With three months left in the Major League Baseball season, here's what I think will happen (more or less):

AL East -- Boston will still win the division title, but the Red Sox will be pushed by Tampa Bay, which will wind up with the wild card. The New York Yankees will finish third, prompting managing partner Hank Steinbrenner to declare the whole season a disaster and the firing of Joe Girardi... Continue Reading

CATEGORY: Baseball

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I was just asked by one of my editors if I was going to take the media tour of Saratoga Race Course Thursday.

Let me think about that for a second ... ummm, no. I'm not interested in the least.

See, the media tour is really to show the improvements that the New York Racing Association made to the 140-year-old facility on Union Avenue... Continue Reading

CATEGORY: Horse Racing

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So, the New York Knicks are thinking about moving their week-long preseason training camp to Skidmore College.

This is exactly what we need -- another pathetic, last place team calling the Capital District home. Only in this case, it would only last about seven days, and we wouldn't have to watch them (their practices are closed to the public).

On the other hand, it is flattering that the Knicks are considering Saratoga Springs over Charleston, S.C., where they had been holding training camp for the last 17 years. Given the choice between spending an early autumn week in the Spa City and an early autumn week in Charleston, I might have actually picked Charleston for its warm weather and old-time charm... Continue Reading

CATEGORY: Basketball

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OK, fantasy football followers. I have an invitation for you. I need nine suckers ... I mean, team owners to join my fantasy football league, which is located on ESPN.com. The name of the league is JoinThe518 (easy to remember, no?), and it's totally free to sign up. There are no prizes for winning the league ... only the satisfaction of knowing you had the best team. The draft is scheduled for Aug. 16 at 4 p.m. (it's a Saturday afternoon). When you join, please e-mail me at jonasr@spotlightnews.com so I know who you are, what your team name is and what your e-mail address is. A weekly round-up will appear on this blog site, complete with game results and stats.

Sound good? Then Join the 518... Continue Reading

CATEGORY: Fantasy Sports

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With Wednesday's announcement that the Siena men's basketball team will play at Pittsburgh in December, the Saints have locked up the toughest schedule for any defending mid-major conference champion in Division I.

Besides Pitt (which should challenge for the Big East title again this year), the Saints have games against Cornell, Boise State, Saint Joseph's and some midwest school called Kansas. And if that wasn't enough, they also play in a tournament that features such schools as Maryland, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Michigan State and Tennessee.

Luckily, Siena has a team that should at least be fairly competitive against all of those clubs. All five starters are back, as well as a good chunk of the reserves... Continue Reading

CATEGORY: Basketball

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Less than three weeks to go until the start of practices for Section II fall sports.

In other words, less than three weeks to enjoy what's left of the summer.

Don't get me wrong. I look forward to another season of high school football, soccer, cross country, girls swimming, girls tennis, golf and volleyball. It's what makes my job fun.

But, I haven't really had a summer. Then again, it could be argued that none of us have really had a summer this year. We've had so much rain here that people in the tropical rainforests are envious. The only time we seem to get a nice day is when we're hopelessly locked in our offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., staring at computer screens and fielding phone calls... Continue Reading

CATEGORY: General Sports

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