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The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast.
Now here's your host, Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Shots. Thank you Scott Geezy, and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Studio in Schenectady, New York. We have another great show for you. On Tuesday we had the ECAC Hockey Women's Coaches conference call and we got a chance to talk to the all 12 coaches and the ECAC hockey commissioner and former Union College player Doug Christiansen. We'll have Union women's head coach Tony Macy on. We'll talk about where his team was picked in the coaches poll. We'll also talk with RPI's Brian Vines.
They're getting ready to play this weekend. They have Minnesota State coming in for a pair of games starting Friday and we'll talk to some of the other coaches around the conference on a variety of topics.
So stay tuned for that. And then Will Springstead, Associate Sports Editor and Union Football Beat Writer will join me. We'll talk about the Turnover field loss to SUNY Cortland last Saturday and look ahead to the home opener at Frank Bailey Field on Saturday against SUNY Marsa, which and quite frankly it's a game that Union should win and the way they play it against SUNY Cortland, if they don't get off to a good starter or get a lead against SUNY Morrisville, there could be some issues down the road for the Garner Chargers football team.
So we'll talk to Will about that. We'll talk a little bit before we head into the break. I got some we'll talk about my Philadelphia sports teams. Of course you know how big a Philadelphia sports fan I am being from Philadelphia and growing up season taking a hold for the Flyers and the Eagles and going to Phillies games with my grandpop and had a lot of fun going down to the vet those days and of course with my dad at the Flyers and the Eagles and my mom at the Flyers as well.
First of all we'll talk about the Eagles victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday 2017. A hard fought game. I know I predicted in my NFL Picks blog last Wednesday of the same score as the super bowl but did not turn out to be that way and not surprised at all. It was just a drag out knockdown affair.
Looked like the Chiefs were going in for a score to go ahead score in the fourth quarter and the Eagles got an interception and it led to the tush push touchdown. And yeah, I know people are angry about the Tush push and there were some.
Maybe Eagles were false starting. Of course, you know, Chiefs looked like they were lining up in the neutral zone.
And Fox NFL referees analyst Dean Blandino is so fed up with the. He said he's tired of the tush push. You know what, Dean? We don't care.
We don't care. You know why? Because nobody else can perfect it. I'll tell you, here's where you need to touch push. If you watch the Monday Night Football game between Tampa and Houston, Houston in the fourth quarter got to the Tampa won.
They had three plays to punch it in the end zone. Not once did they have a quarterback sneak. They threw three times and know what happened? Three times incomplete.
And they're going to talk about trying to ban the tush push again. But you know what, why, why you ban a play? Because somebody's perfected it and nobody else has even tried it. I think maybe Buffalo Bills have tried it to a little bit with Josh Allen, but my goodness, this is a copycat league. Or at least I thought it was. Why can't other teams just figure it out? It's, it's, it's really.
I got a feeling they're going to ban that tush push and it's not going to be well received in Philadelphia. Trust me.
I.
It's a great play and the Eagles have perfected it. Why punish the Eagles because they have perfected a play no one else not only has a haven't tried. How many of these teams have even tried to do it in practices? None. I don't think any of these teams stop whining about it. And Terry Bradshaw also whined about too. You know what?
If you're going to ban a tush push, ban the quarterback sneak.
Yeah, come on. It's ridiculous. I'm tired of this. You know, everybody whining, oh, they can't tush push. It's not fair. It's fair. Stop it.
Unbelievable. And then Monday night, my Philadelphia Phillies won their second consecutive National League east title and 13th in their franchise history.
A lot of nervousness. Phillies grabbed a 4, 3 lead in seventh. I saw the league lost on a Mookie Betts homer. In this seventh inning, Phillies retook the lead in the top of the eighth when Bryce Harper homer.
But Dodgers tied it up with a home run in the bottom of ninth. But the Phillies got to run in the top of the 10th. And with the bases load and two outs. Dave Robertson got a ground out on the final play of the 10th inning and the Phillies ended up winning 65 and clinching that National League East. And now they're going to look, try to get at least a first round bye, maybe a home field advantage throughout the National League playoffs. It's been a resilient team and they had to fight through some injuries. I mean, obviously losing Zach Wheeler for the season because of a blood clot. Trey Turner right now dealing with a hamstring issue. Alec Bones been in and out lately in the lineup. But I know people are complaining about Rob Thompson's strategy. But you know what?
On Monday night, the game and the 10th inning, I think it was that Dodgers had a runner on third and with one out and Thompson decided to walk Freddie Freeman. And I agree with that move. You're putting a winning run on base. I don't want Freddie Freeman beating me with a home run, which he can do. And it worked. Everything worked out. And yeah, I've enjoyed Rob Thompson as brought to this ball cup. And there's, like I said, a lot of people online screaming, oh, they want somebody who knows what they're doing and they think they want a screamer and they think Rob Thompson's too passive and all that stuff. If you're going to bring a manager who's going to be a screamer, it doesn't work in this day and age. These guys are multimillionaires. They're not going to listen. They're going to tune out a manager who's going to bark at them all the time. Rob Thompson has respect to that clubhouse.
And if you watch every celebration, when they clinch the division or clinch the series, they just, after Rob Thompson gives a speech, they just spray him with champagne. Which they did again on Monday night. So looking forward to the postseason. It's truly amazing what the Phillies have done.
As I said, it's a resilient team. A couple weeks ago, they got swept in New York by the Mets at Citi Field.
And it was, and I will admit, I was like, oh, gosh, this is going to be a collapse here and we have to fight for a playoff spot. But you know what happened? The Phillies, you know, they shrugged it off and then they got on a roll. Meanwhile, the Mets, who should have had all the momentum in the world, lost three of four at home to the Marlins.
And I'm not going to describe to Marlins, I think they've had a decent year and they were looked like at a tougher time. Going to be in the hunt for a wild card spot. But after doing what you did against the Phillies, how in God's name do you lose three or four at home to the Marlins? And it just seems like that does this, you know, turn the tide against the Mets? Of course, they had to come to Citizens bank park in Philadelphia, and the Phillies won the tight opener, opening game one nothing.
And then they just cruised the rest of the way. And then the fourth game of that series, Phillies down four nothing.
And then, Jesus Lozardo just pitched his butt off after that, retired the final 22 batters with the Phillies, came back to win 64 and basically put the Mets, Mets out of the misery as far as the National League, National League east was concerned. So it's just a, it's been a great run for the Phillies. Like I said, their second straight National League title, fourth straight playoff appearance. So Red October is going to be upon us very soon. So you may be hearing from me a little bit here on the podcast. Bragging about my Phillies, of course, bragging about my Eagles as well. So coming up, we're going to talk ecac Women's hockey season's right around the corner. You're listening the Parting Shots podcast.
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Hi, this is Union College women's hockey alum Ashley Kilstein Shure.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shock.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. The puck is dropping on the ECAC hockey season. Can't wait to get going here. Of course, a lot of excitement here in Schenectady with the new M and T Bank center, the new home of the Union College men's and women's hockey teams.
The men will make their debut at the arena on Saturday, October 4, when RV West Point comes to town. And the Union women will be the playing the first ever game at the facility when they host Franklin Pierce on Friday, September 26th.
Looking forward to covering that game and can't wait for all the excitement to talk about hockey and lots of interviews on the podcast. We'll have a lot of fun with that because we do that every season here on the Parting Shots podcast.
On Tuesday, ECAC Hockey held its women's coaches preseason conference call with reporters who cover the conference. And we had a chance to talk to all the coaches and of course Doug Christiansen, the ECAC hockey commissioner and former Union College player.
But last week the preseason poll was released and Cornell, the defending ECAC hockey champion, they were picked to finish first. They received eight of 12 first place votes and earned 129 points.
Colgate was second with 119 points in two first place votes. Clarkson was in third, getting the other two first place votes and earning 117 points. There was a tie for fourth between St. Lawrence and Quinnipiac with 88 points. Princeton was just a point back in sixth at 87. Yale was picked to finish seventh with 75 points. Brown finishing eighth in the poll. They got 59 points. Union was ninth getting 56 points.
Harvard with 42 points in 10th, Dartmouth 31 points in 11th and RPI in 12th with 29 points. Course Union the ninth. They're picked picking, being picked ninth if I can talk.
First time since the 201718 season they were picked that high.
So I mean they've been a perennial 12th place pick. Of course the program struggled for years and years and years to get any traction. Never got the ECC hockey tournament under the A team format. They had now guaranteed a berth in ECAC hockey tournament with the 12 team format taking all the teams.
Last season, Union won its first ever ECAC hockey tournament game, beating Brown 2 nothing down at Meehan Auditorium in Providence. They ended up going to the best of three quarterfinal series against Cornell, losing that one in two games. Although Union took Cornell, almost took Cornell to that third game. And of course Union earlier that last season won it line of ring for the first time. And they were minutes, about a minute and a half away from pulling off the Game 2 upset and forcing a Game 3. But Cornell got two late goals and ended up winning that series and going on to winning the ECAC hockey team tournament. We got to talk to all the coaches during the conference call, including Union coach Tony Macy who starts his second season behind the bench and a lot of excitement this program obviously with what happened last year, the competitive team, as I said, they won at Cornell, almost won a Colgate, almost won a Clarkson last year.
So this team, they're going in the right direction. Of course the new arena is going to help attract players and the scholarships.
So I had a chance to talk Tony, about, first of all, we talked about the season and talk about what? Do you mind being finished, being picked ninth? Because I kind of found it amazing that Union was picked, not picked ahead of Brown, a team they beat three times last year. So I asked Tony about that.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Well, I'll reiterate what you just said. Those don't really mean anything to us.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: But you know, it does show that, you know, I think that people took note of what happened last year with our team and I think that's part of why we are where we are in the voting. But at the end of the day, we're a new team this year and we've got to go out and prove exactly what we are this year.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: Were you felt three points behind Brown and I mean you beat Brown three times last year, so were you kind of surprised that you guys weren't in the number eight at least?
[00:14:19] Speaker A: No. Again, I honestly, I didn't even know it came out until I got the email from Nick. So, you know, to me, you know, Brown's got a good team. They, they got a lot of returners coming back. So I'm sure that was part of the voting.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: So how important is it to build on what you guys did last year? You know, winning that, you know, winning the ECAC hockey tournament game for the first time, almost taking Cornell, the eventual tournament champion to a third game. What do you have to do to build on what you guys did last season under in your first year, especially since you came in so late?
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I think a lot of it is just not becoming complacent to where we were.
You know, obviously at the end of the year we still had a lot of room to grow.
I don't think we, I thought we were playing well, but I still thought there was, you know, if we had another month, I think we could have, could have played even a little bit better. So I think the big step for us right now is being able to get into, you know, our systems, the style of play that we want quickly again getting our first years and incomers so transfers acclimated to the style of play and how we play and then, you know, being able to take next steps a little bit quicker.
You know, last year I think it took us almost, you know, two months to get to where I thought we were going to be able to push people and get games going. And you know, I think this year hopefully we can do that a little bit quicker.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: How comfortable are you now this starting your second year? You had a Little more entirely, you know, compared to last year when you came in in July and you know how to really get to know things quickly. Do you feel more comfortable now than you did a year ago at this time?
[00:16:05] Speaker A: I'd say comfortable as in, you know, just the school in general being. Being able to do tours and know where I'm going on campus, I think is one of the big ones there, so acclimate it that way. I think that, you know, being in the new rink has definitely made it a lot more comfortable in my office. So being able to see outside has been a positive as well.
But, yeah, I just think that every year that you can have on your campus and get out into the community and all that just brings a little form of comfort there.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: And how important is it to finally have your family here? And I know you were commuting a little bit up to Potsdam.
How great is it, have your family in the Capital Region now?
[00:16:53] Speaker A: Yeah, it's been awesome. You know, having my wife Sarah and three kids there, Collins, Parker and Nash.
You know, they're at the ages right now where they keep us very busy. So having them around and being able to help out my wife on the daily has been awesome. And, you know, just having them there for the hugs when you get home is always a positive.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Was she able to transfer to the Loudonville Barracks?
[00:17:20] Speaker A: Yeah, so she's down here. She's working at the Albany Academy. So she's at the Trooper Academy right now.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: I had a chance to talk to several coaches about Tony Macy and the job he did last season.
We'll start with St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells, who, when he was a men's assistant coach, recruited Tony Macy and he played for Wells at St. Lawrence. And then we'll follow that with Matt Derozier, the Clarkson Union head coach. And that was where Tony Macy came from. He was an associate head coach under Derosier at Clarkson. And then we'll talk with Cornell coach Doug Durrow about Macy and the job he did last season. So we'll start here with Chris Wells, followed by Matt derozier and then Doug Darrow.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Well, as we talked about Tony, last year when I took the men's assistant job here at St. Lawrence, Tony was the first recruit I called when I got the job at St. Lawrence. So very familiar with Tony and certainly wasn't surprised at all with the job that he and his staff did. And the team played hard and did a nice job. And obviously the goaltender had a big part of. Part of that. Sophie's phenomenal Goalie. And I think, you know, building on the enthusiasm and the momentum of the new rink and the ability to have grant Nate scholarships with the education that union has, there's no doubt in my mind that they're going to be pushing to be top four in our league.
And there aren't too many people that don't know Tony. I would give you a quick conversation. He showed up at the recruiting tournament this weekend, and he looked like a CIA operative. He had like a back black hat on and a black sweatshirt. He's like, oh, I'm going incognito this weekend. But every person that walked by was like, hey, Tony. Hey, Mace.
[00:19:13] Speaker B: Hey, Tony. Hey, Mace.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: So, I mean, Tony's connections around the college hockey world are very stretched out, so. And his staff is very well connected, so no surprise with the success they had last year. And they're just going to keep getting better. And there's no doubt in my mind that they're going to be able to push for top four. I'm really excited for Tony. Obviously, him and I go way back. We've known each other since our college days playing together. So my kids still call him Uncle Tony, so we're really close.
I knew he'd do a great job down there. You know, Tony's got a great passion about what he does. He's got a good hockey mind as well.
He's a great recruiter also, so. So I knew him going in there, he was going to bring something new, something fresh, and I knew that the players would respond to him because I know that they would have a great deal of respect for him as well. So it's definitely no surprise that they had a great year last year.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Do you see that maybe one day they maybe be a top four team in this conference.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: Certainly, like, they got a lot going on for them. Right. They have a really good coaching staff. Staff in there.
Obviously, the new rink that they. They built and are playing in this year is going to help them in the. On the recruiting trails. So.
And like I said, Tony's got a really good eye for. For recruits, so I think he's going to be able to build that program over the years, and I think the sky's the limit for them.
Yeah, I thought he did a great job in his first year at Union.
You know, they played everybody hard, I thought, especially us.
I think also with the new rink coming in and the changes that are being made there, that's definitely going to help the program as well. But I thought him and his staff did a terrific job of playing the way they needed to play to have success. And I'm sure that they will continue to have success if they continue to play the way that they did last year. And so I thought he did a great job.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: M and T Bank sponsors two arenas in ECAC hockey, of course. The M and T Bank center here in Schenectady at Mohawk harbor. And the other one is in Hampden, Connecticut at Quinnipiac. It's M and T Bank Arena. And I suggested this in a column shortly after, I think the arena was named, that why not have the M and T Bank cup between Union and Quinnipax, both hockey programs? The winner of the series gets to take home a trophy. Why not? It'd be a lot of fun, wouldn't it?
So I asked about that during the conference call. I asked Tony Macy about it. And then also I asked Quinnipiac head coach Cassandra Turner her thoughts about it. So let's hear from Tony Macy, followed by Cassandra Turner. The bank sponsored arenas.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: Well, hey, if we can get some play for maybe some nil money from mt, then I think I'd be in for it.
But yeah, that's something maybe in the future we can look at.
That's awesome. I didn't even know that's what their new rink was called. So this is something that Tony and I should talk about.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: See, it'd be like a lot of fun just to see who the best M and T Bank arena is at this point.
Now let's talk about rpi. The Engineers open their season this week. Yeah, a little early, seems like. But we'll talk about why they are opening this week. They'll face Minnesota State Mankato. They're coming in to Houston Field House for a pair of games Friday night at 6 o' clock and 3pm on Saturday.
The Engineers finished in the tie for eighth last year at the Union, but RPI lost the tiebreaker, losing the season series to Union. So RPI was the ninth seed in the ECAC hockey tournament. They were 7, 13 and 2 in the conference play for 24 points.
Overall, they were 14, 18 and 3.
As I mentioned earlier, they were picked to finish last in the ECH Hockey coaches preseason poll, which maybe I find a little mildly surprising. But I asked Brian Vines, the head coach, about that.
So here's what he had to say about his team and being picked to finish last.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Honestly, Ken, like, I don't put any stock into that. I think it's, it's a, you know, it's a copy and paste with the coaches you know, we're focused on us at the end of the day, you know, and what's in our control and, and that's practice today. I mean, we've got three more before we open our season, so we're locked in on just trying to get better. You know, we've always had something to prove, Ken. You know, we're fighting to claw our way into the top eight in our league and, you know, win a playoff round and all those things are still ahead of us. So we're trying to be as present as possible, not worry about the outside noise or opinions of other people and focus on us. So I guess, you know, the being picked 12th hasn't really resonated at all.
[00:24:21] Speaker B: How excited are you to get the season going? I mean, it's just third week in September. Here we go.
[00:24:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it's crazy. It was a little bit of a scheduling issue with Mankato that we had to accommodate to make the series happen. There was a change in coaching staff last year and it was the only weekend that we could get the series in. And so we're turning it into a positive. We're going to get a jump start start, you know, on, on the season and playing some meaningful hockey right, right off the get go. And I think that's, that's the right way to do it with a young group. I mean, throw them right into the fire and see what, where you're at and, and build from there. So it'll be, it'll certainly be a challenge this weekend. But Mankato's in the same boat as us. I mean, they've had the same amount of preparation time as us, so no excuses and we'll be ready to go Friday night.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: What kind. I mean, you said it's a young team. What kind of team do you want this year?
[00:25:14] Speaker A: You know, I think we've got to be really, really sound in our defensive zone, you know, and playing without the puck. I think we've got to be smart. We've got to compete, you know, for 60 minutes, 65 minutes every night, you know, really kind of instilling that identity, I think is our primary focus at the start of the year with, with players, you know, starting to learn how to. The pace of play at our level, the physical, all those types of things. And it's kind of, kind of going to be learn as you go, but really, you know, grabbing onto that identity that's going to give us success as a program and, and working on those habits that are going to lead us there. So that's that's really our focus probably through this year. And, and like I said, we want to be playing our best hockey and extend this thing as far as we go and upset some teams and, you know, and we're playing in Lake Placid for the first time on the women's page conference, and we want to be a part of that.
[00:26:07] Speaker B: Stunning news in August from Yale men's hockey with Keith Elaine, his surprising resignation from the program after many years, including winning an NCAA title in 2013, beating fellow New Haven area college Quinnipiac in the championship game.
So talk to Yale women's head coach Mark Boulding about his thoughts about Elaine's sudden resignation.
[00:26:36] Speaker A: Well, I think anytime you have a legend, I've been lucky.
He's, he's a legend legitimately. You know, when you, when you win a national championship at a, at a school like ours, that's, that's almost unheard of. And he's been around the game, been in the pros, so certainly some stinks to see him go from a colleague standpoint. I worked with Mike McShane when I got started, and there's another legend, and the guys are just professionals.
It's going to be different.
A lot of, lot of hockey at Yale was, was just carried with Keith's passion and inspiration and pros, but, you know, and he's such a kind guy, too. Like, for me to come into Yale and have, have a guy like that kind of helped me along, get started, was very, very fortunate. So really sad to see him go. And, you know, I know the guys will work hard to, to replace him, but you don't replace a guy like that. It's just, you know, you look at all that he's accomplished and, you know, you know, if I can do one thing and try and get to that success, that's certainly what we're going to do. So we wish him all the best in his retirement.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: It's been an interesting time for Harvard University battling President Donald Trump over a number of issues.
Trump doesn't want international students attending Harvard, which could be a problem for student athletes trying to get to Harvard, especially hockey players from Canada and elsewhere around the world.
Like I said, it's been an interesting summer for, with that whole situation and Trump holding funding from Harvard.
So I talked to ECC hockey commissioner Doug Christensen about it and Harvard women's head coach Laura Bellamy. So let's hear from Doug Christensen first and then Laura Bellamy.
[00:28:30] Speaker A: Obviously, you know, you don't realize where you are fully on the scale of things until the Politics get involved. But I think for us we're trying to make sure that Harvard is having the team of players that they want and they're obviously doing everything in their power to plan accordingly. And I think that having had that communication with Harvard, both men's and women's coaches and their staff, they'll continue to go through their process and we'll support them as best as we possibly can.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Have you seen issues with the other Ivy schools in the conference? Have they reached out to you at all?
[00:29:03] Speaker A: Not on that topic. I think that everybody with the overall landscape of college hockey, everything from name, image and likeness to transfer portal to the restructuring of the ncaa, all of those pieces are topics that we're constantly in communication about, but not specifically on the immigration portion of it.
Yeah, we've just stuck to our same plan. You know, we're, we're willing to go wherever we can to find the best hockey players and the best fit for Harvard. And you know, we obviously offer a great education, I think a top notch hockey experience as well. So wherever we can find those players, we're going to be out on the recruiting trail doing that. And you know, until we're told otherwise, that's, that's how we're going to approach it and continue to find high level players.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: Have any recruits from Canada or elsewhere internationally, have they expressed any concern what's going on?
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean everybody's aware of what's going on in the world. So no matter what the topic is, we'll get those questions from recruits and you know, we expect that and it's just part of our conversation. Again, we're going to continue to do what we're doing and you know, continue to try to find not only great players but also high character people to bring into our program. And we expect that that's going to be from a lot of different places. We love that aspect. That's always been something that Harvard has, has had as part of our student body. So you know, we expect some of those questions. We have the conversations and we're, we're trudging ahead.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: Let's end this segment. A lighthearted note. Of course, if you follow me on X threads in Blue sky and my Facebook page, you know that when there's a video review at a union game, I always say in my post that with the hashtag miketherefs, the referees in this conference are not miked so we sometimes don't hear the explanation of what they are reviewing. You have get some sort of idea. Most of the time I think a lot of the other conferences do mic the refs. I think from the oh I think the ECAC hockey might be the only one I'm not sure about Atlantic Hockey. I know Hockey east does. I know the NC HC does and it's really helpful they do they have Mike's ref during the NCAA tournament. So it's it I think at least got to look into that. I think that would enhance the fans knowledge of what's going on.
And like I said it's it's sometimes you can easily guess what they're looking at and sometimes you can't.
So I asked Doug Christensen about the possibility of referees being miked at ECC hockey games this year to last year.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: On hashtag Mike the Rex.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: So nothing at this point we are.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Not making the reps. However we are are doing announcements which are different than previous years.
So one of the things that we are doing is and we trialed this and piloted at the end of last year in a number of our buildings where there will be a communication between the officials and the PA announcements to be able to inform the people of the crowd. However, that's a way of not obviously having microphones on the ice, but making sure that the people who are in the building get the information that they're looking for.
[00:32:22] Speaker B: We're going to talk Union Football next with Will Springstead, the associate sports editor of the Daily Gazette and Union Football beat writer as the Garner Chargers get set to face SUNY Marsville on Saturday Saturday and their home opener, Frank Bailey Field.
We'll talk about what happened last Saturday in their loss to SUNY Cortland. Just a hint, too many turnovers. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: Speed, skill, Physicality.
[00:33:04] Speaker C: Home to college hockey's elite teams, coaches and student athletes.
[00:33:08] Speaker A: ECAC hockey.
[00:33:10] Speaker B: Twelve programs competing at the highest level.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: A league where champions are born and world class professionals are trained. Where history is abundant and a commitment.
[00:33:20] Speaker C: To the cutting edge is unrivaled. The best facilities, the fierce competition, ECAC hockey.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: There's no experience like it.
Hey, I'm Frank Caliendo pretending to be Morgan Freeman.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: They needed a little bit of John.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: Bat or Robert Downey Jr. Comedian, impressionist, playboy, philanthropist. Maybe not the last two. And you're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shots.
[00:33:49] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. The Union College football team lost again last Saturday and it was a very mistake filled effort in that game. And Will Spring center covers Union College Football for for us is here to talk about that. Will, I mean they were down just the point to Cortland at halftime and it fell apart in the second half. And as I said, turnovers mainly. Patch Flanagan, the quarterback, all Patch Flanagan.
[00:34:15] Speaker C: Unfortunately, he had four interceptions in one fumble. And I guarantee the old saying, he wants them all back. He really does want them all back.
One interception, the first interception had an open man at the 5, sailed over his head into the end zone. Twice he threw into double coverage. Once was just a complete misread. His receiver was 12 yards downfield. He threw it seven to the same spot. But someone didn't do something right there, there.
And the fumble.
Coach Sean Drock, you could tell from the video, wanted the call to be whistled down.
Patch is trying to make an extra play and put something, but he loses the ball in the process in Cortland territory. So it was a rough one.
[00:35:00] Speaker B: Obviously you'll talk to the coaches and players Thursday as they get Seth to host SUNY Marsville on Saturday. But do you think when you have something like that where, you know, Patch is throwing four interceptions in the fumble, is he maybe trying too hard or is he just, you know, at that point and trying to make a play?
[00:35:18] Speaker C: I think it looked that way. And it looked that way from the second interception on was double coverage was a long ball. When I know the Cortland announcers were questioning why go long. There it was.
And I think it spoke to. You're trying to force something.
And I know when that happens, when you try to force something that lingers.
So I think I'm guessing that this week Coach Drock and his staff will be trying to say slow it down one play at a time. Because if it happens again on Saturday, you have to worry about it.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: I mean, they had 311 total yards, 159 yards passing, 152 yards rushing. So they were moving the ball against the nationally ranked team in SUNY Cortland. I mean, but they only come away at six points. What does that say about the offense?
[00:36:16] Speaker C: The offense just needs to break through. As you mentioned, the rushing game was good. Pat Flanagan ran for 106 yards.
We saw Michael DiNardo play this week. Week he had six carries for 30 yards. If you're averaging five yards of carry, that's a good sign.
Patches numbers were decent signs. The interceptions, as far as completions, but that's the. When you don't punch one in, that's the kind of thing that gets in your head.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Do you want the quarterback, though, running for 100 yards every game?
[00:36:50] Speaker C: As we spoke of Last week. I don't. I think it's a. It's a dangerous recipe. And the thing that I always question when I see running quarterback is who's your backup and what is he like? Because if he's not a carbon copy of the starting quarterback, the offensive linemen have to adjust, the receivers have to adjust.
That's not going to be a smooth transition. And when you're running your quarterback 12 times, 15 times a game, you're putting him out there and he might get popped and injured. So it's, it's, it's. I know I'm old school on that. I'd rather not see my quarterback pretend he's Marcus Vick.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: Of course, my quarterback, Jalen Hurts, has the touch push, so we're good there.
But one other aspect, I don't think that was really talked about a lot. We mentioned the turnovers from Flanagan, but Union was called for 10 penalties for 105 yards. That's got to get cleaned up.
[00:37:49] Speaker C: That absolutely has to get cleaned up. And probably the most infuriating one was when they got flagged twice for sideline violations as Cortland was driving. I don't recall. It was one of the fourth quarter scorers. Cortland outscored them 20 to nothing in the fourth quarter. They're only down 10, six going into the fourth. And then about three plays apart, they get the same penalty, which is completely, completely preventable because the referees give you a warning before that.
And to get whistled for it twice is just.
That's a lack of brain power there.
[00:38:26] Speaker B: I mean, that's. I mean, is that on the coaching staff? I mean, I didn't see what the violations were.
Somebody's out of that, you know, with the area where they. Because I think what one of the side officials trying to come down and.
[00:38:41] Speaker C: I saw the warning and I saw the first one, which the Union folks were not pleased with in arguing against the second one. Again, from the way the camera was, I could not see why it was they were flagged for it. But again, if you know what the ref is hot for, don't tempt it.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: Yeah, so, I mean, the home opener, as we mentioned, SUNY Morrisville, they lost to Rochester last Saturday.
Now this becomes a critical game. It's an expected win. But if they're going to make these mistakes and then, you know, they got a team they're supposed to be and they don't. What's. I mean, how much pressure is on this team? How much pressure is on John Drock heading into this home Opener.
[00:39:25] Speaker C: I think there's probably quietly a lot of pressure.
As you mentioned, they should win this.
Morrisville has scored generally around two touchdowns in both games.
Again, U of R finds itself atop the Liberty league right now at 2, 0.
But you know, their offense does not look that solid. Their defense doesn't look that solid. On paper you would think Union should win this.
As I started to mention earlier, I think the thing that I would be most concerned about is if somehow Morrisville gets ahead in this game because then you didn't punch one in last week. Your only points came from the defense.
Now do we start to press again and you saw what happened when you pressed. So I think Union, just by hook or by crook, needs to punch it in and get a lead in this game and then maybe things will start to flow and they'll remember who they say they are.
[00:40:29] Speaker B: Well, this is their last non conference game before Liberty League play starts next Saturday when St Lawrence comes to Frank Bailey Field. So I mean, how important is it to Union to get their game right as they head into Liberty League play with this game one Saturday here against Morrisville?
[00:40:45] Speaker C: They absolutely have to because, you know, you're not really measuring yourself against the Morrisville states in the the world.
You are measuring against St. Lawrence and U of R and RPI and you are competing for kids with these schools and they have rivalries with these schools. And right now, while last week the Empire 8 really took it to the Liberty League teams, there's some, there's obviously some talent on all these teams.
Ithaca is, you know, very good and St. Lawrence and Rochester, as I said, is 2, 0. So they need to get some confidence and win over Morrisville would do that.
[00:41:33] Speaker B: Besides the, you know, cutting down on turnovers, cutting out on penalties, what do you think the key couple keys will be in this game on Saturday?
[00:41:41] Speaker C: They have allowed now, admittedly to two ranked teams, a lot of rushing yards.
And I think they'd probably want to see Morrisville not be able to establish a run game.
I think they need to feel a little bit better about themselves defensively against the run.
And you know, I think offensively it's just maybe, you know, maybe you even go for it. Maybe this is where you on a fourth down that you might say, oh my gosh, what are you doing? Send in the punter. No, maybe you now need to start to play some mind games to say we are going to get this ball into an end zone and I don't care if I have to sacrifice something else to do it. So I think they might be approaching that point.
[00:42:33] Speaker B: How important is it for them to win this game conventionally? Because if they win a close game, it's, I mean it's not going to breed confidence.
[00:42:44] Speaker C: It's, it might, it's not going to bring a lot of confidence as you go into your St. Lawrence's and such. But maybe at this point you just need a W and it doesn't have to look pretty.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: I'll ask the question. I mean, I'm not trying to be a negative Nelly here, but if they lose this game or we own a John Drock watch.
[00:43:08] Speaker C: I think we are.
And I, and I don't like to say that and I don't like to speculate.
[00:43:13] Speaker B: I don't either. But you know.
[00:43:14] Speaker C: Understood.
But again, you're not competing with the SUNY Morrisvilles of the world. And if the SUNY Morrisville's come in and win, you know, you can, you can look past Susquehanna and say, oh my gosh, they're the number four R5 team in the country.
Say to Cortland, Cortland got it right this week and they're the number 23 team in the country. Well, Morrisville, isn't that so maybe to your point, we need a big win here or else there might be some whispers.
[00:43:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, let's face it, the hockey programs there are number, the number one sports there and it's football. I mean before hockey became D1, football was the program there. So. And then you have Jim McLaughlin, the athletic director who played football at Union. So I mean he's got to be a little concerned if they don't win this game on Saturday. I don't think he wants to go through another coaching search two years after John Poppe left.
[00:44:13] Speaker C: No, I don't think he does. And especially with what John Drock has said. He has admitted that there was a lot of thinking going on last year and not a lot of football playing and, and he somewhat knew that there would be processing going on. And so if you're Jim McLaughlin. Oh, you don't want these kids to process. And these kids, they're young men. You don't want these young men to process anymore.
So it's the last thing you want. But you also can't afford mistake filled losses. If you took away two thirds of the penalties and, and the turnovers from that game, would they have beaten Cortland?
Don't know. But the problem is Union doesn't know either.
They hurt themselves so much in that game that they honestly can't say we.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: Could have how much are you looking forward to covering this? I think this is your first Union football game, isn't it?
[00:45:09] Speaker C: It is my first Union football game.
You know, I'm very excited about it. I love going over to Frank Billy Field Field. I've mostly been for lacrosse games, but I'm excited to see the atmosphere on Saturday and I and I think a lot of people will have eyes on it.
[00:45:27] Speaker B: Of course you'll be covering the games. Where could people find you on social media to follow your post on the X? Twitter.
[00:45:35] Speaker C: The X Twitter. The Twitter X will be at W.L. springstead. That's a capital W and a capital L and capital S in Springstead and so that's where they can.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: Post along. I call it Twitter again, please. I'm tired of this X crap. So we'll appreciate a few minutes and we'll talk next week about about this game.
[00:46:03] Speaker C: Sounds good.
[00:46:04] Speaker B: All right, that's well, Spring said. I'll be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winners in the Delicate you Pick Them up and Auto Racing contest in just a moment.
How can you measure the value of education based athletics? Well, the value is in what makes it invaluable.
[00:46:31] Speaker A: That's because school sports aren't just about winning.
[00:46:34] Speaker B: They're about learning and growing.
[00:46:36] Speaker A: School sports aren't just about gaining trophies and accolades.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: They're about learning life lessons, bringing a.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: Whole community together, developing character and integrity, having coaches who mentor you and teammates.
[00:46:49] Speaker B: Who become lifelong friends. And you can't put a price on any of that.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: That's what makes education based athletics invaluable.
Of course, when you participate in school sports, you win to win and become.
[00:47:01] Speaker B: A better athlete, but the purpose is so much greater.
[00:47:06] Speaker A: Becoming a better person.
Support your local school sports programs and.
[00:47:11] Speaker C: If you have a student, encourage them to get involved.
[00:47:14] Speaker B: This message, presented by NISFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
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[00:47:43] Speaker A: Hi, this is Daily Gazette sportswriter Mike McAdam.
[00:47:45] Speaker B: You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:47:51] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast, the Week two winner in the Deli Gazette U Pick' Em Football contest was Peter Bubb of Schenectady with a 16. 0 record. Way to go Peter. He wins a $100 price chopper gift card. Congratulations, Peter. The VIP winner was Paul Little of Emerich Sales and service with a 13. 3 record. I was also 133 to improve to 25. 7. Paul won a tiebreaker. I'm in a five way tie for second place. My Gazette colleague, Associate Sports Editor Will Springstead went 124 for the second straight week. He is 24 8.
I'll announce the U Pickham Football Contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Thursday's Daily Gazette. To play go to dailygazette.com and click on the U Pickham Football banner.
The Week 30 winner in the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest was Kathleen Bellinger of Johnstown with 45 points. Kathleen wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations Kathleen.
The VIP winner was Nick Platel Grand Premier tires with 25 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.
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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 Shen Podcast. Both hosts have big news. Shen is leading the Daily Gazette but not going far. Stan is taking the role of the business editor, but the podcast will continue, they both promise. Subscribe to the Stan and Shen Podcast on all your podcast listening platforms.
That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots Podcast. I want to thank Tony Macy, Chris Wells, Matt derozier, Doug Darrow, Cassandra Turner, Brian Vines, Mark Boulding, Doug Christiansen, Laura Bellamy and Will Springset for being 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 dash t
[email protected] follow me on X threads and bluesky at Slapshot.
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 Schottz. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good sports.
