Author Archives: Ron Vaccaro

Whether you enjoy looking at the pictures or you’re just interested in reading, “Baseball in New Haven,” a pictorial history penned by Sam Rubin ’95, is a local baseball fan’s dream. The book consists of 194 images, each with a detailed caption, and while it contains many compelling stories from all the local teams, both »

This being my last column of the year (a fact that is sure to delight many in this community) I considered doing an upbeat “Year in Review” piece. Perusing my previous use of this space, however, brought me back to reality — I enjoy being a curmudgeon too much to craft something positive as my »

New York Yankees pitcher David Wells was full of surprises this winter: first was his controversial autobiography, “Perfect I’m Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches and Baseball” in which he claims to have been drunk when he pitched his perfect game against the Minnesota Twins May 17, 1998 and blasts several teammates, including Roger Clemens »

With Sunday night’s opener between the defending world champion Anaheim Angels and the Texas Rangers and a slew of Opening Day games today, optimism is permeating the baseball world, as it usually does this time of year. If you want to spend the next five minutes reading about all the reasons for that exuberance, don’t »

At a Hot Stove Baseball Luncheon in downtown New Haven last week, former Boston Red Sox star Jim Rice spoke of baseball as it was when he competed in the 1970s and 80s compared to today. He offered an anecdote about Boston ace Pedro Martinez as an example. Rice was in the Boston dugout after »

This weekend’s sweep of St. Lawrence and Clarkson marked the first time the Yale men’s hockey squad has accomplished that feat since the magical 1997-98 season when the Bulldogs were crowned regular season champions of the ECAC. While the chances of third-place Yale (20 points) overtaking both Harvard (26) and Cornell (28) are not great »

Pick up a media guide/ recruiting brochure for the majority of Yale’s 35 varsity sports and, somewhere nestled amidst athlete’s bios you will find a page called “New Haven: The Perfect Location” which highlights some of the city’s draws. As recently as last year, that page contained three listings on the professional sports teams’ section, »

Following Saturday night’s 4-3 victory over the University of Connecticut, Yale men’s hockey coach Tim Taylor outlined several positives: the win extended Yale’s winning streak to three games, all out of conference, giving the Bulldogs a final nonconference mark of 4-3, an important accomplishment both for Yale and the ECAC. Taylor did stress a need »

It’s become almost commonplace to fill this space (whether by me or my peers) with all that is wrong with sports, both college and professional. This past weekend, though, while in South Bend, Ind., to broadcast Yale’s hockey games versus Notre Dame, I was fortunate enough to witness firsthand the beauty of the athletic ideal. »

The ECAC brands itself as one of the most competitive, wide-open conferences in college hockey. While not one of the powerhouse leagues, the ECAC’s claim to fame is that, more than any other conference, anything can happen on a given night. Cliche? Indisputably, but just read the conference mission statement. Evidence? See Princeton’s 2-1 stunning »

I was all set to write a column about the new format of the ECAC playoffs this year and how it makes this weekend’s Yale vs. Harvard and Brown more meaningful for three teams that are atop the ECAC. But, an event that transcended any specific sport occurred during Monday Night Football, so here comes »

I know it’s (very) early, but even a quick glimpse at the ECAC men’s ice hockey standings illustrates a developing trend in the conference: the ever-increasing success of the six Ivy League schools. Travel partners Brown and Harvard have each won four of their five contests, and their eight points apiece have them sharing the »