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Friday, Sept. 2, 2011: Cloud over Skaneateles program to kick off season

   Leading off today: A simmering controversy surrounding the Skaneateles football team moved onto the front burner Friday when The Post-Standard reported that an infusion of new players enrolling at the school has triggered an internal investigation by the district into coach Tim Green and his program.

   Green downplayed the development, calling the intent of the investigation to "dispel any baseless rumors." Skaneateles Central School District superintendent Philip D’Angelo termed the investigation by the village law firm of Milford, Lynch and Shannon a personnel issue and declined to comment to the paper.

   Green, the former Syracuse University star and NFL player who went on to a successful career as an TV analyst/author and is in his second season of coaching, and his Skaneateles squad kick off the season tonight vs. General Brown. Skaneateles was 3-5 last season and has dropped down to Class C in 2011.

   According to the newspaper report, four players who have transferred into the program triggered concern among some Syracuse-area coaches. Section 3 Executive Director John Rathbun and football coordinator Bob Campese said they’ve received informal complaints that Green is recruiting players. Rathbun said he’s received no official complaints. "Everybody wants to pull me over to the side, but there’s never anything in writing,” he said.

   Rathbun said Section 3 does not have the resources to conduct investigations, instead depending upon member schools to police themselves. He said the penalties can involve everything from forfeiting victories to suspending a team for a year.

   More Skaneateles: One aspect of the Skaneateles story that has people buzzing is the racial element that was raised by veteran reporter Donnie Webb.

   Three of the four transfer students in question are black. In a vacuum, that tidbit shouldn't matter. But all you have to do is dig up census records or statistics compiled by the state education department to know that Skaneateles is one of the whitest communities in all of Central New York.

   It's more than a little bit sad that the color of one's skin comes into play, but there was a legitimate reason for Webb to include the detail. To the best of my knowledge, no one has complained publicly or privately about black students moving into the district. Their issue is with the infusion of newcomers, and the color of their skin just made it that much more obvious that something might be going on.

   Out for the season: Brittany Houghton, a first-team all-state player last year for Class AA Webster Thomas, has seen her soccer season end before it started.

   The fleet-footed striker, who helped her team reach the New York State Public High School Athletic Association finals in 2010, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in July and underwent reconstructive surgery last week according to the Democrat and Chronicle.

   Houghton finished with 29 goals and nine assists in her junior season.

   "It's emotional, but I'm handling it and trying to stay positive and help my teammates and coach with whatever they need," she told the paper.

   You can review the all-state team in the reference section of our site.

   Moving on: Rising junior forward Jordan Allen, who would have been one of the top boys soccer players in the state this fall at Aquinas, has left the state. Allen has joined the Real Salt Lake Youth Development Academy in Arizona, where the of training and competition will exceed what he

  
RoadToSyracuse.com
RoadToSyracuse.com football site


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could have experienced in New York.

   "This was a great opportunity for him and one that he could not pass up," hif father, Little Irish coach Howard Allen, told The Canandaigua Messenger.

   The 16-year-old standout will enroll in a public school in Arizona. He spent last spring at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., in a similar set-up and is currently recovering from minor knee surgery.

   Change of plans ... again: The site of the Mechanicville vs. Sauquoit Valley non-league football opener tonight has been moved.

   It's par for the course the way things have transpired the last two weeks. Sauquoit Valley had its schedule opener scrapped when South Lewis dropped football. Mechanicville was scheduled to take on Hoosic Valley, which did not have enough players eligible to scimmage last weekend or playe this weekend.

   Mechanicville and Sauquoit Valley subsequently agreed to meet in Section 2 territory, but Mechanicville AD Richard Kimball was concerned about the condition of the field in the aftermath of heavy rain dumped by the remnants of Hurricane Irene. So the game has been moved to Sauquoit Valley's turf field.

   “I’d love to be closer, but it should be fun,” Kimball told The Saratogian. “It may be the first time some of the players play on a turf field and under the lights.”

   Follow the action: I'll be back in from of my laptop this afternoon to finish serving the updated pages on RoadToSyracuse.com, which is the New York State Sportswriters Association's football site.

   Make a note to return here tonight and visit our Twitter update page, which will deliver scores and commentary from numerous reporters around the state who'll be out at games this weekend.

   Also, I'm supposed to have a house full of visitors on Saturday ... which of course means I'll be hitting the road instead. I'll be live-blogging from the Carrier Dome during a quadrupleheader that begins with Ithaca vs. Rochester East at 11 a.m.

   The other games are Watertown vs. Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, 1:30 p.m.; Cobleskill-Richmovd vs. Alden, 4 p.m.; and Liverpool vs. St. Francis, 6:30 p.m.


  
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