[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: The following program is brought to you in living color on elliot gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Gazette News Group presents the Parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host and shot. Thank you, Scott Kesey, and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York for the 496th episode and and the first one of 2026. I hope everybody had a great New Year's Eve and didn't party too hard. I stopped partying a long time ago. Old age. You can't do that anymore. Just sit home, watch the Flyers and the Flames game Wednesday night. That's the best thing I could do and relax and enjoy that. Well, we have a great show for you. To kick off the new year 2026, we're gonna look back at the Capital Region sports scene in 2025. We had a lot of interesting things going on.
We saw several high school teams win state titles, a new arena opened for Union men's and women's hockey, and unfortunate death in the college lacrosse world at Siena. So we're going to talk all that. We'll start with Christian Hinds talking Hudson Valley sports and then executive sports editor Will Springstead will give his commentary on Union football in 2025 and a little bit of UAlbany football. They have a new coach and and they'll talk about the college lacrosse scene, including the passing, the tragic passing of Liam Gleason, the Siena men's lacrosse coach, at the age of 41.
Back in December.
Mike McAdam will talk horse racing, review the Saratoga season. A lot going on up there in 2025. And then we'll wrap things up with me talking about Union hockey, of course, as I mentioned, the new arena for the both the men's and women's hockey team. They'll look back at both of their years season in 2025 and have a good time. So we're going to talk a lot and you'll hear a lot of voices you don't usually hear. Like Christian Hinds will be coming up next. Talking Hudson Valley Sports. It's our year Review podcast here on the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:02:22] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Stan.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: And I'm Shen.
[00:02:24] Speaker C: And each week we bring you the.
[00:02:26] Speaker D: Stan and Shen show.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the Capital Region. We touch on food, we touch on.
[00:02:34] Speaker B: News, try to touch heavily on good news.
[00:02:37] Speaker E: And Shen's always available with hot takes. Yeah.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: So if you could follow along and.
[00:02:43] Speaker E: Listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms. We'd love to have you join us.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. And we'll start our year review with Christian Heinz, who covers the Hudson Valley sports scene for the Gazette group of newspapers. And Christian, big year, especially in basketball. Start with that. High school basketball. Greenville boys reaching the first sectional championship since 1996.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you for having me.
Yeah, first sectional championship appearance for the Greenville boys in nearly 30 years.
They were against mechanical game that went down to the final shot.
And yeah, good year for them. One of their best years generationally. And yeah, also the Hudson boys also having a historically significant year.
First sectional semifinal appearance in nine years. First conference title in eight years. Very much powered by Keith Robinson, who set the school scoring record in the second game that season. And we'll get back to him a little bit later.
And yeah, a couple more scoring records. You know, with the basketball season on the girls side, Bailey Briskie for Kicksackie Athens, both boys and girls scoring records, as well as Bryn Fitzmaurice for Greenville, setting the or breaking a record set by her sister a few years back. So, yeah, exciting basketball season.
Exciting first basketball season for me last winter.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: And Germantown reached an exceptional championship after a 119 regular season. I mean, how crazy was that?
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah, and they had some very difficult results. Difficult.
You know, a lot, a lot of blowout results. So to be able to keep it together and you know, have one of their best postseason finishes in a long time is great for them. And they're, they're 2 and 5 right now, but they're a lot of close finishes in the very middle class, heavy patroon conference this year. So looking forward to seeing what they do in class D this season.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Well, let's go outdoors. The spring sports season. Baseball and softball, big time for Chatham. Softball, a state champions for the first time since 2012.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I was kind of expecting a lot out of them. They, they, they schedule a lot of suburban council teams, high power teams and section two is typically very successful when it comes to softball. And so I was expecting a lot out of them. Skylar Grimshi recently committed to Binghamton, so they have a Division 1 pitcher who powered them to that title. And Ichabod Crane, they're kind of the other powerhouse regionally for softball. And they reached a state semifinal also in Binghamton, you know, with a lot of moving pieces, younger team and soft sophomore starting pitcher Tory Cutler, who was doing that for the first time Ever. So to be able to uphold their standard with a lot of change that season was good for them.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Staying in softball. Ichabod Crane been to a semifinal every year since 2018. How consistent. They came back with a sophomore pitcher.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, you know, one of the true dynasties of the region. So yeah, Tori Cutler, she's going to come back with a year under her belt as a junior this spring. So should likely expect them to continue to do what they've been doing for most of a decade.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Pretty much sticking with Ichabod Crane. Their baseball team won its first colonial title, Colonial Council title in eight years. Big, big for them.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: Yeah, with a, with a first year coach and also his dad assisting him. Caleb. Caleb Doyle graduated from Chatham I think in 2017 and his assistant, his assistant coach. Dan was kind of his coach all growing up with the Panthers and they had a lot of success with a very experienced team. Won 13 in a row and got very close there against La Salle in the Section 2 Class A championship.
So we'll see what happens this year.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: Yeah, let's head to the fall season. A lot of eight man football. And Taconic Hills experienced some good success in eight man football.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah, their first season in eight man. They, they had kind of a brief two game experiment at the end of last fall when they couldn't finish their 11 man schedule due to numbers issues and they reached regional championship. They had their first winning season in more than two decades.
So historically good year for them in a very new format. And we'll see if, if you, if years to come. That sort of acts as a model for what other programs in similar situations do.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Yeah, Chatham and Ichabod Crane merged football teams. How did that go?
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Went all right for them. They were, they, they went four and six. They were kind of in the middle class area of Class B. After a year where Ichabod Crane really struggled. Sorry for that slip up, but no problems. But Ichabod Crane, they struggled a lot the prior season. Chatham also struggled a lot. They were in class D and yeah, they brought it together. There's a lot of, like I said with Caleb Doyle and Dan Doyle, there's a lot of synergy between Chatham and Ichabod. Their communities, their athletics. So that worked, you know, to make a relatively competitive team this fall for that squad.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: Heading to the pitch, the Greenville boys soccer team won its first Section two title in four years.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah, they beat Mechanicville four. Nothing that's coming of been the, it's kind of been a Section 2 Class B championship rivalry for A few years now and Mechanicville graduated a lot, graduated a lot of seniors in the Greenville. They're kind of just rebuild and reload. They always have experience, they always graduate experience. So yeah, good accomplishment for that program.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: And wrapping up the fall season with Ichabod Crane volleyball repeating as Section 2 champions after losing the eight seniors to graduation.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: Yeah, they only had one senior this year and kind of started rough in September, you know, either a losing record or around 500 through their first 10 games. But they really picked it up by October and got the one seed and did what they've done, you know, recently and they defended their Section two title and they're going to have a lot of experience next year returning 13 players on this year's squad.
So they're likely going to be the team to beat in Class a of Section 2 volleyball for the time being.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you mentioned Hudson basket boys basketball Keith Robinson a little bit earlier hitting 2000 points. I mean how significant is that?
[00:09:04] Speaker A: He's only the 13th player to ever do that in section two history and kind of like the, like his last year's achievement of setting the Hudson program scoring record. He did that in the second game of the season against Waterville Heatley, another Class A Patron Conference team looking to hopefully get a Section 2 title this year. But to hit that accomplishment, he's, he's set the example. He's done some really unprecedented stuff for Hudson program which is looking to hopefully win its first sectional title in a decade.
[00:09:36] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: And then Kyra Durham's Jacob young broke a 50 year old scoring record.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Originally held by John Delosa who briefly played for Wichita State. So Jacob Young did that in the first week of the season for the Mustangs and yeah, they're going to look to pick it up this back half of the season and try and win some games on the patroon.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Well Christian, appreciate a few minutes talking about Hudson Valley sports. Of course we cover that in the Daily Mail Register Star. Where can people reach you on the fun social media?
[00:10:06] Speaker A: They can reach me at C Hindsjorno on Instagram. That's C H I N C E at. Or C H I N C E J O U R N O C H I N C E J O U R N O and then Twitter X formerly known as Twitter would be.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: I still call it Twitter.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: That would be Christian Heinz. So Christian as you would normally spell and then H I N C E.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: All right, well appreciate a few minutes and great work during the season. Look forward to more work. Great work from you in 2026.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: Thank you, Kenneth.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: All right, that Chris Christian Heinz. Coming up, we're going to talk with Gazette. Exactly. The Sports Center Will Spring said about Union College football, a little U Albany football, and the Capital Region College lacrosse scene. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:10:59] Speaker D: Timeout.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: All right.
[00:11:01] Speaker C: Remember, we're a team that plays together.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: Listen, the winning will take care of itself. We just have to get everyone involved in interscholastic sports. We celebrate what makes every one of us unique. And in the pursuit of a common goal, everyone in the huddle, in the bleachers and in the community comes together.
This message presented by NFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
Welcome back to the podcast and executive sports editor Will Springstead, here to talk to some college football in the area as well as college lacrosse. Let's start with the Union football team.
02 start looked like it's going to be another one of those rough seasons under John Drock in his second year as the head coach. But they didn't lose again until the postseason and they won the Liberty League title, went undefeated, won the Dutchman's shoes over RPI in dramatic fashion and turned out to be a pretty good year.
[00:12:03] Speaker D: It turned out to be a great year. And as we said all year, Ken, they believed in themselves.
And it's impressive to see when a team has that much resolute confidence in itself and deliver, and they certainly did.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: What was the key to their season, do you think? I mean, we talked about the fact they started 02 and we're thinking, oh, John Drock's going to be in trouble if they don't win that home opener against SUNY Morrisville, which they did, and then Lumber League play and just dominated the rest of the way.
[00:12:33] Speaker D: I think it was having both aspects, all three if you include special teams, but having both offense and defense be particularly strong. Patch Flanagan at quarterback was obviously a great weapon, running or passing, but they had a solid running game. Patch used all season long a bevy of receivers and then defensively one of the best red zone defenses in all of Division 3 and a defense that knew how to bend but not break when it mattered.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Patch Flang, I think he was the offensive player of the Liberty League. He was, I mean, just, just talk more about the way he performed this year.
You know, under John Drock's system.
[00:13:16] Speaker D: It was, I think Patch benefited the most from what John said early on in the season, was the guys looking at the same set of eyes and hearing the same voice.
Patch knew the offense quite well and could especially read the situations. Well, you know, obviously there, there were play calls but there were times when Patch needed to make the decision on his own. And more often than not because of that consistency and the familiarity he now had with Coach Drock's system made the right call.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Of course the big wins they won at Ithaca that really I think helped solidify themselves as a potentially to win the Liberty League which they eventually did against rpi. But how big was that win at Ithaca? That's a team that's been powerhouse in this league for years.
[00:14:03] Speaker D: A powerhouse. A thorn in union side over the years too. Union didn't have a particularly good record in the last 15 or so years against them and it was on the road.
I think that's a good mark of any team if you can go on the road. It was an early game. I think it was a noon start and take it to that squad that mattered.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Just don't step on the logo there.
[00:14:28] Speaker D: They admitted that was a mistake.
Don't think it's a Cole. Forget it when they come here.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: No, that was it. They step on you to use logo. If they win, they better universe like okay, we're even now. Let's get moving.
What does this do for next year for the team?
[00:14:42] Speaker D: It sets them up very nicely. They, they will lose some but they have a lot of guys who played as underclassmen or juniors this year and again you'll be staring at the same set of eyeballs and hearing the same commands and a lot of those guys just thinking of fond of Fultonville's Logan Miller played outstandingly as a sophomore this year and you know, he comes back, gets to help anchor a defensive line that did very well this year and I think guys like that can carry the message forward.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Well, let's look over to the other side of town. We really haven't really done much if at all with Ualbany football.
They had an interim coach this past season and last Tuesday, two days before Christmas they I guess in a way surprised us with the hiring of Tom Perkovich coming from Division 3 Susquehanna University.
To me, if your Division 3's coach is going head coach is going to go up to the division wiring because usually as an assistant. But what do you think Ualbany sees in a guy in Tom Frigovich who's been very successful in a 10 year run at Susquehanna down there in Sealants Grove, Pennsylvania?
[00:15:52] Speaker D: I think that that might just be it that he has been able to take his team to those Division 3 tournaments and do quite well.
I'M with you, Ken. I think If A Division FCS, I still call them 1 AA because I'm an old guy.
But I think if a team like that hires a Division 3 person, he better be the right one because it does set up some questions for you, Albany, and maybe Mark Benson, if he doesn't end up being the one. And you'll say, well, what made you so sure about a Division 3 guy that could translate to FCS? So we'll see. But he certainly, as you said, had good results.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: Yeah. 84 and 25 in a 10 season, won four straight conference titles. Two of those were Centennial. The last two were the landmark conference they went to force. The last four years have been in the NCAA Division 3 tournament.
So, yes, he has great stats, but can they. That's going to be the big question. Can they translate to a higher level in a conference that is difficult.
[00:16:59] Speaker D: It's a very difficult conference. And a conference this year, you know, saw some teams that were wins for Albany in the past turn around and swat Albany this year. So that is the name of the game in Division 1 and even to some extent in, you know, Division 3, you've got to turn your fortunes around very quickly. And so Perkovich will have to do so with an Albany squad that, you know, has got to kind of start all over.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Let's move over to lacrosse. And of course, on the unfortunate news in early December with the passing of Sienna men's lacrosse coach Liam Gleason, and, and I think we're still trying to work ourselves. I mean, the Gleason family tries to probably work themselves through the grief of what happened. He fell down the steps severely, suffering a severe brain injury. And then a few days after that, he passed away. Just. I mean, I know it's. Here we are starting 2026, and it still, like, doesn't seem real what happened there in December.
[00:18:00] Speaker D: It doesn't. And just someone at age 41, young kids coming off the best year he's ever had, Sienna's first Mac title and NCAA appearance in 11 years. And you thought the program couldn't get any higher. And then something like this.
So it's. It's going to be a big spring of adjustment for the Saints.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: And we're taping here on December 26th. And as of right now, we, as far as I know, they have not named a new head coach yet.
[00:18:33] Speaker D: They have not. They have not released. They're the only men's or women's lacrosse team in the area, Division 1, to have not released their Schedule. Although we do know they will be playing UAlbany on St Patrick's Day as.
[00:18:45] Speaker B: We suggested they two teams play against each other. I will take credit for that, by the way. I know, but I was hoping that they would do this. I mean, will it be the Liam Gleason club at all? They decided that yet they didn't say.
[00:18:56] Speaker D: So per se in Ualbany's release, but I imagine and they are planning to in some ways plural honor Liam that day.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: I mean, who do you expect to take over? I mean the associated head coach there?
[00:19:11] Speaker D: I think associate head coach Tim Cox, this connecting native is the logical replacement. He was named associate head coach earlier this fall.
He's been with Liam all of their now 8 years and has certainly gradually taking on more responsibility.
As we had said earlier in another taping, you know, you want as seamless a transition as you can get in difficult circumstances. And I think naming Tim Cox, your head coach provides that.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Yeah, of course you opening Siena met in the NCAA first round of the tournament and that that was had to be imaginable like covering that game.
[00:19:53] Speaker D: That was fantastic. There were just.
I could see it in the stands before I got up to the booth. And then even from the press box, you turn around and people are smiling. They just thought how cool is this that the two programs are facing each other and there are all these connections between Albany and Siena and two great squads. They both had fantastic years and it was a good night for lacrosse in the Capital District.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: Yeah, for Union, not that great a year.
[00:20:22] Speaker D: It was a head. I think when we look back on the lacrosse season last year, Union men were the biggest head scratch that I had.
They finished 4:10 overall, 2 and 5 in the Liberty League, 0 and 6 at home.
And on paper they had the guys to at least get back to the Liberty League tournament. One would think, you know, make the, at least the NCAA tournament, maybe make the first round. It wasn't quite as strong a team as they'd had in the past couple years, but I think they had the guys there. And so I happen to know from being at lacrosse football practices where they mentioned that coach Derek Witherford has been having some 5am practices and he's been, he's been sending the message this will not happen again. So I'll be curious to see how Union is the this spring.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: I mean, you said that they were.06 at home. That's. That's an.
I can't figure out how. How do you not win a game at home?
[00:21:24] Speaker D: It was, it was strange they, they, they had some problems. They found there were a couple games that I covered. They, they found ways to, to lose them and, and they just when the moment came where another team was transitioning or rallying or putting separation between Union several times at key moments in this season, Union did not have the answer. And I think that's probably what coach Witherford is going to be doing most of all is not just a physical coaching but mental coaching.
[00:21:59] Speaker B: How about all the women's programs in the area? What do you have to say about them?
[00:22:03] Speaker D: You know, it was really led by the Union women who didn't make the tournament. By the cruelest fate. They ended up being the first team left out.
Beat number one seed William Smith in the Liberty League semifinals, lost by one goal to number two seed Ithaca and thought they had it and you know, percentage points of this and that and they somehow get left out. But Alyssa Traynor doing a wonderful job at Union and they return a bunch of people and should be strong again this year. The UAlbany women were probably the big surprise for us. They were the number three seed in the America east. Didn't look like the teams that Katie Thompson had had in years past and son of a gun, they pulled off two nice wins and ended up winning the America east and play a very strong Yale team to a 129 loss in the first round.
She did very well with maybe not the roster that she'd had in the past. So you know, you don't count out Ualton, I guess.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: What about Siena?
[00:23:09] Speaker D: The Siena. We mentioned the Siena men and I should also say that the Siena men returned a bunch of people this year in an impressive freshman and transfer class. So it'll be exciting to see, you know, how well they do under tough circumstances. But they've got some guys who can play. The Siena women were never really comfortable. They finished 9:9. They lost to old nemesis Fairfield of course 16 to 12 in the max semis.
They end up losing to graduation Grace Debrinski, Kelly Logue, two of their top scorers. They just never connected. They couldn't string wins together.
And I think Danielle Schwann Tetralt, the head coach will probably be looking to spark some new life in that.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: Any off the wall predictions this season for college across in the area?
[00:24:00] Speaker E: I don't know.
[00:24:02] Speaker D: My off the wall prediction is we spoke a little while ago that I believe this is the last year of Scott Mars four year contract.
And I think when he first signed it we all thought okay, you know, four years and then Scott's gonna ride off into the sunset. And, boy, if you're ualbany, why not keep him? And I think it'll be up to Scott whether he wants to come back. But, you know, if, if I'm looking at this roster and looking at two straight America east tournaments and he's in good shape to win a third this year, why not come back? So, you know, I think that might be the off the wall thing is Scott Marr might come back.
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll see what happens. We'll. We'll enjoy your coverage. Coming up.
February, another month away. Man, it's just like, still, I can't believe how they play lacrosse in 20 degree weather.
[00:24:54] Speaker D: Cats should not be worn in lacrosse games.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: No, I mean, I mean, they're wearing, they're wearing shorts and like, I don't know.
[00:25:00] Speaker D: I don't know.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: I, they're athletes. They, they, I, I me, I just watch as I'm freezing my butt off. So we'll appreciate a few minutes and we'll talk lacrosse down the road.
[00:25:09] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: All right, that's. Well, spring set. Coming up, Mike Begatum talks horse racing in 2025. You're listening to the parting shots. Po.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: If you really want to know what's.
[00:25:31] Speaker B: Going on in your community, you have.
[00:25:32] Speaker D: To read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: We're right down the middle, and we're.
[00:25:37] Speaker D: Gonna get to the truth. Our reporters and photographers are out in.
[00:25:41] Speaker C: The field bringing you updates every minute.
[00:25:44] Speaker D: With trust, accuracy, and integrity.
[00:25:47] Speaker C: From the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism.
[00:25:52] Speaker D: We're finding out what's going on in community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: It's what we do.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. Another great year of horse racing in the capital region. And Mike McAdam, who covers horse racing for the Daily Gazette, joins us now to talk about that. How's it going, Mike? You have a good holiday?
[00:26:25] Speaker E: Sure did, Ken.
[00:26:27] Speaker C: I worked remotely for a week and then I was on vacation for a week, so I got out of Dodge and hung out with family, and we did a lot of usual holiday stuff, and it was a blast.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: Your Dolphins put a beating on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers there Sunday.
[00:26:40] Speaker C: Yeah, I didn't get to see that game, the one before where Quinn Ewers got his first start of the season. I actually went to a Buffalo Wild Wings where they had the ticket, so I could kind of see what he was about. And he started out pretty well, but then he threw a couple picks and I was like, okay, maybe he's not the answer.
[00:27:01] Speaker B: Well, let's talk horse racing. The 157th Saratoga Race Course meet concluded on Labor Day, September 1, with what was an unprecedented 49 days of live racing at the Spa in 2025 because of the addition of the July 4th racing and the running of the Belmont Stakes for the second year in a row.
Mike, how did the Spa perform and how did everything hold up during that long stretch that began the first week in June?
[00:27:24] Speaker C: Well, I held up pretty well, I thought, for 49 days of racing from June until Labor Day.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: You didn't go crazy, huh?
[00:27:29] Speaker C: I did not, no.
You know, as far as the summer meet itself, so that 49 breaks down to five days for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in June.
Then they came back with four days of racing for the July 4th Racing Festival.
The way the calendar fell this year sort of drove that move by the New York Racing association with Labor Day on September 1, which is the earliest it can possibly be as the first Monday in September. You work backwards from there as the, you know, the traditional closing day of the Saratoga summer meet. And then you're trying to monkey wrench the fourth of July in there, and it was close enough to where opening day fell based on, again, moving backwards from September 1st, that they decided, let's just run the July 4th festival, which, you know, has been a pretty popular thing down at Belmont park, not so much at Aqueduct. It just made a lot of sense from a timing standpoint and just from a money standpoint for them to move it up here. And the calendar again kind of forced that move, and it worked out well as far as the 40 days of the summer meet. So you got five plus four plus 40 for the meet, which is a traditional span of number of live racing days.
Numbers were down a little bit year to year from 2024. As far as handle, they still were kind of flirting with $800 million in all sources handle, they did surpass a million in paid admission for the 10th year in a row that fans were allowed on the grounds. Of course, we throw out 2020 because of COVID 19, and there was no admission. So, I mean, they've been kind of consistently solid over the last few years, numbers wise, the attendance is always going to be there just because it's a fun place to be.
As far as attendance and handle and things like that. During July 4th in Belmont, I didn't actually pull those up. I mean, just my recollection of it is that for the second year in a row hosting the Belmont Stakes, the non Belmont Days didn't really do all that great, but then they did, you know, way better than they would have been, you know, down at Aqueduct. But Belmont Stakes day itself was pretty good, pushing that 50,000 capacity attendance, the handle, you know, through the roof like it usually is.
So numbers wise, they've maintained a pretty consistent situation. You know, I know we talked about this way back in the springtime about how, you know, I thought the numbers might suffer a little bit because a people might experience Saratoga fatigue with 49 days of live racing. And also it might, you know, the attendance number certainly might get diluted a little bit. With 49 days to pick from, you can kind of wait until the last minute and check the weather forecast and things like that. But the meet itself did what it's supposed to, and so I'm sure they were happy with that.
It was a little unchartered territory with the 49 days, you know, Saratoga did what Saratoga does did very well.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: Sovereignty clearly was the star of the meet and all of 2025 for that matter. Besides the Kentucky Derby, Bellmont and Travers winner, which horses and races stood out during the meet?
[00:30:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I'll start with Sovereignty, though. First of all, I'm in the throes of filling out my annual Eclipse Awards ballot for all the year end divisional championships.
And I wrote this before the Breeders cup that I thought his resume still, you know, once he scratched from the Breeders cup, his resume was still solid enough for Horse of the Year Championship, no matter what happened in the Breeders cup class. Of course, it was really, really disappointing. The Breeders cup just had one of the best fields lined up in years and years, and Sovereignty was the morning line favorite. Of course, he scratched a couple days before the race with a fever. It was very disappointing. The race itself was still really good, but, man, everybody was salivating to see, you know, what he would have done in there as the Morning lion favorite.
The good news with him, not to get too ahead of ourselves, but Godolphin, the owners of Sovereignty, recently said that he will be back for a 2026 campaign. So we're thrilled about that. Now they just got to keep him from getting a fever. It's amazing because when he did spike that fever, you know, and I asked Bill Mott, the trainer during the meet, he's like, has this horse had a bad day at all this year? He said, well, he lost the Florida Derby. He came in second, but he ran great that day. So I can't even count that as a bad day. And then, of course, on the threshold of Breeders Cup Classic, you know, he spiked a fever. Wasn't anything serious. But you can't put a horse in, you know, compromised position where he's not 100% into a race like that.
So beyond him, you know, it was swan song for Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, being finishing first in the personal Ensign by a nose over Darth Vader.
After that, she finished fourth in the Spinster. And they were gonna. They were toying with the idea of running her in the Breeders cup, this staff, and they finally decided enough is enough.
Huge, huge fan favorite, even up to the last, you know, October, when she was still in her stall at Saratoga across Fifth Avenue there.
You know, there's like 200, you know, trainer Kenny McPeek, in typical fashion, you know, publicizing and doing a great thing, ambassadorship for the sport by making her available to fans. There's like 200 people showed up that morning when he said, she's going to be shipping out tomorrow. You're welcome to stop by and bring her treats and peppermints and carrots and stuff. And they did so. But it was kind of cool that her final victory of her career came in the Personal Ensign on Travers Weekend.
A couple others of note, I'll say Sierra Leone, who won the Breeders Cup Classic last year for trainer Chad Brown, won the Whitney and gave him the, you know, Mechanicville native, his first ever victory in the Whitney. So that was a big one for him.
Subsequently finished second of Forever Young in the Breeders Cup Classic. So, you know, that would have thrown a monkey wrench in my Horse of the year vote if he had won that one, but he didn't, so we don't have to worry about that.
One of the most bizarre things races I've ever seen, and I've been doing this since 1987, was antiquarian's victory in the Jockey Club Gold cup, where Mindframe, who was the second choice in the betting and was a legit, you know, one of the best older horses in North America this year.
There was a chain reaction where one of the outside horses, right out of the starting gate, started this collision like of bumper cars, about four horses. And Irate Ortiz was riding Mindframe and got knocked to his right out of the saddle. He lands sitting down on White Abario to his right and desperately reaches out and grabs Edgar Zayas, who was riding White Abario. And that lasted for about a stride and a half. And I went bye bye and hit the deck and actually got clipped by his own horse, Riderless Mindframe at this point Point and Sierra Leone kind of jumped over him. I've looked at the replay that day like 20 times. I couldn't quite tell if Sierra Leone got a piece of him, but Mind Frame surely did. And then of course, Irad had the meet title for riding championship well in hand at that point and missed like the last day of the meet. No problem. He was kind of banged up. It's astonishing if you ever see the replay of this race, that he was borderline to ride the next day because he got roughed up. This is 12 strides into the race. So what happens after that? Mind Frame runs off with no rider, gets all the way to around the track to the grandstand turn. Todd Pletcher's got one eyeball on Antiquarian, who was a 13, one long shot and the other eyeball on Mime Frame because he doesn't want this horse to get hurt. One of the points he made afterwards was the gap over on that turn is where they come and go from the Oklahoma side every day. He was worried that Mindframe might try to make his way home and like hop the fence and go back to his barn and try to cross Union Avenue, which, what a disaster that would have been. But they collared him, he stayed on the track.
You know, There were some DQs from the horse that started it and everything. And then Antiquarian picked up the pieces at 13 to 1.
You know, missed all the mess at the beginning, as did Sierra Leone and then two others. I'll just mention Nitrogen. I was just a really fun filly to watch.
She was absolutely dominating the three year old Philly Turf Division. And then trainer Mark Cassie decided, you know what, we're going to try her on the dirt. She winds up winning the grade one Alabama and she was a very honest second in the Breeders cup this staff as well. So I don't know if they're going to run around the dirt this year. It seems like they will.
And then the last one of course is Ted Knafi. Saratoga annually is a showcase of the big 2 year olds that are going to kind of go into the following year, as you know, Derby favorites or from Phillies standpoint, pointing toward races like the Alabama at Saratoga as 3 year olds. And Ted Knafi absolutely hit it out of the ballpark four for four. On his two year old season he broke his maiden at Saratoga. He won the Hopeful at Saratoga, then he won the Breeders Futurity at Keeneland and then he then he won the Breeders Cup Juvenile to Clearly lock up 2 year old Eclipse Award Championship. One last thing I'll say about him is so they run six Kentucky Derby future pools. They've already run two of them and the second one closed and he's seven to one based on the wagering and all others, which is one of the choices when you make a futures wager is 2 to 1. So he's the only one in single digits as far and there's 40 individual horses that you can play in the future pool, but he's seven to one. He's the only one in single digits. And so you can have him or you can have the entire three year old universe at two to one.
Kind of gives you a little indication of how highly regarded he is. And at this point, I know it's only we're barely almost into the new year, but he's clearly the Kentucky Derby favorite and he did a lot of his good work at Saratoga.
[00:38:16] Speaker B: Speaking of the new year, with the new Belmont park on schedule to open in September 2026, what does 2026 and beyond look like for racing at Saratoga?
[00:38:25] Speaker C: Well, we had a whopping 49 days of racing at Saratoga in 2025. And 2026 is going to say hold my beer because we're going to go 51. We're going to go 51 big ones.
And I already referred to the calendar situation in 25 where September 1st was where labor Day happened to fall.
Coincidentally, it happens to fall on September 7th in 2026, which is the latest it can possibly be. Again, work back from there, you determine by going five day weeks and then the six day week of Labor Day of racing, the opening day of Saratoga wound up being at a point which would create a 10 day gap without racing between opening day of the meet and the Fourth of July festival, which, you know, NYRA's committed to running the Fourth of July up here again this year. But they really, really didn't. You know, that 10 day gap isn't doing anybody any favors. Horsemen, fans, Naira, the horses themselves.
So they kind of came up with this hybrid schedule. I wrote a column about it before they had solidified the actual dates. What I called 2025 was Frankenstein monster of a schedule that they created. And then 2026 is going to be the bride of Frankenstein because they really had to kind of move some pieces around and shuffle some things. So what you're going to wind up with now is the 4th of July will be up here again. It'll be three days, then you'll have a three day gap before the quote unquote Oh, I take that back. You're going to have the Belmont first, of course, for the third year in a row.
Then the 4th of July Festival starts out and it basically is being folded into the Saratoga meet. And the way they're doing that is to kind of spread out racing with three day gaps instead of two day gaps starting with the 4th of July. So what you have is after the three days of the 4th of July festival, you will have three four day weeks, five, five day weeks and then that final six day week of the Labor Day, you know, closing situation there. So they basically, they kind of spread it out over the Fourth of July to Labor Day just to get rid of that 10 day gap while preserving, you know, bringing the Fourth of July racing up here.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Well, Mike, appreciate a few minutes talking horse racing and we'll definitely, definitely be talking about it once we get to the Triple Crown series. We talk Kentucky Derby Preakness and Belmont Stakes. So it'll be another busy year for you.
[00:41:05] Speaker C: First Saturday in May, we're talking about it already. I will say that Belmont, well, you already mentioned Belmont park is on schedule for reopening. That'll happen in September of 2026.
And then in 2027, the Saratoga meet will return to some normalcy, to quote Doc Emmerich, to finally bring some sanity to this. So we'll be back to 40 days in 2027, but next year we got 51 big ones.
[00:41:33] Speaker B: Love Doc Emmerich. Him on the. Miss him on the hockey broadcast. So, Mike, appreciate it a few minutes. Thanks again for all your hard work and horse racing.
[00:41:40] Speaker C: Thank you, ken.
[00:41:40] Speaker B: That's Mike McAdam. Coming up, Drew Wemple talks high school sports. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:42:01] Speaker C: You guys just didn't want it bad enough.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: That should have been an easy win. What were you doing out there? You gotta hustle. You could have made that play if you'd been open.
[00:42:11] Speaker D: On the car ride home after the game, when you think you're helping by telling me what I did wrong and what I need to work on, all I hear is that I'm not good enough.
That I'm supposed to be perfect.
That it's not okay to lose on the car ride home. All I need to hear is how much you love me and enjoy watching me play.
That my worth isn't determined by my performance.
That even on my worst day, I am worthy.
That you see me learning, growing and doing my best.
And that is enough.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: This message presented by NISFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators association.
Welcome back to the podcast as we look back at the year 2025 in Capital Region sports. And now joined by Drew Wemple, our high school writer. Drew, when did you first join our paper?
[00:43:27] Speaker E: Yeah, so it's been a big year for me.
I came on right abouts in end of May, right before we got into sectional championships for softball and baseball. I jumped right into it. Couldn't be happier to be here. Got through the spring, end of spring, full summer, found stuff to do.
And now we just completed the fall season as of a couple weeks ago when I was out in Syracuse. So it's on to the winter. I'm going through my first calendar year now with you guys and like I said, I couldn't be happier to be here and more grateful for you guys for bringing me on.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: Of course, we're an audio podcast, no video. As much as we're still one of these days. We got the video on the Parting Shots podcast, but did I give you permission to wear a Chargers jacket in this studio?
[00:44:09] Speaker E: I didn't wear it after the Monday night game. I. You got to give me credit for showing a little grace there.
But hey, we're. We're in it. It's the last couple weeks. It's a good time to be a Chargers fan before the postseason when it's not a good time to be a Chargers fan.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: They still should be in San Diego, by the way. Now Los Angeles. There's more. There are.
There are barely any Chargers fans in la. But I digress. Of course, my Eagles won the NFC East a couple weeks ago, so we're in good shape there. Anyway, let's look some of the highlights of the year. A lot of state basketball championships. And now Shaker boys won a title.
Burn, Knox Westerlo and Glenn swallows also won some state titles. And Niskuna boys basketball is a state finals for the first time since the 70s. Just talk about the whole basketball scene.
[00:44:55] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, just starting back, you know, kind of closer to the beginning of 2025 with the, you know, basketball championships. I mean, it was kind of an unprecedented year for Section two. We had four teams going out to play in the state finals, three of them winning. And we saw kind of the fallout afterwards with, you know, some of those schools now playing independent regular season and, and some players transferring to private schools. But in the moment, it was an incredible year for Section two basketball. I mean, Shaker, what they did, winning for the first time ever in program history with that group, you had Burnox with that undefeated season. I mean, incredible job Done by them and coach Wright, Glens Falls, we know about their dynasty. It was good to see them, you know, kind of get back on top. And then what Niski Una did kind of a unimaginable, you know, run in as of recent years. They were building to this. And then they really capitalized getting all the way to the state finals. Just came up a little, little bit short in overtime. But, you know, Mike Grasso's got another good group coming through this year.
[00:45:55] Speaker B: Well, also some other state titles in baseball, coach. Saratoga Springs saw two teams win state championships with Saratoga High School and Saratoga Central Catholic Wing that had. That was an amazing feat, not only for one Saratoga team, but for the two teams from the same area winning state championships, baseball, that was quite the day.
[00:46:17] Speaker E: And as we just mentioned, that was when I just started here with the Daily Gazette. So I'd gone out to Binghamton, and I didn't really know what to expect from these teams. You know, Saratoga had kind of a storybook run to get back here. Spa Catholic was dominant all year. You just were kind of wondering how far could they go? And then we get to that fateful day where they're both playing hours apart. Saratoga knocks off the number one team in the state. Catch them in just an absolute thriller. Then a couple hours later, you know, you go, I went to see Spock Catholic, and you could kind of hear some of the buzz in the crowd about, hey, Saratoga just won. Now we've got to do the same. And boy, oh, boy, did they. Almost a perfect game. You know, no hitter from Pierce Byrne on the mound. He's going to go to Siena. I mean, they just had an unbelievable season, both teams, and that it all culminated with that parade down Broadway. If you don't know Saratoga baseball lore, that's a dividing line for kind of the Little Leagues between Eastside and west side. So for it to kind of all come full circle on Broadway for all these kids to be together, riding trolley, celebrating a, you know, state championships won in the same year. I thought personally that might be one of the better stories of the year as a whole. In the high school scene.
[00:47:32] Speaker B: And in section two of girls wrestling, we saw the first ever New York State championships. Three of them, in fact.
[00:47:37] Speaker E: Yeah, and that was just kind of, you know, a really seminal moment for not just, you know, section two wrestlers in the three that we had win state championships. Mia Collins, Bella Sadolino from Columbia. Mia Collins was from Burnhill's Boston spot. And then Eva Gilmet. I don't want to mispronounce that. But from Shen. I mean, it had been kind of building to this, this sport. You know, they had a makeshift championship invitational the year before.
This was the first ever state wrestling championship tournament. You can just see the boom this sport is undergoing. Female sports as a whole too, with the way flag football has taken off. So expect more big things from section 2 Girls wrestling this year. But I just thought that was a really unique moment for, you know, where we're at in sports, especially female sports now.
[00:48:27] Speaker B: Speaking of female sports and Shenandahoa, their cross country 4x1 mile relay. A national champion.
[00:48:34] Speaker E: And that was one of the more unique stories I got to write. You know, national champion is always interesting, but considering this was the only time all year these four girls and I want to give them by name, that's Courtney Kruwicki, Leila Busry accomplished in her own right. Raquel Landa.
And you know, they, they just, it was incredible. You know, they. The race didn't run itself until 4:30pm or 11:30pm at night. They were kind of waiting around all day down to run this race. They finally did for the first time together as a four girl unit and 20 minutes some, you know, give or take a couple seconds. I mean that's what they did. Each run in a mile. First state champions for Shenendahoa since 2016. I mean it's, it was quite, quite an incredible accomplishment for those four girls as well. The other one, Riley Young, wanted to be make sure I got her name in there.
[00:49:26] Speaker B: Burnhill's Boston Lake Field hockey. What can you say about them? Another state championship. Continue the dynasty in Section two.
[00:49:32] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, they just keep on winning the Section two. You know, dynasty is one thing. This was their. They won their third in the last four years. They're up to, you know, 12 in the last decade. I mean, they just keep on winning locally. But then to go to the state championship and win another state title for, for that program, it's just marvelous. You know, kind of the run they've put together. There's obviously a bunch of key players that have been there throughout that run. Lily Mistrella comes to mind. Addison Knappic comes to mind. Those are going to be two of the most decorated athletes as a whole to come from our area. You know, both of them have done outstanding things during their tenure and they were at the forefront of what Burnt Hills field hockey and coach Kelly Vrooman's been doing well.
[00:50:15] Speaker B: Skip by forgotten another Shenandoah girls tennis player, Jolie Shychak.
I may be mispronouncing her name wins the girls state tennis championship.
[00:50:26] Speaker E: Yeah, first tennis championship for Shenandahoa in school history. And we, as the trend continues, this area is producing state championship winning talent that hasn't slowed down. The only thing it's getting better and she's among that. We also had a Saratoga girls tennis doubles team do really well at the state championship, so. But for her to win as a freshman sets the bar pretty high for her career.
[00:50:50] Speaker B: Saratoga Football Saratoga Springs football dominated our podcast late in the mid late November into December.
Just the incredible run after they lost Shen in the regular season. They just took off, beat Shen, beat CBA in the second two championship game and got to the state championship game against CBA Syracuse, although they came up short.
What a magical season for the Blue Streaks.
[00:51:15] Speaker E: Yeah, and magical is really the exact word to use for, I mean talking to them all season long they had kind of said nobody believes in us but us. And it kind of came out to be true. You know, they just kept defying the odds. And I would contend that game of one of the games of the year in high school sports was that sectional championship and the pouring rain at Colony against CBA to knock off the four time defense defending Class AA sectional championships. Credit to Paul Wager for standing out there in the pouring rain to cover that one in a 14:13 win for Saratoga thanks to a blocked pat and a late stand at the end.
[00:51:50] Speaker B: Well, from Section 2 to Major League Baseball, Jeff Hoffman, Shaker grad and Matt Gage brother Perth made headlines with Jeff Hoffman almost won a World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays. Came with the game and Matt Gage made his first start with the Giants even though it was just one of those opener starts. But he did well.
Just talk about those two, how they represent Section 2 in major league Baseball.
[00:52:16] Speaker E: Yeah, and winning state championships is one thing, but then going to represent us on the national stage is, you know, really just a whole other world. And those two did it. Well, Jeff Hoffman, obviously, if you watch the World Series, there's a heartbreaking end for him in that team. But so much to be proud of, you know, to be, to be getting to that moment and you know, for delivering in so many big spots all season and in the postseason for them. Jeff Hoffman from Shaker, that's a, you know, really cool thing for section 2 and the capital Region to be pulling for in October baseball. And Matt Gage too. You know, if you haven't really read about his journey, go back and read some of our stories on that because you know, he just had A long and winding road. Kept believing in himself. Went down to Mexico for a stint. He was drafted by the Giants. Really never stuck there. Came full circle again this past summer. Came up for their kind of playoff push. Got his first career start. Really cool job by Section two. You know, baseball players going on to the national stage.
[00:53:16] Speaker B: To a couple other area athletes at a goal. Boston Spa softball with USA Softball and a Claire Hutton. The Bethlehem soccer both calls for their respective teams and USA teams.
[00:53:27] Speaker E: Yeah, again, I mean, this is now the international stage we're talking about. I mean, Anna Gold did a story on her recently. She's actually now in Australia for the holidays in the new year. She's going to be playing in some exhibition friendlies down there with a really talented crop of USA softball players. And Claire Hutton, you know, keeps getting call ups. If you don't know, she's with the Kansas City Current in our women's national.
[00:53:53] Speaker B: Nwsl.
[00:53:54] Speaker E: Yeah, nwsl. Couldn't get it off my tongue, but yeah, I mean this is, this is the international stage we're talking about where we have locals that you could have watched, you know, at Bethlehem High School or on the Boston spot softball fields. And now they're playing in front of hundreds of thousands of people and millions around the world, you know, against international competition. Some of the best of the world. That's a pretty cool thing to trace back to Section two.
[00:54:21] Speaker B: Well, there's a lot of great stories that came out in high school sports in 2025. There were some not so great stories coming out. I want to start with the Jim Zullo Northville girls basketball. The hair pull which was captured on tv.
And I remember that night I was working here and I know Will Springstead did a. Northville lost the game and Will Springstead did a story. And then somehow we saw this clip online and led to meetings after deadline. And it's one of those things where we didn't end up socializing that story. And then I would put a little editor's note the next day about the whole situation. Just talk about that.
Were you working for the Saratoga?
[00:55:04] Speaker E: Yes. So I got my own kind of unique story with that one too. I was actually there for the. The following game. I was going to see Stillwater. I believe that was still the final four for them.
You know, I was there to see. To cover their game. And I'd gotten there early. I was actually sitting on the baseline closest to the Northville bench as their game was ending against Lafargeville. And you know, you'd think losing back to Back State finals. That would be, you know, the most disappointing part of the night.
That would be, you know, kind of the big storyline. But then all, all this breaks loose.
[00:55:36] Speaker B: All hell breaks.
[00:55:37] Speaker E: Yes. With, with what was going on. And my part of this is I never, I was sitting on that baseline. I never saw it. I did. I was, you know, I, I didn't see all the, you know, commotion about it. Then you see it come out on the NFHS broadcast and it gets picked up by, you know, national news outlets for all the wrong. Yeah, I mean, just a truly unfortunate situation. A coach that was on his way out made a really poor decision against, you know, their star player, player who now we, we see is still having a blossoming career over at Mohawk Valley. She's gonna have a bright future still in front of her. That won't be, you know, kind of determined by what happened at the end of this game where he reaches back to pull her hair for whatever, you know, whatever was said between the two. That was, you know, the decision that kind of cost him, you know, he had to plead guilty to charges of harassment.
He's got a no contact clause. But between him and a player that is one of the most decorated in Section two. So just a really unfortunate situation to see that play out.
[00:56:36] Speaker B: It reminded me, and you're not old enough. This is when I was a teenager, Ohio State and Clemson, and I think it was a Florida Citrus bowl or Tangerine Bowl, I forget what bowl it was. And it was a Clemson player intercepted pass and went over, got tackled near the Ohio State and did the out of bounds at the Ohio State side of the field. And their coach, a legendary coach, Woody Hayes, who I don't think he was retiring, but he ended up punching the kid and ended up costing him his job and his legacy in a way. So that sort of reminded me of that situation when we stay over in Troy. Since that game was at Hudson Valley.
LaSalle baseball scandal. What. What do we know about what happened there?
[00:57:20] Speaker E: Yeah, so this was, you know, one of my. This was a, a story I had to break. I had been kind of playing the long game with this. I had heard about it. I had heard whispers about it, you know, kind of at the start of the season where they played in a scrimmage. That was too early, before the 10 practice rule that's, you know, passed down by the state in the state handbook. All teams have to play 10 practices before playing a game. They had had a tournament down in Florida, down in Myrtle Beach, I remember, and they played early Was a game that kind of tried to get covered up. A scrimmage out of section competition.
And the whispers were kind of creeping up about it. And then it kind of all breaks loose in similar fashion on a day just before deadline. I remember when I was with Detroit Record this past spring where Section two had come to the conclusion originally that they were going to hand down a year long postseason ban across all sports for LaSalle. That was individual sports, team sports, winter sports, spring sports, fall sports. It was everybody that was going to be affected by this. Because this wasn't the athletic department's, you know, first infraction or you know, they had been. They had become a bit of a habitual line stepper as of late. And that Section two got to a point where they had to give a year long ban. Then Section or LaSalle played the legal game. They were able to fight back and I would say pretty successfully they got that reduced to just baseball for the season. So all of their other teams are going to be eligible for Section 2 competition.
Their team wound up having a magical run. This, you know, kind of. Even after all that came out, they were still eligible for last spring without their manager Ryan Ruddy or head coach. They still won the Section two title. Got all the way to the state Final four. It was, it was a good run for La Salle or sorry to the regionals, not the Final four. They didn't make it to Binghamton. It was a good run for La Salle after everything those players had been through throughout the season, having that cloud looming over their heads. But again, another unfortunate situation where some coaches and administrators made a decision that is going to. That affected kids. And this. They had to go through the legal process to play it out.
[00:59:27] Speaker B: Well, the dispute between the section two hockey referees and Section two finally resolved. But it's a shame it had to happen. I mean the games, some games were postponed because of it. And just what are they singing together now? Holding hands, singing Kumbaya?
[00:59:46] Speaker E: Well, this one got in right before the gun of the new year. So this just made the cut. Yeah. As it stands, they came to an agreement last Thursday, Friday it was finalized where they're now going to have.
It's going to run through the rest of the season. The referees are. They're going to get paid a lump sum at the end of the year by all the schools that are contributing meeting and they're also going to be having a end of year officials Clinic and Section 2 showcase, which I think is kind of a unique idea or creative solution more or less. To, you know, still kind of give back to the players and coaches in section 2 in this, in this way and maybe also avoid some future negotiating around the state where that's not going to be just okay, you paid the refs what they asked for, now pay us what they asked for. No, they came to a unique solution. But did it have to happen? Probably not. If you look back at how it all started in our coverage of this with the officials agreement that was drawn up in June, it just seemed like there were some things at play. Be it conflict of interest, it's alleged by the officials association still, or you know, be it section 2 adding some clauses that didn't sit right with hockey officials. It seemed like this was something that both sides wish they had sorted out in June before this got finalized. But we got to this point and it was again just another disappointing situation to lose games because of off the ice conflict.
[01:01:13] Speaker B: One thing I found interesting in that whole situation when they, they brought section three officials in.
Section three officials use three officials. I, I don't know if it's one reference.
[01:01:24] Speaker E: Uses two.
[01:01:25] Speaker B: Okay.
I don't know if it's 1 referee, 2 linesman or 2 referees, 1 linesman.
Why doesn't section two go to the three official formats? It would seem better if you have one referee and two linesman or two referees and one linesman.
[01:01:42] Speaker E: I would have to imagine it's all because of the almighty dollar. If you know the more refs you have, the more you're going to pay.
They were at the time asking to go from about 124four per game up to 140 per game. That was before they decided of the end of season lump sum. So I would have to imagine that it was because of cost. And by bringing in the section three officials, they were paying out anywhere between 700 to 1100 per the per game. And they had three games covered by section three that weekend.
You would know more about hockey, officiating and those and how that flows than I do. But do you know college uses 3? 4. 4.
[01:02:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:02:22] Speaker E: Does it two referees too long. You know, what's the, Is there a benefit to going smaller on crews or bigger?
[01:02:29] Speaker B: Well, maybe it's a faster game now with college hockey and pro hockey is, you know, the pros use four officials as well. I mean, I don't think the high school game is as fast as maybe prep school or something like that, but it's to me I think you need another set of eyes out there or if you're going to go two Referees, one linesman, maybe one of the referees has got to do the lines as well. I don't know. But that's something that if you want to really officiate the game, well, make sure there's no hanky panky going on or penalties not being called. That should be called, but it's not my money.
[01:03:08] Speaker E: Nope. It's not coming from my pocket. But like I said, it's good to see that we, we came to a solution.
[01:03:13] Speaker B: Yep. And unfortunately, this fall we saw the passing of Art Cranach, the legendary co. Coach of the Saratoga Springs cross country and the track and field teams. Just what I mean, we Talked with Mike McAdam earlier, shortly after Art's passing.
What do you think his legacy is?
[01:03:33] Speaker E: Yeah, and for me, I have kind of a unique history with Art in the fact that I started at the Saratogian and I, it was after everything had come out with, you know, that scandal and everything. So I actually never got to meet the Cranix. But in every person I talked to, you know, in Tom Rielli, the new coach or Zanetti, one of the cross country coaches, you know, they spoke highly of him and you know, what him and Linda did for that program as a whole. Most people know about the scandals that happened with the unique practice techniques and the legal battles that those people went through, which I'm sure wore on his health.
And you know, Mike McAdam, he would know from his days covering cross country would probably know him as well as anybody around here. I mean, it's a, it's a unique legacy that they leave behind. And he had him and Linda had stepped down actually in April from their posts because of Art's health battle. And then the unfortunate news comes out hours before the Section 2 Cross Country Championships are interesting, coincidentally.
[01:04:36] Speaker B: That's just interesting. Interesting timing.
[01:04:37] Speaker E: Yeah, that, that this had happened, you know, of his passing at 74 years old because of heart failure.
You know, it's, it was a sad way to kind of, you know, close out the cross country season just to lose a figure, you know, an opposing figure like that in the sport, not just in Section two, but state and nationally with what his team teams did over the year. So it was an unfortunate loss at the end of the year and he's going to leave a polarizing legacy in his wake.
[01:05:09] Speaker B: Well, Drew, appreciate a few minutes. What job well done in a short time even here. And you got busy 2026 ahead. We'll follow your coverage here on DailyGazette.com and in print. Drew, happy New Year. We'll talk soon.
[01:05:22] Speaker C: Happy New Year.
[01:05:22] Speaker E: Thanks.
[01:05:23] Speaker B: That's Drew Wemple. Coming up, I'll talk about the Union hockey season for both the men and the women. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
The Daily Gazette has some great subscription deals happening. Sign up today
[email protected]. and as always, when credibility matters, trust the Daily Gazette.
Welcome back to the podcast. Now it's my turn to look back at the year in 2025 in Union. Kyle Chockey. And we'll talk a little bit RPI later on.
But folks, obviously the big story with the Union men's and women's hockey programs was the end of an era at Messerink. 50 years of hockey at the facility which served both programs well. Of course the highlighted for Union during the 2010s with the run. They had ended up winning a national championship in 2014, got to the Frozen Four in 2012. That building was loud during those games and intimidated a lot of opposing teams. I don't think they, I think if they could have the messenger ring flu, they would have done that. But it was a great barn. It served its purpose, but it was outlived its usefulness. There were issues obviously, you know what you see with the long lines of the bathroom, the one concession stand that they had.
Parking was just terrible. We know that.
But this M and T Bank center opened its doors in August. Officially in the first game played there was the women. They took a 3 nothing victory over Franklin Pierce. And the men, their first game was a 11 tie against Army West Point. Just, just looking back at messing me in 29, my 29 years of covering Union. I was my second stint here.
The barn was great. It was a pure hockey barn. I mean the noise just bounced off the ceilings and like I said, it intimidated a lot of teams, especially during that run Union had in the2010. Like I said, it was just an incredible time. The great, incredible players that were there, Matt Boddy, Daniel Carr, Troy, Colin Stevens, Shane Gosbert obviously and just, you know, you can go down the list and if I start naming names, it'd take forever. But unfortunately for both the women and the men, they lost their final games in in Mesarenka and Newton came in the quarterfinals of the ECAC hockey tournament against Dartmouth and they lost the regular season finale as well against Colgate.
But the new facilities open up and it's wonderful. I mean I joked about this and I shouldn't say a joke. It's serious. 29 years of an end zone press box is not the greatest. I even have the video board there. The last few years covering just you can't really tell what's going on down there. Now where I'm sitting on the blue line behind the visiting team bench to the I don't have near the exits, not, not near the entrance, but it's a great view. You get to see everything and it reminds me of my five years of covering the Hershey Bears, Hershey park arena, where you're right at the top of the section there. Hershey wasn't enclosed like the Union press boxes, but it's a great facility and it's going to get its own personality. I mean it was a little too loud to start.
I think they worked on that where it's now manageable that they're not over modulating in the facility.
One major complaint I have are the concession stamp prices.
$9 for a pretzel.
I don't know about that. But talk about just the seasons overall Union had in 2024, 25 first the men they got their first round by first for the first time under head coach Josh Howsey in his third season.
But unfortunately, as I said, they didn't take advantage of it and they lost to Dartmouth, a team that is really going to be a tough one to knock off. I mean Dartmouth had been unbeaten, undefeated until they lost two in a row.
But then they snapped that streak last Sunday beating Arizona state.
So but Union's off to a good start, ranked 20th in the country. We talked with Josh Hauge on Wednesday's podcast about his thoughts in the first half and you can listen to that
[email protected] or wherever you get your podcast.
Noon's off to the great so Ivy Brandon Burr is going to score 20 goals this season. Tyler Dunbar, the junior defenseman has been a revelation came to the Union out of the transfer portal at Colorado College. Only had two points in just over 30 games in his two years there and he's exploded and he's been an offensive force for this team this year and it's going to be great to see what this team does in the second half of the year. They have their exhibition game against Royal Military College out of Canada on Saturday at 5 o'. Clock. The and the real test will be next Friday when they go to Quinnipiac to take on the Bobcat team. They beat 4 nothing back at Messerink in December, so that would be interesting. Rematch down there in Hampton, Connecticut. The women in their second ECA Hockey tournament appearance under the new format of course, that's not new anymore, basically, but the first season 2324 was the first season of the expanded tournament. All 12 teams make it just like the men last year on their first year, head coach Tony Macy Union did it. They beat Brown in that first round game 20 down in Providence, Rhode Island. Got to the ECAC hockey tournament quarterfinals where after losing the opening game in that best of three series, they had Cornell on the ropes in Game two. And we're about a minute and a half away from forcing a Game 3 down there in Ithaca. But Cornell scored two late goals and pulled out the 32 victory and the Big Red eventually won the ECAC Hockey tournament title.
Newton's got off to a good start this year. We even got some notice in the USCHO.com poll, but they stumbled a little bit.
They finished the first half with a 00 tie against Dartmouth.
Monia Wagner played outstanding goal 37 saves in that one. Of course you heard her on Wednesday's podcast talking about that. The Garner Chargers back in action this weekend on the road Friday at Yale and Saturday at Brown.
So we'll see how Union women can mean can they get a home ice in the first round of the ECA Seoki Tournament? That's what they're aiming to do right now. They're in last place, but there's still plenty of games left in the conference schedule for them to get going. They got to win on the road. They have not won on the road yet. But I said good season all around. Of course we saw the we had the icebreaker women's icebreaker tournament at MNC Bank Center. That's a prestigious tournament. You know, Wisconsin, the defending national champion, was one of the teams and they showed why they were one of the top teams in they were not one of the top team in the country. They beat beat up on Vermont and took down Union for nothing in the game. Probably could have scored eight or nine goals. Union Rider play well in that game. So we'll see what happens with the women's team in the second half of the season.
RPI was they made Some news in 2025 firing Dave Smith a couple of days after the Engineers lost to Harvard in the ECAC Hockey tournament. First round game had been coming and I know some of the alums have reached out to me during the season expressing their frustration with the way things were going at rpi. Dave Smith only had really one winning season at RPI and that was that 2019-20 season which got the postseason got canceled after the first round because of the COVID 19 outbreak and that really hurt RPI. They were going, I thought they were going to win the ECA document the way they're playing.
They had a first round bye, they were going to host Harvard and the quarterfinals and then everything went kaplooey after that because we know RPI took the next season off and then came back in 2021, 22 and decided not to have fans in the building. And that really set the program back. Players were leaving and really nobody wrote the Congo rpi. And it showed me the players really, there wasn't really much talent there and you know Dave Smith and Costa the job and brought in Eric Lang from American International.
He did a great job there.
AIC lowered their program from Division 1 to Division 2 and that made Eric available and a lot of the alums wanted him and they got him and they're not doing too badly right now. It's going to take some time and I think the RPI fans got to be patient with that.
They had a nice win against the Union at M and T Bank center back in October and of course they lost the rematch at Houston Field House. The two teams will meet again in the Mayor's cup in January at MVP center in, in downtown Albany. Of course, that game is January 24th. Also the women will play the first game at 3 o'. Clock, the men will be at 6. So we'll see what happens with RPI down the road. And I, I think, I think though they may not get a get a first round home game in the tournament, but Eric Lye is going to do wonders for that program. They need a spark there and I just hope the fans be patient with them and get going. Going back to the games, I was stunned when they only had 1300 for the home opener. Eric's first game there and it's like, yeah, you guys want a Dave Smith out and now you're not going to support the new coach. Anyway, so that's my take on college hockey here in the Capital Region in 2025 and looking forward to what's going to take place in 2026. I'll be back to wrap up the podcast and catch up on the latest winners in the Daily Gazette's you pick a football contest in just a moment.
Speed, skill, physicality.
Home to college hockey's elite teams, coaches and student athletes.
ECAC hockey. Twelve programs competing at the highest level.
[01:16:33] Speaker D: A league where championship champions are born.
[01:16:35] Speaker A: And world class professionals are trained.
[01:16:38] Speaker B: Where history is abundant and a commitment.
[01:16:40] Speaker D: To the cutting edge is unrivaled, the best facilities, the fiercest competition, ECAC hockey. There's no experience like it.
[01:17:08] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast and we had to catch up on the winners in the U Pick' em football contest since the I've been off for the last couple weeks with the podcast, so here we go. The Week 15 winner in the Daily Gazette you pick up football contest was John Cesluzniak of Saint Johnsville with a 14. 2 record. John wins a $100 Price Chopper Market 32 gift card. Congratulations John. The VIP winner was Jim DeMarco of Morris Ford with a 12. 4 record.
The week 16 winner was Yvonne Bastian of Mechanicville with a 15. 1 record. Yvonne wins a $100 Price Shopper Market 32 gift card. Congratulations, Yvonne. The VIP winner was Dwayne Leach of All Seasons with a 12. 4 record.
Finally, the week 17 winner was Pete Dominic of Latham with a 14. 2 record. Pete wins a $100 Price Chopper market 32 gift card. Congratulations Pete. The VIP winner was Jim DeMarco at Morris Ford with a 9 and 7 record. Looking at the standings with one regular season week left, Jim DeMarco leads the way with 171 wins. He's a Terry Morris Ford. Dwayne Leach of all season equipment has 170 wins. Allison Cam of S&G Roofing has 169, as well as John Keller of KDO Burns Paul Little of Emerick Sales and Services 168. I have 167. I don't think I'm going to win the regular season title this year. Nick Platel Grand Premier tires has 163 as well as Scott Lucier of CapitaLand GMC. Andrew Crounce of Glenville Beverage has 162 win and will spring, said the executive sports editor of Daily Gazette brings up the rear with 157 wins.
I'll announce the U Pick A Football contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Thursday's Daily Gazette, although this week it'll appear in Friday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the you pick and football banner.
Just because COVID 19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family and do it for your friends. And a friendly reminder, as always, vaccines do not cause autism.
Don't forget to download the Daily Gazette app and Sign up for our E Edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on. When credibility matters, trust the Daily Gazette on the latest Stan and Shen Podcast. They close out the year talking about their year together at the Gazette and beyond. Stan offers a heartfelt reflection on the season and the duo close out the podcast with Shannon's Christmas gifts. Subscribe to Stan and Show Podcast on your all your podcast listening platforms.
That wraps up another edition of the Pawning Shots Podcast. I want to thank Christian Hines, Will Springstead, Mike McAdam, and Drew Whipple for coming on the show.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email to me at shot that's s c h o t t daily gazette.com follow me on X Threads and bluesky at Slapshots.
The views expressed on the Parting Shots Podcast are not necessarily those of the Gazette News Group. Departing Shots Podcast is a production of the Gazette News Group. I'm Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good sports and happy New Year.
[01:20:40] Speaker D: Sam.
