LI Pulse: New Yorker’s Guide To Spring Training

March 1, 2010


Title: New Yorker’s Guide To Spring Training: Take in a Yankees and Mets exhibition while enjoying Florida’s warm distractions
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: March 2010
Start Page: 39
Word Count: 1,041

Forget that heart-warming parade through the Canyon of Heroes. There’s another good reason to thank the baseball gods Spring Training is finally here: It’s been a damn cold winter.

For New York baseball fans, the Grapefruit League offers an excuse to make a March pilgrimage to Florida, the land of sun, sand and amusement parks. The Yankees call Tampa home while the Mets make spring camp on the east coast in Port St. Lucie, part of MLB’s 15-team contingent in the state. The rest play in Arizona.

Whether you drive down or jet in, there’s nothing like a week chasing your favorite baseball team groupie-style through the Sunshine State. And the economic downturn—Florida has been particularly hard-hit—means everything is on sale and seats are aplenty.

Catching big league stars and rookies alike in the relaxed atmosphere that is Spring Training has been a favorite pastime of mine going back to my days as a teenager in Tampa Bay. I showed up an hour before game time in Kissimmee last March and got a first-row view behind home plate to the Marlins-Astros. Former President George H.W. Bush sat two sections over. More importantly, it was my first look at unknown Chris Coghlan. He homered, and by season’s end was the surprise NL Rookie of the Year. Score!

Of course, some tickets are tougher gets. The two-time NL champion Philadelphia Phillies have a state of the art complex in Clearwater and a rabid fan base. And I paid a premium (but hardly New York prices) for a Phillies-Blue Jays game in Dunedin a day later. Basking in the sun while chomping on peanuts and watching Chase Utley homer was worth every penny.

Newly renamed Steinbrenner Field, off busy Dale Mabry Highway in the heart of Tampa, used to be an impossible ticket. Not in recent seasons, although the Yankees bringing home world championship No. 27 in November, their first since 2000, may change the equation.

Showing up at the box office shouldn’t be a problem (that means you, Mets fans), especially on the road. But a little planning goes a long way. And if you happen to start your journey in South Florida, don’t forget to visit the loved ones in Century Village. Here is Long Island Pulse Magazine’s guide to Spring Training:

New York Yankees

Home: Tampa, Fla.
Stadium: George M. Steinbrenner Field
Website: steinbrennerfield.com
Capacity: 11,000
Tickets: $17-31
The Skinny: The defending champs will be a top draw, so prepare to battle crowds—and the media—if you stop by to watch morning workouts. At least this camp should be controversy free. Getting autographs is an art. BP and main fields after workouts are best bets. The minor league complex across the street is good too for up-and-comers. Just bring a Sharpie and patience. As for games, it’s rare to see a full lineup. But one tip is to look for ace pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. When they pitch, the regulars should start. The Yankees face NL champ Philadelphia five times this spring. Sorry haters, the Mets and Red Sox aren’t on the schedule. But get a first look at new additions Nick Johnson, Javier Vazquez and Curtis Granderson. Also, a great alternative is an Orlando vacation. The Yanks play the Braves and Astros in Kissimmee and the Tigers in Lakeland. You might book a cheaper flight there, too.

Five Key Games: Rays at Yankees, March 5, 1:15pm; Yankees at Twins (Ft. Myers), March 7, 1:05pm; Yankees at Phillies (Clearwater), March 22, 1:05pm; Phillies at Yankees, March 26, 7:30pm; Orioles at Yankees, April 2, 1:15pm.

Top Attractions: Adventure Island, Tampa (water park); Busch Gardens, Tampa (theme park); Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa (zoo); Salvador Dali Museum, St. Petersburg (modern art); World Woods Golf Club, Brooksville (world-class golf); Pass-A-Grille Beach, St. Pete Beach (nicest beach).

Worth Noting: Florida Strawberry Festival, Plant City (March 4-12); Spring Breakers flood Clearwater Beach; Hooters off Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. in Clearwater is the original; Ybor City is famous for hand-rolled cigars (try La Herencia De Cuba); March offers great snook, redfish and speckled trout fishing in the Bay area.

Swank Accommodations: Renaissance Tampa International Plaza, Tampa; Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, St. Petersburg; Don CeSar Loews, St. Pete Beach.

New York Mets

Home: Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Stadium: Tradition Field
Website: newyork.mets.mlb.com/spring_training
Capacity: 7,160
Tickets: $6-25
The Skinny: After a pair of disastrous seasons, the hopeful tone of Spring Training should prove soothing. Also, there will be plenty to see, from the arrival of Jason Bay to the recovery of stars Jose Reyes and Johan Santana (Carlos Beltran will most likely still be inactive). According to one beat writer, autographs are easy to get. Arrive early, roam the open grounds and be on the lookout because David Wright could be lurking around the next corner. Game day traffic is horrific. As with the Yanks, scan the probable starters for Johan Santana. The Mets will field star power whenever their ace pitches. Just remember, there’s not much exciting about Port St. Lucie other than the games themselves. But it will be Spring Break in Daytona. So hit the road with the Mets instead. The Cardinals and Marlins share a facility to the south off I-95 in Jupiter while the Nationals play just north in Melbourne. The family-friendly Orlando area features the Braves, Astros and Tigers. Fly Southwest from Islip to West Palm Beach for convenience and a good deal. Or into Fort Lauderdale if you plan on hitting South Beach. And the Miami waves are surprisingly warm compared to say, Daytona.

Five Key Games: Mets at Braves (Kissimmee), March 3, 1:05pm; Red Sox at Mets, March 11, 1:10pm; Cardinals at Mets, March 15, 1:10pm; Twins at Mets, March 19, 1:10pm; Mets at Marlins (Jupiter), March 26, 1:05pm.

Top Attractions: PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie (golf); Navy Seal Museum, Fort Pierce; Manatee Observation and Education Center, Fort Pierce (wildlife tour).

Worth Noting: Drive A1A, one of America’s most scenic roads; The St. Lucie Inlet is diverse and offshore fishing promises sailfish and dolphin; Bike Hutchinson Island trails or kayak the St. Lucie or Indian rivers.

Swank Accommodations: Hilton Garden Inn at PGA Village, Port St. Lucie; Courtyard by Marriott, Jensen Beach; Marriott Hutchinson Island, Stuart.

LI Pulse: Hofstra basketball’s Charles Jenkins

February 1, 2010

February 2010 issue of LI Pulse magazine featuring Hofstra basketball star Charles Jenkins.

February 2010 issue of LI Pulse magazine featuring Hofstra basketball star Charles Jenkins.


Title: Pride And Passion: Charles Jenkins carries the Hofstra basketball program—and a weighty past—on his shoulders
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: February 2010
Start Page: 48
Word Count: 907

Charles Jenkins literally carries a burden on his back. And it has nothing to do with basketball.

The junior guard on the Hofstra University men’s basketball team wears No. 22 in honor of his brother, Kareem Albritton, who in 2001 was shot and killed in Brooklyn at the too-young age of 22.

The violent death of a family member is something you never really get past. Just ask his coach, who understands better than most because he endures the weight of his own loss.

“I’ve talked to him intimately about it,” Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said. “I lost my first wife in a car accident. His brother was killed in a shooting. The point is, it’s how you live your life after that. It’s all about the dash. When somebody dies, the gravestone shows the day they were born and the day they died. It’s all about the dash. What did you do in between that? And I’ve asked Charles, ‘What kind of mark are you going to leave?’”

Jenkins can’t escape his past. He knows this. His coach knows it. All the Hofstra star can do is acknowledge and honor it.

So Jenkins, 20, embraces this fact, melding the tragic with the remarkable. When he became the first sophomore since Chris Mullin of St. John’s University in 1983 to win the Haggerty Award as the New York Metropolitan area’s best basketball player, he used the opportunity to speak about his fallen brother.

“I try to keep it in mind every day I step onto the floor,” Jenkins said. “That’s why I wear the number 22. He died when he was 22. He’s a major influence in my life. I play for him.”

The 6-foot, 3-inch, 220-pound Jenkins plays with a drive that’s transformed him into one of the nation’s top guards and turned Hofstra into a contender. The Pride will challenge for the Colonial Athletic Association title and berth in the NCAA Tournament after going 21-11 a year ago.

It began on the road in November against No. 1 Kansas, the first top-ranked team Hofstra had ever faced. Kansas routed the Pride, 101-65, but the experience proved invaluable.

“There are a lot of tough places to play in the CAA,” Hofstra center Greg Washington said. “But none of them will be like the crowd at Kansas. Drexel and UNC Wilmington—those are hostile environments. But Kansas is a different world. You step on the court and it’s like, ‘This is where Danny Manning played. This where Paul Pierce played.’

[Charles Jenkins] handled it like a man. He kept his head up and was always looking to make a play. 23 points is pretty hard to come by playing the No. 1 team in the country. He earned it.”

Then came a loss to perennial Big East power and 12th-ranked Connecticut, a game that the Pride actually led with 4:15 left.

“I thought that we had them,” said Jenkins, who finished with a game-high 25 points. “I thought we were going to win.”

No one has played a tougher early-season schedule. And facing the likes of Kansas guard Sherron Collins and UConn guard Jerome Dyson, each seasoned seniors with national reputations, Jenkins proved he belonged on the same stage. If Hofstra earns its fifth 20-win season over the last six years, it will be because of lessons learned facing these heavyweights in November.

“We will never play in a tougher environment,” Pecora said. “So for the rest of the year I can use that as a point of reference. ‘We’ve been to Allen Field House. The reason we went there is to be prepared for tonight.’”

Pecora has a disciple in Jenkins. The guard was born in Brooklyn, but grew up in Rosedale near Green Acres mall and starred at Springfield Gardens High School in Queens. St. John’s showed interest, but the Hofstra coaching staff found Jenkins early and developed a relationship that bloomed.

Mining for guards is a Pecora specialty. Coaches fell in love with Jenkins’ physical presence and work ethic. And at a mid-major program like Hofstra, outhustling and outmuscling the big boys is how you win. Jenkins is a hard-driving, physical guard who is a magnet to the basket.

“It makes it easy for you as a coach when your best player is your hardest worker,” Pecora said. “On the court. Off the court as a leader. In the weight room. With everything he does, he’s not only vocal, he leads by example. The guys have no choice but to fall in line.”

Jenkins, an All-CAA player as a sophomore, is the only returning player in the country who averaged at least 19 points, four rebounds and four assists per game last year. And he’s put up similar numbers for the Pride this season.

He became just the second player in program history to crack 1,000 career points as a sophomore and is on pace to finish his career as Hofstra’s all-time leading scorer. But the only statistics Jenkins cares about are wins and losses.

“We’re young and athletic and like to get after it,” Jenkins said. “We can have another 20-win season. It just depends on us.”

As the leader of the Pride, it’s a responsibility on Jenkins’ shoulders. When you consider his weighty past, you realize there’s nothing he can’t handle. Jenkins stares down bigger demons each time he slips on his No. 22 jersey, a reminder that every day is precious.

LI Pulse: Giants Punter Jeff Feagles

December 1, 2009

December 2009 issue of LI Pulse magazine featuring Giants punter Jeff Feagles
Title: Ageless Wonder Of The Meadowlands: Giants’ punter Jeff Feagles keeps on kicking through 22 NFL seasons
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: December 2009
Start Page: 52
Word Count: 1,087

He’s the guy no one wants to see trot onto the field at Giants Stadium. An appearance by Jeff Feagles means something went wrong with the Giants’ offense. But few people are better at salvaging the moment and the 43-year-old punter has been doing it for a remarkable 22 NFL seasons.

In an era when dangerous punt return specialists lurk like pumas, Feagles owes his staying power to a unique skill—he is a directional punter. Through rain, snow or swirling wind—all common occurrences at the Meadowlands in December and January—Feagles can drop a football down a chimney and handcuff even the most dangerous return man.

“A lot of punters are going to it these days because of the quality of returners in the league,’’ Feagles said. “I was a little ahead of my time. When you have Darren Sproles, DeSean Jackson and Devin Hester, players who can change a game on a punt return, directional kicking becomes even more of an asset.”

It’s transformed him into an unsung magician; a strategic weapon who can turn the tide of a game by altering field position with a single boot of his resilient right foot.

Feagles never had a powerful leg. He went undrafted out of the University of Miami in 1988 only to emerge as the surprise winner of the job in New England. By the mid-1990s as a member of the Arizona Cardinals, his third team, Feagles began his mastery of a technique only a handful of other punters showcased. Instead of driving the ball deep, Feagles finessed the ball like a golfer on the green. His game is about angles, trajectories and touch.

“It is a rare talent,’’ Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “And of course we are a directional punt team and a field-position-conscious special teams outfit. And he does a very good job of that.”

After five seasons in Seattle, Feagles landed in New York in 2003. And the ageless wonder of the Meadowlands has padded his resume ever since. He won a Super Bowl with the Giants in 2007 and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl last season.

No NFL punter cracked the 40-yard net average—a benchmark on par with Maris’ 61 in 61—until 2007. It’s been done six times the last two seasons with the veteran Feagles earning a trip to the Pro Bowl with a 40.2 net in 2008. Feagles, 13 years between his last Pro Bowl, joined teammate John Carney as the oldest players to ever make the game.

That staying power has Feagles hoping to play into the next decade. Feagles, a team captain, has played in 344 consecutive games, an NFL record that may never be broken. He is third in league history for total games played (Morten Andersen kicked in 382 games over 25 seasons).

Too bad the position gets no respect. Take his consecutive games streak. Former Minnesota defensive end Jim Marshall, the next closest player on the list, played in 282 straight games. You’d expect Feagles to get more attention for his Iron Man feat. Just the opposite.

“There are people who don’t think it’s a big deal because I’m not in the game on every play and I understand that,’’ Feagles said. “That’s fine. But just to be able to show up and play for 22 years straight and not miss a game, there’s a lot that goes into that. You have to be lucky and avoid injuries. You have to be in great shape. More importantly, I’m proud of it because it shows how consistent I am. There’s only 32 guys in the world who do what I do. My team can depend on me.”

Numbers don’t lie. Feagles entered 2009 as the NFL career record holder for most punts (1,649), yards (68,607) and punts inside the 20 (531). Those are Hall of Fame stats. Just one problem: No punter has ever been enshrined in Canton, something that draws the ire of the otherwise affable Feagles.

“To not have a punter in the Hall of Fame to me is a disgrace,’’ Feagles said. “One day there will be one in there. Ray Guy is certainly deserving. It needs to be represented because it is an integral part of a football game. Field position is a huge aspect of football. For them not to recognize that—I think they’re blind.’’

This may be the final season for Giants Stadium, but Feagles has no plans to retire. Feagles is in the final year of a two-year contract. His negotiating strength lies in his accuracy. Feagles has the ability to pin opponents inside the 20 or point a punt toward either sideline.

“Coming out of college I really didn’t think I was going to get a shot at the NFL,’’ Feagles said. “You never think you’re going to play 22 years. You take them one at a time.”

Feagles has been around so long that former Hurricanes assistant Butch Davis—both members of the 1987 national championship squad—is now the head coach at the University of North Carolina, where Feagles’ son, C.J., is a redshirt freshman punter.

Distractions tug on Feagles, who lives in New Jersey. Spending time with family is important. He wants to see his sons play. And Feagles, an avid golfer, collects great golf courses the way teens stockpile Facebook friends. He spent a picture-perfect day in the Hamptons in July playing a round at Shinnecock Hills.

He understands like few pro athletes ever could, that each day in the NFL is a blessing.

“I’d like to play another couple of years. It all depends on the Giants,’’ Feagles said. “I know one day it’s going to come to an end. It’s difficult at 43 to keep in shape. There are a lot of things you battle on a daily basis when you get into your forties. Aches and pains and other things that act up. You wake up some days and go ‘Why does this hurt today?’

“I know I can keep going,’’ he added. “The tough part is one day someone is going to say you can’t. And you always are going to believe you can.”

Opposing players are not the enemy. The bracing winds of Giants Stadium no longer faze Feagles. He’s conquered them all a lifetime ago. Age is his greatest foe. The NFL’s Iron Man will soldier on in relative anonymity, putting the finishing touches on one of the great careers of any New York Giant, until he can no longer.

LI Pulse: Stony Brook Football

September 1, 2009

LI Pulse magazine September 2009 Stony Brook football

Title: Run Hard, Sell Hard: Stony Brook football hopes to win games and fans behind a pair of dynamic runners
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: September 2009
Start Page: 51
Word Count: 1038

Conte Cuttino and Ed Gowins cut intimidating figures without ever strapping on a pair of shoulder pads. The running backs possess a stat sheet that should be the talk of the nation. Their presence in the same backfield is something to behold.

There is nothing subtle about Gowins, from the tattoos landscaping his massive arms to the oversized diamond earring, emitting a sparkle as blinding as any sunset. Just imagine how the former Bellport High School star plays. It’s in-your-face power running for four quarters.

“They feel [me],’’ said Gowins, who was named National Freshman of the Year by College Sporting News. “That’s one of the things I like to do. When I see someone in front of me, I run them over. The second time they’ll think twice about trying to tackle me.”

So why is this dynamic duo getting so little attention? The truth is the foundation of Stony Brook University football might as well have been built on swampland. Sales jobs don’t get much harder.

College football may reign supreme in Los Angeles and Omaha—and every burg south of the Mason Dixon. But in the tri-state area, and Long Island in particular, the sport garners about as much respect as soap box racing.

And that’s understandable. Stony Brook finished 2008 with a losing record. The Seawolves have never won a postseason game in 25 years of existence. They have never even beaten big brother Hofstra, another small fish in the sea that is New York sports.

It’s all part of a muddied past, one whose narrative arc has been on a steady ascent.

The expectations are starting to simmer. For the first time, Stony Brook is a fully-funded, 63-scholarship program—on par with the rest of the Football Championship Subdivision (the oversized and overly confusing name of what was formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA football).

Stony Brook enters its second year in the competitive Big South Conference. And with the most dangerous running back tandem in college football, the program has created some insider buzz. With Cuttino and Gowins plowing through opposing defenses this fall, Stony Brook could be on the verge of a breakthrough season.

“I just let them play,’’ third-year coach Chuck Priore said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Just go play. If you both do your role as football players, then good things will happen to you.’ They are both talented enough.”

The team started 2008 off 1-5 and scored all of 10 points over three consecutive games, the last a 33-0 domination by nationally-ranked Liberty. Then Priore unleashed Cuttino and Gowins in the second half of last season with record-breaking results.

It turned on October 19, a 20-19 home win over Charleston Southern. Cuttino racked up his biggest performance to date with 107 rushing yards and redshirt freshman quarterback Dayne Hoffman tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 left. Gowins broke big runs on the winning drive.

“It probably took a little time to get things going,’’ said Cuttino, a senior from Uniondale. “Eddie and I were able to get things done at the end in a big way.”

Stony Brook won four of its final five games to finish in a second-place tie in the Big South Conference. And the Seawolves transformed from a sputtering offense to an unstoppable ground attack.

“Once we were able to settle in on a plan and mature as an offense, Conte and Eddie’s performances helped catapult us to success,’’ Priore said. “We were able to put things together, and those two kids the second half of the year were very impressive.’’

On November 9, the Seawolves cranked out 635 yards on the ground in a steady downpour to pound host Iona, 68-9. Gowins ran for 278 yards and three touchdowns while Cuttino had 205 yards and three scores. The Football Championship Subdivision team record for rushing yards in a game is 681 by Missouri State in 1988.

It was a banner day for Stony Brook. Coincidental or not, Iona announced 12 days later it was dropping its 42-year-old football program altogether.

The Seawolves closed the season one week later with another rout, a 40-26 win over Virginia Military Institute. Stony Brook totalled 622 yards of offense, paced by Gowins (250 yards and three touchdowns) and Cuttino (234 yards).

Gowins amassed 713 yards and eight touchdowns over the final three games, an avalanche of offense. His 1,310 yards set the school’s single-season rushing record and earned Gowins national recognition. Cuttino, who became Stony Brook’s all-time rushing leader with 2,807 career yards, finished fourth in the conference in rushing (1,243 yards) and was named an All-Big South second-teamer.

“We complement each other in a big way,’’ the shifty Cuttino said. “Eddie has bulk but is deceiving because he has speed. As far as teams trying to game plan against us—it’s hard. We can do many of the same things. He has a bigger body, a bigger frame. But it doesn’t matter who is in the backfield. Coach doesn’t have a problem with Eddie going outside or with me running inside.”

Gowins spent a year in prep school before returning home to play at Stony Brook. His first collegiate carry went for a 22-yard touchdown. Paired with the equally electric Cuttino, who knows what the two can accomplish with another year of experience.

Priore must replace both receivers and two linemen. And Hoffman suffered through growing pains at quarterback a year ago. The Seawolves (5-6 overall, 3-2 Big South) are picked to finish second behind two-time champ Liberty in the Big South.

But the schedule is unforgiving, with September games against defending Patriot League champ Colgate and Ivy League winner Brown. The Seawolves open the season September 5 at Hofstra. Even though Stony Brook is 0-12 lifetime against its cross-Island rival, at least the game is local. Seven of the team’s first ten games are on the road.

“Execute our game plan and we have the potential to win the conference,’’ Cuttino said. “We need to stay focused and do our job.”

Stony Brook football is a tough sell. But Cuttino and Gowins offer a persuasive argument. Getting the players to believe is an important first step on the road to better days.

LI Pulse: Fishing Montauk

August 1, 2009

 August 2009 issue of LI Pulse magazine.

Title: Fishing Mecca; World-class fishing awaits in Montauk
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: August 2009
Start Page: 52
Word Count: 992

A murky shadow at first, Kevin Faulkner’s eyes grew the size of dinner plates as the creature materialized into view. The mere sight of a great white shark inspires fear and awe and is equal to its myth. A monster seemingly as big as the 26-foot boat circled just beneath the surface in the waters off Block Island.

Just as quickly, it was gone.

“It was a surreal experience,’’ Faulkner said. “There was a lot of jumping around by me. Definitely the biggest thing I’ve seen in the water. I’m not scared of the water. But if this thing swam up to you, you’d die of fright.’’

While Faulkner didn’t hook the legendary shark, its mere presence is why Montauk is known as a world-class fishing destination. And it’s why Faulkner sits in traffic nearly four hours simply to experience the magic that is Montauk.

The 38-year-old contractor from the Poughkeepsie suburb of Dover Plains could sail out of any harbor along the Hudson River or Long Island Sound. Yet he suffers the stop-and-go trek through the Bronx, over the Throgs Neck Bridge, along the Long Island Expressway to the traffic-choked villages of the South Fork. The view along the way melds from concrete jungle into Pine Barrens, and finally rolling hills and beach dunes known sparely as The End.

The rich and famous transformed Southampton and East Hampton into destinations for the jet set. Montauk is less pretentious than its neighbors to the west, a laid back beach resort at its core. Surfers and families flock to the white sand and roiling surf. But it has long been known as a fishing Mecca, luring hardcore anglers such as Faulkner.

“I’d drive eight hours to get there,’’ Faulkner said. “Montauk is a very unique place. I’ve fished a lot of places with a lot of people. It’s pretty much unanimous. There’s nothing like Montauk. We’re just lucky it’s here.”

The waters surrounding Montauk yield spectacular fishing year round and offer something for everyone. There’s Zen-like surfcasting along the rocky shoreline guarded by the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Charter a boat to hunt sharks in the open ocean. Or come as you are and hop on a party boat for six hours of guilt-free fishing in the rips (turbulent currents) just offshore.

While it’s not equal to Key West or Oahu or San Diego in its diversity, migrating fish populations make Montauk a veritable feast of fluke, flounder, striped bass, sea bass, bluefish, tuna and yes, sharks of every stripe.

Frank Mundus put the East End village on the sport fishing short list for adventurers in 1951 when he harpooned a reported 16-foot, 4,500-pound great white. It was a feat that inspired the character Quint in the novel and film Jaws, which spawned a cultural phenomenon.

But great white sharks are the white whale of Montauk fishing, more salty story than everyday occurrence. Still, the legend is grounded in fact. The 17th annual Mako/Thresher Mania Tournament, which begins August 6, highlights Montauk’s connection to monster fishing.

“I think it’s reputation for shark is well deserved,’’ said Lee Ellis, 39, who lives and works in East Hampton when he’s not out on his boat “T-Bone” off Montauk. “There’s been a lot of shark hunted out of there. It’s a great place for a person to go out and get the biggest fish of their lives. Shark fishing is a great adrenaline sport.’’

Yet the region’s real rep is built on an army of weekend anglers intent on landing plentiful—and feisty— striped bass and blues.

“During the summer time, we get a lot of tourists in Montauk,’’ Capt. Carl Fosberg said before taking out the “Viking Starship” for a summer night fishing trip in search of bluefish and striped bass. “There are a lot of first-timers. It’s family-friendly and fun fishing. We supply them with everything they need. We make sure they enjoy themselves. It’s about getting the kids fishing.’’

A memory that sticks in his mind is the frigid conditions of a March fishing trip 60 miles offshore. A 9-year-old boy was one of the few anglers undeterred by the weather.

“It was really cold. The kid was die-hard,’’ Fosberg recalled. “He would not leave the rail. He was fishing the whole time. And he ended up catching the biggest fish on the boat.’’

A 25-pound tilefish was the prize that day.

“When you see a kid smile—so proud of himself—it’s a nice moment because you know that kid’s going to be hooked into fishing for the rest of his life,’’ Fosberg added.

It begins at one of the marinas dotting Lake Montauk, which spills almost directly into the Atlantic. Most boaters make a beeline east of the lighthouse, setting up between the mainland and Block Island.

Try night fishing from August into September. The Viking Fleet (vikingfleet.com), which features an $85 trip from 7pm to 1am, is the best bet. Bring a sweater because it can get cool. Sunsets are intense and there’s nothing like a full moon on the water. It will be an unforgettable experience either way.

“That’s what makes fishing so great,’’ Ellis said. “It is something different for everybody.”

Guide Bill Wetzel, a veteran surfcaster, said the fishing is the best he’s seen in the last decade. The ample rain and east winds have been a surf fisherman’s dream. And with 50 miles of sandy beach and rocky shoreline to roam, getting a line in the water is simple.

“Anybody can get started,” said Wetzel, who likes August best. “All you need is a rod and waders.”

There aren’t as many boats on the water this summer. One of the unexpected bonuses of a sour economy, say regulars. It’s also been great fishing so far. If you can stomach the slow crawl along Route 27, The End will reward your patience. From land or sea, Montauk offers world-class fun for every angler. And that’s no fish tale.

LI Pulse: The Cheap Seats

June 1, 2009

LI Pulse magazine June 2009 Minor League Baseball

Title: The Cheap Seats; Can’t afford tickets to see the Yankees or Mets? Try a minor league game instead
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: June 2009
Start Page: 48
Word Count: 1,167

So you couldn’t afford those $55,000 seats the New York Mets were offering up at newly minted Citi Field. Well, even Bernie Madoff had to eventually turn his—and himself—in. Speaking of rip-off artists, the $5 bottled water at the reincarnated Yankee Stadium ain’t much better.

And let’s not get into how much the Yankees ponied up for three free agents this offseason. For the record, slugger Mark Teixeira and pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett netted a combined $420 million. Ka-ching!

Then there is the eww factor. A-Rod’s steroid scandal. Roger Clemens’ petulance in denying ever using performance enhancers. A-Rod’s messy divorce. The Mets refusing to drop the toxic naming rights deal with bailout boy Citigroup. A-Rod’s twisted fling with Madonna. We love to hate A-Rod. The list goes on.
Yet there is an alternative universe where the grass is just as green, the crowds manageable, prices downright cheap and the outrageous acts are choreographed. We’re talking minor league baseball, of course, where the boys of summer never grew up.

The Mets and Yankees ensured New York remained a minor league dead zone for decades. Then in 2000 came the independent Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, along with New York-Penn League franchises in Brooklyn and Staten Island. In fact, 18 minor league teams lie within a four-hour drive of Long Island.

Each has parks filled with character and teams populated by characters. Where else can you see rising stars and venerable veterans take hacks from just five rows away? Views of the Coney Island boardwalk and the New York City skyline—from Brooklyn and Staten Island, respectively—are breathtaking. And the promotions—from the sensible all-you-can-eat plan in Staten Island to regular fireworks displays courtesy of Grucci after Ducks games and the Lamaze-inducing “salute to pregnancy” night in Brooklyn—offer something for everyone.

The money you spend on gas will be more than offset by the price of admission. And the experience? Priceless. Road trip anyone? Start with these three local gems:

Long Island Ducks

Where: Citibank Park (seats 6,002) in Central Islip.
When: 70 home dates, April-September.
Cheapest Ticket: $10.
The Skinny: Baseball might lay claim as America’s pastime, but for cash-strapped Long Islanders, the Ducks offer an affordable alternative to the pinstriped barons in Flushing and the Bronx. Despite having appeared in just one championship series since the team’s inception in 2000, the Ducks have consistently been one of the top draws in the minors. Citibank Park may have an unfortunate name, but it’s easy accessibility and great sight lines make it family-friendly. For the more adventuresome, go see the Ducks in Bridgeport. The Port Jefferson Ferry docks next to the ballpark of the rival Bluefish. The caliber of play in the Atlantic League is generally considered somewhere between Double- and Triple-A. But you never know what will happen, such as the August 2007 day when former All-Star Jose Offerman charged the mound and attacked the pitcher with his bat. Offerman was banned from the league, but former Mets great with an occasional bloated ego Gary Carter has signed on as the new Ducks manager.
Player Watch: Follow Ducks outfielder Preston Wilson, 34, as he tries to work his way back to the bigs. The former Met farmhand and stepson of New York icon Mookie Wilson slammed 36 homers for the Colorado Rockies in 2003. MLB teams regularly dip into the Atlantic League talent pool to sign players with a hot hand, a fact Wilson is banking on.
Best Promo: Ehy! Italian heritage night celebrates the Island’s preeminent culture from a flag giveaway to food, music and more. June 13 vs. Newark Bears.

Brooklyn Cyclones

Where: KeySpan Park (seats 7,500) in Coney Island.
When: 38 home dates, June-September.
Cheapest Ticket: $8.
The Skinny: This short-season Class A affiliate of the Mets is where top draft picks usually get their first taste of pro ball. Connected to the boardwalk, and with the Wonder Wheel and the Coney Island seascape as the backdrop, this picturesque park has one of the best atmospheres anywhere. Start in the neighborhood. The oldest continually-operated aquarium in the United States is the nearby New York Aquarium. Get a hot dog at the original Nathan’s Famous a block away. Hit boardwalk staples such as the paintball-charged “Shoot the Freak.” Take a tour of the Brooklyn Baseball Gallery and Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame housed at the park. Perhaps even spot a former Dodger great signing autographs. But the best part of the Cyclones experience is their free-spirited promos, from a Barack Obama bobblehead to a pot-luck “Garage Sale” giveaway. Oh, and there’s the beach. Whatever your excuse, the Cyclones are a must-stop on any minor league tour.
Best Promo: “A salute to pregnancy” featuring pre-game Lamaze in centerfield, a craving station of pickles and ice cream, and many other tie-ins. And if you agree to name your child Brooklyn or Cy, the team promises free tickets for life. July 19 vs. Auburn Doubledays.

Staten Island Yankees

Where: Richmond County Bank Ballpark (seats 7,171) in St. George.
When: 38 home dates, June-September.
Cheapest Ticket: $6.
The Skinny: The Yankees have won four New York-Penn League titles since relocating to Staten Island in 1999. The short-season Class A affiliate of the Yankees has cultivated a fierce rivalry with the Cyclones. Like Brooklyn, Staten Island is usually the first stop for touted Yankees prospects. Robinson Cano and Chen-Ming Wang are two current big leaguers who started off as Baby Bombers. Take the scenic route to the game: The Staten Island Ferry terminal is next door. The dense neighborhood has also been designated a historic district. Season ticket holders get all-you-can-eat concessions, and by season’s end begin resembling the mascot, Scooter the Holy Cow. Cross the Verrazano at your own risk, but the park is worth a visit.
Best Promo: The Yankees put on a fireworks display after each game. And with the Statue of Liberty in the distance—who could ask for more? For an unforgettable seat to the Independence Day fireworks over New York Harbor, get tickets to the July 4 game against the Lowell Spinners.

Road Trip

Minor league baseball is thriving in the Northeast and within an easy drive of Long Island. Most are within three hours, including several Yankees and Mets affiliates. So hit the road and see tomorrow’s stars today. The list:

Triple A—International League

 

Team Location Affiliate
Pawtucket Red Sox Pawtucket, RI Boston
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Moosic, PA Yankees
Lehigh Valley Ironpigs Allentown, PA Philadelphia
Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse Washington
Rochester Red Wings Rochester Minnesota
Buffalo Bisons Buffalo Mets

 

Double A—Eastern League

 

Team Location Affiliate
Binghamton Mets Binghamton Mets
Connecticut Defenders Norwich, CT San Francisco
New Britain Rock Cats New Britain, CT Minnesota
Trenton Thunder Trenton, NJ Yankees

 

Class A—South Atlantic League

 

Team Location Affiliate
Lakewood Blue Claws Lakewood, N.J. Philadelphia

 

SS Class A—New York-Penn League

 

Team Location Affiliate
Brooklyn Cyclones Coney Island Mets
Staten Island Yankees St. George Yankees
Oneonta Tigers Oneonta Detroit
Tri-City ValleyCats Troy Houston
Batavia Muckdogs Batavia St. Louis
Hudson Valley Renegades Wappingers Falls Tampa Bay

 

Independent—Atlantic League

 

Team Location
Long Island Ducks Central Islip
Bridgeport Bluefish Bridgeport, CT
Newark Bears Newark, NJ
Somerset Patriots Bridgewater, NJ
Camden Riversharks Camden, NJ

LI Pulse: Confessions of a Mortgage Predator

April 1, 2009

April 2009 issue of LI Pulse magazine.

Title: Confessions of a Mortgage Predator; Selling greed and mortgages during the real estate boom
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: April 2009
Start Page: 62
Word Count: 1,642

“Hi, my name is Joey Walnut and I’m calling about your mortgage with Ameriquest,’’ proclaimed a young man into the phone receiver, hoping the voice on the other end would respond with curiosity and not rage.

In a white-washed office space in a non-descript strip plaza off a traffic-choked artery in Nassau County, Joey begins each cold call in similar fashion. A swig of Vodka-spiked Pepsi between prospects takes the edge off. He repeats the process more than 100 times each evening, following a list of random leads and reading off a tight script.

“It’s really not an easy job to call people at their house at night,’’ said Joey, a college grad. “It really isn’t. So a few drinks would loosen you up. And some people would do coke because it makes you go insane and you’d pound away at the phone.’’

Think Jim Cramer insane. And the goal was mad money.

The payoff comes six to eight weeks later when leads turn into closings and his company collects up to 10 percent of the loan when all the fees are tallied. That’s a $30,000 chunk of gold on a $300,000 mortgage. Everyone gets a piece of the pie, right on down to a cool $5,000 windfall for so-called loan officers like Joey.

These cocaine cold-callers were living the high life, indeed.

Joey — his name has been changed to protect his identity – worked at various mortgage brokerages for three years beginning in late 2004. And while his story may not reflect the industry as a whole, it is emblematic of a decade-long real estate boom that turned homes into ATM machines and saw greed swell to towering heights.

“I was amazed at how many people were involved in the loan and knew this wasn’t helping the situation for the person,’’ said Joey, who is still in sales but got out of real estate in 2007. “Bank reps. The bank taking on the loan. Brokers. Underwriters. Lawyers. The title company. There’s just a lot of people getting paid on each loan.’’

Buy a new car. Consolidate debt. Take an extravagant vacation. A lower monthly payment. There were a million reasons why homeowners looked to refinance. The nexus of rising home values, low interest rates and loose banking practices spawned the great mortgage grab. Long Island, home to mortgage heavyweight American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. and in the shadow of the world’s financial hub, proved to be fertile ground for brokers.

All of which made the subsequent housing collapse all the more spectacular. American Home, the region’s sixth-largest employer, imploded in August 2007. Mortgage companies were the first to suffer as home values leveled off and lending guidelines tightened. The misery spread quickly.

Twenty-five banks nationwide have been shut down by federal regulators and 2.22 million homes sank into foreclosure a year ago, according to Hope Now Alliance. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. national home price index recorded an 18 percent drop in home values in the fourth quarter of 2008.

While New York hasn’t been as hard-hit as Arizona, California or Florida, the sting can be felt on every corner of Long Island as the real estate bubble gave way to a wider recession. The housing market alone has amassed some grim statistics. Suffolk endured 5,855 foreclosures last year, according to RealtyTrac, the fourth-highest in the state. Nassau saw 4,099 foreclosures a year ago.     

“Banks and brokers created the problem. It’s not the borrower’s fault,’’ said Syosset-based attorney James G. Preston, who oversaw 30 closings a week at the peak in 2004. “They sucked these people in.

“If you look at the people selling this stuff they’re kids — young men and women just out of college. It’s like selling stock. They were motivated by money. They were quintessential sales men. Give them a product and let them go.’’

Looking back, the housing bubble was hard to miss. There were legitimate people such as Preston earning a living on the gold rush and prospectors such as Joey panning for riches with the backing of dubious operators.

Some mortgage brokers struck it rich. But especially banks, which played the ultimate game of zero accountability. They outsourced their sales force to mortgage brokerages and then spun off the loans to Wall Street as mortgage-backed securities, raking in a percentage off each transaction – all without consequence.

“One of the real problems is the disconnect between the person selling the loan and the people who owned the loan,’’ said Preston, whose business has gone from 90 percent real estate to just 10.

Banks needed to show sales growth. But when you’ve already leant to everyone with good credit, what do you do next? You create financial products for everyone else. The result fed the rise of mortgage brokers and forced anyone who owned a home to fend off nightly calls – and the temptation — to refinance.

Joey was lured to the mortgage game by the friend of a friend, who bragged of $250,000 paydays and backed it up by driving a red Ferrari.

He started as a cold caller and graduated to loan officer within three months. All while working in an office space straight from a Hollywood script — a large vacuum with folding tables, phones and chairs and little else. This is the pit where newbies as young as 18 earned their stripes as cold callers who made more than 100 phone calls a night looking for leads. At least 97 percent of those never amounted to anything more than voice mail or irate hang-ups.

“Some people drank and some people did drugs,’’ Joey said. “It was out in the open.  It was like nothing. My boss said, ‘If you have to do coke to make money, then do coke.’ That was the mindset.’’

The point was to relentlessly pursue the next lead. The cubicles off to the sides were staffed by loan officers, who armed with someone’s credit history, shopped potential customers to banks in search of favorable rates. Shadowy managers lurked in offices at the back, pushing everyone to do whatever it took to close.

“It was a shitty version of ‘Boiler Room.’ Just nowhere near as much money,’’ Joey said. “We’d go into the meeting room and the boss would say, ‘Do I have to throw my fucking keys on the table?’ He’d throw the keys to his Beamer and then the keys to his house. Just like ‘Boiler Room.’ ‘Is this what I have to do to get you guys to work?’”

Closing meant using tactics that bordered on illegal. Initial meetings were marked by blank pages in place of good faith estimates, which were supposed to disclose all closing costs. Inflating incomes of borrowers for what are called stated income loans was not uncommon. Few mortgage companies operated this far out on the edge. Joey happened to break in at one with all the cred of a pro wrestler. 

They targeted mostly working class minorities in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens. And they pushed the most profitable mortgages, such as the crippling MTA loan.

“This loan killed people,’’ Joey said. “The real interest rate was 7.5 percent. But they only paid one percent interest. The rest – 6.5 percent – would get added on to their loan balance. So if the real amount they owed was $1,500, they would only pay $1,000. The extra $500 would get added to the loan. They weren’t paying down the house and the loan amount was going up every month.’’

In the end, this loan also helped kill off the once-lucrative mortgage industry.

“Obviously, there were a lot of people out there pushing that because of lot of people are in trouble today,’’ said Peter J. Elkowitz, president of the Hauppauge-based Long Island Housing Partnership, a non-profit which helps negotiate better terms for struggling homeowners.

Don’t blame Joey, who got close to clients and gave them his cell phone number. It was the system that was corrupt. Joey tried to be genuine through the entire process – up to the point of disclosing the true extent of closing costs. This was a strange dance brokers engaged in with homeowners.

Many clients knew what they were in for. They had refinanced before and came back for more. Such was the magic of rising home values. Take the case of a truck driver from East Islip who regularly checked in on the status of his loan.

“He called up drunk once and said, ‘I need this money so bad.’ I think he had a gambling debt,’’ Joey said. “When we got to the closing he didn’t care about the fees. We charged people so much money. But in many cases they are taking out $50,000. All they are thinking about in their head was, ‘I’m going to get a check for $50,000.’’’

It would be easy to shake an angry fist at predatory loan brokers. Or point a finger at the banks, which have bankrupted countless families while siphoning off bailout money at the expense of us all. But when “Greed is good,’’ is co-opted as the mantra of an entire generation, you know the root cause of the real estate bubble is much deeper and complex than anyone is willing to admit.

One thing everyone can agree on is the great cash grab is over. Everyone somehow feels dirtier for it. Even the cocaine cowboys who put homeowners into loans they couldn’t afford — they internalize the guilt while offering up Suzie Orman-like insight.

“The fault lies with everyone,’’ Joey concludes. “There were so many people involved. It wasn’t just us. The banks were approving these loans. The lawyers were closing these loans. The people who we were refinancing knew they were going to get an adjustable rate and that it would adjust in two years. Everybody had their own reason to do what they were doing.’’

LI Pulse: Hofstra Softball

February 1, 2009

February 2009 issue of LI Pulse magazine.

Title: Hofstra Softball
Publication: Long Island Pulse magazine
Author: Jason Molinet
Date: February 2009
Start Page: 54
Word Count: 910
 
It begins with alarm clocks blaring at 5 a.m. While the rest of Hofstra University remains sequestered in sleep, a small group of dedicated young women trek down to the locker room and then practice bubble that was once home to the New York Jets.

The Hempstead campus has yet to stir as Casey Fee and her softball teammates get their heart beats racing while pushing through endurance sprints on the field turf. There are weight training sessions too. All done before the first class of the day.

“It’s so cliché, but we work our asses off,’’ said Fee, a senior second baseman and former Long Beach standout.

Olivia Galati sat in on a few of the sweat-drenched sessions and knew this place was special – once she got past the initial shock. The St. John the Baptist senior is one of the best high school pitchers Long Island has produced in the last two decades.

So landing her would be a real coup. But how many teenagers eagerly sign up for such self-inflicted punishment?

 “Athletes on campus, we all know each other and they have respect for us,’’ senior pitcher Kayleigh Lotti said. “They see us train. They hear stories about how hard we work. But regular students? Not a lot of people know how good we are.’’

This is Hofstra softball. Bill Edwards enters his 20th season at the helm of the preeminent college program on Long Island — and University of Connecticut women’s basketball aside — perhaps the most consistent wins factory in the Northeast. It certainly holds claim to another distinction: the best team you’ve never heard of.

Consider what the Pride did last spring. Hofstra won a school-record 45 games and set an NCAA softball record by capturing the program’s 11th straight conference championship.

All that success is winning over fans. Galati signed a letter of intent with Hofstra in November. She represents an even brighter future. “They win the conference every year. I had a gut feeling I belong at Hofstra,’’ Galati said. “My goal — we — want to make it to the College World Series. We’re going to shoot for that.’’

It wasn’t always this way. Hofstra softball has a checkered past, and a history going back to 1951.

Karen Andreone, the athletic director at Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset, remembers her stint at Hofstra well. Her team beat then-powerhouse Adelphi and won a New York state softball title in 1979. After an assistant coach was downsized and scholarship money siphoned off, according to Andreone, she left following the 1980 season and the program endured a mostly-lost decade.

“After I left, my former players called me crying,’’ said Andreone, who went 36-24 as Hofstra coach from 1978-80. “The program was so awful.’’

Andreone’s departure coincided with growing pains on campus. But the University not only recovered, today it thrives as one of the top private institutions in the Northeast.

Softball bounced back too — eventually. The program went 16-22 in 1989, the year before Edwards jumped from Commack High School to the college game. What he stepped into was a mess. But school administrators were committed and backed Edwards the entire way.

“When I took over, there was an old pitching machine, a bucket of balls and a few bats,’’ Edwards said. “I had one-and-a-half scholarships. And that’s it. It was ridiculous.’’

While Edwards had no prior college experience, he transformed Hofstra softball as the sport grew nationally. College softball is still dominated by the West Coast powers. An Arizona or California school has won 22 of the last 25 NCAA Division I national championships.

Times are changing. Louisiana-Lafayette reached the College World Series last season, becoming the first small-conference program to crash the party. Hofstra could be the next.

“It is one of the fastest growing sports around the country,’’ Edwards said. “There’s soccer. And softball is right behind it. Kids are turning out for softball. Summer leagues are exploding. Back in the day, there were two summer teams on Long Island. Today there are 75.’’

A broader talent pool helps. But everyone, from Edwards on down, points to conditioning and coaching as the key to the Pride’s rise from mid-major conference contenders to players on the national stage.

“We teach the fundamentals and then discipline those fundamentals,’’ Edwards said. He’s is so highly regarded that Edwards flies around the country teaching courses for the National Fastpitch Coaches College.

Aside from pre-dawn workouts during the off-season, there’s practice each afternoon. The fundamentals of the game become second nature as a result. Situational awareness grows instinctive. And all the hard work creates an attitude that’s impossible to miss.

The Pride came just one win away from a berth in the College World Series in 2004 and hosted an NCAA Regional last spring. With the bulk of the team back, Hofstra opens the new season with its best opportunity yet. Its quest begins Feb. 13 in Tampa against Illinois. The home opener is March 26 against Rutgers (free admission).

Lotti, the two time Colonial Athletic Association pitcher of the year, is a hard-throwing windmiller in a sport where pitching dominates. Fee is one of three all-conference hitters returning. While each plays to their strengths, there’s a common denominator coursing through them.

It’s a fellowship only an athlete or a soldier could understand.

“We’re the scrappy players from the Northeast,’’ Fee said. “Teams know we’ll never give up. We’ve got that extra edge.’’

Newsday: Center Moriches Football

September 16, 2007

Newsday logo
Title: INSIDE HIGH SCHOOLS / Finally, Moriches football
Publication: Newsday – Long Island, N.Y.
Author: JASON MOLINET
Date: Sep 16, 2007
Start Page: B.26
Section: SPORTS
Text Word Count: 709

The players took a knee and huddled in the East end zone yesterday, intently listening to what coach Steve Failla had to say. It caught the attention of everyone within earshot because Failla put the day into unique perspective.

Failla called the undersized and thoroughly humbled group before him immortal. That’s right, immortal, because championship teams and inaugural seasons are always remembered.

“I grew up in this community and I went to Mercy High School like a lot of people who wanted to play football,” Failla said. “I believe the playing field is an extension of the classroom. I’m for opportunities for all kids.”

Consider the playing field leveled. They played a football game at Center Moriches. Finally.

Two centuries have come and gone without football in this South Shore enclave bordering the Hamptons. Just five miles to the West, Floyd has grown into a gridiron power. Down the road a little further lies Bellport, a school synonymous with great football.

Center Moriches shied away from America’s fall pastime, glad to be known for superb soccer. No more.

They played football in Center Moriches. Say it a few more times and the concept might finally sink in. It would have been easy to miss.

A soccer match unfolded along an adjacent field. The crowd on hand to witness the first varsity football game wasn’t much bigger than the group watching soccer. And the outcome wasn’t anything to fire up the student body: Mercy 30, Center Moriches 0. But hard knocks are the norm for any budding program, especially so in the ultimate team sport.

“This is still a soccer school,” junior quarterback Joe Ratti said. “But we’re going to make it a football school.”

The Red Devils will be hard-pressed to win a game. They are the last seed of 14 teams in Suffolk Division IV. Mercy, who is No.13, showed just how wide the gap is – for now. Mercy and first-year coach Joe Read ran and passed at will. Center Moriches was held to 79 yards of total offense.

“We weren’t going to be their first victory,” Read said.

There will be more growing pains to be sure, yet there was nothing painful about the thumping. For several parents, boosters, players, administrators and coaches, the game marked the start of something special.

“I think you’ll see the next five or six years a strong football program here,” new Center Moriches athletic director Nick DeCillis said. “I think it’s very feasible.”

Generations of soccer players have cultivated Center Moriches’ reputation as a soccer school. The signs in front of the school attest to the boys and girls programs’ success in bold letters. In a district that appreciates history – the school was founded in 1813 – its soccer legacy is embraced.

Some of those soccer backers have made clear their opposition to football. But administrators ultimately embraced the sport as a way of reaching out to neighboring East Moriches, whose teenagers currently have the choice to attend either Westhampton, Eastport-South Manor or Center Moriches. Adding more options, such as football, makes Center Moriches more attractive and lures more local and state funds.

“Before we moved out here we checked out the school and looked at the community,” said Steve Ratti, whose son is the quarterback. “Then we asked about football. There was nothing.”

Ratti said he and a group of concerned parents made it a topic of every school board meeting until a junior high program was finally formed in 2005. The junior varsity debuted last fall. And despite objections from some that Center Moriches wasn’t ready, a varsity program is finally a reality.

“I challenge anyone to look into the eyes of the 90 kids in the football program and tell them they shouldn’t have the right to play football,” Failla said.

They finally played a football game at Center Moriches. The concept doesn’t sound as odd as it did a few minutes ago. Just give it time. It will grow on you, too.

This is Jason Molinet’s final column. He’s leaving Newsday after 11 years of covering high schools.

Newsday: Clarke Football Camp

September 5, 2004

Newsday logo
Title: Happy campers, In the wake of last year’s Mepham scandal, football’s boys of summer from Clarke learn the real values of sport in upstate camp
Publication: Newsday – Long Island, N.Y.
Author: JASON MOLINET. STAFF WRITER
Date: Sep 5, 2004
Start Page: B.12
Section: SPORTS
Text Word Count: 3198

Jimmy and John McKenna sat groggily in an SUV as their mom drove them to school. It was Saturday morning, much too early to do anything besides sleep. Never mind that the brothers were jostled out of bed only minutes earlier.

There would be plenty of time to nap. Right now, their young football careers depended on how fast Rachelle McKenna whipped through the back roads of Westbury. “I was scared I was going to miss the bus,” Jimmy said. “My mom woke me up late. She thought I was supposed to be at school by 8.”

The ride lasted all of two minutes, and the McKennas breathed easier as they pulled up to the circle in front of Clarke High School. The scene when they arrived was chaotic. It was 7:30 a.m. Teammates milled about, some chatting as others ate breakfast. Luggage and equipment blocked the sidewalk. The humming coach bus, its storage underbelly open, cast a shadow over it all.

Just hours later, 32 players, five coaches and one supervisor arrived at Camp Pontiac in upstate Copake for the start of football camp. The facility, 163 acres in the foothills of the Berkshires, is home to adolescent campers for much of the summer. By now, the rock- climbing walls are abandoned and the whitewashed wooden cabins that line Lake Rhoda are empty.

“It’s the Fantasy Island of sports,” gushed camp athletic director Walter Bachman, known more famously as a Nassau high school coach and administrator.

Camp Pontiac is dotted with basketball courts, soccer fields and hiking trails, but these teens will know only football. The intense training sessions lasted four days and stretched from dawn to well after sundown on lighted fields – 96 hours that could well define an entire season. Clarke was one of 14 football programs to train there over a three-week period.

“Precamp, you have a lot of individuals and they’re all wearing the Clarke jersey,” said Tim O’Malley, a 1987 Clarke graduate and the team’s offensive coordinator. “When they leave, they’re a team.”

In the year since four Mepham players preyed on teammates in a brutal hazing rite at a football camp in Pennsylvania, the incident has trained the spotlight on such trips. Parents and school administrators have questioned what goes on at these getaways and whether they’re really necessary. Longtime Clarke coach John Boyle never wavered.

The decision to go for the 13th year in a row was never an issue at Clarke. A problem-free history helped assuage fears. So did the sleeping conditions at camp, where the coach and player bunks were connected by a common bathroom and showers. Nothing would go unnoticed by the staff. The program also put money aside in a scholarship fund to help pay the difference for anyone who couldn’t afford the cost of camp, this time a $200 fee.

There was a twist. Boyle offered an open invitation to parents. None actually made the 130-mile trek, but a Newsday reporter did. What follows is a revealing look at how one team learned about the game and each other – and grew closer as a result.

High expectations

Clarke is as suburban as Long Island gets. The school is stashed away in a Westbury neighborhood lined with manicured lawns and brick stoops.

The football program enjoyed a remarkable renaissance a year ago. The team opened the season in a new conference – and despite question marks and a five-year playoff drought – tagged with the top seed.

The Rams delivered with a 7-3 run that ended with a 39-20 loss to perennial power Roosevelt in the Nassau Conference IV title game.

Clarke couldn’t stop elusive runner Daryle McClenic or slippery quarterback Marquise Herron, who combined for 463 rushing yards.

“We feel we lost the championship because we didn’t tackle well,” Boyle admitted. “We had people in the right position.”

Tackling is one emphasis of this camp. Players and staff are a more confident and comfortable bunch as they get ready for a new season. As the No. 2 seed behind Roosevelt, the Rams are expected to be a force once again in 14-team Conference IV.

“Our ultimate goal is to get back to the championship game and win it,” senior fullback/linebacker Bill Palka said.

Camp will help them get there. Football camp means something different for each teenager headed there. Take the McKenna brothers. Each signed on for sweltering practices and cold swims, endless football and still more sweat. All in a setting far from the comforts of their own world.

There’s no air conditioning or cable TV and cell phone reception is spotty.

Jimmy had an idea of what lay ahead. The junior went to camp a year ago, and braced for the worst this time. He brought a pillow, sleeping bag, bug spray, CD player, a cooler filled with Gatorade, an entire suitcase of snacks and plenty of clothes. John, a freshman, experienced it for the first time. A good showing could mean a chance to make the quantum leap from middle school ball to the varsity.

“Playing middle school football and then coming up to the varsity – it’s a whole new game,” John said.

The journey began the moment he stepped from the familiar comfort of the family SUV. “[Jimmy] was exhausted when he came home from camp last year,” said Rachelle McKenna, one of the few parents who waited for the bus to pull away. “But he had a good time. If they didn’t enjoy it, they wouldn’t be going back.”

Getting settled

Clarke relocated to its upstate home after just four practices into the new season. The camp, a short ride off the Taconic State Parkway, seemed even more distant from Long Island sprawl than the reality. The winding country road that connects it to civilization is lined with old cemeteries, rows of corn, silent combines and grazing livestock. In other words, farm country.

It’s the very place where only weeks earlier, a youth league football team from Massapequa, the Mustangs, suffered a hazing episode that resulted in the longtime coach resigning. One player’s mouth was taped shut, his face smeared in peanut butter and he was given a profane nickname by teammates in a skit organized by coaches.

All of it smacks in the face of camp rules, which are read to schools the moment they arrive. It includes a strong anti-hazing stance. Camp workers didn’t learn of the Massapequa episode until reading it in a newspaper. The news broke the day Clarke arrived.

There’s nothing for Boyle, 47, to do but shrug it off. He’s been around the game a lifetime and can’t fathom something like that happening. His father, Jack Boyle, enjoyed a 50-year career in football. When John Boyle took over the winless Clarke program in 1987, Jack signed on as his assistant. That’s how it remained until he died after the 2000 season. The Nassau County Football Coaches Association named its assistant coach of the year award in his honor.

“I actually went to law school for one year and I was going to become a lawyer,” said the younger Boyle, now a dean at the school. “I guess coaching was in my blood. I was always around the game. That’s what happens when your father is a football coach.”

This is the sixth different camp for Clarke. Boyle swears by the experience, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an adventure. Health officials closed one camp soon after Clarke left. One trip was marked by a police raid in the dead of night to arrest a kitchen worker, according to Boyle.

Also, what camps promise they don’t always deliver. Clarke has been forced to share facilities with other teams, and the food can be tough to stomach.

Not at Camp Pontiac. It didn’t take a half-day for Boyle to assess the amenities. “This is the nicest camp I’ve been to in 13 years,” he said.

Players settled in quickly after orientation. They walked to the girls side of camp and the cabin they would call home for the next four nights. Bunk No. 10 belonged to the players while the coaches stayed next door. As players climbed the stairs to the cabin entrance, a mad dash ensued. They pushed through two doorways in a race to claim the choicest beds. The prime spots, single beds under windows, went quickly. The unlucky ones shared prison-camp style bunks.

Fate stuck Jim McKenna with a top bunk. “It’s hot up there,” he said. “You’re tired. You really don’t want to climb a bunk.”

Hot start

A quick lunch assured the players that this camp is first-rate. Then Clarke took to the field, nicknamed Fenway Park, a baseball diamond with lights. The oversized green chain-link fence cast its shadow over leftfield. Otherwise it bears little resemblance to the Boston treasure.

Football lines have been painted on the parched grass and centerfield has been ground into dust from daily use.

Some teams back a U-Haul truck to their practice field and load it all, including blocking sleds. Clarke traveled comparatively lightly. Two ball bags and several tackling dummies accounted for the bulk of the gear. One luxury Boyle allowed himself was a Juggs machine that fired footballs.

It’s the first of 10 practice sessions in all, and the players, wearing the full complement of protective gear, immediately realized it wouldn’t be easy. Camp workers conceded the team arrived on one of the hottest days of the summer. Even the tall willows that shade the field seemed to bend and melt in the oppressive afternoon humidity. Heat was a factor until Monday evening when the rains came.

“It’s so much hotter than last year’s camp,” senior running back/ cornerback Larry Buffalino said. “The first day, you couldn’t even get to sleep. It was so hot.”

There are two pools on the girls side of camp. After the opening practice, players skipped the shower and headed straight for the pools. The water was refreshing at first. It grew cold fairly quickly. The ensuing evening practice wasn’t better. The end to one steamy day finally came at 9:45 p.m., when the players crossed the two bridges that led from the field to their bunks.

The first day away from home is always the toughest. Alan Ramirez, a beefy senior lineman, recalled going away for the first time as a freshman. “I was homesick,” he said. “That’s it right there. You get over it. You start having fun and making friends.”

If there was any solace, another school, Grady, only began practice as Clarke left. Grady, a first-year varsity program in Brooklyn, could be heard drilling from across the lake until 11. Clarke players tried to drown out the noise with music. They laid quietly in bed with headphones on, hoping sleep would take them.

“I went through this,” said Scott Martin, a 1998 Clarke graduate and the team’s defensive coordinator. “It’s physically and mentally tough. You get tired. We schedule our practice toward how they feel. You know when to ease up on them and when to push them. It’s football and it’s fun.”

Tackling challenges

The fun arrived Sunday, the first day full contact was allowed. Everyone was more aggressive, even the coaches barking instructions.

This was the first real day of football – highlighted by three practice sessions – and coaches asked for a little more.

It began immediately. The players awoke to the sound of bagpipes blasting from a portable CD player. Boyle is Irish, after all. Martin led the players on a 7 a.m. run around camp. There were few thunderous collisions, even though the sessions devoted much of the time to tackling. Football relies on precision more than anything else.

Three-a-days get Clarke players the repetitions they need to grasp all the complexities.

“If you think you are going to make a mistake, don’t worry,” Martin bellowed to the defense. “Just play hard.”

Camp is about getting everyone on the same page. Martin, who played linebacker at C.W. Post, pulled aside junior Abir Rahman for a little extra instruction at cornerback. The 5-7, 135- pound Rahman is one of the fastest on the field. But he began the camp buried on the depth chart because of his size and inexperience. It didn’t help that volunteer assistant Al Barraza, quarterbacking against the second defense, lit up the secondary with a pair of deep completions.

“I’m only 5-7,” said Rahman, who scored five touchdowns as a JV running back a year ago. “It’s hard getting up on some wide receivers. At running back, you don’t need that much height. But with my weight, I get bounced around a little bit. It’s a different ballgame.”

Most of the 14 underclassmen at camp were there for the first time. Like John McKenna and Rahman, they hoped to make an impression. Some struggled while others flourished. Yet there is no bigger surprise than 6-2, 275-pound senior Mike Rollo. He entered camp as a backup and emerged a two-way starter on the line.

“I tried to get better at my position, learn the plays and bond with my teammates,” Rollo said.

The four backs who will carry the load for the Rams in the wing- T offense all return, but there are question marks along both lines, at receiver, tight end, quarterback, linebacker and corner. After two intense days, not to mention an entire summer of conditioning programs and seven-on-seven passing tournaments, the picture became clearer for the staff.

The coaches pictured the lineup for the first time just as the players started to warm to one another.

“Being in the same bunk for four days really tightens up any doubts you might have had about anyone else,” Rahman said. “You start to respect people more for what they can do on the field or what they bring to the locker room.”

Laughter filled the cabin as the teens shared food, swapped CDs, talked and played cards. Bonds formed fast. So did quartets when a group in the shower began to belt out lyrics to *NSYNC. The edginess that hovered in the bunk like smelly socks finally dissipated.

“They are so used to being home and having all the amenities – their own room, TV and bathroom,” said assistant Paul Henning, a 1984 Clarke grad. “The biggest adjustment is having to live with someone else and having to share the facilities. You have to wait to use the bathroom and the shower. It’s a great life lesson, I’ll tell you that.”

Putting it together

As the practices piled up, there were casualties. One lineman sat out with an upset stomach while another took time off because of dehydration. Senior lineman Andrew Diaz got whacked to the head Sunday and spent the next day lounging on a tackling dummy and with an ice pack resting on his crown.

Blisters and bruises were common. At the end of day two, senior Doug Ingram had too many to count. Blisters and boils on both feet turned him into a spectator Monday. He blamed the shoes. “Everyone with these cleats has blisters,” he said matter-of-factly.

“This is the day where all the aches and pains come out,” Boyle said. “It’s the first day after we start hitting. We’ll go through a lot of ice today.”

Boyle named team captains after the morning practice. Players voted the night before and six received strong backing: Buffalino, Palka, Ramirez, Jimmy McKenna, Mike Grimes and Brendon Russo. Boyle had never gone with six captains before, but he supported the will of his players.

Evening rain forced the staff to modify the schedule. Instead of a scrimmage, Clarke worked on the running game in the Pontiac Palace, an indoor gym. O’Malley waded into the huddle and held up cards with the play diagrammed. But even time in the Palace was limited.

Three more teams arrived at the camp Monday: St. Francis Prep (Queens), Great Neck North and Port Washington. So Clarke had to share the Palace with Prep.

Everyone could sense the end of camp as they headed back to the bunks. “I know I’ve gotten better being at camp,” John McKenna said. “I’ve caught the gist of things. But I’m looking forward to going home too.”

Signs of cohesion showed through on the final day. The staff cobbled together a depth chart after much debate, scribbling the results on a white eraser board. They love the upside of John McKenna, the lone freshman they brought to Camp Pontiac. He will remain with the varsity. Having an older brother on the team to learn from will make the transition easier. He’s the backup defensive end for now.

A sophomore, Joe Martino, has also caught the eye of coaches. He’ll start at defensive end. After meeting with each underclassman to define his role, camp culminated with a 45-play scrimmage Tuesday night under the lights at Fenway. The session was taped and graded by position coaches the next day. It offered a chance for Clarke to see how far it has come.

“Camp makes an average team better and a good team very good,” Boyle said. “This is three weeks worth of practices. You have a definite edge the first two weeks of the season. This is a good team. This camp could put us at the next level.”

An electric vibe filled the cool night air. This was as close to playing in a real game as it gets. Halfbacks Buffalino and Mike Palmer burst through cracks in the defense for big gains. As expected, the Clarke ground attack dominated. What coaches looked for was the unexpected. Rahman, a project when camp began, provided hope with an interception at cornerback and surprisingly fluid moves as the backup running back.

As junior defensive tackle Joe Vicari headed toward the sideline, still pumped full of adrenaline, he had advice for the others watching the scrimmage. “Show the coaches you want to be out there,” Vicari said.

Everyone played the final night. As they walked off the field one final time, a team at last, a feeling of accomplishment washed over them. Clarke’s version of boot camp was finally history. They not only survived, the teens flourished. Even the daunting season opener Sept. 18 at No. 3 Manhasset doesn’t loom as large.

“When you come up to camp, you’re with guys that you’ll be playing football with for the next three months – and in my case, two years,” Rahman said. “The bonding is essential. If you asked me the meaning of team, it would be this.”

« Previous PageNext Page »