WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. Special to WPCNR. October 22, 2004: The White Plains Football Tigers will play Carmel in their opening round of football playoffs Saturday in Carmel with kickoff scheduled for 1:30 P.M. Coach Mark Santa-Donato, who has the Tigers on a three-game winning streak, coming off a dominating performance over Ramapo says that Carmel is the Tigers’ most formidable opponent since New Rochelle, the State Champs.

Mr. WHITE PLAINS FOOTBALL: Head Coach Mark Santa-Donato on the Carmel Rams. Photo, WPCNR Sports Archive.

The coach describes Carmel as “very big up front, with a huge fullback (260 pounds), a very good Tailback, and a quarterback who can throw when needed.” They have a big Tight End who seems to be one of their prime targets. We are hoping our speed will help us to run them down and move us on the ground against them.”

The coach said he hopes to have Mike “Night Train” Lane and fullback Paul Scotman back for the game.

The coach says this is a big challenge: “Carmel is a solid club as their undefeated record and #1 play-off ranking shows. If we play like we have in the last 6 quarters, we know we can give them a heck of a contest.”

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WPCNR Ebersole Moves & Loops. By John F. Bailey. October 22, 2004: Commissioner of Recreation and Parks Arne Abramowitz has assured the White Plains CitizeNetReporter in an exclusive interview that the Ebersole Rink Ice Skating School Program is not in jeopardy, saying the “commission fee” to be paid by Ebersole Ice Skating School Instructors was instituted upon a recommendation of the City of White Plains Legal Department. Abramowitz explains that this policy is necessary  to establish an equal opportunity for instructors not currently instructing at the rink to use the rink facilities at public and recreation department skating sessions.

 

Commissioner of Recreation & Parks, Arne Abramowitz, speaking at Sculpture Garden September 14. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

Teen Mentors, Volunteers for Community Service Do Not Have to Pay Commission.

 

Mr. Abramowitz clarified Thursday for the first time that the 16 and 17-year olds expecting to participate in the Mentoring Program this year would not be required to pay the $400 Commission Fee required of the Skating Instructors.

 

He went on record Thursday  saying the tradition of having members of the Ebersole Rink Advanced Figure Skating Club “volunteer-teach” in Tot, Alpha, Beta and Gamma classes would not be affected, as these volunteers would not have to pay the $400 Commission Fee either. This reverses the information given instructors for the first time October 6, one week before the rink opened.

 

Salaries Doubled.

 

Abramowitz gave detail on the rate increases Figure Skating Instructors would be paid to teach group classes. He reports that WPCNR was misinformed, that the Figure Skating Instructors were being given a raise to $30 for 45 Minute classes, up from $15. He said nobody makes $60 an hour. However, in a two group lesson, an instructor would make $60.

 

Skating School Director Participation in Policy Development Was Minimal at Best.

 

Asked if Skating School Director, Kristen Fierst was included on discussions of the new Commission Fee arrangement, by which the 15 Skating School Instructors will have to pay the Department of Recreation and Parks a $400 Commission Fee if they wish to teach private classes at the rink for their own profit,  Abramowitz said she was an hourly employee and therefore did not have to be included on discussions of how the rink set policy.

 

He indicated that Ms. Fierst should have been aware of the possibility of commission fees in advance, however was vague on this point and would not say when and if Ms. Fierst was told of the policy  and whether he had discussed his plans personally with her.

 

Legal Skating.

 

Asked how the Department decided to institute the Commission Fees, Mr. Abamowitz said it came about because of a ruling by the Legal Department which came down in late September.

 

Abramowitz said the legal department advised him that the rink could not employ the Figure Skating Instructors for the school exclusively, and allow only those instructors to give private lessons for profit in public sessions or at recreation Department Advanced Figure Skating Club times (Friday and Sunday evenings) to the exclusion of other possible skating instructors who might want to teach there.

 

White Plains Figure Skating Club Session Tuesdays Not Subject to Commission Fee.

 

In speaking with the President of the White Plains Figure Skating Club, Yvette Salonger,  WPCNR has determined that instructors giving lessons during White Plains Figure Skating Club time are not affected by the Commission Fee rule, because WPFSC has purchased the Tuesday night ice, and therefore anyone can give lessons during that time, as long as they have insurance.

 

Sessions affected are   Public Sessions and ISI Advanced Figure Skating Club sessions on Friday and Sunday evenings, the Club President said.

 

Legal: Old Policy Discriminatory.

 

The Commissioner said the previous Ebersole Rink arrangement the Skating School had with instructors  (in place for at least 10 years), was viewed as unfair and an unequal opportunity by the legal department. He said the Legal Department advised Abramowitz in late September to develop a policy that would allow instructors to give lessons at Ebersole on an equal footing with the fifteen instructors already employed by the Recreation and Parks department.

 

Double Dipping Brought Case to Attention

 

Abramowitz reported that the Legal Department became aware of the rink Skating School restrictions when the Department had looked into the case of the Skating Instructor who was employed by the city in another department and was also working for the rink, accepting two checks from the city. That Instructor can no longer do this, according to the legal department, and is out. The instructor affected by this, can however give private lessons during the White Plains Figure Skating Club time, 5 to 7 P.M. Tuesday evenings.

 

One Thing Leads to Another

While looking at the Skating Instructor with the two jobs, Abramowitz said the Legal Department also examined the Ebersole Ice Skating School employment and payment arrangements.  This, Abramowitz said, lead to the legal department conclusion that the policy was not fair to independent contractors wishing to give lessons at the rink.

 

Legal Takes a Look. Sees Inequity.

 

Abramowitz said the decision came from the law department September 27, which had been examining it since January. Abramowitz said Ms. Fierst, Skating School Director, was aware of the possibilities of change in the rink employment policy, but did not explicitly say what he thought she knew or when she knew it.

 

The new Commission Fee plan was developed by Mr. Abramowitz in response to the legal department opinion. In it, he chose to raise the salaries of the Skating School Instructors for their Group Classes, and that they could not “volunteer” any services.

 

He determined that a Commission or payment for the right to teach private classes at the rink was the fairest solution to assure equal opportunity for skating instructors. He set that fee at $500 as the policy that would level the field.

 

WPCNR asked why he set the fee so high, Abramowitz seemed surprised and said, “why, I’m not sure you’re aware of it, but they (the instructors) make thousands of dollars,” as a reason for setting the fee high.

 

Instructors Get One Week Short Notice Before  Rink Season Starts of Fee Requirement.

 

WPCNR asked when the instructors were informed of this. Abramowitz reported they were given a memorandum outlining the new policy at a meeting as far as WPCNR can determine at the rink Wedneday October 6, at which time there was a discussion among the Instructors about the fee being too steep.

 

“We then cut the Commission 20% to $400,” Abramowitz said.

 

Oh by the way, You Have to Pay Us $500.

 

That Wednesday, WPCNR was again told by an instructor last night, was the first time the instructors had any notion that they had to pay a $500 fee to begin teaching their private classes last week. The teens about to become mentors were also told they would have to pay the fee, too, according to the instructor.

 

“They made sure all the classes and group sessions were filled. Made sure we had all set up lesson times, and then they told us (about the Commission), so we had no other choice (of rink) we did not have time to make any other arrangement with another rink.” the instructor said bitterly. “What we were told by Matt (Hansen, Rink Manager) at that October 6 meeting was the rink was being audited, and that the legal department had ruled that it would be discrimination to turn away anyone who wanted to teach at a public facility. Everyone was pretty upset, and we’ve been upset ever since. All we want is a meeting (with Commissioner Abramowitz). Had this been done in a correct fashion, we could have worked something out.”

 

Mr. Abramowitz did not indicate whether the Commission Fee came from him or from the Legal Department.   WPCNR has learned from a source speaking on condition of anonymity, that the Commission Fee solution was the Department of Recreation & Parks idea for creating an equal playing field, and was wholly a creation of the Department of Recreation and Parks.

 

 Skating School Going On as Scheduled This Weekend. Must Pay Fee.

 

The Commissioner said only one Skating Instructor has left, however, when asked how many have paid the Commission Fee of $400, Abramowitz said some have, but did not know how many, that he would have to check with Matt Hansen Director of the Ebersole Rink.  

 

WPCNR asked if any instructor on staff being paid by the rink for group lessons was required to pay the Commission Fee to teach private lessons as of now, and Mr. Abramowitz said “Yes.”

 

We’re Giving them a Raise.

 

Abramowitz stressed that the wage increase for teaching the group classes was a benefit for the Skating Instructors, and that the $400 Commission Fee was not out of line considering the money they make in private lessons.

 

He said, if anything, the Skating School and instructors should benefit, because “We’re giving them (the instructors) a raise. The mentoring and volunteer community service programs remain as before. We pay the mentors, he said, that is not going to change. They do not have to pay the Commission Fee.”

 

No Contracts. No Clarification on Salary or Straight Fee Arrangements.

 

The instructor WPCNR interviewed Thursday evening raised other questions about the abrupt policy change. She pointed out that the instructors have not been given contracts spelling out what the instructors are entitled to when they pay their $400 Commission Fee, and whether or not their continued employment would be on a salaried or a 1099 (fee basis). Previously, she said deductions were withheld from her pay.

 

Being on Staff  a Standard Rink Practice in County.

 

The instructor added that what has been done at Ebersole Rink previously is standard around the rinks at Westchester County. She said that the Legal Department never interviewed instructors on the nature of their pay arrangements with the rinks. She said Ms. Fierst was never interviewed by the Legal Department on the nature of how the Skating School was staffed and how instructors were chosen.

 

WPCNR has not been able to check with the Legal Department to see if the Department had done an investigation of rinks around Westchester to see what standard industry practices are.

 

She noted that now the Commission Fee at Ebersole at present is at least four times the commission of any other rink in Westchester County that charges one.

 

Being on Staff a Security Issue with Young Ladies.

 

“Besides,” she noted, “every rink has a policy, to my knowledge anyway that to give lessons there, you have to be a member of the skating school staff. Otherwise anybody could give lessons there regardless of qualifications, background checks, reputation.”

 

“It seems as if they are trying to shut down the Skating School, she said, to chase us away. We’re sick over it. I have so many memories. We teach at Ebersole because it was like a family. We wish the Commissioner and legal Department would have talked to us so he would understand that without the Skating School, there are no skaters to monitor the public skating sessions or fill the free style times. There is no recreational skating program.  All we want is a meeting.”

 

Since October 6, calls by instructors to the Commissioner for such a meeting  have not been returned.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK. By John Baseball Bailey. October 21, 2004: All right, the sour grapes first, but bear with me.

 

If ever there was a situation that demonstrated why you cannot have a wild card playoff setup in baseball it was this year. If you get enough second chances at a team, the odds eventually will turn in your favor.

 

View from Behind Home Plate. Fenway Park, Boston, 1999. Photo by WPCNR Sports

 

 

When you consider that the Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals both disposed of the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros in the regular season and now face the prospects of having those same teams get a second chance at them, you have to get rid of the Wild Card. Depending on whether Roger Clemens finds his “A” game tonight, you will have the prospect of two teams who finished second in the regular season (Houston lost by 14 games) play in the World Series.

 

It this reporter’s opinion this is wrong. Because baseball, and softball, too are to a greater degree than any other sport, a matter of luck.

 

All right, I have to say that, being a Yankee fan.

 

Of course, the Wild Card makes for great fan interest, so it is here to stay.

 

The Yankees collapsed last night, succumbing to the parasite of inconsistency and blundering into the worst defeat  of a Yankee team since 1960 when they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

 

But they lost to a team they closed out by 3 games in the regular season. What is the point of that, the Wild Card? Except to give a team a second chance.

 

 

Baseball is the toughest game to win. There’s no clock that saves you. You have to go out and beat the other team. And each day, it’s a brand new ballgame. Momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher.

 

Boston is to be congratulated for their unprecedented comeback. But this was a gift of the system (though Boston did it), made possible by the fact that the Red Sox always knew they did not have to overtake the Yankees to be in the playoffs, they just had to stay ahead of Texas and Oakland.

 

The Wild Card compromises the pennant race, and has become the focus of the season instead of finishing first. The effort usually reserved for end of the season chases suddenly is discovered in the playoffs.

 

But, based on the television ratings, and the extra fan interest the Wild Card generates, it is here to stay. I just wish they would either contract baseball by one team or expand it by one team, so you would have six divisions of 5 first place teams each so that you would have 5 first place teams playing. That would solve the Wild Card problem. I simply do not like it. It kills the integrity of the regular season.

 

You finish second, you don’t deserve a shot at the Championship, because you did not have what it takes over the long haul. So, with the Wild Card, you crank it up and play better, and lo and behold, you take out the team that you could not overtake. Does it get any better? 

 

That is the unfairness of the Wild Card, it rewards second place effort in the regular season, and promotes extraordinary effort in a short series.

 

That’s off my chest. But, those who know me I have been consistent on this issue since it originated. I would feel the same way if roles were reversed and the Yankees would have been the Wild Card. I would feel the Yankees were there on a technicality, not on merit.

 

That being said – A reluctant congratulations to the Red Sox.

 

Now, any Yankee fan should know that the Yankees were entirely consistent the way they lost this series. They have a lousy pitching staff. Which can be very very good and very very bad at precisely the wrong time. They are streaky hitters as all power hitting teams are. These seasonlong flaws lost them four straight in this series.

 

During the course of the season they Yankees were always out of sync. They would win games by massive margins, lose games by a lot of margins. They played few close games. They awaited the home run ball to bail them out. They were not patient at the plate. They played poorly defensively. Especially in the outfield. They went into four and five game funks at the plate, and played .500 ball since about June.  A lot of four-game losing streaks in the second half.

 

The pitching was the worst pitching on any Yankee team since 1966. I cannot remember such an inconsistent bunch of  Grade C & D pitchers (APBA Fans you know what that means) on a Yankee club. Though the Yankees lost this series because they did not hit in the clutch, and Yankee pitchers and fielders did not make big plays, big pitches in the clutch. I mean if the Yankees had the rotation of  Doc Medich, Steve Kline, Fritz Peterson, and Mike Kekich they would have won this series.

 

That being said, fans learned a lot about baseball from the Boston comeback. One, Yogi Berra is right: “It’s never over until it’s over.”

 

What did we learn:

 

1.)   You cannot let a team off the hook. No locks in baseball.

2.)   You have to create runs, not constantly try to clock one in extra innings.

3.)   You have to play your best defensive outfield in close games.

4.)   You have to be patient and make pitchers throw strikes (Boston did a great job of this against Rivera). However, can the outfield or infield catch a ball for Rivera one of these days and not play so damn deep when a single ties it or wins it? The Yankees used to be that way.

5.)   You have to shake up your lineup when it’s not hitting. (New York did not do this. Where was Kenny Lofton? Especially on defense. Lofton catches that double in the eighth of game six. Sheffield cannot play right field, and Lofton’s a better hitter than Tony Clark, yet Torre never played him. Sierra and Clark were not hitting in Games 5,6, and 7. That’s not using all your tools. And what is it with Olerud not playing? He has a long winter to rest his instep. Schilling can pitch on one leg, but Olerud cannot? Come on! )

6.)   You cannot consistently let one hitter beat you. (Joe, next time, walk Ortiz, please. Why do you think Bonds is walked all the time?)

7.)   You cannot start your worst pitcher in the seventh game. (Kevin Brown proved once he did not have it, how was he going to be any better? Why not Mussina for 3, El Duque for 3, Gordon for 2 and Riviera for 1. Come on. Braindead pitching management. Mussina and Rivera can have plenty of rest now. I don’t want to hear about being tired in April.

8.)   You have to have a better defensive outfield than Williams and Sheffield in a tight game. Could we dive for something once? Could Williams learn to play in and go back on a ball after all these years, instead of playing deep. I mean every humpback liner falls in front of him all season long.  Could Sheffield get a jump on one ball in his life? We miss Shane Spencer. You can count on one hand the number of great catches Yankee outfielders made this season – and most were made by Matsui.

9.)   We learned that sportswriters, sportscasters who pretend to know, actually know nothing about the mysteries of the game, and are a fickle, feckless bunch, and that Tim McCarver hates the Yankees, as he always has.

10.)                       You do not win games on reputation. You win them on the field.

11.)                       Managers make mistakes.

12.)                       George Steinbrenner has a lot of class.

13.)                       There is no such thing as a curse or fate. Those are just excuses for bad performance. However, omens are real. Omens that appeared in this series: The bounce-in-the-stands Clark double that prevented the Yankees from plating the potential winning run in the ninth of Game Five.  Mike Crispino on ESPN Radio saying the Red Sox were finished after Game Three. The “Why Not Us?” sign in the stands in Fenway (very eery).

14.)                       Baseball/softball is a very hard game and you have to be very tough mentally to be able to play it successfully, and even then that may not be enough, and you have to be strong enough to go back out there the next day and play harder.

15.)                       Derek Jeter has a lot of class.

16.)                       Curt Schilling is a money pitcher and a leader. (The best clutch pitcher in a big game with the most heart since Warren Spahn.) Schilling uplifted the performances of the Boston pitchers by example. What would be interesting is for the geniuses of the sports press to ask why the Boston bullpen suddenly pitched the Yankees so well in games 4,5,6. It cannot be just a collective yankee slump.  A great job of concentration and will by the Boston relief corps. Baseball is all about will. Perhaps Schilling talked with them in the bullpen.

17.)                       When you stop hitting, making good pitches, and key fielding you lose.

18.)                       Field designers are insane. Those Red Socks cut in the green grass at Fenway, I’m sorry, that is ugly. Come on!

19.)                       It is good to be hated. That means you’re good.

20.)                       Umpires squeeze you in the late innings, especially with a one-run lead, so you have to muscle it up. (Those ball calls in the 14^th inning in Game Five, come on. Those two walks in the 14^th were huge. But, hey, Joe, you should have walked Ortiz, and you should have walked him in the first last night.)

21.)                       Manuel Rivera has tremendous concentration to pitch the way he did after the deaths of his relatives.

22.)                       You have to hit it to win it.

23.)                       Sometimes games do not feel right. You know your team is going to lose.

 

What can we expect in months ahead?  Well, George has to pull the Frankenstein Monster back into the laboratory and get the Yankees some pitching. You have to think about replacing Bernie Williams in center and getting Posada some help. You have to get a better defensive outfield in center and right  together that can go and get the ball. And perhaps some more players like Matsui, who can play the outfield and hit consistently. Giambi has to stay away from the Sushi.

 

Good things about the season: Miguel Cairo  (What a find! What a clutch player.), Mussina, Hideki, Jeter, Rivera, Lofton, Bernie Williams, Sheffield (with exception of his outfield work—he needs a defensive replacement in late innings),

 

Boston made a great comeback. Congratsos to them. It does not make it any easier to take. Now, please go out and beat the Cardinals or the Astros. And, please St. Louis, get rid of the Astros. Fourteen games behind. Come on!

 

We like Ortiz, and Mueller, and Damon, and Schilling, and Veritek and Lowe and Wakefield, and feel very good for the New England fans and for that kid General Manager, Theo Epstein – stats rule! No more feeling sorry for yourselves, fans. Hey, Neighbor, have a Ganset! Better yet have six!

 

Here’s to Teddy Ballgame, and Pesky, and Harry Hooper, Smokey Joe Wood, Tris, and Doerr, Frank Sullivan, Ike Delock, Lefty Grove,  Jim Lonborg, Yaz  and Rico, Pumpsie Green and Gene Conley, Frank Malzone, FayeThroneberry, Jackie Jensen,  The Monster,  and Bill Buckner, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice and Carlton Fisk, Luis Tiant, Curt Gowdy and Ned Martin, and the best damn ballpark ever, Fenway Park,  who are all walking tall today. They ain’t walking in New England they’re floating. They are on the best drug…baseball.

 

 It feels good, doesn’t? So good! If you love the Saux, you will not feel any better ever in your life than you do this morning, and you’re going to feel this damn good for the rest of your life. You’ll never stop thinking about it.

 

I cannot imagine how great New England feels this morning. For all the Yankee World Championships and pennants, they never did what this little team did this week. They showed what heart is all about. Baseball is a game that you have to have heart. To pick yourself up off the floor and keep battling.

 

However, the Red Sox-Yankees thing every year was getting old. It is tedious, hearing about the curse, the ghost of the Babe. Reading endless columns about how the Yankees were destined to win.

 

Ballplayers know there is no such thing as destiny.

 

Only writers believe in destiny.

 

So good-bye to the curse. And good riddance.  Goodbye to those haunting yesterdays and New England melancholy. For as long as baseball is played the 2004 Red Sox will bring a glow of special joy to New England fans, they will always have it.

 

So pop the cap off an ice-cold Ganset. Pour it into the chilled pilsner. Savor that golden stream of pure New England refreshment globble into the glass of Red Sox memories past. Watch the creamy head foam at the top, the beads form on the sides of the glass. Lift it high and taste the crisp, clean refreshing taste of a Red Sox win for all-time.

 

Never has a beer tasted so good in New England as it does today.

 

And, then, neighbor, have another!

 

 

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WPCNR Downtown Jubilation. From Rick Ammirato, White Plains BID. October 20, 2004: The Juneteenth Heritage Committee, in cooperation with the Ministers Fellowship Council of White Plains & Vicinity, is sponsoring a Gospel Concert to raise funds for the June 2005 Juneteenth Parade Festival this Saturday, October 23 at 6 in the  Mt. Hope AME Zion Church, at 65 Lake Street, White Plains.

 Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19^th as the African American emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education, achievement and cultural diversity.

 An assembly of 7 local choirs, Honorary Chairs White Plains Mayor Joseph M. Delfino and County Legislator Lois Bronz, the White Plains Common Council, Rep. Nita Lowey, local and State representatives and over 500 local supporters of the Juneteenth Parade Festival are expected to attend.