Kenny is going to training camp and other observations

Hi There. Well 2 more unofficial weeks of summer left and you can add another one to the list of things I didn't get to accomplish this summer. Go to the track. I won't have the chance by the time the meet ends Labor Day. O.K. you could say I could go on Sunday, but be honest. Do you want to deal with the spinners who's main interest is getting the giveaways? I didn't think so.
Well these next two weeks I'm heading to check out high school football practices and scrimmages to get ready for the season opener on Saturday September 5th. Remember folks its Niskayuna at Glens Falls on Talk 1450 WWSC. I'm really looking forward to working with John and Dan on games this season. I've got my scrimmage schedule plotted out for Saturday. Head to both Fort Edward and Hudson Falls in the morning. (I'm skipping Combat class.) Then go to Lake George for the scrimmage under the lights. Sunday afternoon its Section 2 football media day at UAlbany.
The NFL pre-season has started and Friday night I watched bits and pieces of the Cowboys/Titans game. The first one to be played at the new shrine to Jerry Jones. 1.2 billion dollars and the geniuses who designed the place should have put the enormo-mega-jumbo tron scoreboard which hangs over the field of play about 10 to 12 feet higher up so the punters won't hit the thing. Jerry Jones is saying the punter was purposely trying to hit it. Think about it. The higher you kick the ball, the longer the hang time and that means your coverage team has more time to get down field. Special teams 101. Jerry must be talking with Al Davis about crazy football conspiracy theories. The same people who designed Cowboys Stadium must have designed CitiField.
Well you gotta love the NFL. Anything to make an extra dollar. You can actually buy a Michael Vick Eagles jersey for your dog. Forty bucks flushed down the potty. The Michael Vick puppy trainer wee-wee pad is a better idea.
Plaxico Burress is going to jail for 2 years for possessing that unregistered hand gun that went off in the NYC night club. That will be more time served than Leonard Little or Donte Stallworth did for vehicular manslaughter under the influence of alcohol or what Michael Vick just got released for. I know he broke the law, but why do I have this uneasy feeling Michael Bloomberg and other big time officials are enjoying this victory and conviction. Must be feeling the same way those people who got O.J.Simpson locked up for the robbery charges felt when they got him convicted.
What is it about certain people who do stupid things, get caught and they often end up with better jobs. I see it everywhere. Do they have charm, are they charismatic? I don't get it. Look at John Calipari. This week the NCAA took away the Memphis Tigers' wins and struck their appearance in the 2008 final four from the record book for violations. This is not the first time it has happened to Coach Cal. Remember his stint at UMass? Road Marcus Camby to the final four in 1996. Had to give up their appearance because Camby accepted money from agents. So where is he? At one of the highest profile coaching jobs in the country. Between Pitino and Calipari, this is going to be one heck of a year for college hoops fans in the Bluegrass State.
They honored the 1969 Mets Saturday at you know where before the Mets/Phils game and seeing Nolan Ryan back in a Mets uniform gave me chills. It was even more classy to see Seaver, Ryan and Koosman throw out the ceremonial first pitches. I just have to ask, how did they determine who got to throw to Jerry Grote? I written this before, nothing against Mike Piazza or Gary Carter, but if Tom Seaver is throwing a ceremonial first pitch before a Mets home game, it better be Jerry Grote behind the plate to catch it. Listening to the players speak about that team, one theme always came out. Gil Hodges. Gil believed they were going to be good, and they always said that among his many managerial strengths was he was always thinking ahead.
Attended the Greg Gilbert meet and greet Tuesday and he's a stand up guy like I thought he'd be.
I'm discovering I'm not a young man anymore. I'll be 44 in February and seeing those grey hairs among the blonde ones while getting them cut last week did not sit well. The baseball stadium of my youth was torn down in February, and the football stadium of my youth in the Jersey swamp will be gone sometime in early 2010. I'm starting to think I'm going to turn into to one of those lonely, bitter, old men who hates kids and has lots of cats or dogs as companions. I might have to put in a call to Keith Hernandez or Walt Frazier and get some "Just for Men."
Thanks to everyone who supported and showed up for the go-cart race Tuesday. There's a part of me that wants to drive in it one year, but I can be more of a help behind the scenes. I've known Dan Miner for 21 years but seeing him wear that crocheted bikini top was the scariest thing I've known him to do. My eyes, oh my eyes! I had wear contacts that day. If I had been wearing glasses, I could have taken them off when I felt like it and the sight wouldn't have been so bad.
Welcome back to the family, Pezz...Leccese out.

They were a lot easier to put in than they were to take out

Hi There. Well my summer is officially over. Football practice has begun and in less than 3 weeks the season opener happens on WWSC. F.Y.I-The first game will be Saturday September 5th Niskayuna at Glens Falls. Next week I will make the tour of the schools, watch practices, talk to the coaches, see teams scrimmage on the 29th and then on the 30th attend a media day at UAlbany.

I was supposed to do 4 things this summer. I accomplished none of the four. Here they are. Play a lot of golf. Didn't happen (Links 2001 on my laptop doesn't count). Visit family in Rhode Island and see a minor league baseball game during the visit. Also didn't happen. Play golf with my cousins husband Ned. Nope, didn't happen. And last but not least, find a girlfriend. Ken Leccese, not tonight. In baseball terms that's called the "Golden Sombrero." 4 at bats and 4 strike outs.

Did some work in the yard Sunday and I removed 2 bushes and cut down another so it would re-grow. Boy they were a lot easier to plant 28 years ago when my parents first built the house I live in. Plus there is more removing to do. 2 more bushes, a crab apple tree and a 20 foot pine is coming out as well. And I have to prune some branches along my driveway. This one area we are doing over will contain perennials, small bushes and more raised beds for veggies.
The rest of the garden this year has been a disappointment. Lets see outside a respectable crop of green beans and lettuce, I've picked 5 cherry tomatoes, and 5 zucchini. That's it. No peppers, cucumbers or eggplant yet. It wasn't so much all the rain that affected the garden, it was the lack of warm weather in June or July that stunted growth.

On to sports where topic number one is Michael Vick and his signing with the Eagles. I gave my opinion on what he should have done. What he did was disgusting, horrible and every other negative word I can come with in regards to those dogs. He served his time and has a right to return to play pro football and make a living doing so. I felt he should have gone to the UFL first, make peace and friends with the SPCA and all the other animal rights groups to prove he's changed and then try to play in the NFL next year.

While reading the news the other day I happened to notice the UFL announced the names of the 4 teams that will play in its inaugural season and I have to ask who came up with them for the Florida and Las Vegas teams. The names chosen were the Tuskers and Locomotives? You've got to be kidding right? I wonder what the runners up were? What the heck is a Tusker anyhow? Locomotives for Las Vegas? Come on now what about Gamblers, Jackpot or my personal choice, The Strip. How cool does this sound. "Catch the Las Vegas Strip in action tonight on Versus when they take on the California Redwoods at 9pm." Las Vegas Locomotives, my skin is crawling over that choice.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more worse for the Mets, it did and in scary fashion. David Wright got plunked in the head accidentally by a Matt Cain fastball. At least Cain showed remorse and apologized. If I were David, I would have told the trainers to call the Rangers or Islanders doctors to check him out for the concussion and not to trust the Mets team physicians. They would have told him to take a couple of Excedrin and he'd be fine the next morning. One more Mets note. The decorative improvements to CitiField. Too little, too late for this Mets fan. Beauty is skin deep, but ugly goes straight to the bone or in the case of CitiField ugly goes straight to its foundation. At least this Saturday Fred and Jeff Wilpon will actually remember the teams' history when the '69 Miracle Mets will be honored on its 40th anniversary. Nolan Ryan will be attending and I think this is the first time he's been a part of one of those reunions. I hope he gets the biggest applause of anyone that night. Sorry Misters' Seaver, Koosman, Harrelson, Grote and Company.

Poor Eldrick. He missed some putts and took the gas pipe at Hazeltine and lost the PGA on Sunday to Y.E Yang who made 2 amazing shots. The chip in for eagle on 14 and that 206 yard shot on 18. Don't shed a tear for CBS though. They got Eldrick in the final pairing and that means ratings points. I like Tiger, but the golf world does not revolve around him like everyone else thinks it does. Golf will continue even though Eldrick didn't win one major a year for the first time in 5 years.

I'm shocked and even more so disappointed in the revelations this past week coming out from Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino. I thought he was a stand up kind of guy.

The wheel of maternity has spun again and it landed on Fox News' Megyn Kelly. First it was Cobie Smulders and now Megyn Kelly. I've got to start looking for some new actresses and news reporters to have secret crushes on. Ones who are intelligent, attractive and their biological clocks are shut off. Don't tell my girlfriend I just wrote that, I'll be in big trouble if she finds out. Wait a second, I don't have girlfriend. Nothing to worry about after all...Leccese out

Golf is an easier game to play on my laptop than in real life

Hi There. Well only 6 days til the start of fall sports practices and less than a month away from that first high school football game on The Mighty 1450. The schedule should be finalized in the next week or two and will be up on the website and sent out to the local newspapers. If you want to know how we pick the games it works like this. We have 7 or 8 core schools that we get on at least once a year. Then there are about 5 others within the listening area if it works out will get on because they're playing one of those core schools. Before the season we look at each weeks games and pick out about 3 or 4 games logistically we could do. We pair it down to 2 and go from there. On some weeks we'll do both a Friday night and a Saturday game. Rivalry games get priority preference. So that's why every year we do Warrensburg/Lake George or Glens Falls/Queensbury for example.
Reading Pete Tobey's football blog at the Post Star website the other day, I had no idea that South Glens Falls is adding lights to play night football games. That means there are now 6 local schools that play Friday nights. Those schools are Lake George, Schuylerville, Greenwich, Corinth, South Glens Falls and Saratoga. Personally, give me Saturday afternoon games any time.
Played golf Sunday in the mist and drizzle at Queensbury Country Club and I've come to the conclusion that I play better when I hit a crappy drive and have to scramble for par than when I nail one off the tee, put in the middle of fairway and have one of those easy approach shots to the green.
My one wish for the PGA Championship that starts Thursday is that Eldrick has a performance like he did in the British Open.
So the Mets have made a team pledge to not shave until they return to the .500 mark. Don Imus had a great line. The way they're playing they'll look like ZZ Top first before that happens.
Eli Manning is now the highest paid QB in pro football. Not bad for a guy who is only the third best quarterback in his own family.
After watching the first quarter of the NFL Hall of Fame Game, the throwback Houston Oilers unis are 10 times better looking than the current Tennessee Titans ones.
We need more quality programming on VH1 like the T.O. Show. Anything is better than "Brooke knows Best" or the latest finding love dating show.
Is Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks related to Pete Cloutier? Talk about cheap! Mr. Kane and another family member beat up a cabbie because the cabbie didn't have 20 cents change on him. The cab fare was $13.80, Kane gave the cabbie $15.00 and gave him a dollar tip when he asked for the 20 cents. Those rookie contracts don't stretch as far as they used to. Can you just imagine what would have happened if Pat Kane was on one of those two-way contracts?
The AHL schedule will be released Thursday at 4pm. Yes!!!!!
Since this is an American Idol free zone, there will be no mention of the judge who's left but may want to come back after all.
I'm giving out props to the folks at Les Mills for the release of Body Combat 40. Great moves and even better music to go with them.
Boxing wraps are a pain in the tuchis to put on before fitness class.
Finally, I made a break through with my almost 4 year old niece. When she came to visit last month I borrowed a couple of DVD's from the library for her to watch. One of them was the Tiny Toon Adventures. Last Saturday my sister bought her a DVD and what did Morgan Pavlot pick out? Tiny Toon Adventures and the Animaniacs! All right, chalk one up for Uncle Kenny! I can't wait til she says, "Hello nurse!" That kid will be brought up the right way. It's good to be an uncle...Leccese out!

In horse racing terms I was 2 pounds overweight

Hi there. Well the weigh in happened Saturday and to quote Maxwell Smart, "missed it by that much." I was between 207 and 208. So close but at the same time so far. I should be proud of the fact I've lost 35 pounds since the beginning of the year. However I told my Combat instructor afterward I wanted to go buy a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry's Brownie Fudge Overload or Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream and wallow in self pity eating them while watching chick flicks like "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle."
If you are a horse racing fan, you saw some great races this past weekend. Soul Warrior upsetting Big Drama and Mine that Bird in the West Virginia Derby and then Rachel Alexandra almost breaking the track record in the slop and winning by 6 lengths at the Haskell. O.K. does she shoot for the Travers? Not a clue. I defer to Kyle Brownell
If I hear anyone talk or write about adding an asterisk to those players that used P.E.D's on their hall of fame plaques just shut up please! Enough with the steroid era please! Here's my opinion. Every hall of famer in Cooperstown should have an asterisk on their plaque. All the ones who played before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier should have an asterisk because they didn't play with Black Americans. Pitchers who pitched before the mound was lowered in the late '60's should have one. You get my point. I've heard that clubhouses had amphetamines in a jar like penny candy. Do we put an asterisk next to the players who used and played during that time? The Bob Costas' and George Will's need to get knocked off Mount Olympus. Remember as long the Players Association has the clout it does, treading lightly and slowly is the best action to get the best results.
Funny People with Adam Sandler was tops at the box office this weekend. Big deal. The only Adam Sandler movie I can take in any large doses is Spanglish and its because of Paz Vega, not Happy Gilmore.
Plaxico Burress was found guilty of having that concealed unregistered handgun in New York City. He'll spend some time in jail. When the sentence is announced, he should get an additional couple of days for stupidity and wearing sweat pants into the night club.
Tennessee Titans running back LenDale White dropped 30 pounds this off season by believe it or not working out and eating right ,but by giving up drinking Tequila. No wonder my stocks in Jose Cuervo and Cabo Wabo took a nose dive. I'm busting my ass in the gym practically every day and portioning food out to lose weight and all this time the key was to stop drinking hard alcohol. I wonder if Dubray gave up his favorite adult beverage the opposite would happen and he would put on pounds?..Leccese out.

Weighing at the gym and on the latest steriod with hunt

Hi There. Well today is the day. D-Day. My fitness challenge weigh in. I might just go to church and light a prayer candle and hope for a little divine intervention before Combat class. So if you're going to church I could use all the help I can get. Its gonna be close. Wish me luck.
First it was Alex Rodriguez and now Big Papi and Manny Ramirez are on that list of 103 players who were found to have P.E.D's in their system in a 2003 confidential test to determine if testing for steriods should happen. Does the idiot who is leaking these names to Selena Roberts and other New York Times staffers know he's breaking the law! Normally I'm against the MLB Players Association in most labor matters but this time if they have gripe, I'm backing them. Whoever this person is should go to jail and rot with Bernie Madoff. The test results were not supposed to be released! Besides how can you call the players who did it cheaters if there was nothing in the collective bargaining agreement saying they couldn't do it!
Hopefully this little rant I've just written helped me burn a few more calories...Leccese out.