John assembled the eight team members not as CSBL All-Stars but as ringers who could represent the focus for Jerry’s report on Character Education and for being in the (mostly) sixties age group. First in were John and I, the two Board members who had gotten the basketball rolling. John had played at Colgate and his 55 points scored on January 25, 1997 remains the most individual points in a CSBL game. As I’m also on the UAlbany faculty, we would be playing in my house (and remember, I brought the ball). Channel 6 brought a cameraman to the RAAC to tape the game. The following six joined us (listed alphabetically)

1. Mike Daggett, who still holds the scoring record at Milne High School;

2. Andy George, John’s current team captain, CSBL Board member, the “kid” at age 55, and longtime CSBL sponsor who would be responsible for the jerseys (OK, and a little Cardinal Data publicity too) who had printed the invitations for the Character Education banquet;

3. Mike Long, former Siena College varsity hoopster and captain in his senior year as well as former head coach and current assistant coach at St. Rose (where he is in its Athletics Hall of Fame); as well as former coach at Sage College of Albany (Region III, Division 2 Coach of the Year by the National Junior College Athletic Association) and former assistant varsity boy’s basketball coach at CBA;

4. Jimmy Thompson, CSBL Commissioner Emeritus, senior representative at age 70, and former UAlbany hoopster who is well-known for his 3-point shooting and a supporter of the Academy for Character Education;

5. Fr. Dick Vosko, PhD, who not only has impeccable character credentials but is internationally renown for his expertise on designing worship spaces (and has connections in high places); and

6. Greg Wilson, CSBL Captain Representative, Character Education practitioner while teaching and coaching at local high schools, and whose son Travis is a pitcher on UAlbany’s baseball team (and came to root us on).

Also on hand were Dick Oliphant as scorekeeper, Bill Gay as timekeeper, and two college referees arranged by Mike Long. Channel 6 had eight young players (average age = 30) who wore Channel 6 jerseys. We played high school rules with eight-minute quarters. Let the game begin!

We sprinted to a double-digit score in the first quarter while holding Channel 6 scoreless for about the first five minutes. Still, we kept that margin for most of the half. They had the speed but we had the shooting accuracy and offensive rebounding. Our defense and rebounding of their missed shots was a factor as well. In the second half, Channel 6 double- and even triple-teamed on their full-court press, forcing us to turn over the ball a few times but we continued to find an open man underneath for an easy bucket. Down the stretch, they put up a few threes and had lots of intentional fouls on the CSBL team but we held together at the line and sank most of our free throws. Nonetheless, Channel 6 fought back furiously with a couple of minutes to play, narrowing our lead to five as the clock ran out. The final score was 55-50, led by Dick Vosko’s 14 points and followed with John Walko and Greg Wilson scoring a dozen each. Andy George had a bucket load of rebounds and a blocked shot. It was a very hard-fought game with everyone determined to win; everyone was also a good sport afterward. Jerry Gretzinger then interviewed Mike Long, as well as John and I who had started it all. He followed up with interviews of us three again off court to put together his Channel 6 newscast. It will appear Thursday May 1 at 5:30. Stay tuned!
Reported by Paul Miesing