Albany Events

Thursday night there was a slate of 8 Section 2 girls basketball championship games, just prior to the impending storm. As snow dumped on the Capital Region on Friday, Section 2 wasted no time to quickly reschedule the day's slate of games. Let's start with the rescheduled games and then we'll recap Thursday night.

As the pending snowstorm targets the Capital Region on Friday, local high school basketball teams are trying to make their weekend mean something in the Section 2 championships. On Wednesday, there were 8 games on the schedule in boys basketball and another 8 for the girls.

The question is no longer 'when will Kyrie Irving be allowed to play home games in Brooklyn?' The question is now, when? New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been steadfast over the past 24 hours that vaccine mandates in the Big Apple are about to go away.

Coaches tell their players all of the time, you never know. If you do your jobs, play smart and execute properly, good things happen, like a #13 seed can upset a #3 seed on their home floor. That's why you play the games. Upsets happen in the NBA. They happen more often in college and certainly more than that in high school sports. Tuesday night had a few examples in the Section 2 championships.

The Major League baseball owners and the MLB Players Association met again on Tuesday. It was announced afterward that "little progress" was made. However, realistically, each step of progress will usher the two sides towards an eventual agreement. And, it may be sooner than we are being led to believe.

2s-day, 2-2-22 is a pretty cool day to celebrate one of the greatest sporting events in U.S. Olympic history and it occurred just up the road from the Capital Region. The "Miracle on Ice" happened 4(2) years ago 2 the day in Lake Placid! Few moments in the memory banks of viewers lucky enough witness and hear ABC-TV's Al Michaels ask the english speaking world, "Do you believe in miracles?"

As the stalemate between the Major League owners and the MLB Players Association continues, so does the pursuit of a coveted 40-man big league roster spot for over 3000 minor league baseball players. So, the New York Yankees Tampa facility is still buzzing this spring, except for about one third of their players...

There were nasty snow squalls mixed in with some bone-chilling wind but that didn't stop the teams playing on the first sectional Saturday of 2022. The Section 2 high school basketball championships continued on schedule. There were 16 games on the docket, all in girls basketball.

Section 2 Basketball Championship play got underway on Thursday and there was a short slate of games on Friday night. There were 3 Friday games for the boys side and 5 games on the girls side. Since they have a huge slate of games on Saturday, we will start with girls basketball.

When today's large rock bands, with elaborate stage shows and video backgrounds that synchronize with the music, they have to find a place to work out the kinks before playing in front of sell-out crowds. Albany's MVP Arena seems to be just the place for one of the music industries hottest artists. On Thursday, John Mayer kicked off his "Sob Rock" tour in downtown Albany but Mayer and his massive stage crew showed up four days early to get things right.

It's time to breakout your favorite high school sweatshirt or hat. You old rivalries are heating up. Mid-February means the best in Capital Region high school basketball will be battling it out in the Section 2 boys and girls basketball tournament. Tournament play starts on Friday. Let's start with the boys and the Class AA Bracket. Will #1 Green Tech run the table or will #2 seeded Niskayuna have eyes of their own on the title?

Former New York Giants tight end McKenna Sean Pascoe played 7 years in the NFL, except nobody knew him by that name. Now, Bear Pascoe, yes, they know that name. Pascoe wasn't an offensive specialist, catching first down passes over the middle on a regular basis. He amassed 40 receptions and 2 touchdowns over 85 games. One very cool stat, Bear won a Super Bowl with the Giants 10 years ago over the Patriots. He'll certainly never forget that.

The story continues to become clearer through murky details and testimony provided from a trial of a sadder story. What really happened to that young dominant right-handed pitcher that owned the City of New York? No, not Dwight Gooden, the one that they called The Dark Night, Matt Harvey. It now appears that the same drug may have taken down both prominent young Mets aces, Gooden and Harvey.

When a murder happens, it is big unwanted news and it usually takes time for the details for the details to trickle out. When the alleged crime involves two employees at an exclusive country club in the Hamptons, the details can take a little longer. When the alleged killer was caused the death of his boss, the details become more intricate.

When it comes to games of chance, percentages and odds always play out. That is why most casinos don't go out of business. And the ones that do, have something wrong with their numbers. Take that as you may. So when one upstate New York lottery dealer sells 3 multi-state Powerball winning tickets in less than two months, something is going right. The numbers appear to be playing out well at a New York Lottery dealer in the town of Fishkill, New York.

The Super Bowl has come and gone. Most years, Major League Baseball players would be flocking to Florida and Arizona to begin spring training. That is not happening now due to this insane lockout. It may be a while before the Major League owners and the MLB Players Association get on the same page. However, some MLB players are putting aside the noise and are focused on getting healthy. One of them could be a very important piece to the 2022 New York Yankees starting rotation and that is clearly where he wants to be.

On Thursday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced the adoption of the universal DH rule for 2022. Now National League pitchers will no longer have to hit. So, who will fill that role with the Mets? Given the New York's endlessly deep pockets, thanks to billionaire owner Steve Cohen's determination to bring a winning team to Cit Field, there are quite a few roads to pursue an answer. The Amazin's have several internal designated hitter options, given the number of defensively challenged players that fill their current 40-man roster. At times, superstar right-handed pitcher Jacob deGrom has been the best hitter in the Mets line-up, making this question even more interesting.

The one person that may benefit the most out of the Joe Schoen/Brian Daboll era with the New York Giants is quarterback Daniel Jones. The young quarterback has had a rough road as he enters his fourth season with his third head coach. That isn't a great ratio of stability, for one that plays a position that is supposed lead your $4.85 billion franchise. In order to make the most of this new opportunity, Jones reached out to the guy that did pretty well with Brian Daboll at his side in Buffalo.

There are some very good memories of Odell Beckham, Jr. in a New York Giants uniform and some not so good ones, as well. The blazing speed and one handed grabs were often offset by fights on the sidelines with kicking nets or party boat pictures days before a crucial playoff match-up against the Green Bay Packers. Going on national television and taking shots at two time Super Bowl MVP quarterback, Eli Manning ,seemed to be the plane ticket out of town. Beckham, Jr. had worn out his welcome with the fans in New York but it seems maybe not the players.

Super Bowl parties are always great times to lay down some cool football facts to impress your friends and family. Now, it can be fun to start with a Tom Brady rapid fire of Super Bowl records that the G.O.A.T. holds, like Career SB Passes Completed - 277; Most SB Career Pass Attempts - 421; Game Pass Attempts - 62 in SB LI; Game Completions - 43 SB LI; Game Passing Yards - 505 SB LII; Career Passing Yards - 3039 (that is amazing); And Career Passing Touchdowns - 21. There are more Tom Brady records but those are the fun ones. Now for some deep dives!

As Yankees legendary shortstop Derek Jeter tells it, in the spring of 1992 Williams stood up for, a then 19-year-old, Jeter against an older veteran infielder that was hazing the newcomer. Jeter said that Williams 'saved' him. That moment cemented a life-long friendship. On Monday, it was Jeter that made the announcement of Gerald Williams passing on Twitter.

Matt Harvey was the starting pitcher for the National League at the 2013 All-Star game played at Citi Field. The good looking right-handed hurler dated super-models and appeared on all of the late night television shows. Then, as quickly as it all came for Harvey, it slipped away and hasn't stopped slipping.

Scott Marr has built an amazing Division I lacrosse program at the University at Albany. Multiple men's lacrosse NCAA tournament games have been played on campus to an unprecedented response from fans. The Great Danes lacrosse faithful didn't go unnoticed. The Premier Lacrosse League has brought professional lacrosse to Tom & Mary Casey twice. Each time being a huge success. This tour might even be a little better!

The simple answer is, 'yes.' Is it a long shot that the Giants will actually be in a position to add the quarterback in pursuit of Super Bowl victory #8? Of course it is but this is sports, so never say never. On Monday, the far-fetched dream of TB12 playing for Big Blue maybe stayed alive, just a little. On his SiriusXM show “Let’s Go!”, co-host Jim Gray asked Tom Brady about the possibility of returning to football. Now it's Tom Brady's show. Jim Gray isn't asking ANY questions that Tom doesn't want to field.

The Belmont Stakes will run on June 11th and tickets will go on sale this Thursday at 10 a.m. You can purchase tickets on Ticketmaster.com. Attendance will be limited to 50,000 fans instead of the pre-COVID-19 pandemic capacity of 90,000. Highlighted by the 154th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, the oldest and most challenging track of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will begin on Thursday, June 9th.

On Friday, the Nassau Coliseum turns 50 years-old. Every major musician from Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Paul McCartney, to Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, U2, Matallica, Billy Joel and some form of the Grateful Dead 44 different times, targeted a concert run at the Nassau Coliseum. It's an intimate venue to play with 14,000 of your best friends.

A week from Sunday is Super Bowl LVI. A few days after the NFL's biggest game, Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers were scheduled to begin spring training. The first is happening. The second is less than doubtful. Given the temperature of baseball fans these days and the ever dwindling numbers, somebody had better start talking.

As New York Giants owner John Mara and new general manager Joe Schoen tried to defend their hiring process against allegations made by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, new Giants head coach Brian Daboll continued to build his coaching staff. In the process, Daboll made Big Blue history.

This was a difficult decision. I understand that if Stony Brook wins the America East men's basketball tournament, number one seeded Vermont will not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The country will be listening to CBS commentators sayings something like "...and Stony Brook will be leaving the America East for the CAA in the fall..." That is hard to choke down for any member institution.

Play Airlines out of Iceland will begin service between New York Stewart International Airport and Europe on June 9th of this year. The very cool thing is they are offering a great promotional rate but you have to book by February 7th for dates in the fall. The airline will provide service to select European cities through its hub in Iceland.