USRT vs. Base Paths

Doug Smith, the author of the weekly column of Base Paths in the Tonawanda News, is one of most interesting baseball fans you can ever talk to. If you are a true baseball fan, spend an game at Dunn Tire Park with Doug Smith. You will have some great baseball talk, but you will have other great conversation with him about all thing in life. If I can accomplish half the things he did in life I would consider my life a sucess.


As I have mentioned before Doug is the PA announcers for the Niagara Power. Peter Farrell and Andrew Kulyk have made a trip to each arena/stadium for all four of the major sports leagues and many minor league stadiums. Their travels are chronicled on their website http://www.thesportsroadtrip.com/ . I think the story that Doug writes in the Tonawanda News tells the rest of the story.


The Niagara Power, who lead their league in being hit by pitch, took one right in the blogs last week.The Ultimate Baseball Roadtrip (www.thesportsroadtrip.wnymedia.net), by ArtVoice sports columnists Peter Farrell and Andrew Kulyk, logged in at Sal Maglie Stadium for Tuesday’s game versus the Bolivar A’s. UBT seemed to have a good time, but was put off by evidence of the Power’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes sponsorship.In a sharp posting titled, “The Niagara Power and the Glory,” Farrell said he knew he was in for a different experience when he saw the Family Life Network banner at the gate.“We came to enjoy a ball game,” he posted, and wound up in “a crusade for our souls.” He quoted Christian testimony in the program by players and coaches and cautioned that if Power President Cal Kern does not “reach out to the entire community,” his venture is doomed to failure.


The rest of the story can be found at http://www.tonawanda-news.com/sports/gnnsports_story_196235153.html


The USRT guys really do have something against religion based events at ball parks. Now I am the least religious person in the world. I don't go to church unless for weddings or funerals. But I am not offended that teams have "faith nights" nor do I care the Power are sponsored by the FCA. I go for the baseball game and really don't pay much attention to the other stuff. It is not like Doug is up there preaching all the time. He mentions a few times a game that the FCA sponsors different things. When a plane takes off from the Niagara Falls Air Force Base Doug will say "tonight's flyover is sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes". It is the same as the strikeouts being sponsored by Golds Gym or the K-man of the game being sponsored by a local restaurant. Granted like a friend of mine said, instead of having the sunset sponsored by FCA, it should be sponsored by god. I don't know if anyone would be offended by that, but I think it is funny. But I guess all I am saying is Peter and Andrew made it out to be like going to church with a baseball game going on, where it is about the baseball, not the religion. So if you have a chance to head out to Sal Maglie, please do it, you will enjoy yourself.

Thoughts about Niagara Power

I admit I have never been to a collegiate baseball game before this season, or for that matter I have never seen one on TV either. Actually I only knew of two leagues, the Cape Cod League, the most famous, and the New York Collegiate Baseball League, just because it is sorta local. So this year at the start of the Buffalo Bisons seasons, Doug Smith comes up and starts mentioning a new baseball team playing at Sal Maglie Stadium. It turned out to be the Niagara Power, an expansion collegiate league team that Doug was going to be the PA announcer for (he was the PA announcer for the Niagara Falls Rapids, among other baseball related jobs). So a few weeks ago my buddy Kevin and I made the trip to the Falls to see a game. We realized this was going to be a low budget operation and the baseball would not be great. But I must admit, the team is ran well and the baseball is not that bad. Granted the playing field at Sal Maglie sucks, so it creates a lot of bad plays because of the bounces. Sal Maglie Stadium was pretty much torn down a few years ago and rebuilt as a High School Football Stadium for Niagara Falls High School. There was a press Box added for baseball as the Niagara Falls baseball team plays there too. So the field gets pretty beat up during the football games, and the high school runs the stadium so it does not get the care that Pro baseball stadiums get.

First you must know the team is partnered with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but unless it is faith night it is nothing over the top like I expected. Really all it is the Doug saying things are sponsored by the FCA. It is not like there is a pregame prayer most nights. They have a concession stand with $1.50 dogs and burgers, pop and other things. Don't expect to sit down with a cold beer, you won't find it here. They sell shirts, hats, and programs at another stand, so you can look cool in Power gear. Doug does a great job on the PA. It is a very light atmosphere, so in the middle of the game Doug will say something to someone in the crowd over the PA and the will yell the answer back up. He does all his own sound affects, so you get a laugh about some of them. But beware of the seventh inning stretch, Doug has no singing voice at all. It is like nails being dragged across a chalk board.

The baseball can be laughable at times. I really don't know why the outfielders play so shallow, because a lot of balls are hit over their heads. But don't expect to see a home run, the Power have one, yes combined the whole team has one home run. But you will see some nice plays too. Seve Alvarez seems to be the best player the Power have. He plays left field and is a speed little spark plug at the plate. But like in college baseball, he also comes in to pitch. While a lot of guys in this league play at colleges that nobody has heard of, Alvarez plays at South Carolina, so he is playing against better players in the spring.

I would recommend anyone to head out to Sal Maglie and check out a game. The season is coming to an end soon, and the Power is fighting for a playoff spot, so head out soon. If you go, guys you got to check out the men's room water. When you stick your hand under the faucet in the left sink, the water in the middle one comes on. Put your hands in the middle sink, and you guessed it, the water in the left sink comes on. It makes you look for a hidden camera.