Erie Land Lighthouse

I thought that the old Buffalo lighthouse was the oldest on Lake Erie, but it turns out that the oldest one is in Erie, PA, along the shores of Lake Erie. We traveled there to see a Mercyhurst vs RPI hockey game, and decided to stop by to see the lighthouse. It was rainy and cloudy on the way there and we experienced thick fog going there. However, it stopped raining (mostly) and was at dusk when we came upon the old structure.

It had been refurbished, with the stone being cleaned and a new light put on the top the past few years. The light house was an impressive site, even at dusk on a very gloomy day. Some pictures I took of the old lighthouse...

Canisus high school football

I went to the Eastern Michigan at UB game and then proceeded to Canisius High School to see their contest against St. Mary's of Lancaster. The UB game was starting to be a UB blowout, so we hoped to see a closer contest here. Not so as Canisius routed St. Mary's 51-0. Canisius was ranked #1 in the state for large schools until they lost to Aquinas of Rochester. Here's some pictures I took of this game...

 

SRO crowd at Canisius for this game.

 

Canisius defender sacks St. Mary's QB for a safety in the end zone 

 

Jamestown Red Raiders on a roll

I went to All-High Stadium in Buffalo to see the southern tier powerhouse Jamestown Red Raiders battle hometown South Park. Jake Sisson, the Jamestown quarterback who broke Joe Licata's WNY passing record by throwing for 508 yards, this time did it on his feet. Sisson ran for 4 long TD gallops, propelling the Red Raiders to a 58-32 shootout win. Jamestown in now the #3 big school in WNY, ranked behind St. Joe's and Canisius.

I took some pics and have 2 of Sisson's TDs runs along with a TD pass on video.

Sisson throws for a touchdown:
http://s252.photobucket.com/user/BUFFALOSPORTS/media/HIGH%20SCHOOL/JAMESTOWNVSSOUTHPARK43_zpse8b922e0.mp4.html 

 

 

 

Jake Sisson finds hole big enough to dash to his first of 4 TD runs against South Park.

South Park's quarterback gets off a pass. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sisson's TD video:
http://s252.photobucket.com/user/BUFFALOSPORTS/media/HIGH%20SCHOOL/JAMESTOWNVSSOUTHPARK38_zpsdd813fc2.mp4.html 

 

Another Sisson touchdown gallop:
http://s252.photobucket.com/user/BUFFALOSPORTS/media/HIGH%20SCHOOL/JAMESTOWNVSSOUTHPARK50_zpsa6378476.mp4.html 

 

 

Williamsville Billies open up big at home

Williamsville South won their second straight game, in their home opener against crosstown Williamsville North, beating the Spartans 32-6. Sam Castronova, replacing last year's starter Trent Ferguson, is looking to be the answer the Billies have sought at that position since Joey Licata left for the University at Buffalo. Castronova adds an elusive running element to his razor sharp passing game. He ran for one
TD and also avoided sacks on numerous occasions to hit his target while on the move.

Here's some pics I took at the game and a highlight reel play where Castronova avoided several would be tacklers, changed directions 3 times and was able to connect for a TD along the right sideline. The video link is at the top, before the pics...

http://s252.photobucket.com/user/BUFFALOSPORTS/media/BILLIES/BILLIESVSSPARTANS29_zps01f4b852.mp4.html

Sammy Castronova takes off for a TD scamper.

High school football kicks off in WNY 2013

The high school football season is underway in WNY. We went to see Frontier host Clarence in a Section IV, Class A showdown. It was a beautiful night for football, and we saw a nice sunset behind the stadium as Frontier rocked Clarence 38-12.

It should be an exciting football season for high school football in WNY.

 

 

Spectacular sunset at beginning of the game.

 

St. Joe's upends L.I. powerhouse St. Anthony's

The conditions were brutal, both for the players on the field and the fans in the stands. A cold, driving rain pelleted both during the game and made both playing and viewing the game difficult. I lost all feeling in my fingers except for that tingling sensation for over 2 hours after the game from holding my umbrella and wet hands. But the game itself was a good one. In fact, it ranks up there as one of the biggest upsets in WNY high school sports.

St. Joe's of Buffalo, which had been blown out by powerhouse St. Anthony's of Long Island the last two meetings, won 20-14 in a downpour. I wasn't able to take too many pics of the game as the driving rain and wind forced me to keep the camera in the protective case. However, there were a few breaks in the rain and I was able to take 24 pics, an all-time low in recent memory.

St. Anthony's had twice the numbers and almost twice the size over St. Joe's.

St. Anthony's had been ranked #2 in the state (second only to Buffalo's Canisius) and they had 88 players on their roster, compared to St. Joe's 36. However, the Marauders were bigger where it matters the most, in heart. Not only did St. Anthony's have over twice the number of players, but were much bigger in stature. That didn't matter as St. Joe's had Nigel Davis, who scored all 3 TDs and had 218 yards rushing. He matched the 75 yard TD run scored by St. Anthony's Jordan Gowins and not only scored on offense, but punted and kicked as well, and on defense had six tackles and a sack.

St. Anthony's quarterback launches a pass in the rain.

The crowd at St. Joe's endured brutal weather conditions to see their team win.  

St. Joe's Nigel Davis runs around right end to gain yardage. 

Jordan Gowins cuts up the right sidelines on his way to a 75-yard St. Anthony's touchdown.



Gowins runs untouched at the end of his TD run.



Nigel Davis finds a hole in the St. Anthony's massive defensive line. 

St. Anthony's spotted a collegiate-type roster, in size and numbers.

Oak Hill's PGA was outstanding!

My experience at the PGA championship at the Oak Hill Country Club was memorable. It is a great golf course and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Jason Dufner won the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday. I went there on Saturday, the day before the final round.

I rented a Fan Vision device. It let me see play on other holes along with the one I was watching. It had something like an 8 second delay, similar to TV broadcasts of hockey games. But it helped out, helped us keep track of who was doing what and the leaderboard. It had the CBS coverage, and 9 greens TV coverage, along with a par 3 hole coverage. Not bad for $20.

Here's some more pictures from that event...

 

 

The Wanamaker Trophy won by Jason Dufner.


VJ Singh on the green as fans follow the action.

The 15th green is where the fans are voting for the hole placement on the final day of the tournament. The fans are voting for several hole placements on this par 3 hole that has the only real water hazard.

Here's my shots of VJ Singh putting on the hole. He actually put one of his tee shots into the drink.

PGA championship at Oak Hill

We had a great time at the opening day of practice for the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club Monday. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny with a few puffy clouds and the temp not getting any higher than 75. Saw VJ Singh practice along with Justin Rose and then Tiger made his way to the course and teed off at around 4 pm along with Steve Sticker.

At around 3:45, we saw a huge mob running over to the first tee and we knew it was either Tiger or Phil ready to tee off. We hurried up the 18th fairway to the first tee and saw Tiger play the first 5 holes.

Tiger hit a few tee shots in his first two holes, and then decided to concentrate on his chipping game the next few. I took 147 pics in all, but uploaded 30. Here's some shots I took...

 

Crowd follows Tiger and Steve Sticker.





Steve Sticker hits off the fairway.


Ricky Fowler stretches before hitting a few tee shots.





V.J. Singh putts during practice.


Tiger during the opening practice round.



Stricker chips on the green.