The results for this year’s Spotlight Sports Survey have been tallied, and there are some interesting results. Let’s dive right into it.
1. Will the Siena College men’s basketball team post a winning record in 2011-12?
A. Yes (46 percent)
B. No (35 percent)
C. Not sure (19 percent)
Despite a poor finish in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last year, area sports fans still believe that the Saints can rebound quickly and finish above .500 this season. But the vote was much closer than last year, when most readers thought Siena was going to continue its winning tradition.
2. Will the University at Albany men’s basketball team build on last year’s winning record?
A. Yes (65 percent)
B. No (12 percent)
C. Not sure (23 percent)
First, I want to clarify that the Great Danes finished the regular season with a winning record. Their loss in the America East tournament dropped them to .500. But with that said, UAlbany does return four starters from that team. And I think that fact was what led readers to predict that the Great Danes would do better this season.
3. Will the RPI hockey team finish higher in the ECAC standings than last year’s fifth-place effort?
A. Yes (50 percent)
B. No (23 percent)
C. Not sure (27 percent)
This is likely another case of people believing in a team that returns several key players from last season. Hopefully in the topsy-turvy world of college hockey, the Engineers live up to those expectations.
4. Will the Union College hockey team overcome losing coach Nate Leaman and remain an ECAC power?
A. Yes (42 percent)
B. No (27 percent)
C. Not sure (31 percent)
A decidedly split vote among readers. Leaman now Providence College’s coach took the Dutchmen to great heights last season including the regular season conference title, a top-10 national ranking and an NCAA Tournament appearance. With a new coach (Rick Bennett) and a younger team, some readers are taking a wait-and-see approach with Union this season.
5. Does the University at Albany football team need a new stadium in order to be successful at the NCAA Division I FCS level?
A. Yes (23 percent)
B. No (65 percent)
C. Not sure (12 percent)
Readers seem to believe that it’s the coaching staff that makes the team successful, not the stadium that they play in. Bob Ford has kept the Great Danes competitive this long, and there is little reason to believe that he can’t continue to do that ` even though there are some high school football fields in this region that are in better shape than University Field.
6. After canceling this year’s training camp at the University at Albany, will the New York Giants return in the summer of 2012?
A. Yes (58 percent)
B. No (23 percent)
C. Not sure (19 percent)
If Giants President and CEO John Mara says the team will train at UAlbany in 2012, then most readers are willing to take him at his word.
7. Given its recent financial issues, is the New York Racing Association better qualified to run Saratoga Race Course than a private company?
A. Yes (31 percent)
B. No (46 percent)
C. Not sure (23 percent)
Not a clear majority here, but more people feel that a private company is just as qualified ` if not better qualified ` to run Saratoga Race Course than NYRA.
8. Are the Albany Devils doing enough from a promotional standpoint to bring fans to their home games?
A. Yes (12 percent)
B. No (69 percent)
C. Not sure (19 percent)
Apparently, using `Now this is FUN!` as your ad campaign wasn’t enough to get people to go to home games, as the Devils were at the bottom of the average attendance standings last year ` not to mention the bottom of the East Division standings. We’ll see if the Devils make a better effort in promoting their team this season.
9. Are the Tri-City Valleycats doing enough from a promotional standpoint to keep fans coming to their games?
A. Yes (73 percent)
B. No (15 percent)
C. Not sure (12 percent)
The Valleycats remain the most aggressive pro sports franchise in this region when it comes to advertising their product, and the results are obvious. The stands at Joseph Bruno Stadium are mostly filled almost every home game, though it could be argued that more people (i.e. kids) are interested in all the side activities and mascots available than the game itself.
10. Has classification play been good or bad for Section II football?
A. Good (46 percent)
B. Bad (12 percent)
C. Not sure (42 percent)
There were a lot of undecided voters out there, but the ones who had a clear `good or bad` opinion believe that classification play has been good for our high school football teams. It’s hard to see the bad in it, since most games are fairly competitive. That wouldn’t be the case if Bishop Gibbons (Class D) had to play a Big 10 schedule that included meetings with Christian Brothers Academy (Class AA) and Troy (Class A).
11. Which high school sports deserve more coverage?
Most of the responses seemed logical. High school swimming got the most votes, followed by high school baseball, wrestling, soccer and lacrosse. The oddest response was someone calling for us to cover Syracuse University lacrosse. There were also votes for CBA and Shaker without specifying a sport.
12. Which high school sports deserve less coverage?
Some people thought that there were no sports that deserved less coverage, which was nice. But the sport that got the most votes was football, followed by basketball and lacrosse. There was also a vote for less coverage of Amsterdam and Burnt Hills. Well, I can definitely cross Amsterdam off my list, since we don’t have an edition in that city. Burnt Hills, though? Can’t stay away from the Spartans.
13. What kind of NBA career will Jimmer Fredette have?
A. All-star (23 percent)
B. Solid starter (31 percent)
C. Sixth man (31 percent)
D. Bench warmer (15 percent)
Talk about a split vote! The majority think that Jimmer will contribute to Sacramento’s success when there is another NBA season, but they don’t know how much he will contribute. At least, the Kings believe that Jimmer will be a big-time contributor. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have worked a deal with Milwaukee to acquire him on draft day.
14. Which former Section II player will have a better Major League Baseball career?
A. Tim Stauffer (29 percent)
B. Casper Wells (38 percent)
C. Neither (33 percent)
I was wondering why more people were voting for Wells than Stauffer. Then, I started seeing what Wells (Schenectady High School) was doing for the Seattle Mariners during the voting period. Six home runs in 15 games including a streak of four games with a homer can certainly raise the profile. Still, it was disappointing to see the lack of support for Stauffer (Saratoga Central Catholic), even though he’s San Diego’s top starting pitcher this season.
15. Which local radio host do you respect the most as an authority on the area’s sports scene?
A. Brian Sinkoff (13 percent)
B. Brian Noe (4 percent)
C. Rodger Wyland (58 percent)
D. John Graney (25 percent)
Wyland gets the nod among area sports radio talk show listeners, but it was nice to see a long-time veteran like Graney get some love for his weekly show on Talk 1300 AM. As for the local ESPN Radio gang, they apparently have some work to do.
That’s it for this year’s sports survey. Thank you to all the people who voted. Now, let’s get ready for the fall sports season.“