Monday, March 31, 2008

Weekend Observations

Hi There. Well 2 out 4 aren't bad. I predicted UCLA and Memphis, but my other two teams went down in flames in the Sweet Sixteen games. Bruce Pearl needs to recruit a point guard or someone who can handle the ball for the Vols and Wisconsin got buried under the Steam roller that was Davidson. I like UCLA to win it all, and I'm picking Kansas over UNC to make to the final game. Am I not the only one who isn't excited about today being Opening Day for the majority of MLB teams? I can accept the fact Shea Stadium is being replaced after this year, but what I can't accept is the exterior of the new ballpark looks like Ebbetts Field and is becoming a shrine to the Brooklyn Dodgers. I'm hoping Mets ownership will come to their senses and put statues of Gil Hodges or Tom Seaver around the place and not a sign that says, "Hit sign, win suit from Abe Stark" in right field. Driving this morning to the gym where I work out in mixed precipitation and seeing a foot of snow left on the ground, made me think spring is never coming and I won't be digging in the garden or swinging a golf club in the near future. Thanks to everyone who showed up in Chestertown for donkey BBall Saturday night. Had a great time as always. Pete was wishing he had the Advil concession. This Sunday Morning its Bowl for Kids Sake at SpareTime in South Glens Falls hope to see you there...Leccese out.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Midweek Musings

Hi There. Time for the Midweek Musings. We'll start with Brittany on "How I Met your Mother." I thought it was weak. However in the Tuesday round table with Dan and John; they loved it. We all thought Brittany would have had a bigger part in the storyline. Sarah Chaulk was great as the doctor and she stole the episode. She's come a long way since she was the fill in Becky on "Roseanne." We do love her as Elliot on "Scrubs." Now onto sports. What's in the water in the research triangle of NC? Are all the coaches crying primadonnas? I though Coach K was bad. North Carolina gets a top seed and gets to stay in state to play their tournament games and Roy Williams is whining about his players slipping on the NCAA logo they put on the court. Give me a break! I'm sticking with my Final Four picks. Tennessee, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Memphis. Adam "PacMan" Jones are you really that stupid? You go on a Dallas talk show to tell everybody how you belong back in the NFL and you are misunderstood. Not a chance. Jose Canseco has written another book. Innocent trees should not have had to die for that purpose. Finally, Donald Fehr doesn't get it. Barry Bonds hasn't gotten any interest from MLB teams and he's thinking there's collusion against him. Did it ever occur to you Mr Fehr that most teams aren't willing to take the risk on a 43 year old left fielder that is under investigation?...Leccese out.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Weekend Observations

Hi There. Hope you have more teams left in your Sweet 16 than the nine I have left in mine. However all my final four teams are still alive, so there's hope for me yet. This just in. The world did not come to an end because Tiger Woods didn't win the rain delayed CA Championship at Doral today. Now on to the NCAA's. If you had said to me that the 3 Big East teams in the Sweet 16 would be Louisville, West Virginia and Villanova; I would have had a straight jacket placed on you and had you committed. How about that mighty ACC? Duke was soooo overrated. I keep forgetting that there are other teams in the Pac 10 other than UCLA, USC, and Arizona that can play basketball. I guess you don't need much offense when you hold your opponents to 40 and 41 points like Washington State did, and maybe the Lopez twins don't need a quality backcourt after all to carry Stanford. How about Siena. I told you they take Vandy. I'm worried about Memphis as one of my final four picks. They must love the fact that there's the double bonus after 10 fouls the way they were shooting free throws. They need Rick Barry to tutor them on shooting Granny style. Hey, the guy averaged over 90 percent from the charity stripe. My favorite player in the tournament is quickly becoming Stephen Curry from Davidson. His dad Del could shoot the lights out with the best of them when he played in the Association and Stephen got the shooting gene from his old man. On to baseball. Why is everybody whining about the RedSox and Athletics playing in Japan? It's a good thing to promote MLB overseas, just like the it is for the NFL to play a regular season game in Europe. One more thing, and its non sports. Brittany Spears is appearing on "How I Met your Mother" tonight. Dan Miner, John Pratt and myself love the Monday night comedies on CBS and usually Tuesday we hang around the water cooler and compare notes. John thinks the blonde on "Big Bang Theory" is hot. I'll take Cobie Smulders over her any day. I prefer brunettes...Leccese out.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Bracketology Part 2

Hi There. Well today we continue a look at the brackets in the South and West regions. Starting with the South the top four seeds are Memphis, Texas, Stanford, and Pittsburgh. Memphis maybe the weakest of the four Number 1 seeds but with the region they're in they could go to the final four. Pittsburgh played over their head in the Big East tournament winning the whole thing, but they've been snake bit by injuries and it will catch up with them. Stanford needs better guard play to compliment the Lopez twins up front. There's not a whole lot of sleeper teams in the bracket, maybe Marquette. People are talking up Temple after they won the A-10, I think they are a year away.
Now for the West where its UCLA, Duke, Xavier and UConn. UCLA is scary good. Duke is overrated and they live by the 3 and die by the 3. As for Xavier remember they play in the A-10 where up until 2 weeks ago the so-called experts had only 1 team from the league making the field of 64. One thing about Xavier, they produce coaches. Pete Gilhen, Skip Prosser and now Sean Miller. Last but not least is UConn who has gotten better throughout the year. Two sleeper teams: Drake and Purdue. Drake surprised everybody as they were picked 9th in the Missouri Valley and Keno Davis should be a contender for national coach of the year. Player for the Bulldogs whose name you'll hear a lot: Adam Emmenecker. Purdue is well coached too and contended for the Big 10 title. However UCLA is cream of the crop with Darren Collison and Kevin Love leading the way. My final four choices: UCLA, Memphis, Tennessee and Wisconsin. That's two one seeds, a two and a three...Leccese out.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Bracketology Part 1

Hi There. As promised its time to look at the brackets and today its the East and Midwest regions.
In the East the top seeds are North Carolina, Tennessee and Louisville and Washington State. My only question is Washington State. They play solid defense but do they have enough offense to match up. I don't see them making the sweet 16. The middle seeds are very intriguing and one of them could go deep in the region. Notre Dame, Butler, Indiana, and St Joe's. I'm not sold on either Arkansas or Oklahoma, and my sleeper could be St Joe's. They lost in the A-10 finals to Temple but has knocked off Xavier twice in the last 2 weeks. Phil Martelli is one of those coaches you like.
In the Midwest the top seeds are Kansas, Georgetown, Wisconsin,and Vanderbilt. Hopefully the Leccese curse won't rear its ugly head, because I'm picking Siena to knock off the Commodores in the first round. Vandy is a tough home team. Away from Nashville, that's another story and I really like the Badgers. Gonzaga, Clemson and Kent State could win a couple of games. Sleeper might be Davidson. I'm not crazy about Villanova or UNLV. Remember USC vs Kansas State; great first round game. Tommorow a look at the South and West regions...Leccese out.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Weekend Observations

Hi There and Happy Saint Patty's Day. Now for some good old observations from the weekend. Lets start with Bristol Tech. 3 good things about them. 1. Eric Kuselias on Saturday mornings. 2. Sunday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 Outside the Lines followed by the Sports Reporters, and 3. The current documentary they're airing "Black Magic." Now for a Bristol I can't stand. Bristol Motor Speedway. The end of the race was a joke. 43 cars do not belong on an banked oval track that is .533 miles. If the France family had any sense they would blow the place up and use the dates for a second race at Las Vegas and a return to Rockingham NC. Also take away that second date from Pocono and add another road course race. Its too early in the season to starting looking ahead to the Chase. On to the Association. Has anybody noticed but the Houston Rockets have won 22 straight games? You would have if Kobe or LeBron played for them. There are very few things I like about the NBA, and I'm liking the Rockets. Also the Denver Nuggets put up 168 points last night. Nice defense Seattle. Kevin Durant must be thinking, "I should have stayed at Texas one more year." I'll start breaking down brackets tomorrow. So just to tease you, Siena got placed where I though they would as a 13 seed. First round match up must watch: USC versus Kansas State. OJ Mayo takes on Michael Beasley, but the best freshman this year has been UCLA's Kevin Love. One more hoop thing. Congrats to Chateguay for being the first Section 10 team to win a state title. I've finally given up and surrendered to the fact that there is Tiger Woods, and then there is everybody else on the PGA Tour. I watched the end of Bay Hill and you just knew he was going to make that putt on 18. 20 years ago I had one of those days I would put in my top 5 best of all time. I was a senior in college and got featured in an article in the Kansas City Evening Star newspaper. I was manager on the basketball team and I had to broadcast the teams games on the campus radio station. Lets just say it was the first game I'd ever done and it was also a first round NAIA national tournament game. I'm still waiting for that feature in the Post Star, so Dave Blow if you're reading this right now hint hint. Bracket breakdowns starting tomorrow...Leccese out.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Midweek Musings

Hi There. Time for another edition of the, "Midweek Musings." My Momma always told me never to discuss politics or religion in the workplace, so in light of what has come down in the last 48 hours at the Governors Mansion; I'm invoking the fifth and keeping my big mouth shut. Now for the real fun. Some of the funniest things I enjoy reading can be found on the subject lines on the ridiculous amount of junk e-mails I receive. I know there are many of you who get the same ones I seem to get. Canadian pharmacy, replica Rolex watches and number one on the list: Male enhancement products. Natural products to make men more well endowed and attractive to women. I hope to compile a list of the more humorous clean ones and post them on a future blog. Just once I would like to see a product that advertises "Bigger isn't always better." Siena did it, made the field of 65 and now the Uber Conferences will play in their tournaments to see who will join them. I don't want to put the Leccese curse on them, but I want Notre Dame to win the Big East tournament at MSG. Is it just me or are you also sick of the so called NFL draft "experts." The draft isn't for another 6 weeks. Enough already. Finally, I read where Brittany Spears will be appearing on, "How I met your Mother." Maybe she'll play someone stalking Ted or worse an ex of Barney who has a score to settle. This just in, Dan told me she is going to be stalking Ted...Leccese out

Monday, March 10, 2008

Two for the price of one

Hello again. With no local high school basketball teams playing at the Civic Center this weekend, and since we don't broadcast any spring sports like baseball, softball or lacrosse; I want to take the time say thanks to a bunch of people for helping with another successful High School Sports season. First and foremost I have to start with the Athletic Directors and Coaches who allow us to come to their schools to do a broadcast as well as getting me the schedules and rosters. During basketball season it can be sometimes difficult, since we occasionally have to run a phone line from offices down hallways and under bleachers. Just ask Cathy Stanilka or Jason Humiston. Also I have to thank the janitors at the schools. If there was another way other than duct tape to keep that phone cord in place, trust me I would use it. I also have to thank Greg Brownell and his staff at the Post Star as well as the Times Union. The stories they write make my job preparing for a game easier. I also want to say thanks the Sales Staff here at the Radio Station and the sponsors who get these games on the air. It's not as easy as you think and its a team effort. We've got a good team and I don't say it enough. Finally, I have to say thank you to the fans who listen. Well another football season is only 5 1/2 months away. Till next time...Leccese out.

Weekend Observations

Hi There. Hope you survived the weekend. Spent a majority of it in Utica covering HS Hockey. It was tough to see Queensbury lose. F.Y.I. If there is any consolation Webster Thomas ended up winning the Division 2 title over Thousand Islands. If you've ever been to the Aud, its a building that's in need of a serious renovation. Very late 1950's early 60's decor. Utica itself could use an economic rebirth and a good cleaning. This winter has been the absolute worst I've experienced since I moved here full-time in 1988. Mud season can't come fast enough for me. Two more things. Number 1: Who was the genius who moved daylight savings time three weeks earlier; and Number 2: Good luck to Siena tonight. If they beat Rider in the MAAC Championship Game they're headed to the Big Dance. You're getting two for the price of one today. Have another blog coming up shortly.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Midweek Musings

Hi There. Time for another gut wrenching edition of the "Midweek Musings." The way the NFL Network and Bristol Tech reacted yesterday, I thought Brett Favre had died and not just retired. It was non-stop beginning with the announcement around 10am. The presidential primaries didn't get that kind of coverage until at least 8. One more thing. I was reading an article on Jack Nicholson and for some reason it got me thinking about my own "bucket list." 10 years ago it would have been my list of five women from an episode of the TV show "Friends." Well here goes five things I would like to do before I pass on in no particular order. Attend the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Voice a character in an animated cartoon. Learn to play the saxophone. Attend a baseball fantasy camp, and travel to Scotland and play a round of golf on one of the courses on the British Open rotation and it doesn't have to be the Old Course at St Andrews. Any one will do. Love to hear back with your own so called "bucket list." Leccese out.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Weekend Observations

Hi There. Hope you had a good weekend. There's nothing better than welcoming in a new month with 6 inches of snow! Checked out "Semi-Pro" Friday night. If you like Wil Ferrell, you will like this movie. I've got to give the movie's writers credit. They were very accurate in the portrayal and look of the ABA in the 70's and how teams would attract fans. Now for some other observations: Isn't "Black Friday" suppose to be the day after Thanksgiving, and not the beginning of the NFL free agent signing period? The way some teams were spending money, you have to wonder if there really is a hard salary cap. As a Mets fan I'm still picking the Phillies to win the NL East. Johan or no Johan as long as Rick Peterson is the Mets pitching coach, they'll finish second or third. March Madness is coming up in two weeks, and I don't see a clear favorite yet. Finally, last Wednesday one of those legendary local broadcasters who are such a part of the fabric of a city past away. Myron Cope did the radio broadcasts for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was the creator of the "Terrible Towel." If you ever watched NFL Films, and seen Steeler highlights, you've heard Myron Cope's voice on more than one occasion. My brother-in-law is from the Steel City and I asked him Saturday if the they were flying "Terrible Towels" at half mast in his hometown. They were...Leccese out.