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WPCNR PRESS BOX. November 25, 2005: White Plains won the Battle of White Plains Thursday morning with a third quarter touchdown pass on a rollout left, spin and throw TD pass from quarterback Conor Gilmartin-Donohue to “Old Reliable # 21” Tommy Lee to cap a 6 minute touchdown drive. The Tigers held Archbishop Stepinac to just 11 plays in the second half to win their fourth straight Turkey Bowl at Parker Stadium before the traditional good-natured throng of about a 1,000 fans. 

Tiger kicker Ian Jackson saved a touchdown with another patented open field tackle intercepting the Crusader’s  Rashaad Slowley  at the 50 yard line on the ensuing kickoff to save the tying touchdown.

Tigers Bleeding the Clock late in the Fourth Quarter. Photo, WPCNR Sports.

White Plains began its victory drive, when Justin Lee, the Tiger upman took a short Crusader second half kickoff at the Tiger 30 and returned it 15 yards to the Orange and Black 47. The Tigers then chewed up 6 and a half minutes of the Third Quarter with a 53 yard march in 8 plays, highlighted by a key 2^nd and 10 pass play at the Crusader 30, Gilmartin-Donohue to Mickey Morello.

 

Conor dropped gracefully back, looked to his left in the flat and found Mickey wide open at the 20, and the Mick rumbled on a slanting run all the way to the Crusader 7 for a first and goal. Jamaine Hewitt lost two yards to the 9. Then the Tigers struck for the gamer.

 

Gilmartin-Donohue dropped back, rolled to his left and winged a pass to an uncovered “Mr. Lee”  to the left of the goal post who turned, said “Come to Pappa” and gathered it in clean at his belly. TouchDOWN!  Ivan Gayton kicked the PAT and it was 7-0 nothing, Orange and Black, and they had melted almost 7 minutes out of the third quarter on the drive. White Plains will miss Tommy Lee’s special ability to rise to the occasion when the chips are down next year.

 

Ian Stops the Equalizer.

 

On the kickoff, Ian Jackson booted mightily to inside the 10, but an offside on the kickoff cost the Tigers a do-over from the 35.

 

Rashaad Slowley took Ian’s second kick at the 20, slanted left, gathered blockers and was funneled to the far side, but he did not wait for a blocker, and Ian Jackson was the last Tiger standing.

 

Angling on  Mr. Slowley in full stride, Jackson got the angle exactly right and  bearhugged him from the side and bulldogged him down out of bounds at the 50 yard line saving the equalizer. By WPCNR count, this is the third time Ian has saved a touchdown on a kickoff this year. He is fearless mano a mano.

 

A Costly Bobble stalls Stepinac March.

 

Stepinac started up their drive at the 50. After a running play gained little yardage, quarterback Steve Meys hit Slowley with a beauty flat pass to the near sideline for a first down on the Tiger 35. There was a run for no gain. Then on third down a pitchback to Slowley was dropped —  the only fumble of the game to that point. He fell on it in the backfield for a 5 yard loss.  On third and 15, a  Meys pass to the 20 was broken up by three Tigers around the receiver and it was 4^th and 15 from the 40. Stepinac elected to pooch punt rather than go for it, attempting to bloop it short and hit a Tiger defender with it causing a free ball, but the Tiger linebackers were careful and let the pooch die.

 

The Tigers took over with Hewitt running 17 yards on first down to the  50. Gilmartin-Donohue ran to the Crusader 41 as the Third Quarter ended with the Tigers on the 41 and up 7-0.

 

Tiger ball control bleeds clock.

 

 After Gilmartin-Donohue made a first down at the 40, two plays lost two yards. Then Conor was about to be sacked deep at the 50 on 3^rd and 14, but he stepped out of a tackle like Fred Astaire and rumbled  17 yards on a slant around right end down to the Crusader 30 for a first down.  Jeff Terreda on 2^nd and 5 rolled around end for a first down on the Stepinac 16.  But there the drive stalled when Conor Gilmartin-Donohue was sacked for the first time back on the 25. The Tigers punted and Stepinac took over at their 26.

 

However, the eight plays run by the Tigers on the 50 yard drive had stolen 6 minutes off the fourth quarter. Stepinac took over and went 3 and out when Mickey Morello turned aside Mike Degrella on a 3^rd and 4 at the 33. A mighty punt forced the Tigers back to their own 10 with 4 minutes to play.

 

On a third down, Conor Gilmartin-Donohue on a keeper ran for a first down at the 23. This forced Stepinac to burn their time outs to stop the clock after each play. Three plays failed to make a first down and White Plains was forced to punt on 4^th down at their 24.

 

Jackson booms it out of harm’s way.

 

Standing on his own 10 Ian Jackson punted for the last time as a Tiger with great pressure. The snap was low and he was able to somehow zing a mortar on a line past the 50 yard line to the Stepinac 47. It was a 42 yard punt in the air, 30 yards from scrimmage. It was enough to give Stepinac a problem. The Crusaders had no time outs and there was only a minute and a half to go in the game.

 

Quarterback Meys elected for a series of medium passes getting a first down which stopped the clock. A completed pass to the Tiger 30 was nullified by an illegal procedure penalty, the last costly penalty of the day. This put the Crusaders back to midfield again. A pass deep to the Tiger 5 was overthrown. A final pass for all the marbles never got launched because Meys muffed the snap and the Tigers recovered, taking over and running out  the clock.

 

Tenative First Half

 

 In the first half Stepinac and White Plains, each showing signs of rustiness had opening drives stalled by procedure and encroachment penalties. Stepinac drove to the Tigers 8 on their opening drive that lasted six minutes but were stopped on a run and two incomplete passes. They elected to try a 15 yard field goal that went wide.  The Tigers drove right back to the Stepinac 21, getting an encroachment first down. But could not convert on the following series. 

 

Stepinac then drove to the Tiger 42 where their drive stalled. A closing Tiger possession in the first half ended on an interception and the first half ended 0-0.

 

 

Connors, McCarthy Honored. John McCarthy above, and Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors (waving to crowd, below) were recognized in pregame ceremonies as the Dedicatees of this year’s game. Photo by WPCNR Sports.

 

Superintendent of Schools  Timothy Connors, acknowledging the crowd, with his wife Jean,(center) and members of the White Plains Board of Education. Photo, WPCNR Sports.

 

 

Lee and Mohan Receive BT Lauer Awards.

 

 

At the close of the game Tommy Lee (below)  who caught the winning touchdown and Paul Mohan  (above)of Stepinac received the BT Lauer Sportsmanship Scholarship & Awards for their sportsmanship, leadership, community service and character on and off the field during their high school careers. Each young man receives a $1,376 Scholarship. Photos by WPCNR Sports.

 

 

 

 The White Plains High School Marching Band (below, playing the Alma Mater) performed a halftime extravaganza that set a new standard in formation segues and choreography. They looked very sharp. Photo by WPCNR Sports

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WPCNR RINGSIDE. By KO Johnny. November 23, 2005: The traffic was still streaming in at 8:15 into the parking lots surrounding the County Center as fight fans swarmed to the fifth and final Westchester County Boxing Card of the season. They were rewarded with four excellent fights highlighted by Welterweight Danbury Del Rodriguez’s 6 Round TKO of Sugarfoot McClendon on Rodriguez’s  combinations to die for  on him against the ropes in the last round. The relentless and patient Rodriguez boxed the Colombus (Ohio) brawler superbly, caught him with a series in the fifth started by a left jab and right cross, then finished him off in the sixth with an overhand right and a followup left from way down underneath  that put McClendon on the ropes where Rodriguez (17-1-1, 10 KOs) took him apart with a left, right, right,left driving him to his knees, and Referee Michael Ortega stopped the fight.

Delvin Rodriguez clocks Sugarfoot McClendon with an express right with everything on it in Round 6 to begin the finish to the Main Event. Photo, WPCNR Sports

The most rousing fight of the evening before 2,500 buzzing serious fans (who stayed until the end) saw Joey “Mr” Rios (12-0, 5 KOs) outbox the PitBull from Denver, Larry Gonzalez (8-2, 2 KOS), defeating him in a unanimous 8-round decision, 80-74, 78-74, 78-74. This tense battle of lightning fast fighters had speed, finesse, strategy and intelligent boxing was in doubt to the final gong.

Joey “Mr.” Rios, left and Larry Gonzalez of Denver, going at it in the lates. You can see Rios is cut above his right eye, and Gonzalez nose is caked with blood. Rios’ poise and ability to protect his cut through the fight carried him to the win against the explosive Gonzalez who could not finish his punches. Photo, WPCNR Sports.

Rios got away on points in the first two rounds covering up from Gonzalez blows to his head and punishing Gonzalez with his left jab, bloodying Gonzalez’s nose by the end of round Two.

Gonzalez struck back a minute into Round 3 opening a nasty cut to the left of Joey’s eye. Joey was forced to avoid coming inside against Gonzalez throughout the fight due to the eye problem, but still punished Gonzalez with his lightning jab enough to take round four. Rios rallied jabbing away with Gonzalez unable to land his punches soon enough and Rios dancing away and dancing in, took the pivotal round five with a solid left hook in the final seconds to steal the fifth. We saw it 3-2 going to the sixth. Gonzalez took it to Rios in Round sixth but was unable to do serious damage. Rios held on controlling the fight jabbing and tying Gonzalez up while still being aggressive in the final two rounds. You got the feeling watching this one that at any moment Gonzalez could land one and hand Rios his first defeat. But Mr. Rios held on to go to 12-0, showing his right arm is solid after surgery seven months ago.

A left uppercut from Battle Hill’s Tony Grano  coming up out of the canvus waist high has just landed flush to Ruben Bracera’s jaw and Reuben is down at 47 seconds of Round 2, Tony had his first professional win by knockout. Photo, WPCNR Sports

Tony Grano, the heavyweight from Battle Hill showed he could box and move fast in his first fight, holding off free swinging Ruben Bracera (2-5-1) from the Bronx staggering and dropping Rueben in the corner with a massive right at the end of the first round. In the second round a left from down below caught Bracera flush in the face staggering him to his knees, and he fell back to the canvas, for a second round knockout at 47 seconds.

Hurricane Saccurato tearing Tanya Gallegos apart. Photo, WPCNR Sports.

Ann Marie Saccurato (10-1-2)returned to her winning ways, defeating  Tanya Gallegos of Denver (now 3-4, 2 KOs) on a TKO at 1:38. Ann Marie was sky high for this one, jumping up and down with more pep than usual before the first bell. She litterally whirled into this fight, and Gallegos never knew what hit her. Ann Marie landed combinations at will in round two and the referee stopped the fight after Saccurato was pummeling her into the end ropes. Leo Fortyz of the Bronx Journal at ringside chatted with the referee who said she stopped it because Gallegos was obviously outclassed, was going to lose anyway and she did not want to see Gallegos hurt.

In the preliminaries, Richard Pearson (2-0, 1 KO) of Patterson, N.J. defeated Curtis Spice Jones of Brooklyn (2-1), stopping Jones with a solid right in the first round, and keeping Jones at bay the rest of the fight. Pearson told Fortyz in an interview he was fight with a muscle pull and could not throw his left hand. Ray Dominguez (0-1), making his pro debut, lost to Cory Jones of Brooklyn (1-1) who outboxed him and tired Ray out. But Dominguez came alive in the fourth round to give Jones a bit of a scare.

 

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. November 23, 2005: Tony Stimac, Producing Director of the White Plains Performing Arts Center convinced the Common Council last night to fund the WPPAC for 2005-2006 with an additional $100,000, to be matched by  an equal $100,000 contribution to the theatre by Super Developer Louis Cappelli, who has also agreed to raise an additional $100,000. Stimac said the cash infusion from the city and Mr. Cappelli’s efforts would give the WPPAC the $300,000 it needed to “breakeven” for the year in 2005-06.

Tony Stimac addressing the Common Council Tuesday evening. Photo, WPCNR News

Stimac in the course of a wide ranging Power Point presentation, said the WPPAC lost $197,000 in 2003-2004, the theatre’s first year, revealed it had lost $107,000 in the year just completed (2004-2005), and the theatre is losing money at the rate of  $300,000 in its third year, without the infusion of $300,000 from the city, Mr. Cappelli and friends. No detailed financials were provided in the powerpoint presentation.

Stimac  said he was looking for a new Executive Director for the theatre to replace Ray Cullom who announced his departure to WPCNR last week. Stimac responding to a question from Rita Malmud about Mr. Cullom’s leavetaking said, “He (Cullom) wasn’t the right guy. He wasn’t the right fit. He was a very expensive guy.” 

The $100,000 from the city will be taken out of the $200,000 Louis Cappelli contributed to the theatre in the original deal on the the Renaissance Square Fountain,  but was not used, according to Benjamin Boykin, Common Councilman.  Boykin told WPCNR the council will vote on an amendment at its December 5 meeting, to transfer $100,000 in urban renewal funds into that fund to replace the $100,000 that will transfer to the White Plains Performing Arts Center. WPCNR hopes to contact Mr. Cappelli for more details on his apparent more aggressive interest in the WPPAC.

The $100,000 forthcoming from the city, will be in addition to the services the city pays for the White Plains Performing Arts Center, which may be more or may be less than the WPPAC received from the city in its first year. In the first year these “services” amounted to $192, 860  in “donated services or the use of materials, equipment or facilities at nor charge, or substantially less than fair rental value,” according to the WPPAC’s 2003-2004 “990” form filed with New York State.

Stimac said the theatre plans to present more community-involving productions, school-based productions to involve more parents and family with the WPPAC, basing the strategy on the PlayGroup Theatre productions, A Christmas Carol, and similar productions which were the best draws the theatre had in its first two years. He said he hoped to present Moliere and Shakespeare productions in the spring using school actors and actresses.

Stimac said he felt the first two years performance of the theatre was “remarkable” and that the theatre was not “limping along” as Councilperson Rita Malmud described it. He said instead it was “galloping.”

 

 

 

 

 

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WPCNR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. By Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley. November 21, 2005: On Election Day, voters in Westchester County overwhelmingly supported the Rebuild and Renew New York Transportation Bond Act. This proposition provided citizens the opportunity to directly determine how their tax dollars are spent. In voting “yes”, we’ve now enabled New York to take an important step towards upgrading our state’s public transportation, bridges and roads.   

Annually, our state and local highways handle over 100 billion vehicle miles.  However, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, over a third of all major roads in the state are in poor or mediocre condition.  The transportation bond will allow for upgrades to the infrastructure upon which so much of our economy relies.  

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      Westchester highways and roads alone will see $93 million in improvements.  Within the 89^th Assembly District, this includes:

 

·        $30.3 million for the I-287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) Exit 8F interchange at the intersection of Westchester Ave and White Plains Ave;

·        $11 million  for the reconstruction of I-287 (CWE) from State Route 120 to I-95, town of Harrison;

·        $12.1 million to equip the Saw Mill Parkway (north of I-287) with transportation management and information systems;

·        $1 million for reconstruction of the intersection of State Route 120 at State Route 133 to a “T” configuration, town of New Castle

 

      The transportation bond also authorizes more than $1.45 billion for MTA expansion projects and infrastructure improvements, many of which will directly improve the daily commute for thousands of Westchester County residents.  These include:

 

·        $41 million to support the fleet needs of the Metro-North Railroad, including the purchase of new rail cars to replace less reliable cars that are at the end of their useful life, ensuring that the MTA can maintain and improve service reliability

·        $10 million for increased parking at Metro-North stations

 

      I’m confident the voter’s endorsement of this proposition will have a long-lasting impact on the infrastructure of the state of New York and the quality of life for the people of Westchester County. 

 

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 WPCNR PRESS BOX. From News Reports. November 19, 2005: McQuaid ended White Plains super soccer season today, shutting out the Tigers 2-0  the Class AA semifinal, handing them their first loss of the season. The Tigers finish at 20-1-1. After a scoreless first half, McQuaid scored early in the second stanza and added another.

White Plains went to the game without their leading scorer eligible to play. He was suspended from playing  in today’s semi-final for running afoul of a sectional rule which calls for suspension in the next sectional contest if a player is called for three yellow card infractions in any sectional game. The Tiger was called for three yellow card infractions  in the Tigers’ previous playoff contest.