Episode Transcript
[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.
[00:00:13] Speaker C: The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot. 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. We have another great show for you. It's the start of the Saratoga horse racing season.
[00:00:38] Speaker C: For real.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: We had basically two preseason weeks with the Belmont Stakes Festival and the July 4th Racing Festival. Mike McGadon will preview the start of the Saratoga meet, what's going to happen and what he thinks. And we'll look back at the July 4th Racing Festival and is at the Track with Max segment and we're going to talk hockey the rest of the way. On the podcast, Freddie LaRue, who runs the New York State Hockey hall of Fame and as well as the basketball and baseball New York State hall of Fames with the we'll talk some Hockey hall of Fame inductions coming up Sunday at the Hilton Garden Inn in Troy and a lot of great names coming in, including headliner New York Islanders goaltender Billy Smith, who led the Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983 and they got to a fifth straight final in 1983 or 1984. Excuse me.
So we'll talk to Rennie about who's going to be inducted. And of course we talked with Matt Murley on last week's podcast. The former RPI standout will be inducted in on Sunday. Another one of the inductees, Kathleen Cowth of Saratoga Springs, who played at Brown for four seasons from 1997 to 2001. She'll join me to talk about her upcoming induction on Sunday. So a lot of great stuff coming up from the podcast.
When we come back, we'll Talk with Mike McAdam on the @ the Track with Max segment as we get set for the Saratoga race course season. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:02:08] Speaker D: How can you measure the value of education based athletics? Well, the value is in what makes it invaluable. That's because school sports aren't just about winning, they're about learning and growing. School sports aren't just about gaining trophies and accolades. They're about learning life lessons, bringing a whole community together, developing character and integrity, having coaches who mentor you and teammates who become lifelong friends. And you can't put a price on any of that. That's what makes education based athletics. Invaluable.
Of course, when you participate in school sports, you want to win and become a better athlete. But the purpose is so much becoming a better person.
Support your local school sports programs and if you have a student, encourage them to get involved.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: This message presented by NISFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Hi, this is New York State senator.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: And former Union College men's basketball standout Jim Tedesco.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. And now the real Saratoga horse racing season gets underway on Thursday after I guess you consider two preseason weeks. And our man of the track, Mike McAdam at the track with Mac joins us here for a few minutes to talk about the season. And Mike, the 157th Saratoga Race Course meet, as I say, kicks off on Thursday. But for once we have a few things to look at. Look back at specifically the four day July 4th racing festival that concluded on Sunday. What are your some of your takeaways from that?
[00:03:53] Speaker A: Well, first of all, the one thing that was a little eye opening or eye closing, however you want to look at it is so Sunday was the last day of that fourth day fourth of July festival. And as predicted by me, they were going to get under five digits in paid admission for the first time maybe since I've been covering that track. And they did. There was just a little over 9,000 people. Looked like a ghost town. They were single file along the rail during the races.
Never seen it that quite that small of a crowd there. I mean there are die hards there and they were, you know, beautiful day but you know, it's the last day of a long three day fourth of July weekend. I'm sure people had plans, you know, some of the other interesting numbers. You know, naturally the, the betting handle numbers were not going to approach, you know, what they typically were certainly what they got last year during the summer meet. Nobody was expecting that. One thing that I found kind of interesting though was the all sources handle daily average for four days 4th of July was almost identical and actually slightly better than what they got last year. So daily all sources handled during the meet last year was 20,610,000. Then you know, the four days last week it was 20,908, you know, just short of 21,000,000 per day. So I thought that was kind of interesting and I have no explanation for it. Of course, you know, on track handle naturally wasn't going to compare to what they do during the meet. So you know you can throw that one right out there. But as I was telling a friend of mine on Sunday, when I was kind of wandering through the backyard just to get a feel for, you know, how many people were there and ran to a friend of mine and we were kind of talking about all these things, and I said, you know, a bad day at Saratoga is always going to be way better than the best day at Aqueduct. And I'm sure the New York Racing association not only has no regrets about bringing, you know, that week up here, but also has been probably thrilled to just get something better, you know, betting handle wise. And the attendance is what it is.
You know, the average was. I think I mentioned, what's 13,000 for the four days. One thing that was a little.
I thought might have been disappointing for them was they only got 16,000 on Friday, July 4th. I thought that was going to be a day where they. The one day where they might threaten to get close to 20 or even like 18 or something like that. They even had, like a sunglasses giveaway to the first 15,000 through the gate. And, you know, they almost didn't give away all the sunglasses. You know, they got 16,000. I was kind of thinking that would be the only day just because it's Friday.
Yeah, people have their traditional Fourth of July plans and traditions and things, but, you know, you got Saturday and Sunday to do that. I thought Friday might be the day where people would say, hey, let's go to the track and then watch fireworks or whatever. So I thought 16 was a little late compared to what I was expecting. But again, overall, you know, I think, you know, Naira doesn't. I don't. They really don't care about the attendance during this thing because if they held it at Aqueduct, it would have been, you know, 90% less.
I will say another thing about Sunday being light. There was no stakes on the schedule. I don't know how many people actually show up because there's a stakes race. I mean, obviously Travers and Whitney and things like that. They're going to show up just because of the race. But there. That was another thing that indicated to me that this is not part of the Saratoga summer meet. It's actually a transplanted week from Aqueduct.
So, you know, to see no stakes races. You know, people are saying, wow, they can't run a cart at Saratoga without at least one feature race. Well, you can when you move, you know, a week that's supposed to be at Aqueduct up here.
I will say the one last thing I'll mention is by far the highlight from a racing standpoint was the Belmont Oaks Invitational.
You know, we were really looking forward to seeing Nitrogen, who had won five straight run in that race, you know, a mile and an eighth turf race for three year old Phillies. And she got caught right at the wire by a Philly named Fion, who's, who's really good.
But it was just the circumstances of Nitrogen, you know, having her five race winning streak stopped.
You know, the star of the division getting caught in this big, you know, grade one race right at the, like, the actual dynamics of the race were really interesting too. So from a racing standpoint, that's the one thing that really stood out for me during the fourth of July festival.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Well, we know the Belmont Stakes festival is coming back next year.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:40] Speaker B: What happens to the July 4th Racing Festival?
[00:08:42] Speaker A: I'm pretty sure it'll be back. And in fact, somebody looked up the calendar situation. One of the reasons that made it easy for Naira to decide to bring it up here this year was the fact that the way the calendar fell, Labor Day, you know, which is always going to be the closing day of the Saratoga meet, fell as early as it possibly can on September 1st, and which only created like a three day, you know, off day, dark day, separation between the end of the Belmont at big A, you know, Aqueduct meet, spring meet and the start of the opening day of Saratoga summer meet on, on Thursday, July 10th. So that made it easier for them to bring it up here. Next year it's the exact opposite. There will actually be six days off between the two, which doesn't make it as appealing just from a logistical standpoint, like this year was easy to just say, well, let's, let's just start the meet early with the fourth of July and then only have three days off. It's kind of the same thing. Next year it'll be the opposite.
There will be a bigger gap between fourth and the summer meet. But I think it still makes sense for them to bring it up here because again, I mean, the numbers at Aqueduct would be a business abysmal. And you know, you bring it up here, you know, you get to use your showcase racetrack for four days and you know, if they have a gap of six days, then yeah, I don't know if it makes that much of a difference. So I do believe it'll be back up here again next year. They haven't made any official announcement, but it kind of makes sense just from a number standpoint where it's a situation where I don't think they really care what the attendance is, as long as the handle is solid, which it's always going to be at Saratoga.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: Well, on the trainer jockey front, the meet championships for both are highly coveted. What's your read on how that competition shapes up?
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Well, from a trainer standpoint, let's start there because it's quick and easy. I don't see that there's going to be any competition for Chad Brown.
He's looking for his fifth straight Saratoga meet, eighth overall. He had 45 wins last year.
Closed out closing day with four wins, including Chancellor McPatrick in the hopeful, and that was one shy of his record for the meet. And, you know, I don't know if he's going to hit 45 this year, but he's still going to be loaded like he always does. So I don't really see anybody threatening him for the trainer title. Jacket title, I think, is going to be a little more interesting this year for the simple fact that Flavian Pratt came here two years ago from California, where he's just owning the place to moving to New York, because it would give him a better chance to win an Eclipse Award. You know, he's not going to win an Eclipse Award in California, winning every meet out there and every big race by a pole.
He's got to come here and ride against the best in the country. And he did. And he won his first ever career Eclipse Award last year, bolstered in part by his humongous Saratoga meet. Now, I read Ortiz, he won his third straight riding title, sixth overall. He had 52 wins.
Fabian Pratt wasn't that far behind him with 45. But the key thing here was Flavian Pratt went nuts in the stakes races. He had 18 for the meet, which breaks the record. Shattered the record of 15. He had 14 graded stakes wins. So I think he's okay with not winning the riding title, which is based on just on total wins, regardless of whether it's a cheap claiming race or the Grade one Travers, based on his, like, wealth of graded stakes wins last year, he would be okay with finishing second.
That said, at least he was close last year and could maybe threaten Irad Ortiz for the total win championship.
You know, and the jockey room is so solid, there's other guys that are going to win a lot of races. I know Dylan Davis had a big breakthrough year last year. You know, maybe he's not going to win at the volume that Irad Ortiz does. But the jockey race will be more interesting than the trainer race, which I think hands down, Chad Brown should win that. No Problem.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: Well, speaking of Chad Brown, one of the traditional highlights of the opening weekend is the Great One Diana Stakes, which he has won eight times in the last nine years. Will he make it nine for ten?
[00:13:16] Speaker A: Maybe not really. I will say about the opening weekend, it got diluted a little bit because they moved the Schuylerville and the Sanford 2 year olds to the 4th of July racing Festival, I guess to spread out the two year old races a little bit so fans showing up who traditionally expect to see, you know, two year old Phillies running into Schuylerville. Well, they already ran that. But the Diana is still on. It's on Saturday. It's still one of the biggest races.
It's one of the biggest turf races for older Phillies and mares in the country and Chad Brown just dominates it. But there's a filly this year named she Feels Pretty, trained by Sheri Devoe who is having a season right now. She's two for two. She's actually the even money favorite for the Diana which only has six horses, two of them trained by Chad Brown, of course, and he has legit shots with both of them. Dynamic pricing especially, but also excellent. Truth is in there. But she Feels Pretty is, is the even money favorite for a reason, that she's 2 for 2 coming off a win in the New York grade one race during Belmont week. And she's won four straight going back to last year and is the clearest vision leader for the, for the older Phillies and mares on the turf. So if Chad wins it this year, it's not going to be with a favorite that's, you know, say that for sure right now and, and be interesting if she stops his like big streak that he's got going because she's a former assistant to Chad also, which is an interesting little but you know, she Feels Pretty is clearly the best horse in that division. So maybe he doesn't win it this year.
[00:14:55] Speaker B: Interesting. We'll have to find out on Saturday. You mentioned, you mentioned she Feels Pretty. She's looming. She feels pretty zoomy. It was one of the stars of the meet. Who are some of the others we're likely to see and what can we expect from races like the Whitney and the Travers?
[00:15:10] Speaker A: The Whitney and the Travers are always going to be the big features of the meet. They're the two big guns there as far as state races go. And this year will be no different. I mean they're just, that's what they are in any given year. But this year, I mean, people are salivating over what we might see in those two races.
Before I get to that I'll mention a couple other divisions and horses, one of which is Torpedo Anna won the horse of the year last year including a very close second to Fierceness in the Travers running against males.
She's going to be on the grounds pretty soon as she was from May until October last year in Kenny McPeak's barn. So we're expecting her back to run in the personal Ensign on Travers weekend.
So Torpedo Anna, the other division I wanted to mention was the three year old Phillies, which is kind of interesting because and we're talking about the Coaching Club American Oaks in Alabama. Both grade one wins or stakes.
Coaching Club is in July and Alabama's in the middle of August the week before the Travers.
Nitrogen we already talked about her, she's a turf horse but trainer Mark Cassie said coming out of that Belmont Oaks Invitational when actually said it before the race and he reiterated it after the race, you know what, we're going to go to the Alabama and run her on dirt which will be very interesting to see.
She, she had won five straight and then was caught right at the wire as I already mentioned by Fion in the Belmont Oaks Invitational during the fourth of July festival. And they're going straight to the Alabama which is really interesting because she's only run on the dirt once in her career and it was here in the Wonder again and the only reason that happened was because it was raining all day and and they took it off the turf and he said what the heck, I'm gonna run her anyway. And she won by 17 lengths.
So now they're going to come back to the dirt on purpose this time running in the Alabama and then two others that are really interesting in there, Good Cheer and Immersive, both trained by Brad Cox that are probably we might see them run against each other in the Alabama. I don't know which of the two will go Coaching Club American Oaks, but Good Cheer.
Well I'll start with Immersive. She won the two year old Philly Championship last year, four for four Breeders Cup Juvenile Phillies. Then she got hurt and she missed the whole like this year Kentucky Oaks lead up, preps, everything. So she, she did not run until June and she got beat for the first time in her career but she's still a champion. And then her stable mate Good Cheer meanwhile was kicking butt while her stable mate was injured and won the Kentucky Oaks and ran her record set career wise to seven for seven and then she finished fifth in the eight corner in the Belmont Stakes Festival up here. So she's coming up off a loss also. So we'll see one of the others, one of the. Those two are both in in races like the Coaching Club, American Oaks in the Alabama, and then the horse she got beat by in the Acorn, La Cara, she's supposed to run in the Alabama as well. So that kind of rounds up what's going on in the three year old Philly division. As far as the way I'll start with the Whitney before we get to the Travers.
Last year and especially like filling out my Eclipse Award ballot, the older male dirt division was just an absolute headache, head scratcher or whatever you want to call it, because nobody wanted it. Like everybody had one big win, but nobody put together two or three. So it was really difficult division to vote on and it was a reflection of how that division was kind of lousy last year. The opposite is true this year in large part because a lot of those good, a lot of the good 3 year olds last year, their owners decided, hey, we're going to come back and run it at 4, talking about horses like Fierceness, Mind Frame, Sierra Leone, who won the Breeders Cup Classic. And actually when we got to the Breeders cup, the three year olds were looking better than the actual older dirt horses. And it played out because Sierra Leone and Fierceness, who were three at the time, finished 12 in the classic. They're both back this year and then Mind Frame is probably the best of the group. He's three for three coming off a big win in the grade one Stephen Foster against a lot of good horses in the division.
These are horses that are going to be pointing toward the Whitney. Fierceness ran a track record in the Alishiba on Kentucky Derby weekend. Then he got beat by Raging Torrent in the Met Mile up here.
Sierra Leone's over two this year, so we'll see what happens with him. But he's definitely looking at the Whitney. And you have horses like Skippy Longstocking and White A barrio who was fourth in the Met Mile. But he won the $3 million Pegasus World cup at the beginning of the year and he actually won the Whitney two years ago. We could see all of them in the mix for the Whitney, which would make it just a fascinating race to watch.
And then we get to the big one, the Travers.
Belmont State Racing Festival fans at Saratoga were fortunate to see the top three finishers from the Kentucky Derby run against each other. So that's happened twice already. It's probably going to happen again in the Travers And I'm talking about, of course, Sovereignty Journalism. And Baeza.
Trainer John Sheriffs has already said that Baeza is pointing toward the Traverse. Journalism will not run in the gym. Dandy, he's pointing toward the Haskell Invitational. He won the Travers or the Preakness. He's the only horse to have run in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. He had two good second place finishes to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont.
So he's looking at the Travers, but he'll, he'll go the Haskell route instead of the Jim Dandy. And then meanwhile, Sovereignty has been on the grounds for a long time, you know, since before the Belmont, really, since right after the Preakness. And he's definitely going Jim Dandy, Travers double. So we could see a real interesting rematch of the rematch in the Travers between these, the top three finishers from the Derby and the Belmont.
I will throw one more name into the mix, a horse named Magnitude, who won the Risen Star in February for trainer Steve Asmussen by like, almost 10 lengths and was looking like a serious Kentucky Derby contender. And then he got hurt. Then he just came back to the races last weekend and won the Iowa Derby again by almost 10 lengths. So he could be like a. I don't want to call him a new shooter because he was on the Derby prep trail at one point before he got hurt. But don't sleep on him. I think he's got a little bit of wise guy appeal to him from a betting standpoint for the Travers. You know, the top three from the Derby, Belmont, you know, their, their records speak for themselves. But here comes Magnitude could be a real problem just based on his two performances, including his most recent one.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: I wanted to ask you about Thursday's Quite quickly. There's 10 races and two state races, both the same name, the Dale of Rose. How does that happen?
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Well, it's not two races with the same name. It's two divisions of the same race.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: Gotcha.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: And you don't see it. You see it every once in a while, but you don't really notice it because it's not a stakes race. It doesn't happen in stakes races very often.
I did kind of look it up. So what happens is Delarose, that, you know, they put out a nomination form and you nominate for a race, and then if you choose to pay the entry fee and stay in it, then they assemble the field that way.
And the starting gate max is 12. And if more than 12 horses are entered, then they have to split it up like this. So it's, it's the same race but they split it into two divisions. It's kind of tricky. And you know how to describe it?
Like history will say that this horse won the one division of the Dela Rose and this of course won another division of the delarose. I know it happened state races, you don't see it very often, but I know it happened in the Arkansas Derby a few years ago when Bob Baffert of course won both divisions with Charlatan and who that horse named Nadal after Rafael Nadal.
So it doesn't happen that often, but when it does that, that's why is because too many horses are trying to enter the race so they, they split it up.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: Okay, that's my curiosity because I'm obviously not a horse racing guy. That's a good question.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: I mean it looks weird when you see it on the, the entries, but basically the race carried so much appeal for a certain division, which in this case is three year old Phillies going a mile on the turf that they, you know, they can't, if somebody enters the race, you can't tell them you can't. Occasionally you'll see a race that's over subscribed where, that's where those also eligibles come in. They're not necessarily main track only. You know, first a turf race that potentially gets rained onto the main track, you'll see a race where it's over subscribed, which means it's kind of a similar thing where more horses are entered than the starting gate can accommodate. But in this case with the stakes race, they don't want to tell people.
You can't have also eligibles in a stakes race unless it's an MTO horse that they want to run on a muddy track, but it's scheduled for the turf. So that's kind of how that works.
[00:24:52] Speaker B: Okay, we'll wrap this up with some hockey. You're a big Bruins Boston Bruins fan. Unfortunately one of the Bruins from your days and about 20 years ago, Lynn Byers, a tough player out there who had a fight for very well, passed away on July 4th. I think he's also a radio analyst for the Bruins. What are your remembrances of Lyndon Byers?
[00:25:16] Speaker A: Well, you already mentioned the tough guy aspect of it.
You know, I think he actually did have a little bit of skill. If I remember correctly. He wasn't just like a total goon, but you didn't want to mess with him.
I can't remember which teams or whose teammates were back then, but I just remember he was, you know, a player that Bruins fans naturally would love just because he's a tough guy, whether he's fighting or, you know, blasting somebody into the boards.
So, you know, kind of.
Kind of a characteristic that a Bruins fan will attach themselves to, that, you know, that's pretty much what I remember about him.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: Well, Mike, we'll do this every week throughout the horse racing season here at Saratoga. And enjoy opening day.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: Okay, I will. With two divisions of the Dela Rose, how can you not?
[00:26:05] Speaker B: That's right.
Thanks, Mike. Appreciate it.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: All right, see you.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: That's Mike McAdam. Coming up, we'll have some more hockey talk. Rennie LaRue, who runs the New York State Hockey hall of Fame. We'll talk about Sunday's induction ceremony over in Troy. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:26:28] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Stan. And I'm Shen.
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[00:27:07] Speaker A: Hi, this is four time Stanley cup champion and New York State Hockey hall of Famer John Tonelli.
You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. Coming up on Sunday at the Troy Hilton Garden Inn, we have the annual New York State Hockey hall of Fame induction ceremony. The man who puts that together every year, does a great job is Rennie LaRue. Rennie, how you doing?
[00:27:36] Speaker C: Good.
Very well. A little warm, but a beautiful summer day.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Yeah, nothing like talking hockey on a warm summer day. I always enjoy talking hockey no matter what the weather is.
Talk about who's coming in, I think, to me, I think the highlight, and this is a gentleman who has, growing up in Philadelphia, I hate it because he was an Islander. Billy Smith, the goaltender, a four time Stanley cup champion hall of Famer.
He was ahead of his time as far as me before we heard about Ron Hextall and the antics and getting into fights. Billy Smith was that first goaltender. Really took no crap from people, from players. I mean, he. The crease was his. If you were in his crease, you're going to find out you're not going to last there long. I mean, he was a guy who fought.
He was afraid to drop the gloves. I mean, I remember one.
You see some highlights on YouTube with him going. Battling Lanny McDonald, the Toronto Maple Leafs. I remember growing up in Philadelphia, watching him fight Bill Flett with the Flyers. And how big is this to get Billy Smith inducted?
[00:28:44] Speaker C: Well, you know, it's really big for us, for our group, our hall of Fame.
You know, Billy is a tough cat, and, you know, he.
Now that I've gotten to know him, you know, I think he's mellowed a lot as he's gotten older. But in revealing his stats, what I found is that he really stepped up his game in the playoffs, so he got better in Stanley cup competition.
But I've talked to all the Islander guys, Bobby Nystrom and Kenny Morrow and Dennis Poppin, and they all. They all tell you how vital he was to that Islander dynasty.
[00:29:23] Speaker B: Yeah, for a while, I remember, you know, the Islanders was. Chico Rush was sort of the main goaltender for the most of that run in the 70s. I think it was like maybe that 78, 79, 79, 80 season where I think Al Arbour went to Billy Smith, and then that's where everything happened.
[00:29:39] Speaker C: Yeah. And, you know, he's.
Well, two other things I didn't know. He was taken by the Islanders in the expansion draft in Los Angeles Kings.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:29:50] Speaker C: So when he retired, he remained the last original Islander.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: Wow.
And I think he was teammates with Butch Goring in Springfield when they were known as the Kings. And I think they won a call to cup together.
[00:30:02] Speaker C: Yes, they did. Yes, they did.
So we're really happy to have him. And he doesn't do a lot of events, but I'm really thrilled he's coming. That's a testament to what we're doing here. And as you know, you come every year. The people that show up, it's a who's who of hockey.
And the real thing that I'm proud of is the actual mix of inductees from sled hockey coaches, youth hockey coaches, college greats, and NHL grades.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Yeah. And also, of course, college hockey grades. So we have three members from RPI Hockey. Matt Murley, Joe Juno, and Graham Townsend. I met on last week's podcast Catching up with Him. I didn't realize I was talking to him when I. Until he told me he's actually living in Sweden right now with his family. But I know he was looking forward to coming to back home. For this. And it's a natural with, with Matt, obviously a Troy native and he was. And I wrote in my column last week he was born to be an RPI hockey player.
[00:31:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Yes, he was. And he fulfilled a life dream and he actually skated professionally for 20 years.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: Skated all over Europe.
Croatia, Germany, Sweden. I mean all over the world.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: Yeah. South. South Korea too.
[00:31:26] Speaker C: South Korea. I mean, just an amazing skater. And the fact that we have three is very interesting that it just happened that way last year. I don't think we had an RPI inductee. No, I don't think we had one the year before. I think Rich Scammell in year one was an RPI grad. Really, really great skater too, so. But I'm happy. I'm glad they all know each other. They all like each other.
Good for rpi. Good for the Capital District.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: And it's a program ready that's really been falling on hard times. We, you know, we saw Dave Smith fired at the end of this past season and Eric Line now taking over and get the sense in talking with Matt that they're happy with, with the hire. And I mean, I now have to talk with when I see Joe Juno and Graham Townsend to see what their thoughts are. But I mean this is a, this is a college hockey program that like I said, following hard times been. They. They just haven't gotten back, especially coming out of COVID They mishandled things and I think it was more. That was more of an administration situation than it was Dave Smith's.
[00:32:32] Speaker C: But I, I agree and Covid really hit them hard and they, they lost some people and it hit a lot of people hard. And of course the nil situation now in col College athletics is a factor. So I, I think they can right the ship.
Both union and RPI are great national programs, Division 1 programs, so I think they can get back on track. I, I love Dave Smith, by the way, and I don't think any of that was his issue.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: No one other college player that we know is going to be coming in is a Clarkson. Great. Eric Cole won a Stanley cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
[00:33:12] Speaker C: What. What a wonderful guy. And yeah, he was a really great player. Clarkson. And he went on to win the cup when he was with the Carolina Hurricanes. He skated on a line with current head coach Rod Brindemore.
Wow.
[00:33:26] Speaker B: Yeah. You'll have a lot of stories to tell about that.
One other player that we'll have on as a guest coming up later on this podcast is Kathleen Cauth. Of South Saratoga Springs native, played at Brown University. And she could. I think she also has a great career in the pros. Before the pwhl, there were a couple other pro leagues that were there for women. But yeah, she had a great career.
[00:33:54] Speaker C: And she won an Olympic bronze medal, which you win a medal in the Olympics, that's pretty big.
A great spirit skater.
She skated with the boys up until they made her skate with the girls. So she wanted to continue skating with. With the boys. But they, you know, the, the time came when you have to make that decision and. But what a great skater. She was a tremendous skater at Brown University.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
Who else is coming in?
[00:34:26] Speaker C: Well, you know, the great jigs McDonald.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: Who is love jigsaw.
[00:34:32] Speaker C: You know, he called so many games and he actually did the Mets one year and then the two other guys. Joe Micheletti was Sam's partner for many years in the booth on TV for the Rangers. And Joe won two NCAA championships playing for Herb at the U.
And he was MVP of one of those championships.
And his good friend Dave Maloney from the Rangers, Geez, what a good guy Dave is, you know, and, you know, both Joe and Dave do great off the ice, work with the community too.
And they're so happy they're both getting in together.
Mark McKenna is from Canton, New York, and he started a sled hockey program.
And our year two, we had Brian Bloomquist from Long island who was a Pat Lafontaine nominee. And I learned all about slot hockey then and how much guys like Pat LaFontaine take an interest and, and respect what these guys do. And Mark McKenna is going on year 17, I think, and the lives that he affords, the lives that he changes and what he provides these disabled people is tremendous.
I mean, he gets people from all over the north country. So I'm really looking forward to meeting Mark McKenna, just a good guy local.
Tim Gerrish, who was a USA Hockey coach, coach the Union Skidmore North Country Community College for, I believe, 20 years.
Youth hockey guy, good local guy, highly recommended.
And then, you know, we have two other local women that are getting in.
Melissa Sheeran, who grew up in Scattercook, was a great player at SUNY Plattsburgh and after.
And then Jordan Juron, who grew up in Latham and then became very good early and started to go to prep schools and travel schools when she was 14, and she went on to play at Boston University for the Terriers. And Mike Ruzioni remembers how good Jordan Giron was for four years.
I think they Won two ECAC championships when she was there.
So really happy about, you know, these three women are all Ron Kewell.
You know, he has a good pulse on the female players in the Capital District, the Hockey Hut.
So I think it's a great class.
And Kenny Morrow is coming.
He was inducted last year, but he's coming for a couple reasons this year. And of course he is really supporting Billy, which I think is wonderful.
And it also brings back the 1980 Miracle on Ice magic. To have some one of those guys in the room is always a treat.
[00:37:47] Speaker B: It seems like every year you've had 1980s Miracle on Ice player.
[00:37:53] Speaker C: We have. And you know, we had a Rusiani last year. We had Buzzy Schneider the year before. Before that I had O.C. and Mark Wells.
I just love these guys, Ken, you know, I mean, you remember 1980. Remember what it meant to the country and the world that we had that upset beating Russia and ended up winning the gold a couple days later against Finland. That was an amazing time. I was 24 years old, living in LA class of working for Xerox Corporation.
And being there, you could tell something was in the air. You could just when you were walking the streets a couple months beforehand, there was just a buzz. And of course we had Eric Hyde win five gold medals speed skating.
But it was a marvelous time. And Ken, when I bring those guys back, I'm 24 all over again.
[00:38:49] Speaker B: Of course, that whole time in 1980, our country was not in the greatest shape. And it seemed the Soviet Union was starting to invade Afghanistan and seemed that we needed something to lift the country spirits and. And they did. And it's still. It's still amazing. Me. You still watch that, you still get goosebumps. And especially at the Al, Michael's call at the end of the game.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: Amazing. And you know, Al sent us video for Mike last year and. Wonderful guy. And you know, thanks to Bob Costas for connecting me with Al Michaels. And Al, be the first to tell you that that call sort of changed his career.
[00:39:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it did. It did indeed.
[00:39:30] Speaker C: I'm really happy to keep this in the area, you know.
You know, it's my 35th hall of Fame event with the hall of Fame group. It's New York State basketball was the first New York State baseball and then New York State hockey. And we. We lost a couple years due to Covid. We would have started a couple years earlier, but it's really hit the ground running and really happy with the support of New York State and definitely the local Capital District area supports all Three of these events. And when you think about it, Ken, think of the hockey in upstate New York in the north country. Cornell, Colgate, Clarkson, suny, Potsdam, Plattsburgh, Union, rpi, Skidmore. Great, you know, West Point. Great, you know, hockey programs as good as any in the country, Ken.
[00:40:25] Speaker B: Yep, indeed. It's a lot of stuff. Obviously, Union winning in 2014, RPI winning two championships, national championships as well, and Cornell's won some national championships.
So, yeah, the hockey's great. It's.
I mean, I, I came up here in 1990 with the purpose of being the second hockey writer for this paper, the Daily Gazette, when they had the three hockey teams in the area. The Adirondack Red Wings up in glens falls, the AHL, along with the capitalist galliners over in RPI's Houston fieldhouse. And of course the International Hockey League brought the Albany Choppers in, but that was sort of. That failed midway through the season. But the hockey's been great up here. I know we lost the AHL years ago because it just unfortunately wasn't much fan support toward the end for the Albany Devils, but.
And I remember coming up when I was covering Hershey Bears for the York Daily Record, coming up to Cleanse Falls a couple of times and covering some great series between the Hershey Bears and the Adirondack Red Wings. And so, I mean, the hockey and the support that the Thunder gets now up in Glens Falls, I mean, it's wonderful to see that hockey still flourishing up there at the old barn.
I'm going to call it the Glens Falls Civic Center. It's always a Glens Falls Civic center to me.
[00:41:46] Speaker C: Right. So, Ken, does that mean you've been writing hockey for 35 years?
[00:41:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I started covering the Hershey Bears in the 1985-86 season. So between five years, five years there doing that and I'll start my 30th year covering Union hockey. If we had two stints covering Union hockey.
So 35 years of covering hockey, that's amazing.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: What is your feeling when you come to the dinners?
Do you like seeing the people that come?
[00:42:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, definitely. I get a chance to talk to you, as I mentioned, being able to talk to guys that I rooted against like Bob Nystrom, John Tenelle, Dennis Potvin, and then telling him I hated them as Islanders, but they enjoyed me. They understand, you know, to be able to talk to especially Bob Nystrom and John Sinelli on that 1980 game winning goal, which a lot of Flyers fans can maintain, that that goal is offside. And I fully maintain and I say, no, that wasn't the goal. It was offside in that game. That goal, the offside goal came in the first period. But my, and I say my only complaint about that Nystrom goal was I don't think you Flyers goal like Pete Peters gave much of an effort, sort of half hearted effort to give blood. Put his blocker out there and try and missed it. He missed stopping the puck.
[00:43:10] Speaker C: I talked to Bobby Nystrom yesterday. He just came back from Croatia where he and his wife went on a 75 mile bike tour.
[00:43:19] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:43:20] Speaker C: And he said, how beautiful.
You know, had a wonderful trip and just got back. I think he's in Oregon right now or Colorado and very happy to support Billy and Kenny.
And you know, his stories are the best. And you know, I don't know whether Tonella even had to make that pass, but he did.
And of course Nystrom was right there. Peters had no chance, really. Yeah, he was. I've watched that a thousand times.
[00:43:51] Speaker A: He.
[00:43:52] Speaker C: It was a wonderful pass. I mean, unselfish. That's the way they played.
And you know, when Tonelli came, he said, you know, Rennie, I'm not used to speaking and I don't know whether I'll be able to give you four or five minutes. He spoke for 21 minutes.
[00:44:11] Speaker B: And he also mentioned, he also mentioned that he was recruited by rpi.
[00:44:15] Speaker C: Yes, he was.
And we had Stan Fischler there that night, the wonderful writer.
And I remember part of Stan's speech was just about John.
So it was a nice tribute. And all these people like each other.
I'm really happy with the level of excitement. I talked to Mike Ruzzioni today and just a wonderful guy sent us a video.
He loves Jill Micheletti, loves Dave Maloney and Kenny. And you know, what a great ambassador Michael Ruzioni is.
[00:44:51] Speaker B: You mentioned Joe Micheletti and you mentioned him earlier. I mean, Joe announced his retirement after the season. We knew Sam Rosen was going to retire because he made that announcement shortly after he was inducted in. After last year's. Inducted in last year's hall of Fame class. But Joe kept things quiet. I guess he had an inkling he was going to retire too. And he.
Shortly after the Rangers season ended, he said he was retiring too. So basically Sam and Joe were.
We know Kenny Albert's gonna be taking over to play by play. I'm not sure if Dave Maloney's been named yet on the TV side there to take over, but yeah, I enjoy talking to these hockey people because, I mean, hockey is my first love and has always been being in the Spectrum. When the Flyers won the Stanley cup, we had season tickets to the Flyers for many years.
And I told Flyer legend Joe Watson this when I talked to him on many occasions. I told Joe, you're the reason. You guys are the reason. I'm in this business, because I wanted to be part of sports.
[00:45:54] Speaker C: Right. Right.
And you know what? I have a daughter who's 32 who lives in Boston, grew up here and had never been to a hockey game. Her husband works for Fidelity Investments, and he dragged her to a Bruins game one night, one game. And she is in. She is hockey, hockey, hockey. Big Bruins fan. And they go all the time. They get great seats. And now she talks hockey like she's known in her whole life.
[00:46:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:23] Speaker C: Amazing.
[00:46:24] Speaker B: It's a wonderful sport.
[00:46:26] Speaker C: I will say that the Bruins, as the Islanders are, and now the Rangers, the Bruins and the Jacobs family are very supportive of what we do.
Very supportive of anybody that we take who played for the Bruins.
And this year, not only did the Bruins support us, but the Bruins alumni club supported us as well.
So, you know, when you call these organizations, it's really nice to feel their support and their love for what we do. And they're right. Right. Really with us.
[00:47:03] Speaker B: Well, Rennie, I appreciate what you're doing for this, and it's looking forward to Sunday at the Hilton Garden in there in Troy and be able to talk to some of these legends that are going in. And I appreciate you inviting me once again and look forward to doing it once again.
[00:47:18] Speaker C: Well, you know, Ken, I love your writing, and you've had a tremendous impact as a hockey writer in the area.
Anybody who knows Upstairs State hockey knows you well.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: I appreciate that, Rene. It means a lot coming from you. And, yeah, I mean, I've loved this business. Love being able to go to rink every weekend, covering games. I mean, used to travel back in the day and unfortunately can't travel anymore. But at least thanks to the miracle of streaming services, you can watch the road games and be able to write off of that. But, yeah, the business is changed since I got into this thing. It's, you know, you know, back in the day was no social media. You went to a game, covered it and went home or went to the bar sometimes.
[00:48:04] Speaker A: Right, Right.
[00:48:06] Speaker C: Thank you for having me on, and I'll see you on Sunday.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: All right, Rennie, appreciate it. Thanks again.
[00:48:11] Speaker C: Thanks.
[00:48:11] Speaker B: That's Rennie LaRue coming up. We're going to talk to one of those inductees. Kathleen Call from Saratoga Springs. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:48:31] Speaker A: If you really want to know what's going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle, and we're gonna get to the truth. Our reporters and photographers are out in the field bringing you updates every with trust, accuracy, and integrity, from the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on in community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are. It's what we do.
Hi, this is Union College hockey alum Mario Valerie Trabucco. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shaw.
[00:49:10] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. Of course, we just had Rennie LaRue on to talk about the New York State Hockey hall of Fame induction ceremony. And one of the inductees will be Kathleen Kauf from Saratoga Springs, who had a great college career at Brown University and played some pro hockey. She joins me out here on the podcast. Kathleen, how you doing? And first of all, congratulations.
[00:49:31] Speaker E: Thank you very much. I'm very excited for the weekend. And, yes, I'm doing quite well today.
[00:49:37] Speaker B: What does it, you know, what does it mean to you to be inducted into the New York State Hockey hall of Fame?
[00:49:44] Speaker E: Well, it came as quite a shock mostly because, my goodness, I've, I think what the Olympic, the Torino Olympics were, what, 19 years ago, and I really haven't been as involved in sports, of course, now through my kids, I am. But it's been such a long time since I've identified as a. As a hockey player that when Rene gave me the call, I was just shocked. I was like, who, me?
Then, you know, he told me some of the others that are getting inducted this year, and I was just, of course, completely honored and then definitely swelling of pride and couldn't wait to share the news with my family.
[00:50:25] Speaker B: That's great. Now, let me ask you. You played women's hockey at a time when it really was more of an emerging sport. There weren't that many teams. I know. Maybe when you were at Brown. I think Union may have been either a club team or Division 3 at that time. And of course, now they're Division 1.
Now the ECAC hockey has 12 teams.
What was it like back then when you were playing? I mean, could you sense something growing at that time?
[00:50:52] Speaker E: Absolutely. And just to clarify, so we were. So There was Division 1 women's hockey. We were Division 1, but I believe it was not yet a full NCAA sanctioned sort of league. And so we were ecac. We were in the ecac, but I don't think it yet was under the umbrella of NCAA, but it was Division 1, I believe it was NCAA. The first year was my last year, maybe my senior year.
So there was quite. Just a tremendous amount of growth just, you know, before I went to Brown. And then certainly while those four years, it certainly was becoming pretty obvious that the sport was getting more popular and the NCAA took over and there was lots of great schools coming on board with programs that offered full scholarships. And so, yeah, the growth was obvious even then.
[00:51:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And then, of course, what was it like playing at Brown back then?
[00:51:50] Speaker E: Oh, God, I mean, it was amazing.
We had such a wonderful team, some really, really great players. I got to play with perhaps one of the, you know, I think the best defense woman ever to play the game, Tara Mounsey, so. And lots of other really great players, other Olympians that I got to play with in Torino. So really great players, but also to this day, some of my best friends.
So first and foremost, that was. That was absolutely wonderful.
And then, of course, hockey enabled me, opened up so many opportunities for me to even go to a place like Brown University. And so that was a place I got to go and really start to become the person that I am today by being around, you know, driven people, interesting people, great professors. And so it was just. It was just, you know, an awakening, both as an athlete and as a student and soon to be adult.
[00:52:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, I mean, you played in some pro hockey, but now we see the professional Women's Hockey League starting to grow a lot more. When you played pro, what was that like? Was it difficult back then, try to get any attention from fans and in media?
[00:53:09] Speaker E: Yes, I mean, I would. I'm grateful for all. All of the opportunities I had, but it's certainly not. It wasn't. It wasn't like it is now with the PWHL and seeing the success of that and the excitement of the athletes and the opportunities afforded them, which is just, you know, amazing to see and well deserved and overdue, frankly. But, you know, at the time, I got to play with the best players in the world. We had regular ice time, we had good coaches, and, yes, we didn't have a lot of attention, but the folks that did like women's hockey back then, you know, really liked it. And so I never wanted for anything.
And obviously, having the opportunities at the national level with the Olympics and the World championships really made up for anything else that was lacking. So you know, I'm greatly. You know, I'm very grateful for the opportunities I did have. Don't. So thrilled for the athletes today and to see what's happening now.
[00:54:08] Speaker B: Of course, you played the Olympics. It was a bronze medal. You guys won, right?
[00:54:13] Speaker E: It was.
[00:54:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:54:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:54:14] Speaker B: What was that experience like playing then? Of course, now we see USA and Canada, basically, you know, it's a big rivalry now. I mean, was it back big back then in Torino? And it seems like you have these.
These series of games that they play against each other, which draws a lot of attention. And it seems like, you know, these two teams are. These two women's teams are the best women's teams in the world still.
I mean, it's. What was it like that. That Olympics playing in there? I mean, you got the bronze, but you obviously won a goal. So what was it. What was that experience like?
[00:54:52] Speaker E: Well, winning the bronze, looking back, you know, at the time, it was devastating. You go in wanting to win gold, dreaming of winning gold, and to get beat in the semifinals in a shootout to start Sweden, who, you know, that year had a really wonderful team and a great goaltender.
It was devastating. And we were all. We were all, you know, inconsolable for about 24 hours, and then, you know, you slowly start to get over it. But now, you know, 20, almost 20 years later, looking back, I couldn't be more proud of my bronze medal. And, you know, I think I remember only the good times from the team.
We had some great players and a lot of fun. And so, yeah, I mean, that part of it. I couldn't be more thrilled to have an Olympic medal again, even though it was devastating at the time. And Celine Dion's heart, My Heart Will go on, was on repeat that night.
But, yes, the rivalry with Canada was massive, even back then, and it still is today, of course, because of the two best teams.
But I also think nowadays there's a lot more because of. Because the NCAA took off between then and now and because of the. Now the, you know, the Professional Women's Hockey League now you have, you know, the US And Canada and frankly, players from around the world all consistently playing against and with each other on, you know, on club teams. So you're seeing a lot of intermixing now with that. Whereas before, most players on opposing national teams didn't even get a chance to know each other.
It was just us against Canada. And nowadays, you might have players from Switzerland and Czechia and Sweden and Finland and the US And Canada all in one. PWA gel team. So so that's really grown.
[00:56:50] Speaker B: Speaking of growing up, when you grew up in Saratoga Springs, what was it like playing youth? Did you play youth hockey at Saratoga Springs?
What was that like?
[00:57:00] Speaker E: I did. I grew up playing with the boys who were, you know, some of my best childhood friends. And I can't remember exactly what year I stopped playing boys hockey, but I was probably around 13, 14. And that was when I made the switch. Unfortunately, there was no girls team team nearby, so I ended up playing for a team, the Lake Placid Rockets up in Lake Placid. And that was an awesome team. It's unfortunate I had to travel so far, but it was a great team. And yeah, again, I got to play with another fellow Olympian on that team, Andrea Kilbourne from Saranac Lake. So, again, really happy with what opportunities I did have. Yeah, it was great playing with the boys up until, you know, up until it got to. Up until it went. It wasn't.
[00:57:49] Speaker B: So you played the wide Wyoming rink?
[00:57:54] Speaker E: Well, yeah, well, yeah.
[00:57:55] Speaker C: No.
[00:57:56] Speaker E: Yes, towards the latter. Well, towards the end. But I was.
Oh, my gosh, it's the end of a long day and I still have jet lag from. From the trip. I was just on Excelsior. Excelsior average. Okay, that was.
That was. I'm really dating myself now. So that predated the WhyBellaVrink because I.
[00:58:16] Speaker B: Know why belaborink only because my son played for Schenectady. You thought we had some games up there. So that was about the only rink I remember from up there.
[00:58:24] Speaker E: But I remember. So the Excelsior Averink was. It was basically an ice surface with not, you know, chain link and plastic.
[00:58:35] Speaker B: Plastic wrapped walls, chain link fence. Oh, boy.
[00:58:40] Speaker E: But it was. I mean, it had the best ice around because it was so cold. But Weibull is definitely an improvement, I can't lie.
[00:58:49] Speaker B: What do you. What do you talk about when you make your acceptance speech on Sunday?
[00:58:57] Speaker E: Mostly gratitude for the opportunities that I had through hockey and the village that it took to give those opportunities to me.
But I also want to spend a little time talking about the value of sport if grownups don't get in the way because it was through the adversity in a relatively safe environment that sport gives you, that I really learned how to navigate life and be able to come back from tough losses, not just on the ice, but, you know, the ones that are far worse off the ice and be able to come back and learn from it and move forward in a way that, you know, currently at least leads to, you know, a life that can find joy. So I just, I just don't know that if it wasn't for sport that I would have had that kind of, you know, without that adversity, I don't know that I would have discovered things, you know, how far I could push things and the risks I could take and the ones that I wasn't comfortable taking, etc. Etc. And I just think that we need to make sure that it's hard these days to not, you know, know, be a helicopter parent. But I do think that when we don't give our kids the, the chance to fail and learn from that failure, we're robbing them of, of some of the opportunities that I know, but really benefited me. So I want to talk a little bit about that.
[01:00:34] Speaker B: If you don't mind me asking. What are you doing these days with your, with your life and jobs in the real world?
[01:00:43] Speaker E: Yeah, so I, other than, you know, a lot of my time is with my three kids, my three great kids. But my day job is I run a little climate change consulting firm. So about 15 years ago I discovered the world of not just climate change but of clean tech. So the solutions to fight climate change. And I've been hooked and in it ever since. And so yeah, that's been my thing that replaced my, my athletic identity to help join in this, in this fight.
[01:01:20] Speaker B: Do you do any coaching at all hockey wise or just you stay out of the way?
[01:01:26] Speaker E: I mostly stay out of the way. I have, I do coach my kids a little bit mostly not in hockey actually in soccer and softball and things like that.
But I have coached a little bit on the hockey side and may more in the future. We'll see. But yeah, not, not, not as much as I thought maybe I would. But I think it's often a great thing to not, you know, always be the coach of your kid.
[01:01:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
Well, Kathleen is great talking to you. Congratulations. I'll see, I'll be there at Sunday. So I don't, I don't know if we ever met because I cover union, Kyle Chalk, even cover them for starting my 30th year coming up in the fall. So I'll introduce myself when I see you over there. And again, congratulations and looking forward to hearing your speech.
[01:02:15] Speaker E: Well, thank you. And likewise I look forward to meeting you in person on Sunday.
[01:02:19] Speaker B: All right, thanks Kathleen. Appreciate it.
That's Kathleen Coff. We'll be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner in the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest in just a moment.
Speed, skill physicality.
[01:02:55] Speaker E: Home to college hockey's elite teams, coaches and student athletes.
ECAC hockey 12 programs competing at the highest level.
A league where champions are born and world class professionals are trained. Where history is abundant and a commitment to the cutting edge is unrivaled. The best facilities, the fiercest competition.
ECAC hockey. There's no experience like it.
[01:03:22] Speaker A: Hey, I'm Frank Caliendo pretending to be Morgan Freeman. Maybe even a little bit of John Batberg. Robert Downey Jr. Comedian, impressionist, playboy, philanthropist. Maybe not the last two.
[01:03:33] Speaker C: And you're listening to the Parting Shots.
[01:03:34] Speaker A: Podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[01:03:40] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast. The Week 20 winner in the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest with Cynthia Proper of Delanson. With 70 points, Cynthia wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Cynthia.
The VIP winner is Scott Lucher of Capital Land GMC with 45 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.
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 this friendly reminder, 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 edition of the Stan and Chen Show. Maureen Neufeld from the downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. And Rich Rizzo, vice chair of Tourism with the Schenectady County Legislature, dropped by the podcast studio to talk about this Friday's Summer night free concert, the acts and what it means for the community and its businesses. Subscribe to the Stan and Shen show on all your podcast listening platforms.
On this week's Stan Hoodie's Tell Me youe Story podcast, Stan interviewed Cindy Worthley, who will open this Friday's Schenectady County Summer Night free concert on State Street.
That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shot podcast. I want to thank Mike McAdam, Rennie LaRue and Kathleen Kauf for coming on the show.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them 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 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.
