A Family and the Mechanicville Red Raiders

March 2, 2012                                            

 

     As a self-appointed family historian for my generation of the family, a major story has been unfolding over the past few months that I feel must be told and, more importantly for a family historian such as myself, must also be witnessed first hand.  The story is set at the Mechanicville High School in Mechanicville, New York.

 

     To fully understand the significance of this story, one must first take a trip through time back to the late 1970s when a very young freshman, Mike, began his storied basketball career with the Mechanicville Red Raiders of the Colonial Council.  While Mike’s time as a Red Raider was especially noteworthy, he was one among many in the family that donned the red and white uniform of the Red Raiders.

Steve, Debbie (Corp), Mike, and Vicki.

 

      A few years after Mike graduated, the torch had been passed to another outstanding basketballer by the name Steve.  Though better known for his career as quarterback of the Red Raiders football team, Steve also had a fairly notable basketball career as a Red Raider.

 

Allison (DeCelle) Connors, Sam DeCelle, Suzie, and Dave.     A few years after Steve graduated, it was time for a newer generation of the family ladies to shine.  One of those young ladies was Suzie.  As with Steve, Suzie was better known for her outstanding career as a Red Raider soccer star while she excelled on the basketball court as well.

 

     Now is when this story gets really interesting, especially for a Family historian such as myself.  Mike’s son Jordan, Steve’s son Ryan, and Suzie’s son Sam are each seniors on the Mechanicville Red Raiders basketball team that will be playing tomorrow afternoon, March 3, 2012, at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York for the title of Section II, Class C Champion.

 

The cousins, Ryan, Jordan, and Sam in the old days!     Jordan, Ryan, and Sam are playing together for their second consecutive season.  During their first season together, this family historian was living in Connecticut and never had an opportunity to see the three of them play together.  This season, I have been working in Washington, DC while maintaining a household in Connecticut, so all of my time off from work has been used to travel back home to Connecticut. Cousins Ryan, Sam, and Jordan in 2012.

 

     I determined weeks ago that it was really, really important to me that I get to see my two nephews and my cousin play together before it was too late.  Unfortunately for me, the regular season ended before I could get an opportunity to see them.  My only remaining hope was for the team to win multiple games in the New York State Class C Tournament.  Well, they did it!  They have made it to the Section II final and I now have a new appreciation for the old expression, "I wouldn't miss it for the world"!

 

As Grandma Sandy refers to them, it's "A wall of cousins."!     So that I don't miss The Game, I will be boarding an Amtrak train bound for Penn Station in New York City which departs Washington, DC at 3:15 am (yes, I mean am and not pm).  Then at 8:15 am, I will board another Amtrak train with a destination of Saratoga, New York.  My own two sons, Jacob (who is currently working for the U.S. Navy in Ballston Spa) and Grady (who is a sophomore at Siena College in Loudonville), are planning to pick me up at the train station at noon, grab some lunch, and head directly to Glens Falls for the 3:45 pm Championship game tip-off.  Due to my work schedule, I will have to turn around and return to Washington, DC early Sunday morning.  I will be doing all this because I have an astute awareness of the significance of this Red Raider basketball season to the history of The McBride Family!  Go Red Raiders!