New interview to hear

Former big leaguer Doug Glanville was one of the smartest players ever in the show -- an Ivy Leaguer, in fact.

Check out my recent talk with him.

I consider Glanville as an impressive writer and storyteller.

More sports interviews you would enjoy hearing

It's hard to think of a more influential young (ish) sports journalist this side of Bill Simmons than Will Leitch, who founded Deadspin, writes for New York magazine and Sporting News, and just published another book, Are We Winning?

I recently got a chance to chat with Leitch.

Meanwhile, I also caught up with former Yankee P.R. man Marty Appel -- who may have been hung up on by George Steinbrenner more than anyone ever.

Posada to Cooperstown

It's somewhat pat at this point to argue for the Hall of Fame candidacies of the Yankees' aging Core Four -- Jeter and River are both first-ballot locks, and Andy Pettitte could make it in (HGH notwithstanding) should he decide to stick around for a season or two longer and pitch at this level (he's 8-1 already this season).

But what about Jorge Posada, arguably the third-best catcher in Yankee history, behind only Yogi and Bill Dickey and now ahead of Elston and Thurman in the pecking order of all-time greats?

Defectors point to his fading defense and pitch selection, but having witnessed another great Posada moment in person yesterday -- his second grand slam in as many days, keying the Yanks' 9-5 win over Houston -- I'm convinced he'll be recognized with immortality someday.

He's no slam dunk, but has there been an overall better catcher over the last 20 years? Piazza is an offensive legend, and Ivan Rodriguez is another surefire pick. But Posada is still performing at a tremendously high level for a man of almost 39.

A five-time all-star with five World Series rings, Posada is going to look better and better as this era takes its place in baseball history.

A wild baseball year

In one night, Ken Griffey retires and a kid pitcher for the White Sox pitches the third perfect game in a month -- 1880 was the only previous season with even two perfect games -- only to have it taken away on a blown call with two dead in the ninth.

Two more sports interviews

One of the cool parts of my job is getting to talk to sports experts.

Here are two more:

WFAN's Joe Benigno, a one-time call-in fanatic who turned that pedigree into a career.

And Michael Shapiro, whose new book details the time when baseball nearly had a third major league.

Two baseball interviews

It's baseball season once again, and I have been busy reading and interviewing other humans on this glorious topic, including Tim Wendel, who searched for the fastest fastball, and Jason Turbow, who explored unwritten rules in the game.

Banning the Orlando Sentinel

More from the world of coaches bullying the media -- here's Urban Meyer douching out on some reporter for a pretty harmless report.

The reporter's side of it is here.

I love these coaches; they want everything to be the big leagues until they get some negative coverage, at which point their borderline pro athletes are just poor kids. (Requisite I'm 40 clip here.)

Lollerskates, Roflocopter, Rollerderby? One of these things is not like the others

Down the street from The House The Saints Built, is a naming-right less venue that plays host to a circus of different acts, chief among them the Albany Patroons.

But Saturday night, the Patroons were replaced with wild hair, plunging necklines, and fishnet stockings.

No, Dennis Rodman was not in town - it was time for Roller Derby.

The Albany Allstars rolled their "B" team, the Department of Public Hurts, against the Utica Rollergirls in a hard fought bout amongst Thruway rivals, that saw the Rollergirls squeak out a win in exciting and dramatic fashion.

Or, depending on the team you supported, you saw a gutsy comeback dashed at the last second by a missed call.

Either way, it was worth the cost of admission.

(For a crash course in Roller Derby, see wikipedia).

From the moment you cross the threshold into the Armory, there are girls on eight wheels everywhere, ranging from players to promotors, it seemed like the model t was popular again.

Once inside, the thing that struck me from the outset was how small the track was. It was only about 5 minutes into the first of three periods that I began to think about how exactly I could improve the product I was being presented with. Despite active scoring for both teams, things just didn't seem all that exciting. Further dampening the entertainment were the color commentators who seemingly travel with the teams to provide running commentary and somewhat inaccurate interpretations of what is going on during the Jams.

That said, it is understandable that the announcers would have trouble assessing exactly what was going on, they only seemed to highlight the confusion amongst the referees overseeing the proceedings. The officials, six in total, with support staff to keep track of penalties, conduct a surprising number of activities simultaneously: One referee circles the infield with the players that are a part of the pack, using his arms to signal its general length. One official each is assigned to each team's Jammer, and are charged with keeping track of the points scored each time through the pack (which includes people who are in the penalty box as well, though this was not entirely clear to me). At times one or two refs followed the action calling penalties and ensuring that the line marking the track was not surreptitiously cut by the enterprising Jammer. Finally, there is one official that keeps track of team scoring each jam, copying down the fingers held up by each of the Jammer refs.

As a side note, at the show, commonly known as a bout, the official keeping team score seemed to be a big wig of sorts and was wearing a suit and round sunglasses. After about 4 seconds of deliberation, my party and I determined he was Don Johnson's stunt double, and possessed his portable radio just in case he was needed back on the set of Nash Bridges to fall through a pane of glass.

Because, the atmosphere inside the Armory was like being stuck in a time warp. As if the Hot Tub Time Machine was broken and merged the 80's but kept all the people from 2010. The players themselves were edgy, but the music provided before the show was decidedly classic rock. The musical entertainment by Albany based Fluid Motion, a ten-piece horn rock band ala Chicago. While it was performed well, the band was plagued by microphone issues that bookended each song with buzzing feedback that dampened the performance.

As for the bout itself, the show is pretty much as advertised: people skating around a track running into each other. It's more complicated than that, (I mean six refs?) but without a doubt the entertainment was delivered.

The timing could not have been better for a great showing as the Department of Public Hurts (DPH) and the Utica Rollergirls went down to the wire, with utica pulling it out on the final jam to snatch back victory after watching a 22 point lead deteriorate due to penalties.

The game was not without its difficulties though, as the officiating and penalty tracking seemed to be at times a guessing game at best, and at its worst ended up costing DPH the bout.

The issue at hand is the lack of audible notification for the end of the jam. To my eyes, on the final jam it appeared that time ran out, and then the Utica jammer passed a mess of people on the track and was credited for the points. Moments later, it was a two point victory for Utica. Whether there was an official time keeper and the scoreboard was wrong, it was never explained. At another point a white-board displayed that Utica scored 10 for the jam, but the scoreboard credited them only three.

So human errors aside (baseball season is coming after all), it was a good time and I plan on going back again. As for the conflagration of seemingly diametrically opposing elements, (and all those girls in fishnets) I'll enjoy the show.

The next bout is Saturday April 3rd, as the Empire Skate Troopers play host to the Boston B Party. Tickets at $10 for adults, $12 day of the event. $4 for children under 12. Wear royal purple and some fishnets.

Siena heads to Spokane

For the fifth straight year, the Capital Region sends one of its own off to the NCAA Tournament.

Siena will face Purdue in the opening round, while one of its former standouts reaches the NBA.

Here's a copy the story I filed from Selection Sunday:

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (AP) _ The Siena College men’s basketball team has been seeded No. 13 in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, as the Saints look to advance past the first round for the third straight year when they meet fourth-seeded Purdue.

The game will be held Friday in Spokane, Wash. Game times were not immediately announced.

“They’re a very impressive team. A lot of talent,” said Siena coach Fran McCaffery, who watched the seeding announcement at an on-campus really. “They really defend.”

It’s the second straight year the Saints (27-6) will face a team out of the Big Ten. Siena is 2-4 all-time against teams from that conference, but has never faced Purdue.

As a nine seed, the Saints defeated eighth-seeded Ohio State 74-72 in a double-overtime thriller in last year’s first round before falling 79-72 to top-seeded Louisville in the second round.

“They play a tough man-to-man defense, and they’re a great team,” said senior forward Alex Franklin, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year, who averages 16.3 points per game. “It’s going to be a good matchup for us.”

Purdue (27-5), which fell 69-42 to Minnesota in the Big Ten semifinals, is ranked sixth in the most recent AP poll. But the Boilermakers, who opened the season 14-0, are without second-leading scorer Robbie Hummel, lost for the year with a torn ACL.

They still earned one of 34 at-large bids.

"What we’ll see is a team that’s ready to play with the players they have,” McCaffery said.

Purdue has won 12 straight first-round NCAA matchups (one of which was later vacated). E’Twaun Moore leads the team with 16.6 points per game.

“We’re definitely confident,” said Siena forward Ryan Rossiter, who averages 13.9 points and 11 rebounds per game. “It’s crazy. It was a long wait to find out who we’re playing, but it’s definitely very exciting.”

Siena, which won its third straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title to claim the automatic bid to the NCAAs, has also had success as a No. 13 seed in recent years.

In 2008, the Saints shocked Vanderbilt 83-62 in the first round as a 13-seed.

“I guess 13’s our lucky number,” Franklin said.

Siena does it again

Siena has done it again -- escaped a halftime deficit in the MAAC Tournament.

And this time, the Saints needed overtime.

And this time, they're going to the NCAA Tournament -- for the third straight year.

Siena just dumped Fairfield to win its 38th straight home game.