Wear Your Thinking Hat AND Your Drinking Hat

Kevin Baker, founder and owner of Trivia Night Live, at Graney’s Sports Bar

       Thinking and drinking are an unlikely combination. However, if you are in
the right place at the right time with the right people, it could win you
a pitcher of beer or a free meal.

       For those know-it-alls in Albany looking for something entertaining on a
weeknight, welcome to Trivia Night Live — a small company whose sole
purpose is hosting team trivia nights in area bars. It’s something that
might sound a bit nerdy. After all, who goes to a bar to take a test?
But, the questions are contemporaneous and based on general knowledge,
from categories like entertainment, geography, sports, history, and so
on. And once you and your team gets into it, you’ll be cheering and
jeering so loud you might forget that it is actually a little nerdy. On a
trivia night, the bar is as electrified as Super Bowl Sunday.
Here are the rules to the game: a team signs up at the front before the
game starts, giving the emcee their team name. They get a packet of paper
slips with their team number on it. Each question asked is of ascending
point value (two, four, six, eight and 10). If your response is correct,
the team gets points added to their score, and points subtracted if the
answer is wrong. The teams write their answers on a slip, then someone
from the team walks it up to the DJ booth. When all the replies are in,
the emcee announces the correct answer, usually causing an uproar of
victory screams or cries of despair. Between each of the four rounds of
questions, everyone raises their glass as the emcee calls out “Social,”
and for the last question, teams wager points based on the category, just
like Final Jeopardy. The prize is usually free drink and food coupons.
But for the team that is in first place by half time, a pitcher of beer
is on the house.
     On a Monday night at Graney’s Sports Bar on New Scotland Ave., Kevin
Baker kicks off his own quiz show from behind a laptop and a
wobbly little wooden podium, microphone in hand and a smile on his boyish
face. The 40-year-old UAlbany graduate used to be a disc jockey for PYX
106 back in the ‘90s. These days, he works for Living Resources, a
company that helps the developmentally challenged. At night, Baker runs
Trivia Night Live with between two and six employees (many of whom he met
while working in radio), hosting about 20 games to the Capital District a
week.
     “Trivia was kind of a spin off of my radio career,” Baker said. “Then
Hooters came into town, and it was their thing and they hired me to do
it. So I did it there up until they closed in the summer of ‘07. And then
in the last three to five years I just started doing it in smaller bars,
and it’s grown pretty quickly.”
      From such modest beginnings, the company has expanded to bars on Delaware
Ave., Yates Street, Madison Ave., and even Crossgates Mall, not to
mention places like Schenectady and Glenmont. “We’ve got some stuff going
on in Utica, of all places, 90 miles away,” Baker said.
“It’s grown mostly by word of mouth. I never tried very hard to get
business,” he said. The Hooters girls used to go out to bars and talk
about the trivia nights, and Baker started getting phone calls from bar
owners looking to start up their own trivia nights. “A couple of bar
owners I knew, and they took a shot at it, like this one. Graney’s is
actually my longest running bar now. I guess I’ve been here since… the
Fall of ‘04. God, it‘s been a long time!”
      Some bar owners took a shot, Baker said, “And fortunately there’s enough
around that see the big picture with this kind of thing. Because, yeah,
you’re first instinct is ‘Why would I hire somebody to come in and ask
questions?’ But obviously the return is great, because these places are
packed, people love it, and they’re all very loyal. They play in their
bar every week.”
       Although Baker said he loved his day job, “At the end of the day, this
kind of fills the void left from being in radio. The ‘check me out,’ kind
of attention seeking sort of fun I don’t get to have since my radio
career ended back in 2005.” He said he also likes that the business is
all his, and he gets to call the shots. Even though a lot of preparation
goes into creating 20 new and challenging questions every day (he
estimates about an hour per batch of questions), “It’s fun doing the
research. You learn a bunch of things — I forgot a lot of things, too–
but it’s fun. With trivia, it’s an endless array of information that I
try to gather and bring to a game.”
      His method for compiling questions is usually bouncing around the
internet, or sometimes watching TV quiz shows to see what they’re asking.
He said that at some point, he got so used to making up questions that he
knows the basic formulas, such as ‘Name the states that border California
to the east,’ or ‘Name the last two MVPs in the NFL.’ Baker said “It’s an
easy set up. As long as I show up with the questions and the answer
slips, we can have a game.”
      Don’t worry if you can’t make it out this week, though. Baker said he
sees himself doing this for the rest of his life — maybe not as the
jovial voice asking the questions in a bar near you, but as some kind of
executive quizmaster. He can write the questions from anywhere and send
it along to his hosts. Right now, the goal in Baker’s mind is expansion.
“Trivia is big all over the country, so I think it’s got some legs,” he
said. “Look at karaoke. I mean, they were doing that when I was in high
school, which was a long time ago, and they still sing it today. So if
that can last — I mean, come on, I can’t get 20 more years out of this?”
Maybe he can. Of course, there is one more dream he can shoot for. “I
want to get my own TV game show on a major network,” he said with a
sanguine chuckle. “I’d call it Baker’s Dozen. I don’t know what it would
be, 13 questions or something like that.”
       For a full schedule of trivia nights, visit Albanyteamtrivia.com, or
e-mail Kevin Baker at BakerTrivia@yahoo.com. Private parties and
corporate events are available.

–By Allie Garcia

War on Drugs-SUNYA

Controversial and at times cliché, sometimes saving the youth and at others destroyed a nation, the War on Drugs is an on going issue that does not seem to be going anywhere anytime fast.

So how does this affect those in college, particularly those of us at SUNY Albany? Well, greatly. The campuses official stance on all drugs is pretty straightforward: don’t do it. In the University of Albany Community Rights Responsibility booklet, the policy is stated as, “Consistent with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1989…”

Associate Director of the Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility Division of Student Success, Sally D’Alessandro said, “The campuses’ rules regarding drugs just try to uphold all state and federal laws.”

28 years after President Ronald Reagan gave birth to the term, it still lingers with a feeling of uncertainty. Some dismiss the term completely, such as Noam Chomsky, who sees the term as simply propaganda.

The feeling on campus, as far as enforcement of drug prohibition goes seems to be pretty relaxed.

As far as catching students who choose to do drugs on campus, there are several methods. The first, are the campus police. There are three rotating units that all have four or five officers on duty at once, depending on the day. They operate on a four day on, and three day off basis.

They also have some help from two highly trained police dogs. Only one of which is for sniffing out narcotics (the other for bombs). The dogs are never used on people, specifically, though. They are only used to smell areas, and if they begin to scratch and bite, that is a sign of an illegal substance. At that point, the police have probably cause and are legally allowed to search the area, for example, a student’s dorm room.

The last, and sometimes most effective way of catching students, is from other student’s complaints. This usually is most common among students smoking marijuana, as the smell can travel and irritate some.

While these preventions are certainly somewhat productive in stopping drug use, it is clearly not enough. Having just a hand full of cops surveying the campus of over 8,000 students is just not a realistic task. Even catching people smoking cannabis on campus, one of the more obvious and detectable violations is not so easy to detect. At least according to those smoking.

Dyana M., a twenty-year-old junior, admits to having smoked on campus a number of times.

“I’m not that worried about getting caught,” she says, “I’ve smoked inside and outside before.”

She advises that while smoking inside, to have a fan in the room facing towards the window while making sure to keep a towel at the base of the door. Both precautions to limit the detectable odor.

Similar sentiments are shared by eighteen-year-old, Scott S. who smoked on campus a few times already in his first semester at Albany.

“As long as you stay in small groups, it’s hard to get caught.” he said confidently.

There are roughly 8,000 students living on campus each year. In 2007, there were sixty-nine drug related arrests and forty-seven more referrals. Most of these, according to D’Alessandro, were marijuana related.

According to the Beureau of Justice Statistics in the last couple of years, high school seniors, not even college students, have been doing drugs at record numbers. These numbers will certainly be higher among college students. But using their conservative percentages, there should be between 40-320 students doing any individual drug ranging from cocaine to heroin, and a wide range of different opiates during any given month. SUNY Albany caught 116 students all last year.

This is due to the lack of emphasis the school puts on ‘the War on Drugs.’ Obviously they do not want people doing drugs on their campus, and of course, they will follow federal policy, but when it comes down to it, their interest and efforts lie elsewhere.

On the subject of drugs, D’Alessandro said, “It’s a small issue compared to alcohol. Most efforts are on alcohol and in many ways it is far more damaging.”

 

A Church that Bucks Patriarchy, Perceptions, Will Shutter Its Doors

“If anyone here is a visitor or has never been here before, speak up because we already know who you are already!” Fr. Paul joked as he began Sunday services. St. Bernadette’s Mission Church, nestled in the rural ‘hamlet’ outside of Albany is an interesting contrast to the typical Roman Catholic Church.

St. Bernadette's Mission Church. Credit: Max Stavis

St. Bernadette’s was established in 1960 when St. Mary’s of the Lake in East Berne and St. Andrew’s Church in Thompson’s Lake merged. Its architecture hardly resembles the soaring concrete structures from the turn of the twentieth century. Built wide and low to the ground, it could easily be mistaken for one of the homes in the area.

The unassuming exterior façade is divided into thirds. Oak plywood is in between two sides of standard red brick. In an effort to beautify the structure and honor notable deceased members, parishioners used $600 of their own money to fill the fifteen rectangular windows along the church with stained glass. The mock tie die patterned windows, which were installed in 2004 give a much needed burst of color to the interior.
Charles V. Haluska has a window dedicated to him because he was one of the founding members of the church. Haluska, owned the deed for the land before relinquishing ownership to St. Lucy’s church, according to city records.

However, St. Bernadette’s has one important thing in common with many churches in Albany County. When St. Bernadette’s shutters it doors for the final time in December of 2010 it will join thirteen other churches in the area that will be displacing its parishioners, according to a list released by the diocese. Along with the fourteen that are closing, an additional ten churches will be merging in an effort to consolidate resources and parishioners.

The congregation was only notified a few weeks ago and they are still in the opening stages of grieving according to Sister Mary Lou Pistak, the Parish Life Director for St. Bernadette’s.

Sister Mary Lou Pistak Photo Credit: Max Stavis

“You walk into this place and you say, ‘is this a catholic church’? It’s so relaxed, so welcoming,” explained parishioner Jean Gagnon.

Gagnon, one of the prominent female members of St. Bernadette’s, rose to her feet just before service was about to conclude. “This isn’t officially church sanctioned message,” she prefaced her plea, “but those who want to contribute to the letter writing campaign to the diocese, please see me after the service is over, maybe, if we get enough of these to the diocese we can do something about their decision.” Gagnon, who works at a travel agency in Latham, feels slighted by the diocese. The diocese does their annual headcount in October, but according to Gagnon, there is a swelling of parishioners over the summer months because people keep secondary residences in the Berne area.

Gagnon is representative of what makes St. Bernadette’s a unique place of worship. Rooted in the progressive culture of the 1960’s, St. Bernadette’s has a strong female presence and an extremely relaxed atmosphere for a Roman Catholic Church.

This is due in large part to an unofficial dress code where there isn’t a tie in sight. The majority of the parishioners are elderly, with a scattering of people under the age of fifty around the church wearing flannel and casual sweaters. The only people who are formally dressed are the leaders of the service. The Priest, visiting from a neighboring church, wore a green robe over his black button down shirt with white collar. The two sisters of the church wore white robes that draped over their entire bodies.

Fr. Paul speaking to Dr. Marjorie Smith (Credit: Max Stavis)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two foot ceramic statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary hang from the wall behind the congregation seating. The statues are painted in soft pastel colors and look over the roughly sixty person mass as it proceeds.
The ceiling angles to an equilateral triangle which helped distribute the sound of a folk band that was visiting from St. Lucy’s Church in Altamont.

For Dr. Marjorie Smith, the closing of this church marks the end of a relationship that has spanned the entire existence of the church and was twenty years in the making before that. Smith, 83, cycled through various religions over her early adulthood, beginning with a Catholic upbringing, then converting to Methodist, Dutch Reform, and Episcopalian before finally settling on Roman Catholic.

Smith, one of the five members of the first church committee, is well respected among the congregation for making it through medical school at a time where she discouraged because she was a woman.

Her deceased husband, Harry, filled the role of grandfather figure for Gagnon’s two young daughters. The two outspoken children, who at times cut their mother off in mid-sentence, remember Harry fondly.

“You don’t get connections like that in a large church,” explained Gagnon. “They loved Harry. Everyone here knows each other, cares about each other, takes care of each other.”

Smith, when asked what she is going to do when the church closes, couldn’t muster an answer.

Pistak is another strong female presence within the St. Bernadette’s community. “I do everything except sacraments,” Pistak noted when asked what her duties entailed. With no full-time Priest, Pistak is responsible for managing the churches finances, pastoral work, committees, prayer and worship and visiting sick parishioners.

“We hope to go as a block, a community, as a family,” said Pistak. The plan is for the congregation to move to St. Lucy’s, St. Bernadette’s sister church, at the time of closing. The difficulty that Pistak envisions is geographical: in a rural community where people already live upwards of ten miles away from their current church, adding an extra ten miles to their commute might make an already diminishing parish evaporate.
“It isn’t like when you close a church in a city, where you can just go down the block to the other church, these people are spread out everywhere and some people are gonna have to drive 40 miles to go to church,” said Pistak.

This distance, coupled with what Pistak referred to a lack of spirituality on the part of the new generation of church goers will only mean an even lower turnout in the future. Pistak made the distinction between spirituality with a capital s, which is centered on religion and the church and the lower case version where people practice the religion in the confines of their personal life.

Pistak, who has been with the church for 28 years, has fielded various offers from the Berne record office, schools, and other local entities but they haven’t gotten past brief phone conversations. “They’ll call and I’ve asked them, do you want to keep your face?” Pistak, in typical 1960’s fashion, isn’t going down without fierce resistance.

Chartwells Employees: Life Behind the Service By: Sara B.

Ever wonder who serves you breakfast, lunch and dinner? Believe it or not, a good majority of the Chartwells staff are part-time students and few of them are even Alumni from SUNY Albany.

Daniel Lepik, most affectionately known by SUNY Albany students as “Dan the Soup Man” has been working for Chartwells, the company in charge of SUNY Albany’s food services for more than 10 years. He has been made infamous by the Facebook group entitled “Soup Guy is the Man“. “I was working at Chartwells since I was 18…back then it was called UAS. Chartwells took over in 2000 or 2001. Before Chartwells it was called Sodexo Marriot but those guys lost contract in 98′ or 99′, E. coli outbreak.”

Chartwells, founded by Bill Preston Chartwells III in 1963 has been SUNY Albany’s food service provider for 10 years. Chartwells is in charge of all of the food services on campus such as the cafeteria, Ritazza, Wendy’s, Outtakes and all of the cafeterias in the quads surrounding the main campus. Dan has been working with students while he was a student and continues to work for Chartwells even after he graduated, “Customers/students are very nice I can count on one hand the arguments I get…once in a while someone is snotty”.

Courtesy Albany.edu

Chartwells encourages student workers for part-time employment, as advertised, “Chartwells offers students the opportunity to work right on campus. They will assist you in developing a work schedule that keeps your classes as your top priority!” yet, there still remains a stigma against working for this company. There have been rumors of x convicts being hired as well as insensitivity towards student schedules. Stephanie Anderas, Junior at SUNY Albany currently works at Sbarros in the campus center while juggling her double major in Communications and English. Although the convenience of working for Chartwells seemed like a good bargain at first, Stephanie is not sure if she will continue enduring the added abuse that comes with serving her fellow peers. “The majority of the students are rude and there a few that are actually polite. I did learn to appreciate my other co-workers, those who were full time. Other than that I’ve learned to be really patient with the rude ones, especially when we’re in the same class”

Stephanie has been working at Sbarros for the beginning of this school year and has been working for the Chartwells Company since 2007 where she began working in the Colonial Quad dining hall cafeteria. She recalls her shifts working at her current position at Sbarros: “At Sbarros, I leave at 12:00 if I’m lucky. I usually start two hours after class. I serve the food, sometimes make the pizza. I occasionally do the register and help with cleaning up. We stay open until 11:00 p.m. and students just love love to come at the last minute and ask for freebies. It really makes me feel invisible, especially when I want to go home and rest.” Stephanie often felt that her status as a student went ignored and her school work was hard to balance against her work schedule, “I would still get away with leaving early or calling out. School is way more important and at the end of the day money just didn’t matter”.

Written by: Sara bhagchandani

Violence and Crime in Albany: SUNY Albany student safety at risk

ALBANY–Violence and crime in the Albany, NY area is an ever-growing issue, especially in the downtown “student ghetto” where a majority of SUNY Albany students live. Every single day there is some form of violence committed–whether it is a house or car robbery …even an attack or murder.

Surprisingly, students are in many ways not anxious about the threat of this violence. An overwhelming number of students choose to live downtown in the notoriously dangerous area. Even those who have been victims of violence continue living there despite their experiences.

According to “statestats.com” Albany is one of the top ten most dangerous cities in America. And according to “neighborhoodscout.com” Albany’s crime index is only 6% (meaning, it is only safer than 6% of all other cities in the U.S.). In the past few years violence and crime have remained prevalent in the downtown area.

One SUNY Albany senior, Jared Smith, stated, “I don’t think it’s fair that we live in such an unsafe neighborhood. UAlbany should hire more cops to patrol the “big streets” like Hamilton, Hudson, Western, and Ontario.

students on HUDSON STREET last spring

Smith, a UAlbany student who currently resides on Hamilton Street explains his recent incident with violence: “People used a glass cutter to cut out our kitchen window. Once in the house they kicked all four doors in and took whatever they could. No one was harmed. ”

Smith continued, “If someone wants to rob a house they are going to do it no matter what. ”

Due to the crime in the downtown area, the Albany City Police Department, set up the “Operation Safe Corridor Steering Committee”, which according to the them has already made progress in helping the in the “Pine Hills area” become safer.

The University Police Department (UPD) makes sure that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights there are extra uniformed patrols are in the area. Also, video surveillance cameras have been set-up to monitor pedestrian traffic.

The UPD website explains, “Residents are encouraged to walk on the designated Operation Safe Corridor streets rather than side alleys or other less traveled streets. The streets are as follows: Western Avenue – from Main Street to Quail Street; Quail Street – from Western Avenue to Central Avenue; and Ontario Street – from Western Avenue to Yates Street. ”

Basically, it is up to the students themselves to be aware of the risk of violence and to take every saftey percaution possible not to become a victim. UAlbany Senior, Marisa Tartaglia stated, “I honestly don’t feel safe living downtown but there have been several occasions where we left our door unlocked. One time I even left the keys in the door… and nothing happened.”

Some students may not realize how much of a risk they put themselves in by not being as safe as possible at all times, or by drinking and walking around downtown.

Inspector Aaron Mull, of the New York University at Albany Police Department, points out: “One of the most basic ways to stay safe is to be aware of your surroundings. If you are drunk, you can’t be as aware….don’t get drunk!”

Mull continues, “Every student, particularly if they are going to drink, needs to be conscious of their own security. It’s the 70, 20 ,30 rule: 70% of people are assaulted by themselves, 20% are assaulted when with one other person, and groups of three or make up only 30 % of attacks.The majority of offenses are gangs related or sports fans against eacother.”

Another SUNY Albany student, and a victim of violence, Natalie Chicone stated, “I never felt that unsafe but since the attack there have been times when I won’t want to do things unless I am with a bigger group.”

The attack Chicone is referring to occured last spring when she was walking downtown at night from the popular bar “Micheals” with a friend near Madison Avenue. A man ran up behind them and showed them his gun. He stole one of their purses and ran away. Chicone stated, “After it happened I felt like it wasn’t real.”

According to Inspector Mull, “The important point is that when you are involved,[crime] is no longer a statistic… it’s an invidviual experience.”

The University Police Department are making efforts to keep students safe who are living downtown yet, those living on campus are ” Seven times less likely to be a victim of crime,” stated Insepctor Mull. The problem is that living on campus comes with a much high price tag–an apartment on campus in Empire Commons could cost around $800 a month, while downtown rent is around $300.

Living downtown may be a choice students make due to financial reasons, or because they want to live near their friends. Either way, Inspector Mull wants encourages students to remember three main saftey tips:

1. Never walk alone.

2. Always be aware of your surroundings.

3. Drinking and drug use puts you at a much high risk to be a victim.

Staying safe is a personal choice– it is up to the students to make sure they don’t become victims.

Athletics may be changing with the newly instated Chancellor

On February 10, 2009, Dr. Nancy Zimpher was voted in a unanimous decision to become the new chancellor of the SUNY school system. This new chancellor comes to SUNY from the University of Cincinnati, where she took special interest in their athletics. Their student athletes there were heavily watched to make sure that their grades were adequate and that they were all behaving at a high standard inside and outside of the University community. One could wonder how this new chancellor will affect the athletic department.

The athletic department here at the University at Albany claims that no student-athlete is held to less of a standard than any other student here. There has been some speculation however that when applying to the school that wasn’t always the case. Those having their coaches take a personal interest in them getting into the school helps in the application process.

Doctor Lee McElroy said that at UAlbany, being a student comes first. You are a student-athlete, not an athlete that attends class. He also said that the new chancellor cares a lot about the athletics at all of the schools and he thought that whatever her new policies will be with regards to athletes, it will only strengthen our athletes and their academics.

 

McElroy said that Zimpher takes a vested interest in UAlbany athletics and would like to strengthen the academics of the athletes while they are competing at the Division I level.

“Chancellor Zimpher is a strong proponent of Athletics,” McElroy said. “And will find ways to enhance the visibility and the image of SUNY Research Centers.”

One coach at UAlbany worries that “strengthening” the acedemics of their athletes might have a negative effect on the students that they get coming to the University in the first place. Jeremiah Deleon, Assistant Coach of the UAlbany Cheerleading team thinks that if the new chancellor makes it harder for new students come in, the teams will suffer.

“I’m not saying let everyone in the school,” Deleon said. “But there are certain kids I need.”

Deleon says that for those students that would normally be on the verge of getting in the school he takes personal interest in when they get here. Students with a low GPA are required to go to study hall to be eligible to participate.

 Deleon said, “I don’t let them fail. It’s important to me how they do in school, and I emphasize the importance and necessity of them doing well.”

All aboard: Teaching abroad

By FEN YI CHEN

As graduation rolls around, many University at Albany students will be scouring the job market for their perfect job. With the economy at its worst in over half a century, jobs will be even harder to come by.

Along comes a solution; Teaching abroad. A solution for those who wish to become teachers. Many up-and-coming teachers go to countries such as China and Korea to get their foot in the door, in terms of teaching experience, but many experience more than that.

These teaching abroad programs are very profitable for the employees. Round trip airfare is provided as well as a studio apartment when the the teachers arrive. For Those traveling from the United States, New Zealand, Austrailia and Great Britain, there is no tax on their salaries. Pretty sweet deal ain’t it?

There are numerous teaching programs for those who are interested. Teachers without Borders and Reach to Teach are just two of the programs that allow teachers from other countries to teach English to kids in their homeland.

Melissa Lim, a former UAlbany student who graduated with a Bachelors in English received a job offer in her native country of South Korea.

Lim works for the Seoul Metropolitan office of Education in South Korea and truly enjoys her time there.

“It’s a completely different experience than teaching in the United States,” Lim says. “Plus, you don’t need a teaching license here, unlike the United States.”

But teaching is not always easy, especially when you’re teaching a different language.

“It’s really frustrating sometimes because you don’t see a lot of progress from these kids,” Lim says. “Everyones on a different level in terms of the ability to learn and pick up a new language.”

Lim also stated that the underprivileged kids she teaches usually do not go on to Cram School (specialization schools), or what they call in Korea, “Hakwons”. Her displeasure in seeing that makes her want to teach in these countries even more. She feels she can help kids more in Korea than she does if she taught in the United States.

Another rising star in the teaching abroad system is David Rodgers, who also teaches in Seoul, South Korea.

Rodgers has been in Seoul for 3 months and has enjoyed every second there.

“Being an African-American in Korea makes you appreciate their language and culture even more,” he says. “The kids are great and the city is amazing!”

Rodgers, who hails from Brooklyn, New York was an English major turned blogger. He still blogs when he has the time and usually blogs about the things he does in Korea.

Both Lim and Rodgers work for the Seoul Metropolitan office of Education, but have never met each other. Both are truly pioneers in their field and give hope to up-and-coming teachers who want to make a difference in children’s lives.

Kids in Melissa Lim's Teaching Abroad class

Useful Links to finding your passion in Teaching Abroad:

http://www.esljobproject.com/esl_jobs/detail.php?id=7284

http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/index.html

The Art of the Draft: Fantasy Baseball Style

 

Johan Santana throws at Mets Spring Training at Port St. Lucie. He is a SP who you have to conisider drafting in the top few rounds

By: David Rothman 

 

 

 

Congratulations, you joined a fantasy baseball league. But now you have to try to win it.

The draft in you fantasy baseball league is probably the single most important event during the season. Although it is not always possible to guarantee victory in your league based on your draft, as there are many changes throughout the season, it is very possible to destroy your chances of winning on this day. Many people have poor drafts that have left them in the cellar of their leagues from day one of the season, with no hope of ever getting near the leaders.

There are a number of different strategies that can be employed in a fantasy draft. One of the strategies that is most talked about is the debate about when to draft starting pitchers.

Some people in general prefer to avoid starting pitchers in the early rounds of their draft. The thinking behind this strategy is that some of the high-rated pitchers tend to get hurt every year, and you don’t want to risk such a high pick when that can happen. Another reason people argue for this strategy is that their often tends to be pitchers who come out of nowhere and end up having good seasons, like Joe Saunders or Cliff Lee, last year, who will be available in the late rounds of the draft or even be on the waiver wire during the season.

A third reason people prefer to avoid starting pitchers early is partly based on a sense of peer pressure. The strategy of mainly avoiding pitchers early has become pretty main-stream in the last few years. Thus, some people who might consider going against this strategy end up not because they are afraid that in selecting a pitcher early, they will have to play catch-up in the offensive categories in the later rounds of the draft because their opponents have an extra high level hitter.

However, the strategy of draft starting pitchers in the early rounds is not unsound. Although it may force the drafter to focus more on offense in the middle rounds, it creates a definite area of advantage for the drafter. For example, you could draft CC Sabathia in the third round and Dan Haren in the fifth round as your top two starters. This gives you a clear advantage against a team whose top two starters are Justin Verlander and Chris Young. At the same time there is still an opportunity to search for good value in starting pitchers in the middle rounds, but instead of being forced to take as many starters as you can in the middle rounds, you can pick and choose and try to get the best value possible like John Danks and Derek Lowe in the 15^th and 16^th rounds.

A second issue that has to be considered into draft strategy is when to draft closers. The first closers are often drafted in the 5^th to 6^th round, while the lower tier closer linger into the late rounds of the draft.

One strategy to draft closers is to draft top closers in the earlier rounds (5-8). This strategy should allow you to get at least one of the elite closers, and prevent you from being shut-out of saves. This strategy is preferred by some because the closer position can often be very unstable, and a number of closers lose their jobs every year due to injury or ineffectiveness. By drafting one of the top closers, you are attempting to get a closer whose position is secure and will get you through the season while putting up great numbers. Examples of closers you would target using this strategy include John Papelbon of the Red Sox, Francisico Rodriguez of the Mets, and Joe Nathan of the Twins. After securing one or two of these top closers, they will seek to select an extra closer in the middle rounds

The other side to this issue is waiting and drafting closers late. This strategy is also based on the instability of the closer position from year to year. The idea behind this strategy is that since so many closer lose their jobs every year, you shouldn’t use your higher picks on them since it is too risky. People who wait won’t target closers in until the teen rounds at the earliest, and then will try to get 3 closers. During the season, these drafters will often keep a sharp eye on the waiver wire waiting for the new closers to appear, when people who had the closer role in spring training lose them. One example of a closer who appeared during the middle of last season is Jon Broxton of the LA Dodgers, who took over when Takashi Saito got hurt last year.

Another issue that has a major effect on draft strategy is position scarcity. Some positions in baseball have fewer players who put up good numbers. This year, those positions are catcher, 2^nd base, 3^rd base, and shortstop.

Some people prefer to take advantage of position scarcity. In order to do this, they will tend to use their early picks in the draft in order to get people from the scarce positions. By doing this, they believe that it gives them an advantage at that position, and allows them to pick from the deeper positions like outfield and 1^st base, in the later rounds when there are still pretty good players available at those positions. There is merit to this argument, as the debate between who is better fantasy second baseman between Ian Kinsler (Texas) and Marc Ellis (Oakland) is quite one-sided in favor of Kinsler.

However, the other side of the argument is this. In the rush to fill scare positions, drafters sometime use a high pick a player with inferior numbers in comparison to other players that are still available. One example of this is the debate of who should be drafted higher between Phillies shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, and Rangers Outfielder, Josh Hamilton. According to ADP (Average Draft Position) data on MockDraftCentral.com, on average Rollins is the 9^th player selected in fantasy drafts while Hamilton is the 11^th player selected.

However, if you look back at last year’s statistics, does this trend make sense? Last year, Hamilton had a .304 batting average, hit 32 home runs, had 130 RBI’s (runs batted in), scored 98 runs, and stole 9 bases. Rollins on the other hand, had a .277 average, 11 home runs, 59 RBI’s, scored 76 runs, and stole 47 bases. So in four the five categories, which are the general offensive scoring categories in fantasy baseball, Hamilton has a definite edge. Yet he is still being drafted two spots behind Rollins on average because Rollins is the third and final shortstop who is considered to be in the “top tier.”

One thing you want to avoid in your drafts is becoming a “homer”. A homer is someone who completely overvalues all of the players from their favorite team and ends drafting most of them, generally way before the player’s value indicates that they should be drafted.

“I was in a draft with a guy, actually probably a kid, who drafted pretty much the entire Yankees roster,” said Justin LaLiberte, 22, a senior who is majoring in the classics at UAlbany. “He wasn’t paying any attention to value, the only thing that seemed to matter to him was that they were Yankees. It worked out well for me though, because there was one less person who would be drafting the players that I wanted, because you’ll never see draft a Yankee anyway,” added the Winchester, Mass, resident.

Like in other things, practicing can be a help in preparing for your fantasy baseball draft. Websites like mockdraftcentral.com, espn.com, and yahoo.com all give you the chance to participate in mock drafts for free. Participating in mock drafts gives you another edge as well. It allows you to see how various players are being valued by other people. http://www.mockdraftcentral.com/draft_grid.jsp?id=99270 Here is a recent mock draft completed on March 1, 2009. Team 10 (my team sux), appeared to embrace the strategies of position scarcity, drafting Rollins and Kinsler with his top 2 picks, as well as not drafting ptiching until later rounds. The first pitcher he selected was Justin Verlander in the 14th round.

Like in all fantasy sports, your fantasy baseball draft is the biggest single day in the fantasy season. On draft day, you could put your team on the path to victory, or send it down to be a cellar dweller, whose way out of it in May. Good Luck!

 

Former UAlbany Football Player Focused on Getting Degree

By Charles Ross

Just four football seasons ago former strong safety Mike St. Fleur was making big plays on the football field for the UAlbany Great Danes. Now he is trying to get his life back on track and earn his college degree

In March of 2006 St Fleur was in a local downtown Albany bar where he occasionally worked security at the door throughout his Albany tenure. “I was sitting at the bar and next thing I know I was sucker punched, when I got back to my feet I ran outside after them,” said St. Fleur. He was jumped by three males who he said he threw out of the bar a few weeks before. He was stabbed during the incident and then taken to nearby Albany Medical Center. “I was in the hospital for hours, but they never reported it, the hospital, the police and the university just covered it up like the incident never happened,” he added.

A few days after the bar fight the former player got into an altercation with his now ex girlfriend. She pressed charges on St. Fleur for allegedly putting his hands on her which ultimately led to St. Fleur doing three weeks in the Albany County Jail. When Mike returned to the University at Albany he wanted to put his troubles behind him.

USA Eagles

Over the next year Mike was on probation and went back and fourth to court. The University at Albany wanted to see medical records from St. Fleur’s hospital records, but the hospital would not release them. His final verdict was to do 2 to 3 years probation and attend anger management courses. During this time St. Fleur had to stay in Albany and could not work outside of Albany County. “It was frustrating to hear my probation officers tell me they would not allow me to leave Albany to work. I had good jobs lined up but they never worked out because I couldn’t leave Albany,” said St. Fleur.

In March of 2008 Mike began to rebound from his troublesome past two years. He was back into top football playing shape and signed to a semi pro football team called the USA Eagles which is an international football team for athletes who were not drafted into the National Football League but were acknowledged as capable of playing football on another level after college.

Things were beginning to shape up for Mike but then things would take one last turn for the worst. After failing to report to his probation officer which is a major violation, he was sentenced to another three months in prison from late March to July. This ultimately lead to St. Fleur missing training camp with the USA Eagles and left Mike to start over and pick up the pieces to the puzzle when he was released from prison this past July.

With help from former Hudson Valley football coaches and UAlbany head coach Ford and Coach Simpson Mike went to university officials to ask for permission to return to school, pleading that he learned his lessons from his past mistakes. Through the beginning of the spring 2009 semester Mike St. Fleur has met with University at Albany officials Clarence McNeil and John Murphy. “We met for about the first three weeks of the semester and tried to find a way to get me back into school but it just didn’t seem like it was going to work out.”

The former standout Great Dane football player is now getting back into football shape hoping for another opportunity to play with the USA Eagles. He says he wants to finish what he started though and receive his degree in Africana Studies. St. Fleur admits that he was disappointed that he was not allowed to finish school at Albany. “I felt like I got a raw deal, at first I was upset at the decision, I feel like I’ve served my punishment and more by not being allowed to finish school. I have made my mistakes and in some ways I feel like I was treated unfairly through the legal system.”

St. Fleur is now living in Albany and is looking at other schools to try and finish and earn his degree. He is hoping to be at a school by the summer of 2009. He says he has learned a lot from his experiences on and off the football field. “I look back at all of the mistakes I have made since my final football season at Albany. I guess I was always looking for sympathy and leeway but at the end of the day I have to live with my mistakes and move forward. I now look back at the University at Albany and I respect the decisions that they have made. I am optimistic and hopeful for one more opportunity to play football but most importantly I will do whatever it takes to get my degree.”

 

Coming To A New Life

Thanh Huynh

Moving to a country where language and culture are unfamiliar to someone is hard for most. Indeed was the case for Thanh Huynh, although some may say he’s adapting just fine.

Huynh is a 22-year-old student attending the SUNY University at Albany. He is a native of the city of Saigon, also known as Ho-Chi-Minh City, in Vietnam. In 1997, as well as current day, Vietnam held a communist government. This is the same reason Huynh’s parents decided it was best for the family to migrate to the US. That year, he and his family moved to Walden, NY; he was only 10-years-old.

Ho Chi Minh City, Huynh's native city

Huynh is the youngest of six children. He has two brothers and three sisters. His two brothers had come to the US in the late 80s also to escape the communist lifestyle. They lived in upstate NY, which is why Huynh’s family decided to live near there, to have family close by. The ages of his siblings range from Thanh, 22, to his oldest brother, who is 34. All of the siblings, including Thanh, hold down jobs and have careers, ranging from accountants, to lab technicians at SUNY University at Albany.

When Huynh was 10, he was enrolled at Walden Elementary School, where he had to start his life over again. According to Huynh, meeting new friends wasn’t all too difficult. He also remembers “lots of girls talking to me…and they loved my accent.” When he first arrived, Huynh was placed in the ESL program at school to help progress his English. “In fifth grade I did practically nothing,” Huynh said, “but sixth grade is when I started to assimilate.” After a few months of going to the ESL classes, he decided to rebel. “I hated those classes because they were always during recess, so I started skipping them later on.” The primary way he learned English was his interaction with classmates and friends. After the first two years of awkward situations and language barriers, he learned enough English to receive the same class schedules as his peers, which he said made him feel “much less like an outcast.” In the seventh grade, he met someone who would become his best friend, and help him grasp the English language better.

Franz Rottenbucher

Franz Rottenbucher, 21, also hails from Walden, NY. Rottenbucher remembers being quite impressed with Huynh’s English, considering he’d only been in the country for two years. Rottenbucher’s main hobby and true love is a sport in which related to how he first met Huynh, saying “our exact meeting isn’t clear, but I remember meeting at recess playing soccer.” But Rottenbucher says the real “glue” that held them together was a video game. “Our lives really revolved around our main group of four guys, and playing the video game Socom,” he said. When Rottenbucher visited Huynh’s house, he said that only the parents spoke Vietnamese to each other but the children were all fluent in English as well, mixing both cultures in one household.

The two friends continue their friendship today, and both hold similar titles. Huynh wants to be a medical doctor and Rottenbucher wants to be a Clinical Psychologist. When in High School, the two did not discuss in depth their college plans or where they were going, but they both ended up going to the same University. After their final semester, the two will most likely be at different schools for the first time since elementary school. Huynh plans to attend the medical program at SUNY Albany, while Rottenbucher plans to go to Brooklyn to study psychology. Huynh said that he won’t feel like he lost his “safety net” because with the amount of work he will receive in graduate school, he wouldn’t have much time to interact with friends anyway. He later added, “I’m sure I’m going to visit him sometimes and he’ll visit me as well.”

Stephen Kassiotis

Rottenbucher was not the only person who helped Huynh feel accepted. Stephen Kassiotis, a 22-year-old college graduate, was the middle-man to Huynh and Rottenbucher. Kassiotis graduated in the winter of 2008 from Mount St. Mary’s College, and plans to attend graduate school. Like Huynh and Rottenbucher, Kassiotis wants to become a doctor, hoping to attend Brooklyn College for his masters in counseling mental health, which is the same graduate school that Rottenbucher hopes to attend.

Kassiotis met Huynh in the sixth grade, when they shared a class. A year later is when he introduced Rottenbucher to Huynh during recess. Kassiotis was more than willing to help Huynh with English and to fit in. “At first I was curious,” he said, “but then he just took the role of the younger brother we would teach things to.”

Huynh in his medical scrubs

As well as Huynh and Rottenbucher, Kassiotis also said that the similar graduate field they all share is just a coincidence. Although Kassiotis is still in the application process, he is confident he will be accepted into his graduate school of choice.

No one in Huynh’s family is a doctor, but he said he wanted to pursue the career because he “liked the challenge.” He works at Albany Medical Center as a patient care assistant, or a nurse’s aid. Although cleaning out bedpans isn’t his favorite activity, he acknowledges that it is necessary to get experience in his field.

As for Huynh’s future, although he would like to visit his home country again, that’s as far as he’d take it. “I would like to go visit my aunt and cousin,” he said, “but living there is something I would never do.” When asked what he’d do if he were in his parents’ place before they moved, he was quick to respond. “They probably sacrificed a lot, but if it were me I would’ve done the same thing for my kids, as long as the outcome was positive.”