Leading off today: Ron Naclerio earned his 723rd career victory Tuesday, making him the winningest basketball coach in PSAL history. The milestone came in Cardozo's 88-72 victory vs. Francis Lewis.
He began the day tied with retired coach Chuck Granby of Andrew Jackson and Campus Magnet, who won 722 games in 45 years. Naclerio, who won New York City titles in 1999 and 2014, just started his 35th season.
"It's a wonderful feeling," Naclerio, 58, told The Daily News. "As each second goes on it's meaning a lot more."
After the game, Naclerio headed to a party he had planned ahead of time, apologizing to Francis Lewis coaches for taking the victory for granted but insisting he did it only because so many people had to know the plan.
Mark your calendar: The do-overs for selecting host sites for upcoming NYSPHSAA championships in two sports will be coming up next week.
The boys basketball committee convenes Monday to open the new round of bids and recommend a site for the 2017-19 tournaments. Glens Falls won in the first go-round, but controversy over the procedure prompted the New York State Public High School Athletic Association to start the process over.
With the outdoor track championship process for selecting venues in 2017 and '19 in progress but not completed at the same time, the NYSPHSAA also opted to start that process over. The bids will be reviewed by the track committee Tuesday.
The best guess is that Glens Falls and Binghamton will bid again on basketball and may be joined by one or more other cities that have gone to school on details in the original bids. Who'll emerge as the winner remains anyone's guess.
In track and field, it's likely that facilities in Sections 2, 4 and 5 will be contending. Based on nearly identical information I've heard from three sources, there's a very good chance that the winning bidder will be hosting for the first time.
The recommendations will go to the Championship Advisory Committee and Executive Committee on Dec. 18.
By the way, the NYSPHSAA is also now soliciting bids for three-year contracts in boys and girls lacrosse that begin in 2017. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 5. Given the number of quality venues across the state and the interest in the sport, it would be surprising if there weren't at least seven proposals each for both the boys semifinals and championship games.
If it does play out that way, you can figure out multiple bids that are more or less identical -- i.e., the hosts proposing to more or less pick up all the expenses. If so, the committee meeting to pick the winning bid could be the most bruising battle in quite some time.
Rules revisions: The Journal News came out of the gate strong at the start of the winter sports season with a piece on the implications of changes to girls basketball rules.
The biggest change is the awarding of two free throws once an opponent commits its fifth common foul of the quarter. Previously, teams shot 1-and-1's after the opponent's seventh common foul of the half; the automatic two shots kicked in after the 10th foul of the half.
The rule change absolutely rewards stronger free-throw shooting teams, provided they're not facing a superior 3-point-shooting opponent. They'll be more likely to come away with at least one point per possession and quite often two when games turn into endless fouling late in the fourth quarter.
