Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch

300 Fans At Stallions’ Home Opener

Thursday, July 23, 2009

By LAURA COX

The uprights were homemade from PVC pipe.
The lockers were make-shift tents.
Before two small sets of bleachers, the New York Stallions kicked off their first home game at Fortin Park in Emmons, Town of Oneonta, with more than 300 fans on the sidelines – a number which seemed to impress and please everyone there, owner, players and fans alike.
While the score was nothing to brag about – the Stallions lost to the NEPA Miners, 46-0 – the Saturday, July 18, game proved to be good summer evening’s entertainment, and free at that, if conversation on the sidelines was any indication.
Many families came out with kids to check out the game. When not watching the game, the kids gathered in the space between the new field and the old airplane hangars and started games of their own.
A small concessions stand was set up nearby, selling prepackaged goods such as candy, chips, soda, bug spray, sunscreen, and the Stallions old Carolina Blue Jerseys – they changed to green.
Face painting may be in evidence at the next game – 5 p.m., Saturday, July 25, also a Fortin, said Del Anthony, the team’s owner, in an interview.
Fans watched through an orange snow-fence. Most brought their own chairs or blankets. Spectators stretched from one end zone to the other, and curved around at each end zone.
“This worked out wonderful,” Melissa Bonney of Oneonta said about the turnout for the game. She has headed up concessions and fundraising efforts for the Stallions since Anthony took ownership.
Tracey Hood of Delhi, mother of Stallions player Brenton Hood and wife of Martin Hood, a former Oneonta Indians football player and new Stallions Line coach, said, “I’m thrilled with the big turnout and support. The team really wants to be a community team.”
Anthony said he will be changing Martin Hood to defensive line coach as he has given up his duties after taking fulltime responsibility of ownership. Otis Perry will be taking on responsibilities as special teams coach and team trainer.
“We want to see football in Oneonta,” said Oneontan Jay Salone, whose dad used to play for the Oneonta Indians. “We’re big football fans.”
Fellow spectator Gary Newton of Oneonta said he knows Del Anthony and came out to support him and his team; he hopes community sponsors will start to supporting the team as well.
“Del’s been working real hard for this team. This isn’t Giants – New England, but it’s football and I’m a football fan,” he said.
“It was a great turn out and a victory because we played a home game in Oneonta,” said Anthony. “We want to thank the whole organization from parents to the guy who did the field from Sports Field Specialists.
“Thanks, Oscar Carpenter, Paul Barber, and anyone else who has helped with making this a reality. We also want to thank Marie Lusins, Cheryl Shackelton and the Town of Oneonta for everything they have done,” he continued.
“It’s really all about the community.”

Labels: 07-24-09, Front Page, Hometown Sports, Oneonta Stallions

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NPR Affiliate May Expand Countywide

WUOW, SUNY Oneonta’s National Public Radio/Pacifica affiliate, had convened a press conference for Wednesday, July 22, it what was anticipated to be the announcmenet of a major expansion of its reach.
State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, college President Nancy Kleniewski and her predecessor, Alan Donovan, were expected to preside.
For details, check www.hometownoneonta.biz.

Labels: 07-24-09, Front Page

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3rd Smith President Of Rotary Rotarian

By LAURA COX

Tuesday, July 7, was marked with significance when Chad Smith, 35, of Oneonta, was installed as president of the Oneonta Rotary at the annual Pass the Gavel dinner.
Chad is the third Smith in a line of Smiths who have taken the helm at the local service club.
His grandfather Ian Smith was president in 1962; dad Geoffrey Smith was president in 1979. Chad joined the club in 2001.
“I definitely have big shoes to fill, but I’ve got a great board of directors to support me.”
Before becoming president, he spent three years on the club’s board of directors and was chairman of the Ross Cordell Wrestling Tournament committee. He has also served on the Joe McCarthy Golf Tournament committee.
In addition to planning a variety of service projects and fundraisers, as president Chad said hopes to really energize the membership by bringing fun and interesting speakers to their weekly Thursday lunch meetings at the Elks Club.
“I’m, glad we could do it. It’s an honor,” said dad Geoff of his son. “He’ll do a fine job.”
Chad is the marketing director for Medical Coaches, a business his grandfather started and father continues to run.
He and his wife Corinne live in Oneonta and have a 13-month-old daughter Claire.

Labels: 07-24-09, Front Page

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The City of the Hills

Fun, Games, Food Abound At St. Mary’s

St. Mary’s much-awaited parish festival is under way, with music – from rock to polkas – food and games for all.
Activities started Thursday, July 23, continue until 10 p.m. on Friday and run 10-10 on Saturday.
Walnut Street is closed off for the event.

INDUCTION EMCEE: ABC/ESPN soccer announcer Rob Stone emcee the National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction 2009 ceremony at 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 2. For the full schedule, visit www.soccerhall.org.

BASEBALL INDUCTION: Meanwhile, Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 26, in Cooperstown.

IN MEMORIAM: Joseph A. Fioravanti, the retired professor whose publications included a history of Italian Americans in Oneonta, has passed away. His obituary appears on Page 10.

BARNES PENSION: State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, announced legislation has passed allowing Oneonta Fire Chief Robert Barnes to take advantage of an otherwise-closed 20-year retirement option.

FAIR GAME: The Otsego County Fair’s office is accepting entries 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday on everything from livestock on needlework. Info, 263-5289.

Labels: 07-24-09, Front Page

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Catch Tigers At Doubleday Field

The Oneonta Tigers were in first place as the week began and, despite being swept on the road at Mahoning Valley, the boys in blue are playing some of their best ball of the season right now.
Oneonta won its first game against Batavia at home on Monday, July 20 – ’70s Night, where at least some fans wore their grooviest outfits. This was one of the Fan Fun Nights you should watch out for.
I wrote last week about my experience at Tri City and how Oneonta performed to the highest standard; well, even though it wasn’t a 13-5 victory with a seven-run second inning, the Tigers still were able to open my eyes.
They had lost all three games to Mahoning Valley in the last inning, so when the Tigers took a 2-2 lead to the ninth inning I feared the worst. Batavia, though 15-15, is a battle-tested squad, NYPL defending champions.
The St. Louis Cardinals’ affiliate came into Oneonta on a four-game winning streak and the world in front of them. Oneonta came in deflated after three straight losses and an eight-hour bus ride.
The situation heavy favored the Muckdogs, but that is the beauty of baseball.
Oneonta was battled back, claiming a walk-off win in the 10th inning in front of the home crowd.
Oneonta has played considerably better at home this season, and now the Tigers just need one more thing – for someone to notice.
The Tigers have made so many great changes and additions to the park, but they still struggle to get the attendance they would like.
I am not writing this because I am interning with them. I am writing it because of the history, because of the passion. I am writing it because of the tradition.
I am writing it for the little kids that beam when they see O-Nee, for the adults who now have a picnic area wherein to socialize and eat good food, for the spirit of baseball – for the love of the game.
So close to Cooperstown, baseball is a local tradition. Oneonta has done so much to keep a professional rapport and that nostalgic feel for summertime entertainment, and with their new ownership things are really beginning to turn around.
Oneonta is a major part of America’s pastime, and with so much to offer within the gates of Damashcke Field, why stand outside them?
Plus, the weather’s getting better.
Oneonta had two more games against Batavia this week before going on the road for two against arch rival Tri City.
Catch them at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at Doubleday Field during National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. Free admission.

Labels: 07-24-09, Hometown Sports, oneonta tigers

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Joseph A. Fioravanti, 81; Scholar, Historian, Former Italian American Club President

Joseph A. Fioravanti, the retired SUNY Delhi professor whose publications included a history of Italian Americans in Oneonta, died Monday evening, July 20, 2009, after an 18-month struggle with cancer..
Joseph was born Dec. 1, 1927, in Brooklyn, to Umberto and Lena (Consorti) Fioravanti. He attended Catholic elementary school, St. Francis Prep and St. Francis College. This was followed by further education at NYU and Columbia where he received a master’s and special education diploma.
He worked briefly as an expediter for Dupont Company in Delaware and as a manager for W.T. Grant. However, teaching soon attracted him and he held several teaching positions in Westchester County’s Mahopac area. In 1968, he joined SUNY Delhi, where he taught English literature and composition, and developed a course on film appreciation; he retired in 1991.
After retirement, he was active in the Italian American Club, serving as president more than once. He wrote his history of local Italian Americans for the club’s 50th anniversary.
He was a member of the Masonic Order, the Civil War Round Table in Milford and a Friday morning breakfast group with close friends. He was an active facilitator for CCAL teaching courses, usually dealing with the Big Band Era and Frank Sinatra. He had planned a future course on early radio.
His first marriage, to Helen Dubar in 1956, ended in divorce. In 1983, he married Shirley J. Serviss in Oneonta. In their retirement, they traveled and enjoyed Elderhostels and cruises. They always were able to keep up with family members.
Joseph held strong conservative views, and read broadly. He was very proud of his Italian roots and revered the Italian literary masters and other giants produced by the culture.
In addition to his wife Shirley; survivors include three sons, Christopher of Voorhees, N.J., Stephen (Lynda) of St. Louis, and Michael (Laurie) of Tustin, Calif.; a daughter, Susan Robertson (Scott) of Murrietta, Calif.; a son-in-law, Philip Cardeiro of Portland, Ore.; grandchildren Tina Murphy of Voorhees, Michael Fioravanti of Cherry Hill, N.J., Brianna, Andrea and Kayla Cardeiro of Portland, Michael, Christian Gabriel and Mary Kate Fioravanti of St. Louis, April and Allen Jesse Robertson of Murrietta, and Alyssa and Nichole Fioravanti of Tustin; great granddaughter, Briana McKenzie Murphy of Voorhees.
He was predeceased by a daughter, Donna Cardeiro in Portland, and by his parents.
His brother, Umberto and wife, Pat live in Babylon; they have four children, who are married, and grandchildren.
He is remembered by his colleagues and former students as a strong teacher, with strong opinions and love of subject matter. He contributed a section on music to the “Italian-American Encyclopedia,” and published various poems and short stories. A play of his was produced off-off Broadway in the 1960s.
His proudest effort was the paper he submitted to a Frank Sinatra symposium at Hofstra. Only 15 of the papers were accepted for publication in “Frank Sinatra, the Man, the Music, the Legend,” published in 2007 by the University of Rochester.
Friends may call 2-4 and 7-9 p.m., Monday, July 27, at the Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, 14 Grand St., Oneonta; the family will be in attendance. A Masonic service will be at 7:30 p.m.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 28, at the funeral home with the Rev. Mark E. Montfort, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Oneonta. Interment will follow at the Glenwood Cemetery, Oneonta.
Those wishing may make a donation to the charity of their choice.
The family wishes to thank the several care givers during the past 18 months, including the fifth-floor nurses of Bassett Hospital, the Hospice organization, the AM PM Healthcare and special doctors, Dr. Leonardo of Cooperstown and Dr. Cammilleri of Oneonta.
Arrangements are by the Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, Oneonta.

Labels: 07-24-09, In Memoriam

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Come To Main Street For The Art, Stay For The Music

By LAURA COX

As Muddy Waters had it, “The blues had a baby and they named the baby rock ’n’ roll.”
Reservoir Road – the band will play at the City of the Hills Art Festival, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, on Oneonta’s Main Street – went backwards, from rock to the blues, (although you’re likely to hear “Gloria” and “Mustang Sally,” too.)
“We matured back to the roots,” is how lead guitarist Bill Stoneley put it.
For de facto band leader Tom Rowe – the guitar player lives on Reservoir Road in Oneonta and has a music studio there – his love for the blues came as the result of his love of early rock and roll.
“When you look at the roots of rock and roll,” he said the other evening, “you find the blues. Janis Joplin and Billy Holiday were labeled Rock and Roll, but really they were singing blues; the Stones were playing Muddy Waters; the British Invasion and the Beatles electrified the Blues. “
Reservoir Road, founded in 2006, has evolved.
Rowe and Stoneley, both Oneontans, are the only remaining members of the original band. They picked up harmonica player Charlie Reiman of Cooperstown, in 2007. Bassist Doug Howard, Otego, and drummer David Geasey, Oneonta, joined this past January.
Several were fulltime professional musicians, but none is anymore.
Howard runs a music licensing business. Rowe is a contractor. Reiman runs a home-inspection business.
-----Geasey is SUNY Oneonta director of creative media services. Stoneley is a retired welder/mechanic.
They rehearse twice a week above Rowe’s workshop.
In the past, though, Stoneley played with The Inferiors, opening for the Isley Brothers, where he met Jimmie Hendrix before Jimmie hit it big.
Howard has played bass professionally since his teen-age years with such bands as Touch and Stun Leer; he put out a solo album in 2000.
Geasey has played with bands of every type – country, jazz, swing, show tunes, concert bands and orchestras, even a few square dances.
Reiman and Rowe have been playing the blues on their own for years.
In addition to Muddy Waters, Reservoir Road artists draw inspiration from Robert Johnson and Jimmy Rogers.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the blues, the musicians said. Many believe blues tunes are just about the sad things, but that’s not so.
“Some blues are slow, some are up-tempo; the songs are about life, a lot are about bad things, but a lot are about good too,” Stoneley.
“Blues can bring you up out of a funk,” said Reiman.
The band plays “Chicago Blues” mostly.
“We play covers, but we are not a ‘cover band,’” said Rowe. “We play the music our way.”
“To copy Clapton lick for lick would be a waste of time,” said Howard, “you have to make the songs your own, or it’s not genuine.”
The band is working on some originals, but they are not in it to sell CDs, but because they love the music, they love the way it energizes a crowd, and they love the energy the crowd feeds back to them.
“It’s fun music, there is always someone out there with their foot tapping to the music, people enjoy it and dance to it,” said Geasey.
“It’s the look on people’s faces – their smiles – that let you know you’ve done your job,” said Howard.
Most of Reservoir Road’s repertoire is less known than “Mustang Sally,” but sure to get the crowds dancing.
They don’t take requests beyond what’s on their blues song list, not because they don’t know the songs, but because they don’t want to play them. They are not a YMCA playing band or your typical oom-pa wedding band, but they get in a grove and know how to please a crowd.
“There is no ‘typical’ show, everyone is different,” said Rowe. “One night we might play on the Blues Train in Milford and have it packed with 180 people, and the next night less than 100. It really depends on the venue and the audience.”
The band tries to book two shows a month, sometimes three, with at least one in Oneonta and one outside, to vary venues and audiences. They have frequented Autumn Café and The Black Oak Tavern and used to play at the Sego Café.
They are excited to play the City of the Hills Arts Festival, as it will be the first daylight show – a nice change from the dark corners of clubs and bars – and a different audience, one more family oriented.
They hope that the crowd – perhaps as many as 5,000 people – will come for the art, but stop for the music.

Labels: 07-24-09, The City of the Hills

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WEEKEND’S BEST BETS

FREE TIGERS GAME: Visit Cooperstown and see the Tigers play the Tri-City Valley Cats for free, 2 p.m. Saturday July 25 at Doubleday Field.

PUPPET SHOW: The Colonists present a unique family show at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 24, at the Foothills Performing Arts Center. See the stories of an earthworm who dreams of flying, a rabbit with a penchant for pie making and the mechanics of the pollen collecting-industrial complex.

MAGIC SHOW: Enjoy “The Master of Astonishment,” Ken Salaz 9 p.m. Friday, July 24, at the Foothills Performing Arts Center.

FLEA MARKET: Find bargains at the community flea market 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 25, on the front lawn of the Holiday Inn.

SPAGHETTI DINNER: Enjoy a spaghetti dinner starting at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 25, at the Laurens Fire Department. All proceeds will benefit Joy Bruen, a cancer patient with three children.

COUNTRY MUSIC: Local musicians Country Express perform 7 p.m., Saturday, July 25, at the Foothills Performing Arts Center.

LOCAL HOP HISTORY: 1-3 p.m. Sunday July 26 visit the Swart-Wilcox House for a lecture on hops by local historian Al Bullard. See some hop tools from Al’s collection and hops growing at the Swart-Wilcox House.

HOF INDUCTION: See visiting Hall of Famers and speeches by the newest members – Oakland A Rickey Henderson and Red Sox Jim Rice – at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 26 on the lawn of the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.

Labels: 07-24-09, The City of the Hills, weekend's best bets

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Hometown History

125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – The roller skating rink of A.C. Lewis & Co. on Dietz Street is to be called the Metropolitan – the name of the new rink in Binghamton. The building is 150 x 75 feet in size and the skating floor 124 x 60. Connected with it will be a restaurant and ice cream parlor. It is to be opened to the public on Wednesday, August 6th.
It is reported that William Murphy is again keeping a disreputable house in the lower part of this village, and that brawls and disturbances are frequent occurrences there.
July 1884

100 Years Ago
A Blot Blotted Out – Oneonta’s Burned District Will Be Rebuilt – The big scar on the face of the prosperous Oneonta which has existed since December last in the very center of the Main Street business district is to be wiped out. Every lot is at once to be built upon, either by those who owned them at the time of the fire or by others who have acquired ownership by recent transactions.
The last of these lots to be sold is that of Mendel Brothers, the title of which passed Monday this week to D.F. Keyes and Frank D. Miller, who will at once erect a substantial brick block thereon.
The property has a frontage of 45 feet on Main Street and extends back 150 feet. The building will be three stories high. On the first floor there will be three stores, each with a frontage of 15 feet, one of which has already been rented. Business offices will occupy the second floor and the third will be divided into flats for residence purposes.
July 1909

80 Years Ago
Enrollment of students for the entering 1929 class of freshmen at Hartwick College has just begun and already 49 young men and women have placed their names upon the list. With such a list for a college only one year old, it is evident that the school has already a fine standing among the higher educational institutions of the state.
There are several reasons for this. One of them is the location of the school in a section where no other school of collegiate rank is situated. Another is the fine quality of the faculty membership. A third is the community spirit which is manifest in Oneonta, a city which welcomes students with the greatest cordiality, and makes our city their city. A fourth is the interest which the students of the present year have shown in the school and its work and the loyalty which one and all are exhibiting.
The institution made an excellent record in the first year of its history. It will make an even better one in the year to come.
July 1929

60 Years Ago
Dr. H. Claude Hardy, one-time principal of the Schenevus High school, has been named assistant to Dr. Henry J. Arnold, president of Hartwick College at Oneonta. Dr. Hardy was principal of the Schenevus school from 1916 to 1918, and also served as president of the New York State Teachers’ Association. Since 1934, he has been superintendent of schools in White Plains and also a lecturer on education at New York University.
Otsego has been asked to raise $5,300 for the United Service Organizations, known familiarly as the U.S.O. according to Robert H. Skinner of Richfield Springs, Otsego County commander of the American Legion. Of that amount, Skinner said Oneonta will be counted on to raise one-third of the total. “As I understand it,” Skinner said, “the U.S.O. is being reorganized into a permanent organization. It is to help finance this reorganization that we are being asked to raise the money.”
July 1949

40 Years Ago
Neil Armstrong said it best: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” when he set foot on the moon’s surface late Sunday night, the first man in history to do so. The first five of those 10 simple words could probably be characterized as the understatement of all time, but the last five were a profound truth.
The Apollo XI mission has thrilled the whole world like nothing which had ever gone before it. It is difficult to put into words how deeply the mission is going to affect the course of civilization, but affect it, it will.
July 1969

20 Years Ago
Noise problems in city neighborhoods this fall may be alleviated only if OURS Associates can find someone to run a program dealing with the issue and volunteers to carry it out. Barbara Potter, director of the Agree dispute resolution center run by OURS, said the organization has been unable to fill the part-time $6.59-an-hour job of coordinator and little success in finding volunteers a month before students return to Oneonta.
A $10,000 grant from the state is available to fund the program and coordinator’s position and support a noise report hotline. Potter needs volunteers to be block monitors to act as a “friendly presence” during weekends.
July 1989

10 Years Ago
“The unfunded mandate is a parasitic nuisance that has fed off local governments across the state for too many years,” NYS senator James L. Seward states. “Unfunded mandates are provisions of law that require local jurisdictions to spend more money to provide services. Ultimately, the onus of these mandates falls upon the taxpayers.
For far too long, local governments have been forced to succumb to the state’s unfunded mandates and the results have been the discontinuation of integral programs and the raising of taxes.” Seward supports a constitutional amendment (S.1290) to help eliminate this problem.
July 1999

Resources for Hometown History have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.

Labels: 07-24-09, Columns, Hometown History

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Letters to the Editor

Richard Miller Will Make A Fine Mayor

To the Editor:
I sat down to read the enjoyable paper, Hometown Oneonta, on Friday, July 17, like I always do. It’s something I look forward to each week.
I read Margaret Young’s letter concerning Richard Miller. As a matter of fact, I read it three times. In my opinion, she could not have been more off-base! Sounds like sour milk to me.
I would say to Margaret, as I would say to anyone reading this letter, Richard Miller is a class-act, a good man. He deserves all the credit he has received and more!
Richard Miller will make a fine mayor.
JO-ANN LAMONICA
Oneonta

2 Views On Benefits Of Drilling For Natural Gas

PRO

To the Editor:
Away from a “Chicken Little” energy policy in Otsego…
I am writing in response to last week’s editorial and to several recent letters on local gas development.
I believe that fear, junk science and political activism have the potential to ruin what may be the key to economic well being in this region for decades to come: the development of the Marcellus Shale gas field.
To put this energy source in context let me recap what I have read on energy issues in editorials and letters to the editor:
• Oil equals “Big Oil,” which is bad. Texans and stereotyped middle easterners live to gouge us.
• Nuclear is “risky” and should not be pursued. Never mind that France gets almost all its electric power from nuclear – and every day tens of thousands of Americans in the Navy sail the world safely in nuclear-powered ships.
• Biomass, specifically woodchips, should make sense in this region, but a generation project was turned down in Oneonta a few years ago which would have provided many rural Otsego County jobs.
• Water power has been treated fairly with regard to the smart idea to use the wasted energy at the Susquehanna dam in Cooperstown – but don’t try to build new dams on local rivers or streams.
• Wind power should be almost perfect, but some don’t like looking at windmills – and there were items in the paper alleging that the rotating blades could cause epileptic seizures. And windmills kill birds.
That brings us to natural gas. Natural gas is generally seen as a clean and efficient energy source. It can heat homes and schools, generate electric power, and, with some modification, power vehicles.
One problem is that much of our natural gas is not natural at all. It comes from half way around the world and moves across the ocean as liquefied natural gas in 100,000-ton pressure vessels at huge personal and environmental risk
Google “Marcellus Shale gas.” One can see that we are over one of the largest natural gas discoveries in the world. A team of professors from Penn State and SUNY estimated a potential natural gas supply of over 500 trillion cubic feet. To put that in perspective, the U.S. currently produces about 20 trillion cubic feet per year.
Local gas production has the potential to benefit every citizen of the region – property owners, consumers, and taxpayers. All of these parties are benefiting from Marcellus Shale gas production today in Pennsylvania – and the sky is not falling, nor are their faucets running with mud. Instead, rural communities in Pennsylvania are seeing jobs, property income, and new taxes and fees paid by developers.
Certainly this resource must be developed safely and responsibly. There are some risks, and going second behind Pennsylvania may help us to learn the best practices. The bottom line is that we have a unique opportunity to change all our residents’ lives for the better. Let’s find the best way to use the gift that lies beneath this county.
JIM HOWARTH
Cooperstown

CON

To the Editor:
Drilling offers grand opportunity for our country of a much needed domestic source of relatively clean energy, for gas companies of huge profits, and for some landowners of a share in those profits.
Opportunities for the rest of our community may be petit.
Jobs for residents may be few, mostly maintenance and security. Sales and sales taxes would be mostly on food and lodging for imported workers and some basic supplies. Local contractors could do well preparing the well sites and regrading them afterwards.
New York State has no severence tax on the gas produced (unlike many other producing states), only a property tax on well site. Fees that our state collects are only about $1,000 per well.
Weighing against these petit opportunities are the various pollutions and costs.
True, in Pennsylvania their faucets are not “running with mud”, but in Dimock, Pa., their faucets are running with cloudy water and natural gas.
The last administration exempted gas drilling from virtually all federal environmental laws. Transporting drilling equipment and supplies can do tremendous damage to local roads, and while local government can protect their roads, few have passed such laws.
Widespread gas drilling may well be inevitable. Unfortunately the oil and gas industry has a long history of extracting these resources at minimum cost to themselves and leaving communities the cost of cleaning up the mess.
Local opportunities will be few and costs many without much careful planning, including revisions to laws at the federal, state and local levels.
BRIAN BROCK
Franklin

Labels: 07-24-09, Hometown Views, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

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Editorials

In The End, Hall of Fame Will – And Should – Ban Steroid Stars

The first mistake in Zev Chafets’ new and readable book, “Cooperstown Confidential,” is to perceive The Freeman’s Journal, Hometown Oneonta’s sister publication, as a reliable mouthpiece for the powers that be at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
He quotes a 2007 editorial saying Barry Bonds – if the widely held view that he used steroids stands – cheated and should be barred indefinitely from the Hall of Plaques.
“This isn’t academic,” the quoted editorial continued, “Cooperstown depends on a healthy Hall of Fame, which depends on a healthy sport, which depends on the public’s affection for the National Game.”
We certainly believe that Hall of Fame Chairman Jane Forbes Clark and its president, Jeff Idelson, while they’ve never said so to us, each agree with us in their heart of hearts.
However, the Hall’s public statements, guided by its unavoidable alliance with Major League Baseball – warring team owners and players union alike – have sought to distance it from the steroids controversy – from any controversy, for that matter – by crafting itself as a museum, a library and – by golly, yes – a Hall of Fame.
That’s backwards, and a strategy that, in the end, would be self-defeating.
25 Main St. is, first and foremost, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, repository of “Cooperstown” – fair play, continuity, intergenerational amity, nostalgia – the American Way, if you will, however fuzzy and debated that concept might be.
That a fine museum and superb research arm are attached is nice, but that’s all. Nice.
The essential piece is the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the nation’s gold standard.
•
Take the Vatican. It is likewise a repository of ideals, and it is also an institution of human beings.
Locally, we had the uplifting example of Father Tim Naples, 26 – the first Oneontan ordained in 27 years – saying his first mass in his home parish of St. Mary’s a month ago, summoning parishioners to the ethical truths in the 10 Commandments: “All that the Lord has said, we will do.” Father Naples faces the future with enthusiasm and determination to do good.
And yet, the other day, a priest with ties to Margaretville was arrested, for allegedly molesting boys. Indeed, the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak.
Likewise, it’s absurb to say the National Baseball Hall of Fame endorses Babe Ruth’s assignations, the alcoholism that killed Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb’s racism or Joe DiMaggio’s mob ties.
The Hall of Fame recognizes the on-field accomplishment and endures the shortcomings.
Pete Rose, the relevant example here, was different. He bet on games he participated in. His particular shortcoming was specifically related to his performance on the field. Clearly, the Hall of Fame could not let that stand.
Likewise with steroids. By injecting illegal performance-enhancing drugs – as opposed to snorting cocaine or drinking a martini, which actually may degrade performance on the field – the steroid stars are tilting the playing field.
In effect, they’re cheats, and thus have no place in the Hall of Plaques, (although the scandal should certainly be reflected in the museum – a Hall of Shame, perhaps – and documented in the library.)
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Read Chavets’ book, by all means.
There’s a great chapter, for instance, “The Monks,” which chronicles the interactions of folks a lot of us around here know: Ted Spencer, Tim Wiles, Gabe Schechter, Jim Gates and so on.
“They weren’t naive,” Chavets writes. “They were aware that many of the players enshrined in the great Hall of Plaques were not embodiments of the Character Clause ... But they didn’t confuse historical failings or contemporary controversies with the essence of the game.”
And there’s a great scene later on: The Monks and Hall of Fame executives sitting in the Grandstand Theater, listening in dead silence to the press conference where the disgraceful findings of the Mitchell Report were laid forth. Chavets was the only journalist to witness it.
“No actual Hall of Famers were named by Mitchell,” he reports Idelson telling the audience when it was over. “That’s good news. We will be getting a permanent copy of the report, which we will put in our archives. Tonight, we’ll be issuing a statement. It will include talking points. Until then, please don’t give anyone your personal opinion.” A great vignette.
That night, the Hall of Fame released a statement in line with its new PR strategy: “Our role as a history museum and educational research center is to make this document available to researchers and fans and, over time, exhibit the impact of the findings in a manner appropriate to its place in the game’s history.”
So that’s it: We’re a museum, not a repository of American dreams, hopes and aspirations. How oily can you get?
To give the Vatican its due, its response to the priest scandal was dilatory and insufficient, but it never renounced core principles.
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If, as the Hall establishment now claims, its role is scholarly reflection on the National Pastime’s verities, then it’s out of line to tell The Monks, “don’t give anyone your personal opinion.”
Scholarly debate – much-needed here – and adherence to dogma are mutually exclusive; enforce the second and you can’t have the first.
Idelson is a creature of the Hall, so he’s not going off the reservation. The strategy no doubt has Jane Forbes Clark’s imprimatur.
The day of reckoning is coming when she and the Hall will have to stand up and declare: Steroids users cheated. Using performance-enhancing substances is not a personal shortcoming, but erodes the central tenets of “Cooperstown,” the Hall’s central ideal. No pasarán.
That the Hall of Fame continues in the hands of a founding family might be considered an anachronism in a world where publicly held, international conglomerates are the rule. But, as Bill Ford is proving, the pride of tradition, commitment and resolve in privately held entities can, when the chips are down, carry the day.
No, this newspaper is not a mouthpiece for the National Baseball Hall of Fame; sorry, Zev.
Still, we’re confident, when the chips are down on steroids, Jane Forbes Clark will do the right thing.

Oneonta Tigers 28 Nice Guys

Stop the presses! One of the 28 young, adrenalin-filled Oneonta Tigers, young men on their own in a strange town, got in a little bit of a fix the other night, and is facing a DUI count. He’ll take his lumps, as we all do.
Here’s another story.
That was quite a night, early in the season, for Michael Rockett, the lanky right fielder with broad shoulders from the University of Texas, San Antonio.
First, he hit a home run. Then, he hit a grand slam homer, his first in professional baseball. His family was visiting and, as you can imagine, they were thrilled.
Rockett’s sister went combing the stands for the little girl from River Street who had caught the ball, and was able to acquire her brother’s inaugural grand-slam memento.
It didn’t stop there.
After the game, the young star sought out the girl, gave her an armful of signed baseballs – that Rockett signature could be very valuable some day – and generally communicated to the girl and her family that he’s simply a nice guy.
The point is, we just don’t know these young men very well.
Part of it’s the nature of Minor League Baseball. As soon as the players start showing real promise, they are snapped up by their parent team, in our case the Detroit Tigers.
It’s fun to follow former Tigers as they move into stardom in the Big Leagues: Andy Pettite, Jim Deshaies, Ken Brett and many others.
The young men on the Oneonta Tigers aren’t superstars yet, but they wouldn’t be here at all if they weren’t among the top few thousand baseball players in the land.
Young men will be young men, and there will be some mischief. But let’s get to know them for their virtues as well during the short time they are with us.

Labels: 07-24-09, Editorial, Hometown Views, Opinion

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 8:12 PM 1 comments

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