July 3^rd, 2008

           I had a great time with our final little league ice cream winner at Seward’s last night. This time it was the Blue Seal team from Brandon.

            The contest went great and I can’t wait to do it again next year.

            I know this isn’t a scientific survey, but we asked each player who their favorite team was in the major leagues and the vast majority were Red Sox fans. The Brandon team last night was 100% Red Sox fans. There was one player who said his team Blue Seal was his favorite team, but all the other players and coaches said Red Sox.

           I say that the little league players are a microcosm of the whole area as far as the split between Sox fans and Yankee fans are concerned. I believe the Sox to Yankee ratio is 70-30 or at the very least 65-35.

                  Happy 4^th July everybody! I’ll catch you on Monday.

July 2^nd, 2008

Former University of Vermont mens basketball star T.J. Sorrentine has been named as an assistant coach to former UVM assistant Jessie Agel at Brown University. Sorrentine, a native of Pawtuckett, Rhode Island was a former America East Rookie and Player of the Year. He went to the NCAA Tournament three times and hit maybe the biggest shot in UVM history, a long three pointer to help beat Syracuse in overtime in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

Stratton Mountain’s Lindsey Jacobellis is a nominee for an ESPN ESPY Award in the female action sports category. Jacobellis is the reigning Olympic Snowboardcross silver medallist.

July 1^st, 2008

Andrew Wheating of Norwich, Vermont, who last April became the first known Vermonter to break the 4 minute mile, will be competing in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Wheating is a sophomore at the University of Oregon finished 2^nd in the 800 meters at the US Olympic trials last night.

Lyndon Institute pitcher Buddy Lamothe and Hamilton College lacrosse standout Jen McGowan of Jericho have been named the Male and Female Athletes of the Month for May by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Lamothe, a junior righthander was 5-0 during the month including a no-hitter, a 1-hitter and a 2-hitter and had an ERA of 0.19. He hit .424 with three homers and 15 RBI’s.

McGowan led Hamilton to the NCAA Division 3 National Championship in womens lacrosse. She was named to the Final 4 All-Tournament team and 2^nd team All-American.

June 30^th, 2008

Western Mass. won both the girls basketball games in the first Vermont-Western Mass. Challenge this past Saturday at St. Joe’s. All in all I think things went pretty well and I think the attendance was pretty good. Kudos to Phil Bartlett and others for the start of what I hope becomes a great tradition.

One of the great crowds ever at UVM’s Centennial Field this past Friday night over 4,000 as the Vermont Lake Monsters defeated the Lowell Spinners. The 2004 and 2007 World Series Trophies were on display and the crowd flocked to see them including Jason Davis and Kate Downs of our staff. See them in the pictures section.

Former Sox star Rico Petrocelli was on hand to throw out the first pitch on Saturday. Rico caught the final out against the Minnesota Twins in the final game of the 1967 “Impossible Dream” season. That season really was the birth of “ Red Sox Nation”.

June 27^th, 2008

Of course the first Vermont-Western Mass. Basketball Classic will be tomorrow at St. Joe’s.

Also coming up will be the 11^th Annual Girls and 16^th Annual Boys Make-A-Wish Ice Hockey Games at UVM. Rutland’s Marissa Serafino is on the girls team and Rutland’s Joe Rodolfy and Alex Porrier are on the boys team. Rutland Wes Landon is on the team as an alternate.

The North-South Baseball Classic will be at Middlebury High School and the North-South Softball Classic will be at Lyndon Institute. Rutland High’s Karen Waterman and Brittany Kleefisch, Mill River’s Nicole Rau, Otter Valley’s Sarah Morrison and Poultney’s Laela Warnecke are on the South Team in Softball. MSJ’s Ryan Gilbert, Fair Haven’s Chris Bashaw, Poultney’s Kurt Hewes and Woodstock’s Matt Kempson are on the South Team for baseball.

The 25^th Annual Twin-State Field Hockey Game is on Sunday at 1PM at St. Mike’s. Otter Valley’s Kate Root and Abbe Gage and Woodstock’s Margaret Hoisington and Jacqueline Stacey are on the Vermont team.

June 26^th, 2008

There will be two boys scrimmages today at St. Joe’s as preparations continue for the First Annual Vermont-Western Mass. Basketball Challenge on Saturday. A team of European Stars will meet Western Mass. at 3 PM and Vermont will scrimmage at 7PM. The scrimmages are free and open to the public.

The Vermont Lake Monsters will be hosting the Red Sox affiliate in the New York-Penn. League the Lowell Spinners tonight through Saturday at UVM’s Centennial Field. The Red Sox World Series Trophy will be on display for photograph sessions tomorrow from 5:30-8PM and former Sox great Rico Petrocelli will be on hand for autographs and to throw out the first pitch on Saturday. Call ahead as the game tomorrow night is expected to be a sell-out.

I had a great time at Seward’s last night with the Pittsford Lions Little League Team as we all enjoyed the ice cream. Thanks fellas! It was fun!

June 25^th, 2008

Congratulations going out to both Hunter Forte and Kelly Conway of Rutland.

Hunter who is 13 competed over the weekend in the National School Age Weightlifting Championships in Orlando, Florida at the Wide World of Sports Complex. Hunter is in the 50 kilo {110 lb.] weight class. He competed in the 14-15 year old category. Hunter won the gold medal with a total of 143 kilos[315 lbs.]. He is a two-time National Champion and is ranked # 1 in the Country in his age and weight class.

Kelly is 17 and she just finished her junior year at Rutland High. She also competed in the championships over the weekend. Kelly is in the 69 kilo[151 lb] weight class. She competed in the 16-17 year old category. Kelly won the silver medal with a total of 148 kilos [326 lbs.], losing the championship by only one kilo [2.2lbs.]. She is ranked # 2 in the country in her age and weight class. Both Hunter and Kelly are trained by Hunter’s dad Chip Forte.

Among the sporting events this weekend will be the 22^nd annual North-South Senior All-Star Softball Classic at Lyndon Institute. There will be two 7 inning games starting at 4 PM on Saturday with one 9 inning game on Sunday at noon. Playing for the South will be: Rutland High’s Brittany Kleefisch and Karen Waterman, Mill River’s Nicole Rau, Otter Valley’s Sarah Morrison and Poultney’s Laela Warnecke.

June 24^th, 2008

The Marble Valley League All-League baseball teams have been announced. From the Rutland area they are:

A Division: Rutland High’s Joe Rodolfy and Robbie Dorion and MSJ’s Mike Cirelli and Ryan Carter were named to the First Team. MSJ’s Willie Hadeka and Bill Shouldice and Rutland High’s Aaron Bloomer and Chris Mack were named as Honorable Mentions. Rutland High’s Kevin Bellomo was named as Coach of the Year.

B Division: Fair Haven’s Sam Macomber and Andrew Patch, Mill River’s Mitch Blair, Woodstock’s Matt Kempson, Otter Valley’s Matt Myers and Springfield’s Grant White whose grandfather lives in Clarendon were named to the First Team. Mill River’s Trevor Kotrady , Dan Hammond and Justin Wood, Otter Valley’s Derek Quenneville, Joey Massores and Jeff Jackson and Woodstock’s Jonny Ferrero were named as Honorable Mentions. Bob Lockerby of Bellows Falls was named as Coach of the Year. In the C Division West Rutland’s Greg Hughes and Paul Amelang, Proctor’s Sam Davine and Poultney’s Kurt Hewes. Poultney’s Scott Williams and West Rutland’s TJ Lacz were named as Honorable Mentions. Leland & Gray’s Keith Lyman and Black River’s Jim O’Neil were named as Co-Coaches of the Year.

June 23^rd, 2008

Cyle Macia who will be a freshman at Mill River, Kyle Kelly who will be a freshman at Rutland High, Bryton St. Lawrence who will be a 6^th grader at Christ the King and Jeff Perry who will be a senior at Rutland High will all be going to the Southern Vermont Football Camp at Mill River coming up in July free of charge, compliments of WSYB. 12 others will be going to the camp at a discount price.

Four Rutland area athletes have been nominated for the Athlete of the Month in May by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Kelly Conway Rutland High for weightlifting, Ashley Sanderson Otter Valley softball, Hunter Forte Rutland Middle School for weightlifting and Brad Polcare Castleton baseball.

June 20^th, 2008

I had a great time at Sewards last night enjoying ice cream with our winner Sarah Harvey and the West Rutland Green Youth League softball team. Thanks gals I hope you had as good a time as I did !

The first of the Vermont-New Hampshire All Star Games are coming up tomorrow at Hanover High School. The 13^th annual girls lacrosse game will be at 3 PM. New Hampshire won last year’s game 20-9, but Vermont leads in the series 8-4.

The Vermont-New Hampshire boys game returns this year at 6PM. It had been a round robin among Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire the last couple of years. Rutland’s Kayla Boucher, Laurel Chen and Leah Houston and Woodstock’s Ashley Edmunds are on the Vermont girls team coached by Rice’s Jan Carney.

Rutland’s Justin Temple is on the Vermont boys team coached by Woodstock’s Bill Elberty.

Tomorrow on WSYB Sportstalk, we will take seven more qualifiers for the Southern Vermont Football Camp at Mill River in July. We will choose three winners of the free camp tomorrow because one of the winners had to drop out last week. If you qualified last week, you don’t have to qualify again.

Phil Bartlett who is the Vermont boys coach for the first annual Vermont-Western Massachusetts Challenge on June 28^th will be our guest on Sportstalk as well.

June 19^th, 2008

More on the Celtics 17^th World Championship with the parade in downtown Boston going on today.

I saw Bill Russell hugging Kevin Garnett after the game and I’m sure Russell will be one of the former players in the parade.

Yes in my opinion Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever, but tell me if there is bigger winner in American team sports than Bill Russell .Look at his resume: Back to back NCAA national championships at the University of San Francisco, 11 world championships out of 13 with the Celtics including 8 in a row and also that includes 2 as a player- coach. Don’t forget the gold medal at the 1956 Olympics too. That is a real gold medal as an amateur, not one of those “Dream Team” professional gold medals that they have now. Yes Bill Russell is the greatest winner in the history of team sports.

If the Lakers had won, Phil Jackson would’ve surpassed former Celtic coach Red Auerbach in championships won. They both have 9, but let’s face it if Red had stayed on as coach and he retired way too early, he would’ve won the 7 others that they won before this past one. Red was the architect of all those other championships too and if he had stayed on as coach, he would’ve won those too. There is no doubt in my mind about that. They might’ve won even a couple more. As is the case with all great coaches and managers, you gotta have the horses, but Red Auerbach is the greatest coach ever !

June 18^th, 2008

Well the Celtics did it ! Did I think they would? No. I said as much on this blog right before the NBA Finals. I predicted a Lakers victory in 6 games.

I thought the Celtics would be better this year, but I really didn’t expect them to win it all. During the Atlanta and Cleveland series I questioned their mental toughness. Pretty much because they hadn’t won on the road in the playoffs. Winning on the road in the playoffs took mental toughness. That certainly changed in the Detroit series as the Celtics won the crucial game 3 on the road as well as the clinching game 6 on the road. Of course the comeback in game 4 against the Lakers on the road in the key game of the series.

The Celtics won the championship and they deserved it. I didn’t think I’d see another one, but of all the pro teams I follow in the major sports all of them Boston teams I gave the Celtics a free pass. If they didn’t win again in my lifetime, it was OK. Hey this was the team that pretty much won every year from the time I was in the 3^rd grade until I was in my late 30’s. Yes there were some lulls, a year here, a year there, a 5 year gap between 1976 and 1981, but it was great being a Celtic fan and it’s great being a Celtics fan now too.

It will be great to hear the PA announcer again say when the Celtics come on the court for pre- game warm-ups next year as I used to hear in the old days. HERE THEY COME THE WORLD CHAMPIONS THE BOSTON CELTICS !

June 17^th, 2008

The high school spring sports season finally came to a close yesterday.

Leland and Gray completing its Division 3 state championship in Division 3 with its victory over Poultney. Black River winning its first Division 4 state title in baseball, Enosburg winning its second straight state championship in Division 3 softball and Essex winning its second straight Division 1 state championship in boys lacrosse.

Each one of the softball state champs were repeat champs from 2007. Essex in Division 1, Lyndon in Division 2 with a 4-peat, Enosburg in Division 3 and Black River in Division 4.

Essex, “the evil empire” won five state championships this spring: baseball, softball, boys lacrosse, girls track and boys golf. Essex won 11 state championships in the 2007-2008 school year.

A nice story from the Peoples-Enosburg Division 3 state championship game in softball. One of the members of the Peoples Academy softball team is Michael Stengel.

Yes she is a distant relative of former Yankees and Mets manager Casey Stengel. She even wears the # 37 in honor of Casey. Michael’s nickname is Mickey. I didn’t get a chance to ask her about that, but I’m guessing the nickname could be because of Mickey Mantle.

June 16^th, 2008

A great weekend of high school championship action.

Kudos to the folks at Poultney for all their fine work during the softball championship games.

Don’t forget to get your entries in for the ice cream baseball and softball contest. You will find out how to sign up on this website. The three winners will be chosen on Wednesday between 8:30 AM and 9AM on the Brian and Jack Show.

You have until 6 AM Wednesday June 18th to get your entry in.

Also we took six qualifiers for the Southern Vermont Football Camp contest this past Saturday on WSYB Sportstalk. We originally chose two winners, but one of them can’t make the camp so we will take seven qualifiers next Saturday on the sports show and choose three winners for the camp coming up at Mill River in July.

If you qualified last week, you don’t have to qualify again this week. If you qualify and you don’t win the free camp, you will be able to go at a discount price.

Good Luck ! Our winner of the free camp last week is Cyle Machia of Rutland who will be a 9^th grader at Mill River.

June 13^th, 2008

The Division 1 high school softball state championship game between # 8 seed Rutland High and # 2 seed and defending state champion Essex will be tonight at 6 at Poultney Veterans Memorial Field. Rutland is looking for its 4^th state championship and 1^st since 2000. Essex defeated Rutland 5-0 early in the season on April 17^th.

The Division 3 high school baseball state championship game between # 8 Poultney and # 2 Leland and Gray will be tomorrow night at 6:30 at the University of Vermont Centennial Field. Poultney is looking for its first Division 3 state title since 1972. Poultney won the Division 4 state championship in 1992.

All 8 high school baseball and softball championship games can be seen and heard on the inter net. Click in to neksports.net

Join us tomorrow for Vermont’s # 1 talk show WSYB SPORTSTALK from 10:05 until noon. We will be taking 6 qualifiers grades 5-12 for the Southern Vermont football camp coming up at Mill River in July. Two winners will be chosen tomorrow and two more next week. We will also take 6 qualifiers next week If you qualify the first week, you don’t have to qualify next week. All the qualifiers who don’t win the free tuition will get to go to the camp at a discount price.

June 12^th, 2008

The Cinderella runs of both the Rutland High Raiders in softball and the Poultney Blue Devils in baseball have taken both # 8 seeded teams to their respective state title games this weekend. As of this writing we don’t know the dates or times, but we do know that Rutland will meet # 2 seed and defending state champ Essex for the Division 1 softball championship in Poultney. Rutland has already knocked off # 1 BFA and # 4 seed St. Johnsbury. The Raiders are looking for their fourth state championship and first since 2000.

Poultney will be taking on # 2 seed Leland and Gray at UVM. Poultney is looking for its first Division 3 state championship since 1972. Poultney won the Division 4 state championship in 1992.

The official groundbreaking ceremony at Rutland’s Alumni field for the artificial surface was held yesterday. The new turf will be ready in time for the fall sports season.

June 11^th, 2008

The Lakers shot 34 free throws last night and the Celtics shot 22. It wasn’t a huge disparity, but it was a far cry from the game before wasn’t it ? I pretty much more or less predicted that would be the case in yesterday’s blog. As Casey Stengel used to say. You can look it up !

Poultney winning in the Division 3 semi’s yesterday in high school baseball and will meet Leland and Gray in the state championship game this weekend.

Rutland will be at St. Johnsbury this afternoon at 4:30 in the Division 1 semi’s in high school softball. The game can be heard on the internet at neksports.net

June 10^th, 2008

With all the complaining about the officiating in game 2 of the NBA Finals the other night in Boston, you kind of wonder if things will be completely reversed in Los Angeles tonight. If there is a complete change tonight for no particular reason, that in itself would be the worst commentary on the state of the officiating in the NBA, not what happened the other night.

Former University of Vermont assistant mens basketball coach Jessie Agel has been named as the new mens head basketball coach at Brown. Agel had been an assistant at Brown for two seasons under Craig Robinson. Robinson is the brother-in-law of Barack Obama. Robinson recently became the head mens basketball coach at Oregon State.

Agel was also a former boys varsity basketball coach and Colchester and at Harwood.

June 9^th, 2008

The 32^nd annual Crowley Brothers Memorial Road Race was a huge success yesterday. Kudos again going out to Mike and Paula Lannon and their staff for pulling off a fantastic event.

60 year old Bill Rodgers, a four time winner of both the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon was on hand. Rodgers finished 38^th overall. He was great ! He stayed long after the race being interviewed and signing an endless stream of autographs. He said he thought the course was great.

Even though it doesn’t seem like it to me, Rodgers feels that an American will again someday win the Boston or New York City Marathons.

Rodgers who was on the US Olympic team in 1976 in Montreal and also was on the 1980 team that boycotted the games said that he met the late sportscaster Jim McKay only once, but certainly admired his work.

McKay passed away on Saturday at the age of 86. McKay once owned a home in Barnard near Woodstock and once used the WHWB studios on the West Proctor Road to file a report. I unfortunately was not at the station that day and I never had the pleasure of meeting him.

Our full interview with Bill Rodgers can be heard on the WSYB morning show on Wednesday June 11^th at right around 7:35 AM.

With the loss of “Big Brown” at the Belmont on Saturday, I guess you can say for sure that there is no such thing as a sure thing. No triple crown winner in 30 years. I I guess if were easy to win the triple crown, it would happen all the time.

June 6^th, 2008

More accolades for Rutland’s Kyle Massie, who just completed his outstanding career on the University of Vermont baseball team. Kyle was named the winner of the Ralph Lapointe Award. That award honors a player for his dedication, leadership and loyalty to the program. Kyle’s teammates voted him the award. Congratulations Kyle ! It’s well deserved !

Nice win for the Celtics last night, but they have to win the games at home of course especially with the 2-3-2 format in the NBA Finals. It would also be a good idea to take at least one game in LA because even if you take the first two games at home and then lose all three games in LA, you would be going back home trailing 3-2 in the series.

I’m looking forward to having ice cream at Sewards with three different little league, t-ball or mitey-mite teams . We’ve been telling you on the radio to sign up and there will be a place to sign up on our WSYB website starting on Monday June 9^th.

Don’t forget the Crowley Brothers Memorial Road Race is this Sunday June 8^th. It’s 10 K from Proctor to Rutland. Multiple Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon winner Bill Rogers will be there too.

June 5^th, 2008

WSYB Sports has learned through reliable sources that former Rutland High three sport standout Todd Muscatello has been named as the new boys varsity hockey coach at Rutland High replacing Scott Maxham who resigned at the end of this past season. Muscatello, a 1991 Rutland High grad starred in hockey, football and lacrosse. The hiring of Muscatello is pending school board approval next week.

The Celtics and Lakers get their NBA Finals Series underway tonight. I agree with the great Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, who says it might be a very short window of opportunity for this Celtics team. In other words, get the job done this year because there might not be another chance.

I think the Lakers win the series in 6. I hope I’m wrong I didn’t think the Celtics would beat Detroit either.

How many home run calls are the major league umpires going to blow? There have been at least 4 or 5 in the past couple of weeks. Add another one last night as Dustin Pedroia hit a home run to right, only to have the umpires call it foul.

Everybody makes mistakes, but the umpire should be able to call those correctly. Hustle a little bit, get out in the outfield quickly so you can get a good view!

June 4^th, 2008

Congratulations going out to 5 time Division 1 state champion Rutland High and Division 2 state champion Poultney in girls golf. The state tournament was played yesterday at the Proctor-Pittsford Club.

Rutland High’s Keely Levins shot a 6 over par 78 enroute to the Division 1 individual state championship and Poultney’s Kristen Garabedian shot an astounding 2 under par 70 enroute to the Division 2 individual state championship. Kristen, now a sophomore, last year also won the state championship participating as an independent from Rutland Academy. Most observers feel that no other Vermont female golfer has ever shot an under par round at the state tournament. That includes some great golfers such as Libby Smith and Holly Reynolds.

The boys tournament is today at Middlebury.

The 2008 Vermont Lake Monsters will have their season opener on Tuesday June 17^th at 7:05 PM as they host the Oneonta Tigers. The Lake Monsters are the single A New York-Penn League affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Lake Monsters will be hosting the Lowell Spinners, the Red Sox affiliate, on Friday June 27^th at 7:05 PM. The Boston Red Sox World Series trophy will be on display that night at Centennial Field.

June 3^rd, 2008

Yes it is the 3^rd of June “ Another Sleepy Dusty Delta Day”

The Girls Golf Division 1 and Division 2 State Tournament is going on today at Proctor-Pittsford.

Rutland High is going after its 5^th straight state championship in Division 1 and U 32 is going after its 4^th straight state championship in Division 2.

It looks like the Red Sox will be without David Ortiz for awhile.

Drop me a line. What do you think ? Should the Sox go with what they got or should they pursue somebody?

If Ortiz is going to be out for more than a month, I say why not try to sign Barry Bonds or try to coax Mike Piazza out of retirement? I’d do either one of those things.

Drop me a line with your opinion on the public forum shown here.

It was June 3^rd, 1888 when the famous poem “Casey At the Bat” was first published. It was and still is a classic written by Earnest Lawrence Thayer.

June 2^nd, 2008

We had a great time on the WSYB trip to Baltimore last Saturday to watch the Red sox defeat Baltimore 6-3 and as a bonus we saw Manny hit his 500^th career homer. I hope everybody had a great time. I know I did.

The Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association named Robert Hamlin of Mt. Mansfield Union High School and Mary Krug of Essex High School as the state’s 2007-2008 Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Hamlin has won four individual state titles in his weight class in wrestling and also three New England championships. He is one of two Vermonters inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Krug won her third straight state gymnastics title.

Two great choices for the Athletes of the Year in my opinion. Nobody can accuse the VSSA of favoring the so called major sports.

May 30^th, 2008

It was great fun taking in the U 19 Rutland Rugby Club’s 27-5 victory over Saratoga in the semi-finals last night at the Gawet Memorial Field in West Rutland. Pat Benini had a pair of tries and Ed Curran, Jack Meub, Drew Poalino all scored one apiece. Justin Martelle was named the Man of the Match.

Rutland will meet Adirondack in the state championship game on Sunday at Colchester High School.

By the way what a beautiful venue the Gawet Memorial Field is. Looking across the field with the trees surrounding the area and the majestic steeple of St. Bridget’s Church in the background as well. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Charlie Meeks is a member of our staff here at Catamount Radio. His brother Tom lives in Arizona and this past Wednesday night, Tom was a guest coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks and had an opportunity to take out the line-ups with the coaches at home plate before the game. Lucky guy !

We will see you on the trip to Baltimore tomorrow and as Simon and Garfunkle said in “America” “We’ll be counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike”.

If Manny doesn’t hit # 500 tonight, hopefully he does it while we are all there tomorrow night.

May 29^th, 2008

If you’re looking for some entertainment tonight, pardon the pun, why not take in the Rutland U 19 Rugby Club hosting Saratoga at 6 PM in the state championship playoffs at the Gawet Memorial Field in West Rutland? Rutland is the # 1 seed.

No homers for Manny last night in a Red Sox 1-0 loss to Seattle. He’s still at # 499 so if he doesn’t hit any tomorrow night at Baltimore, # 500 could come on Saturday night. Several Rutland area Red Sox fans will be at the game on the WSYB trip. It’s all sold out now. It should be fun !

May 28^th, 2008

It’s late May, but it seemed like early April at Mill River yesterday as I took in Mill River’s come from behind victory over Burr and Burton in baseball It was windy and cold, but it was a good ball game.

Thanks to Mill River Athletic Director Ron Black for allowing me to wear his umpire’s blue wind breaker as I was somewhat under dressed to take in the action.

I’m looking forward to WSYB’s trip to Baltimore this Saturday night to watch the Red Sox play the Orioles. We might get a chance to see Manny hit # 500. He hit # 499 last night in a loss at Seattle. He has two games between now and Saturday. The Sox will be at Seattle tonight, have an off day tomorrow and then will play at Baltimore on Friday night.

May 27^th, 2008

The Celtics were mentally tough enough to win one game in Detroit, but winning twice in a row in Detroit was alot to ask. The Celtics could be heading for their third straight Game 7.

I don’t know about you, but Sports Illustrated hasn’t been the same since Rick Reilly left. He hasn’t been the multiple time National Sportswriter of the Year for nothing.

Is there actually anybody out there who doesn’t know that ESPN’s Buster Olney is from Vermont?

I think he’s great. As a matter of fact I think the whole baseball crew on ESPN is fantastic !

May 23^rd, 2008

A longtime teacher, coach and administrator along with a veteran sports official and coach have been selected as the 2008 winners of the prestigious Ralph Lapointe award by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Bill Flory of Rutland and Melba Masse of Essex will be honored June 1^st at Norwich University during the annual Vermont Athlete of the Year banquet

The leading Male and top Female Athletes of the Month in Vermont along with other top state sports awards, including coaching achievement will be honored.

Flory has been an official for all seasons. He is in his 40^th year of umpiring baseball and softball and will soon turn 81. He is well known in baseball circles after coaching Rutland Post 31 for 36 years, winning nine state titles and runner-up seven more times.

He was inducted into the Vermont Principals’ Association Hall of Fame in 2005.

Congratulations Bill !

Masse has been a common figure at Vermont sporting events for over 50 years. She served as a high school teacher in Essex for 36 years, as a coach for 25 years and in the athletic department for 15 years.

Now that the Celtics have lost their first home playoff game, we will see how well they play on the road since they now have to win at least one game on the road.

I have questioned their mental toughness, we will really find out now.

One bit of good news is that Ray Allen played a lot better last night.

WSYB Sportstalk is tomorrow from 10:05 until 12 noon. It’s Vermont’s number one talkshow Call 773-9792. Toll free if you are out of the immediate area. 877-241-5960.

May 22^nd, 2008

It was great talking to former Rutland High track standout John Daly on the WSYB morning show today. Readers can check out the comments that John made to our public forum yesterday. He works for the US Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis.

John graduated from Rutland High in 1986 and still holds the Vermont state record in the 1500 meters which is 3:57. That equates to a 4:16 mile.

Rutland’s Kyle Massie, University of Vermont baseball, has been named to the America East All-Conference 2^nd team.

Massie, a third baseman, heads into the Conference Tournament hitting .298 with 2 homers, 7 triples, 31 RBI’s and 10 stolen bases overall. Kyle is hitting .341 in conference games.

The double elimination America East Conference Tournament starts today at Stonybrook. UVM, the # 4 seed will play # 1 seed Binghampton in a game starting at noon.

UVM’s Joe Serafin was named the America East Pitcher of the Year.

It was a close call for the Lyndon softball team yesterday. Lyndon had to come from behind to beat Rice 8-7. The Vikings scored 5 times in the 6^th inning to come back to win its 66^th straight game. Rice is only 1-9 on the year.

May 21^st, 2008

Good win for the Celtics last night over Detroit in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics are now 9-0 at home in the playoffs and if they keep winning at home, which is still a tall task the Celtics will win the championship. If they don’t continue to win at home, they will obviously have to win on the road. That is something they haven’t been able to do in this year’s playoffs.

Hopefully the Celtics continue to take care of business at home because they don’t seem to be “MENTALLY TOUGH’enough to win on the road. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish aren’t walking in that door.

May 20^th, 2008

It was fun watching and listening to Jon Lester’s no-hitter last night.

I haven’t really seen too many over the years because I was always doing something else. I missed Clay Buchholz’s no-hitter because I was broadcasting a baseball game in Burlington. I missed Derek Lowe’s no-hitter because I was traveling out of state. I was able to watch Hideo Nomo’s no-hitter in 2001. Going back before that, I missed Dave Morehead’s no-hitter in 1965 because I wasn’t paying attention since the Red Sox were about 80 games out in September. I do remember watching Earl Wilson’s no-hitter on TV back in June of 1962. I actually was at Fenway Park the following day. Bill Monboquette pitched a no-hitter in August of 1962, but I missed that one too because I was away at summer camp.

I was listening to the end of the game when Bill Rohr gave up a single to Elston Howard with two outs in the last of the 9^th against the Yankees in April of 1967. I was a senior at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire when I walked in to the gym where then sophomore Tony Trombetta of Rutland was shooting baskets and listening to the game on the radio and called my attention to what was a no-hitter going on. Remember that was 4 ½ years before I came to Rutland and I’ve seen Tony maybe twice in all the years I’ve been in Rutland.

I actually was listening to the last out of Mel Parnell’s no-hitter in the family car coming back from a picnic in July of 1956. I was 8 years old and I can remember the late Bob Murphy calling the final out.

I think the final out was a ground ball right back to Parnell and he made the play himself at first base unassisted.

Do any readers or listeners recall that? Drop me a line if you remember. In the meantime I’ll be doing some research on my own.

May 19^th, 2008

Two Rutland boys basketball teams won AAU championships over the weekend by an average of over 30 Points per game.

The U-11 Rutland Bandits are coached by Jason Smith and the team members are: Joe Candon, Travis Fish, Patrick Fiske, Dylan Hotchkiss, Nick Loveland, Devin Maniery, Bailey Plante, Ben Smith, Ethan Smith and Tyler Strucinski. The U- 13 Rutland Bandits are coached by Jack Rogers and the team members are: Eli Rogers, Tre Hysell, Dalton Mitchell, Jay Carleton, Rocco Stoutes, Kyle Arnold, Jeff Harte, Drew Drake, Josh Cody and Paul Arnado.

Congratulations to both teams !

It was an easy Rutland victory over MSJ this past Fridayin baseball, but it was great to be at beautiful St. Peter’s Field to broadcast the game. The crowd was a little bit disappointing, but many of the fans did have their radios along to listen to the action as Joe Rodolfy picked up the win with a 4 hitter.

May 16^th, 2008

One more time. Shut Up Specter and you too Matt Walsh. I’ve had enough!

MSJ-Rutland baseball this afternoon at the most beautiful venue in the USA in my opinion St. Peter’s Field. The pre-game show at 4:15 on WSYB AM 1380. Join Rick Goeke and me for all the action.

First day today at the new studios at the Opera House. It was fun. I’m looking forward to the first WSYB Sports Talk show tomorrow from 10:05 until 12 noon. The number is the same 773-9792. It’s toll free at 877-241-5960.

May 15^th, 2008

Maybe Spy Gate isn’t over afterall because that blowhard Arlen Specter won’t let it go !

IT’S OVER ARLEN ! LET IT GO ! That being said, if Specter wants to have a private investigation maybe it will show that other teams in the NFL have been doing the same thing that the Patriots did. Wouldn’t that be interesting?

Leah Houston Rutland High girls lacrosse and Ted Kusiak Mt. Mansfield baseball and track and field have been named the Female and Male Athletes of the Month for April by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Houston had 31 goals and 16 assists during the month as Rutland went 7-0. Kusiak pitched Mt. Mansfield to a victory over Essex striking out 10 and also he had a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored. He also had a pair of hits in a loss to Brattleboro and also won the javelin competition in the Essex Invitational.

April completes the 2007-2008 year as the Athletes of the Month from May of 2007 to April of 2008 will be honored with the Athletes of the Year to be announced at the annual banquet at the Plumley Armory at Norwich University on June 1^st. Two Rutland area athletes were named as Athletes of the Month over the past year: Houston and Dr. Edgar Holmes of Mendon who was the August Athlete of the Month for masters track and field.

May 14th, 2008

I hope Spy Gate is done once and for all! The Patriots were punished for the original charge back in September. There was no video taping of the St. Louis Rams walk through back in 2002. There was no further stuff about anything except a couple of minor violations not related to any video taping.

You know something? IT WAS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING ! No more serious then the original act. Let it go!

To Arlen Spector, there are a lot more important things going on in the world don’t you think? You let it go too !

IT’s FINALLY OVER ! I HOPE!

May 13^th, 2008

Mill River made a nice choice naming Art Peterson as its new varsity football coach replacing Ken Webb. I remember the first school board meeting many years ago when Art first proposed the idea of bring football to Mill River. I was at the meeting and the news wasn’t exactly met with open arms. I went out of there thinking that football would never be a varsity sport at Mill River.

Otter Valley and Mill River met in softball a couple of weeks ago at Otter Valley. At the time it was a battle of unbeatens as the Otters won. Since that time Otter Valley has lost to Lyndon as the Vikings won their 62^nd straight game. So it’s a battle of once beaten teams today at Mill River. The game gets underway at 4:30.

May 12^th, 2008

I had a great vacation and I’m all set to get back at it.

It’s always fun to pay a visit to the beautiful city of Salisbury, North Carolina for the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters get together. Got a chance to see some old friends and for the first time to meet National Sportscaster of the year Jim Nantz of CBS and meet for the first time Hall of Fame inductee Harry Kalas of the Philadelphia Phillies and NFL Films and see again the great Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, the National Sportswriter of the Year. The weather was great and on top of that being with a couple of hundred people that have the same thing in common. It was heaven !

I was also at the VPA Hall of Fame dinner this past week. It was a wonderful event and I am very proud to be part of such a distinguished group.

Kudos to the Rutland Herald’s Tom Haley for his great coverage of the event itself and the weeks leading up to it. Great job Tom !

The American Powerlifting Association held a world competition over the weekend at Fair Haven Union High School. Hunter Forte, age 13, of Rutland set another world record in his weight class for the second staight year with a combination of 615 Pounds. Hunter entered his first competition in January of 2007 and broke a seven-year long standing world record. He was featured in the Powerlifting USA Magazine in 2007. Hunter is a high honor student in the 7^th grade at the Rutland Middle School, a three year National Olympic Weightlifting Champion, black belt in traditional karate and plays lacrosse and football. Congratulations Hunter !

May 1^st, 2008

A big day for a couple of Rutland High grads named Kyle yesterday.

Kyle Wilson has been named as the new girls varsity basketball coach at Fair Haven Union High School replacing Leo Hutchins.

Kyle Massie with 4 hits including a triple leading UVM to a 17-4 victory over UMASS in college baseball.

On my way to Salisbury, North Carolina tomorrow to get together with other sportscasters and sportswriters from around the country. It’s a perfect situation, continuous conversation and other stuff with about 100 other people who have the same things in common with you.

It doesn’t get any better than that. It’s another reason why I say this job certainly beats work.

I’ll catch you a week from Monday.

April 30^th, 2008

Interesting story that I read in the Burlington Free Press yesterday that I’ll pass along to you in case you missed it.

University of Oregon sophomore Andrew Wheating won the mile at the Oregon Relays this past weekend. Wheating, who is from Norwich, Vermont is the first Vermonter to break the four minute mile. Wheating finished with a time of 3 minutes 58.12 seconds which is the 11^th fastest time in the program’s history. Wheating is a graduate of Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire.

April 29^th, 2008

As you know, the Vermont- Western Mass. boys and girls basketball games will be played at the College of St. Joe’s in Rutland on Saturday June 28^th.

The 28^th annual boys and girls Merchants Bank-Rotary Vermont-New Hampshire Twin State Basketball games will still be played at the University of Vermont Patrick Gym on Saturday July 12^th. The girls game will be at 1PM to be followed by the boys game at 3PM. Proctor’s Kyle McQuarrie, West Rutland’s Greg Hughes and Fair Haven’s Keith Schneider are on the Vermont boys team that will be coached by Burlington’s Matt Johnson. Hughes and Schneider are also on the Vermont team that will play Western Mass. New Hampshire leads in the series 18-9.

Among those on the Vermont girls team are Mt. Anthony’s Alyssa Herrington and Kayla Whitman and Arlington’s Ashley Hoyt. They will be among those playing against Western ,Mass. Vermont will be coached by Burlington’s Doug Cheeseman. One of his assistants will be Mt. Anthony’s Leo Reynolds.

Daric Barton of the Oakland A’s is a rookie first baseman and he hit his 2^nd home run of the year last night as Oakland defeated the Angels. It’s worth mentioning here because you may or may not have noticed that Barton was born in Springfield, Vermont.

April 28^th, 2008

Any baseball fan will remember their first major league game, but for 9 year old Jared Miglorie of Rutland his first game at Fenway Park with his dad was extra special.

A week ago today was Patriots Day in Boston and the Red Sox played a morning game with the Texas Rangers.

During the game a foul ball was hit to the upper level where a fan caught the ball and then while showing off, he dropped the ball to the stands below. It was a clip shown on ESPN Sports Center as one of the “plays of the day” and also on Fox Sports this past Saturday as one of the “plays of the week”. Well, it was Jared Miglorie who picked up the ball when the fan dropped it. Jared not only got that ball that fell, but he got another ball as well.

Not bad huh? On top of that, Jared’s favorite player David Ortiz hit a home-run and the Red Sox won. Also Jared and his dad Vic who is a Rutland City fireman, got to watch a little bit of the Boston Marathon too.

I think it’s a day that Jared Miglorie, who is a 2^nd grader at the Northeast School, will never forget!

April 25^th, 2008

Rob Hamlin, Mt. Mansfield wrestling and Barbara Jordan of South Burlington, masters track and field are the Male and Female Athletes of the Month for March as voted on by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Hamlin, a senior wrapped up his high school career with his 4^th straight individual state title and his third straight individual New England championship.

Jordan, a 72 year-old grandmother set national masters records in the 200 meter dash and the 60 meter dash at the USA masters indoor track and field championships in Boston.

Area football fans might remember Barbara’s husband Paul who was formerly the varsity football coach at South Burlington High School. MSJ defeated Jordan’s South Burlington team in both 1976 and 1977 for the Division 1 state championship. The 1976 game was a 50-7 rout at Bellows Falls when Bobby Joe Cioffi and others ran wild. The Mounties won easily in 1977 as well in the final high school football state championship game played at UVM’s Centennial Field. Jordan led Vermont to a Shrine Game victory in 1977. Jordan did get a measure of revenge in 1982 by beating MSJ twice including the Division 1 state title game played at Rutland’s Alumni Field.

April 24^th, 2008

The Vermont Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame has announced its 27 nominees for scholarships to be presented at its annual honors banquet May 4^th at Middlebury College’s Kenyon Arena. The nominees from the Rutland are: Mill River’s Preston Kinney, MSJ’s Shaun McCarthy, Rutland High’s Justin Stewart, Otter Valley’s Nick Pattis and Poultney’s Joey Simons. Six of the student-athletes will be awarded $500 scholarships including Justin Stewart and Shaun McCarthy.

Another big day yesterday for Rutland’s Kyle Massie who had 3 hits and a pair of RBI’s including an RBI single in the last of the 12^th for the game winner as UVM defeated Quinnipiac 12-11 in 12 innings.

Yes I still like to say RBI’s not RBI when talking about the plural for runs batted in.

Baseball snobs say it’s Runs batted in, not Run batted ins, therefore the abbreviation should be RBI, not RBI’s. That’s true, but SO WHAT? That’s what you are: baseball snobs. It’s like George Will. He might be an expert, I don’t know, but he is a baseball snob. I know George, you know more about baseball than the rest of us.

April 23^rd, 2008

A couple of things I’ve heard over the last couple of days.

Apparently two people have applied for the varsity football coaching position at Mill River One is an out of stater and is also looking for a teaching position and the other is a well known local guy.

What’s the story at MSJ? Are there coaching vacancies for both the boys and girls varsity basketball coaching positions or not ?

April 22^nd, 2008

Burlington’s Norm Larson was the highest Vermont finisher at the Boston Marathon yesterday. Larson at the age of 52 was the overall winner in the Masters Division. He finished with a time of 2:39:13. Christ the King School administrator and Religion teacher Rob Lukaskiewicz of Rutland was the 5^th Vermont finisher with a time of 2:46:40. Rob finished 331^st overall. The top five Vermont finishers were ahead of seven time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong.

Butch Paul has been named as the new varsity golf coach at Castleton replacing Leo Reynolds. Butch is the Co-host of WSYB SPORTSTALK, heard on Saturdays from 10:05 AM to 12 noon. IT’s VERMONT’s # 1 TALKSHOW !

April 21^st, 2008

It was a great time yesterday at the South Station in Rutland for the get together for the Vermont and Western Mass. boys and girls basketball teams who will be playing in the first annual All-Star games at St. Joe’s on Saturday June 28^th. The guest speakers were Mike Donaghue of the Burlington Free Press and coaching Hall of Famers Dave Frederickson, Stretch Gillam and Dave Kinsman.

According to Rutland High and former MSJ assistant football coach Steve Wolfe, former MSJ standout Carl Ojala had a great game punting at the North Carolina State intra squad scrimmage on Saturday. According to Coach Wolfe, Carl is 2^nd on the depth chart.

Former Rutland High hockey standout defenseman Andrew Pryor will be playing his college hockey at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. Salve Regina is a Division 3 program in the ECAC Northeast Conference. Andrew spent a year of prep school at New Hampton. New Hampton lost to Tilton Academy in the New England prep school hockey championship.

The Castleton mens hockey team was honored at its annual banquet on Friday night. The Vermontsportsnow.com MVP going to Brandon Heck, The Coaches Award to Matt Link, The Unsung Hero Award and NSCA All-American Award to Evan Romeo, The Rookie of the Year award to Stuart Stefan. The Most Improved Player Award to Omar Pacha, The Spartan Strength and Conditioning Award going to Kirk Bolduc, The Academic Excellence award to Jeff Alexander.

The assistant captains next year will be Evan Romeo, Ryan Bartlett and Brandon Heck and the captain will be Jared Lavender.

April 18^th, 2008

The Stony Brook baseball team stopped in at the Carpenters’ house in Rutland last night on the way to Burlington to have dinner compliments of Ann and Rob Carpenter. Oldest son John Carpenter is an equipment manager with the team. Stony Brook is playing the University of Vermont this weekend. That is kind of neat!

The Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association is seeking public nominations for two different awards for local residents who have made outstanding contributions to Vermont sports through the years.

The annual Ralph R. Lapointe Award and the Vermont Coaching Achievment Award will both be presented at the Vermont Athlete of the Year Banquet on Sunday June 1, 2008. The noontime banquet will be at Plumley Armory at Norwich University in Northfield.

The Lapointe award has been won by more than two dozen Vermonters who have helped shape the athletic scene at various levels in the state through the years.

The Vermont Coaching Achievement Award is presented to a coach with at least 15 years of experience working with teams playing in the state. The coach can be active or retired and must have exhibited a positive influence on the players and the sport, both on and off the field, court, rink or course.

Nominations should be sent to: Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, c/o Journalism Department, St. Michael’s College, Colchester,Vt. 05439-0284 or by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or fax to 654-2560.

It’s WSYB SPORTSTALK TOMORROW FROM 10:05 AM to 12 noon tomorrow. IT’s VERMONT’s # 1 TALKSHOW. Call 773-9792.

April 17^th, 2008

I’m sure that Phil Bartlett will do a great job as the new mens varsity basketball coach at St.Joe’s. It was announced yesterday that Bartlett, a 1978 West Rutland grad, will be taking over the college program after five years as the boys varsity basketball coach at West Rutland.. At Westside, Coach Bartlett compliled a record of 92-24 over five years. He took the Horde to the “Final 4” all five years including four straight appearances in the Division 4 state championship game.

Coach Bartlett, who as a player played on two state championship teams, will coach one more high school basketball game as he will coach the Vermont boys basketball team against Western Massachusetts on June 28^th at St. Joe’s

April 16^th, 2008

My comments today pertain to Philbin’s blog of April 14^th, 2008.

Just a point of correction, Babe Ruth was SOLD to the Yankees, not traded. Leave the sports commentary to the professionals.

April 15^th

I LOVE BASEBALL !

Yes it’s about the players and the teams, but it’s about the numbers. What other sport can you throw out numbers and people will immediately know what you’re talking about? How about 56, 714, 60,61,.406. Every baseball fan can tell you the significance of those numbers and others. It’s one of the things that makes baseball so much fun.

Most true Yankee fans would know that 493 is Lou Gerhig’s career home run figure and most true Red Sox fans would tell you that 521 is the home run figure reached by Ted Williams. That’s why to me last night’s baseball games meant more than just who won. It’s neat that a current Yankee Alex Rodriguez tied former Red Sox great Ted Williams with career homer # 521 last night and a current Sox player Manny Ramirez tied former Yankee great Lou Gehrig with career homer # 493 last night. IT’S BASEBALL,IT’S THE NUMBERS TOO AND IT’S FUN!

For the record Willie McCovey also had 521 career homers and Fred McGriff also had 493 career homers.

April 14^th, 2008

The Rutland Rugby Club had a successful day on Saturday as the Senior Men, U 19 Women, and U 19 Men all won at the Gawet Memorial Field.

The Rutland U 19 Women, the defending state champ, defeated Essex 17-5 in a rematch of last year’s state championship. Abbe Gage was the Woman of the Match.

The Rutland U 19 Men defeated defending state champ Essex 36-7 in a rematch of last year’s state championship also. Dan Ball was the Man of the Match.

The Rutland Mens team defeated Berkshire 27-3. Chris Olson was the Man of the Match.

If you missed it on Saturday in Denver, Boston College defeated Notre Dame 4-1 as BC won its third Division 1 national championship in mens college hockey and first since 2001,.

Rutland’s Tom Navin and his family went out to Denver by train to take in the Frozen 4 and MSJ boys hockey coach Chris Creed and his dad Jim were also at the Frozen 4.

I was happy to see BC win because of course the Eagles play in Hockey East which is the same conference as UVM. UVM was 0-3-1 against BC during the season and lost to BC in the Hockey East championship game, but UVM actually finished ahead of BC in the standings. Remember UVM finished 3^rd and was the # 3 seed and BC finished 4^th and was the # 4 seed.

To draw the comparison to basketball, it would be like UVM finishing ahead of Kansas in the Big 12 and then having Kansas going on to win the national championship.

MSJ grad Larry Hare, who is an assistant athletic director at Kansas called WSYB Sportstalk on Saturday morning and of course was at the Final 4 in San Antonio and was delighted with the ROCKCHALK JAYHAWK VICTORY! Larry called the Saturday before as well from San Antonio.

April 11th, 2008

Former University of Vermont womens basketball coach Cathy Inglese has stepped down as the womens basketball coach at Boston College after 15 years.

Inglese had been at UVM for 7 seasons.

Join Butch Paul and me for WSYB SPORTSTALK tomorrow from 10:05 to noon. WSYB SPORTSTALK IS VERMONT’s #1 TALKSHOW.

The number to call is 77-9792.

April 10^th, 2008

West Rutland’s Greg Hughes was named recently to the Burlington Free Press Boys Basketball All-State 1^st team. Rutland High’s Mark Comstock was named to the 2^nd team. Proctor’s Kyle McQuarrie was named to the 3^rd team. Proctor’s Jordan Snow was named as an honorable mention.

Rutland High’s Kayleigh Sullivan was named as an honorable mention on the girls side.

Joe O’Shea of Division 1 state champ Burlington was named as Mr. Basketball and Alyssa Herrington of Division 1 state champ Mt. Anthony was named as Miss Basketball.

By the way WSYB has learned that West Rutland’s Greg Hughes will be playing his college basketball at the University of Vermont. He will first be a walk-on for UVM.

April 9^th, 2008

The MSJ girls basketball team was honored last night at its annual banquet at the Rutland Country Club.

The WSYB-Pasqually’s 6^th Player Award going to Jen Trombley

The WSYB Sportsperson of the Year Award going to Krysta Gawet.

My thanks again going out to Initial Ideas on West St. in downtown Rutland for the fine work done on all the trophies and plaques for the area athletes again this year.

April 8^th, 2008

It was great that the spring sports season got underway yesterday. I took in the MSJ 1-0 win over Mill River in baseball at a windy St. Peters’s Field. Mike Cirelli, Willie Hadeka and Ryan Carter combining on a no-hitter. Anyway I thought the game was fairly well played for the first game of the season as neither team has had a chance to be outside that often this spring.

It was a fairly nice day, but I was still cold with the wind and the temperature right around 50 or so. It’s funny in can be 50 degrees and windy at a baseball game in April and you feel a lot colder than you do when watching a football game in November when it’s windy and the temperature is about 30.

I’ve never really seen the point of public protests whatever the cause. Granted it might call attention to whatever the protest is about, but the problem is still there the next day whether there was a protest or not. Yes there is a problem with human rights in China and there is a problem in Tibet, but protesters climbing the Golden State Bridge aren’t going to solve anything. People will look at them as being nut cases. At least I do.

All that being said, boycotting the Summer Olympics isn’t going to help anything either. The only people who will suffer are the Olympic athletes who have been training for years. Boycotting the summer games in 1980 was a stupid idea and boycotting the summer Olympics in 2008 would be a stupid idea too!

April 7^th, 2008

The MSJ Division 2 state championship boys hockey team was honored this past Friday night. It was a fantastic time and my ribs are still hurting I’ve been laughing so hard.

The WSYB Sportsmanship Award going to Colin McCormack, The WSYB Most Improved Player Award going to Shawn Miller, The WSYB-Pasqually’s 7^th Player Award going to Connor Burke, The WSYB Sportsperson of the Award going to Bill Shouldice, Bill will be playing college baseball at Mass. Maritime Academy. The Luke Baumann Memorial Award going to Willie Hadeka, The Top Defensive Forward Award going to Jussie Korvakangas, The Top Defensive Player Award going to MiiKa Uotila, The coaches Award to Zach Richards, The Rookie of the Year Award to Connor McGuinnes, The Jim Larkin Top Offensive Player Award going to Yanne Kelaharra, The Dick Cartier Underclassmen award going to Steve Kallen and The Most Valuable Player Award going to Seth Widli.

Former MSJ and University of Vermont hockey standout forward Jimmy Larkin, who now lives in Memphis, Tennessee was the guest speaker. Also in attendance was his brother Mike, a former standout defenseman at MSJ, Rice and the University of Vermont. Mike now lives in northern Virginia.

Their dad , the late Jim larkin was the longtime boys hockey coach at MSJ and won two Division 2 state championships.

Both Jimmy and Mike along with Coach Chris Creed were our guests on WSYB Sportstalk on Saturday morning.

One of the callers on the talkshow was Larry Hare, another MSJ grad who is an assistant athletic director at Kansas and was calling us from the “ Final 4” in San Antonio.

Rutland High grad Kyle Massie had a big weekend for the University of Vermont baseball team which took 3 out of 4 at UMBC. Kyle had a grand slam on Saturday and a bases loaded triple on Sunday.

April 4^th, 2008

The Vermont and Western Massachusetts girls and boys basketball teams have been announced for the 1^st annual Vermont-Western Massachusetts Basketball Challenge to be played at St. Joe’s in Rutland on Saturday June 28^th.

The girls game will be played at 1PM with the boys game at 3PM.

Among those named to the Vermont girls team are Rutland High’s Kayleigh Sullivan, Ashley Hoyt of Arlington and Alyssa Herrington and Kayla Whitman of Division 1 state champ Mt. Anthony. Woodstock’s Kirsten Murphy was named as an alternate. Vermont will be coached by U 32’s Mark Mooney.

Among those named to the Vermont boys team are West Rutland’s Greg Hughes and Rutland High’s Robbie Dorion. Fair Haven’s Keith Schneider was named as an alternate. Vermont will be coached by West Rutland’s Phil Bartlett who has stepped down as Westside coach.

The squads will be formally introduced at a banquet at the South Station in Rutland on Sunday April 20^th at 4:30 PM.

A public rally is scheduled in downtown Rutland the night before the games to further generate interest for the summer games.

April 3^rd, 2008

If you missed it this past Sunday, the Burlington Free Press announced its All-State Boys and Girls Hockey Teams. On the boys side: Rutland High’s Joe Rodolfy was named to the 2^nd team, MSJ’s Miika Uotila was named to the 3^rd team and MSJ’s Connor Burke was named as an honorable mention.

On the girls side: Woodstock’s Margaret Hoisington was named as an honorable mention. The Free Press Mr. Hockey is Ben Pearl of Essex and Miss Hockey is Caitlin Manahan of BFA.

Rutland High’s Marissa Serafino and Kathleen Tredtin have been named to the Vermont All-Academic girls hockey team. The team includes seniors who have a cumulative 3.5 Grade Point average.

April 2^nd, 2008

Mill River varsity football coach Ken Webb is stepping down for personal reasons. Webb will apparently continue as the Mill River girls varsity basketball coach.

Rutland High’s Brad Opsahl, Katie Carey, Karly Acker and Sara Guth and Otter Valley’s Ali Nolan have been named to the All-State alpine ski team. Rutland High’s Caitlin Bliss was named as an honorable mention.

Poultney native Jason Thomas has been named as the new varsity football coach at Burr and Burton. Thomas played football at Poultney High School and Umass where he graduated in 1998. Thomas, who will also be the assistant athletic director and a physical education teacher at Burr and Burton, has been an assistant football coach at Middlebury College the last two years.

The MSJ division 2 state champion boys hockey team will be honored this Friday night at the Palms in Rutland. The banquet is open to the public at $18.00 per person and can be purchased in advance by calling Dick Densmore at 775-8087, MSJ Athletic Director Marty McDonough at 775-0151 or at the Palms. Tickets are limited. Former MSJ and University of Vermont hockey standout Jimmy Larkin will be the guest speaker.

April 1^st, 2008

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