.
Fortunately, our seats were next to a beam, not directly
behind it. Unfortunately, an elderly couple got planted
behind that beam. And another person got separated
■ Fenway Page 27