RCNJ

On Sunday, The Times Union reported that Tony Hejna '90, former RPI hockey player now living in Buffalo, NY, was in second place after two rounds of the New York State Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship. A quick check of the NYSGA website indicates that Hejna played well in the third round (link to an Adobe Acrobat document), and finished second overall in the tournament (75-71-74=220, +7).

Jim Roy from Bellevue Country Club in Syracuse won the tournament. He has won this competition four times, including this year.

Hejna was leading by one stroke after 16. He bogied the 17th and 18th holes to lose by one stroke. Tony is a tremendous competitor and deserves a lot of credit for coming as close as he did to winning such a prestigious tournament.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If it wasn't clear from last week's report, the RPI Football Team has lost strength on both sides of the line of scrimmage since the end of last season.

In their third game, the Engineers met the Hobart Statesmen on '86 Field. They jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead, converting two Hobart turnovers. Hobart answered with 54 points and 536 yards of total offense, doing to Rensselaer what Rensselaer did to many teams last year.

RPI Head Coach Joe King summed things up nicely:

We're not the same team. We don't have the same players; we don't have the same coaches. We need to find ourselves, and hopefully we can do it soon and win a couple of games.

Next week the Engineers take on Coast Guard for The Shotglass Trophy.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We missed reporting on the opening game of the 2004 football season for RPI last week. On September 11, Chad Wysocki led RPI to an easy 42-7 victory over Endicott College. Wysocki, a Freshman from Hoosick Falls, NY, relieved starting quarterback Frank Catellier who left the game with a slightly separated shoulder before halftime.

The game was not as one-sided as it looked. Endicott produced a lot of offense, but could not score. RPI should have scored with more ease than they did, but they failed to convert on a number of third downs and were penalized for 59 yards.

It's difficult to say if this weekend's game at Utica was further demonstration of these problems, but Rensselaer managed to lose to the Pioneers 9-7. Utica has only played football for four seasons, and had never had a winning streak until Saturday.

Look for the Engineers to drop out of the Division III Top 20 this week.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Aiello '89 wrote:

On October 9, I'm going to join the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope by participating in the Washington DC fundraising bike ride and I would appreciate your support. One hundred percent of the funds raised during the Tour of Hope ride will benefit cancer research through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. To learn more, visit www.tourofhope.org.

Riding in Memory of Peter Frank '92

Peter Frank, Dave Aiello, and Dieter Frank in May 2003.

I'm participating in the Tour of Hope this year to remember one of my closest friends, Peter Andreas Frank of the RPI Class of 1992. Peter died of brain cancer in August 2003 after a 10-year struggle with a series of brain tumors. He and his family fought this illness in a courageous and amazing manner, and I've been looking for a way to pay tribute to all of them on the first anniversary of Peter's death.

Peter participated in a clinical trial of the drug Gleevec, a drug that is normally prescribed for gastrointestinal tumors and leukemia, under the care of Dr. Roger Stupp of the University Hospital Multidisciplinary Oncology Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. He did this to prolong his life, improve his quality of life, and to help future brain cancer patients.

The Tour of Hope raises money for cancer clinical trials. So, I'm sure that Peter would support this program wholeheartedly.

Each rider must commit to raising a minimum of $500 for cancer research in order to participate in the Tour of Hope Washington, DC ride. I can't give that much myself this year. If you'd like to help me support cancer research, please click on the Help Dave ride the Tour of Hope button to make a tax deductible contribution with your credit card. The pledge you make is a fixed amount, and isn't based on how far I ride. If you have a loved one whose life has been affected by cancer, you can make your pledge in memory or in honor of that person.

If you need instructions on how to donate by check or you need an address for Peter Frank's family so that a memorial card can be sent to them, please email me at daiello@operationgadget.com.

Thanks for your help. I plan to talk about the Tour of Hope Washington, DC ride on my other website, Operation Gadget, a site that talks about the latest electronic gadgets and sports technology. So, I hope you'll come by and check out our progress.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)