Golden Eagles look for winning season

It's been a long time since the Galway Golden Eagles varsity boys basketball team has played any meaningful postseason games. While the WAC does have crossover games, they've been meaningless for a program that's highest win total since 2009 is four in the 2011-2012 season. With Coach John Stevens guiding this team in the right direction here's some keys to Galway making Sectionals this season.

1. Guards need to limit turnovers.

It's no secret in the sports world. A team that limits their turnovers is hard to beat. Galway's backcourt has struggled with this for years. This season it'll be up to Hunter Roy, Thor White, and Taylor Hartman to force more turnovers than they give up. It's going to start with smart passes, not panicking in trap defenses, and not telegraphing passes. If the team can cut down their turnovers, it'll create more scoring chances and keep games close.

2. Leaders need to step up

Four-year starter Dan Diaz' experience is going to play a huge role this season. As a Freshman he was hounded by Coach Toby Youngblood to play with more aggression and determination. By the end of the season, Diaz earned a spot in the starting lineup, and contributed handsomely to Galway's most successful (if four wins is successful) team in recent history. Now, it's his turn to lead the team. While it's easy to say his experience already qualifies him, he's going to have to keep a level head, get his team through adversity, and not get into foul trouble early in games. Playing a forward spot won't be easy to avoid foul trouble, especially the way Diaz plays, but the longer he's on the court the better Galway will be.

3. Use the shot clock, run solid offenses, and have good shot selection

Galway is not a team suited to play up-tempo basketball. If they let opponents get easy transition points, they'll have a really tough time keeping up with the likes for Fort Plain, Canajoharie, and St. Johnsville. They'll need to slow down the pace by working possessions deep into the shot clock. If they can run offenses swiftly, defenses will tire, break down, and the Eagles will be able to get open men inside and on the perimeter. While height isn't an advantage for their guards, they'll need to do a better job of driving to the hoop for layups, or dish to open men on the perimeter and inside. Lastly, hesitation can't influence shots. If there's an open shot to be taken, they need to take it. Pump fake every now and then, but there's no better shot than an uncontested one.

Jets Need Franchise Quarterback Now

       With the Jets seemingly headed for a sub-.500 season, not only do they need to evaluate the organization as a whole from general manager-on-down, but the quarterback situation will also need to be addressed, which has become the status quo of the New York Jets. Geno Smith has proved he isn't worth the third round draft pick the Jets used on him in the 2013 NFL Draft. While Michael Vick has provided a spark for the Jets, he still isn't a playoff caliber quarterback, and is riding out a one-year, $5 million contract. While Vick could be an option for the Jets, he doesn't seem ideal for the longevity aspect.
       Which brings up the NFL Draft, and it's two high-profile quarterbacks. At this point, only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers seem to have a quarterback-need as large as the New York Jets. Which means the two teams will probably vie for first pick of either Oregon's Marcus Mariota or Florida State's Jameis Winston.
        Look at it anyway you want, Mariota has been the most consistent college football quarterback since his induction to college football in 2012. With 9,122 career passing yards, 92 touchdowns,  only 12 interceptions, and over 1,900 career rushing yards, Mariota could be the next run-and-gun style NFL quarterback. The only blemish on Mariota is the fact that he hasn't won a national championship with a highly-touted Oregon program.
         Seminoles' sensation Jameis Winston has turned heads in only two seasons at Florida State. As a freshman in 2013, Winston led the Seminoles to a national title in a win over SEC powerhouse Auburn, 34-31. Winston posted 4,057 yards passing, 40 touchdowns, and only 10 interceptions last year. However, in the middle of the season, Winston was accused in a sexual assault case, but he was never formally charged. In the offseason, Winston made headlines for stealing crab legs from a Tallahassee restaurant, and it seems like Winston's baggage has been growing ever since. From an on-campus BB gun incident to being investigated for receiving money in exchange for autographs, Winston's name has consistently gotten negative publicity. However, the sophomore has the Seminoles at 9-0, ranked second in the nation, and has 2,540 passing yards with 17 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
        Come April 30th, Winston and Mariota will both be first round selections. While the Raiders and Jaguars are struggling win, they've invested in Derek Carr and Blake Bortles, respectively, to lead the revitalization efforts of their franchises. The Texans are committed to Ryan Mallett after studying under Tom Brady for years, Cleveland has Brian Hoyer with Johnny Manziel in the waiting, and the St. Louis Rams have enough wins that they'd most likely have to settle until the later rounds to select a quarterback after the Jets and Buccaneers get first and second choice.
         For the Jets, this selection can be the difference between a franchise that continues to be the laughing stock of the NFL, or a team that annually competes as a playoff contender. Fans, as well as general manager John Idzik, drove Mark Sanchez out of town and instilled their trust in Geno Smith to lead the organization back to the playoffs. In return, Smith proved to be more inconsistent, unreliable, and worse than Sanchez ever was in his four years in the Big Apple. The Jets obviously need to be careful with this pick.
        While Mariota might be playing in an Oregon system that hasn't produced solid NFL quarterbacks, the consistency and awareness seems to all be there. He has a strong arm, and knows when to tuck the ball and run. He might just be the playmaker the Jets have been looking for.
         On the other hand, Winston's baggage and hype could lead him to be the next circus act in the Jets organization. Even his numbers this year are down compared to last year. That has to stick out to the scouts.
         Gang Green needs Marcus Mariota. Bring in a quarterback with everything to prove, that is a constant competitor, and is a proven commodity. Do not bring in a quarterback that is bringing as much negative attention to an organtization, as he is positive. If Mariota isn't on the board, maybe the Jets should consider sticking through another year with Vick. Whichever way you look at it, Mariota makes more sense for the Jets than Winston. 

Nicastro Marvels for Great Danes

Bob Ford Field isn’t Asgard, and Michael Nicastro is no superhero, but the Great Danes’ middle linebacker looks eerily similar to Marvel comic icon Thor. At five-feet-11 inches, Nicastro’s shoulder length blond hair and 210 pound frame could easily fill in for Chris Hemsworth if Stan Lee ever needed a stunt double.

Nicastro leads the Danes in tackles this season, and with a combination of strength and speed, it’s fair to say Nicastro could be Thor’s Hammer. Anything he can do to read a play before the snap, he does. From the quarterback licking his hands, to the running back looking towards the gap Nicastro is about to fill with his presence, Nicastro is always looking for an edge. After all, at his size, he’s not a prototypical linebacker, and he’ll be the first to admit he’s a small linebacker.

“I always try to look at the smaller linebackers,” Nicastro said. “It doesn’t matter who it is, I like to see how they play, because sometimes it’s harder. You can’t see much being a shorter linebacker.”

His grit and scrappiness is directly a product of the team he’s watched since he first followed football. His bedroom at his Albany apartment and his bedroom back home are both the iconic black-and-yellow of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Throughout the NFL, no franchise has produced better, more consistent linebacking corps than the team in the Steel City. From “Mean” Joe Green to Jack Lambert to James Harrison, Nicastro has had plenty of greatness to study.

Born the oldest of three boys to Maria and Glenn Nicastro, Michael was always getting shut down by his father whenever he inquired to play football. His dad, a former tight end at Ohio University and Cleveland Browns tryout, was always too worried that his son would get hurt or develop a head injury. It wasn’t until, through her excellent convincing skills, his mom opened his dad up to letting him play.

“My dad was a pretty good coach,” Mike said. “He taught me everything I know, up until college.”

In third grade, Mike got his first shot at football with the Columbia Ravens.

“Back then I was a fullback and linebacker,” he said laughing. “With a t-bone facemask, not knowing what to do.”

Mike’s dresser soon filled up with a trophy collection that he loved to show off. The bigger it got the more content he was, even if it meant borrowing a few from dad. Aside from the trophies, he collected McFarlane action figures of every football player he could get his hands on.

As Mike progressed each season, his father constantly convinced him the effort he would need to put into football. Games would get tougher, competition would get better, and talent alone wasn’t going to get young Mike everywhere he wanted to go.

“My dad always used to say, ‘your life is short so you have to love [football] to put all this hard work in’,” Mike recalled.

In high school, Mike made the transition to playing solely defense, being used as an outside linebacker, inside linebacker, and safety. Occasionally he’d take a few offensive snaps, but never for an extended period of time.

After his senior season at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Mike had his own doubts that he’d ever see the football field again. He wasn’t being recruited heavily by any large schools. He constantly heard the opportunities to walk-on or become part of a D-II or D-III program, but none of those truly captured his interests.

“I was scared I wasn’t going to play football after high school for a while,” Mike said. “Signing Day was February 1^st when I was in school; Albany didn’t contact me until December or January.”

It might’ve been his only D-I offer, but what really sold Nicastro on becoming a Great Dane has been the team motto for the past few seasons, “Purple Fam”.

“It felt like home,” Nicastro said. “When I visited, the whole UAlbany thing was ‘purple fam’ and it stood out to me that it held true. Even today, the older guys bring in the younger guys and no one looks down on anyone else. It’s all family oriented.”

Coming in as a freshman, it wasn’t a surprise that Nicastro barely saw the field. The first time he saw a depth chart, he was fourth on the list of outside linebackers. Following his first season, he heard over and over that it’d be tough for him to see the field with the amount of senior ahead of him. In a strange turn of events, injuries led to Mike seeing the field in his second year, and he’s held on to his spot tight ever since.

  This offseason, newly-hired head football coach Greg Gattuso named his pre-season captains, and Nicastro wasn’t one of them. Everything he ever heard growing up fueled a fire inside him to earn his way to being a captain.

“I knew I had to step it up a little bit,” he said. “It was definitely something I wanted. I had to start taking on more of a leadership role.”

Before the start of the season, Gattuso named Nicastro a captain, and his work ethic supports the decision. Nicastro loves watching film. Part of his pre-game ritual is making sure he gets a nap in, and watching film before every game. Every season Nicastro realizes that new recruits are brought in to replace the veterans. It’s up to the veterans to determine how soon they get replaced.

“I never feel like I’ve made it,” Nicastro said. “I’m always working to get to the next step. I have to get better, there’s always a next step to your game.”

The dream for Michael Nicastro is the same as any football player who lives, breathes, eats, and loves his sport. He wants to get that rare opportunity to play in the NFL. He can’t picture his life without football in it. If it all were to end tomorrow, he’d want to be a coach, or anything to stay close to the game.

He isn’t the best players in the CAA, but he’s one of Gattuso’s young stars, with an exponential amount of potential. With a large amount of freshman and sophomores in the starting lineup for the Danes, the ceiling has yet to be set. Nicastro is just another member of the Purple Fam trying to push that ceiling further and further upward. It isn’t going to happen overnight, but the change isn’t hard to see. The Danes were 1-11 last season, and are currently 6-3 this season, just their second year competing in the CAA, one of the FCS’ premier conferences.

With two more seasons left, Nicastro is expecting big things out of himself and his teammates.

“Individual honors are great,” Nicastro said. “But ultimately, I care more about what we accomplish as team.”