Notre Dame's the Story

Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and welcome to another fun-filled blog and thank you for joining us.  In today's blog we will be going over who won the state championships here in New York, and we will also take a look at College Football.  The season has just ended and we will go through my predictions for the future conference championship games as well as bowl games.  Also, a look at the amazing story of Notre Dame, and how they were able to get their ranking to #1 and solidify their appearance in the BCS Championship.  So the football season has ended, for one Section VI team it was pure joy in their faces and happiness all around.  For the other two teams it was sheer shock, and utter disappointment for them.    Randolph was the lone team to win the state title this year from Western New York.  For Randolph it was their 3rd title since 2005.  And it also marked the end of an era.  Pat Slater, the head coach for the Cardinals announced his retirement right after the big win on Friday.  “That’s the best way to go,” Slater said of his final game. “ I’ve been thinking about it, and every time we won every week, these last four weeks, I said ‘You know, it’s getting closer, it’s getting closer. … This is the best. I have great kids. The kids played hard. … ”  That's pretty cool to see for him and his team, congratulations to the Cardinals.  Sweet Home, had the tough task of taking on Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, who was ranked 4th in the state.  Now yes, Sweet Home was ranked 2nd, but these two teams were no strangers to each other people.  In 2008 and 2009, the Panthers defeated Burnt Hills in both games for the State Title.  This time, they would have none of it.  Burnt Hills trounced the Panthers 40 to 20, where it was 26 zip at the half.  Sweet Home's coach John Faller had this to say about the loss, “Whenever you get this far, a loss hurts more than any other loss, because it’s the last one and your season’s over.  I give a lot of credit to Matt [Shell, Burnt Hills coach] and his team. They took it to us today. We tried to come back a little bit in the second half and didn’t quite have enough. It’s a tribute to them. When you’re beat, you’re beat, and today we got beat by a better team.”  Hopefully next year Sweet Home is able to bounce back, and maybe make another run to the Championship game.  The last team in the Championship game was AA powerhouse Orchard Park.  The Quakers, #8 in the state, had to take on New Rochelle, ranked 7th in the state.  This was Orchard Park's third showing the in State Championship in that last five years, and they were coming into this game as the defending state championships.  But New Rochelle was just too powerful, too fast, and too overwhelming for the Quakers.  It was over at halftime and the final score was 34 to 6.  “They were fast, they were strong, they were great on defense – that’s the best team in the state in AA,” said Orchard Park coach Gene Tundo. “They defended everything we did really well. … They outplayed us the whole game.”  And so high school football has ended, as sad as that is, the adolescents have to look forward to a winter sport.  So the College Football season has ended, and the postseason is upon us, and the biggest surprise of the year has to be the amazing story of the undefeated Notre Dame Irish.  Notre Dame came into the year with not much expected from them.  But, they came together and proved a ton of critics wrong.  Led by defensive linebacker, stud, and Heisman hopeful, Manti Te'o.  He has been a beast and is among the leaders in interceptions with seven.  He never had one before this year ans he has seven, as a linebacker.  Truly amazing.  Brian Kelly has his team firing on all cylinders and in the championship for the first time since 1993.  A team that was once the team everyone was asking what happened to, are they done?  And now look at them.  Amazing.  They will most likely take on the winner of the SEC Championship game, between #2 Alabama and #3 Georgia.  This is a very compelling matchup and a lot of people are hoping to see Notre Dame go up against a powerhouse like Alabama.  At the beginning of the year it was looking like it was going to be Alabama and Oregon, as they were the favorites.  But both teams did lose, Alabama was lucky enough for it to come earlier in the year.  But Oregon, not so lucky.  USC was also stocked up pretty big, and they lost almost 6 games!  Just goes to show how wacky and unreal College Football is.  Another college sport that is unreal is College Basketball.  Now you talk about upsets.  College Basketball is probably my most favorite sport to watch.  It is so exciting, the intensity, and the atmospheres during a basketball game.  Syracuse is my team and I’m hoping they can get a title that I can actually remember.  Last year was supposed to be their year but this year, I got another good feeling.

Sectional Championships

Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls from all over.  Thank you for tuning into my latest blog on Life of a Student Athlete.  Today we're going to look over what happened this past weekend with the Section VI Football Championships, as well as the beginning of the Monsignor Martin playoffs.  Over the weekend was the biggest event in local high school football, and many kids' dreams.  The Championships for every class in Western New York.   At Ralph Wilson Stadium.  That's right, 'The Ralph' or 'Rich Stadium', the stadium where the Buffalo Bills play, the professional football team for those of you who don't know.  Six games were played from Friday night, all the way through Saturday night.  Really a surreal experience for everyone involved in the entire thing.  Especially the players.  I know for me, a player on the Alden football team, winner of the three straight sectional titles, the experience is amazing.  First just getting there is unbelievable.  I'm lucky enough to go to live in a town where everyone is close.  We have the best fans and get a lot of support from a lot of people.  Earlier this year we had 3,500 people at our playoff game against Depew.  That's unbelievable, and unheard of in Class B.  That's pushing most of the Class A games.  But anyways, back to the arrival at the Ralph, we have a bunch of our fans tailgating there a couple hours before the game!  And that's really what this is all about.  How a tiny town like Alden can come together every fall, and be happy because of the football teams' success.  I know that sounds a little biased because I'm on the team, but it's the truth.  And a lot of people would agree with that.  You should see what the town looks like!  People, if you're ever bored and have nothing to do, take a stroll through the Village of Alden and then you'll see what I'm talking about.  It is a pretty neat thing that goes on over here.  And when we pull in to the parking lot at the stadium, they come over to the railing and they go crazy and it's nuts.  It's just an awesome thing and I feel like I can almost guarantee that no other school gets the support we do, and have no better fans than we do during football season.  Anyways, enough of my town and my school, let's get to some highlights.  Friday night brought two games to kick off the weekend, the Class D, and Class A Championships would be decided.  Maple Grove and Randolph squared off in Class D, and this is a big rivalry that has become stronger and stronger every year.  It seems like these guys meet here every year.  Maple Grove came in undefeated, and Randolph came in with two losses, one of which came against Maple Grove in Week 3.  This time though the result would be different.  Randolph was able to avenge their loss from earlier this year and has moved on into the State Playoffs, at the Far West Regional at All High Stadium on Friday night at 5 PM, Randolph will square off against Avon from Section V.  The game after that will be the game between two undefeated squads in the Class A State Quaterfinals, Sweet Home and Eastridge will battle it out, both 10 and 0 on the season.  This is a compelling match up, and since I'm finishing this blog late, I can update you on the score, in the 3rd quarter Eastridge leads the Panthers 21 to 7.  First time Sweet Home has trailed all season, I wonder what they will be able to do near the end.  On Saturday there are three games to see who will move on to the semis. Class C, Class B, and Class AA will all decide their winners.  Cleveland Hill will take on Section V powerhouse Hornell in the first game of the day, Alden will square off against East Rochester/Ganada.  Alden is looking to make it to the State Semifinals for the first time in school history.  And the big game of the weekend, is what a lot of people have been dreaming of seeing the past couple years, the Class AA game between the Orchard Park Quakers and the Aquinas 'Lil Irish.  These are two storied programs that have built some dynasties in the past couple years.  This is a huge game and a lot of people are looking forward to it.  Good luck to all teams this weekend and get it done out there.  Leave it all on the field.