Girmindl's Ghost

Shaker falls to Amsterdam...

2007-10-01T23:52:00.000-05:00

Back in the saddle: As noted below, I'm not going to be writing Girmindl's Ghost this year with the same intensity as last year. However, SJC and I went to the game tonight, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment. Five things I noticed:

1) It was like bizzaro last-year walking into the H-gym tonight: Everything was the same, but everything was different. Same gym, same smells, same nervous energy in the stands. New scoreboards(!), new uniforms, new juniors. The Sheehan family was in the stands, CBA was scouting the game, and Holmes was yelling at the refs. Tom Maldonado and Chris Caradori were there, but sitting in the adult section. I bought a Twix. I stared at the banners and the '79-80 memorial. It's all the same. But just an odd feeling to be back. It was almost like last season never ended. I guess in all my years of watching Shaker hoops, I was never as invested in a season as last year. Funny how writing about it every day will do that to you. Didn't realize that till tonight.

2) Holy !@%$, they got new scoreboards: I've been on this topic for decades, and I've written about it extensively. It's like all my bitching from last year actually got some results! The new boards are beautiful. Or maybe they're just not from the 1960's. Either way, you could actually see tonight how many fouls each team had! Unfortunately, the sound system has gotten worse, if that's possible. Completely inaudible.

3) The team will be above .500, i 'm pretty sure: they got beat, 60-56 tonight by an ok Amsterdam team. That's the bad news. The good news is that I think they have a lot of room to improve. Eddie sat most of the game still nursing his ankle. The juniors who played looked nervous. And they were a little bit out of sync. But Hooks is going to be a scorer, Eddie is going to be all over the court making athletic plays, and Fallon/Dare/Kahnle all look much improved. I'm optimistic. 12-8 seems like an achievable goal. Obviously, they'll miss Brad/Griff/Hans, but i think the big question is how long it takes them to find their scorer. They look tentative on offense tonight, although part of that had to do with Eddie not playing much.

4) CBA may be unbeatable this year: Sad to say, but it's going to be a bloodbath tomorrow night. Holle, Weaver, and company put on a clinic in the first game tonight. If Shaker is within striking distance at the end of the 3rd quarter tomorrow, that will be a major, major moral victory, in my mind.

4) The 6th man was semi-rocking: Now look. I know quite a bit about the student section and student section cheering. And one truism is that so-so teams and bad teams do not have great student sections. But the 6th man was going strong tonight. It wasn't as loud as, say, the CBA game last year. But it was good. There are new 6th man t-shirts, making the older one somewhat retro-chic, which is cool. It will be interesting to see if 6th man interest fades as the season goes on. I hope it doesn't - maybe enough tradition has been cemented up there that students will come out to watch an above-average, but not great, team. Who knows. They sure love Eddie. His entrance and 3-pointer tonight was electric.

5) God, I was missing high school hoops: What a feeling to be back. And yeah, they lost, and yeah I could write 3000 words about the game, but now that I'm moving to DC it's not even so much about the game for me, it's about the atmosphere. It's something I'm really going to miss, and I think i appreciated it more tonight. Even losing - and in many ways it was a miserable loss - couldn't get in the way of celebrating the return of the high school hoops season.

We'll be at the game tomorrow night. Stop by and say hi if you want. Don't know what i'll be writing about in the upcoming week - maybe nothing. But check back and see, perhaps I'll have 2000 words on some strange topic.

matt

The Ghost is back

2007-09-14T17:13:00.000-05:00

The Ghost is Back!: Well, kinda. I got something like 80 or 90 emails this summer asking if Girmindl's Ghost was going to be following Shaker hoops again for the 2006-2007 season. This really breaks down into several different questions. I'll take them in logical order:

1. Are you going to be going to Shaker games this winter?

Please. Aside from the short period of time when I lived away from Latham, I can't say that I've ever not been a regular at the Shaker hoops games during the last 25 years. Trust me, I'll be there. Ten or twelve rows up, behind the Shaker bench.

2. Are you going to just continue on with Girmindl's Ghost, same as last year?

No. That's not really possible. I've told the story of the '79-80 team, so that really can't be done again. I've written thousands of words about the gyms, the concession stands, and the fans. That tap might be running dry. About the only thing from last year that I can easily duplicate is the game reports, since we'll have a whole new slate of games to go to and talk about this winter.

3. So, are you just going to publish game reports and nothing else?

No. I'm trying to figure out a new "hook" for Girmindl's Ghost. Last year I had a few hooks: the retelling of the '79-80 season was one. Another was the focus on the gyms and the student sections. But I'm not sure what to do this year. I have three really good ideas, but neither really fits in with my work situation right now:

A) Follow the team "John Feinstein"-style, and write a book about the season; use the blog as a drafting board for stories about the team that will go in the book. This won't work because I simply don't have the time right now. I wake up every day and kick myself for not doing this last year. I really feel like I could have written the basketball equivalent of Friday Night Lights if I had done it.

B) Do more writing about the psychology of being a fan. I'm considering this. If you go back and read my confessions of a Bison addict post, I think that's some of the best emotional writing I did all last year. Short of writing a Friday Night Lights-style book, the other high school hoops book I'd like to do someday would be about the psychology of high school sports fans. The problem with this idea is that it could be really boring.

C) Write a history of Shaker basketball. I'm seriously considering this. The positive feeback I got about the diary of '79-80 was tempered by a lot of peoples' interest in learning more about the rest of Shaker hoops history. The downside is that this might take more time than I can afford to invest right now.

If you have any killer ideas, let me know. Seriously.

4. Ok. So what exactly would you say you're "going to do?"

Ah. Who am I kidding. I'll probably just write more stories about the gyms, the fans, and the concession stands. And, of course, the beloved 6,000 word game recaps.

Good, bad, and ugly...

2007-08-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

The good, the bad, and the ugly: Well, let's just lay it on the line.

The good: Bison home opener tomrrow night! It's the Girmindl tournament. And yes, I'll be there, sitting 12 rows behind the Shaker bench.

The bad: Girmindl's Ghost will not be written this year, because...

The ugly: I'm moving to Washington, DC later this winter.

I just got a job at Congressional Reserach Services, doing policy analysis for Congress. It's a job I'm super excited about, don't get me wrong. But I'm still bummed to be leaving Albany. And missing Shaker hoops games is no small part of that.

That said, I'll still be in town for a while. I may or may not do long game recaps here like last year. I dunno. Maybe I'll just occasionally post stuff. Check back and see. And come find me at the games if you want to talk Shaker hoops. I'll still be sitting there, 12 rows us, dreaming about another sectional title.

And if anyone is interested in taking over Girmindl's Ghost, email me...

2007-05-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

Girmindl's Ghost, A Tale of Two Teams: Pictured below, Shaker's '79-80 basketball team (left) and Shaker's '05-06 basketball team (right).

I don't know why I didn't compose my final essay for this blog a month ago. I had it all set in my head - a recap of the season's highs and lows, a quick retelling of some of the best stories about the crowds, gyms, and concession stands, and then a wrap-up comparison of the '79-80 team and the '05-06 team.

But i just never sat down and wrote it. At first I thought it was because I was still miffed about the end of the season. And then I kept telling my self it was because I needed some time to get perspective on things. And then I pretended for a few weeks that it was because I was seriously considering writing a book of all this.

And then it was because I was lazy.

Or burnt out on it.

Or whatever.

Mostly, though, I think it's because I don't like writing about things that are sad. It's hard enough to write about losing basketball games - be it the AP game or the Suburban championship game. And I found it almost impossible to write about the end of the line for the '79-80 team - I have something like 10 hours of interview tapes that I've never done anything with because it's just too depressing. But the hardest of all was to sit down and close the book on this year's team. I just couldn't do it, and I didn't know why.

I got an email from Frank Hart '92, one of the stars of Shaker's last sectional title team, a few days after the Albany game. Here's part of it:

It's always sad to see a season come to an end, regardless of a team's record. Oftentimes this is not a matter of whether or not you won a title, or lost in the first round of Sectionals. It's more a matter of knowing that you will never sit in the locker room with the same 15 guys again. This can be very humbling.

And, honestly, I think that's what happened to me. I've watched hundreds of Shaker basketball games over the last quarter century. And I've died a fan's death dozens of times in those bleachers in H-gym. And I would have told you back in November that I couldn't imagine caring more about a sports team than I cared about Shaker basketball. But I would have been wrong.

Because unlike the past two dozens seasons, the thing that kills me most about this season is that we'll never see those 12 guys on the court together again. Humbling, indeed.

So I'm not going try to recap anything here. If you'd like to review the season, I recommend reading through the blog from start to finish. I did that this morning, and it was an exhilerating experience - it captures the emotional dynamics of the season far better than any retrospective piece of writing could hope. And it already got me excited for next year.

So come find me in the bleachers in December. I usually sit in the 10th or 12 row behind the Shaker bench. I've got a great connection for some free Twix. And you know me - I'm always up for telling stories about the great Shaker teams of the past, be it 1979, 1980, or 1992.

And yeah, 2006.

Coming soon, I promise!

2007-05-05T16:09:00.000-05:00

Finally gonna wrap things up: Sorry to all the people I told this week that my final essay for Girmindl's Ghost would be available by now. I just underestimated my work load for the week. But I'll have it for you Monday afternoon, I promise. Check below for the belated entry on Sam's college choice.

Also, there's a faculty vs. student charity hoops game at Shaker on May 23rd, 7pm. Hope to see yo uthere.

Today (4/18) in 1980

2007-04-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

Today (4/18) in 1980: Dewey defeats Truman, TU-style! Sam Perkins was scheduled to make his college choice annoucement at 2pm today, but the Times Union thought they had figured out the big secret by early this morning. Thus, they ran this splash headline across t the sports section:

Well, as well as know, Sam picked Carolina. But as the press conference got started in the Shaker auditorium, everyone thought it was UCLA. When Sam said "North Carolina," not only could you figuratively hear a pen drop in the auditorium, a number of them actually were dropped. Here's the TU mea culpea from tomorrow, 4/19/1980:

And, of course, Sam's very own "Dewey-defeats-Truman" picture:

That was the last major headline Sam made as a Shaker basketball player, and the last headline made by the mighty '79-80 Shaker basketball team.

Today (4/4) in 1980

2006-04-04T18:18:00.000-05:00

Today (4/4) in 1980: The '79-80 Shaker team saw its senior stars play one last game as the Suburban Council held its annual Exceptional Senior game tonight. All three senior starters on the Shaker team - Perkins, Brundige, and Meehan - were invited to play. And as luck would have it, the game was held at Shaker, meaning there would be one last gasp of the '79-80 magic in the H-gym. A large crowd showed up, much larger than normal for this all-star game, most of them to watch Perkins play one last time. Dean Smith was in attendance, as was Jim Boeheim. Before the game started, Perkins was honored for making Parade Magazine's All-American 1st team just three days earlier. Here's the photo from Parade magazine:

Sam is in the upper right corner. Other members of the first team were: Derek Harper, Doc Rivers, Vern Fleming, Earl Jones, Russel Cross, Charles Sitton, Gary Springer, and one high school junior, Pat Ewing.

The Exceptional Senior game was played under "fun" rules - no pressing and no zone defense - and the players had a good time with it. As expected, Perkins dominated, scoring 32 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and blocking 8 shots. And for only the 3rd time all season, he was on the court when the game ended, slamming home one of his 5 dunks as the buzzer expired on his Bison career. His "South" team won the high scoring contest 110-85. Here's a shot of Sam putting in a jumper over North's Dave McClure (Shen):

Brundige added 4 points for the South. Meehan did not score, but nicely directed the offense throughout the game. And when it ended, the Shaker seniors walked off the court to a standing ovation. It was over.

Still, one question remained - where was Sam going to go to college? No one could say for sure. Dean Smith was still hopeful - "He hasn't told me no" - but declined to comment any further. Sam said he would be making his decision in the next week or two, and would have an announcement sometime after the Shaker basketball banquet on April 13th.

Today (3/30) in 1980

2006-03-30T10:44:00.000-05:00

Today (3/30) in 1980: Sam Perkins played in the McDonald's High School All-American game in Oakland, California. The game featured (and still features) 24 of the best high school players in the country, divided into two teams that practice together for a few days and then play one game against each other. After a press conference with the media and the rest of the Shaker varsity team at the McDonald's on Route 9 in Latham, the team escorted Sam to the Albany airport for his departure to California.

Throughout Sam's career at Shaker, there had always been a small minority of onlookers who doubted that he was truly a national-caliber player and a big-time college prospect. They typically argued that he didn't play agaisnt big competition and that he wasn't strong enough physically to bang down-low in the ACC. Now, much of this was quieted when Sam had huge success on the U.S. Junior National team during the summer of '79. But the doubters were still around even by the end of the '79-80 season.

It's also noteworthy that Sam had not yet dediced on a college yet, although he was down to four schools: UNC, UCLA, Syracuse, and Houston. It wasn't like the McDonalds all-American game wasa going to change any of the scouts' minds - every college in the country wanted Sam. But it was going to be a showcase - good or bad - of Sam playing against top competition on national TV for all to see.

Sam did not disappoint. Although his East team lost the game 135-111, Sam showed that his amazing rebounding ability was not going to be slowed at the college level. He grabbed 24 rebounds, setting a McDonald's All-American game record that still stands today. He also added 12 points, including one magnificent dunk, although he shot somewhat poorly from the field as his outside shot went on vacation for the afternoon. Although his 12 pts/24 boards line wasn't good enough for game MVP (that was shared by Russell Cross and Doc Rivers, each who scored 20 points), it was obvious to all who saw the game that Sam Perkins was going to dominate college basketball. Not someday, but right away.

One Shining Moment...

2006-03-28T08:57:00.000-05:00

One shining moment: Went to the Shaker basketball banquet last night, had a great time. As promised, I will write the season-ending recap this week. First, I got lazy, and then I wanted to wait till after the banquet. So it's coming, I promise.

I did manage to get a hold of this video last night. Converting it to "web-usable" makes it kind of grainy, but if you were sitting there that night, it won't matter. For those that weren't there, I'll set the stage: Shaker is playing CBA, the defending sectional champs, in the finals of the Girmindl tournament. The H-gym is close to sold out, and the place has been rocking all night. Down 9 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Shaker has staged a furious rally, and now has the ball out of bounds with 9 seconds to go, down 1. Now, turn the volume on your computer WAY up, and then hit play. [video courtesy of the Sheehan family]

Aside from the obvious, two things that make the video great are:

1)the guy (I think it's Mr. Sheehan) who screms "GET IN!" right before the shot goes down. That's literally what everyone in the whole place said at the exact same moment.

2)the high pitched screaming of "GEORGIA TECH! GEORGIA TECH!" by someone - don't know who - in the adult section in the seconds after the shot goes in. Just great.

To read about the details surrounding that shot, read my CBA game recap. To hear Brad talk about the shot, read the beginning of my interview with him.

Back later this week with the season wrap-up.

Today (3/11) in 1980

2006-03-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today (3/11) in 1980: Shaker, the undefeated #1 team in the state, played in the sectional finals vs. CBA. The largest crowd in section 2 basketball history - a standing room only crowd of over 7,000 fans - came out to watch. This game was supposed to be a major stepping stone on the way to greater achievements -the regional and state tournament - and another showdown with Mt. Vernon - loomed in the coming weeks. Win or lose, it was the final local game for Shaker. It was supposed to be a blowout.

Instead, 7,000 people watched the most stunning upset in Section II history:

We'll talk about it in detail in the next few days, but for now just a few quotes I gathered about the game, and one story:

Tim Cain '81: "It was the kind of game you just try to block out of your mind."

Jeff Tuecke '81: "After it was over, in the days afterwards, I remember being more embarressed than anything else."

Sam Perkins '80: "I was shocked. I realized it's always possible to lose, but I never imagined it would happen so quick, all at a sudden."

John Brennan '81: "I still, 26 years later, don't know how we lost. I still can't believe it."

I don't remember this game. I was there, but i was only 2 years old. What I do remember is that this game crushed many peoples' spirits, dramatically. Specifically, I remember what it did to my father. He honestly never got over it. It wasn't like it was a big deal in my childhood or anything, but I can say it directly shaped my sports-related upbringing. Anytime - and I mean anytime - I talked about an upcoming sporting event being a definite blowout, my father would shake his head and say something like, "Don't forget, CBA beat Shaker. Anything is possible."

Twelve years later, when Dad and I went back to Glens Falls for the 1992 sectional title game, he had us get there about an hour early. He took me to the seats where we had sat in 1980 - he had memorized the section, row, and seat numbers - and we sat there for a good half hour just staring at the empty court, while he retold me the details of the game, quarter by quarter. It was like listening to someone describe a funeral. And in a lifetime of watching and talking sports with my father - be it the Giants, Yankees, Knicks, Orangemen, Saints, or hishigh school baseball team - I never saw him get as sad as he did talking about March 11,1980.

CBA beat Shaker. Anything is possible.

Full report about the actual game, and plenty of stories, coming over the next few days.

Today (3/10) in 1980

2006-03-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

Today (3/10) in 1980: Shaker did not play. Next game is tomorrow, 3/11/1980, sectional finals vs. CBA. Many onlookers were disappointed that the matchup was Shaker and CBA. For weeks, people had been wondering if Big 10 champ Mont Pleasant - who CBA had upset in the semifinals - could give Shaker a game. Now there would be no way to ever find out. Here is the Times Union preview of the championship game:

It's tough to make out the headline, it reads "Shaker, Greenwich on the spot." (Greenwich, led by Tony Traver, was a powerhouse small school in section II.) That's Perkins on the far right, and CBA coach Bill Telasky in the other picture.

The Bison looked to be an overwhelming favorite to repeat as section champs. They had simply dominated and outclassed virtually every opponent in section 2 over the past two season. At 23-0 and ranked #1 in the state, they looked poised to get their long awaited rematch with Mt. Vernon in the state tournament, this time perhaps with the upper hand. More than a few observers, to put it mildly, were looking past CBA.

And that wasn't simply because the BIson were so good. It was mostly because CBA didn't matchup well with the Bison at all. Their frontline players stood 6'4, 6'1, and 6'1, giving up almost a full five inches a man to Shaker's frontline. And Shaker had feasted on such teams all season long, most recently Troy in the section semifinals, who they beat 72-40 with Perkins, Cain, and Tuecke outscoring Troy's frontline 48-6. Back earlier in the week, when a number of area coaches were asked if Shaker could be beaten by any of the other semi-finalist, they answered that it was unlikely, but if it happened it would definitely be Plesant or Troy, since CBA just had no way of staying with Shaker inside.

Even more to the point, CBA had been anything but dominant during the regular season. They began the season 1-4. Since then they were a very respectable 16-2, but their resume was anything but spectacular - they were a very pedestrian 12-6 in the Big 10 during the regular season. One thing they did have going for them was their coach, Bill Telasky. He was widely considered to be one of the best coaches in section 2, and he had put together a masterful gameplan to beat MP in the semis, using a box and one on Plesant poin guard Mark Suasville to deny MP center Brendan Mitchell the ball.

At any rate, it was time to play. Tomorrow night, 3/11/1980. Glens Fall Civic center. 9pm. I'll be there, sitting on my father's lap about 15 rows up, even with foul line. Game report tomorrow.

Coming soon...

2006-03-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

Coming soon, I promise: I know I said that I'd have my season-ending year in review essasy up by now, but two things have gotten in the way - my real work and, more importantly, my continued thinking about the sesason. I thought it would be easy to write the final essay, but turns out it isn't. So keep checking back. I'm sure I'll write it in the next week or so.

I'm not going to the CBA-Proctor game, although I kind of wish that I was. I'm going out of town Saturday night. However, I'm planning on being at the AP-Malone game and I have tickets to the UAlbany-Vermont game Saturday afternoon, so I'll be spending plenty of time at the RACC. Hope to see you there!

Today (3/9) in 1980

2006-03-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

Today (3/9) in 1980: Shaker did not play. Next game is 3/11/1980, sectional final vs. CBA. I'll have a full preview of the game tomorrow.

I was hoping to have my interviews with Tim Cain '81, John Brennan '81, and Jeff Teucke '81 ready to go today, but I've been bogged down with work this week. I have about 4 hours of tape recordings to transcribe, and I haven't had time to do it. Hopefully, I get to that next week.

Today (3/8) in 1980

2006-03-08T09:59:00.000-05:00

Today (3/8) in 1980: Shaker did not play. However, the other sectional semifinal took place. The morning Times Union ran the following headline:

Everyone was looking forward to a Shaker-Mont Pleasant showdown for the title. Dave Bleau, coach of MP, however, wasn't as optimistic. He had this to say:

Someone told me the other day that the only interest left seems to be whether or not we can stay with Shaker. I told him that the real pressure game is [tonight against CBA], not next Tuesday.

Mont Pleasant had already beaten CBA twice during the season, and had not lost since mid-December. But it was not to be. The Brothers played nearly a perfect game, and the headlines in the paper tomorrow told the story:

Here's an excerpt from the article:

CBA of Albany, loser both times it played Big 10 champ Mont Pleasant during the regular season, upset the Red Radiers 65-55 Saturday night at the Glens Fall Civic center and earned a berth in Tuesday's Class A finals against undefeated Shaker.

"I'm giving these guys off Sunday and I'm going to enjoy this one myself," CBA Coach Bill Telasky said. "I won't start thinking about Shaker until Monday."

Maybe Telasky won't be able to come up with a master plan to stop Sam Perkins and Company Tuesday, but he certainly pushed all the right buttons to beat Mont Pleasant. The key to the game was the box and one CBA played against Pleasant point guard Mark Sausville. The Red Raider floor leader was held to 10 points (only two field goals) and was into many turnovers.

Brendan Mitchell, Pleasant's 6-6 junior star, scrored 25 points but was not the dominant factor he had been against other Big 10 and Section II teams, including CBA. One of the reasons Mitchell failed to dominate was because CBA kept Sausville from getting the ball to him down low.

"Their boxing Sausville was a definite surprise," said Pleasant Coach Dave Bleau, who saw a 19-4 season end on a sour note and one game short what had been the anticipated Class A showdown agaisnt Shaker and a duel between Perkins and Mitchell.

So there you have it. It's Shaker (23-0) vs. CBA (17-6) on 3/11/1980 for the sectional title. We'll preview the game in the coming days.

CBA wins the title...

2006-03-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

Greatest section 2 final ever?: Maybe. But definitely the best basketball game I've ever seen in person. CBA 71, Albany 69 (2 OT). All three finishes - regulation, overtime, and double overtime - included lead-changing or tying hoops in the last 10 seconds. Simply amazing. I'll write more about it tomorrow.

Section II title game

2006-03-07T15:19:00.000-05:00

Tonight's game: I highly recommend going to tonight's game. Even though Shaker isn't playing, there are few things more enjoyable than watching a sectional title basketball game. The game is at 7pm down at the Pepsi. Tickest are just $6.50 and it is general admission. There should be a really good crowd. SJC and I will be there, and we'll be sitting in Broadway Joe's having a beer before the game. Stop by and say hi. Prediction: I can't see CBA losing this game, although I think it might be closer than many people are saying. CBA has beaten Albany three times this year, but twice in overtime. I'll go with CBA, 68-60.

One other note: AP beat Glens Falls last night in the Class A title game. Congrats to the Warriors for representing the Suburban well. A lot of people thought Glens Falls was unbeatable, but AP was able to bang inside and play team ball well enough to hold off 33 from Fredette. Their next game is Friday night at the RACC, regional finals agaisnt Malone.

Today (3/7) in 1980

2006-03-07T09:59:00.000-05:00

Today (3/7) in 1980: Shaker met Troy in the sectional semifinals. The sports section cover headline says it all:

That's a picture of Sam jamming home 2 of his 27 points, with Cain facing the hoop in the foreground.

The biggest crowd ever to watch a section 2 basketball game at the time - 6,181 - showed up for the first ever section 2 game in the Glens Falls Civic center (the record was broken later this week in the finals). They watched the Bison turned in an absolutely dominating performance, dismantling Troy 72-40. From the Times Union:

Shaker's latest triumph...was a textbook example of awesome power on offense and intimidation on defense. Nowhere was Shaker's supremacy more evident than on the front line, where Perkins and his two junior forwards, 6-6 Tim Cain and 6-5 Jeff Tuecke, outscored their Troy counterparts 48-6. Troy center Jon Berkeley, who averaged 18 points/game during the regular season, could manage only two because of Perkins' intimidation.

The Bison scored the first eight points of the game, and Perkins recorded a block on each of Troy's first three posessions. At the end of the 1st quarter, it was 17-7. In the 2nd, Cain began to hit from everywhere and Troy continued to shoot poorly. The Bison led 35-15 at the half. Perkins had 15 in the first half and Cain 13. Troy shot an unbelievably awful 5-for-31 from the field in the first half.

The second half proved to be no different. The Bison won the 3rd quarter 19-12 to take a 54-27 lead at the end of three, and they crusied home in the 4th. Perkins, Cain, and the rest of the starters were removed from the game with 4:39 remaining, to a standing ovation from the Civic Center crowd. The second team played out the 4th and the game ended 72-40.

Perkins finished with an incredibly stat line: 27 points on 12-for-13 shooting, 25 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots. His only miss was on attempted tip-in off a missed shot. Incredible. Cain finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Chuck Meehan added 14 and Tuecke 6.

Said Girmindl after the game, "My kids [the Shaker team] have been looking forward to these playoffs for half of the Suburban Council season. Now you're going to see the real Shaker team."

With the win, the 23-0 Bison advance to the 3/11/1980 sectional finals, against the winner of the Mont Pleasant - CBA game, which takes place tomorrow night, 3/8/1980, at the Civic Center.

Here's the partial boxscore:

Shaker (72) Perkins 12 3 27; Cain 6 3 15; Tuecke 3 0 6; Brundige 2 0 4; Meehan 5 4 14; Mitchell 0 1 1; Roe 1 0 2; Brennan 1 0 2; Barker 0 1 1. Totals 30 12 72.

Shaker 17 18 19 18 - 72
Troy 7 8 12 13 - 40

Record: 23-0 (3-0 playoffs)
Next '79-80 game: 3/11/1980, sectional championship vs. TBD, at Glens Falls.

Today (3/6) in 1980

2006-03-06T09:58:00.000-05:00

Today (3/6) in 1980: Shaker did not play. Next game is tomorrow, 3/7/1980, sectional semi-finals vs. Troy in Glens Falls.

Search engine mania...

2006-03-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Searching, searching: I found this interesting. The tracking software I have on Girmindl's Ghost allows me to see what phrases people searched for if they found the site through Google. Some recent Google searches that led people here:

Albany high game John Hans
John Hans shaker elbow
Erwyn suspended Shaker elbow
John Hans Albany basketball elbow cheap

And my my personal favorite:

I hate Devyn Erwyn

Maybe it's reassuring that that last one gets you to Girmindl's Ghost. Maybe not.

Today (3/5) in 1980

2006-03-05T09:58:00.000-05:00

Today (3/5) in 1980: The question looming on everyone's mind, delivered as an above the fold splash cover story in the Times Union:

The article first reviewed Shaker's amazing dominance this season: An undefeated record, an average margin of victory of 29 points, only three games that included meaningful 4th quarter play,and only one victory by less than 12 points. It then turned to the question at hand. Could Troy, Mont Pleasant, CBA stop Shaker short of the state tournament?

The article interviewed three coaches (Don Bassett of Catholic Central, Damian Fantauizzi of Saratoga, and former Bishop Maginn coach Don Weaver). Here was the general consensus, offered by Weaver:

"I don't feel Shaker will get beat this year."

However, the coaches did agree that anything was possible:

"Any high school team is beatable when you get down to this part of the season," said Bassett."

Still, it was going to take a particular set of circumstances to pull of the upset:

All three coaches feel that if anyone is capable of preventing Shaker from comleting a second consecutive perfect record against Section II competition, it will have to be Troy or Mont Pleasant.

"CBA just gives away too much height," said Bassett. "They would have to take the air out of the ball, and even that will be very difficult."

The three coaches were then asked what it would take to beat Shaker:

Bassett: "It's not going to be easy...Troy [Shaker's semifinal opponent] will have to try to beat Shaker down the floor, and use some halfcourt traps...And Mont Pleasant will have to keep Mitchell out of foul trouble...Shaker can get by with Perkins on the bench, they can just move Cain inside...you're not going to beat Shaker by shooting from the outside - and you can't go into the game thinking you're going to beat Perkins by taking him away from the basket on defense. You have to score from the inside, but you have to pick and choose your spots for going to the basket." Bassett also thought Shaker might actually be easier to beat this year, despite having a much more dominating season that last year. "Last year, if you collapsed on Perkins, Mike Sally would just kill you from the outside. I don't think either of Shaker's guards this year [Brundige or Meehan] have that kind of range."

Fantauzzi: The key is to collapse on Perkins and pressure the ball out front. "You have to deny Shaker the easy pass...and your guards have to be able to hit from the outside, that will open things up. But you have to be patient."

Weaver: He thinks the key to beating Shaker is smart defense. His Maginn team had Shaker on the ropes during the previous seasion [a 50-49 Shaker victory] and he shared his game plan with the paper. "We forced Perkins to the outside wing, which was exactly what we wanted to do. Unfortunately, he made 9 of 10 long ones to beat us. But that is what you have to do. Double Perkins and try to box out their forwards...Mont Pleasant might have the best chance...Maybe Mitchell can contain Perkins. The real question is whether their forwards can matchup with Cain and Tuecke."

Today (3/4) in 1980

2006-03-04T09:58:00.000-05:00

Today (3/4) in 1980: Everyone was gearing up for the upcoming week of basketball. The schedule looks like this:

Semi-finals

Fri., March 7th, 1980 (7:30pm): #1 Shaker (22-0) vs. #13 Troy (11-11)
Sat., March 8th, 1980 (7:30pm): #2 Mont Pleasant (18-4) vs. #3 CBA (16-6)

Finals

Tuesday, March 11th, 7:30pm: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

People were getting very excited about the prospect of a Mont Pleasant-Shaker showdown. MP had one of the few players in the area - 6'6" Brendan Mitchell - who had shown (in a preseason scrimmage) any willingness to even challenge Perkins inside. And after last year's sell-out crowd of 4,500 at the Siena ARC for the Catholic Central-Shaker title game, everyone was confident that the new Civic center would be filled to capicity of Tuesday's title game.

The Times Union ran pretty good previews and coverage of the games all week long. Most of it suggested Shaker simply could not be beaten. One exception to that was Al Hart, who had written a rather ominous column a few weeks back, arguing that maybe Shaker could be beaten in the sectionals:

Undefeated Shaker has to be the overwhelming favorite to capture the Section II, Class A basketball tournament. But I think that...they can be beaten.

I know. Shaker is [unbeaten] this year and has lost just one game in the past two years. And 6-foot-9 Sam Perkins is one heck of a performer. But I think Mont Pleasant, for one, can beat Shaker.

Why? Brendan Mitchell, Mont Pleasant's junior ace, is 6-foot-6 and could hold his own against Perkins. Richard Dix and Bobby McDouglad can neutralize Shaker forwards Tim Cain and Jeff Tuecke, and Pleasant's backcourt of Mark Sausville and Vic Isabella is - in my opinion - far superior to Shaker's. True, Shaker has a better bench, but MP coach Dave Bleau has his team in good shape and he might not need to rotate more than 6 or 7 players...that is, if they meet.

Then again, perhaps [no one will come close] and this treatise will be pointless. I'm just saying that I don't think a Shaker trip to the regionals on March 14th should be taken as a foregone conclusion. The Big 10 plays some pretty good basketball, too.

Most observers thought this was utter nonsense. And, as we'll see tomorrow (3/5/1980) in a Times Union cover story, even the coaches of those "pretty good" Big 10 teams didn't have a whole lot of hope that they were going to take down the Bison.

Erwyn suspended...

2006-03-03T15:14:00.000-05:00

Erwyn Suspended: Here's the link. Here's all the info I have:

(Albany) - One of Albany High School's star basketball players will not be on the court when the Falcons take on the Schenectady High Patriots in the semi-finals this weekend. 6-foot 8 forward, Devyn Erwin, was caught on video elbowing Shaker point guard, John Hans, in the face during Sunday night's game. Hans suffered temporary vision loss and a chipped tooth. Erwin was never penalized.
During an interview with CBS6 News on Thursday, Albany Schools Athletic Director Frank Owens said the decision was made to allow Erwin to play. But on Friday, Section 2 league officials decided Edwin will have to sit the bench for this weekend's game.

That's probably a good result. Obviously, it won't put John's teeth back together, but maybe it will send a message that will prevent this kind of thing next year.

I'll be writing my season wrap-up for the '05-06 year tomorrow. Look for it sometime over the weekend.

Today (3/3) in 1980

2006-03-03T03:20:00.000-05:00

Today (3/3) in 1980: Shaker did not play. Next game is 3/7/1980, sectional semi-finals against Troy, at Glens Falls Civic Center. Click here (and scroll down) for the 1980 Class AA tournament bracket.

State playoffs brackets...

2006-03-02T13:46:00.000-05:00

State playoffs: If you are interested in tracking the remainder of the New York State basketball playoffs, this website provides brackets and scores from every section. Very handy.

Rumors...

2006-03-02T13:08:00.000-05:00

Rumors: Not much to talk about today, but rumors are flying over at syracuse.com that the Albany player who knocked out Hans might face some discipline. Someone said that WTEN showed a tape of it, but I haven't seen it yet. I also don't know the extent of Hans' injuries, although from what I gather he's pretty much fully recovered, save for a few chipped teeth. And obviously, that's the most important thing in all of this.

As I said on Sunday/Monday, I didn't have a great view of the incident because of my relative location to it in the bleachers. So I'm going to reserve all judgement now until I see the tape. I can tell you that my intial reaction at the time was that it was more than just a incidental collision. But that was largely based on seeing Brad very adamantly protesting to the referee about it. I've heard various eyewitness acounts - ranging from "it was totally an accident" to "obviously intentional" - so I'm pretty sure I'll need to see the tape to make a judgement.

However, I did have an excellent view of Brad going down at midcourt in the 1st quarter, because I was sitting on press row at the time. In my opinion, that one was hardly accidental. It was a pretty clear takedown. But again, if a tape exists, I'd like to see that before drawing any real conclusions. One thing that bothers me about what I'm hearing is that both incidents (the takedown of Brad and the elbow to Hans) came directly after the Albany player had their shot blocked or otherwise was stifled on offense. That might indicate that it's not dirty play per se, but instead a lashing out in anger or frustration.

Of course, I have no idea how discipline works in these situations, and even less of an idea of what kind of disciplinary action - if any - is appropriate. I do know that the goal of any discipline system should be to prevent this kind of stuff from happening in the first place. But the best way to do that? No clue. If it's clear that the elbow to Hans was intentional, then I'd think the same system used to discipline an on-court fight would be appropriate. I don't know what that system is, but it's probably a suspension for one or more games, depending on the severity and the prior record of the offender.

I'll update you when I find out more.

UPDATE: Just saw the Erwyn/Hans video on WTEN. Here's what I learend from the broadcast:

1)Albany High has reviewed the two tapes and has determined that it "was not conclusive that it was intentional" and thus they have decided not to discipline Erwyin.

2)The Section 2 executive committee is going to meet tomorrow AM to review the tapes and consider disciplinary action.

Oddly, one thing the news said is that Albany called Erwyn's old coaches to inqurie about this, and they all said he was a choir boy on the court. That doesn't seem possible, given what I've heard people say about his on-court behavior.

Here was my take from the tapes: It's pretty tough to judge. It's not a classic sucker-punch and he doesn't do anything that makes you go, "oh man, he's simply trying to deck him." But he does raise his arm as he runs by, for no apparent reason, and that's more than a bit strange - it's not a natural motion, you don't just do that running down the court. Put it together with my other observations of his play, and other people's descripton of his play, and it looks pretty intentional. If I were the arbiter, a one-game suspension seems appropriate, with a stern lecture about harsher future consequences.

Still, it's not so blatant that the section 2 committee is definitely going to suspend him. I guess we'll see tomorrow.