The Recorder, Amsterdam, N.Y.
SPORTS
Thursday, October 30, 2014 / 27
Recorder file photo
Amsterdam head coach Doug Edick, second from left, is surrounded by game officials and members of the Amsterdam Police Department in the aftermath of an on-field
confronation involving the Rugged Rams and Bishop Maginn Griffins earlier this month at Lynch Literacy Academy.
Antonelli,
from page 32
Columbia that resulted in referees calling
the game with 12 minutes left after a
Columbia player was pulled down from
behind. As the scrum for the ball continued, the Columbia player got up and
retaliated. There was also another
unsportsmanlike incident involving a girls
soccer match between Queensbury and
Scotia-Glenville.
ANALYSIS: Section II may need to use
three officials instead of the current system of two. The field is too big and calls
are missed. A good group of referees can
squander escalating tensions.
Unsportsmanlike behavior has filtered
into our youth leagues as well.
also their school.”
ANALYSIS: Press box incidents, especially ones involving the police, are
extremely rare. I witnessed two scorekeepers engage in a shoving match following a high school basketball game, but
never an incident that warranted law
enforcement presence. I did witness the
late Angelo Pazienza, father of five-time
world champion Vinny Pazienza, deliver
a choke hold to New York Post reporter
Michael Marley after Marley called his
son a glorified club fighter following a
win over Roberto Duran.
Speaking of punches, none were thrown
in the Amsterdam press box incident and
the Bishop Maginn coach was escorted
out.
You just don’t mess with Barry.
Recorder file photo
INCIDENT: Just 20 minutes earlier,
both teams were involved in a melee near
the sparsely crowded Bishop Maginn
sidelines that started after a Griffins player delivered an unsportsmanlike late hit to
an Amsterdam player. Two players were
ejected and the Amsterdam Police
Department road patrol was called in to
assist with potential aftershock.
ANALYSIS: This could have been a lot
worse, especially if the melee happened
on the Amsterdam sidelines where spectators were lined up and a rope was the
only obstacle dividing the crowd and the
field. Also, the Amsterdam coaching staff
did an excellent job of squashing the incident and not letting tempers escalate.
Assistant coach Paul Furman gets an A
for keeping certain players away from the
line of fire. School administrators stepped
in as well. The game continued with no
further incidents.
INCIDENT: A football melee between
Rensselaer and Whitehall led to the
immediate firing of Whitehall head coach
Justin Culligan.
ANALYSIS: I have a real problem with
the firing of a coach who was seen as
being the peacemaker in the melee, yet
the assistant coach allegedly in the middle
of the scuffle remains on the staff.
Rensselaer coach Joel Preston accused
that same Whitehall assistant coach of
pinning one of his players down and
choking him during the brawl, but eye
witnesses and video have failed to back
up his claim.
Also on the video, there was shouting,
pushing and shoving, but no sign of any
punches being thrown.
So many unanswered questions here.
Amsterdam assistant coach Paul Furman, left, pulls James Valentin (8) away from an
on-field skirmish against Bishop Maginn earlier this month at Lynch Literacy Academy.
We know that Culligan, a highly
respected teacher in the district and a
well-liked coach, was voted out as coach
back in July and later reinstated by a 6-3
margin.
Then came the melee followed by a
bizarre statement released by Whitehall
Superintendent Elizabeth Legault:
“We acknowledge our participation and
our role in the misconduct in Saturday’s
football game with the Rensselaer Rams.
We all must reflect on our actions and
words and use this as a learning experience moving forward.
“We are proud to be the Section 2
League Champions and we would like to
wish the Rams the best in post season
play. Play Hard – Play Smart!”
Huh? Why would any school administrator incorporate a team’s on-the-field
success in a statement focused on an ugly
incident? It’s passive-aggressive at its
best.
Then came the public meeting during
which board president Virginia Rivette
laid out specific parameters for public
comment. She asked that the comment
period be kept to a maximum of six
speakers, with two people each representing parents, players and residents.
At the start of the meeting, Legault, a former co-principal at the Rhode Island-based
Calcutt Middle School before being put on
administrative league in October 2010 for
an unspecified misconduct allegation,
urged people to keep the debate civil.
“We want to have a conversation with
you — without yelling, without derogatory comments, without defaming anyone,”
she was quoted. “As we move forward,
we must remember that our students are
first and foremost in our thoughts.”
Translation: “Students are last and foremost in our thoughts. We know that the
players want their coach back, parents
want their coach back and the community
wants their coach back, but we don’t want
him back and that’s all that matters.”
On Tuesday, we learned that Culligan
was fired for allegedly using foul language.
Culligan has denied he swore.
Good job by The Post Star for obtaining
more than 40 emails about Culligan
between board members and the superintendent dating back to July after filing a
Freedom of Information Law request.
We have not heard the last of this one.
INCIDENT: An Oppenheim-EphratahSt. Johnsville High School boys soccer
player was arrested and charged with
assault for his role in an altercation at the
end of Saturday’s Section II Class C playoff game against Maple Hill. James
Arthur Miller II was arrested for thirddegree assault according to a release from
the Town of Schodack Police Department.
The game was halted by referees and
Maple Hill was awarded the 4-2 win to
advance.
ANALYSIS: Not to diminish the
actions of Miller, but I ask myself if he
would have been arrested if the game was
played at Oppenheim-Ephratah-St.
Johnsville. As with the press box incident,
this is a first in our area.
INCIDENT: Another soccer incident,
this one involving Averill Park and
INCIDENT: Earlier this month, an
Amsterdam youth baseball coach went to
the mound and instructed his pitcher to
throw a hard high fastball and for the
catcher to purposely miss the ball. The
intent was for the ball to strike the home
plate umpire. Luckily, both the pitcher
and catcher did not follow the coach’s
instructions and that coach has been suspended indefinitely from the league and is
not allowed to coach again.
ANALYSIS: This one struck a nerve
because as president of the Amsterdam
Youth Baseball League, my main objective is to keep our youngsters, spectators
and umpires safe. That belief is also
shared by all our officers and when the
assistant coach admitted to doing this, we
were both angry and sad. How can an
adult instruct a child to basically injure an
umpire? This pitcher throws about 62
miles per hour from a distance of 50 feet.
Bad things can happen when a baseball
strikes a human being. Just one week earlier, a Long Island 12-and-under travel
baseball coach was killed after getting
struck by a line drive.
These are games and they are supposed
to be fun. Shouldn’t the goal of youth
participation in sports be to promote
physical activity, recreation and healthy
competition?
“I always told the kids, especially the
young ones, that it’s not about wins or
losses, but it’s about how you play the
game,” Rouse said. “I was a referee for
18 years in basketball and seven years in
soccer and there’s human error involved.
But I can’t believe the behavior we are
seeing now. I would not tolerate that.”
Sports is an effective motivating tool for
our youth and the positives without question outweigh the negatives and the good
stories outweigh the bad.
But what an October it has been.