Boys Bball Playoffs

We seem to be alternating between skiing and basketball here on the site, so for consistency- today's update is on the HR boys playoff win over the West Scranton Invaders (yes, Invaders. I realize that it is probably due to my generation, but this was all I kept thinking about). In spite of some foul trouble for Pete Alexis, your Royals were cruising in this one- up by a score of 32-16 at one point in the third quarter. As was the case with the freshman boys last week, the game wasn't over by any means. The Invaders began to whittle away at that lead, thanks in most part to a great improvement in their 3-point shooting, which, in a cruel twist of fate, came at a time when HR went cold on their free throws. Every time it seemed like Redeemer had the game locked up, foul, miss, 3 brought West back into the mix. Finally, 5 seconds left, with a one point lead, HR makes a free throw and manages to keep West off the board to take a 2 point victory. Exciting stuff, in case you missed it.

On the subject of missing the game, where oh where has the Red Sea gone? Frustrated Alum were noting how in years past, this game would have been SRO. Last night? Have a look. This was the largest concentration of red in the stands. Aside from the one guy in the Red Sea shirt, the rest of the folks in red may just be Valentine's day leftovers. West Scranton brought their cheering section, but their material was pretty weak (note to the West fans- If you are going to call our player Herman Munster, don't sing the theme to the Adam's Family! Either know the material, or stay off the subject. The Munsters was the far superior show, but Zach does not look like Herman). Regardless- this is playoff time folks- every game could be the final appearance for the Red Sea. Lets hope the turnout for the girls game is a little stronger.

In only-somewhat-related news, in an earlier post, I referenced a brief, but still unremarkable playing history in my past. Through the wonders of the internet, facebook, and a friend I haven't seen in over 25 years, proof has surfaced. See if you can find yours truly in this group of long-haired seventh graders. Here's a clue- Mrs. FotoFink says I looked just like our son Chris. Poor kid. We actually had a very good team at that time, going undefeated for the season. My 11 points for the season had little to do with that success however. Every team needs a 17th man.

The gallery from the game is here.

The full website is here.

Buy a picture or 2. I need some more camera gear.

Ski Club 2009 Finale

The final week of Ski Club is always a bit more interesting- weather is warming, daylight is longer, and of course, there is a Pizza Party. Unlike seasons past, where we needed Pizza Nazis to control the pie allocation, improvements to the system made for a much more relaxing experience this time through. On the hill, our staff managed to find a few more of you than last week, resulting in a few more action shots as well.

We had some confusion over the group shot- The original idea was to take it outside, in front of the burning fireplace. That morphed to inside, near the unlit fireplace. Poor light forced us to consider alternatives to that as well, and we ended up on the handicapped ramp to the bar. We had to move a few "outsiders" from their seats to pull it off- Thanks go out to the girl who was unfortunate enough to choose one of those tables for her dinner. As more and more of you assembled around her, the fear in her eyes became clear. In the end it worked out, and it seemed to provide some fun- especially for the non-HR kid who asked if he could get in- just because he wanted to be in the yearbook. A group having that much fun generates it's own "buzz".

Speaking of fun, Marielle Keefe seemed to enjoy herself at the party. You may notice her in a few (hundred) of the indoor shots. Here at FF, we are used to a much quieter Marielle, contributing to the success of the girl's volleyball team. It turns out, she's not camera-shy. Who knew?

Out on the slopes, David George filled me in on how he is/isn't related to the rest of the George's on Facebook before showing off some snowboard tricks. I took a run with Dustin Siperko, who seemed pretty normal in spite of the crazy suit. Jimmy Fink made a successful return to the site of the ACL tear a few season's ago. Nate Albrecht showed us his best side. Lots of you caught my attention on the hill, forgive me for not being able to recall your names. Leave some comments on the site to ID yourself if you'd like.

As always, many thanks to Mrs. Alfano for organizing this craziness. Hopefully we will see you all again after the summer hiatus!

See the full gallery here. Last week's shots here. The whole site here.

Full Court Press

The finer points of Basketball have always been a mystery to me. Pick & Roll? Sounds like a lunch special, and not a very good one. In spite of this, I have noticed one aspect of the game this season- the incredible effectiveness of the full court press. Earlier in the season, I noted how the varsity boys almost fell victim to Scranton's use of the tactic, Thursday night saw both teams use it to turn the freshman game.
In the first quarter, Hazleton seemed to be able to score at will, penetrating the Royal defense consistently for easy lay-ups. HR employed the press, which seemed to disrupt the flow for the Cougars, and turned the momentum of the game in favor of the Royals. HR took over the lead and carried it through most of the game, even after an injury took Christian Choman out for the night. Your Royals lead fluctuated between 5 and 7 points for most of the second half, and as time wound down, confidence was building among the faithful.
Once again. the full court press turned the game. Hazleton pressed in the final minutes, battling back to tie, then eventually take a slim lead. Time ticked away, the Royals had to resort to fouling the Cougars to try to win posession, but in the end Hazleton emerged with a 4 point victory.
Give credit to Hazleton- from what I can recall (from my playing days), the full court press takes a lot of effort to run. To say that they had a short bench is an understatement- I think there were 2 subs. Late in this game, they had to be fatigued, yet they summoned the energy to take control when they needed to.
Congratulations to the Freshmen Royals as well- After losing to this Hazleton team earlier in the year, they knew that they had to play well to stay in this game. A break or two goes HR's way and this game could have been very different.

Enjoy the gallery here. Don't forget that pictures are available for purchase. (Sorry for the shameless plug. There's a recession on, remember?)

Ski Club

Ski Club, to me, is one of the best extra-curricular activities at any school. Here in the FF target market, we live close to several adequate (small) ski areas, yet many of us may never wander over there without dangling the bargain of ski club in front us. In a former life, one of our staff photographers was involved in the ski business, working his way through college turning screws at a rental counter then later managing a store. What became clear from those days is that skiing has some PR problems. There is a pretty steep learning curve, it's fairly expensive, the shoes hurt, and you have to be outdoors in some marginal weather. The ski industry, however, does very little to bring new skiers to the sport. Ski club does a lot to change all that. There is a lesson included in the package, there is no cheaper way to get started, the really really cold weather night was postponed- and if you snowboard, the shoes feel better. Now that the bus stops next to the lodge for drop-off & pickup, there is no reason for anyone not to be part of ski club.

Picture day did not work out as well as I might have hoped, I'll blame the holiday weekend for causing people to straggle in a little later than usual. As it worked out, Jeff & PJ tolerated me for a few runs, so I got a few shots of them in the first gallery. Our staff will be on hand again next week- hopefully we can get a few more faces in front of the camera then. The light for pictures is best early (before 5:30 or so) and on the main hill (not the shaded North Face)- so find us early & ham it up!

PJ asked if I was going to get any "sick pictures" of ski club- You be the judge-

Ski Club Gallery 1

Mr Fink, It's Coughlin!

The title for this post is a quote from Natalie Adams, a favorite target of FF in the the HR girls soccer 2008 galleries. Before one of the games I was able to attend, Natalie was pulling on some gear that looked like the kind of armor knights would wear when they joust. It turns out they were field hockey shinguards, which are much much, more substantial than traditional soccer gear. When I asked her why, I expected to hear that she packed the wrong ones, or forgot hers these were all that she could find. If you know Natalie, you know that nothing is out of the realm of possibility in a case like this. Instead, I got "Mr. Fink, It's Coughlin!" Clearly the rivalry between the teams had become physical.
This was clear tonight as well. After watching the boys match, I expected a bit less physical play with the girls. Thankfully, I am rarely so wrong. This jewelery-free match was filled with collisions, sounds of cleats on bone, hard tackles and takedowns. Play like a girl? These girls played like roller derby queens (remember the Jim Croce song?) The result was a thoroughly entertaining, hard-fought match, which really sets the stage for the coming season.

All together, there were 3 matches tonight- links to the galleries are below. Our staff was trying some new techniques for indoor shooting, the early results seem to be fewer, but better shots. Feel free to weigh in with your opinions-

HR boys vs Dallas

HR Girls vs Crestwood

HR Girls vs Coughlin