Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
2024 Division Semifinals Preview
It's here, folks! It's finally here! The 2023-24 NHL regular season is over and done with, and after six months and 1,312 games played, it's now time for the greatest championship chase in all of sports. Winning the Stanley Cup is absolutely difficult. Hell, just getting to the Final is a rough journey. Yet, for the 44th year, it will be sixteen teams fighting their way to capture the greatest trophy in sports: the Stanley Cup. Four of these 16 teams have never won it all, and one of those four hasn't even been to the Final. In addition, four of the 16 team teams in this year's playoffs are Canadian, meaning that there's a 25% chance that the three decades long Cup drought in that country will come to an end,
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 2 hours ago in UnbalancedJohn Jay Starts Season off with Two Victories
Please see pledge, tip and subscribe options below After opening the 2024 season with a 10-2 victory over Pelham, John Jay came home on Thursday March 28 and faced the Briarcliff Mighty Bears between the raindrops. But the intermittent nastiness of the precipitation was nothing compared to the biting sting of the John Jay offensive attack.
Rich MonettiPublished about 6 hours ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 82 Recap: We Are Ready!
When the 2023-24 NHL season began, one thing I wanted to do was write a game-by-game recap of the Colorado Avalanche's campaign. I was inspired by the "fan reaction" vids I've seen on YouTube, mainly Steve Dangle's "LFR" (standing for Leafs Fan Reaction) vids, which I had been watching for about five years, and really enjoyed during the pandemic-affected seasons. I wanted to do the same, and decided to use Vocal to spread my Avalanche fandom. I have really enjoyed writing these recaps, and I loved that I could bring a humorous spin to these stories. I do my best to be objective, but there are times where I have to put the Avalanche glasses on.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished about 18 hours ago in UnbalancedHouston, You Have a Problem...and No One Feels Sorry for You
As the old saying goes, "Whenever the Houston Astros suck, an angel gets their wings." We all had so much fun watching the Astros get swept in their season opening series against the New York Yankees, didn't we? I know I was enjoying it. I have immense schadenfreude when it comes to the team who has basically been baseball's equivalent of the Brady/Belichick Patriots. However, with that celebration came a reality: it's only the first four games. The Astros had 158 of these things left. It would be a matter of time before we'd be hideously annoyed by them again. They did pitch a no-hitter right after the Yankees punched them in the mouth, so that appeared to be the start of the whole "Oh no, not again" Astros returning.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished a day ago in UnbalancedHockey Night in Katonah Still Going Strong at Harvey
Please see Tip, Pledge and Follow options below 52 years ago a group of local first responders rented out the Harvey Hockey rink and began a Tuesday hockey night. “They called it the fireman’s game,” said Stu Hackle, and currently running what’s now called, Hockey Night In Katonah, he’s not ashamed to be a late comer by comparison.
Rich MonettiPublished a day ago in UnbalancedCapitals Win Four-Way Battle for Final Playoff Spot
There's nothing like a nice crowded playoff logjam very, very late in the season. I've seen quite a few of them in the NFL, and it was so nice of the NHL to provide one for this season. The Eastern Conference had a very interesting four team cluster in the Wild Card race, and the teams involved were the Washington Capitals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Detroit Red Wings. They were all tight together, and they swapped the 2nd Wild Card position quite a bit. One day it would be the Wings in that position, another day it would be the Penguins, and the reason why the Flyers ended up in the Wild Card picture is because they fizzled in the last week or so.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 3 days ago in UnbalancedSomers Stays Close in 19-6 Defeat to Clarkstown North
On Tuesday March 26, Somers opened the flag football season and helping to raise the banner on season two was visiting Clarkstown North. A one score game until the very end, Coach Katie DiChiara didn’t get ahead of herself and kept the 19-6 loss in perspective.
Rich MonettiPublished 3 days ago in UnbalancedAfter Competitive Start, Somers Falls 16-5 to Rye
On Monday March 25, the Somers Lacrosse team opened the season and faced a pretty tall order in their opponent. “Rye is a well coached disciplined team who support each other in every position,” said Coach Deb Daly. But a halftime 7-5 deficit didn’t look so bad - until it did.
Rich MonettiPublished 3 days ago in UnbalancedIslanders Return to Playoffs, but Need to Solve Overtime Woes
This has been quite the interesting season for the New York Islanders. They struggled badly for the most part--to the point where they actually fired Lane Lambert as their head coach just weeks before All-Star Break. The Isles later shocked us with one hell of a coaching hire: Patrick Roy. Yes, you read that right. The GOAT of goaltenders decided to give this NHL head coaching thing another go-around and replaced Lambert as the Isles' head coach. This reunites him with goaltender Semyon Varlamov, as Roy coached Varly for three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 4 days ago in UnbalancedFor the Westchester Female Flag Football League, There’s a New Champion in Town
On Thursday, March 21, the Westchester Female Flag Football League ended their season at East Coast Fitness in Yorktown, and the odds on favorite had to be the three time defending champions, Looking to Score. So hoping for one on the index finger, the Somers team did have to deal with one departing member. “My old team” said quarterback Cat Rhatigan of Coming in Hot, and as it turned out, only one player went home with a fourth consecutive ring.
Rich MonettiPublished 4 days ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 81 Recap: All or Nothing
Game #80 is in the past. On to Game #81. With a first round matchup with the Winnipeg Jets now official, the Colorado Avalanche now had to go for home ice in that series. Entering this game, the Avs needed to win out and the Jets needed to lose one point in the standings. For Game #81, it was our last road game of the regular season, and it was a trip to Sin City against the defending Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights. And regarding goaltending, Alexandar Georgiev was in the net against Adin Hill. So far, it was already much better than Game #80. The Avs were actually shooting the puck, which seemed to be a novel concept in recent games.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 5 days ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 80 Recap: Hell(e)'s Bells
Oh boy. So let's get this over with. This won't be the typical Colorado Avalanche recap, because I'll start off by telling the result right off the bat. We lost 7-0 at home to the Winnipeg Jets in a game we needed. Entering this game, both teams had an outside shot at the Central Division, but in case this game ended up being a preview of the opening round, we needed to win this to get a crack at home-ice in that series.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 6 days ago in Unbalanced