Leading off today: A friend of mine who happens to be both a high school sports fan and the member of a school board passed along a message a few weeks ago when school budget season was just starting to heat up.

   Chatter originating from a couple of school districts had strongly indicated that the financial prognosis was bleak and interscholastic sports might have to be put on the chopping block. My friend suggested something to the effect while some concern was sincere, floating the idea of cuts was also a bit of a ploy.

   Extra-curricular activities -- especially sports -- are close to sacred with the 29-to-49 demographic, the people most likely to have school-age children participating in everything from student government to intramural rowing to varsity football. And they're the people most likely to spout the "it's for the kids" mantra, which means they're also the ones likely to be activists -- whether it's showing up at school board meetings to plead for something else to be cut from the budget or organizing raffles to fund the extracurriculars if the sports budget does get shot down.

   School boards love those sorts of people because they either raise money themselves or they provide political cover by acquiescing to higher taxes as a last-ditch solution to balancing the budget.

   Well, the cynic in me says my friend was right. Though there have been exceptions along the way, many proposed cuts to sports budgets we've been tracking in the last month have been dialed back for whatever reason, giving teams and programs a reprieve. Given the frequency, I have my doubts about how many of these programs were ever in danger to begin with.

   My suspicions began right here in my own school district, where the Gates Chili board recently restored a girls field hockey program that was never needed to begin with and is neither competitive on the field nor producing college-level players in the sport.

   And they continued last week when the Glens Falls board decided it would make up a $34,000 hole in the athletic budget by cutting back on equipment, supplies, fees and uniforms in order to not have to cut volleyball, skiing and golf.

   I'll bet those teams were no more likely to be cut than I was to win a Pulitzer for blogging. (Though, with Barack Obama winning a Nobel Peace Prize after having resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for all of 45 minutes at the time I guess anything is possible.)

   Right on cue, Michael Barbone, owner of the West Mountain facility, offered to host the alpine skiing team to help cut costs. And I'm betting the that the board will find similar accommodations for its golf team.

   And the $34,000 that needed to be cut will now be applied to other aspects of the budget, saving the board from having to make the tough choices they were elected to make.

   "It gives us a year, we can sit down and talk about this," School board president Devin Spencer told The Post-Star.

   Yeah, well just remember this: When all is said and done in the world of governance, more is usually said than done. My money is on a whole bunch of school districts playing out the same drama 12 months from now.

More on the site Boys hoops: Road to Glens Falls, your all-purpose destination Boys hoops: Sectional tourney scores and NYSPHSAA brackets Boys hoops: 2010 All-State Team

   More on budgets: Inspired by the Glens Falls developments, The Post-Star staff worked the phones late last week to investigate where other budgets in their coverage area stood.

   The conclusion was in the first 10 words of their story: "For now, most area school districts have dodged the bullet."

   It's subject to results of the May 18 budget votes and subsequent re-votes if necessary, but there are very few easily noticed cuts on the horizon. For now, districts are largely getting by with cuts to equipment budgets and travel.

   "We've cut 18 to 20 percent over the past two years," South Glens Falls AD Nick Fitzgerald said. "You've got to get creative."

   The Adirondack League has cut back from two to one modified team in some sports. Modified volleyball teams will play single-site weekend tournaments rather than traveling regularly during the week.

   There are program eliminations slated for Hadley-Luzerne (track and field), but Cambridge is actually restoring sponsorship of boys lacrosse and golf, which were funded by boosters last spring.

   You can keep track of recent budget developments from across New York by clicking here.

   Ossining mourns: Former Ossining start athlete Christian Federico, 20, died of unknown causes Friday while jogging off campus at the University of Maryland, The Journal News reported.

   "I never realized how much he was respected, adored and loved by so many people," his mother, Luanne, told the paper. "People have come out of the woodwork to tell me what a great child I had, and I'm overwhelmed."

   Federico excelled in football and baseball at Ossining. He volunteered as an assistant to the athletic trainer at Ossining last semester while awaiting his transfer into Maryland. Football coach Dan Ricci called him "the best player on the field" during their 2007 run to the state semifinals.

   Who'll 'Ace' the test text weekend? Eight of the state's top 25 Class AA softball teams as well as three other ranked schools are scheduled to play in the 30th annual James "Ace" Morabito Memorial Invitational next weekend in Binghamton.

   The 16-school affair is probably the best in-season event on the New York softball schedule. Chenango Valley is not back to defend its title, but there will certainly be a worthy successor. In Class AA alone, No. 3 Horseheads, No. 8 North Rockland, No. 10 Cicero-North Syracuse, No. 13 Valley Central, No. 14, Bethlehem, No. 19 Webster Schroeder, No. 20 Williamsville North and No. 25 Binghamton are in the field. Valley Central vs. Williamsville North shapes up as one of the featured first-round games.