A few random thoughts about The Record

I’m in total agreement with Paul Bouchey’s comments from June 4. The simple truth of the matter is that while the city council has cried poverty as an excuse to close the city pools, they are ignoring the fact that those same pools provided sanctuary for many generations of the city’s children. I count myself among those, as I can remember going up to Frear Park once upon a time. Never used South Troy or Knickerbocker or Prospect. At the time, I lived in what’s known now as North Central, and Frear Park was closest to home. It wasn’t much, but it was something to do on a summer’s day. It’s the kids who are the unwitting victims of the politicos’ collective malaise. I’m also in agreement with Charlie Kraebel’s decision to discontinue Sound Off. Too often, it has been a lot of misinformed malcontents pointing fingers without having enough information to rationalize their arguments. The Whiner Squad now has no choice but to hold themselves accountable for their comments going forward. I am reminded of something Ed Manny told me to that effect a few years ago when he called me to respond to one of my letters. On the other hand, I feel as though I do have to address something in the sports section. I attended a couple of sectional baseball games last month, both at Bruno Stadium. While I realize the early-bird deadlines required of The Record these days are a necessary evil, it also exposes some flaws. Case in point being the Class B title game between Albany Academy & Saratoga Central Catholic on May 24. Reporter Nick Topping only interviewed the losing coach, due to time constraints. Given the importance of the game, it would not have hurt to save the story until the Friday edition to let Topping interview the winners as well. By that same token, the Class AA semi-final between LaSalle & Niskayuna four days earlier saw only the losing side’s point of view in the Record’s account of May 22. It doesn’t make sense, I know, but in this case, given that there was an extra day to get both sides of the story, it makes the eventual Class AA champions feel like they were given the short shrift. Same for Albany Academy, who, as of this writing, have moved to the State Class B semi-finals, but you wouldn’t know, since there was no mention of their game this weekend. While The Record has their limitations, creating these flaws, there shouldn’t be anything that keeps the schools and/or parents from doing their part and submitting necessary information to help the reporters meet their deadlines. Jacob Gilbert Troy