No matter which college team you root for, no one should deny the benefits to all of New York football when Syracuse University is playing well. 31 New Yorkers are currently on NFL rosters in 2022. Former pro football stars like Ron Jaworski, Boomer Esiason and even fan favorite Rob Gronkowski are all from the Empire State. Top names and the big teams always draw fans attention. That's why it's awesome when the Orange are playing well because upstate New York draws the attention of all of college football.
It's not easy to play college baseball in the northeast. The season officially starts in mid-February. Your home field is usually buried by six inches of icy snow. If you are lucky enough to practice outdoors, every batted ball comes with a nice sting, as the wind brings your eyes to tears. Fun stuff. That's why after tearing up America East pitching in 2022, a former University at Albany baseball star got signed by the New York Mets in July. This week he helped the single-A St. Lucie Mets win a championship.
OK, if your trophy is partying with a country star more than you are and you're a former NFL quarterback, something is wrong. We all know that trophies really can't get after it but for a good cause, they can certainly be used to have some fun. One former New York Jets quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner is using his collegiate celebration hardware to raise money for good causes.
Eli Manning's post-playing career has been entertaining, and in his newest endeavor, he went "back to school" to play a prank on Penn State football players.
For the second time in less than three years, Siena College will be looking for a new college president. The Loudonville, NY college of 3500 plus undergraduate students swore in a new leader in July of 2020, in the middle of the worst of the pandemic. Now, foreseeably on the other-side of the societal shut-down, former U.S. Congressman, Chris Gibson is stepping down as president of the college after this academic year is completed.
Tuesday morning was media training with yours truly giving the presentation to the University at Albany football team. 100 players packed into the academic center, where the team generally holds training camp team meetings. The UAlbany Great Danes are preparing to take on 10th-ranked Baylor on September 3rd, so information had to be quick and to the point. Plus, one Great Danes player was about to learn that he earned something incredibly special.
Being a coach's son or daughter, it has its advantages and disadvantages. When you are a coaching legend's child expectations can often be, well, legendary. Syracuse hoops fans had some of those projections satisfied on Tuesday, when their head coach, Jim Boeheim's sons took the court in the NBA Summer League for the Detroit Pistons.
Whenever you see a 29 year-old make his Major League debut, it is special. Baseball fans, coaches and players know that you have to endure a lot to crack the big leagues at that later stage. It's even more special when that player grew up in the Capital Region and played his college baseball at Siena.
On Friday, Gatorade honored their 37th annual class of the nation’s best student-athletes. The award recognizes those with outstanding athletic excellence, high standards of academic achievement, as well as exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. This year's New York State Baseball Player of the Year is from Troy High School.
Nineteen is an age where you are supposed to have your entire life of hopes and dreams ahead of you. When you are a star lacrosse player for a university in the extremely competitive Division I Colonial Athletic Association, you have a lot to look forward to. On Monday, tragedy struck the UMass lacrosse program, involving one of their bright young players.
It's difficult to take a tragic situation and turn it into a positive. On Sunday, the baseball community in Bethlehem, New York tried to do just that. In honor of Lazar LaPenna, the 10-year-old boy that lost his life while playing Little League at the end of April due to seizure, Tri Village Little League hosted a #BatsOutForLazar baseball clinic open to all Capital Region boys and girls 5-12 years-old for only $5.