Crosstown Classic: CBA 50, Nottingham 44

December 4, 2008 - My final project took me to Nottingham High School for high school basketball.  Christian Brothers Academy made the long, four minute (without traffic) trip to the 'Ham for a non-conference boys basketball battle.  There's no atmosphere quite like high school basketball, especially when you have a 6-6 center (who happens to be an offensive lineman on the football team) on one side and athletic guards on the other.  The game itself was close for a while, but CBA too over in the second half with two solid post performances by that center, Michael Goodman and the new guy, Greg Thompson.  

Below is is the post game LIVE wrap from the school with highlights and an exclusive interview with 24th-year CBA Head Coach Buddy Wleklinski.  An interesting note about Coach Wleklinski (real name, John): in Jim Boeheim fashion, CBA dedicated its home court to the current basketball head coach and Athletic Director before the second home game of the year, last Friday.

  

CuseCar? Yes, CuseCan

NOVEMBER 12, 2008- Ever heard of the Zipcar?  The people at CuseCar sure have.  In a new partnership with SUNY ESF, the company is launching a program to help curb energy costs and use.  CuseCar will give Syracuse residents who don't have cars or regular access to them the chance to use one.  The program allows people to pay for a membership, which lets them have access to the CuseCar at an hourly rate.

"We want to provide an alternative to reducing the carbon footprint," CuseCar Co-Founder Vita DiMacchi said.  "Walking's always great, biking's always good.  But you can't always bring your groceries home on a bike or on foot."

The premise is similar to a rental car, but the goal is to reduce energy costs.  That's why ESF is involved.  Throughout the year, students have been encouraged to wear sweaters because the school has decreased the use of heating systems, Michael Kelleher, Director of Renewable Energy Systems at ESF said.

"The U.S. uses 25 percent of the world's energy uses and represents five percent of the population," he said.  "So we gotta do something to reduce our energy use."

What would you do with $1T?

The federal government has well exceeded the $1 trillion mark in the War in Iraq. It's even gotten to the point where people are thinking: what else could we do with that much money? Rob Simpson has 50 answers to that question in his new book, What We Could Have Done With the Money, and some of those answers are bizarre.

"Definitely paving the streets with gold," Simpson said by phone from his home in Tennessee. "That's about as silly as you can get."

Simpson also said that the government can build exact replicas of each of the wonders of the world and put them in America with the money. But Simpson says the real issue is that nobody seems to grasp the amount.

"We can't appreciate what they really represent and that leaves people divorced from the issue," Simpson said.

Some students don't even understand how to spend that much money.

"I couldn't even begin to imagine that much money, I can't," SU Senior Allison Gibbons said. "It's phenomenal to me that they've even managed to spend that much."

Onondaga County Legislator Tom Buckel (a Democrat) had some opinions on the matter at hand as well.  Unfortunately, none of what he said could make it into the actual package.  So with that in mind, here are a few of the highlights from my extensive interview with him.

Blame it on the Weather

It's been over 100 days since the end of Spring. Basically, it's long over. But farms like Beak & Skiff in LaFayette are just now starting to deal with the consequences of the stormy season.

"We had a frosty spring where some of the blossoms were injured by the frost," Candy Morse, of Beak & Skiff farm said. "So our crop is lower than it normally would be."

That doesn't even account for the hail storms, which Morse said badly damaged some of the crop. With all the damage, she predicts the farm will run our of apples quicker than normal. More than that, the weather hasn't accounted for all of the hardships this season.

"We thought September was very slow because of gas prices," Morse said. "But the Wall Street crisis hasn't affected us so much because people still want to do a traditional apple picking."

Picking Pumpkins: A Brief Guide

Pumpkins.  They're an almost universally-known staple of Fall synonymous with Halloween (Jack-O-Lanterns) and Thanksgiving (pie).  And now that the harvest is over, families across Central New York will start to pick the pumpkins they display all throughout the month.  Since New York is near the top in pumpkin production, people have many different shapes, sizes and colors to choose from, farm owner Brian Reeves said.

"That one's a little oranger, that one's a little yellower," Reeves, owner of Reeves Farm in Baldwinsville, said.  "This one has a bigger stem.  That one's a more tall look, this one's a squatty fat look.  Breeders love to do this stuff."

And Reeves said this year's crop is as big as it has been in several years.  But if you're a novice pumpkin picker, there's a few things you need to know.

"It's a very deep orange that's usually an indication of good plant health," Reeves said.  "The skin is almost leathery, [it needs a] good texture to it."

Don't forget about the stem either.  A good stem should be strong, thick and a deep green.  That stem can be the difference between a pumpkin worth $10, and one worth only one, Reeves said.

Pumped Up Prices

Seasons may change, but the gas problem never seems to go away.  But according to AAA, the Syracuse area wasn't hit nearly as hard this fall.  The national average increased by 18 cents after Hurricane Ike; in the region from Buffalo to Syracuse, prices increased by only five cents.

"Normally crude oil is the key factor," Diana Dibble, of AAA Western and Central New York said. "But here in the U.S. [the storm] has played a greater role in the prices at the pump."

Those prices reached as high as $4.23 over the summer, which caused some to reconsider how much they drive.  The national driving average dropped two percent over that period.  In addition to not driving, Caroline Haynes uses another method.

"I don't fill up anymore," she said. "I put in $10 when it runs out, at the most 20 and that's all I can do."