Congratulations to Donald Exner, Eric Thayer and Frank Casamento. The senior trio of Ellenville wrestlers all captured individual titles at the Ketcham Tournament last weekend. The three also represent Ellenville's best chances at Section 9 – Division II tiles later this season……….The Ellenville varsity girl's basketball team has hit a bump in the road and has lost its last three games. Last week the Lady Devils hosted a disciplined, well-coached Wallkill team. It didn't help matters that the Wallkill girls were also physical in addition to averaging four to six inches taller than their Ellenville counterparts. The Lady Devils stayed close for about a half before falling behind by 22 points in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Ellenville coach Tom Nolan put the press on and the Lady Devils wreaked havoc, closing the gap to six points late in the game before finally losing by about ten. The Lady Devils have some quick athletes, and since they will have tough match ups against the bigger more experienced teams like Wallkill and F.D.R., Coach Nolan should let the horses out of the barn more often. The Lady Devils would be much more effective with an up-tempo offense, running fast breaks and pressuring on defense. Let the girls have some fun……….Being a Cleveland Browns fan and watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens match up in the A.F.C. Championship game last week brought me no joy. How can you not root for the underdog Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl? The Cardinals have been perennial losers under the Bidwell family regime and will be making their first appearance in the big game. With the Steelers-Cardinals match up on February 1, only five N.F.L teams have never made the Super Bowl. Can you guess them? I'll give you the answer later in the article……….The Presidential Inauguration was both historical and enormous in magnitude. Now President Barack Obama has to start making good on that little promise of "Change We Can Believe In" that was his rallying cry during the long campaign. I didn't vote for the man, but there is no denying that Obama is charismatic and that seems to be a quality the country really needs right now. But once the honeymoon period is over, results will be all that count. Obama has many people believing that he is the next John F. Kennedy. I'm rooting for the guy because the country needs him to step up to the plate and hit a home run. I was a big George W. Bush supporter and it's good to see that the country won't have W. to kick around anymore. It's typical of Americans to elect a guy not once but twice, and then blame him for absolutely everything that is wrong in the world. Say what you will about George W. Bush, but the man kept us safe for eight years. When you take your kids to a N.Y. Yankees game, the last thing you should have to worry about is getting blown up by some religious fanatic. For all the inconveniences we endure with pat searches, bag checks, and identification hassles, we have been safe for the last eight years and Bush had a lot to do with that. Plus, the guy throws a helluva ceremonial first pitch as was evidenced by the strike he fired to open Game 3 of the 2001 World Series game shortly after the 9/11 attacks……….The recent plane crash in the Hudson River was so well handled by New York City emergency and rescue personnel that even Boston Red Sox fans who were aboard the plane were singing the praises of New Yorkers. If Red Sox fans can say nice things about New Yorkers, maybe President Obama actually can bring the country together……….We tend to take for granted the work done by those who routinely make our lives a little easier. I have previously given credit to the Town of Wawarsing Highway Department for keeping our roads safe and in good order. In fact, the Town of Wawarsing roads are usually in the best condition of any surrounding area when inclement weather hits. Usually, the Superintendent of Highways gets the credit, and Gil Davis has continued to do the great work started by his predecessors. But the real credit goes to the guys who drive the plows, respond to the annual flooding of roads, and provide general maintenance that keep us safe. Many of these folks have been working at the Highway Department for years. So the next time you see the town snow plow coming down the road, wave and thank the driver for a job well done……….In case you are not absolutely certain that the world is a mess, consider this — the N.C.A.A. (the fine folks who run "amateur" college athletics in our country) has declared that seventh graders can now be considered college prospects. Soon there will college recruiters elbowing each other in maternity wards across the country to try and find the next gifted athlete……….Last week I mentioned that Oklahoma's Blake Griffin was the best college basketball player in the land. Several people reminded me that 6'3" Stephen Curry of Davidson may already have that title locked up. Curry shines in N.C.A.A. tournament games and this season is averaging 29.1 points and 6.5 assists per game. Oh yeah, at Oklahoma earlier this year Curry dropped 44 points on the Sooners. Allow me to back track. Blake Griffin is the best big man in the country. Stephen Curry is the best guard in the country. Mea culpa……….I'd be remiss if I didn't repeat as often as I can what a great job the Ellenville Police Department does day in and day out. The department faced annual budget cuts under the former village manager and still managed to make the village safer and improve the quality of life — no easy task with the current economy.……….One nice perk of being the President of the United States is that the leader of the free world gets to play golf on any course he wants. All President Obama has to do is call the Secret Service and have his people assume control of the course for four or five hours. No waiting, no having to let people play through, no crowded courses. Not bad……….The New York Jets have hired Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan as their next head coach. Jets fans will now get all excited about the possibility of the Gang Green defense magically turning into the Baltimore Ravens. That probably won't happen. The Jets must first decide if they will try to bring Brett Favre back. For all those Jets fans who loved, then hated Favre, there is just one question. Who would be better that the Jets have or could get?..........The five teams to never make the Super Bowl are the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Detroit Lions, the New Orleans Saints, and, yes, the Cleveland Browns……….until next time!

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