SARATOGA SPRINGS —Skidmore College has hired Brad Campion as the new head coach of the men’s soccer team. 

 Campion was an assistant coach at Division I University of New Hampshire (UNH) for the past two years. While at UNH, Campion worked on a coaching staff that was honored with two America East Coaching Staff of the Year awards.

Prior to UNH, Campion served a two-year stint as the head coach at DIII New England College, where he led the 2021 team to a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title and NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2021, he won the NECC Coach of the Year award

 “Brad stood out among an impressive group of candidates with a background focused on developing the whole student while remaining committed to excellence in the classroom and on the field,” said Skidmore athletics director Gail Cummings-Danson in a statement.

 “I would like to sincerely thank Gail Cummings-Danson, the search committee and athletic department members, and current Skidmore men’s soccer student-athletes for providing such a great experience during the interview process,” Campion said. “I quickly learned that Skidmore had a positive, tight-knit culture and that the people on campus truly support one another.”

Broadalbin — Left-handed relief pitcher Matt Gage has been picked up by the New York Yankees after he was placed on waivers by the Houston Astros. Gage is an upstate New York native who attended Broadalbin-Perth High School, about 30 minutes west of Saratoga Springs. For three years, he pitched for Siena College in Loudonville, before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants. In a post on his X account, Gage said he was “very blessed for every new opportunity to Chase the Dream!” In the majors, Gage has pitched for both the Astros and the Toronto Blue Jays for a combined 19.2 innings and 1.83 ERA.

Gage joins East Greenbush native Kevin Smith as the second player with local roots to be signed by the New York Yankees this off-season. 

ALBANY — The New York State Senate honored retired MLB pitcher Bartolo Colón last week. The resolution recognized Colón’s “outstanding career, significant contributions to the state of New York, and his role as a proud Dominican immigrant who brought glory and excitement to the sport.” Senator James Tedisco, who represents Saratoga County, co-sponsored the legislation and met with Colón.

Colón, nicknamed “Big Sexy,” played for nearly a dozen teams, including the New York Yankees and New York Mets. He was a four-time All-Star with a career WAR of 46.2 across 3,461 innings pitched.

HUDSON FALLS — Schuylerville star Luke Sherman shattered his school’s all-time boys basketball scoring record with 22 points against Hudson Falls on Tuesday. With a long three-pointer in the third quarter, Sherman reached 1,318 points, surpassing Eric Stover’s 1,317-point record set in 1978. The Schuylerville Black Horses went on to win the game, 46 to 43.

The all-time scoring record for both boys and girls basketball stands at 1,566, set by Carol Cheney in 1986.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is hosting a “Countdown to the Triple Crown” fundraiser on Saturday, February 3. Dozens of silent auction items will be available for both in-person and online bids. Guests can attend the event at the museum from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wine, beer, soda, light refreshments, and entertainment will be provided. 

To purchase tickets, visit: http://1049a.blackbaudhosting.com/1049a/2nd-Annual-Countdown-to-the-Triple-Crown or call 5180584-0400.

GLENS FALLS —The Adirondack United girls hockey team continued its undefeated streak with a pair of shutout victories against Malone and Saranac Lake/Lake Placid this month. Then the squad added two more wins in Syracuse last weekend. The team is now 12-0 on the season. 

Against Malone, Bayley Duffy reached the 100 career point mark after less than two full seasons of play. Duffy and Lillian Willis both finished with a hat trick and three assists, while Tekla Fine-Lease added two goals. Lucy Plifscofsky also earned her first varsity goal.

The 10-0 victory against Saranac Lake/Lake Placid featured a hat trick from Aubrey Lozier, 4 assists by Gianna Marcantonio, and Emma Lemery’s first varsity goal. Goaltenders Katelin Archer and Aurora Graham-Hayes combined to stop 10 shots for yet another shutout.

Last weekend, the United won two more games in Syracuse, a 6-0 victory against the Skaneateles Lakers on Friday, and an 8-1 win against Oswego on Saturday. Aubrey Lozier and Bayley Duffy both recorded hat tricks against Skaneateles. Against Oswego, goaltender Katelin Archer stopped 10 shots.

It was one of those indelible moments in sports history: The 1958 NFL Championship, played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in sudden death overtime. Sixty-five years later, the events of that Sunday afternoon still resonate throughout pro sports and sports media.

In 1958, the National Football League was far from the huge phenomenon we see today. Americans generally had much more interest in baseball, and during the Fall, college football captured the attention of sports fans on Saturday afternoons. The annual Army/Navy and Harvard/Yale clashes were national news stories, and fans followed the exploits of powerhouses like Notre Dame and Michigan. For most fans, pro football was an afterthought. Even in cities with pro franchises, the NFL clubs often played runner-up to the local baseball teams.

Baltimore and New York were two exceptions. The Colts were upstarts — Baltimore didn’t get an NFL team until 1953 — and the city quickly fell in love with the Colts. On game days, Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium was described as “the world’s largest outdoor insane asylum.” Meanwhile, the Giants had been part of the NFL since 1925, and they were considered the league’s most glamorous team, located in the world’s media capital. Two very different teams, both with passionate fan bases, playing a nationally-televised title game in New York City… indeed, America was destined to notice pro football that day.

Seventeen Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees were in the stadium that afternoon, along with a Heisman Trophy winner (Baltimore running back Alan Ameche). The Colts were led by quarterback Johnny Unitas. The New York offense revolved around halfback Frank Gifford, while linebacker Sam Huff anchored the defense.

With just two minutes left in the game, Johnny Unitas moved the Colts downfield quickly. While there were several misfires, he made four critical completions, including three straight passes to his star receiver Raymond Berry. Those last three plays moved the ball 62 yards to the Giants’ 13-yard line, and with just seconds remaining, the Colts rushed Steve Myhra out to attempt a tying field goal. Myhra had struggled with field goal attempts all season, and Baltimore fans held their collective breath until the ball went through the uprights. The fourth quarter ended tied 17-17.

So, what happens next? Many of the players and coaches weren’t sure. It was not unusual for football games to end in a tie, but this game was for the NFL title. Would the teams be declared co-champions? Fortunately, the NFL had recently instituted an overtime rule for championships, and it would be decided on the field. The teams would play pure “sudden death.” The first team to score in any manner would win, and they would play for as long as it took.

The Giants won the toss and chose to receive, but they were not able to mount any kind of drive, and they punted the ball back to the Colts. Unitas now had all the time in the world, and Johnny U methodically moved the Baltimore offense to the New York 8-yard line. It was first-and-goal, and then, suddenly the NBC Television feed disappeared! Nothing but snow on the screen!

This caused immediate panic in NBC’s control room, not to mention in homes across the nation, as viewers — particularly in Baltimore — bolted from their living rooms and scrambled to find the nearest radio. It was one of the worst possible moments to lose the live feed of a TV broadcast. And then a fan ran onto the field! Play was halted for nearly a full minute before New York’s Finest chased him down and escorted him to the sideline. Over the years, there has been endless rumor and speculation about this incident. Photographs show the fan was well-dressed and appeared very cooperative when the cops took him away; he certainly didn’t look like a drunken lout. Who was this guy?

Whoever he was, he is now the stuff of sports broadcasting legend. More than six decades later, it is widely believed that he was an NBC employee who realized the broadcast was interrupted and ran onto the field — or perhaps was told to run onto the field — to delay the game long enough to give the TV crew enough time to find a loose cable and fix the connection. As far as I know, he was never identified, and the story has never been confirmed. One hopes the fellow received a bonus and a promotion for his quick thinking!

When the game resumed, the Colts ran two plays to reach third-and-goal from just over a yard away. A field goal attempt might have been the obvious choice, but Baltimore coach Weeb Ewbank was leery of sending a struggling Steve Myhra in to kick. Meanwhile, the coach trusted Unitas completely, and he left Johnny U and the offense on the field. A routine handoff to Alan Ameche secured a 23-17 Baltimore victory.

The game was breaking news nationwide. It was a big topic of Sunday afternoon dinner conversations, and it was headline news on front pages and in sports sections the following day. NFL and television executives soon realized that professional football could become a very valuable property, and they started making plans for increasing television coverage and boosting marketing exposure for the teams, the star players, and the sport overall. And down in Dallas, Lamar Hunt — a son of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt — started thinking about owning his own football team. Those dreams eventually led to his role in establishing the rival American Football League, which merged with the NFL just over a decade later. Historians and sportswriters have studied the 1958 title game, and they generally agree that event was the start of professional football growing into the colossus it has since become. It was the aftermath and the impact  — as much as the drama of the game itself — that led them to calling it “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” 

Back then, television did not put a high priority on archiving sports events. There is no known videotape of the game; videotape was in its infancy, and while NBC presumably had one or two of the early machines available, it seems nobody bothered racking them up. There is no known kinescope film recording of the television broadcast, either. Fortunately, there was plenty of film footage of the game, both from overhead and from sideline views. This footage was shot by NFL Films, as well as various newsreel cameramen working for different organizations.

On the 50th anniversary of the game in 2008, ESPN produced a special documentary that used the old footage to recreate much of the action. The historic clips were colorized for broadcast, and the action was interspersed with comments and memories from players, fans, and broadcasters who were there. (Sadly, many of these people have passed away in the fifteen years since.) Most of Bob Wolff’s Baltimore radio broadcast was saved, and the NBC national radio call was saved almost in entirety. This historic audio was used in conjunction with the preserved video. Several versions of the ESPN special can be found on YouTube.

Others have collaborated on an almost-complete reconstruction of the game, using the original newsreel and NFL footage, some of the colorized ESPN content, stock footage, and still photos. The audio portion uses the NBC national radio call by Joe Bolan and Bill McColgan (complete with vintage commercials!). There are several uploads of this project on YouTube, and there is also a version on the Internet Archive. If you’ve never seen any of “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” punch it up on your laptop and enjoy!

Mark Wainwright is a long-time radio personality and voiceover performer. He was most recently the morning host at WSYR in Syracuse, and has hosted morning shows at WGY in Albany, WHAM in Rochester, and other stations around the country. Mark currently resides in Saratoga County and can be reached at: markwainwright@earthlink.net

NOTE: This article was originally published in TALKERS, a daily online newsletter for professionals in news/talk radio. It has been edited for length. The author wishes to thank Michael Harrison and Kevin Casey at TALKERS for allowing this story to be re-published here.

GREENFIELD —The Town of Greenfield hosted its first Winterfest at the Brookhaven Winter Park last Sunday. Festivities included 5K and 2.5K snowshoe races, children’s story time with local author Amy Gerardi, and a snowman-building contest. U.S. Congressman Paul Tonko and Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch attended the event.