Andy Van Slyke, a stellar major-league centerfielder and renowned quote machine ("Every season has its peaks and valleys. What you have to try to do is eliminate the Grand Canyon."), won a bronze medal in 1978 – as a basketball player.
Guards Curtis Aiken (43 points) and Dwayne “Pearl” Washington (45) dueled in a 1982 scholastic game that basketball fans still talk about.
Tim Green, a former NFL star and now the incoming football coach at Skaneateles, pinned four straight opponents in 45 seconds or less en route to a wrestling gold medal nearly three decades ago.
And boxer Mike Tyson won a gold medal in the Carrier Dome in 1984 some 20 yards from where competition in fencing, gymnastics and wrestling was also taking place on his way to becoming the baddest man on the planet, inside and outside the ring.
The common thread? They all did it at the Empire State Games, which returns to the athletic schedule Wednesday night with the opening ceremonies in Buffalo. More than 5,000 athletes will gather to compete at several Western New York venues through Sunday in 25 scholastic and/or open division sports.
The ESGs are back after a one-year hiatus caused by a state budget crisis in New York, which launched the Olympic-style competition in 1978.
It was originally envisioned by Plattsburgh lawyer Louis Wolfe, a member of the state lesgislature, as a competition between New York and the province of Ontario, Canada on the heels of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Instead, Wolfe and then-Gov. Hugh Carey shaped it into an intrastate event in Syracuse pitting athletes from six regions in competition.
It was an original idea, and one that gained traction in New York and across the nation immediately. Florida would follow with the Sunshine State Games two years later and Pennsylvania trotted out the Keystone State Games in 1981. Today, the majority of states have some sort of similar competition.
New York has added and removed sports over the years to keep the Empire State Games fresh and has also rotated the event across the state since 1985. Host cities have added twists of their own: Rochester hired Ray Charles to sing at the 1993 ESGs, and Third Eye Blind will perform Wednesday in Buffalo.
Typically, soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, volleyball and wrestling are among the more eagerly awaited competitions in the scholastic division (which is generally for athletes with remaining scholastic eligibility), but basketball has always been king.
Six of the 11 New York State Sportswriters Association all-state selections who'll be playing in the scholastic women's tournament will be wearing Hudson Valley uniforms.
Saniya Chong (Ossining), Brittany Horne (Carmel) and Taneka Whittaker (Lourdes) were selected to the fifth, 10th and 12th teams, respectively, in Class AA. They're joined by Lillian McCabe (Rye, Class A, ninth team), Brittni Lai (Scarsdale-Edgemont, Class B, third) and Liz Milner (Cold-Spring-Haldane, Class C, fourth).
Not surprisingly in the era of over-the-top AAU events, almost all of the big names are skipping the boys basketball tournament. The only first-team NYSSWA picks on the roster as of last week were Western's Andrew Hoy (Batavia, Class B) and Adirondack's Zach Adams (Potsdam, Class B). The highest-rated Class AA player is P.J. Torres, a ninth-team pick from New Rochelle who'll represent Hudson Valley.
At least three athletes who were all-state Class A football picks as juniors will also be competing for the Western Region, though obviously not in that sport. Corning running back Jordan Frysinger is playing lacrosse, while Williamsville South receiver Phil Stasiak and Aquinas Institute receiver Chris Bostick are both on the baseball squad.
The best battle on the lacrosse field has likely already taken place. Perennial champion Long Island had a combined 712 players put up $10 apiece last month to attend tryouts in Nassau and Suffolk counties in an effort to secure one of the 20 berths on the roster.
One of the successful candidates was Smithtown West’s Kyle Keenan, a Duke recruit in lacrosse. Keenan's mother is Bridget Keenan, a former soccer player for the ESG open women's team. Unknown to her at the time, Bridget Keenan was about a month pregnant with Kyle during her final ESG appearance in 1992.
Boys basketball: Legendary Section I coach dies
New York lost one of its greatest basketball coaches last week when Mike DelVal, one of 33 boys coaches in state history to roll up 500 victories, died at the age of 89.
DelVal won 514 games at Alexander Hamilton (Elmsford), Woodlands (Hartsdale) and Rye and also accumulated nine Section I trophies and three New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships. He was also universally respected in the basketball community for unwavering dedication to his players.
"He was the best," Spencer Hood, who played for DelVal at Woodlands from 1969-71, told The Journal News. "Really, the nicest person you'd ever want to meet. He was teaching us, and it wasn't just basketball. He was teaching us life lessons. Unfortunately, I didn't get them at the time, but reflecting back on it, he was teaching us how to be men."
DelVal went 275-75 at Woodlands, winning three sectional titles and roaming the sideline for the seven-OT tournament game against Ardsley in 1982. He won 233 games and all of his state titles at Alexander Hamilton. He took over the Rye program briefly at the age of 79.
When The Journal News selected its All-20th Century Team, DelVal was chosen as the No. 1 coach.
Softball: Section IV star closes out career with another honor
Afton senior shortstop Jessie Winans has been named to the all-state softball team for the fifth straight season by the New York State Sportswriters and Coaches Organization.
Winans hit .478 with four home runs this spring to finish her six-year varsity career with 38 homers, 42 triples and 212 RBIs in 160 games. She wrapped up her senior season with her third straight Class D player of the year award.
Mechanicville junior Anna Arceneaux earned a share of her third Class B player of the year award with co-recipient Mikala King of Chenango Valley (Binghamton). Rhinebeck junior pitcher Megan Michie was named the Class C Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after going 20-6 with a 0.56 ERA and 330 strikeouts with just 21 walks.
Other players of the year: Bay Shore pitcher Liz Weber in Class AA, Somers (Lincolndale) shortstop Tammy Wray in Class A, and Class D co-recipient Marissa Diescher of Livingston Manor.
More awards
Although they pick state and national winners in 12 sports over the course of the year, there is probably no tougher job for the Gatorade folks than to select their boys and girls track athletes of the year. With jumpers, sprinters, throwers and distance runners seldom going head-to-head in a meaningful way, it's up to the selectors to identify the cream of the crop in the respective disciplines and then pick the proverbial best of the best.
The task is even tougher in New York, where quantity and quality are far above most other states.
This year's New York winners of the award are Marcellus middle distance runner Mike Quercia, who’ll run for the University of Texas next year, and Lancaster shot put/discus/hammer standout Melissa Kurzdorfer, a Kent State recruit.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
