[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign the following program is brought to.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: You in living color on Dell gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast.
[00:00:18] Speaker C: Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shots.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Thank you, Scott Gezy, 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. As we get set to wrap up the month of August, I can't believe September is just right, right around the corner here. Yeah, because it means high school football's coming up and all the high school sports are getting slowly getting underway.
So it's going to be a lot of busier now here at the, at the old paper here. Of course it wasn't, you know, we weren't slacking obviously with the horse racing coverage of Mike McAdam. Speaking of Mike McAdam, he'll be back here talking about what happened on Travers Day with Sovereignty and Thorpedo Anna when we'll look ahead to the final week of racing at Saratoga. So Michael Gatton will be here with us at the Track with Max segment. I was over at MNC Banks center on Monday for the start of the Union College men's Hockey Garnet Hockey Camp. A lot of enthusiastic kids out there and getting instruction from the players and coaches and they seem to be having a good time there. And they were really the first hockey event at the new arena that will be home for the Union men's and women's hockey teams. So I had a chance to talk with Josh Hausee, the head coach and players Carter Korpi and Nick Young. And speaking of Nick Young, he is the captain this season for the Garnet Chargers. I spoke with him about that along with Josh Hazy. So we'll have some separate interviews with that as along with the thoughts of the new arena with the other with Ohadji Young and Korpi and then Will Brown. He's back coaching in the Capital region, this time at the high school level. He'll be the head coach and dean of students at Green Tech. He'll join me to talk about his new role, actually new roles.
So I chance to catch up with Will and talk with him about his new duty. So coming up, Mike McGedam talks horse racing, Saratoga horse racing in particular. As you look back at Travers Day, you're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
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[00:03:35] Speaker A: Hi, this is Daily Gazette reporter Shenandoah Brier.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. And we're getting ready for the final week of the Saratoga horse racing season. And our man at the track, Mike McAdam with his @ the Track with Max joining us now here on the podcast and Mac closing week here, the 157th Saratoga Racecourse meet featuring a wide range of stakes action. But it's going to be difficult to top the thrill ride that was Traverse Day last Saturday when Sovereignty and Torpedo Anna wowed the crowd with stellar performances in the Travers and Personal Ensign, respectively. What are your takeaways from the Travers Day?
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Well, I don't think the betters were real thrilled with Traverse Day because it was very chalky with a lot of favorites winning the big races, including Sovereignty and Thorpedo Anna. But if you're a fan of the sport, man, you got an eyeful.
I said this to Kenny McPeek, the trainer of Thorpedo Anna, on Sunday when we went and visited her and Sovereignty just to see how they were doing coming out of the race. And I said, you know, can you appreciate what fans were treated to on Saturday based on the fact that if they had seen Sovereignty's Travers or Torpedo Anna's Personal Ensign, either one of them by themselves would have been a terrific show. But you got kind of a 2 for 1 deal there where you got to see both of them and they were distinctly different races.
You know, Sovereignty, you saw a great horse on display. In Torpedo Anna, you saw a great race on display when she, you know, when she barely outdoed Darth Vader. The length of the stretch, you know, Darth Vader actually had a nose in front right before, like a stride before the wire. But they're with their head bobs weren't in sync. And Torpedo Anna got lucky that the wire showed up when her nose was in front of. But it could have gone either way, and it was just a total, totally thrilling show.
Sovereignty, meanwhile, he ran one of the fastest Travers in. In the history of the race, which they've been running since 1864 during the Civil War. And he did it against, you know, four rivals with an honest, fast pace up front.
Yeah, but he still ran really fast and could have won by 15 lengths of jockey Junior Alvarado. I asked him on Sunday morning as well, like, I mean, if you were really, like, trying hard, how, you know, how big would that margin have been? He said, I don't know, 15, 16. And he didn't have to try because he's up by 10 lengths at the wire over Bracket Buster, an interesting horse that I wrote about last week, and a big long shot in the Traverse, Sovereignty's performance.
So he was tied with five other Travers for the fourth biggest margin of victory in the race.
You know, the largest, I think it was Damascus was 22 lengths in front. And then we saw arrogate was like 13 and a half in front in 2016. So he actually could have moved up a notch or two on that list of the biggest winning margins.
And he did it, like, basically on his own.
Another interesting thing that Junior said was because, you know, he caught Bracket Buster at about the eighth pole, and he kind of. He didn't blow past him. He kind of hesitated and looked the other horse in the eye.
And I asked Junior about that.
Now, is he looking at him just to size up the competition, or is he looking at him to kind of show off and say, here I am. Look at me. And he said, 50. 50. A little both.
And so for a couple strides, they were together, and it was a very interesting and amazing moment for the.
For BBN Racing, Big Blue Nation Racing, which owns Bracket Buster. Local native Brendan o', Brien, who I wrote about, who's from Troy, is one of the main partners in that group. And. But then Sovereignty said, all right, you've seen me, now you're not going to see me anymore. He took off and just blew him away by 10 lengths. And as I said, it could have been more than that. So just an absolute breathtaking, brilliant performance by Sovereignty.
And then back to the Torpedo Anna race.
You know, she just. They call her the Grizzly for a reason, and she's just gutsy and just, you know, beat a really good horse, Darth Vader, in the personal Ensign.
So, like I said, you got the spectacle of this amazing horse kind of showing off for the crowd. And then you got the spectacle of this like race dynamics wise was this amazing personal ensign where just this crowd was going nuts with this duel down the stretch and Torpedo Anna pulled it out. I will say one other thing that was great on the card was we saw probably the best male sprinter in the country. Book them, Dan. Oh, I'm not going to do the.
I did it last week winning the Forego. So he's won three straight at Saratoga. The interesting aftermath of that is he may not run in the Breeders cup, which is kind of strange. But the trainer Derek Bryan and the owners, they're thinking we want to run him again next year and even as a six year old the year after that. So we're not going to like necessarily automatically say, yeah, we're going to the Breeders Cup. There's other races they're looking at for him to close out his season, but they want to preserve him for two more seasons. So it's disappointing if he doesn't show up in the Breeders cup, but at least we got to see him on Traverse Day and Belmont Day and earlier in the meet when he won the Alfred G. Vanderbilt. So really cool horse. Book him, Daniel. He's New Jersey. You know, the owners are from New Jersey. He's based down there and we got to see him kind of do his thing.
But if he doesn't show up in the Breeders cup, it's going to be kind of a disappointment. So those, those are like the three main takeaways. I will say Handle was down from last year a pretty, you know, like 8% or whatever it was. I can't remember what the exact numbers were that I was looking up the other day, but you know, the tenants was real good, real solid, 48,255.
We talked about the short field for the Travers Sovereignty only squaring off against four horses. And a lot of that was speculation that people just don't want to run against them because it's that good. But I will say one thing I neglected to mention last week when we were talking about this is the Kentucky Downs meet, which is a very strange meet. They run seven days in, in the late summer now and they kick off on Thursday. This is a little track outside of Nashville, Tennessee with absurdly humongous prize purses for their races. I'll give you an example. They're running an allowance for two year olds on Thursday that has a purse of $250,000, which is a lot more than a lot of graded stakes that, that we run around here. And be. And because they have the big money, a lot of the good horses and the good jockeys go there just for this little seven day meet that over the span of like a week and a half or so. It's like a weird schedule. Like they're running Thursday, they're not running Friday, they're running Saturday. And Saturday's card includes the $3.5 million Nashville Derby, which has drawn some Kentucky Derby runners. Now it's on the turf. So I guess it doesn't really have that big of an influence on the Traverse, which only has a 1.25 million dollar purse. But you see some Kentucky Derby horses in there and you're wondering, you know, maybe they could have run in the Traverse instead of this. But the money is just so absurdly astronomical that that's, that's a big part of it. But they do run it on the turf. So I think a lot of the horses in there, like Sandman, their trainers are trying to run on the turf now anyway. So maybe the Travers wasn't an option, but I think it definitely had a little bit of influence. Influence on, you know, at least one or two horses more that they might have had in the Traverse.
So that's kind of a factor as well for the short field size. But man, for, for a short field, we sure, we figured out a way to have a great show anyway just based on the brilliance of Sovereignty. So that's kind of like my lingering observations from Travers Day.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Yeah, we. I had the Traverse Fox broadcast on here in the office and Right. I was watching. I got off my desk to watch the race there and then I was telling one of my colleagues, I mean, I'm not a horse racing expert. When Sovereignty came around the turn there, the final turn, and he started pulling away, I said, it's over.
Coming down the stretch, just the top.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: Of the stretch, it was over readily apparent.
And the great thing about him is, like, he's doing this over a mile and a quarter. Like he's actually running his best, you know, speed and acceleration. Like after he's already run more than a mile, which is very unusual in this day and age because courses are kind of bred more to run like a mile and an eighth and, and things like that. You know, obviously the Derby is a mile and a quarter. Everybody wants to win that. But he's actually doing his best running in the last eighth of a mile of a mile and a quarter race. Junior Alvarado said the same thing.
I mean, he. It's just, you just don't See that very often. It's. It's pretty rare.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, we had six racing cards left here at Saratoga. What's the current status of the chase for the trainer and jockey championships?
[00:13:32] Speaker A: Well, based on the numbers, the jockey championship is pretty. I'll start with the trainers. Shad Brown is four up on Linda Rice right now, and then another two up on Todd Pletcher. So he's in pretty good shape to win another trainer title, which I think this will be his eighth.
He's going to be nowhere close to what he did last year or the record breaking, record setting year that he had a few years ago when he had 46 winners. He had 45 last year, winning five on closing day. Including the Hopeful, he only has 26 and he's only up on Linda Rice.
So I guess anything can happen there. Although I know, well, really, both of them, they, you know, they kind of unload the stable, right. You know, in that final week, they're trying to get as many wins as they can. Not just for their overall number or anything, but just, you know, owners love to win races at Saratoga, so they want to provide that to them, you know, to whatever extent that they can. So the trainer, he's got a comfortable lead and I know he's going to be loaded for bear in the last six days. So I'm not really expecting anything miraculous of like Linda Rice maybe. Although I take it back, two years ago, she won the last race of the whole meet and tied him second. Like, talk about a buzzer beater.
So who, who knows? But he's up by four. The jockey race is interesting for now because Iran Ortiz has 53 to 52 for his brother Joseph, which is, you know, just about as close as it gets with six days left.
However, Irad has a big chance on Thursday to, to give himself a little bit of cushion if he wins three or four races because Jose's gonna, as I already mentioned, Kentucky Downs, Jose is actually gonna be there instead of at Saratoga.
So it's almost like a free square for. For Irad to kind of build his cushion a little bit.
Now they'll both be there on Saturday for that big Nashville Derby card, which, I mean, there's a turf sprint for females, Phillies and mares on that card worth $2 million. I mean, that's like almost twice what the Travers Purse is. Just not to harp on how bizarre that Kentucky Downs meet is. But that said, a lot of the big riders are going to be there on Saturday, including Joel Rosario, Luis Saez, Manny Franco. I already mentioned the Ortiz bro, Junior Alvarado is actually going to be there on Saturday. So there's a, there's going to be a lot of races available for some of the guys that don't get the big horses to kind of pad their win total a little bit on Saturday.
But you know, if Irad has a big day on Thursday while Jose is in Kentucky, you know, he'll have the upper hand with, you know, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday still to go.
So we'll keep an eye on that on Thursday just, you know, based on the absence of Jose being there.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: So what else can we expect from closing week?
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Yeah, there's kind of an interesting, you know, we always have the usual, you know, third leg of the dirt grade stakes races for two year olds, which of course is a spin away on Sunday and then the hopeful on Monday. So those are always fun to watch because these are going to be like the future stars of next year when, when they're three year olds and maybe pursuing the Triple Crown trail or races like the Kentucky Oaks for the Phillies.
But the main event, and it is going to be fascinating is on Sunday, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, One million dollar grade one automatic entry into the Breeders Cup Classic.
We get a chance to see Mind Frame, who's three for three, three this year in graded stakes. And it's sort of been cooling his heels. His stablemate, Fierceness, both trained by Todd Pletcher, they have common ownership, so Todd has gone way out of his way to keep them separated. They don't want to run them against each other. So Fierceness ran in the Whitney and got his butt kicked. While Mind Frame has sort of been cooling his heels for the whole meet.
He gets his shot on Sunday in the Jockey Club Gold cup. But it's not going to be easy because Sierra Leone just won the Whitney for Chad Brown is going to be in there as well as White, a barrio who might still have some tread on his tires as a, as a multiple graded stakes winner. Multiple Grade one winner.
Fierceness, meanwhile, will be running on Saturday.
Yes, Saturday in the Pacific Classic. So they're shipping him out west and he's going to run, you know, we keep asking the question, so what's journalism going to do now after he got beaten to Jim Danny? Well, he's running in the Pacific Classic as we kind of suspected because it's at Del Mar. The Breeders cup is there. He's based in California. So the Preakness winner will be in, in the field for the Pacific Classic along with Nysos, who's a really good horse for Bob Baffert.
So Fierceness will be out in California this weekend and. But meanwhile, Mind Frame, you know, it's going to be fun to see what he does because he's, he's clearly one of the best horses in North North America right now. And we haven't seen him at the meet or Belmont or he's run out of town for his three races, but he's a really impressive animal. He finished second at Door Knock in the Belmont last year at Saratoga, so we'll see how it goes.
Just the presence of the Whitney winner, Sierra Leone being in there makes it interesting. And then, you know, we get to see Mind Frame. But we'll keep an eye on California as well with Fierceness.
[00:19:10] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:19:11] Speaker B: Well, enjoy the final week, Mac, and look forward to wrapping things up with you next week here on the podcast. And then time to get ready for the high school season and of course, Union Hockey coming up with the new arena. I mean, that's. I know you haven't had a chance to go over there yet, but tell you what, you're gonna enjoy that place.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I haven't been inside. I was over having a beer at Druthers a couple weeks ago and walked over and kind of looked at the exterior of mt and yeah, I'm looking forward to, for one thing, not sitting in the end zone Xbox with netting in front of my face, which was used to drive me crazy. I try to shoot video or take a photo of the ice and my, my camera phone would, would like, focus on the netting. That's like side of the glass. I was like, no, no, we can't do this.
[00:20:00] Speaker B: No, we. The press box is on the side. I have carved out my space in there. It's. It's wonderful.
So. Hey, Mike, appreciate a few minutes. We'll talk next week.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: All right, thanks a million, Ken.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: That's Mike and Battery. Speaking of Union hockey, Union Hockey is holding a youth camp this weekend. I was over there on Monday. Got some sound. You'll hear some of some of the union players and coaches next here on the Parting Shots podcast.
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[00:20:51] Speaker B: Hi, this is Daily Gazette sports writer Christian Heinz. You're listening to Departing Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Chop.
Welcome back to the podcast. On Monday, the first hockey event at M and T Bank center the new home of the union men's and women's hockey teams took place. The week long Garnet Youth Hockey camp was going on and there's a lot of enthusiastic kids getting instructions from the Union College players and coaches. They seem to be having a good time. I had it ventured over on Monday morning to check things out and see what it was like. And I tell you what, the ice looks good. My first chance looking at the ice and it looks great. A new Zamboni's taking care of things there and noticed some moving very smoothly. It's an electric Zamboni, so that will help. And it was a fun time. Like I said, kids seem to be having a lot of fun and enjoying themselves. And the women's team got to see the ice for the first time. They had a captain's practice between the morning and afternoon sessions for the youth camp.
They were out in Michigan working out.
So they were back and they had, like I said, had a captain's practice on Monday when I was there. And then the men later had a later Monday had a captain's practice of their own.
So I got a chance to speak with union meds head coach Josh Halge and players Carter Korpi and Nick Young. So that's going to be the order of interviews. So let's start with Josh Hauge, followed by Carter Korpi and Nick Young.
[00:22:29] Speaker E: Josh, one of the enthusiasm campers here.
[00:22:32] Speaker F: Like, yeah, it's, it's, it's great to be back. It's.
You got a bunch of screaming kids that are having a great time. So it's, it's a lot of fun and they got a lot of energy. It's, it's a great, great start to the building.
[00:22:46] Speaker E: Can you, I mean, these kids are playing in rec arenas around here. Could you sense an excitement when they got out on the ice for the first time, being in a new building like this?
[00:22:54] Speaker F: Well, for sure. And we told them, hey, you guys are the, you can really remember this, that you're always going to be the first people to skate in this building and, you know, pretty, pretty cool honor for them.
[00:23:04] Speaker E: What was it like? What's it like working with the kids your first day of the camp?
[00:23:08] Speaker F: They're a lot of fun.
You know, they're working hard and, you know, a lot of different activities, but they're having fun with it.
[00:23:17] Speaker E: Yeah. Just as we're taping here right now, the women are having their captain's practice. We can hear them, you know, screaming, banging on the glass. I mean, just how much is There enthusiasm really helping us out.
[00:23:27] Speaker F: Yeah. I mean, they got chants going and they're, they're cheering. So I think it's, you know, it's a good way to, you know, show the women's team, like, you know, you know, how excited people are for them to get back and, you know, for our guys to see what it means to the kids.
[00:23:40] Speaker E: What do you think of the ice and the rink so far here?
[00:23:43] Speaker F: It was, it was great, you know, obviously two skates in, but, you know, having 30 kids out there for an hour and a half and the ice was like almost brand new like when we got off. So they done a nice job building it up.
[00:23:56] Speaker E: Yeah. How excited are you for the season to start? Me, we're see here at the end of August.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: October.
[00:24:01] Speaker E: October is right around the corner.
[00:24:02] Speaker F: Yeah. You know, first practice less than 10 days away now, so it's a fun time of the year.
[00:24:15] Speaker E: Ben, just your thoughts on the new rink. First of all, how do the kids seem to take to the new rink?
[00:24:21] Speaker G: They're loving it so far.
It's pretty cool that this is our first year doing it. We haven't done it in the past three years since I've been here. I think it's a good opportunity for the kids to come out, see the new arena and then hopefully we see a lot of them throughout the season at the games.
[00:24:36] Speaker E: Could you sense some enthusiasm with them when they got on the escalating? They're used to playing in records. Maybe they play at Messa, but to, you know, be in this building for the first time.
[00:24:45] Speaker G: Yeah, this is a big upgrade for us and especially for them. It's pretty cool that they get to experience it super early.
[00:24:52] Speaker E: How about you? You played one year at Messing, now you get to play three years at this facility all the way around.
What do you like about it?
[00:25:01] Speaker G: I got three years of Messing. I'll have one here and no, it'll.
You fall in love with it the second you walk in.
It'll be a lot better for everybody. Fan experience and then the amenities that have been brought in for us, we'll.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: Be program changing for sure.
[00:25:21] Speaker E: How much is it, Is it going.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: To help the program?
[00:25:23] Speaker G: I mean, it's going to make it a lot easier for our coaching staff to find some solid recruits and continue to build our program as we go.
[00:25:40] Speaker E: Nick, is your senior year here at home?
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:25:44] Speaker H: Yeah, you're all good.
[00:25:48] Speaker E: I thought I had it on the video, but I had it.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:25:51] Speaker H: It's a nice picture.
[00:25:53] Speaker E: Nick. You're getting ready for your Senior year here at Union, of course, new building we're in right now, MT Bank Center.
How much, you know, just seeing the kids out there with the camp going on this week, how much enthusiasm do you have for this place? How much enthusiasm do you see with the kids?
[00:26:09] Speaker H: Oh, no, it's, it's awesome. As soon as I walked in, like all the boys have smile on their faces. All the campers are having a great time and you know, I, I can't wait to get out there personally. But no, it seems like a great atmosphere and I, I love how the excitement, all the building a tier, it's finally time.
[00:26:24] Speaker E: So I mean, what's is it night and day compared to Messing?
[00:26:28] Speaker H: Oh, it's unbelievable. All the amenities and everything that's come in and everything that's in place now, it's, it's for sure night.
[00:26:34] Speaker E: You know, obviously new locker room space and all that fun stuff. I mean, how much is that going to really help you guys, you know, with the on ice product?
[00:26:42] Speaker H: I, I think it's going to help tremendously. I think everything's in the right place for us that whatever you need, it's here. And that's, that's the beauty of it. And that's why this is here, is to try and take us to the next step. And I think it will.
[00:26:52] Speaker E: As we're talking here, the women's teams, the captain practices. I'm watching the kids out there.
[00:26:56] Speaker H: They're bang on the glass.
[00:26:57] Speaker E: They seem really enthusiastic.
[00:26:59] Speaker H: Oh, yeah, it's. And I, I hope, I wish they could stay for us later. But no, it's all, like I said, all the excitement and all the buildup, it's finally here and you can really see it on everyone's face that's here.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Well, speaking of Nick Young, he will serve as the team captain this season after being an assistant captain last season.
He's looking forward to leading the team. So I asked Nick about that and also asked Josh Algae what makes Young a good leader. So let's hear first from Nick Young, followed by Josh Hauge.
[00:27:31] Speaker E: Let me ask Josh about Nick Young being named the captain of the team.
What makes him the man to lead this team?
[00:27:39] Speaker F: Well, I think he's kind of been someone that we've been looking to since his first week on campus that was, was eventually going to be a captain for us. And you know, now it's his time to lead the team. And you know, he's got a lot of respect in the locker room.
[00:27:52] Speaker E: I know he said he was a captain before his union team.
What makes him a special leader?
[00:27:58] Speaker F: Well, I think he cares about everyone.
He's really passionate about union and just what we're trying to do. And, you know, he's just, he's selfless.
We talk a lot about, you know, being selfless and he's the epitome of that.
[00:28:12] Speaker E: What do you think you learned from Colin Ferguson last season?
[00:28:15] Speaker F: Well, I think, you know, Cullen's got a ton of passion and just again, somebody who really cared a ton about the program. So I just think watching how he did it and he gave so much thought and was very purposeful in everything he did.
[00:28:29] Speaker E: Yeah, Nick said he knew, he watched Cullen, he knew when Cullen, Colin knew when to get on somebody or one just speak. A calming influence. You see that in Nick?
[00:28:38] Speaker F: Yeah, I think so. I think Nick can, you know, grab somebody by the, you know, shirt and throw him up against the wall if he needs to because he's a big boy. But at the same point, he really cares about him and is going to, you know, talk to him multiple times before. Before he would do something like that.
[00:28:50] Speaker E: The assistant captains, Parker Lindauer and Brandon Burr, both guys who came from the transfer portal, what does it say about them that makes them special to wear the A?
[00:29:00] Speaker F: Yeah, I think, you know, they got a lot of, you know, votes and when you talk to guys about why they. They thought they'd be a good leader, it's just one. I think how much they cared and the way they carry themselves. So both, you know, act like professionals and both, you know, will do anything for their teammates.
[00:29:21] Speaker E: Nick, let me ask you, you're taking over as team captain from Calvin Ferguson.
How much responsibility do you have wearing the SEA this season?
[00:29:31] Speaker H: Yeah, I mean, it's a big responsibility, but, you know, I think it's a team effort. It's not just going to be me or Parker or Brandon. It's. It's a whole team atmosphere. And if we can build that family and build that culture, I mean, it's going to make my life easy.
[00:29:44] Speaker E: So what kind of leader do you think you'll be?
[00:29:47] Speaker H: Hopefully a great one. But it starts with the first step. And I'm just trying to learn as I go and be myself and not trying to be anybody who I'm not.
[00:29:54] Speaker E: So during the a last year, what did you learn as being an ultimate captain?
[00:29:59] Speaker H: I learned that sometimes, you know, you gotta, you gotta have some conversations with boys. They might not want to, but it's for the betterment of the team and accountability is a big thing. And that's something that we've been looking at all year. And I think that's something I'm going to hold close to my chest and make sure everyone keeps it as a huge value point.
[00:30:15] Speaker E: What did you learn from.
[00:30:18] Speaker H: I think the balance between when to be hard and when to have a nice conversation, like when to yell, when to talk. I think that's something that he did very well and something that I want to do as well.
[00:30:28] Speaker E: When you were named captain, what were your thoughts?
[00:30:30] Speaker H: First thoughts it was pure excitement, but extreme gratitude for, you know, all my teammates and coaches who believe in something that I can do and hopefully I'll live up to the challenge.
[00:30:39] Speaker E: How important is it to live up to that challenge?
[00:30:42] Speaker H: Extremely. Obviously last year and a new building a great, real great group and, you know, I just want to make everyone proud and we want to, you know, at the end of the year be hosting up some. Some trophies. So that's the goal.
[00:30:54] Speaker E: The assistants are Parker Windower and Brandon Burke, both guys who came through the transfer portal. What does that say that these guys, you know, Brandon was in the second year last year, Parker in first with Union. What does it say about the team voting them as assistant captains knowing that they had transfer portal pickups?
[00:31:13] Speaker H: No, I just. I think it's a good job on who we're bringing in, the people we're bringing in. I think, you know, they're unbelievable humans first and they're also amazing on the ice. So I think that's really reflective on the kind of people that we want here and the kind of culture we're trying to build.
[00:31:27] Speaker E: When you were playing chief, were you captain?
[00:31:30] Speaker H: I was. I was captain at St Tom.
[00:31:32] Speaker E: What did you learn about there?
[00:31:33] Speaker H: What did you learn about being captain?
That it's easy to lead in the.
In the good times, hard in the bad, but once you get the whole team on board, pull in the same direction.
It's always something good.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: Coming up, we'll speak with Will Brown, the former UAlbany men's basketball coach and the St. Rose women's basketball coach. He's back coaching in the capital region, this time at the high school level. He's also going to be the dean of students at Green Tech. We'll talk with Will in just a moment here on the Parting shots podcast.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: It's the most historic conference in college hockey.
[00:32:27] Speaker C: It's a battle night in and night out.
[00:32:30] Speaker A: ECAC Hockey, an iconic conference, home to 12 of the most prestigious universities and programs in the world and showcasing the best student athletes in the sport.
Top notch facilities and arenas. Incomparable traditions, passionate fans, alumni who go on to become elite professionals, leaders and champions.
ECAC hockey. There's no experience like it.
[00:32:56] Speaker H: Hi, this is ECAC hockey commissioner and.
[00:32:58] Speaker A: Union hockey alum Doug Christiansen. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:33:03] Speaker H: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shop.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. On Tuesday, my next guest was hired as not only the Green Tech boys basketball coach, but the dean of students. Let's talk to Will Brown about that. Will, welcome back to the podcast. And congratulations on your new two gigs, I would say. Well, how do you feel about that?
[00:33:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
You know, I've been fortunate to have coached at the college level for a long time.
I've coached at several levels of college basketball, both on the men's and women's side.
Coached a little bit professionally and, you know, high school basketball is something that, you know, I haven't really navigated through. So I look at it as it's. It's a new challenge and an exciting.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: One, especially the other job, the Dean of students. I mean, what's that going to be like?
[00:34:00] Speaker C: You know, that'll be interesting for sure.
You know, it's an opportunity to, you know, be in the building every day, develop relationships with the student body as well as the student athletes. And, you know, for me, you know, I think that's really important.
You know, it was something that when I started speaking with Steve France, the director of athletics at, you know, Green Tech, you know, I said, hey. I said, you know, this is intriguing. I have a strong interest, but it would need to be something that was full time. And they just happened to have the dean position open.
You know, we talked about it, and it's really about just, you know, mentoring, guiding, helping these young men grow and develop as people, students and, you know, in some cases, athletes.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: So that's.
Tell us what you've been doing lately, because, I mean, I know you had been sort of, you know, looking at jobs. I think you had gotten the job at Queens.
[00:35:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I was. I was down at Queen's since, you know, basically June 1st.
You know, I'd accepted the position there.
They were providing me with a faculty apartment on campus. But I did not take advantage of that. I was waiting until the school year started. I wanted to spend as much time, you know, as I could with my family because we had made the decision that I was going to go down, you know, by myself. My younger son is a sophomore, is going to be a sophomore over at LaSalle, and he really enjoys it. And he's thriving academically and doing well athletically. And, you know, we didn't want to pull him out of school. And not so sure my wife wanted to move down to the.
Excuse me, New York City, to be honest with you. You know, but all kidding aside, you know, I was starting the rebuild down there at Queens.
You know, the AD down there, Rob Twibel, great guy.
You know, we know a lot of the same people. And a third party had reached out to me about the job and trying to do what I did at St Rose right away down there in Queens, only if it was that easy. But, you know, it. It was a pretty good situation. But, you know, traveling back and forth was tough. And, you know, I started thinking, I'm going to be doing this often.
And, you know, when this job came up, I'm like, you know, this could be, you know, let me explore it, you know, and see what I can learn about it and, you know, go from there. So it happened quickly, and they were kind enough to offer me the job immediately, but give me the time and space that I needed. So the people at Green. Green Tech were terrific.
You know, I think I told them, hey, I'm going to give you an answer this day, no later than this time. And we. I probably changed that four or five times as I had more questions and more thoughts. So they were very patient, you know, with me. And, yeah, I just had to make sure that, you know, hey, I wanted to accept this new challenge of being a dean and a boys varsity coach at a level that I've never been at before, and do I want to leave what I thought was a pretty good job in the league that I felt that if I did a good job recruiting this summer, that we potentially could win right away, you know, so there was a lot of back and forth, and really, it was just me and my wife, you know, really trying to figure it out. And a lot of coaches say they have a great basketball wife or a great football wife or a great soccer wife. I just have, you know, a great wife. You know, she just looked me in the eye and said, you're making this decision, and I'm going to support you 1000%. If you need to go down to Queens, take that job. If you want to stay at Queens, stay at Queens. If you want to go to Green Tech, you know, go to Green Tech, you know, and my younger son was great, too.
You know, I thought he would, you know, have issue with me going down to Queens, but he didn't. And my older son's on his own coaching journey right now.
Obviously, he learned nothing from me because he wants to coach, and he's just starting his graduate assistantship at Franklin Pierce University with the men's basketball program there. They're gonna pay for his masters. He's going to be assistant coach. So, yeah, I've taken great pride to try and keep my family in one place as much as I. As much as I could, because, you know, coaching at the college level is very difficult for a family. And, you know, 27 of my 30 years in coaching, my family's been able to be in the Albany area. So, you know, I'm glad that we have the opportunity to stay and for me to keep them here as we move forward.
[00:39:42] Speaker B: Yeah. As you mentioned, you haven't never coached high school. What adjustments do you have to make from going from a college coach to a high school coach?
[00:39:49] Speaker C: Well, I don't like the fact that there's eight less minutes in the game. Yeah. You know, and the good thing for me, having coached at the college level on the men's side and transitioning to the pro side with the Patroons and then going to the woman's side is the rules are different every stop of the way, you know, every step of the way. So I've had to continue to grow and evolve as a coach. And, you know, high school basketball, it's no different. I think, you know, I was fortunate that I grew up the son of a longtime high school varsity basketball coach. My dad was an educator, athletic director, and boys varsity basketball coach at my high school.
And, you know, this September, they're actually naming the court after him, which I think is pretty cool. So, you know, I had to. I got a chance to see firsthand, you know, his dealings with players and parents and the coaching aspect of that level. So I have a great appreciation for it. I just knew when I decided I wanted to coach while I was in college, having watched my dad and having that great appreciation for. For what he was doing, I just wanted to try, you know, to get to the college level and, you know, go that route. So now come back, you know, full circle. It's like, okay, you know, here I am now, given, you know, high school coaching.
You know, this is going to be something that's new, and I think new is good.
But, you know, the game is the game.
You have to coach to your personnel.
You have to put your players in a position to be successful. I think what's really unique at Green Tech is very, very few Section 2 schools over the Years have wanted to play them.
So I have a great opportunity to really develop a regional schedule. I can go down to New York City, I can go out to Buffalo, you know, I can go to Springfield, Mass. So really it's an opportunity to get these kids some exposure, play some different teams that maybe Section two teams don't have the opportunity to play because they're limited with the amount of non conference games. I'm basically building a schedule from 0 to 20.
That's what I walked into and that's what the athletic director, Steve France and I are working on. Getting 20 games, you know, on the schedule and you know, use that to help us get better and then we get the opportunity to compete in the Section 2 playoffs. So, you know, I know basketball is very important to Green Tech. They have some history and tradition where they've enjoyed success.
And you know, for me, this is as I've learned and people at Green Tech have shared with me, this is a challenging time for Green Tech basketball because they had several kids graduate and move on and they also have several kids that moved with the previous coach to the new charter school, the KIPP school.
So for me, I basically don't. I basically don't have anyone with extensive varsity experience.
So we're going to rely heavily on the kids from the JV program from a year ago moving up and then whoever walks in that door, potential transfers before the first day of class.
You know, I'm hopeful that with my background and experience, there'll be kids in the area that want to attend Green Tech. I'm going to do my best to run it like a college program with a strong emphasis on the academic piece, player development piece, you know, and then just the basketball piece, you know, in general. And you know, I want kids that want to be at Green Tech because they want to get a good education. There's really good people there, but also kids that want to get recruited and play college basketball and for it to be my job to put them in a position to be successful, get them the necessary exposure and play a challenging schedule.
[00:44:26] Speaker B: Yeah. How important is that experience that you have been a college coach and obviously now with the nil and transfer portal and just, it's like, it's like just a crazy out there these days. How much of your experience will help the players that are getting recruited by these colleges?
[00:44:45] Speaker C: You know, I'm hopeful that it will help a lot.
I've basically coached at every level of college, whether it's been on the men's or women's side. So I think I have a great feel, a really good understanding the thing for me again with my resume and my coaching experience, you know, I'm hopeful that, you know, every kid thinks in the back of their mind that they're a Division 1 player, that they're going to play at a high level and that's great for me. I'm going to be very transparent with them. I'm going to get them to understand that no matter what level of basketball you play in college, it's difficult, it's a challenge. Appreciate whoever recruits you and I'm going to be up front and let them know what level I think they can play at. You know, as much as the transfer portal is out there and you can bounce around, I don't think that's healthy. I don't think that's a good thing. Find a place where you can see yourself to be successful from day one and make it a point that you're loyal to that institution and you get your degree from there.
Now, in certain situations there might be a kid that is a late bloomer that just really thrives at the level that they're at in college and, you know, they should jump in the portal because they do have a great chance of being really successful at a higher level.
But the grass also isn't always greener and hopefully they'll appreciate my background, my transparency and the amount of time that I'm going to improve, invest in them. You develop that relationship and that trust and you know, I'm hoping it'll be a positive experience for everyone. But I'm going to use my background, you know, to our advantage and, you know, hopefully it benefits Green Tech, of.
[00:46:34] Speaker B: Course, you know, I cover Union College hockey and then once the regular season's over, it's the second season begins to watch in the transfer portal. So I.
It's crazy enough in college hockey, but just seeing what goes on in basketball and football, it just, it just blows my mind. Is it, is this good for the sport?
[00:46:51] Speaker C: I don't think it's good for the sport. I think it's unhealthy. I think what you're doing in many cases is it's easy for kids to run from adversity.
You know, I've listened to Tom Izzo talk about this, you know, quite a bit. You know, that, you know, in the game of life, everything's not going to be smooth, there's going to be bumps in the road. And how you handle those bumps in the road often defines you as an individual, defines your character and I think it makes it too easy now if you don't have that instant success in year one and sometimes it can only be a month the first couple of games. You don't like your role? I'm jumping in the transfer portal. And I like to call the transfer portal a social club for basketball players. Oh, you're in. I'm going to jump in half. These kids don't even know why they're in it. They're just in it because their friends are in it. And you know, right now there's hundreds of kids just stuck in a transfer portal with no place to go.
You know, the nil.
You know, I get it to a certain extent. You know, I do believe that it needs to.
There needs to be some a set of rules that, you know, everybody can operate under. I know that's, that's difficult because you have the power five and then everyone else you have at the low and the mid major level, you have that now it's become the haves and the have nots.
You know, I look at the Mac for instance, you know, Sienna has, you know, Iona has. I don't know how many other people in that league have, you know, so those schools in particular, huge advantage, you know, in the America East. I definitely know that's a have and have not. So, you know, there's tremendous challenges there. I wish they would go with you. Get one free transfer and if you want to transfer a second time, then you have to sit out.
You know what gets lost in the shuffle, Ken, is when you transfer from college to college, all your credits don't go with you.
You have to like very, very few colleges in the country transfer Ds, you need to have Cs or better.
Certain classes from one institution, regardless of the grade, won't transfer to the next institution.
So again, there's very little value of a scholarship anymore. The graduation piece isn't talked about enough.
Yes, I'm more old school, but I've already said I don't have a problem with players getting paid. I just want to see it be controlled. And how do you handle again, the schools that just don't have the money, the haves and the have nots. And I think it probably impacts the mid majors and the low majors more than anyone.
[00:49:58] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you mentioned Sienna. I got to ask you this question. Having you haven't coached at UAlbany, the Albany cup, they just recently announced Sienna New Albany will be playing next four years. And alternating sites there's seem that for years was a. Sienna seemed to Be, you know, against having games at UAL because the arena there is smaller than what it is at what is now MVP arena meeting.
[00:50:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:50:23] Speaker B: I mean, how happy are you see that they're finally getting this to be an alternate sites every year?
[00:50:30] Speaker C: Well, honestly, now that I'm removed from the situation, I think it's great because I was the biggest advocate for before people even started advocating.
And I used to drive Fran McCaffrey nuts because Fran would tell me, we're not going to pull. We're not going to play the game. We won't even play. We're not before we step foot inside, you know, the Ceph Q Arena, you know, at the time. And then I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. And what happened? We got our home game, you know, we were up 20 plus, I think, in the first half, and one comfortably. And then the series went away.
[00:51:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:11] Speaker C: You know, and, you know, one, I'm glad that it's back because it's good for the area.
Two, I do think it should be a true home and home. I know when you're in the same conference, you have no choice. You have to play home and home. But I look at. Look at North Carolina's facility, which I coached in, brought my team into the Dean Dome. It's ridiculously big as twenty plus a thousand. And then look at Cameron Indoor. I think it's like 8 or 9,000, you know, so, you know, I know the Sienna fans won't like it, and I get that. You know, I just think that for both parties, it sounds like it's fair.
[00:51:58] Speaker B: I mean, maybe this was my thought back in the day.
Why didn't they just alternate home? The team, home team at MVP arena and before that, Times Union Center?
Because I know the Union and RPI Mayor's cup game, they alternate the home team every year.
I understand Sienna's, that's their home arena there. But couldn't they have alternated home teams?
[00:52:22] Speaker C: Well, that was always the counter to me when I would tell everyone it should be a true home at home. And my response was, that's, you know, Siena's home court. Are you gonna move all of their seats and ticket holders out of their seats?
So I think a lot, a lot goes into it more than just, hey, rotate the home games.
[00:52:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I appreciate a few minutes and congratulations again on the new job and make sure you get your scores into us.
[00:52:54] Speaker C: Sounds good. And I appreciate you having me on the show. Thanks, Ken.
[00:52:56] Speaker B: All right. Thanks very well. Appreciate it.
[00:52:58] Speaker C: All right. Take care.
[00:52:58] Speaker B: You, too. That's well That's Will Brown be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner in the Deli Gazette's auto racing contest in just a moment.
[00:53:16] Speaker A: If you really want to know what's going on here tonight, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle and we're.
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[00:53:46] Speaker A: What's up everybody? This is Freddie Coleman from ESPN Radio's Freddie and Harry Show.
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[00:53:53] Speaker A: You'll see listening to the Party Shots podcast with my man Kenshott, the Daily Gazette sports editor.
[00:54:00] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast. The Week 27 winner in the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest was Edward Balmes of Schenectady with 35 points. Edward wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Edward. The VIP winner was Dwayne Leach of All Season Equipment with 30 points.
Taking a look at the VIP standings, Jerry Peel of Frankensons leads with 505 points.
Scott Lucher of Capitoland GMC is second with 495. Duane Leech has 385. Nick Playtel Grand Premier Tire has 335 points, I have 280 and Matt Margiotta of SG Roofing has 80 points.
I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the auto racing contest banner.
The U. Pickham Football contest is back. The first game of the season is next Thursday as my defending super bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles take on the Dallas Cowboys. Predict the winners of the weekly games via your you Pick' em online account. The fan with the most correct points each week gets his or her name in the Deli Gazette on Thursday and heard on the Parting Shots podcast and also wins a $100 price chopper gift card. The local fan with the most Overall points after 23 weeks wins $1,000, so go to you pickem daily gazette.com Let me repeat that again. Go to upickem.dailygazette.com football and create your account.
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That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots Podcast. I want to thank Mike McAdam, Josh Hauge, Nick Young, Carter Korpi, and Will Brown for being a part of the show.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's s c h o t
[email protected] follow me on X Threads and bluesky at Slapshots.
The views expressed on the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette Sports Editor 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.
