Crosby happy to keep his star in a small market

November 30, 2008

Common sense says that any star athlete, especially a hockey player, would do anything to get in the bright lights of the big city and become an even bigger star.

Recent columns

• Crosby happy to keep his star in a small market

  November 30, 2008

  Common sense says that any star athlete, especially a hockey player, would do anything to get in the bright lights of the big city and become an even bigger star.

• Isles' Bailey youthful but lacks scoring finish

  November 30, 2008

  It's official. The Islanders really do have a bona fide, can't miss, hard-working quality goal scorer in their organization. Unfortunately for them, his hard work involves talking on the phone, meeting clients and chatting up the Islanders Business Club. Mike Bossy just isn't eligible for the Art Ross Trophy any more.

• Josh provides needed jolt at Coliseum

  November 27, 2008

  The four days between games early next week will be just right for some lucky Long Island realtor. As clients go, Josh Bailey is a live one, ready for an apartment, condo or anything else more permanent than the hotel he has been staying in during his cup of coffee with the Islanders.

• Tikhonov: From Cold War villain to warm grandpa

  November 25, 2008

  The name Viktor Tikhonov has more than a familiar ring. It carries the steely, chilling echo of the Cold War. Tikhonov was the commanding man who stood in front of - not behind - the bench of the great and fearsome Soviet Red Army hockey team. The sound of his name evokes an icy era.

• Time for the snow birdies

  November 20, 2008

  Flurries are in the air, winter clothing is off the shelves and Thanksgiving is around the corner. This all means only one thing: It is golf season.

• Ex-Stony Brook coach goes from hoops to loops

  November 13, 2008

  Nick Macarchuk knows it is not that much of a leap from basketball to golf. He has seen, for instance, that Rollie Massimino's game on the course is better under pressure than anyone could imagine, just like his Villanova team was in the final against Georgetown.

• LI hockey players making impact - everywhere

  November 9, 2008

  The next time Long Island produces the likes of Jim Brown, Carl Yastrzemski or Dr. J, he might be wearing skates.

• Long Island a hockey hotbed

  November 8, 2008

  The next time Long Island produces the likes of Jim Brown, Carl Yastrzemski or Dr. J, he might be wearing skates. Mike Komisarek and Christopher Higgins of the Canadiens, Rob Scuderi of the Penguins and Eric Nystrom of the Flames can hang in there, on the sports food chain, with the Nassau-Suffolk alumni in the NFL. And you would be hard pressed to find four current Long Islanders in either Major League Baseball or the NBA that are as established as those skaters.

• Champions Tour likely to skip Long Island in '09

  November 6, 2008

  The Champions Tour schedule for 2009 is due out soon and people familiar with the workings of professional golf do not expect the Long Island tournament to be on it, a development that could end or at least interrupt a streak that goes back to 1987.

• LI tourney not likely to be on Champions Tour

  November 5, 2008

  The Champions Tour schedule for 2009 is due out soon and people familiar with the workings of professional golf do not expect the Long Island tournament to be on it, a development that could end or at least interrupt a streak that goes back to 1987.

• MacDonald steps in and steals the show for Isles

  November 5, 2008

  Being a backup goalie is not among the better jobs in sports. It's not as filled with potential like being a backup quarterback, who always has a chance to look like a hero when the starter flubs it. Heck, in many National Hockey League arenas, there isn't room for the backup goalie to even sit with the rest of the team.

• Joey McDonald backbone of Islander win

  November 4, 2008

  Being a backup goalie is not among the better jobs in sports. It's not as filled with potential like being a backup quarterback, who always has a chance to look like a hero when the starter flubs it. Heck, in many National Hockey League arenas, there isn't room for the backup goalie to even sit with the rest of the team.

• Throwback jerseys fail to inspire '70s on ice

  November 2, 2008

  For a good while, it looked like a genuine throwback. It had the feel of those mid-1970s Islanders, who used to wear royal blue uniforms like the ones the Islanders had on last night. It seemed as if these Islanders dusted off their old gumption, the kind that said, "Darn it, we know we're outmanned here, but we're going to do something about it."

• NHL takes pains to hide players' injuries

  November 2, 2008

  Mum's the word, but you didn't hear it from them.

• Throwback jerseys couldn't bring back 70s magic

  November 1, 2008

  For a good while, it looked like a genuine throwback. It had the feel of those mid-1970s Islanders, who used to wear royal blue uniforms like the ones the Islanders had on last night. It seemed as if these Islanders dusted off their old gumption, the kind that said, "Darn it, we know we're outmanned here, but we're going to do something about it."

• Island Hills Golf Club: We're not for sale

  October 30, 2008

  Island Hills Golf Club was used for military parachute training during World War II, so it is not the type of place to get panicky about the sky falling. On the other hand, as a venerable golf club, it does not want to let anyone go around reporting the wrong score.

• Hate to see Rangers-Islanders rivalry put on ice

  October 28, 2008

  After the fourth goal, which settled things for sure, much of the sizable Rangers portion of the crowd began singing the old sports standard, "Na Na, Hey Hey Goodbye." As derisive as that was toward the Islanders in their home building, it would be much worse if it were prophetic.

• Rangers no longer playing name game

  October 26, 2008

  The Rangers are as fond of icons as anybody. They have spent millions over the years to gather the biggest names they could find, some of them even bigger than Sidney Crosby. And everyone at Madison Square Garden last night realized how Crosby can light up a building and an entire league. But give a tip of the salary cap to the Rangers for trying another way.

• Jersey colors getting to be all about the money

  October 26, 2008

  When The Hockey News did a recent fans poll about the best uniforms in the National Hockey League, the Chicago Blackhawks won big. That was good news for anyone who likes the color red, and for everyone who is concerned that the league is inching toward a 30-way tie on jersey popularity.

• Long Island's got 2 PGA Tour pros for 2009

  October 23, 2008

  Larry DellAquila, the Nassau Community College golf coach, was following the tournament from Chattanooga over the Internet. "When he made double bogey, I went crazy," he said, referring to his former star player, Arjun Atwal.

• Maple Leafs not going all out this season

  October 19, 2008

  Sound familiar? A tradition-rich franchise plays in a city that is virtually the capital of the sport, near league offices and not far from the Hall of Fame. It has intense media coverage, ravenous fan following and talk radio chatter aplenty, 12 months a year. The team is so popular that it has its own TV network. There is huge pressure to perform.

• Swings he can deal with

  October 16, 2008

  Logic would suggest that Allan Renz of Long Beach would feel validated and vindicated now, more than ever, about his decision to give up Wall Street for a career in golf. But the fact is many of his friends still work on the Street and so do many of his customers.

• Isles wait until after game to protect goalie

  October 14, 2008

  Even with the Islanders' current policy of not talking about injuries, there was no way to disguise hurt feelings. So they did their best to protect goalie Joey MacDonald after the game, something they had failed to do on the ice.

• A fine Philly welcome for Palin

  October 12, 2008

  PHILADELPHIA

• New Isles coach decides to rest DiPietro in opener

  October 11, 2008

  All the talk throughout training camp was that Scott Gordon, with his new system, was going to have to do a lot of teaching in his first year as the coach of the Islanders. No argument there. Fact is, though, he also is going to have to do a lot of learning.

• A numbers game for Isles opener

  October 10, 2008

  Here are some noteworthy numbers as the Islanders open the 2008-09 season:

• Life of a caddie isn't a burden

  October 9, 2008

  They work seven days a week and sometimes do double shifts. They do heavy lifting and other physical labor. They need a lot of expertise and very little ego. They have to wait on their employers hand and foot and must always be polite.

• Glenn Anderson will finally get his due

  October 8, 2008

  One of hockey's longest running oversights will end next month. Finally, Glenn Anderson will go into the Hall of Fame, nine years after he was first eligible and who knows how long after he really should have been in.

• Golf grew on Islanders goalie coach Dunham

  October 2, 2008

  Islanders goaltending coach Mike Dunham might never have had a hockey career if his dad were not a golf pro.

• Reg Dunlop will always be a hockey star

  September 30, 2008

  Now this is a real old-time hockey hat trick, better even than a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (a goal, an assist and a fight): Reg Dunlop is hockey's MVP every season, coach of the year every year and No. 1 star every night.

• His field of dreams: Groundskeeper Flynn has been at Shea since the beginning

  September 28, 2008

  When the Beatles played Shea Stadium in 1965, it was Pete Flynn who drove them from the stage to beyond the centerfield fence, where an armored car waited to take them to the World's Fair heliport. And when Paul McCartney made a surprise appearance at a Billy Joel concert last month, guess who drove McCartney to the stage on a golf cart?

• Turnesa, the next generation

  September 28, 2008

  Of all weeks for the PGA Tour not to be on live TV.

• Bethpage Black preps for 2009 U.S. Open

  September 25, 2008

  There were no earth movers, no chainsaws, no agronomists working over the Black Course at Bethpage State Park Tuesday afternoon. There were only golfers who knew the score. The course could host the U.S. Open tomorrow.

• Zednik making comeback after nightmare on ice

  September 22, 2008

  The greatest sight in any National Hockey League training camp this year is Richard Zednik racing up and down his wing, doing sprints and firing wrist shots for the Florida Panthers. He looks like any other player, aside from the Kevlar shirt and neck protector underneath his practice jersey.

• History's on the move from one stadium to other

  September 22, 2008

  It got late early at Yankee Stadium. Eighty-five years went by like the blink of an eye. It was hard to believe that even Yogi Berra had to admit last night that it really was over.

• Jeter wistful as Stadium curtain comes down

  September 21, 2008

  Derek Jeter does have at least one thing in common with the rest of us, common folks that we are. He had the exact same vivid impression as we did the first time he saw Yankee Stadium.

• Walker Cup headed to Island

  September 21, 2008

  Judging from the rivalry and traditions at the Ryder Cup this week, it seems obvious the Ryder Cup is the granddaddy of all international team golf matches. Close, but not quite. It's more like the little brother of the Walker Cup, which began in 1922, still is going strong and is headed here.

• LIer aims to play all 140 courses on Island

  September 18, 2008

  They stretch from Inwood, near the Queens border, out to Montauk Downs. Some are as public as you can get, others are as exclusively private as you can find. Some are right on the water, others are covered with woods. Someday, the disparate Long Island golf courses will have one thing in common: Jerry Wood will have played there.

• Double eagles, aces can run in family

  September 14, 2008

  Golfers know that only about half the fun of the game is in the playing, the rest is in the telling. Here's a tip of the cap to those who have shared their stories, either by e-mail, phone messages or on the golf blog ("On the Green" at newsday.com/sports).

• LIer's YouTube video gets EA Sports' attention

  September 11, 2008

  When he saw the little animated Tiger Woods figure walking on water, taking a shot from the lake and sending it into the hole, Bryan Levi instantly called upon his instincts as a serious film student. He immediately reached for his camera. He never dreamed how far reaching that would be.

• Busy offseason for the NHL

  September 10, 2008

  We're going to consider this a win for the sport: Hockey getting more national attention in August than it had at any time since the outdoor game on Jan. 1. So now we know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull -- lipstick (At least that's what Sarah Palin said during her acceptance speech).

• New-look Mets set up to succeed this September

  September 7, 2008

  The clubhouses, the dugouts and the field were completely barren at Shea Stadium yesterday afternoon, except for Billy Wagner, out there throwing with a trainer. Wagner felt strong and upbeat under the overcast sky. It was merely overcast. By his reckoning, there weren't the same bleak clouds that shrouded the Mets a year ago.

• 'Fish' is moving tale of weathering storm

  September 7, 2008

  Sometime in the next couple of weeks, people in New Orleans will be settled in their homes again, their lives will be back to close to normal again and they will have a chance to see the postponed premiere of the movie "Walking on Dead Fish," which will mean that much more to them.

• The odd life of assistant pros

  September 7, 2008

  People think being an assistant golf pro is a terrific job. Assistant pros agree, which is why they do it. They get to be around a golf course, get to talk about golf and even get to play a fair amount for free.

• Backyard golf course a hit in the neighborhood

  September 4, 2008

  With the fall growing season right around the corner, the superintendent at the East Marion Golf Association's course has great hopes that everything will look fresh. He is especially optimistic about how the tiny bent grass seeds will take root and germinate.

• U.S. none the worse without Tiger

  September 3, 2008

  U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger, in Manhattan yesterday to announce his four selections to fill out the roster, surely was sincere when he said that one of his "great regrets" is that Tiger Woods will not be playing.

• Same old Yanks in '09 with no youth movement

  September 1, 2008

  The Yankees definitely will be younger at one position next season: home stadium. You may have heard something about this. Granted, everyone in baseball has tried hard to keep it under wraps, but word has leaked out that the club is moving to a new park in 2009.

• Fresh ideas for a tired game

  August 31, 2008

  As a celebrated instructor (national teacher of the year in 1991) and author, Michael Hebron knows just about everything there is to know about the golf swing. That includes knowing that the swing isn't the thing.

• Tallgrass closing? Not according to the owners

  August 28, 2008

  Rumors of Tallgrass' demise have been greatly exaggerated (apologies to Mark Twain).

• LI golf fans deserve a regular Tour stop

  August 21, 2008

  Pro golf never seemed farther away than it does this week, with the PGA Tour in Paramus, N.J., rather than its old home at the Westchester Country Club. As far as Long Island fans are concerned, it might as well be in Kansas.

• Long, storied history of Port Jeff CC revealed

  August 17, 2008

  There is history in those hills, more than anyone knows, even as they are walking on them during a round at Port Jefferson Country Club (formerly Harbor Hills).

• LI GOLFBEAT: History echoes at Friar's Head

  August 10, 2008

  Judging only from some of the open, emerald fairways, you might think you were in Ireland. Judging from the views that encompass both tall trees and water, you might think you were at Pebble Beach. Judging from the general ambience, as Champions Tour player Loren Roberts recently did, you could say you were in heaven.

• LI GOLFBEAT: Aces: Like son, like father

  August 7, 2008

  Who says nobody's perfect? For one shot, any golfer can be. On one hole, an 88-year-old man, a 10-year-old boy or a neophyte golfing grandmother can be sure that Tiger Woods or Ben Hogan couldn't have done any better. That's the appeal of the hole-in-one, one of the most exhilarating feats in sports.

• LI GOLFBEAT: Junior event on LI sparkles

  August 3, 2008

  Golf still can pull young people. It can tug them away from video games and faster moving sports, it can nudge them across the country for tournaments. It can draw them even when their inclination is, as 16-year-old Kelly Shon of Port Washington put it, "At first, I was like everyone else, 'This is just a boring sport.' "

• Bethpage Red hosts amputee tournament

  July 31, 2008

  Every player in the tournament this week at Bethpage Red was thrilled to be involved in such intense competition on such a good course, even though every one of them wishes he or she weren't eligible.

• LI couple puts faith in padded gloves

  July 27, 2008

  The golf equipment marketplace is so tough that almost no one can say it fits them like a glove. Still, Rita and Chris Terris have a decent enough grip on their niche to report they are holding their own.

• Harbor Links: A touch of class in North Hempstead

  July 24, 2008

  When the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce scheduled a function last month to promote business during the 2009 U.S. Open, it chose to hold it at Harbor Links in Port Washington. The location was both practical and symbolic.

• A golf superintendent's job is never done

  July 20, 2008

  Those parched brown patches on your lawn are enough to make you appreciate the lush, green grass on the golf course. No one appreciates it more than the course superintendents who really feel the heat this time of year.

• Black has 'Open' feel for New York Open

  July 17, 2008

  No one playing in the New York State Open at Bethpage Black this week doubts reports that the rough has been cut at a height of 4 1/2 inches. They just aren't sure how many months it has been since the last time they cut it.

• Tour pros love touring Long Island's courses

  June 26, 2008

  On a free day during his week at the Commerce Bank Championship, which begins tomorrow at Eisenhower Park, Chip Beck drove to Southampton and played the National Golf Links of America. David Ogrin was hoping to sneak out to play Bethpage Black.

• Grella's story earns him an observer role

  June 22, 2008

  Considering how Phil Grella began his golf career, it is a wonder he still has one. Now a retired math teacher living in Rockville Centre, Grella was an 11-year-old caddie at Nassau Country Club, shagging balls on the practice range without a helmet.

• LI GOLFBEAT: Black calm before storm

  June 12, 2008

  The talk mostly was about the heat and about the storm that had brought down about 200 trees and temporarily closed three other courses at Bethpage State Park. That is to say, U.S. Open week at the Black Course was calmly ordinary - this year.

• LI GOLFBEAT: Golf books for Dad, all

  June 1, 2008

  A question for golf fans: In 1979, two Spaniards played on the newly expanded European Ryder Cup team. One was Seve Ballesteros, who was the other? a) Jose Maria Olazabal, b) Antonio Garrido, c) Manuel Pinero, d) Jose Maria Canizares.

• LI GOLFBEAT: Nine is just fine

  May 29, 2008

  Let's play nine.

• Garden City's Tubbs a star in golf and hockey

  May 25, 2008

  It must be more than just coincidence that hockey players are such good golfers. Note, for instance, which celebrity won the Nationwide Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am last week: Wayne Gretzky.

• Author Laurentino helps golfers get into swing

  May 22, 2008

  A golfer usually believes that the front arm has to be straight, the other elbow has to be pinned close to the body and, by all means, the head has to be very still and pointed down in order to make a good swing.

• Walter Travis remains an honored name in golf

  May 18, 2008

  This is the 100th anniversary of a bunker shot that didn't make it out of the bunker. It is a tribute to the great golf figure and Long Islander Walter Travis that people still remember the 1908 U.S. Amateur at Garden City Golf Club. The deep, difficult and controversial bunker that Travis built alongside the 18th green trapped one poor fellow and cost him the semifinal match.

• Golfers have chance to feel like a club member

  May 15, 2008

  What a dream it would be to feel like a member at a private club, to have someone take your clubs from your car, to have your own locker in the clubhouse, to be able to bring a foursome and play a manicured club - even if you're not a member.

• Practice wedges, putting, says short-game guru

  May 1, 2008

  What would benefit the average golfer more - hitting a 300-yard drive or chipping in from around the green? Here's the follow-up question - which of those shots does the average golfer spend more time trying to achieve?

• Ex-LIer writes book about getting into the 'zone'

  April 24, 2008

  As a counselor to PGA Tour pros, Michael Lardon has talked major champions through the agony of ruining a whole week with one double bogey. As a golfer who grew up in Huntington, Lardon plays with a buddy who can shoot 79 at Sunken Meadow one day and 106 the next.

• Sebonack is looking for a big-time tournament

  April 17, 2008

  Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak designed Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton to look natural, to fit seamlessly in its surroundings. The people who run and maintain the course apparently have picked up on that trend, having recently earned the Metropolitan Golf Association's Club Environment Award.

• Perfection: A good lesson

  April 13, 2008

  Doug Mauch, the head professional at Wheatley Hills Golf Club in East Williston, sets a very high standard for his pro shop. It is a standard he learned at one of his previous jobs, at Augusta National Golf Club.

• My fantastic sign: Put these fans in Hall of Fame

  February 16, 2008

  There ought to be a way to acknowledge the fan who summarized M. Donald Grant's sad era as Mets impresario by standing at Shea Stadium and holding up a neatly printed placard that read, "WELCOME TO GRANT'S TOMB." There ought to be a way to honor the likes of the late Sign Man Karl Ehrhardt, our own enduring way of saying, "THANKS!" There ought to be a Hall of Fame for fans. Ehrhardt, a commercial artist from Queens who died last week at 83, would be a cinch first-ballot inductee.

• The Last Word

  January 20, 2008

  Here's some exit poll data you won't hear on the cable channels: When the political pundits reach into their bag of sports clichés, we all want to run like crazy for the exits.

• That harmless little grounder

  August 17, 2006

  The Mets and fate always have had an intense relationship.

• Smith legacy: a third Open

  June 13, 2004

  Anyone lucky enough to have seen a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club has one enduring image. Maybe it is a venerable Ray Floyd or a youthful Tiger Woods. Possibly it's a triumphant Corey Pavin or a dejected Greg Norman.