Leading off today: Well, this should be interesting ...
Syracuse.com on Thursday launched what it says will be a periodic series highlighting "some of the things parents and fans do at high school athletic events that make us pause or cringe."
One of the offerings:
"The Skaneateles-Westhill girls soccer match on Wednesday was played in a steady rain. A small crowd assembled, which meant, as they say, there was plenty of good free parking available. That didn't stop one late-arriving fan taking her monster SUV and parking it near the gate entrance on top of an area marked with diagonal (no parking) white stripes. The fan got out with an umbrella decorated with "Bloomberg" logos. The vehicle was moved shortly later."
We can think of much worse, and now that Syracuse.com has opened the topic for nominations, we can't wait to read the next installment of the series.
Class move: Oneonta girls soccer coach Jerry Mackey will be vacationing in the Bahamas after the season.
The Daily Star reports some of Mackey's former students presented him with the four-day trip at halftime of Wednesday's 8-1 victory over Windsor on Wednesday. Steve Polgar, a 2001 OHS graduate who had Mackey as a teacher, made the presentation.
"I had him as a student years ago," said Mackey, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis this past winter. "I enjoyed him in class. It was a nice surprise, for sure. I'm humbled by it and very appreciative."
More soccer: Charlotte Williams midway through the first half as Brighton handed Pittsford Mendon (12-1-2), the state's No. 3 Class A girls team, its first loss of the season, 1-0. Mary Flanagan made eight saves for the shutout for the Barons (9-4-2), who have won seven straight games.
And a few leftovers from earlier in the week:
• International Prep/Grover Cleveland broke through a Buffalo Riverside boys defense that had allowed just two goals in the previous eight games and handed the Frontiers a 3-0 loss Tuesday.
The teams played to a 1-1 tie last month and entered the rematch unbeaten in league play.
• Williamsville East sophomore Marissa Birzon set the school single-season record with her 27th goal, one of her two in a 5-2 win over West Seneca East.
• On Monday, junior Slavi Matin set the Hamburg record for shutouts in a season with his 11th as the Bulldogs topped St. Francis 4-0.
• Spackenkill, unbeaten and state-ranked in both, lost Monday by 2-1 in boys action and 2-0 to Red Hook in the girls contest.
• A hat trick Tuesday during an 11-0 victory vs. Granville pushed Ian Cepiel's goal total for Stillwater this fall to 49
