Will WE GET iNTO MArCH?

When it turns from February to March, typically my soul starts to stir.

College basketball is entering its month of decision, and all the parts of it, from conference tournaments to the ups and downs of the ensuing Dance, provides enough excitement and emotion to fill the rest of the calendar.

Now, though, it doesn’t feel as thrilling or fun, but there’s no single reason for the malaise.

Yes, I’ll admit that part of it is seeing Syracuse play itself out of NCAA consideration for the second year in a row. Knowing, in the past, that the Orange would have a small or large part in this spectacle always added to the enjoyment of it, not to mention all the uncomfortable questions about the program’s future.

Mostly, though, it’s the thorough way in which everything about this month has turned into a string of cliches or, worse yet, the insertion of folks who think it is all about them when it most decidedly is not.

It starts with the brackets. Not the real one that shows up on Selection

The Mailbag

Support for WinterFest

To the editor:

The Skaneateles Sunrise Rotary club would like to thank all of the volunteers, sponsors, merchants and their hardworking staffs who made WinterFest ‘23 and the Taste of Skaneateles possible. Through their generosity the Skaneateles community enjoyed a wonderful winter day of good food, beautiful ice sculptures, and family fun. All of the funds raised support Rotary causes such as our community food pantries, youth exchange students, local youth leadership, Sea Scouts, SCC youth scholarships, Baltimore Woods,

Send your events to adearborn@eaglenewsonline.com. Notices must have the date, time and location of the event. Deadline for submissions is 12 p.m. Friday. No calendar item can be guaranteed for placement in the papers, nor run for multiple weeks, unless it is a paid announcement. All free placement is on a space-available basis. Event information may be subject to change, so be sure to contact the event organizer to confirm the details.

THROUGH MID-MARCH

Adult Winter Reading Challenge

At all Northern Onondaga Public Library Branch. Winners for prizes drawn weekly. Earn tickets by completing reading and library-related challenges. Print copies of challenges and entry guidelines available at each library. More information at nopl.org/awrc

SECOND SUNDAYS

Breakfast Buffet

8 a.m. to noon. Every second Sunday starting Nov. 13 through Mother’s Day. Liverpool Elks Lodge, 3730 Cold Springs Road (corner of Route 370 and Hayes Road), Baldwinsville. Includes made-to-order omelets, cereals, waffles, French toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs, home fries, fretta, biscuits and sausage gravy, bacon, sausage links, juices, milk, and coffee. Adults $12, ages 6-12 $5, ages 5 and under free. Proceeds benefit Elks projects and charitable programs. Any current COVID guidelines will apply. For info: 315-622-2348.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

Hump Day Lunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Liverpool American Legion Post 188, 295 Cypress St. $7 includes macaroni and cheese, salad, roll, dessert, and coffee or tea. Take out available. Call 315-451-9544 to pre-order.

Town Hall 6:30-8 p.m. Clay Town Hall. Assembly Stirpe will discuss the state budget. Constituent survey available at www.nyassembly.gov/stirpe

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

CNY ATD Orientation

8:30 a.m. Complimentary virtual activity. Reg -

Random Thoughts Phil

Sunday, mind you, but the steady, relentless stream of mock brackets that starts before the season and goes on and on, reaching an insufferable peak right about now.

What it results is turning every game featuring potential tournament teams into a referendum not on the teams themselves, but on where they fit into the machinations of self-appointed bracket gurus who absolutely knows what winning or losing these games will mean – they’re in, they’re out, over and over.

All of which covers up the inconvenient truth that the only bracket that counts is the real one a committee puts together and releases on the second Sunday of March. And even then, we hear about the important stuff from the bracket crowd – hey, I got 67 of 68 right! Who cares, except your ego?

This leads to another annoying, overused trope of this time of year – bubble. It was cute the first time around. Do it 30,000 times a week and you forget what you are talking about.

Among other side effects of this incessant focus on material found in baths

International Rotary projects, and more. Lastly, we’d like to recognize our Polar Bear Club friends who held a successful plunge and raised separate funds for local first responders and education.

Our WinterFest 2023 sponsors/contributors included:

1ST National Gifts, Ameriprise Financial Services, Arbor House Inn, Bartlett Tree Experts, Berkshire Hathaway CNY Realty, Bluewater Grill, Byrne Dairy and Deli, Cayuga Tree Service, Clover’s, Coldwell Banker Prime Properties, Community Bank, Dave Pirro Ford, Delmonico Insurance, Doug’s Fish Fry, DROOZ and is analysts getting up in arms when a team gets into the tournament that they didn’t think belong. As if their opinions were the only viable ones. Ever since VCU, who got that criticism in 2011, reached the Final Four, it’s easy to dismiss these gripes.

Once you get past all that nonsense and actually get to the games, it’s a constant, 24/7 parade of cliches and terms that might amuse casual fans but drives the others to drink if they weren’t alcoholics.

Any shot that wins a game in the last seconds turns into a buzzer-beater even if time was left on the clock and it’s a horn, not a buzzer. If someone is crying, you just know the cameras will catch it, unleashing inevitable social media mockery.

And if a lower-seeded team pulls off a surprise win or two? Then every single sentence said or written about them will somehow feature a certain fairy tale.

Folks, UMBC in 2018, Abilene Christian and Oral Roberts in 2021, Saint Peter’s in 2022 – each of them are fascinating and complex stories all by themselves. You can actually tell them without drowning the narrative with

Company, Emma + James, Finger Lakes Luxury Rentals, Finger Lakes Realty Partners, Fleur de lis, Gilda’s, good Eats & Sips, Hannum House, Hap + Main, Howard Hanna, Jean and John Vincent, Lake View Automotive and Marine, Last Shot Distillery, Lucky Dogs, Mid-Lakes Navigation, Milford Lynch & Shannon, Milk House Roastery, Nest 58, Packwood House, Patisserie, Rebound Sports and Orthopedic PT, Reflections Dermatology, Rhubarb, Robert D. Gray Funeral Home, Roland’s, Rosalie’s Cucina, Sakran and Shaw, Sherwood Inn, Skan Bakery, Skan Boutique Hotel, Skan Brewery,

Community Calendar

istration – https://cnyatd.org/orientation. Contact 315.546.2783, info@cnyatd.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

Days for Girls Sewing Event

10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Marcellus Free Library. Join to help make menstrual kits for those in need. Email syracuseny@daysforgirls.org for more information.

Drive Thru Chicken BBQ

11:30 a.m. till sold out. Cicero United Methodist Church, 8416 Brewerton rd. $14 includes half a chicken, two sides, roll, and cookie.

Moonlight Walk Marcellus Park. Join for a bonfire, hot chocolate, and s’mores.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7 Historical Snowstorms of CNY

6:30 p.m. Van Buren Town Hall. Jim Farfaglia will share stories from his latest book.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8

Baldwinsville Public Library Board Meeting

7 p.m. Baldwinsville Public Library. Monthly business meeting of the BPL Board of Trustees. All board meetings are open to the public.

THURSDAY, MARCH 9

CNY ATD Coffee Chat 12 p.m. Virtual. CNY ATD hosts informational meetups for talent development professionals to socialize and learn from each other. Register at cnyatd. org/coffee_chat. Contact 315-546-2783 or info@ cnyatd.org.

SUNDAY, MARCH 12

Corned Beef or Ham Dinner

12-3 p.m. Liverpool American Legion, 205 Cypress St., Liverpool. Menu includes corned beef or ham, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, roll, dessert, and coffee or tea. Take out available. Call 315-451-9544 to preorder.

SATURDAY, MARCH 18

TACNY Junior Café Scientifique

9:30-11 a.m. The MOST, Syracuse. “Blood Clots and the Circulatory System” Program is primarily for middle school students. Come early for a continental breakfast and then visit the MOST as our guest when the program is over. Free. Must RSVP at jrcafe@tacny.org.

TUESDAY, MARCH 21

Virtual Voyage Open Forum

12-12:45 p.m. Virtual. CNY ATD traverses the virtual world with informal conversations. Topic will be ChatGPT. Register at cnyatd.org/virtual_forum.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23

Historical Marker Scavenger Hunt

6-7:30 p.m. Liverpool Library. LPL and the Clay Historical Association will host a scavenger hunt! Meet in the library’s community room and then hunt for sign markers in Liverpool and Rt. 31. Vehicle needed.

SATURDAY, APRIL 1

Maker Faire Syracuse

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Lemoyne College Athletic Center.

An opportunity to celebrate all creative types. Email shostap@lemoyne.edu to learn how to participate.

7th Annual CNY Innovation Challenge

Register by March 3. CNY students grades 6-12 are invited to put on their thinking caps! From concept to completion, students will work in teams to invent, design, and present their ideas at the Makers Fair. Visit www.macny.org/peb-2023-cny-innovation- the same tired label given anyone outside the game’s hierarchy.

Basically, we insert ourselves, and all the tried-and-true tropes of the tournament, into an event that doesn’t need any of them to be special and memorable.

Add to it the NCAA monetizing and trademarking so many of the terms associated with the tournament, and what should be a celebration of the sport turns to an indictment of all the ways greed and self-enrichment can get in the way.

Maybe this is all idle talk and, the moment something quirky and compelling takes place, we’ll all get transfixed again, remembering the good qualities that made the NCAA tournament arguably the best annual event in American spots.

But the easiest way to make sure this happens is not to get drawn into the cynical haze of trite words and trite structure and remember that this is about players living their dreams. Which is the best story of all.

Phil Blackwell is sports editor at Eagle News. He can be reached at pblackwell@ eaglenewsonline.com.

Skan Community Center, Skan Dental Associates, Skan Masonic Lodge, Skan Polar Bear Club, Skan Rotary Club, Skan Salon and Beauty, Skan Storage, SPACE

Architectural Studio, Tap Root Fields, Tessy Plastics Corporation, The Cake Shop CNY, The Elephant and the Dove, The Krebs, The Local Branch, The Savage Homestead, Valentine’s Pizza & Deli, Vermont Green Mountain, Village Inn, Wegmans, White & White Antiques JOHN PADDOCK AND CHriS lEGG/ CO-PrESiDENTS 2022-2023 SkaneateleS SunriSe rotary challenge/ to register and find more information.

Egg Hunt 10 a.m. Clay Town Hall, 4401 Rt. 31. Meet the bunny, get free bunny ears, hunt for eggs, and enjoy music and photo ops. Free.

SATURDAY, APRIL 8

Monster Jam Stadium Championship

JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse. The most unexpected, unscripted and unforgettable motorsports experience for families and fans in the world today returns to Syracuse for an adrenaline-charged weekend. Tickets will be available for purchase online at ticketmaster.com.

Baldwinsville Community Hall of Fame for Performing Arts Inductee Ceremony 7 p.m. Baker High School. Open to the public. Additional information to be posted on bvilleartshalloffame.org.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 2023-24 Baldwinsville Public Library Budget Public Hearing and Board Meeting

6:45 p.m. Baldwinsville Public Library. The public hearing of BPL’s 2023-24 budget will begin at 6:45 pm followed by the monthly business meeting of the BPL Board of Trustees at 7 pm. All board meetings are open to the public.

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