SPORTS

PBA Must Start Building Bridges

By Alana Byrd

In 2019, four Ithaca Police Department (IPD) o cers…were called to break up a ght, but instead committed violent and disturbing acts against members of the community they were sworn to protect… According to Judge John Rowley, who presided over the case, “Ithaca Police o cers overreacted to the initial situation” and “made no e ort to defuse the situation,” actions Rowley described as “inexplicable” and “regrettable.”

Even when the news spread and videos of the [incident] went viral, Ithaca’s Police Benevolent Association (PBA) refused to issue an apology. ey wouldn’t vow to do better next time. ey said nothing about lessons learned or better policies implemented. And a er an internal review, IPD refused to punish the o cers. ese cops are still on active duty in our streets. And now, city taxpayers will have to foot the bill to defend them in two new lawsuits…

With the news…[of] lawsuits against the four o cers…we are starkly reminded that not even Ithaca is immune to the nationwide problem of police violence. When recruitment practices are not rigorous, when cops are overworked to the point of burnout and stress, when it’s been demonstrated time and again that dangerous white supremacist culture is leaking into forces across the country, it’s no wonder that we see police violence perpetrated everywhere—even here in Ithaca.

Violent, biased, and traumatizing police culture has been eroding public trust in law enforcement long before George Floyd’s murder. e increase in public awareness has been an ironic boon to those ghting for public safety reform for decades. e PBA here in Ithaca seems to view its job as solely to spin media for its o cers, but it could and should be more than that. It could and should serve its community, supporting outreach and relationship building with all Ithacans. Instead, what we see is unconditional defense of its membership, o en to the detriment of our community. We should be concerned that the PBA is defending violence perpetrated by its o cers, while at the same time denying a culture problem among its ranks.

But we should also be hopeful, because whether or not the association gets onboard, policing is evolving here in Ithaca. Reimagining Public Safety has been passed by our Common Council, and a special committee has already been set up to address implementation and ne-tune recommendations. In the end, Ithacans are smarter than the PBA gives us credit for. We won’t stand for cheap excuses and lies. We will stand for a better and more accountable police force.

Alana Byrd is a Fall Creek resident and Campaign Manager of Ithacans for Reimagining Public Safety

SURROUNDED BY REALITY

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come to a rolling stop and then oor it before you get swarmed.

Best martini in Ithaca—Maxie’s. Change my mind.

Best hulking, vacant, likely-to-be-

haunted building downtown—Masonic Temple. Local legend has it that the structure was designed by a demented architect named Ivo Shandor who decided he would try to bring about the end of the world with a secret society of Gozer worshippers that performed rituals on top of the building, and the roof itself was meant to be the gateway to allow Gozer into our world. at’s all highly improbable, of course, though there is a veri ed underground river of unstable ectoplasm owing directly beneath the structure.

Best place to hear someone refer to themselves in the third person as

“Mama”—Walmart. No real surprise here.

Best place to recover your stolen

bike—300 block of West State/MLK Street. Nobody told those guys that LimeBikes aren’t a thing any more. Or that not all bikes are LimeBikes. Or that cutting a lock o a parked bicycle wasn’t ever a part of the LimeBike experience in the rst place.

Best wa es—Not Wa e Frolic any more. Sad face.

Best pothole—Albany Street between Clinton and Titus. is is a moving target, of course, but the whole block was used by the Cornell Center for Astrophysics & Planetary Science to test the Mars Rover.

Best place to watch the 2022 midterm

election returns—Deep in an underground bunker. It’s the same as the best place to watch the January 6 hearings.

Succeeding on the pitch; and pitching in

By Steve Lawrence

We have all heard about the challenges many leagues in many di erent sports are having when it comes to nding enough quali ed referees, or umpires to make it possible to get all the games in. On any given Sunday, the Rotary Youth Soccer program (run by the Ithaca Youth Bureau) will host 10-12 games, and thanks to some community-minded people and some solid networking, the program is fortunate to have enough referees show up.

“I have known Mindy Quigg (Ithaca College’s Head Soccer Coach) for a long time, said Youth Bureau Recreation Program Coordinator Gordy Begent. “and when I took this job she congratulated me and we talked about the team’s commitment to community service and its community engagement process.” at conversation was three years ago, and it led to several carloads of Bomber soccer players showing up to serve as referees for the games, and when they not o ciating, they are nding other ways to help out. In Begent’s words, “ e players do a bunch of stu for us. ey run drills for the players, they’re helpful to the coaches, and they do this on Sundays, their only o -day of the week.” Gordy was pleased to add, “ ey don’t just come and go, the connections stay deeply-rooted.”

Sundays can be very hectic, as there are eight second and third grade teams, ten fourth and h grade squads and three to four teams made up of sixth through eighth graders. ose numbers translate to up to a dozen games from 1-4 pm, and that keeps the players hustling.

Begent is also the head coach for the Ithaca High so ball team, and he is willing to work his connections at Ithaca College whenever possible. Being an Ithaca College grad (with a degree in Health and PE), Begent feels connected, and he said, “I always try to reach out to the people I know at I.C. For example, I have known Dave Valesente (Bomber baseball head coach) for a long time, and he will be bringing a group of his players to help us out with park cleanup, and to help with the Hoop Shoot event.” Begent is not shy about making these requests, as he sees the collaborations as a win-win. “We’re really trying to utilize resources, that’s true,” Begent o ered, “and it’s really nice to see the colleges engaged. Our kids get to go to the games and watch them play, so the arrangement is mutually bene cial.”

Meanwhile, on the pitch, the Bomber women are 9-2-3 overall and 4-1-1 in Liberty League play with three games remaining.

Ithaca Womens Soccer coach Mindy Quigg was able to lead her players to pitch in to help Ithaca's youth leagues.

I had the good fortune to be invited to this year’s Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, hosted by the Hornell Alumni Association, a few towns down the road. It is a Section V program, but there is a local connection, so hang in there...

I was a guest of the Scavo family, as Dominic Scaco was inducted in his rst year of eligibility. Dominic chose to tell the story of a college game he started at quarterback for Alfred University, and he made light of the frustrating game as he pointed out that it went poorly, the Saxons lost, and he did not start again. at story stood in contrast to the list of achievements listed by the program’s emcee, who o ered a little overview of Scavo’s high school accolades. A threesport athlete, Dominic won a truckloads of varsity letters and garnered numerous All-League, All-Conference and All-State awards, but it was his run as Hornell’s eld general that was most noteworthy: ree years as a starting quarterback, 39 wins, zero losses, and three state championships.

I love the fact that all six of the inductees knew virtually everyone in the room, and that those cherished relationships spanned decades, and generations, and they embodied everything that is beautiful about smalltown sports. It was a pleasure to be a part of it, and I am so grateful for the invitation.

Oh, yeah... the local connection... Dominic – now a practicing attorney - spent one semester at Ithaca College before transferring to Alfred, AND, he and my daughter (who played so ball at Alfred) are six years into a committed relationship, they share a home in Florida, and maybe, just maybe... Oh, never mind.