NYSPHAA

I'm all for rules, as much as the next person. However, you have to know the ramifications of the rule and understand who the rule is punishing, as well the concept of the violation before implementing the rule. What is the rule supposed to accomplish? Nassau County, high school football had a rule designed to prevent teams from running up the score. It sounds fine on the surface but when you understand each circumstance, a blanket rule doesn't work.

As the temperature drops, the rivalries in high school hoops heat up. Tuesday night was no different on basketball floors in the Capital Region. There were 29 boys games on the docket and another 22 for the girls. A big shout out to Tamarac boys basketball for their #1 ranking in Class B in New York State. Congrats to Coach Eric Medved and the Bengals!

The one of the best things for high school student-athletes is getting to compete for your school against the next town over or a long-time rival. Numerous times, athletes from different schools have talked to me about their moms and dads competing against those same schools and therefore passing down the rivalry. Friday night, we start to get into the meat of the high school basketball season with plenty of those rivalries on local courts.

Wednesday night was a light night on the local high school basketball courts and score reporting was even lighter! Thank you to everyone that reached out to me @charlievoelker on Twitter to request scores to be posted. We are working on getting regular reporting of scores and highlights.

Most high school basketball players didn't get to play in front of their friends and family last season, some didn't get to play at all. Though wearing masks is being required at most schools, at least these seniors will be able to play with fans in the stands. Tuesday night features two of the Capital Region's better boys basketball teams meeting up. One played last year. One did not.

It's a long road to get to play at the Carrier Dome Last weekend for a New York State Public High School football championship. There were some close games and strong performances. Section IV won all three of their match-ups while Section I won only one.

This week's 104.5 Student-Athlete of the Week has been extended to a team this week. The lone remaining team from Section II high school football is the Schuylerville Horses.

The New York State Public High School football championships are set this weekend for the Syracuse Carrier Dome. It's down to 10 teams from high schools across New York State, not including Long Island or New York City. The five match-ups this Friday and Saturday will feature 3 teams from Sections I and IV each, with one representative from Sections II, III, VI and VII filling out the bracket.

The Holiday Season seems to bring out the best and the worst, in some cases, but let's focus on the best. The 'Best' is the category that I put Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball coach Kyle Martin in this season. No, I am not talking about winning basketball games. I am talking about winning in life.

The New York State Public High School football championship semifinal games are set for this weekend, well sort of. Section III's Class AA champ Cicero-North Syracuse's opponent will be determined Tuesday night but we'll get to that. The teams, the locations and the times are set and the 'Road to the Dome' continues to get shorter.