From our Team to Yours, Thanks for Reading!
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays
And just like that, my 35th year on the Section 1 circuit as ‘Direct Rays’ – sports editor/writer/photo journalist and oft-protagonist/antagonist – has come to an end; with much more on the horizon, should our readers desire. It is an intensive labor of love, and I’ve never missed a single deadline due to the responsive team around me.
There are plenty of people to thank for the Examiner’s success, both as a sports section and an all-inclusive media entity that attempts to dive into the souls of our readers each and every week to provide an enjoyable, informative outlet.
Our esteemed and highly-decorated publisher, Adam Stone, provides the leeway for our sports section to reach new bounds every week; kind of like the Bae Bounds they reached at Horace Greeley this spring while the senior middie attained All-American status, helping to secure the Quakers’ first girls’ lacrosse NYSPHSAA Region 1 championship before falling in the state semis.
Our top-notch photographers, including staffers like Andy Jacobs, David Taber and Donna Mueller, plus contributors like Tony Humberto, Bill Kennedy and Gil McMahon have provided memories our readers will never forget; not to mention the scrapbooks they fill. They are ‘Hunters’, like the Mezzatesta kid in goal for Yorktown, which fell short of its goal for an eighth NYSPHSAA title but restored some luster while repeating as Section 1 champs, their 42nd such memento.
Our design crew, including Annette van Ommeren and Dean Pacchiana, plus managing editors Rick Pezzulo and Martin Wilbur, lay it on the line each and every week, drawing up the schemes for our art, and our ad personnel are the reason we survive #Props.
Staff scribe Tony Pinciaro – a Section 1 wrestling Hall of Fame inductee – has been a pro’s pro for close to four decades and we are blessed, as are our readers, to have him on board. Like myself – Pinciaro, Kennedy, Jacobs, Humberto, Mueller and McMahon – have graced the Section 1 circuit for several decades, finding different angles to capture the exploits of the student athletes we cover.
While media outlets are suffering all around the country and the industry dies a slow death, Stone and company provide our readers with content we hope you come back for each and every week. This weekly sports section is MY BABY, and we try to treat our student athletes as members of a collective family while recollecting their exploits and providing a tantalizing twist on sports. We can’t cover every team, every program and every kid, every week, but we openly pull for their success and achievements, whether we note them or not. Plus, we rely on your input, especially during the summer months when we seek your additions to our editions, so hit us up at raygallaghersports@gmail.com.
And congrats to those who are graduating in the days ahead. Please, we beg you, to play it smart as you jump from grad party to grad party in the days ahead. There’s nothing worse than starting your post-high-school-career with a silly blight on your record, or, God forbid, something tragic. Please, leave your keys at the door and arrive alive. Y’all know I love a good headline, but for the next couple of weeks, let’s play it safe and smart and stay the heck out of them. In the meantime, please support our advertisers and kindly spread the word about our product, so future generations are alerted to what we call our “Weekly Miracle” #MuchThanks!
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
