NYSPHSAA

With the transition indoors for winter sports season, the transition back to wearing masks follows, according to the state of New York.

There are 5 Section II high school football champions playing this Friday and Saturday on their road to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse to play for a New York State Public High School Championship. That was the goal for each of these programs to start the season. They are the only 5 teams left from Section II. So, what do we know about the teams they are facing? We'll start with the A & AA matchups.

Ten of the top Section II high school football teams in their Classes faced off this weekend for their championships. Surprises are plenty this time of year. Regular season dominators, like undefeated Shaker High School, fell to red hot teams like Shenendehowa in the AA semi-finals. Then there were teams like Ravena that got pounded by Glens Falls 42-0 in the last week of the regular season, only to turn around the next week and see Ravena upset Glens Falls 35-28 in the semis. That's what happens in mid November in high school football. Friday and Saturday teams played for the crowns.

Nassau County on Long Island is full of powerful high school football programs. Section VIII features some programs that are way better than others. High school athletic directors in the area got together to do something about lopsided victories and the potential of coaches running up the score on teams. What if those same rules were applied to Section II games this year? How many Capital Region high school coaches would face discipline?

My perspective may be tainted from working in mid-major Division I college athletics for a long time. I do believe in free enterprise. However isn't high school, even more than college is about educating our youth enabling them to be better adults? Should we have a 14 year old thinking about making a profit on his or her basketball skills or using those abilities to help make their team better? I'm not sure there is a right or wrong answer with this one. I just know it begs a question.

No decision made yet on regular season

We've covered pretty extensively the rise of 518sports and 518sports.com. These are local high school kids who are working to gain traction in the competitive field of sports journalism. This group of journalists, which has student-reporters all across the Capital Region, has also begun expanding out from print into the audio world...

It was widely speculated that Niskayuna graduate and 2015 first-round draft pick Garrett Whitley would begin the second year of his professional career with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the New York-Penn League, and now it is confirmed by the Daily Gazette...

It was June 1, 2008 (I think), and we were the No. 1 seed in the Section II playoffs, having completed a great regular season. We were the No. 5 team in New York State for Class AA and we were playing Niskayuna, who had just beaten Amsterdam in a first-round game (we had a bye)...

Despite being on the road against one of the top programs in the country, the Coastal Carolina baseball team is headed to the College World Series in Omaha! The Chanticleers swept LSU to win the Baton Rouge Super Regional. Coastal's 4-3 win means that La Salle graduate Zach Remillard is headed to the College World Series as well...

The Queensbury baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A thanks to an unbeaten season thus far. The Spartans outscored opponents 27-0 in regional play to advance to the State Final Four this weekend in Binghamton. The group is coming off a state championship loss a year ago and will take on Wantagh in the state semifinal at 10 a...

When the LeMoyne College lacrosse team takes the field on Sunday in the NCAA Division II National Championship game against Limestone, they will be doing so with a pair of Shenendehowa graduates at the forefront in senior Mike Jenkins and junior Brain Rogers...