In photos: The fast-casual B.Good features a modern and clean interior with an open kitchen and dining room area. Inset:A Turkey mushroom burger with sweet potato fries.

GUILDERLAND That gym membership finally paid off. Im not talking about losing weight. It got me a 50 percent discount on my meal at B.Good.

B.Goods ethos is that food should be good for you, good for the community and good for the planet. They partner with farmers who raise cage-free hens and animals that are antibiotic- and hormone-free, and use regenerative farming practices.

I was told they try to get all products as locally as possible so they can support other businesses in the area. One of their suppliers is Mento Produce Co., a wholesale produce, dairy and dry goods purveyor in Syracuse that promotes locally grown products.

That sounds great, but what does that mean for you, the diner? If you want a healthier way to eat good, they say, then this is the place for you.

B.Good is fast-casual, with a farm-to-table, diverse menu. They highlight salads and healthy items, but you can get a real beef burger with fries and a milkshake. As you might expect, they offer gluten-free and vegetarian grain bowls, plant-based burgers and smoothies.

You can get a gluten-free bun for your all-plant beet pineapple burger, chickpea burger or poblano quinoa burger. B.Good has something for everyone.

The business was launched in Boston in 2003 and is growing fast, with 60 locations in 13 states and Canada, Switzerland and Germany. Their first area store was in The Shoppes at Latham Circle.

So Lisa and I headed over to their Stuyvesant Plaza location for a meal and were pretty pleased with what we found. The decor is modern and clean, with large framed photos of farmer-partners. Wooden tables, counters and chairs give it a rustic feel.

You can order on a touch-screen two are right there as soon as you walk in but as it was pretty quiet, the nice person at the counter motioned us over and indicated that he was happy to assist. He helped us navigate the menu and gave me the discount.

We took our plastic cups sans straws (Thank you for saving a turtle, said the employee) over to the condiment station. B.Good carries Stubborn Soda, a PepsiCo line of craft beverages made with cane sugar and natural flavors. Cool, but I helped myself to house-made strawberry lemonade and Lisa chose their unsweetened lemon iced tea from the dispensers. Drinks are $2.50 each.

This stuff is delicious, I said after taking a sip. There was definitely strawberry flavor in there.

Our food was ready before we knew it, and I hustled to the counter to pick it up. B.Good didnt need their pagers to keep track of orders during our visit.

Lisa chose something flexitarian: plant-based but with some meat. The turkey mushroom burger ($9.50) on a whole grain bun looked pretty good, topped with sauted mushrooms, caramelized onions and chipotle aioli.

The burger was very sweet, and a little bit of heat from the chipotle aioli made for a nice combination. Its like a sausage consistency, Lisa said. That works on a bun. It went down fast, and she said it was tasty. I really like the aioli, she said, I just want to eat that.

We shared an order of better-than-average sweet potato fries ($3.50), sturdy, sea salted and a little bit crispy on the outside. Nicely done its not easy to do crispy, picture-perfect sweet potato fries well. We both liked them.

I had the Southwest Chicken salad ($10). B.Good gets serious points for the excellent chipotle dressing that improved the taste of everything in my bowl. If it came in a bottle, it would be in my refrigerator.

That was a good thing, because the salad needed some livening up. There was plenty of grilled white meat chicken, but as Lisa said, I wish it wasnt cold. White meat doesnt pack a lot of flavor; cold, it has even less. I liked the toasted corn kernels, which packed a snack-food crunch, and the sweet fresh corn. Small sliced tomatoes, black beans and fresh mixed greens made it healthy for me. Lisa ate the avocado. The salad grew on me and I liked it a lot better by the time I reached the bottom of the bowl.

You can get a packaged gluten-free brownie for dessert, but I chose a large, good-looking chocolate chip cookie for us to share ($3). Like everything at B.Good, its better for you, too. Manufactured by Sweet Street, its made with cage-free eggs and cane sugar, and is free of additives and genetically modified ingredients. Their website says the chocolate is sustainably grown.

Theres something salty in here, observed Lisa, who had broken off a piece. I noticed it, too. What the package doesnt say, except in the ingredients, is that there are salty pretzel balls baked into the delicious dough. Thats genius. It bumps the classic chocolate chip salty-sweet cookie up a notch and adds crunch at the same time.

The receipt, which showed a 50 percent Workout Wednesday discount on my salad, came to $28.08 including tax.

You have a choice between many fast and casual restaurants in this area. Where you decide to spend your hard-earned money is up to you. If B.Goods ethos resonates, the decision is an easy one to make.

WHERE: 1475 Western Ave., Suite #38 (Stuyvesant Plaza), Guilderland; (518) 708-8932; bgood.comWHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. SundayHOW MUCH: $28.08MORE INFO: Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover. Large parking lot. ADA compliant. Childrens items on menu.

See original here:
Frugal Forager: Healthy, fast-casual spot isn't perfect but B.Good in Guilderland is very Good - The Daily Gazette

Could skipping breakfast impact weight loss? (Getty)

Skipping breakfast and snacking late at night could lead to a delay in the bodys ability to lose weight, new research has suggested.

If were trying to shed the pounds, we know we need to watch what we eat, how much we eat and how much we move, but according to a new study our ability to burn dietary calories could also be impacted by the time of day most of our food is consumed.

The study, published in the journalPLOS Biology,monitored the metabolism of middle-aged and older subjects in a whole-room respiratory chamber over two separate 56-hour sessions.

In each session, lunch and dinner were presented at the same times (12.30pm and 17.45pm, respectively), but the timing of the third meal differed between the two halves of the study.

Read more: The best diets for long-term health

In one of the 56-hour sessions, the additional daily meal was presented as breakfast (at 8:00) whereas in the other session, a nutritionally equivalent meal was given to the same subjects as a late-evening snack (22.00pm).

The duration of the overnight fast was the same for both sessions.

While the two sessions did not differ in the amount or type of food eaten, or in participants activity levels, the daily timing of the third meal had an impact on the amount of fat burned.

Researchers found that the late-evening snack session resulted in less fat burned when compared to the breakfast session.

Study authors said the circadian rhythm, or the body clock, is programmed to assist the body to burn fat when asleep.

As a consequence, skipping breakfast and then snacking at night could lead to a delay in the burning of the fat.

Based on their experimental observations, the researchers said the timing of meals during the day/night cycle could impact the extent to which ingested food is used versus stored.

The study team said their research could have wider implications for advising people on their eating habits, suggesting that a daily fast between the evening meal and breakfast could help optimise weight management.

Story continues

Read more:The risks and benefits of veganism

This isnt the first time the health benefits of the overnight fast have been discussed.

Last year research suggested skippingbreakfast and eating a late dinner could lead to more serious outcomes after a heart attack.

Scientists found people who frequently bypassed brekkie and regularly ate dinner less than two hours before going to bed were far less likely to survive if they suffered a heart attack.

But there has also been some contradictory research in terms of whether eating breakfast can aid weight loss.

While eating breakfast has previously been thought to help aid weight loss, a further body of research suggests you may be better off without it.

Past studies have found aprotein-based morning meal or a bowl full ofoatsfirst thing could be the key to maintaining a steady weight and controlling your appetite later in the day.

Read more: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley reveals she doesn't eat after 6pm

But last year scientists from the Monash University in Melbourne found those who eat breakfast were found to have a higher energy consumption during the day (an average of 260 more calories) compared to those who skipped the morning meal.

Breakfast eaters also weighed, on average, almost half a kilogram more (0.44kg) compared to non-breakfast eaters.

Whats more, the scientists concluded skipping breakfast does not reduce appetite during the day, as previously thought.

The scientists werent the first to challenge the supposed link between eating breakfast and weight loss.

Followers of the popularintermittent fastingdiet will often skip breakfast in order to limit their eating window to later in the day.

Original post:
Skipping breakfast and eating late could stop you losing weight - Yahoo News

PUBLISHED: 10:50 08 March 2020 | UPDATED: 12:02 08 March 2020

Mariam Ghaemi

Clare Skinner with Logan, Willow and Amelia Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN

Archant

A mother-of-four who has been told she has months to live is urging women to have their smear test so "other kids might not have to lose their mums like mine are going to".

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Clare Skinner, who has children aged between three and 12, was delivered the devastating news in November last year that her cervical cancer had returned and she had about 12 to 18 months left.

With time running out, the west Suffolk family are focusing on making as many precious memories as possible with Clare for their children to hold onto in the future.

They have launched a fundraising campaign to raise at least 5,000 to pay for days out together, activities and hopefully one last family trip to Disneyland Paris.

Clare, 31, from the village of Lawshall, near Bury St Edmunds, said: "Although this is extremely tough to deal with, as a family we are all pulling together and we want to also raise awareness about how important it is to 'have that smear' to save other families going through this horrible situation.

"We are having to think the unthinkable about how further down the line we will be telling our three younger children who are aged three, four and six that mummy will not be here because of this disease."

Clare, whose eldest child knows the full situation, added: "The test is five minutes of staring at the ceiling and there's so much heartache if it's not caught early. It's a free test and we are lucky to have that available to us."

MORE: 'It could be lifesaving' - New cancer screening campaign urges women to get tested

Last year health experts launched a major campaign to combat cervical cancer in the East of England as screening rates fall to a 20-year low.

Cervical screening (a smear test) can pick up abnormal cells in the cervix and help prevent cancer.

Women aged 25 to 49 are invited to be tested every three years and those aged 50 to 64 every five years.

The NHS says if you are pregnant when you are due for cervical screening you will usually be advised to reschedule the test for a date around 12 weeks after the baby is born as pregnancy can make it harder to get clear results.

'I don't think we were prepared for how quickly it could come back'

Clare, an architect by profession who is married to Doug, said she had been about two-and-a-half-years late for her smear test after life got in the way with pregnancy, wedding planning, a house move to Suffolk and university studies.

It was during a trip to the doctors for one of her children when they picked up she was overdue her smear and Clare had the test done.

She was diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer in January 2019 but after weeks of treatment was given the all-clear the following August.

But the relief was short-lived after Clare started suffering with back and pelvic pain and an MRI scan revealed her cancer had returned and spread beyond her cervix.

The prognosis was that her illness was terminal and had moved to the stage of palliative, or end of life, care.

Clare, who is under the care of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, said: "We were sceptical about it not coming back; that the radiotherapy and chemotherapy hadn't completely obliterated all the cancerous cells. I don't think we were prepared for how quickly it could come back and how aggressive it was when it came back. They said it was in my lymph nodes and chest."

She added: "If someone can have a smear test and catch it at the precancerous stage another family won't be going through what we are going through."

'I'm not going down easily'

Clare, a keen cyclist who led an active life, said she was fit and healthy before the cancer and there were "no symptoms whatsoever".

She is currently undergoing chemotherapy every three weeks and, while she feels drained afterwards, in between sessions she feels better and can do more.

A friend who is a hairdresser came round to shave her hair, to avoid large clumps falling out, and two of her children helped.

"We are being a bit experimental with bandanas and rocking the bald look at the moment," she said.

She has to make sure she's eating plenty as she's losing weight and is "pushing hard" to do things with the children and "make memories".

The treatment is easing her pain, which Doug, a delivery driver, said had to be a good sign and gave them hope that "maybe we can fight this for longer".

Clare added: "I'm not going down easy."

She said her loss would leave Doug with four children to bring up, yet before the cancer "he was the one who went out to work and I was looking after the children".

Community support

Doug, who is off work to take care of Clare and the family, said the support from the community, from individuals and businesses, had been "amazing".

He said Pro-Scape landscaping company in Lawshall arranged to have their broken-down seven-seater vehicle fixed at no cost to the family.

Matthew Plume, contracts manager at Pro-Scape, said: "Money is money, business is business, but let's just help some people who are having a bad time."

The White Horse pub at Whepstead has also provided the family with meals for their freezer and a mum from All Saints Primary School in Lawshall, Tammy Waughman, has arranged a fundraising bingo event.

-To donate to the fundraising campaign see here.

Original post:
'Don't put off your smear test' - urgent plea from Suffolk mum-of-four with terminal cervical cancer - East Anglian Daily Times

As the main event of UFC 248 crawled toward its merciful conclusion, the patience of the Las Vegas crowd no longer existed.

But that zero in Israel Adesanya's loss column did.

It's easy to call for blood when it's not your blood (or career). It was a long, tedious fight, with less output than a broken cable cord, but Adesanya (19-0, 8-0 UFC) steered clear of the volatile damage path of Yoel Romero (13-5, 9-4 UFC) to retain his UFC middleweight title by unanimous decision. The final judges' decisions were 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.

"It was a hard fight, but, cliche, I did what I had to do," Adesanya told broadcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. "I picked him apart. ... He played the game and lost. He'll do all this [stuff] to get you into a false sense of security, but [my coaches] said, 'You need 25 minutes of sharpness and focus.' I was hoping to touch him a little more, but unfortunately it's hard to engage with someone who doesn't want to dance."

In all candor, neither competitor had a lot of pep in his dance step Saturday. But Adesanya was lamenting Romero's well-known periods of inaction, which are designed to maximize both stamina and strategic advantage and are punctuated by fleeting but furious offensive eruptions that, squarely landed, can crumple the engine block of a midsize pickup. It's an odd style to watch.

But as Adesanya also pointed out, it takes two to tango, and this was one heck of a slow dance; only 16 other five-round UFC title fights had fewer than the 88 significant strikes these two managed together.

(All the action fiends out there surely were transfixed by the epic co-main event, which might have been the best women's MMA fight ever, but I digress.)

The first round set the tone. At the two-minute mark, Romero had not thrown a single strike. A few moments later he broke the ice with a crushing right hand, the fight's first significant offense. Welcome to a Yoel Romero bout. As Adesanya worked to find his range, the resulting stalemate favored the challenger both on the presumptive scorecards and over the longer term, given his need to conserve the quick-burning rocket fuel in his gas tank.

The second round was much the same, with Romero likely up a pair afterward. Adesanya opened up just a bit in the third, clearly outlanding the challenger for the first timebehind an array of kicks to the legs, body and head. Still, the champ was clearlyand quite rightlywary of flying too close to the danger zone. For all his quirks, Romero may have the most finishing ability on the UFC roster.

The action remained at such a low level that referee Dan Miragliotta intervened before the start of the championship rounds, telling the competitors, "You gotta give the judges something to score." A little, uh, interventionist for a referee, but an illustrative sequence nonetheless.

In the fourth, Romero took his sweet time recovering from what looked like an inadvertent Adesanya eye poke. Maybe it was legitimate, but he's been accused of stalling before. Just saying. In any case, the champ staved off a late Romero takedown attemptoddly, the only one all fight from the Olympic wrestling silver medalistand appeared to grab that round as well to even things up for the final frame.

In the fifth, welts rose on Romero's right leg from repeated kicks. That cumulative, visible damage might have swung the final outcome.

"Those legs don't lie," Adesanya told Rogan. "I f--ked his leg up. He was doing stuff to play it off, but I did what I had to do to win this fight."

So, yeah, it was an ugly, boring contest. No two ways about it. However, the slog made a little more sense from Adesanya's standpoint. During a fight, Romero's entire body vibrates with danger, even as he remains coiled.

In fact, the champ's conservative approach may have made him even scarier: He knows who you are, and he has a plan for you. The end is more important than the means.This fight showed how stylistically flexible Adesanya can be. Instead of worrying about the crowd or a bonus or fighting "his" fight, he stayed within himself, fought smart and played the long game. As a result, he'll leave Las Vegas with the belt and ready to negotiate his next title defense.

That raises an important question. Who is going to beat this guy? With Romero dispatched, the field is getting slimmer. Can anyone at 185 pounds stop Adesanya's march to the sea? And if so, who?

Adesanya's not going anywhere anytime soon. He said this week that, although light heavyweight and heavyweight remain in play for the future, he wants to "do right by the division," essentially by trying to clean it out. He hopes to fight at least a couple more times this year alone.

We do know who's up next: Paulo Costa (13-0, 5-0 UFC), the hard-charging Brazilian straight out of central casting. Costa was the presumptive choice for this defense until Adesanya handpicked Romero instead.

"This guy's going to actively come forward and try to f--k with me," Adesanya told Rogan. "I'm gonna f--k this motherf--ker up. Yo, Costa, I'll see you soon, boy."

One thing's for sure: It woudn't be a boring fight. Borrachinha combines relentless pressure with smart movement and consistent body work. It's hard to tell whether his punches or kicks are the more lethal weapon, but he can string together combinations with both.

However, Costa's key weaknesshe's pretty hittabledovetails with Adesanya's strength. If the champ can find openings and use counters to turn Costa's pressure against him, it could be a one-sided affair. Nevertheless, Costa and his phone-booth style probably stand the best chance among UFC middleweights Adesanya has yet to face.

So, who else is there? When Anderson Silva (34-10 [1], 17-6 [1] UFC) sits at No. 15 on the official rankings despite being 44 years old and winless in seven of his last eight bouts going back to 2013, you might have some slim pickins on your hands.

For starters, no one wants a repeat of what happened Saturday night, and given that Romero turns 43 next month and is now on a three-fight losing streak, it doesn't seem likely anyway. The chances of a rematch with Robert Whittaker (20-5, 11-3 UFC), whom Adesanya dismantled last year to capture the title, also seem remote given Whittaker's long injury history and the lopsided nature of the defeat.

Last April, Kelvin Gastelum (15-1 [1], 10-5 [1] UFC) gave Adesanya his toughest UFC test to date. His bullrush style was novel at the time, but if the Whittaker fight was any indication, Adesanya got hip to the blueprint, breaking Whittaker down with surgical counters. At a minimum, Adesanya-Gastelum 2 makes more sense than any of the other potential rematches.

But if it were to happen, it's still a ways away, as Gastelum is still looking to rebound from the loss he suffered last fall to Darren Till (18-2-1, 6-2-1 UFC). So what about Till? Adesanya had a few choice words for the Englishman this fight week. Frankly, Till is not a great option outside of the charisma he'd bring to the proceedings. But now that he's back up at middleweight, Till could conceivably bring all his considerable power to bear and might just stand a puncher's chance. Because, uh, anything can happen in an MMA fight?

If you want to maximize that puncher's chance, why not call in the big gun? The aptly named Jared Cannonier (13-4, 6-4 UFC) reinvented himself in 2018 after dropping down two weight classes from heavyweight to middleweight. Since then, he's 3-0 with three knockouts, giving him nine for his career. Cannonier isn't the most dynamic of athletes and has a suspect gas tank of his own, but he also has devastating power and not a little bit of momentum. He'd need to win at least one more before his name could formally enter the hat, but if he can get there he might just pose a threat.

After that, the landscape flattens out pretty quickly. Derek Brunson and Brad Tavares already fell victim. Edmen Shabazyan is promising but still green at 22 years old. Uriah Hall would undoubtedly be a fun foil given his next-level striking displays, but he has never found consistency in the UFC. The last time Hall won more than two bouts in a row, it was 2015, and he beat a guy named Ron Stallings to get there.

Fans are upset with the nature of Saturday's fight, but they'll forget soon enough. Memories of a close but clear decision win will remain longer than the unconsummated bloodlust.Everyone freaked out when Adesanya had a boring bout with Silva, too. Did that stay with us? Is Adesanya, in your mind, really a boring fighter? After Silva came Gastelum and Whittaker.

No one should worry too much.Adesanya will have better fights. But as he continues his march through the division, it's hard to know whether we'll say the same about his opponents.

More:
After UFC 248, Is There Any Middleweight Who Can Stop Israel Adesanya? - Bleacher Report

Mike Eagle took his first dip into coaching high school football nearly 20 years ago as a member of Tim Kings staff at Valley Regional, where he oversaw skill-position players and called the junior varsity offense.

A few years later, when he began his teaching career at McGee Middle School in Berlin, Eagle joined the Berlin High staff and dabbled in a little bit of everything for six seasons. Morgan gave him his first head coaching opportunity. Guilford, his second. Eagle then returned to Berlin to coordinate the Redcoats polished, high-powered offenses of 2017 and 2018.

The coach took a breather from football in 2019. On Thursday, his career officially circled back to the Pequot Conference when he was hired as coach of the Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton co-op program.

Eagle replaces Erik Becker, who stepped down after three seasons and is now the new head coach at Haddam-Killingworth.

The fall away from coaching allowed me to sit back and recharge and help out at home, said the 47-year-old Eagle, who lives in Guilford with his wife and their two sons. To be honest, the time off was great. It allowed me to do a lot of things and it also solidified the fact that I missed football.

Mike Eagle will replace Erik Becker as the head football coach for the Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton co-op program.

Mike Eagle will replace Erik Becker as the head football coach for the Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton co-op program.

Mike Eagle will replace Erik Becker as the head football coach for the Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton co-op program.

Mike Eagle will replace Erik Becker as the head football coach for the Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton co-op program.

Paul Augeris news and notes: Eagle returning to sidelines as Coginchaug co-op coach

I missed the Friday nights, but more than that I missed being in the locker room with the guys. I missed the March 6 lifting sessions, the offseason work, the passing league in the summer, everything that goes into being a part of a football program. So its not only the games, but the relationships, all those things that revolved around football. This is a labor of love and a passion and Im ready to jump back in.

Eagles hiring in Durham has generated positive reaction. His varied experiences as a head coach with medium- and large-school programs inside the Pequot and out, plus his knowledge with offenses and defenses, give the Blue Devils a veteran they havent had out of the gate with past hires.

Were lucky to have an individual like Mike Eagle moving forward, Coginchaug athletic director Todd Petronio said. His familiarity with the Pequot certainly added a positive (to his candidacy) after the fact. It helps that Mike has connections, but his experience as a head coach in different settings gave us a flavor of what hes accomplished in the past.

The fact that Coginchaug has taken an upward turn in the last three seasons did not go unnoticed by Eagle. Last fall, the Blue Devils finished 7-3, their best record in some time, with a roster of almost entirely underclassmen and a loss of only a handful of impact seniors. In film study, Eagle quickly realized the team has some dudes who can play.

Way back when, you had to ask around and try to find film of players, but with the advancements in the sport now, you can just click on YouTube, he said. So here I am in the application process watching game film of Coginchaug against Rockville and Coginchaug (versus) Old Saybrook. Im watching and saying, whew, they have some very athletic, very fast players, in a very similar scheme to what I do. I know Coach Becker professionally. I know what he does as far as an offense. We are similar yet different, but looking at this opportunity, you do your homework going in. You study up on the school and the community so youre not jumping in blind.

Eagle played high school football for Tony Jaskot at Xavier in the late 1980s. He was an all-conference receiver, an all-county kicker and a senior captain (and later a short-lived walk-on at the University of New Haven).

He had a good run as a first-time head coach at Morgan from 2010-14 a 28-25 record with a Class S playoff appearance in 2013, the Huskies first since 2000. Morgan was 8-3 in his final season, just missing out on another playoff berth.

It was fun. I really enjoyed my time at Morgan, Eagle said. I was blessed to have some great coaches and great administrators and some great kids there who bought into my philosophy. Morgan had small-school appeal. We had a pool of 285 boys to pull from then. That has challenges in itself. I liked the challenge of how to get kids to play real iron-man football both ways, as well as the challenge of game-planning.

The Guilford job for him was a step up to the Southern Connecticut Conference with a large roster at his disposal, but it didnt pan out the way I had thought it would. He resigned (his choice, hes said) after winning just five games in two seasons.

When the Guilford job opened, it seemed like a good fit. I was in town already, Eagle said. When I left, Joe Aresimowicz, who had taken over at Berlin, invited me back to Berlin to call the offense for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. His son Michael was on my staff at Morgan and Guilford. That was my offense they had been cultivating at Berlin since 2010, so I jumped back in head-first.

The Redcoats, a state finalist in 2012 and 14, played for the Class M championship in 2018, where they lost to a St. Joseph team that blew out 12 of its 13 opponents that season.

Last summer, Eagle assisted Plainvilles Tim Shea for Team Constitution in the state senior all-star game. That was my last little fix before taking some time off, he said.

As Becker did before him, Eagle said he will call offensive plays at Coginchaug. In the coming week, Eagle looks forward to meeting the players and coaching staff and learning how a co-opted program navigates both the challenges and advantages of partnering with a family of schools.

The Pequot is a hodgepodge. Its a jambalaya of everything big and medium schools put together, he said. With co-ops, they give kids who dont have a chance to play at their school a chance to play at another school. Im right back in the middle of it and ready to get my hands dirty and get coaching again.

LIGHTS UP AT PALMER

Palmer Field gives the illusion of a much larger ballpark now that the eight light towers originally installed in the 1960s have been replaced and relocated. There are now just seven towers, powered by an LED system that is expected to get a dry run in the coming weeks.

The city will save money on future light bills with this system, which cost nearly $800,000. Coupled with the ballparks 2018 renovations to its entryways, the addition of a viewing deck and the replacement of the diamonds dirt surface, the LED lighting truly makes Palmer Field a modern-day park.

No more obstructed views, either. The new light towers are behind the grandstands on the first- and third-base sides of the park and the tower once within the viewing deck near the left-field corner is now behind the space.

The first Palmer Field game of the spring is scheduled for April 6 when Xavier hosts Immaculate. The Falcons play nine regular-season games at Palmer, Vinal Tech hosts three and Middletown and Portland two each.

IN THE SCHOOLS

** The five CIAC boys basketball tournaments begin this week. In Division V, Hale-Ray hosts Westbrook in the first round Monday. This is the Noises first postseason appearance in nine years.

Middletown and Xavier, both in Division II, have home games Tuesday night. The Blue Dragons host Wethersfield at 6 and the Falcons host McMahon at 7.

** We are into the quarterfinal phase of the CIAC girls basketball tournaments. In Class M, defending champion Cromwell hosts SMSA on Monday (7 p.m.) while Coginchaug plays at No. 2 seed Canton at 6. In Class S, top seed and Shoreline Conference champion East Hampton hosts Old Lyme on Thursday at 7.

The Bellringers are 3-0 against the Wildcats this season. In the second round, they scored the final 30 points to beat Stafford by 20. Coach Shaun Russells squad has only one senior and likely will do this dance again in 2021. East Hampton has been to a state final just twice winning Class S in 1980 and finishing runner-up in 1985.

** Eli Cyr was a Class L and State Open championship wrestler at Middletown High in 2019. He has taken a gap year since graduating and spent some of his time away from school working to make Hall Highs Drew Currier a better wrestler. Currier just won the state title at 120 pounds.

** Back in the day, Vinal Tech was a member of the now-defunct Charter Oak Conference with the likes of Portland and Cromwell. The Hawks had some good basketball teams and strong teams, but none matched what Jyqwam Fountain did last week in a 70-60 win over Norwich Tech. In his final game for Vinal, Fountain scored a school-record 48 points (or 69 percent of the teams total), including the 1,000th of his career. Tremendous.

** Mercy has signed on to play two softball games under the lights at Pat Kidneys Lu Gecewicz Field. The Tigers will take on Daniel Hand on May 6 and Lauralton Hall on May 15.

THIS AND THAT

** Middletown finished sixth out of 27 teams in the Nutmeg Weightlifting Competition for football players on Saturday, the Dragons best showing in 10 years. Junior lineman Jake Bowen put up 320 pounds on the bench press, most of any lifter, while junior running back/linebacker Jayden McDaniel lifted a total of 985 pounds on the day, second best in the 201-220 weight division. Top five lifting teams: Southington, Cheshire, New Britain, Shelton and Plainville.

** Wesleyan mens hockey won the NESCAC championship for the first time by pummeling Trinity 7-2 on Sunday.

** It would be cool to see area schools like Coginchaug and H-K pursue at least one date on either the Palmer Field or Pat Kidney diamonds. This is a pay-to-play scenario, of course, but who wouldnt want to see their student-athletes have an opportunity to play under the lights at premier facilities like ours?

** A friend and his wife recharged their batteries with a winter trip to watch golf, not play golf. This was the ideal vacation three PGA Tour events in three weeks, starting in San Diego with the Farmers at Torrey Pines, followed by stops at TPC Scottsdale for the Waste Management Open and Monterrey for the AT&T at Pebble Beach. Maybe I will be included next year?

** Cromwells Justin Stergos, who is part of the hockey co-op with host Newington, Berlin, Manchester and Canton, was named CIAC Division III Defenseman of the Year. The team went 17-3 and is the No. 2 seed in the D-III tournament, which starts Monday.

** Rough start for Bryant Universitys baseball team (2-11), but a promising one for Coginchaug graduate Luke Garofalo. The redshirt freshman right-hander, who had Tommy John surgery in 2018, has one win, five strikeouts and a 1.69 ERA in three relief appearances covering 5 1/3 innings.

** Finally, in a perfect world, traveling violations would be called 100 percent of the time. The world is far from perfect, and in my estimation roughly 50 percent of walks are caught by officials at all levels. Eye test, and the eyes, like numbers, usually dont lie.

Read the rest here:
Paul Augeris news and notes: Eagle returning to sidelines as Coginchaug co-op coach - Middletown Press