Regional and local soccer players gathered at the recently completed Batavia Sports Park at Batavia Turf Farms on Bank Street Road over Saturday and Sunday for various training sessions.
The camp included sessions for the New York State West Olympic Development Program on both days. This afternoon the Genesee Amateur Soccer Association held a Coaches and Players Clinic.
More pictures after the jump:
Harness racing isn't want it used to be and probably never will be again, according to newly elected Chairman of the Western Region Off Track Betting Board of Directors Dick Siebert.
In an interview with WBTA, Siebert characterized harness racing as "the cost of doing business." It's the loss leader that under state law allows Batavia Downs Casino to keep its doors open for the much more profitable video slot machines.
"The people that used to come to our parlors, the 55 and older men, are no longer 55 years of age," Siebert said. "Unfortunately, they're dying off. The newer group of people, it doesn't have the interest to them that it did with the old bettor. ... I honestly can't see where harness racing is going to turn around and ever be back where it was in the '50s, '60s and '70s."
He said in 2009, Batavia Downs lost $1.5 million on harness racing while the video lottery terminals brought in $3 million in profits.
To help reduce harness racing costs, more bets will be placed at electronic terminals rather than at the traditional caged window with a person taking the bet.
Meanwhile, Siebert said the Downs continues to work with state regulators on a plan to address deficiencies in some administrative procedures. He said the board is looking to hire a consultant to help address the state's concerns, rather than bring in a management company to take over the Downs' operations, which is one of the state's other suggestions.
Full interview available here (mp3).
In the fall of 1962 Ron Grazioplena turned 14, making him old enough to hunt when accompanied by an adult. Back then, as it is now, the waterfowl season was split into two parts, the early and late season. Because his birthday occurred after the first split, Ron partook of the late season duck hunt. It wasn't until the following year - during the autumn of '63 - that he experienced his first goose hunt.
Ron's entry into the world of the waterfowler took place in a different era, when hunters stood in line for days at the old permit station on Albion Road, hoping to draw one of the available blinds on the Oak Orchard Wildlife Management Area, where duck and goose hunters were limited to 15 shells and all hunting to cease at noon. But Ron and his buddies never had to stand in line. Rather than hunt the game management areas they scouted corn lots, winter wheat fields and the like. Gaining access courtesy of landowners was never a problem.
Ron's high school years at Notre Dame of Batavia limited his hunting to after school and weekends. In 1970 he graduated from St. Bernard College in Alabama with a degree in biology. Rather that apply for a job, he opted to spend the autumn outdoors and proceeded to hunt geese for 70 straight days. It was a regimen he adhered to for nearly two decades, spending every moment possible outdoors. In the process he accessed another form of education, one seldom found in a classroom.
Ron's hunting career began with the youthful anticipation of taking his first duck or goose, to seeking his first bag limit, to striving to take birds on every hunt. Before long he began to invest his time and money into purchasing the best equipment in order to help him attain his goals. Eventually, after years of waterfowling, the time came when he felt that taking his limit of ducks or geese was not nearly as important as the enjoyment of the hunt in all its different aspects. Said Ron, "The frosty chill that comes with first light, sunrise, the whistling of wings over the marsh and the beauty of the birds. Nature began to mean something."
By 1991 Ron had reached a point where he pulled the trigger only on occassion, discovering he no longer wished to hunt the waterfowl he had enjoyed over the years. By now the family owned a 30 acre marsh and it was at this time when Ron decided he would do his part to help waterfowl thrive. Thus began the building and erecting of wood duck nesting boxes.
While wood ducks readily took to the nesting boxes, so too did various predators help themselves to the contents of the boxes. One spring, while assisting Ron in the repair of the nesting boxes, we found several with raccoons sleeping inside. And these were boxes that had been placed in the middle of the marsh, far from shore. Still, it had not deterred the strong-swimming racoons. In addition to racoons, mink inhabit the marsh. While not a skilled climber like the raccoon, the mink is an aquatic predator which readily preys on ducks and their eggs. Thats not too mention weasels, a hazard for shore nesters, then there are were the winged predators: Great Horned Owls,Redtail hawks and the like.
With so many predators having a taste for waterfowl, Ron developed a new type of nesting compartment, one made from plastic drums, both comfortable and roomy for nesting waterfowl. Made of hard plastic, the drums are secured to steel pipe, their width and and slick surface prevents raccoons and such from taking a firm grip and climbing up and in. In the above photo, the drum on the right has a goose sitting on a clutch of eggs.
"This style of nest has a bottom section which enables hen ducks to spend the night with their ducklings safely out of the water, yet out in the middle of the marsh and away from shore predators" said Ron. He refers to them as "duck motels."
"Past experience has shown that mother ducks, particularly wood ducks, will utilize such a structure to protect their brood at night when they need to be out of the water and under their mother's wings for warmth and protection", he added.
Installing and maintaining the nests, as well as policing the marsh takes a lot of work. Here Matt Moscicki prepares to install nests. Additional help on the marsh includes Jeff Moscicki, Mary MacIntyre, Darla Luttrell and Ron's cousin and marsh owner, Kenny Grazioplene.
This is Mary MacIntyre showing the location of active nests.
Mary removing debris from the spillway.
Here Matt prepares to set a pipe into the marsh bottom.
Here's Ron enjoying the fruits of their labor as depicted in the following photos.
A pair of mallards dabbling
As the mallard on left comes up for air, note the water running off his head and down his bill.
The marsh is home to a variety of waterfowl. Sometimes the open water diving ducks show up, like this pair of buffleheads.
Buffleheads taking off. Both bufflehead photos courtesy of Mary MacIntyre.
Check out the pointed bill on this Red-breasted Merganser - he's a diving duck and a fish eater.
A winged predator with an ample wing span flies past...
While nesting waterfowl are protected.... thanks to Ron "Grazo" Grazioplena and his friends.
The Pembroke Lady Dragons JV softball team defeated the visiting Kendall Eagles 8-6 tonight in a fairly close game. Julia Baker went the distance on the mound for the Dragons striking out 9 batters, and allowing 4 hits and 7 walks. Baker also went 2 for 4 at bat. Ashlee Gilchrist went 2 for 3 with a double, and Breanna Johnson went 3 for 4, also getting a double. Kellie Mroz went 2 for 3 with a clutch 2 run single in the 6th inning to help secure the win. Kayla Streit and Randi DellaPenta also had hits. Both teams played a great game!!
More pictures after the jump:
Above: Julia Baker Delivers another great pitch
A Kendall player hits a line drive
A Pembroke player up to bat
Sliding home. She was safe
Sliding into 3rd base. Once again, she was safe
Believe it or not, she was safe!!
Great Job Ladies!!!
Oakfield High School graduate Jason Kirkum was selected as Keuka College Athlete of the Week for the week ending April 24.
The junior baseball player, who is a pitcher/designated hitter, led the Storm to a 4-5 week overall and a 4-4 week in conference action.
On the mound he made two starts, going the distance each time, and collecting 15 strikeouts in just 13 innings pitched. He went 1-1 overall and had a 6.23 ERA while holding hitters to a .263 batting average.
At the plate, he led the Storm’s offense with a .429 batting average (9-for-21) while ripping a double, knocking in four runs, and scoring four of his own. He also walked four times to post a team-high .520 on-base percentage.
I have really slacked off on putting this article together. Here is a link to the story on the Roberts website and I will be posting my own write up on it next week while I am on break. She received a scholarship as well.
http://www.roberts.edu/athletics/athletics_news_article.asp?news_id=1482
Wii bowling was introduced to the residents of 400 Towers a month ago. It only took a month and one day for Dennis Meyers to post the first 300 game at 12:10am today 4/16).
Dennis, an avid bowler (and pool player) was reluctant to start Wii bowling while he was still competing in league bowling two nights a week. After watching for a few nights, he decided he would try it. He was hooked.
Meyers has become a coach for those just learning. One of his success stories is MaryAnn Harkness, who bowls from a wheel chair. MaryAnn, a left handed bowler, had the distinction of having a bowling technique named after her. The slow moving, and often ineffective attempt, was lovingly named the "MaryAnn ball". That term may fade into history after working with Dennis.. So much so, that on April 15, MaryAnn not only bowled two 200+ games, but beat her mentor's score in one of the games.
There are over 40 residents now playing the Wii Bowling. Plans are underway to have a Friday night handicap summer league.
Residents can check out the system from the towers' Snack Shop to play at a time convenient for them. There are scheduled times for open bowling on Sunday evenings and Thursday mornings. Open bowling is also available most evenings after 9pm.
The system was purchased by the 400 Towers' Resident Council.
When I drove past Batavia High today, I saw the JV baseball team getting ready for a game. Coach Buddy Brasky told me the varsity team was getting ready for a game at Dwyer, so I went over there and snapped a couple of photos, too.
More pictures after the jump:
The scoring is complete, the starter has called for the handicappers. Tonight, 125 of the best harness racing handicappers in Western New York will do battle in a 10-race showdown in the Clubhouse at Batavia Downs Casino.
The contest begins at 6:40 with the first post at Buffalo.
Twenty-six of Western Regional Off-Track Betting’s branches hosted qualifiers during March with over 700 racing fans participating in the free contests. They all had one common goal -- a chance to move on to the Meadowlands Racetrack on April 24 to compete in the 2010 National Harness Handicapping Championship (NHHC).
“The interest we had this year’s contests was amazing,” said Hank Nevins, director of public relations for Western OTB. “We received calls for more information from as far away as Toronto. We expect a full house Friday night.”
In The Downs’ finals, each contestant starts with a mythical bankroll of $1,000. They can wager up to 20 percent of it on each contest race, consisting of races 1-8-9-10-11 at Buffalo Raceway and races 1-5 at Meadowlands.
The winner will receive entry into the NHHC, two nights hotel accommodations and $500 in expense money. The remaining top 10 finishers will receive prize money or casino free play. All finalists receive dinner for two, casino free play and a gift.
For more information, visit www.westernotb.com.
The tournament started off just like every tournament does; with a face off, but the first face off came with a different type of emotion than usual. It was emotions as a result of honoring two former hockey players of the Genesee Amatuer Hockey Association that had their lives ended at young ages. GAHA hosted the Tim Reis/ Matt Kota (TRMK) Memorial Hockey Tournament to remember these players and they started things off with a ceremonial puck drop in their honor.
The center of the ice was filled with people that were close to the two former players. Lining up for Matt Kota were his parents, Jason and Nancy and his siblings, Sean, Tyler and Sara. Matthew passed during September 2008 at the age of 17 from complications brain surgery related to a large AVM (arterio-venous Brain malformation, which is a condition that happens to only 0.01% of the population. Long time friend and former coach, Tom Cervone led the line for Tim Reis that included former teamates that he had played with in the past. Tim had his life taken in a house fire in Byron, along with his mother and two sisters in May 2008. Reis was killed while trying to help his family escape.
While they lined up, in his honor, GAHA president Gerry Wolcott read a passage to remember the two young men.
For Tim he read "Through the dedication of individuals in the organization, Tim was able to play a game he truly enjoyed. Tim was a giver when you got to know him and nowhere was that more evident than on the ice. He always tried his best for his team and when losses came he just accepted them and tried harder. Even in Tim’s last moments, he was giving he was trying to help his Mom and sisters escape the fire that ultimately claimed them all. Every time a player puts on a Ramparts jersey we remember how Tim showed us what being a team player was all about , his spirit is still with us and his teammates every time they take the ice."
He continued for Matthew and stated "Matt was always helping his team anyway he could and even with all his other interest like cross country and advanced courses in school he even took the time to help with his sister and brother’s teams any way he could. On the night before he was to leave for surgery he spent it working with his youth group in their outreach ministries to the needy. After God decided he needed Matt in heaven matt even donated what he no longer would need from his physical body so that at least 7 other families could have a better life or life at all. Matt’s spirit shine brightly with us still and he taught us what a difference one person can make if they cared about others first."
After a moment of silence from the arena, he closed in asking that we all "enjoy life like they did".
Josh Stendts, a 17-year-old senior at Batavia High, is pretty impressed with the slide shows ESPN creates for its Web site, so a while back he tried his hand at creating one about the Buffalo Bills losing season. Friends and family liked it and started encouraging him to do one about the Blue Devils boys basketball team.
At first, he resisted the idea, but when Batavia beat Sutherland and went to 8-1, he got excited about the team's prospects for the season.
In past seasons, Batavia vs. Sutherland games "have had a lot of tension and produced exciting games," Josh said in an e-mail today. "When I heard the Blue Devils had won in Sutherland, I knew it was going to be a special season. No one, including myself, thought this team was going to be as successful as they ended up being. I stopped doubting the team when the Blue Devils defeated Sutherland."
Josh's dad was also pushing him to do a video about the Blue Devils.
There was problem, Josh had a song idea, but not enough pictures. When Batavia reached Sectionals, however, The Batavian started going to games and shooting and posting lots and lots of photos.
The song was Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," because, Josh said, it was fast and he could pack a lot of information about the team into the lyrics.
When he first uploaded the slide show, he didn't have all the pictures he would eventually include, but as more and more friends and fans saw the video, it began to become popular around the campus.
He continued to polish the effort.
"On March 12th, I put together a slide show with a few pictures," Josh wrote. "I finished a rough copy and posted it on YouTube. When I returned to school on Monday the 14th everyone, including the teachers, congratulated me on such a great video. My last class of the day on Monday was GYM and my teacher is Coach Brasky. As I entered the gym to check in, he immediately pointed at me and told me 'Great Job, unbelievable.'"
Buddy Brasky and Principle Chris Daily wanted to show the video at a pep rally on Friday, before the team left for the state championship games in Glens Falls.
"I was absolutely shocked and incredibly thankful for the opportunity," Josh said.
He did one more edit on the video and then handed it over to school officials to play at the rally.
"On Friday, the video was played in front of the entire school," according to Josh. "I was nervous about what everyone would think. As the video came to a close, I received a standing ovation from the entire auditorium, including the basketball team. It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life."
Josh is definitely thinking about the idea of going into media production, but he's also interested in sports medicine. He says he has plenty to think about when he starts classed at GCC in the fall.
"I would like to sincerely thank everyone who was involved in making this video a success, Mr. Dailey and Mr. Mullen for allowing me to show the video at the assembly," Josh said at the close of his e-mail. "Mr. Bromley (Sports director) who e-mailed the video to all the teachers. All my family and friends who viewed the video, and a special thanks to The Batavian for giving me permission to use their pictures for the slide show."
The Batavian would like to thank Josh for using our pictures. That's a great honor. We did ask Josh to add credit to The Batavian in his video, and we are grateful that he readily agreed to so. Congratulations to Josh on such a great tribute to the Blue Devils. It's definitely a great piece of quality work.
Disappointing first half for Batavia in its semi-final championship match against Westhill.
The Blue Devils trail at the half, 40-22.
The story line of the first half is pretty simple: Batavia's shots haven't been falling and Westhill pretty much can't miss.
Westhill started the game with a three-point goal and Batavia has been chasing the Section III champs all night.
You can listen to the game live on WBTA.
UPDATE 9:41 P.M.: At the end of the third quarter, 51-37, Westhill. Early in the third quarter, Batavia pulled within 10 points, but then Westhill took control back and quickly erased all of the Blue Devil's progress. Listen on WBTA.
UPDATE 10:03 p.m.: Westhill wins, 69-53. Andrew Hoy led Batavia with 24 points.
UPDATE on Saturday evening: Syracuse.com has four good photos from the game.
Three people from Genesee County will be honored by the Rochester Press-Radio Club at its annual sports awards banquent in May.
Founded in 1949, the Rochester Press-Radio Club raises money for local charities and its annual sports awards are one of the most prestigious regional award programs in the United States.
This year, the headliner for the dinner is New Orleans Saint and former San Diego Charger quarterback Drew Brees.
The dinner is May 12 and tickets are $125 per person, with group rates available.
This weekend is a weekend full of state championships in New York and the Batavia High School Blue Devils are not the only team that will have the chance to compete for a state title. Genesee Amatuer Hockey Associaton (GAHA) will be host to the 16-U New York State Championships for USA hockey will be held at the Falleti Ice Arena in an eight team tournament to decide who is the best of the best this season. Teams have traveled from all over including Alex Bay, Louisville, Saranac Lake, Bear Mountain and Center State. These teams all finished within the top 2 seeds of the divisions that they played in throughout the season, with Louisville being a favorite to take the title. "There are a lot of good teams coming here this weekend and it's gonna be some good hockey" said tournament director Tom Aldinger. "Anything can happen in a tournament like this".
Since Batavia was awarded the bid to host the tournament, the 16-U Ramparts team, who did not qualify for states this season based on their record, will receive a free entry into the tournament and a chance to prove that they are the best in the state. Two other Western New York teams, Jamestown and Niagara will also be competing in the tournament.
Batavia is set to play thier first game today (Friday) at 1:00pm against Saranac Lake. The rest of their schedule includes playing Jamestown tomorrow morning at 8:00am and Bear Mountain tomorrow at 4:00pm.
The tournament has games from 9am-9pm today and 8am-8pm tomorrow. Sunday is set for the semi final games at 11am and 1pm with the NYS championship game set for 5pm Sunday night. Admission to the games is only $5 per game or you can get a weekend pass to all the games for only $10. TF Brown's is a partial sponsor of the tournament.
It's Friday, and it's a big night out for the Batavia Blue Devils.
Buddy Brasky's team plays a semi-final state championship tournament game at 8:30 p.m. in Glens Falls.
If the Blue Devils beat Section 3 champion Westhill (20-2), Batavia (20-3) will play for the Class B state championship on Saturday at 9 p.m.
Tonight's game will be broadcast live on WBTA.
Should the Blue Devils advance, The Batavian will cover the championship game on Saturday. T.F. Brown's is sponsoring the coverage (we can accept two more sponsors to help cover the cost of our trip, so if any businesses want to be a sponsor, let me know today).
Batavia boys and Elba girls, each played close games on Saturday, but Batavia will advance to the next round of the state tournament while Elba's impressive season comes to a close.
The Blue Devils (20-3) locked in a 40-38 victory over Olean at Buffalo State when Andrew Hoy sunk two free throws with 32 seconds left to play. A desperation 3-point try by Ryan Carney for Olean (20-3) came up short.
Later Saturday at Gates-Chili, Elba fell to Clymer, 39-36.
Elba finishes the season with a 22-1 record.
McKenzie Bezon led the Lancers with 9 points.
Saturday, Andrew Hoy knocked down 14 points and Josh Budlong added 10. Coco Irvin and Justin Washington each had 8.
Batavia's next game is in Glens Falls at 8:30 p.m., Friday against Section III champion Westville (20-2). If the Blue Devils beat Westville, the state championship for Class B will be played at 9 p.m., Saturday in Glens Falls.
Pictured are Mike Nelson of Utah, Sonny Moscato of Buffalo, Dan Walczak of Tonawanda and Michale Quinlan of Buffao, all members of the team
Jordan and Linda joining in on the night
On Thursday evenings when the Care-A-Van bus is out in the neighborhoods knocking on doors to invite folks out for dinner and prayer, you never know who might be behind the doors.
Tonight when the ministry was at the Parksite apartments on North Spruce Street , behind one door was 4 members of the GCC Men's Lacrosse Team. The guys came out to the bus and had some delicioius famous Care-A-Van chili. We were blessed to meet them and spend time with them. It has been interesting when meeting the students to find out where they come from. Mike Nelson, one of the Lacrosse team members is from Utah! Several other families came out to enjoy dinner, receive clothing groceries and prayer. It was an awesome night out and we were blessed to be a part of their kickoff for their upcoming season. If you are a Lacrosse fan you can find their schedule at this link : http://www.genesee.edu/athletics/teams/mlax-201002/dspSchedule
Good luck guys and may the Lord bless you all!
After beating Wellsville (17-5) at the Blue Cross Arena last night 64-41, the Batavia Blue Devils advance to the Far West Regional title game.
Batavia will play Olean (20-2) at 4 p.m., Saturday, at Buffalo State College.
Co Co Irvin led the Blue Devils with 19 points. Andrew Hoy and Josh Budlong each added 15 points. Justin Washington scored nine points and had 11 rebounds. Budlong had 5 three-point goals.
Sparked by a freshman, the Lady Lancers remained unbeaten and clinched a spot in the state tournament Monday night beating a tough Canaseraga team 61-54.
Freshman McKenzie Bezon scored 29 points for Elba (22-0). She hit five three-point goals on the night.
"We got a great game from McKenzie tonight," said Head Coach Tom Nowak. "For a freshman, that was unbelievable."
It's a good thing, as Cassy Engle of Canaseraga (18-4) scored 34, to keep her team within striking distance of the Section V champions until the closing seconds of the Class D qualifying match.
"We tried to be able to run and push them as much as we could this game because we knew with our bench, hopefully we could try to tire them out a little bit," Nowak said. "I give them a lot of credit, they played hard the whole game."
Nowak said one of the keys to locking down the win was the team making the most of its free throws in the closing minutes of the game.
Elba returns to the Gate-Chili gym on Saturday to play in the first round of the State Championship tournament.
A couple of more pictures after the jump (BTW: I pretty much missed most of this game, having put a little too much trust in my GPS -- Gates-Chili is at 2 Spartan Road, but there's two 2 Spartan Roads in Rochester, as I discovered ... I went to the one 20 minutes past the actual location ... sadly).
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