"Part of my obligation to
USA Today was to launch the (2007) ratings,"
Lawlor explained to Cincinnati.com before either entity published its lists this week. "What I submitted was that St. X is No. 4 and Colerain is No. 24. If they tinker with it at this point, I would be stunned."
High-profile girls: HoopGurlz says Deleware phenom Elena Delle Donne is the No. 1 rising senior among girls basketball players, with six New Yorkers also making the top 100.
New York's leading prospect remains guard Shenise Johnson of Rush-Henrietta, who's ranked 16th. Following her are Tyler Ash (Liverpool, No. 24), Samantha Prahalis (Commack, No. 30), Alexa Roche (St. Michael's, No. 47) and the Murry Bergtraum duo of Shakeya Leary (No. 54) and Krystall Parnell (No. 77).
Faulty logic alert: The public vs. private schools debate has reared its head again on the Syracuse.com forums, this time on the girls soccer board.
It didn't take long for one of the silliest and least meaningful arguments in the history of civilization to get trotted out. Let's give a round of applause to the private-school hater posting under the name "wisards32" for this insight:
"It is not called the New York State PRIVATE High School Athletic Association Championship."
That mentality was, is and always will be lame. Get over it, folks. "New York State Public High School Athletic Association" is a name. That's all it is, a name. It's not a statement. It's the name of an organization. An organization that has willingly accepted non-public schools as members.
End of discussion. Now, start putting energy and constructive thought into the genuine issues in the public/private debate. Then come back and post something actually worth reading. Until then, you're wasting perfectly good bandwidth that could be dedicated toward watching YouTube videos of skateboarders maiming themselves while trying to execute impossible stunts.
Extra points: If you want to get a jump on planning your winter entertainment in New York City, the PSAL has posted its 2007-08 boys basketball schedules, containing league matchups only. . . .
LongIslandBasketball.com says
Jim Plate has been promoted to boys varsity coach at St. John The Baptist. Plate, inducted into the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, was a scholastic star in the mid-1960s for Seton Hall High School for Frank Layden, then played at St. John's under legendary coach Lou Carnesecca. He must have some hilarious stories to tell.
