On The Sly

Since writing my blog about sectional basketball, I have been asked several times about how I was lucky enough to get the job as court announcer. There is actually a history involved with the jobs at the officials' table.

I started working with sectional basketball back in the 1980s when Ray Holmes was the Section 7 basketball chairman. I was hired by Ray to take tickets at the door. You can imagine my pleasure of being paid to stand by the door, talk with people as they enter and, at the same time, watch sectional basketball.

Ray had his regulars who worked at the officials' table, but the job of taking tickets sort of rotated among who might be available to work each weekend. As Ray became ill, he asked me to take over the responsibility of finding workers for the door. I happily did this because it guaranteed that I would have a steady job for sectional basketball.

Following Ray's death Don Parks, the superintendent of schools at Saranac Central, became the section chair. The officials' table at the time consisted of Elton Jodoin, official timer, Bob Dailey, official scorer, and Rick Bruce, who alternated jobs when Bob or Elton took a one-game break. The court announcer was Dutch Craumer.

One Saturday morning I received a phone call from Dutch, asking if I might be able to take his place. Dutch had a bad flu bug and he needed someone to be the court announcer. I wasn't sure if I could handle the job, but I told him I would give it a try, and, hopefully, he would be back the following weekend.

Dutch never returned. I guess Dutch decided it was time to retire from that job anyway, so I inherited the permanent job as court announcer. During the ensuing years, Elton Jodoin also retired, handing over the official timer's job to Rick Bruce. Then, Bob Dailey decided to retire as scorekeeper and he was replaced by Laura Gagnon, who was Plattsburgh High School's official scorer. In 2005 Laura decided to leave the official scorer's job, and she was replaced by Laurie Kowalowski, scorekeeper extraordinaire from Saranac Central.

Several years ago when high school basketball began using a shot clock it created the need for a new position at the scorer's table. Goose Gagnon was hired for that job and, to this point, he is the only person to hold that position.

So, the current team of Rick, Foxy, Goose and Laurie, along with athletic trainer Mark Donnelly, has been intact for a few years, and, hopefully, we will continue to work together for Section 7.

Many years ago Don Parks was replaced as Section 7 boys' basketball chairperson by Jon Rebideau of Northern Adirondack Central. There is also a girls' chairperson, and that is Jennifer Trowbridge of Bolton Central School. She has been inducted into the Castleton State College Hall of Fame. As the only Hall of Famer sitting at the officials' table she wins the prize as the best athlete among us.

I might have scored more touchdowns in my career than Jennifer ever did, but she tops me in soccer goals, points in basketball and hits in softball.

This weekend, weather permitting, there will be some great basketball at the Plattsburgh State Field House -- the Section 7 basketball finals, with girls games beginning at 3pm on Friday and boys games beginning at noon on Saturday. I hope to see you there!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I spent the weekend watching basketball. If you are going to watch eight games within a 28-hour time span you had better like the sport. I like the sport, and I like the people I get to work with. As the court announcer I get one of the best seats in the house at the officials' table at halfcourt to watch Section 7 basketball. The games are played at the Plattsburgh State Field House, a great facility for championship basketball.

While the main action is on the gym floor there is still plenty going on at our table. I have the least official of all the jobs. There is not a great deal of pressure in announcing the players on each team, announcing who the latest foul was on and playing music while the teams warm up. A ringside seat, good pay and I get to work with a great staff, headed by Section 7 chairman Jon Rebideau from Northern Adirondack Central. He's the kind of guy who can take a joke and give a joke. I think this weekend he got in a few more jokes than he took.

It was Reb who suggested that Section 7 could have a good fundraiser by auctioning off a lock of my ponytail. He told me that he had put a sign up at the door and bidding was already up to one dollar. I guess I am the only Section 7 announcer to sport a ponytail. I don't think my predecessor, Dutch Craumer, ever had one.

The other people I sit with are Rick Bruce, the official timer, Laurie Kowalowski, the official scorer and Goose Gagnon, who operates the shot clock. Those three have to watch the game constantly, barely taking their eyes off the action, lest they miss something important. They have what's called high-pressure jobs. Even one second in a basketball game can make the difference between a win and a loss, so they really have to pay attention. Without question the best looking person at the table is Laurie, plus she has way better hair than I do.

Seated to my left is Mark Donnelly, the athletic trainer. He has his black bag of everything needed for every emergency. Sitting next to Mark gives me the opportunity to learn a lot about medical procedures and how to care for various injuries in case I am ever in a situation where Mark isn't around and somebody in the neighborhood turns their ankle while walking their dog.

Sometimes Seton Catholic boys basketball coach and Steve Martin lookalike Larry Converse sits with us as well. I sometimes tap his brain about coaching philosophies in case I'm ever called out of retirement to coach some team whose coach is caught in a March blizzard and can't get to the game.

If there is room at the officials' table sometimes the Press-Republican sports reporter Keith Kane sits with us. This weekend he wore a baseball cap with the letter P on it, meaning Press, I guess. Or, it might have been a Pittsburgh Pirates hat, though those are pretty hard to find around Plattsburgh.

During the eight games a lot went on at the officials' table. At one point on Saturday the shot clock stopped working. After several attempts to fix the clock failed, it was decided that Goose would keep the 35-second time on his own watch and then count down over the microphone when a team was into its final ten seconds. It's a pretty tough task to look at your watch with one eye while keeping your other eye on the basketball to see if possession had changed.

Goose did that for about fifteen minutes before being handed a stopwatch and an air horn. That worked better, but Goose's eyes looked funny for the rest of the night. Finally the Field House staff came up with an old NBA-style shot clock that was floor level. It was positioned in front of the officials' table, and it worked properly, but neither coach could see it from their bench.

Mark Donnelly was called on duty for a medical emergency when I suffered my third papercut of the weekend. It's not easy carrying a clipboard around with all kinds of paperwork. Three times when I was quickly flipping through my papers to find the right lineup I suffered an annoying papercut. And it was always on the same spot of the same finger.

Finally on the third papercut blood began flowing out. Well, not really flowing, not trickling -- what is the word? Okay, there was a dangerous drop of blood on my finger. Knowing the concern these days of blood getting on someone I immediately told Mark about it. Mark remained calm, and without hesitation reached for his black bag. He knew which of about twenty zippers to unzip, and within seconds I had some kind of wierd-shaped bandaid on my injured finger. Mark's choice of bandaids in this emergency still allowed my finger flexibility, while covering and protecting the wound from further injury. Mark's skill in moments such as these make him a vital member of the sectional official team.

The officials at the table weren't the only ones to sit through all eight games this weekend, however. Across the gym from us sat Bob Dailey, Mr. Basketball of the North Country. No one sees more basketball games in a year than Bob. He loves the game and he especially follows and supports high school athletes. He's a former member of our official team, but more on that in the follow-up blog.

The other person to watch all eight games was Calvin Castine of Home Town Cable in Champlain. Calvin does play-by-play for every sectional basketball game while operating a video camera at the same time. I've never known him to suffer an injury so his job probably isn't as dangerous as mine as court announcer, but he surely must have a sore back at the end of the weekend. He is a tireless devotee of high school sports.

I saw a few On the Sly regulars, such as Bullet and miss d, at the games. This coming weekend the Section 7 finals take place at the Field House. There will be some great basketball on the court and plenty of more action at the officials' table. I promise to keep you posted.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

In my previous "On the Sly" blog I listed five of my ten favorite movies. They were "Midnight Cowboy" starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, "Deliverance" featuring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" starrring Jack Nicholson, "The Shining" also starring Jack Nicholson and "Teachers" starring Nick Nolte.

Now that I've cooked a fresh batch of popcorn, kettle-style, no microwave popcorn, I'll add my next five in chronological order. They are:

Dead Poets Society (1989) - I have never been a Robin Williams fan, so I was not going to go to this movie. But my Stafford Middle School colleague John Haubner recommended this movie and added, "Foxy, you have to see it. Mr. Keating (played by Williams) reminded me of you." It's a movie about teenage boys at a private school and their connection to their English teacher, John Keating. It has humor, drama and deals with the sensitive issue of teen suicide. It's a movie that I eventually adopted in my classroom, not just to watch, but to discuss and digest. As a result, I've seen this movie about 30 times. And the ending still touches my heart.

A League of Their Own (1992) - "There's no crying in baseball!" moans Tom Hanks as manager Jimmy Dugan. Hanks fits the role perfectly. Loosely based on the real-life women's professional baseball league, the movie includes an interesting cast of characters: Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna, as well as the funny Jon Lovitz of "Saturday Night Live" fame. Sports, humor and even some touching moments.

My friends might be shocked that I didn't pick "Field of Dreams" or "Bull Durham" or even the "Major League" series instead of this the chick flick. Hey, I'd rather look at Madonna than Kevin Costner anyway!

Forrest Gump (1994) - It's already been 13 years since this movie came out. This is another movie I could watch over and over again and still enjoy. It has everything and Tom Hanks deserved the Oscar he won for Best Actor. And when it comes to sound tracks this movie has one of the all-time best.

The Cable Guy (1996) - I don't even like Jim Carrey movies -- except for this one. I couldn't get through more than fifteen minutes of "Ace Ventura" and even though I watched "Mask," I couldn't wait for the final credits. But there's something about Carrey's persistence, his aggravating persistence. Maybe it's because I've known people like The Cable Guy. "I can be your friend or your worst enemy," he says.

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Another Jack Nicholson movie! Harry Sanborn is Foxy Gagnon. I wouldn't mind being Jack Nicholson for a week -- or longer. And the character he plays, Harry Sanborn, is described as "a swinger on the cusp of being a senior citizen with a taste for young women ...." Does anyone know Foxy Gagnon? Of course, Sanborn suffers a heart attack and, shortly afterwards, emotionally matures. I understood Harry Sanborn better than any other character I've met in a movie.

So ... there's my top ten. Some readers have already commented on their faves, so now it's your turn. And as I reach for the unpopped kernels in this bucket of popcorn, here are some movies that I liked, but they didn't make my top ten: Easy Rider (I want to ride one of those motorcycles with the high handlebars), To Sir With Love (Sidney Poitier as a school teacher), Carnel Knowledge (Jack Nicholson again), Love Story (forget Ryan O'Neal - I fell in love with Ali McGraw -- whatever happened to her?), What About Bob? (Bill Murray drives Richard Dreyfuss nuts!), Jaws (a shark drives Richard Dreyfuss nuts!), The Goodbye Girl (a mom and her daughter drive Richard Dreyfuss nuts!), Little Big Man (one of Dustin Hoffman's lesser-known movies), Unfaithful (this movie kills me -- Diane Lane throws away a perfectly good husband -- Richard Gere -- for a torrid romance with a young stud), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (great western combo of Redford and Newman), The Heartbreak Kid (Cybil Shepard tempts newly-wed Charles Grodin -- a very funny movie!), In the Heat of the Night (great acting by Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier), Gone With the Wind (has to be on the list), A Christmas Story (I could watch it in June), Old Yeller (the first movie to make me cry -- no, I wasn't 20 years old; I was 9), and Brian's Song (my all-time favorite football movie -- the story of Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo of the Chicago Bears).

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)

When I think about it, maybe I used to go to the movies because of the popcorn. I can't watch a movie without popcorn and a soda. I used to eat popcorn almost every night. Nowadays I hardly ever eat popcorn. I also hardly ever go to the movies. In fact, the last movie I saw at the theatre was in 2003.

And I think movies were meant to be watched in a movie theatre. You know, more of an outing, with maybe a walk around the mall or a car ride afterwards to discuss the film. I miss all that.

But I've seen hundreds of movies in my lifetime and I've made a list of my "top ten" favorite movies. Are any of your favorites on my list? These are in chronological order, not in order of number-one favorite to number-ten favorite. Maybe before you read this, you should pop some corn, just to get in the mood.

Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Dustin Hoffman as memorable Ratso Rizzo with that crazy limp. Jon Voight as Joe Buck. For a movie to be great, you have to be able to identify with someone in the movie. I was in college when I saw this movie and most guys my age probably wished they were the young stud Joe Buck. For some reason I identified more with Ratso.

Deliverance (1972) - It's the only Burt Reynolds movie I ever liked. Jon Voight was in this movie, too. It is probably the only adventure movie on my list. I've never been the great outdoorsman, so it is hard to identify with this type of movie. But what made this work was that they were just ordinary guys looking to do something on the weekend. I could picture a bunch of us teachers back in '72, you know, maybe Z, Ray, Jim Murray, Skip, Sal and me renting some canoes and tossing in some beverages for a little fun. Next thing you know you are in over your heads! My old teacher buddies will remember our adventure of deep-sea fishing to Maine. That was enough of an adventure for me.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - If I had to pick my all-time favorite movie it might be this one. Jack Nicholson at his finest ... and he's had a lot of finests. One look at Nicholson makes you believe he is actually mental ward patient Randle P. McMurphy. Before I saw the movie I had read the book by Ken Kesey, thanks to a tip from my colleague Dick Trombly, who was a Ken Kesey fan. Louise Fletcher is great as Nurse Ratched. One of my favorite among many favorite scenes is when McMurphy calls the play-by-play for the World Series, even though the television had been shut off. There's never a dull moment in this movie.

The Shining (1980) - Jack Nicholson again -- this time as crazed writer Jack Torrance. By the end you are sitting on the edge of your seat as Torrance chases his wife (played by Shelley Duvall) through the hotel and grounds. And, of course, this movie has one of moviedom's all-time great lines: "Here's Johnny!"

Teachers (1980) - This may be the least known of the ten movies on my list. How could I not go see this movie? I was in the tenth year of my teaching career and thought I knew it all by this time. Nick Nolte plays frustrated teacher Alex Jurel. He challenges the school board, stands up for his students and risks his job in his battle with the school board. When he finally achieves success, the school board president screams at him that he's crazy! Jurel proudly looks at her and declares, "I'm a teacher!" That moment in this movie reassured me that I had picked the right career. I have to admit that sometimes my teaching styles might have been a little off-the-wall, but I was always willing to take the chance if it might get some student back on track.

I'm out of popcorn! In the next blog I'll list my next five favorites through the 1980s and up till now. Plus, I'll list about 20 more movies that just missed my top ten.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am very happy about the response I have received since starting this blog in December 2005. It's fun, and reading some of the comments makes it even more fun. I have been amazed about how far-reaching this blog has become in what is now called "the blogosphere."

Through the past year, however, I have met people who had questions about the blog, or people who wanted to write in a comment, but they weren't sure how this blog operates. So, today's blog is about this blog. It answers questions that I have been asked, and there may be some notes that might surprise you.

First of all, I write the blog right at my house. I do not have to go to the Press-Republican office to write. That gives me great flexibility to write when I have time or when I feel like it. Sometimes I've written blogs at noontime and sometimes at one o'clock in the morning.

I have a user name and password for the program that allows me to publish "On the Sly." Of course, that prevents anyone from jumping in and changing my words, or writing an "illegal blog."

After I write my blog, I simply hit a button to publish it on the pressrepublican.com website. I then go to the website to read my published blog. Often I have to return to the publishing area to make a correction or clarify a statement. When I am satisfied with the published blog, I sit back and wait for comments.

When a reader decides to comment on my blog, they simply write their statement, and choose a name, nickname, username, whatever. Anyone commenting must also add their e-mail address, but that does not get published to the website. I am the only one who sees the reader's e-mail address. The blog asks for a URL, but that can just be left blank.

My friend John, a regular "On the Sly" reader, recently clarified some terminology for me. He says that we are not all bloggers. I am the blogger for "On the Sly" and if you want to be a blogger you have to write your own blog. Readers who comment on a blog are not called bloggers. I asked John what they are called, but he says that there is no term for one who comments.

Maybe we should come up with a word! I have referred to the Carver and Bullet and miss d and the other regulars as bloggers, but I guess I have been wrong to do that. What word fits that all-important role that readers play in the life of a blog?

Before a blog comment is published it comes to me. I have the right to approve or reject, and I also have the ability to correct spelling, change wording, etc. It gives me a chance to keep my English teacher skills sharp. As long as the comment is appropriate, I am happy to publish it, whether or not I agree with what is being said.

Roger Black of the Press-Republican is the blog's webmaster. You might remember him from his radio days at WKDR. What a radio voice he has! He is now the silent man behind the "On the Sly" blog. When he tutored me on blog writing, he mentioned that in the future I could post pictures when I write a blog. I think I am ready for that! I think it would add a nice touch to what readers find when they visit "On the Sly." I'll contact Roger about this!

Shortly after the blog's inception I started getting "junk mail" or "spam" comments. Some were from people operating websites, who figured that I would just approve the blog and they would have free advertising for their website. It's not that easy to slip something like that over on a guy named Foxy. I carefully note each comment and I delete, rather than publish, comments from sources such as "viagra-online" and "ringtones" and "small" this and "big" that. I figure it's nothing that you or I would be interested in!

I do get paid for writing the blog for the Press-Republican. I hope editor Bob Grady doesn't read this, but I think I am overpaid. But, for one who loves to enjoy his retirement, I am glad that I am overpaid for writing "On the Sly." I hope they overpay me for years to come!

And have there been any bloopers? Yes, one bad one, which escaped me for days until a careful reader wondered about the contributions being made to our local "food panties." I really meant "pantries" and, even though I had read that blog about ten times, I never caught my blooper.

If there were some items here that you didn't know about blog writing, maybe now you do. If you have any questions about how all this works, feel free to ask. In the meantime, I hope you'll keep reading and, by all means, please keep contributing to "On the Sly."

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Yesterday with my blog "February 14th -- It's Just My Heart" written, I settled in to relax all day and enjoy the chance to get caught up on videotape editing and eBay.

At 7:50am I received a phone call from a certain someone with Valentine's Day wishes. That was followed by a call from another friend at 8:50am with similar sentiments. The day was off to a good start.

Later in the day a certain someone called again to see how my day was going. And, still later, my friend called a second time to see how I had survived the Valentine's Day snowstorm.

Who could ask for more? No flowers, no chocolates in the shape of a heart. Better than that -- real live phone calls from nice people who sincerely care.

So, little did I expect the phone call that arrived at 6:50pm. The caller ID flashed the 843 area code, so I figured it was some kind of sales pitch from some resort area. Perhaps a singles-only cruise line. Or the Bloggers United Resort Spa. Or maybe the eBay Power Sellers Cruise.

When I answered and heard a female voice say, "Hi, Ray" I knew it was someone from my past -- my distant past -- one of my other lives. It was Sue -- the same Sue mentioned in the blog who was the Valentine's Day Queen at Monty Street School long ago. She told me she was calling from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she and her Valentine were vacationing.

Seems that Sue had received calls all day from friends and relatives in the North Country letting her know that she had been mentioned in the blog. Sue wanted to fine tune my memory. I had guessed that this King and Queen of Valentine's Day picture was from third grade. Sue informed me that it had to be from Miss Holland's kindergarten class, because for first grade she transferred to another school.

We reminisced about our school years and compared notes on our retirement lives. She was happy that she had missed the snowstorm that had reduced the North Country to emergency status. It made walking the beach in fifty-degree weather seem even warmer.

Sue's phone call made for a fitting end to my Valentine's Day. And it again pointed out that when I push the buttons to publish this blog every few days, I have no idea who might be reading it. Or whose heart it might touch.

But Valentine's Day is only once a year! On the other 364 days it's business as usual. So I better lay off all this sentimental talk about flowers and valentines and certain someones. If I really am a "man's man," as miss d has so noted, I better move on to talk of snowplows and baseball and where to find a cold one on a cold day. That's what a real man would write about!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 6:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

It's Valentine's Day. It's a day that used to mean a great deal to me. It probably sounds corny to say that I once fell in love on Valentine's Day. But it's true. On February 14, 1984, I had my first date with a girl who stole my heart forever. For Christmas that year I gave her a custom-made sweatshirt with our initials and the date "2-14-84."

That shirt still hangs in what used to be her clothes closet. It's strange how I can't force myself to throw it away. The footsteps of time have a way of stomping on those memories. But somehow there always seems to be room in our heart for someone else. How big is our heart? It seems as though there are many people searching for that certain someone, that person who will be the perfect mate in our heart. Valentine's Day, more than any other day, reminds us of the importance of having a partner to share our lives.

Even way back in 1956 Valentine's Day took on special significance. What was it, third grade? Somewhere in a box in my basement is a black-and-white photo of me with a girl named Sue -- both wearing paper crowns as King & Queen of Valentine's Day at Monty Street School.

Judging by my big smile I look pretty happy in that photo, and I think my Mom decided then and there that this Sue girl would be the girl of my dreams, the girl I would marry. Coincidentally, we did date a few times in eighth grade or sometime in high school, but we were always "just friends."

She found her true Valentine in high school and the two have never parted. How lucky you are today if you have that perfect Valentine! Treasure it! I think back to my own parents -- Vi and Ray -- and wish that my Mom still had her Valentine sitting near her in the living room. Valentine's Day means so much more when you have someone to share it with.

So, today, Valentine's Day, I send out my valentines via this blog. To those in the past who stole my heart and never brought it back, and those in the present who share their smiles with me -- Happy Valentine's Day!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

On Thursday night NCAA basketball came to Plattsburgh. At least that's what it felt like at Barker Memorial Gymnasium at Plattsburgh High School when the Peru Central School boys basketball team took on PHS. It was a standing-room-only crowd at the spacious gym, and the noise created by the Indians and Hornets fans surely knocked books off the shelves of the school library down the hall.

Students from both schools came prepared to show their school spirit. Many Peru fans had painted faces and brought signs. One large sign in particular reminded everyone that in football the Indians had prevailed twice over the Hornets, albeit by close scores. And the sign continued to note that the Indians had won the earlier hoop matchup between these two schools in Peru.

In that game the Peru Indians came from behind in the closing minutes to steal the win at the buzzer when Austin Rickert lofted a game-winning shot. His shot sent Indians fans home happy that night, and forced the Hornets into waiting five weeks for the rematch.

On Thursday night the Hornet fans demonstrated school spirit that has not been seen in years at Barker. All season there has been a noisy group of students at most home games, sitting (or mostly standing!) under the basket at the cafeteria end of the gym. But on this night they were tripled in number! And they took the gym by storm when a group of 15 boys followed the team onto the floor with their chests painted orange and spelling out "Go Plattsburgh!" in black.

Principals and athletic directors from both schools were in attendance, but they were able to enjoy the game and were not put into the situation of being babysitters. The crowd was noisy, extremely noisy, and everyone had plenty of fun. Plattsburgh A.D. Joe Staves set the tone with his opening remarks about sportsmanship, followed by recognition of the Peru senior athletes and a note of best wishes to a Peru player who has been hospitalized. The Peru crowd appreciated the gesture, I'm sure.

It was the final home game for the senior athletes and the customary recognition was given to parents and seniors. The Peru crowd was polite during this segment and you can bet the Hornets faithful appreciated that.

While the youngsters had fun cheering and, better yet, playing, many of us old-timers in the crowd were thinking how proud former PHS coaches would be. Coaches like George Kimball, Ray Holmes, Mike Flynn and Kevin Daugherty, who was in attendance.

Both teams are coached by young enthusiastic coaches. Chris Hartmann, a Peru Central graduate, coaches PHS and Matt Berry, also a Peru Central grad, coaches his alma mater. However, as Joe Staves pointed out to the crowd, Matt's father, Pat Berry, was an outstanding athlete who graduated from PHS.

The game itself was all anyone could hope for -- five-on-five basketball, five outstanding athletes on each side, with an NCAA environment. Years from now the players will be telling their grandchildren about this night, perhaps embellishing their own performance a bit, as time seems to do to all of us.

The crowd saw ten ties in the first half and a halftime score of 27-27. Even halftime was noisy with everyone buzzing about the excitement of the first half.

A big third quarter for Plattsburgh took the Indians crowd out of the game somewhat in the second half, but a fourth quarter scoring spurt by Peru brought them back into the game.

The game was a battle for first place in Division I of the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference and the Hornets 66-50 win gave them the CVAC title. But the game meant even more than that. To the Hornets it meant winning one against the school that they had battled and lost to three times. I'm sure the players had a little extra strut as they walked down the PHS halls on Friday morning.

No need to mention particular players or high scorers or anyone else. It was a great battle of one team against another. And it was as close as many of us have ever seen to a big time college basketball game. Syracuse, North Carolina, Duke had nothing on the Barker Thursday night. The players and fans turned it into what Dick Vitale calls, "Showtime, baby!"

The players on both teams can be proud to have played in such an event. It's a game I'll be talking about for a long time.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Put nine people, averaging 44.5 years of age, together in a room for three consecutive days from 8am until 3pm. Shut the door and force them to read hundreds of essays written by sixth, seventh and eighth graders. And these nine can find a way to find humor in the situation. It could only be a group of English and reading teachers. Only they could smile and enjoy the situation and manage to emerge unscarred for life.

That's the situation the past few days over at the Plattsburgh City School District's central office where six women and three lucky men have been scoring New York State's English Language Arts annual tests. I was grateful to be invited back to work with my former colleagues from Stafford Middle School. Eight dedicated teachers and Foxy Gagnon, dedicated to a new life of retirement.

After all, these are people who have been practicing most of their lives for this type of activity. These are the people who stay up late at night, long past Letterman's Top Ten List, to continue reading an exciting novel. These are the people who have been spending much of their Sundays surrounded by student compositions, binders and journals.

And just what do we nine find so humorous? Oh, maybe the discussion of the Ferrara Pan Atomic Fireballs that both Michelle and I brought. Or, perhaps the discussion of video vixens from the MTV videos of the Eighties. Or maybe even some of the creative sentences that students can come up with to satisfy the state's desire to know just where every child falls on the important categories of reading, listening and handling the mechanics of writing.

But our time together wasn't without its more serious moments, especially when I became upset over the philosphy of the state when it comes to the use of the comma on the seventh grade test. The scoring manual states, "The comma before a conjunction that links two or more independent clauses is optional."

Optional? Since when? Says who? Are the ELA gurus in the State Education Department in Albany taking it upon themselves to implement changes in long-accepted writing practices? Is the comma now optional in New York, but required in Vermont? And consider that in the eighth grade scoring guide, no such declaration occurs, thus rendering their irrational decisions concerning commas in effect only for seventh graders.

One of my colleagues remarked, "The No-Child-Left-Behind program is leaving grammar and punctuation rules behind."

When I continued to rant about this travesty and threatened to write a blog about it, Kate, our scoring leader, said, "Let your blog be your outlet and be quiet!" I think it was said tongue in cheek. Her quip drew more laughter from my colleagues, who are obviously thrilled to be working with me again.

And what about spelling? According to the state, sometimes it counts and sometimes it doesn't. And if the spelling errors are repetitive it's okay and understandable and should not bring extra penalty to the student. One teacher remarked about the future, "Will we really need to know how to spell?"

In a world filled with text messages, instant messages and chatrooms, correct spelling is looked down upon. When I first began IMing, I was ridiculed by fellow chatters because I didn't use computerese. I always would write in complete sentences with correct punctuation, capitalization and spelling. You never would catch me trying to lol, brb or bbl.

All ELA teachers today face a tough challenge in teaching standard English writing skills to students who are growing up in an informal English world.

So there we sit for three straight days, English teachers Kate, Marjorie, Nancy, Michelle, Karen and Andy and reading teachers Judy and Scott, along with a retired guy in a little curly ponytail. And amidst the seriousness of assigning number values to a student essay, we manage to find moments of humor. We manage to leave with smiles on our faces.

But three days, 21 hours, is enough! My eight colleagues can't wait to get back to their students. And they can't wait to remind them that every comma has a place, except for certain grades upon certain occasions. In a world with all kinds of teenage pressures, we need to rescue our young from the uncertainty of the world of commas before they go comma crazy.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Next year Bill is going to charge money at the door and he'll have a packed house and the best Super Bowl party around. That's what I attended yesterday -- the best Super Bowl party in the North Country. There was a total of six people and enough food to feed sixty.

When I arrived at his house, Bill was just pulling the last batch of fried perch out of the grease. His wife Kayla greeted me with a smile and presented me with a gift of atomic fireballs -- a whole dispenser of hundreds of those babies!

I knew right there that this would be a day to remember! I headed downstairs to the family room, where my friend Patrick was already downing a cold one. I looked at the table of food. Oh, my! In addition to the perch, which the amazing Bill probably caught out on Lake Champlain at five in the morning, he and his wife had prepared shrimp cocktail, subs, chicken wings, crackers and cheese, chips and dip, pepperoni slices, bowls of mixed nuts and all the sauces and condiments needed to satisfy my tastes. The best part was that with just six of us there I didn't have to elbow anyone away from the food to get my plate filled.

With my first plate of food in front of me, I was ready to watch the game on (get this one!) Bill's new high definition gigantic flat screen plasma TV! During the coin toss, it was just as if I was right there on the field with those players. I think Peyton Manning was eyeballing my five filets of perch instead of paying attention on the field.

Wow, it was realistic! Just like you are there at the game. And, since it was raining in Miami, Bill would run through the room every five minutes with a spray-mist water bottle, making us feel like we were watching the game in person.

'Ere long Patrick's wife Trish arrived in her Dwight Freeney jersey, along with my friend Denise, who brought me a gift can of salted cocktail peanuts. We all settled in to watch the game. We all looked pretty comfortable with food and drink, but I couldn't help but notice that Bill seemed the most comfortable of all, his feet snug in his orange and black down slippers. They looked much better than my well-worn grey wool socks.

So that I wouldn't go overboard in the food department, I figured there should be some rules established as far as eating goes. When I finished my first plate, I declared, "No more food for me until the next first down." Lucky for me on the next play Manning threw a touchdown pass! Back I went for round two of goodies.

When plate number two was empty, I went by the pre-established "first-down rule." On the next play, the Colts fumbled, the Bears recovered it and had a first down! Chow time!

Unlike past parties at Bill's house, which involved larger groups of people, the women did not stay in the kitchen for the whole game. They joined us guys in the family room. Time for more rules, though! Amidst the female chatter, Patrick stated, "A good wife is quiet during the football games!" That brought smiles from three of the six in attendance. You can probably guess which three weren't smiling.

But it didn't entirely stop those women, who were showing a new-found interest in football. We men, however, just aren't used to discussions about "see-through pants" and "push-up bras" and "hickeys" and "nose jobs" during the Super Bowl. Did you know that some females feel that Peyton Manning should have a nose job? His name is Man-ning, not Female-ing.

The halftime show featuring Prince gave me a chance to visit the food table one more time. By now quesadillas and meat pie had been added to the tasty treats. Is this a party or what? There was not a Prince fan among the six of us so we only casually watched his halftime performance in the rain. I guess we missed the controversial guitar phallic symbols that the talk shows are buzzing about today.

Maybe that's because we were talking about the size of Post-It notes that Denise likes to put on her computer at work. She likes all sizes, I found out. It's good to be versatile because one can never be sure what size Post-It note someone might have.

Patrick summed up the Prince performance with "I would rather look at sweaty guys in uniforms than Prince." No one argued.

As to the game itself, you had to wonder if these were the best two teams the NFL had to offer. Six turnovers, three by each team by halftime, made it an interesting but sloppy game. As predicted, the Colts had enough of Manning and enough of Vinatieri to win the game. I was impressed that the women stayed with us in the family room for the entire game, perhaps truly enjoying being around their men for hours. I couldn't help but laugh, though, when one of them asked, "How are the Cubs doing?"

No doubt about it! I had a great time at Bill's Super Bowl Party. It had everything that any football fan could wish for! Football, food, beverages, HDTV, good friends and pretty women! The hostess made sure that I didn't leave without a big plate of leftovers, as well as my nuts and hot balls. I hope I get invited back next year.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Today is Super Sunday. The NFL and hundreds of businesses have made a lot of money using that phrase. To me, especially since retirement, every Sunday is a super Sunday. Get up when I want, do what I want, invite over to my house whoever I want. And, best of all, eat and drink what I want. If that's not a super Sunday, you tell me what is!

But I guess the fact that it's the final NFL game of the season makes it super. Usually the game itself is not the best game of the season, although in the past five years there have been some good ones. In 2004 and 2005 the Patriots won by just three points each time.

In last year's Super Bowl the Steelers (remember the Steelers?) and the Seahawks combined for just 31 points, the fewest points since 1975 when the Steelers (remember the Steelers?) beat the Vikings 16-6. More often than not, the winning team scores more than 31 points.

I've never been big on attending Super Bowl parties. I probably should be. I like people and I'm pretty friendly. For some reason, though, I have always preferred to stay home and do other things, like fold laundry and sort baseball cards, while half-heartedly watching the game. Maybe it's because the extra commercials and forever-long halftime show, puts you in front of the television set for about seven hours for the sake of about an hour of actual football action.

And when it comes to Super Bowls, I'm probably more interested in super bowls of popcorn, wings and soup. Ask anybody, and they'll tell you that the Super Bowl is the best excuse of the year for hammering down your favorite liquid refreshment and filling up on your favorite snacks. I'd like a penny for every chicken wing consumed in the United States today. Okay, give me a penny for every chicken wing consumed in Plattsburgh today.

So, today, I'll watch the game for awhile with some great friends over at Bill's house. We will say funny stuff, eat some good food (I wonder if he's deep frying a turkey again?) and I'll drink a few bottles of soda. For the most part the women will ignore the game, talk about whatever they talk about in the kitchen, and miss the Colts' fourth quarter drive to win the game.

The Colts will win by a handful of points because of two players: Peyton Manning and Adam Vinitieri. Manning will manage enough yardage against that tough Bears' defense to get them close, and the sure-footed Vinitieri will split the uprights enough times to provide the margin of victory.

Don't bet your house on it, but that's the way I see it. The only bowl prediction you can be sure of with me is that I'll have a big bowl of food in front of me at halftime!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 8:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

As Zonebreaker commented a few days ago, On the Sly has provided "the opportunity to hear from many old friends and even find out where they are now ...." That has sure been true for many of us. I have heard from long-lost students in all parts of the country and from childhood friends who had worked their way to the back of my memory.

But that comment got me thinking the other day: What about some of my childhood friends that I haven't heard from? Where are they? And do they even remember little Ray Gagnon from Johnson Avenue, before he became the blogging Fox?

When Goose and I were talking football recently, he mentioned the brothers who lived on Johnson Avenue and went to Our Lady of Victory Academy. They were two tough football players named Kenny and Pete Canestorp. I think their father was in the Air Force and they might have lived on Johnson Avenue for about five years. They were really nice guys, but when they strapped on the football helmet, they made Coach John Flynn smile! They were big and they were brawlers. When they moved from Plattsburgh, we never heard from them again.

Also just down the street from our house the LaRocco family moved in. They were an Italian family and the father, Joe, was also in the Air Force. He had black hair, dark eyebrows and sang a song like Tony Bennett. He was often talking about recording some of his songs, and he may have cut a record locally. He would sing for anyone who would listen, including my Mom, which didn't make my Dad too happy.

But I was more interested in his daughter, Valerie, who was the same age as I and in the same class at OLVA. She was taller than I, but I guess most girls were in those days. Okay, in these days too! But she was very pretty and she was my date (yikes! there's that "date" word again!) when we went on the "Dusty Boyd Show" at the WPTZ-Channel 5 studio on Cornelia Street. There we were on television, live ... and dancing ... and me trying to stand on my toes a little to look taller. I'd love to hear from her. I'm sure she is married to an Italian guy, one who has a great singing voice and stands about 6' 4".

And I wonder what ever happened to Ronnie Zak. He lived further down Johnson Avenue and was older than the usual gang that hung out in Elizabeth Street schoolyard. He was a big guy. I mean tall and bulky. But sometimes he would play baseball with us, and once in awhile he would hit a towering fly ball that would go over Elizabeth Street School. I mean, we would look up and it would go over the roof and land someplace on Elizabeth Street. While two or three of us ran to try to track the ball down, Ron would be loping around the bases, laughing all the way. After high school I guess he moved away, and I've never heard from him again.

A friend and I were talking about high school days this past weekend and she mentioned the name Henry Yerger. Henry was in my 1966 OLVA graduation class. He hadn't grown up in the North Country, but when he arrived he gave all of us Fox Hill guys some competition for the girls. He had good looks and this curly hair, always neat with the little curly wave in the front. He was a friendly guy who moved away after graduation, and I've never heard from him again.

And while I'm at it, where's Donald Reille from Hartwell Street and Faith Parent from Waterhouse Street? When I was a senior in high school, I had a crush on Leitha Bashaw from Keeseville, and before that, there was this Air Force girl named Judy North. In 1966 I fell head over heels for an OLVA boarder from South America named Myriam Barrientos. During the summer of '66 letters from her arrived weekly all the way from her homeland. All summer I brushed up on my Spanish. But when she returned to Plattsburgh in September, she dumped this local guy for an Air Force dude she met at Brodi's. Seems that his Air Force uniform was more appealing than my Gus' Red Hots white shirt with grease spots all over it.

Anyway, I'd still love to find out what happened to these missing persons in my life. Anyone know?

Sure would like to add some of these names to the On the Sly club.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)