Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker: Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker (Photos by Gary Quintal) By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 13- The sixth meetin...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker: Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker (Photos by Gary Quintal) By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 13- The sixth meetin...

Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker

Fordham’s First Win over Penn is a Record Breaker

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 13- The sixth meeting between the Fordham Rams (6-1, 2-0) and the University of Pennsylvania Quakers (0-4, 0-1) took place at Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx on October 11. The game on Saturday was the first victory of Fordham, 60-22, over the Quakers. The two teams seem to be heading in different directions. The win for Fordham was its fifth straight and 11th consecutive home win, and the loss for Penn was its eighth straight. The 60 points scored by the Rams was the most their Ivy League opponent had surrendered in a single game since its 61-0 defeat by #1 ranked Army on November 17, 1945.

The visitors reached the scoreboard first as Penn quarterback Alek Torgerson threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Ryan O’Malley at 10:01. To the credit of the Fordham defense, that intercepted two passes and forced two fumbles, the first Penn touchdown was also its last. The last 16 points scored by the Quakers were off the foot of Jimmy Gammil. The junior kicked the point after touchdown and five field goals.

Fordham scored twice on the ground in the first quarter. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native Chase Edmunds carried the ball three yards for Fordham’s first points. His 11th touchdown of the season, in only six games, has been topped only five times in Fordham history in a single (full). He rushed for 101 yards, the sixth game in which has rushed for triple figures of yards. He is the first Fordham freshman to have a season rushing yardage total above 1,000 (1,011).

Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead, in his third successful season in the Bronx, spoke very highly of the sensational freshman’s work ethic, preparation, and effort, “He’s an old soul. Everything he’s gotten, he’s earned. It’s not a surprise the success he’s had.”

Quarterback Mike Nebrich, a senior, has also been impressed by the freshman running back, “He’s been huge. It [his rushing] opens up the defense. You can lead as a freshman.”

The second Fordham first quarter touchdown came on a recovered fumble and eight-yard run by senior defenseman DeAndre Slate.

Fordham’s defensive onslaught during the remainder of the game was achieved through the air under the leadership and outstanding ability of quarterback Nebrich. The senior from Virginia spoke of how he sees his responsibility during each contest, “My job is to get us going anytime we start sputtering.”

On Saturday, he completed 36 of 47 passes for a Fordham record of 566 yards, which broke the mark of 524 yards he set in 2013. Six of the 36 completions were for touchdowns, tying a Fordham game mark.

Five different receivers caught touchdown tosses from Nebrich. Tubucky Jones Jr., like Nebrich, a University of Connecticut transfer, caught two, one of 37 yards and one of 47 yards. Jones caught 10 for 203 yards, the eighth highest total in Fordham history. Sam Ajala received eight passes for 199 yards, the ninth highest total.

The 730 yards gained by the Fordham offense was a single game school record and the highest total by an NCAA FCS team this season. According to Moorhead, this success stems from good practice habits and game preparation. The coach also praised his players as being good students and fine human beings as well as good athletes. His own college experience at Fordham has obviously imbued in him the knowledge of what a student-athlete should be.

After Fordham’s bye-week the team will travel to Lehigh for its next contest on October 25. The Rams will return to Jack Coffey Field on November 1 to host Colgate.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Changes begin for Yankees

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Changes begin for Yankees: Cashman gets three years and changes begin for Yankees By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 11- Brian Cashman obviously was not at f...

Changes begin for Yankees

Cashman gets three years and changes begin for Yankees

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 11- Brian Cashman obviously was not at fault for the New York Yankees failure of not making the postseason a second consecutive year. Instead the team announced Friday that their GM has a new three-year contract but the hitting and third base coaches have been dismissed.

Mick Kelleher and hitting coach Kevin Long were dismissed, though in the end it was the failure of an expected and high paid offense that did not produce. Cashman made some mid season adjustments to keep the Yankees competitive in a tight race for the second American League wild card, but they won fewer games, (84) than they did the previous year.

So why did the Yankees grant Cashman another three years, after $438 million of spending went to not seeing baseball being played again in the Bronx this month? Cashman has helped build the Yankees to 14 post season appearances in 16 years.

Simple: Cashman does not take the field. A combination of injuries and expectations of a roster not producing will eventually lead to failure, and the Yankees were once again an example of spending and expectations, but you have to play out the entire 162-game schedule.

As for Long and Kelleher, they became the victims because baseball is a game where changes are made when expectations and hopes do not come to fruition. And as much as there has been a call from fans to dismiss manager Joe Girardi, he did the impossible.

Under the circumstances, and trying to find a solution, Girardi often adjusted the lineup and used reinforcements that Cashman acquired. The results were the same resulting in a fourth place finish and one of the lowest scoring teams in the league.

“Nick Kelleher was not responsible,” Cashman explained to reporters late Thursday afternoon in a media conference call. And perhaps neither was Long responsible, who did his best to help a struggling lineup make adjustments.

On the dismissal of Long, Cashman said: “He tried everything in his power by his own assessment…. I know he publicly stated late in the year that he tried everything. The effort was sufficient, the results weren’t. We had higher hopes for the offense.”

Cashman added that a bone spur injury to Carlos Beltran to his right elbow was a serious blow for the entire team. And it was, as Beltran missed a significant amount of games and had surgery to remove the spur two days after the season concluded.

But Cashman, responding to a question did say, “Changing staff has to come to an expense.” So with the season about two weeks over, and with Cashman settled in again for a 17th year in his chair, the coaching changes are the beginning of what is expected to be an off season of activity.

That includes filling a void at shortstop for the retired and certain first ballot Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, and what to do with the return of Alex Rodriguez who becomes active upon completion of the World Series after sitting out a season long suspension from violating a strict baseball anti steroid policy.  

The Yankee are expected to have Rodriguez when players report to Tampa, Florida in mid February and begin the first of what is hoped to be a productive three remaining years of that lucrative 10-year $275 million contract.

On the return of his 14-time all-star who played a role with the Yankees’ 2009 championship team, Cashman said there will be “contingency plans” in the event he is not up to par. Rodriguez, will turn 40 in July and will be the center of attention with the void of Jeter,and there is concern about his mobility manning third base especially being out a year and having surgery to both of his hips.

Cashman may look at free agent options, go with someone on the roster, or use a player in the Yankees under manned minor league system. Regardless, Rodriguez is expected in the lineup at third or in the designated hitter spot.

“Third base, safe to say we have some contingencies in place with Alex,” said Cashman when asked about the health and age of Rodriguez.

There is also the acquisition of Martin Prado, acquired in mid season who can play the position and was the Yankees most potent hitter down the stretch before going on the disabled list with appendicitis.

“I don’t know what to expect because he, (Rodriguez) missed a full year though he brings dedication and competes,” said Cashman. “Any alternatives for contingency purposes remain to be seen. We have to pursue all options…  Just need to make sure I have the protection to provide alternatives to pursue third base options.”

Pitching was not the issue of failures. If there was anything about the 2014 Yankees it was how Cashman and Girardi were able to get good performances from a makeship staff that replaced four of five starters that were on the disabled list.

Cashman is hoping CC Sabathia can fully recover from a knee procedure, and that the seven-year investment in Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka will be healthy to pitch an entire season, not having to be concerned about Tanaka needing Tommy John surgery.

He did hint there is reason to upgrade in the pitching department, whether it be free agency or from within.

The process of re-signing David Robertson who in his opinion, “Graduated with honors”  and is a “bonafide closer,” is also an immediate priority. The obvious reference that his 39 saves this past season was not an easy task in filling the shoes of the all-time saves leader.
 
The GM concluded that this offseason will be no different from the last 16. “In this chair every winter has it’s challenges. I’m responsible for it all, offense, defense.”

And most of all that challenge is for the fan base.

Because no matter what Cashman does, the Yankees not playing baseball in October is unacceptable to the fans, and of course his bosses that gave him another three years.

Comment Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com   Facebook.com/ Rich Mancuso  www.newyorksportsexaminer.com

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Group Home is House of Horrors?

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Group Home is House of Horrors?: Group Home is House of Horrors? Staff Removed from Group Home After Claims of Abuse (Still smiling despite a recent black eye, Zoraida has ...

Group Home is House of Horrors?

Group Home is House of Horrors?
Staff Removed from Group Home After Claims of Abuse

(Still smiling despite a recent black eye, Zoraida has now made at least 10 visits to local emergency rooms since October.--Photo by David Greene)

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 9- At least 16 employees, including managers and supervisors at a South Bronx home for mentally disabled adults have been told to stay home after allegations of widespread abuse have prompted an investigation.

Family members of the "consumers" of the Union IRA group home located at 570 Union Avenue at East 150 Street, had been complaining that relatives were being assaulted and deprived of food as well as other issues at the home.

During a meeting with family members on September 20, Sheryl Minter-Brooks, the State Operations Director for Region 5, who oversees such homes across the city, revealed that seven caregivers had been removed since the spring-- but a full-fledged investigation had not begun until an anonymous letter was received a week earlier.

At least five family members received a 2-page, typed letter dated August 20, detailing systematic beatings, food deprivation and a briefly mentioned allegation of sex abuse by a female employee and named all of the workers who either took part in the abuse or looked the other way.

The still-unknown author of the letter stated they would come forward and claimed to have photographs of staff members beating, kicking and pulling the hair of the people they were hired to protect and care for.

The letter claimed that one state employee who was accused of assaulting a first-floor resident, a young man who suffered a broken eardrum, was regularly allowed to visit and wander freely at the home. Family members say that the named individual has even visited the home since the big shake-up and even after the September 20 meeting.

The whistleblower wrote, "I reported every incident and was told not to listen to what I was taught in training class, because it would label me as a snitch and that I should keep my mouth shut."

A second hand-written letter was sent to each family with more details on the particular patient and the abuse he or she suffered.

One family also alleges food deprivation and charged that staff members refused to stock the bathroom with toilet paper, responding that the clients would stop up the drains.

With little information provided by the home or the state, family members are only left to wonder about one recent death reported at the home.

Even though she did not yet have guardianship, Barbara Melendez, 44, had been complaining about her sister Zoraida's swollen legs for years, but says she was brushed off by staff members because the courts had not yet granted her guardianship.

Melendez explained that without guardianship she was in a precarious position and felt intimidated by some staff members as to not cause trouble at the home. Melendez recalled, "They had all the power and I still needed my guardianship."

The anonymous letter claimed that one employee had been kicking Zoraida in the legs, causing the severe swelling.

But after Zoraida, 47, needed 7 stitches to close a busted lip she suffered on October 19, reported by staff as an accidental fall, followed by emergency room visits in October and December, 2013, did Melendez begin to suspect abuse.

"When I began to question it they would tell me, 'Oh she's accident prone,'" Melendez recalled, "So what could I say? They knew how to cover themselves."

Zoraida would be taken to local emergency rooms six more times between January and August, for injuries including a giant bruise on her arm, a gash to her foot that needed six stitches to close and a black eye reported August 15.

Despite the delay in reporting, Melendez is grateful to the letter writer who shed light on the going-on's at the home, as Melendez explained, "The employees made it seem like it was our imagination or we were being over-protective family members."

During the meeting at the State of New York Office of Mental Retardation And Developmental Disabilities on Zerega Avenue, Brooks told the upset and angry crowd, "We are as sickened by this as everyone else is and we're working to get to the bottom of it."

Brooks continued, "We have reason to suspect that something happened. It does not mean that it did happen," adding that the 16 employees would remain sidelined at home while still collecting their regular weekly salaries, as the investigation is conducted by the little-known Office of Internal Investigative Affairs (OIIA.)

Family members hope the investigation will lead to arrests and were insistent that the 16 employees not return to the home, even if they are cleared of all allegations, fearing reprisals. However, Brooks replied, "I can't guarantee that," citing the employees civil service contract.

One family member recalled an incident involving her brother, she told the group, "We had an independent investigation that took many months and it's finally completed, but were not allowed to get copies of the reports or know the results."

Melendez concluded, "The system failed us. The supervisors, the workers, even the school failed us. I pursued several different avenues for help and there was none." Claiming that the safeguards that were supposed to protect them are flawed, Melendez adds, "If they are found guilty they should never work with the disabled again."

"It's a little too late to be sorry," Melendez said of Brooks' apologies to family members. Meanwhile, Melendez and the other family members now rest their hopes on the recently created Justice Center who handles such complaints and the investigators who are currently looking into the allegations.

On Thursday, October 2, Zoraida was discovered with bruises in the area of her pelvis and her breast and was taken to Montefiore Hospital, where the NYPD was called. Officers took a report for an "unknown assault," but hospital officials told Melendez that there was a time-lapse in reporting, so a rape-kit was not performed.

After an overnight stay at the hospital's emergency room, Zoraida was eventually taken back to the home, but for a still-unexplained reason, Melendez claims that after getting back to the home a social worker from the hospital ordered officials at the home to return Zoraida to the hospital.

Having spent the better part of the second overnight inside Montefiore's ER, Zoraida was eventually allowed to go home, but only after Melendez, who now has guardianship over Zoraida-- had demanded it."

At the submission of this article, sources say a 17th employee, the on-site nurse at the Union IRA home has now been removed. The sources maintain that the new nurse is just returning to work after being cleared of any wrongdoing in an unrelated case.