Anne Delaney

Headed to Vancouver

2010-02-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

The first leg our journey to Vancouver-Whistler is complete.

I landed in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport about 45 minutes ago and already there have been two sightings of New Orleans Saints' hats. That didn't take long. It seems strange, the Saints treading on sacred Bears' territory. One guy said he was from Louisiana and was on his way to San Diego - Drew Brees' previous city - from Washington, D.C.

Speaking of Washington, D.C., our trip got off to an interesting start this morning. On the way to BWI, my sister's minivan got stuck in the snow. In a cul-de-sac. The van didn't look stuck but we were spinning our wheels after making a left turn up a small hill. These Mid-Atlantic region drivers are not very hearty.

They will be tested again today. I hear the power just went out.

This my second visit to O'Hare and I have yet to see the city of Chicago. Chicago's sites will have to wait.

It's onto Vancouver.

Delaney: Good ice for the Americans

2010-02-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

U.S. Olympic singles lugers Julia Clukey, Erin Hamlin and Megan Sweeney all drew 'A' seeds for the upcoming Winter Olympics outside of Vancouver, British Columbia.

By finishing in the Top 12 after races in Germany and Italy, the three Americans assured themselves of best ice conditions once they get onto the fast track in Whistler.

Delaney: Big win for Dolgeville girls....basketball

2010-02-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

The Dolgeville girls basketball team defeated previously unbeaten Little Falls 49-43 in overtime Wednesday. The result of the game is an upset, certainly. Using that word, though, might be doing a disservice to Dolgeville's effort.

They weren't lucky. They were smart.

Dolgeville played a full-court man-to-man press with some double teams thrown in to wear down Little Falls. The Mounties, who came into the game ranked No. xx in the state in Class C, have a short bench. Seven varsity players suit up for the defending Section III Class C-1 champions and coach Pam Munger knew they were vulnerable.

"That's what I'd play against us," Munger told me earlier in the year.

Olivia Tooley scored 20 points for Little Falls, Jordan Mitchell added 12 but Dolgeville's defense held 6-foot sophomore center Jenna Becker to six points in the Blue Devils' fifth-straight win and biggest in coach Lee Quackenbush's seven seasons.

"After the game the girls were so elated," said Quackenbush, a man of few words. "They worked so hard for this. This group (seniors) started in sixth grade. The seniors, we went into the game and we knew we had a shot."

The win moves Dolgeville to 5-5 in the league and 9-7 overall and is, for now, the signature moment of a lengthy rebuilding project. Instead of an end to the season, the Blue Devils basketball team joins its perennially talented volleyball team in the sectional playoffs.

In 2007-2008, Dolgeville didn't win a league game and only three overall. The team won just one league game last year but improved to seven wins. Dolgeville won a state girls basketball title in 1981 and the school dropped the sport the next year for nearly a decade.

"Because we're starting to win, I think people are starting to notice," Quackenbush said. "They talk more about basketball."

When Quackenbush came on board, he started an elementary school program with 16 to 20 kids. Seniors Sarah Reardon, Corinne Alling, Kassie Gonyea, Mary Deveny and Shelby Sutton were products of the program now with approximately 40 players in grades 3-6.

"This senior class is the first class out of that and you see a tremendous difference," Quackenbush said. "The fundamentals are there."

Delaney: SI predicts bronze for Hamlin

2010-02-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

Sports Illustrated, in its Olympic preview issue, picks Remsen's Erin Hamlin to earn a bronze in women's luge.

On page 95 of the Feb. 8 issue, Hamlin, the reigning women's World Champion, is third behind German sliders Tatjana Huefner and Natalie Geisenberger. There is a picture of Hamlin on page 76 accompanied by a short block of text.

If the magazine's pick comes true, the medal would be Hamlin's fourth and biggest bronze of the season. She finished third behind the German athletes in three World Cup races. No U.S. woman has won an Olympic luge medal.

Delaney: Former lugers remember

2010-02-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

An actor, an astronaut, an attorney and three businessmen.

Competing in luge apparently prepares a person for a variety of career choices. Erin Hamlin has something to look forward to after her sliding days are done.

Five USA Luge Honorary Olympic Team Captains spoke on a USA Luge conference call Wednesday afternoon and all will be at the Olympics next week.

"It's going to be U.S. (medal) sweep," joked Scott Parazynski, M.D., an emergency medicine trained astronaut who is the only person to have walked in space and climbed Mount Everest.

Actor Eric Mabius, currently playing Daniel Meade on the ABC TV series Ugly Betty, and attorney Ray Ocampo, who was the one-man Filipino Olympic luge team coached by Parazynski in 1988, were also on the call.

"It's more complicated and difficult than I thought it was," said Ocampo, who had dreams of being a U.S. Olympic marathon runner before an Achilles tendon injury. "You have to be strong enough to relax on the sled and relax as your zooming along."

Parazynski did not make the U.S. Olympic luge team in 1988 and then devoted himself to medicine. He has been on five Space Shuttle missions and seven space walks.

Mabius, whose show was recently canceled by ABC, was a member of the U.S. Junior National Team for three years before switching to acting.

"It's very hard to describe because it is so subtle and requires such finesse," Mabius said. "You're not going to see someone tighten a muscle group to steer at 96 miles per hour."

Delaney: Hollywood, where everyone wins

2010-02-02T17:55:00.001-08:00

Ten movies now get Academy Award nominations for Best Picture?

When did the Academy Awards get to be like youth and scholastic sports where everyone is recognized?

Delaney: No meaning in Pro Bowl

2010-01-31T19:46:00.000-08:00

What is the point of the NFL Pro Bowl?

Two of my colleagues glanced at the game Sunday evening. A glance is overkill. Why bother? The nature of the game makes the risk of injury too high for an end-of-year-exhibition. The players get bonuses for being selected. They don't need to play.

How about a change? Keep the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl. The winning conference's Super Bowl representative then gets to host the game the following week. Of course it would be a logistical nightmare for the league and host city to put on a game in seven days.

Nothing is going to make this game interesting. Give the players their checks and call it a day.

Delaney: Ice Bowl is nice (and cold) bowl

2010-01-30T19:57:00.000-08:00

I went to the Adirondack Ice Bowl in Old Forge on Saturday.

That's a pretty big assignment for a girl better suited to watching NFL Films of the 'Ice Bowl' in a cozy living room than actually covering one.

The ice hockey version on Fourth Lake was an 'Ice Bowl.' But a fun 'Ice Bowl.'

I spotted a temperature of 13-degrees on a clock in Old Forge on the way in. That's balmy from the minus-20, minus-30 I was hearing about during Friday's games. I could've stood wearing another layer or two but overall I was comfortable. It was a bright, sunny afternoon here and that helped tremendously.

The players, overall hockey players are a hearty lot, I'd say, were not bothered by the weather. They were my inspiration.

"It doesn't faze anyone," said Utica's Emerson Mish. "Once you get moving around you forget about the cold."

There were there for some old-style hockey. The concept was to bring guys, many from the Utica area, back to their hockey roots. Before sports became ultra-structured, kids played pick-up games in driveways, back yards, fields and ponds. Or at the Utica Marsh in the case of the 27-year-old Mish, a former minor league player.

Mish started skating when he was about 18 months old. Once he started playing, influenced by his brother and father, he regularly walked down Jason Street to the marsh. Mish played at Thomas R. Proctor and Notre Dame but finished high school at Canterbury Prep in Connecticut.

Three years of minor league hockey followed and now he's doing some construction work.

More than 140 players entered the tournament, made up of 24 six-man teams. That's a big jump from the first year when 16 three-man teams played at First Lake.

"It shows you can get 100-plus guys together, have a good time and play the game that they love," Mish said.

Delaney: Astronaut, actor honorary luge team captains

2010-01-28T20:14:00.000-08:00

An astronaut and an actor are honorary captains of the U.S. Olympic luge team.

Additional honorary team captains will be announced in the near future, according to a USA Luge release. For now, two former USA Luge athletes are set to return to the sport when they accompany the U.S. team to the Winter Olympics outside of Vancouver.

Dr. Scott Parazynski is a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions and seven space walks. Parazynski was Senator John Glenn's physician on the 1998 Space Shuttle Discover when the then-77-year-old Glenn became the oldest man to enter space. Parazynski, who attended Stanford, was a member of the U.S. Luge Development Team and finished in the Top 10 at the 1988 Winter Olympic Trials.

Eric Mabius, best known for his current work as Daniel Meade on the ABC television show 'Ugly Betty,' is the other honorary captain. Mabius was a member of the U.S. Junior Luge team from 1986-1988 and competed with current U.S. doubles team sliders Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin.

Delaney: Rome Catholic girls back in conversation

2010-01-28T18:44:00.000-08:00

The Rome Catholic girls basketball team's win over Hamilton Wednesday creates interesting scenarios in an area league and Section III Class D overall.

The Redwings' 48-39 road win over the Emerald Knights puts them right back in the hunt for the CSC Division III title after sweeping the season series, and maybe a contender for a sectional title.

Rome Catholic's path to both places got smoother because of an unfortunate injury at Oriskany.

Redskins senior guard Megan Serley is out for the season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament (knee) early in a Jan. 19 game against Morrisville-Eaton. Oriskany was undefeated when Serley got hurt and the Redskins lost their next game to Hamilton. Oriskany defeated Rome Catholic in the teams' first meeting, but they play again on Feb. 5, and if the Redwings win both schools will have two league losses.

Oriskany was my pick to win the Section III Class D title before Serley's injury. That was without information on Sackets Harbor or Copenhagen who are always competitive. Oriskany not only had Serley, but 6-foot freshman center Christina Graziadei and at the local level an inside-outside presence can take a team a long way.

Now, the Section III Class D title is wide open according to Rome Catholic coach Nick D'Argenio.

"The injury to Serley brings teams into the mix," D'Argenio said. "I don't think there is a clear cut team. (Frontier League) Sackets Harbor and Copenhagen are taking losses and beating each other."

Two of the teams in the mix are New York Mills and Madison, both in CSC IV, and Hamilton (4-3 CSC III, 8-6 through Thursday).

Rome Catholic (5-2, 7-6) was a mystery even to D'Argenio as recently as earlier this month. Then the Redwings went on a four-game winning streak and they seemed to show what the coach always knew was there. Kim Quinn and Samantha Strzepek both got in a groove at the same time, and the only recent bump in the road was a loss to Class C Onondaga earlier this week.

"I didn't know where we'd be," D'Argenio said of RCH before the win streak. "We lost to Madison at Madison and the team had no emotion. I didn't know where we were going at that point. I didn't know if we were a good team like I thought we were, or if we were 3-6 and couldn't beat anybody. Then we had a good practice and all of a sudden things fell into place."

Delaney: Luge doubles

2010-01-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

Did you ever wonder why there aren't any women's doubles luge sleds in World Cup races?

I was thinking the same thing so this week I finally asked USA Luge. I got an answer from a guy who ought to know: Brian Martin, a four-time Olympian and a member of one of the U.S. sleds going to Whistler, British Columbia next month for the Winter Olympics.

In luge there are men's singles, women's singles and doubles. The doubles are not gender specific, meaning a country can put anyone on a sled: men, women, or mixed doubles. The doubles sliders are at the team's discretion.

So why no women?

"I think one of the major factors is upper body strength," said Martin, who has Olympic silver and bronze medals with doubles partner Mark Grimmette. "Men being stronger and explosive at the start, it would be really difficult to compete if you didn't have a world class start. It's very difficult to win with a bad start and it's easy to lose with a good one. You need that speed out of the handles to be competitive."

Delaney: Hamlin and Americans training in Italy

2010-01-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

With a break in the World Cup luge schedule this week to allow for the European Championships, Erin Hamlin and her U.S. teammates are training in Italy in preparation for the final race before next month's Winter Olympics.

Some European nations are following a similar strategy. The Germans, Italians and Austrian Olympic sleds are foregoing the championships in Latvia in favor of team testing.

The Americans will use the extra time for extra runs on the Cesana, Italy track that hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics. The Italian track, the site the season's eighth World Cup series race Jan. 30-31, has similarities to the Whistler track outside of Vancouver where the Olympic luge competition will be Feb. 13-17.

"It's good to have a good week of training," Hamlin said. "This is a good build up to Whistler, the speed and the technical aspects to get a lot of runs on."

Racing on a technical track such as Cesana and Whistler requires more skill from the slider, more driving, to get a clean run. Hamlin said the athletes will get approximately 20 runs this week in Cesana and additional runs next week before the World Cup race.

Hamlin spoke on a conference call from near Cesana, in northwest Italy on the French border, with teammates Tony Benshoof, Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin. Benshoof, a Minnesota native, is USA Luge's all-time singles leader in international medals. Grimmette and Martin are a doubles team and are the U.S.'s all-time leaders in international medals with 65.

Grimmette, who is from Michigan, and Martin, from California, won a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and a bronze at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan.

"It's a difficult track and it requires you to be precise and comfortable with the equipment," Martin said.

Hamlin is not spending much time this week dwelling on the Olympics. The Games are four weeks away, and Hamlin is maintaining a week-by-week, one-race-at-a-time focus. She was ninth at Cesana last year.

"The tracks still have so many differences and we have a race next week that I'm thinking about more because I have to compete on that track in a week-and-a-half," Hamlin said.

Delaney: Hamlin sliding well on way to Whistler

2010-01-13T12:19:00.000-08:00

With four top 5 finishes in her last four World Cup series races, Erin Hamlin is sliding well heading into next month's Winter Olympics outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

But as to the reasons for Hamlin's recent consistent streak? Her guess is as good as mine.

"I really couldn't I really couldn’t’ tell you," Hamlin said Wednesday during a conference call with U.S. Luge teammates in Oberhof, Germany.

"I feel good on the sled and my sliding has felt good, too. Everything has come together and I've got the rhythm of the track. My first runs have been very good runs. I've been able to focus on the nit-picky small things."

In World Cup races, Hamlin said sliders get six runs on a track before racing. With a good first run line, it allows her to look at details of a run rather than thinking only about just getting down the track.

Another year of experience might also be a factor, she said.

Hamlin's recent performance comes at a good time. There are two more World Cup races before the Olympics. This weekend, the U.S. lugers are in Oberhof and in Cesana, Italy Jan. 30-31.

"It feels good," she said. "It gives me less to worry about and I want to focus on the extra things that give you one-thousandth of a second. Being on a consistent streak, where I haven't been is nice."

Hamlin earned her second World Cup series medal last weekend with a third-place finish in Winterberg, Germany. The reigning women's World Champion also got on the podium earlier this season with a third place in Lillehammer, Norway for her first World Cup medal.

The U.S. singles sliders arrive in Whistler on Feb. 9. The luge Olympic competition is Feb. 13-17 and the women's singles competition Feb. 15-16.

Hamlin has a good recent history at Whistler. She was fifth there in last year's final World Cup event.

For U.S. men's singles slider Tony Benshoof, of Minnesota, who was fourth at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, the Whistler comes close to reaching the limit for speed.

"It's a tough track, no question," said Benshoof, USA Luge's singles leader in international medals. "The track is the the fastest in the world, hands down. There's no debating that."

The length of the men's track at the Whistler Sliding Centre is 4,507 feet to 3,930 feet for the women's track and the distance makes a difference.

"They're going at 60 miles per hour by the time we enter at curve 3," Hamlin said. "We don't pick up speed until curves, 9 to 11. It's still a challenge, it's very technical. I like it and enjoy a more technical track. The men, for sure, have it a little tougher. I'm glad I'm a girl."

Delaney: Maybe steroids belong in the Hall

2010-01-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

With Mark McGwire being the latest former or current Major League Baseball player to admit to peformance-enhancing drug use, I am having trouble figuring out what the steroid era means for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

My first instinct is to declare players such as Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez or McGwire automatically ineligible. As Wade Boggs said in Cooperstown this summer, steroid use is cheating.

I began to consider a different perspective Monday night listening to ESPN coverage of McGwire's admission.

ESPN reporter and Hall of Fame voter Tim Kurkjian, who I think is a level-headed and responsible reporter, voted for McGwire in each of his four years of eligibility. Kurkjian said he will continue to vote for McGwire and did not eliminate the possibility of voting for players who admit to PED use because, in part, it is the era in which they played.

Kurkjian has a point. The steroid era, no matter how distasteful, is a part of baseball history. The Hall of Fame is a museum and is responsible for documenting baseball the history, for good and for bad.

Ignoring steroids in Cooperstown would be a disservice to the game.

Delaney: Camden's Smith reaches milestone

2010-01-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

It took a career high from standout swingman Ashley Roser to hold off a very good Holland Patent girls basketball team Tuesday. And with the Tri Valley League victory, Blue Devils' coach Jerry Smith earned his 200th career victory.

Roser, who is closing in on 1,000 career rebounds to go with 1,200-plus career points, scored 37 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in Camden's 78-69 win. Lindsay Jones added 22 points on five 3-pointers for Camden (5-2 TVL, 7-2 overall). Jones also had four assists and five steals.

"It makes me feel I was blessed with great athletes," said Smith, in his 19th season. "In the TVL, 200 wins means a lot because it's a tough conference."

The win did not come easily. Not by a long stretch. The much improved Golden Knights have five players in double figures. Nicole Dupuis scored 17 points and sisters Karlene and Allyson Freiermuth each had a double-double.

"That is the best Holland Patent team I've seen in 20 years," Smith said. "The best I've seen was tonight. We were running scared."

Delaney: Take the slippers, return the swimsuit

2010-01-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Ah, winter!

The post-holiday blues are easily soothed with sports on TV, fuzzy slippers, an overstuffed chair and.....the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition due out next month. I guess fuzzy slippers are optional there.

The annual glossy comes with an an out: subscribers not wanting the swimsuit issue can call 800-528-5000, tell SI they don't want the issue and SI will extend the subscription.

Take the extension, decline the swimsuit edition. It's passe and blantant sexism. In an age of equality, why doesn't SI publish a men's edition?

Delaney: Down The Middle Willie

2009-12-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

Some interesting people died in 2009. I was reminded of that this morning while flipping through the pages of a year-end issue of Sports Illustrated. Dom DiMaggio. Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Wayman Tisdale.

There were others, of course, outside of sports. Shriver's brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Michael Jackson, and former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

None of these people, while all talented and influential, meant more to me than William J. Delaney, Jr.

The oldest son of a Boston-area family, Delaney grew up playing ice hockey on ponds. He went to school, went to war, married and raised a fairly well-adjusted family. Bill Delaney was my father. Dad was 88 and in ill-health when he died Dec. 14. Despite how his full life ended, at times confused from a lack of oxygen due to heart and lung disease, I miss the man I remember.

A big part of my father included sports. This is where I come in. I watched games with him when I was growing up. For better and worse, I chose a profession based on a love of sports. It was our bond.

I think Dad would've watched the New Year's Day NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park with particular interest. From his home in Pennsylvania, it's likely his TV remote would've shuffled between the Flyers and Bruins and Penn State and LSU in the Capital One Bowl.

I will never look at a golf course the same way, I imagine, now that my father is gone. I do not know anyone who loved anything more than my father loved golf. He played on Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, and New Year's Day when possible. In an infamous moment, he left a family gathering my parents hosted to play golf.

He saw Jack Nicklaus play as an undergraduate at Ohio State when my parents lived in Columbus, and he watched the game on television long before Tiger. In the 1970s, he wore the same gaudy, plaid pants as the pros. My father never cared how he looked, or anyone else for that matter.

Dad was meticulous about cleaning his golf clubs. He kept golf balls in a sock drawer, and my mother regularly awoke to the rumble of the balls rolling around as dad got ready for a morning tee time.

My father was a pretty calm guy, but frustration with the game at least once led him to the breaking point. He threw a golf club into a tree. A sand trap rake was tossed up to dislodge the club from the tree's branches but the rake also got stuck. My dad, probably never weighing more than 150 pounds at any time in his life, was then hoisted into the tree to retrieve the club and the rake.

I never caddied for my dad, but I loved watching him play. I went to the Bucknell University course with him whenever I could. He often bought me a grape soda while we talked with his friends and I wonder if this is why I still love grape soda. My father had the funniest swing. It was smoother than Charles Barkley's but still sort of a choppy, old-man swing. His buddies said more often than not dad hit it in the fairway. He could not always see where his ball landed. Challenged since birth with poor eyesight, my father relied on playing partners to help him find his ball off the tee.

"Down the Middle Willie" his friends called him. I hope he's playing a round right now. Thanks for everything, Dad. Hit 'em straight.

Happy New Year

Delaney: Hamlin World Cup-best finish in Norway

2009-12-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

Remsen's Erin Hamlin had her luge World Cup series best finish Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway. She finished third and earned a bronze medal in the final race of the fall. Hamlin's medal was the first for a U.S. woman in a World Cup event since 2005 when Ashley Walden won a bronze in Winterberg, Germany.

The World Cup series will take two weeks off for the holidays before resuming Jan. 2-3 in Koenigssee, Germany.

Hamlin, who completed qualification for the U.S. Olympic team last week (Dec. 6), wrapped up the first half of the season in very good shape. Her finish in Lillehammer bumped her up to fourth place in the season standings.

"It's a nice way to end the first half," Hamlin said, quoted in by The Associated Press. "Obviously it would have been very cool and continue after my first run and be first, but I'm definitely not disappointed with a third place. I have been sliding really well all week, so it's nice to cap it off with a good race."

Hamlin had not raced in Lillehammer - on the track that hosted the 1994 Winter Olympic luge competition - since the 2004-2005 season. She was second that year as a junior slider. Despite the unfamiliarity with the track, Hamlin was in first place after the first run with a time of 48.791 seconds. Hamlin's two-run time was 1-minute, 37.616 seconds.

World Cup series points leader Tatjana Hufner of Germany was third after the first run but came up with the fastest second run (48.723) to win.

Hamlin qualified for her second Olympic team last week, and was the first U.S. slider to do so. The rest of the 10-man team is beginning to take shape. Other athletes securing nominations: Tony Benshoff, Bengt Walden and Chris Mazdzer in men's singles; Julia Clukey win women's singles; and the doubles team of Christian Niccum and Dan Joye.

Three women's singles sliders, three men and two doubles teams will compete in Vancouver in February.

Men's doubles Olympic silver and bronze medalists Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin will race off against Matt Mortensen and Preson Griffall for the final doubles slot. Kate Hansen, and sisters Megan and Emily Sweeney will race off for the final women's slot. Clukey, who sustained a neck injury during training earlier this month, was selected on coaches' discretion.

The race-offs are Tuesday night or Wednesday morning in Lillehammer.

Delaney: Proctor's Kiesel likely out for season

2009-12-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

Thomas R. Proctor standout junior point guard Brianna Kiesel, the leading scorer on the Raiders’ girls basketball team, is apparently out for the season with a broken bone in her left wrist.

Kiesel broke the scaphoid bone in her left (non-shooting) wrist Saturday during a tournament in Albany. Kiesel fell during the third quarter of the Raiders’ 54-53 win over Albany High School and slammed her hand on the ground.
Kiesel scored 27 points at the time of her injury, but with a 12-week recovery Kiesel is looking at the end of her season.

“There’s a big chance of it not healing correctly if blood flow is disturbed,” Perrotta said. “It doesn’t look.”

Kiesel, the Central New York Counties League National Division co-player of the year last season, is one point shy of the school's all-time scoring mark (1,245).

“There’s a big chance of it not healing correctly if blood flow is disturbed,” Perrotta said. “It doesn’t look good.”

Perrotta said Kiesel and her parents are evaluating treatment options.

The injury, while disappointing, is not likely to hurt her ability to play Division I basketball. She is ranked 18th among point guards for the Class of 2011 on an ESPN.com list and is being recruited by several schools including Big East Conference members Georgetown, Rutgers, Syracuse, Miami and Notre Dame. Also Illinois of the Big Ten, Arkansas and Alabama of the SEC and PAC 10 power Stanford.

“It’s nothing that’s going to be for the long term,” Perrotta continued. “It’s about healing and getting better.”

The Raiders (2-2 through Tuesday) will have to become a different team in Kiesel’s absence. Juniors Tiffany Alpert and Danielle Felton will platoon at point guard. Proctor has relied on Kiesel to be its primary scorer for the last two seasons at least. Perrotta has long sought a post presence to take some pressure off the 5-foot-6 Kiesel, and a balanced game will now be even more important.

Delaney: 3 Sauquoit girls on all-state soccer team

2009-12-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

The Sauquoit Valley girls soccer team, undefeated until its Class C state final loss to Stony Brook, placed three players on all-state teams.

Senior forward Amanda Orsino and senior midfielder Kelsey Hogel were first team selections in Class C, according to NYSSCOGS/NYSSWA.

Junior forward Sierra Kiss was a second-team selection, and Indians coach Tim Clive was co-coach of the year with Mark Maningo of Section XI Stony Brook. Stony Brook defeated Sauquoit Valley 2-1 in the Class C championship game Nov. 21 at Cortland State.

Four other Utica area players earned all-state recognition, all from Class D.

Remsen senior defender Sandy Roberts was second team; Hamilton junior forward Emily Truett and Poland senior midfielder Ashley Huckabone were third team and Remsen eighth grade forward Erin O'Connor was fourth team.

Delaney: Merry Christmas, Erin Hamlin

2009-12-06T23:39:00.000-08:00

The timing of Erin Hamlin's finish at a World Cup series luge race Sunday got me thinking.

What a great Christmas present for the 23-year-old Remsen woman to lock up a place on her second Olympic team.

Hamlin pre-qualified for February's Vancouver Games with her World Championship gold medal earlier this year. She added the bow to the package Sunday in Altenberg, Germany with a second run that moved her to fifth from eighth place. A top five was all she needed to complete her qualification for Olympic sliding on the fast track in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada outside of Vancouver.

'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' a holiday staple for forty years, is on this week. As a tribute to Hamlin, we give you a one-verse luge version of the climactic final scene where Charlie Brown's gang sings 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing.'

Merry Christmas, Erin Hamlin

Hark the Herald Angels sing, Erin Hamlin's sliding rings
Peace on Earth and mercy mild, U.S. luge fans reconciled.
Joyful all ye Remsenites rise, Join the triumph of the sleds
With Alten-berg in the books, Hamlin earns Olympic look.
With Alten-berg in the books, Hamlin has a Whistler look.

Delaney: Hamlin is Vancouver bound

2009-12-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

Erin Hamlin did it again. A big result in a big spot and Hamlin is a two-time USA Luge Olympian. She was the first American slider to clinch a spot for the Vancouver Games on Sunday at a World Cup series race in Altenberg, Germany.

Hamlin will race Feb. 15-16 on the fast track in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada outside of Vancouver. Hamlin was fifth at Whistler in one of the final World Cup series races last season.

She seems to be at her best when the odds are getting smaller. Four years ago, Hamlin came out of the USA Luge shadows to race onto the U.S. Olympic team for the Torino, Italy Games. She was 12th there and has gone no where but up since.

Even her World Championship gold medal came with a bump on the track. The day before the race in Lake Placid Hamlin suffered a migraine during training. She said there was no doubt she would compete in the Worlds but no one knew how she would perform.

Well, she won the World Championship with a second-run track record. As the reigning World Champion, Hamlin was pre-qualified for the Vancouver Games according to USA Luge qualification guidelines. She just needed a top five finish in one of the first four fall World Cup series race to lock up a spot: Calgary; Igls, Austria; Altenberg and Lillehammer, Norway.

When the schedule was released it looked like a lead-pipe synch. Hamlin was very happy to see Igls - host track of the 1976 Winter Olympics - in the first half of the season. Hamlin finished a World Cup-series best fourth there last year.

Hamlin did not clinch in Igls. She finished ninth. With two more chances for a top five entering this weekend, Hamlin's window of opportunity was closing. She was eighth last year in Altenberg and had not raced in Lillehammer since she was a junior.

So what happens? Hamlin bounced back from a shaky first run in Altenberg to move to fifth from eighth place on a track where she probably did not expect to do well.

That seems to be when she's at her best.

Delaney: No defense, no commercialism

2009-12-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

I was raised on Touchdown Jesus. Formal religion, though, has eluded me for some time.

Still, I cannot help but think those who do commit to a faith-based life must feel dismayed at this time of year. The commercialism of the holiday season stifles the true meaning, even in a sluggish economy.

I see little need for anyone to wear their religious views on their sleeve. That is my preference. But it also my preference not to be smothered in Christmas materialism. I always thought the purpose of the December holidays is to overlook philosophical differences and come to an understanding about our fellow man.

In the words of Charles M. Schultz's Lucy Van Pelt, the misanthropic nemesis of Charlie Brown, "we all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know."

This year, I'd settle for the gift of a defense capable of stopping a Big East Conference syndicate and Touchdown Jesus in a bowl game.

Happy Holidays.

Delaney: Hamlin still on track for Vancouver

2009-11-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

Erin Hamlin's ninth-place finish at the luge World Cup series race in Igls, Austria on Saturday, while I'm sure disappointing to her, does not hurt her chances to make her second Olympic team.

Entering the season Hamlin was pre-qualified for Whistler, the Olympic track outside of Vancouver that will host the luge competition in February. She needed a top-five finish in one of the first four fall races to secure her place on the Olympic team.

The short track in Igls looked to be her best best to do that. Hamlin had her World Cup series-best fourth place in Igls last year. She said in October she was glad the track was a stop in the first half of the season.

As the reigning World Champion and top American female singles slider, Hamlin is very much in contention for a spot on the U.S. team. She has two top nine finishes in the first two races of the season. She was seventh in Calgary in the season opening race and the ninth in Igls. Those results keep her on the USA Luge priority ladder to get to the Olympics.

She has two more fall series races to complete her pre-qualified status and get to Vancouver the easy way. World Cup series racing continues Dec. 5-6 in Altenberg, Germany and Dec. 12-13 in Lillehammer, Norway. Hamlin has not raced in Lillehammer in several years but finished second there as a junior.

Should she fail to get a top five at either of those races, Hamlin would have to wait until later in the year to be named to the Olympic team. Her results this season are the best among American women, and so it seems hard to imagine she won't get a spot.

Delaney: Alcott Family Affair

2009-11-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

It was a familiar scene for the Alcott family of New Hartford in the lobby of the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Five years ago, Kate and Steve Alcott watched as their son Mike, then a junior midfielder, was honored with his New Hartford soccer teammates for their Class A state championship in Oneonta.

The Alcotts, including Mike (now a senior at Penn State), returned to watch as youngest son Pat was honored with the Spartans soccer team for its state runner-up finish Sunday in the Oneonta museum.

Defending Class A champion Comsewogue from Port Jefferson Station defeated the Section III champions 2-0 on two second-half goals in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final.

“This is our last hurrah,” said Kate of Pat, a midfielder like his brother and one of four team captains. “This is our last child. It’s nostalgic and sad.”

“These are the first games I’ve seen,” Mike said. “They looked a lot like our team, scrappy and cohesive.”
Comsewogue’s Keith Vigorito finally cracked through the New Hartford defense with the first goal in the 47th minue. Mackie Magoulas scored with 3:05 left to seal it.

“They scored the first goal and I think it broke us,” Kate said.

Pat Alcott was not the only member of this year’s team with ties to the 2004 squad. Senior defender Kevin Jerrard is the brother of Erik Jerrard who was a defender in 2004.

“I am very grateful my kids had this high school experience,” Kate Alcott said. “It’s something they’ll never forget.”