Brian Simpson concert recap 2 September 9, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Golf, Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Sports, Travel.add a comment
Previous Brian Simpson recap: April 2011
Later Brian Simpson recap: February 2015
Last night, I returned to Houndstooth Pub to see keyboardist Brian Simpson. His show marked the anniversary of Midtown Groove.
Brian played the keyboard…
and the keytar:
Matt Marshak was on guitar, as he was last time:
John Dillard on bass:
Courtney Williams on drums:
And Brian Lanier on soprano (seen below) and alto sax:
I was on hand for the first set. Here’s what Brian and the band played:
1. It Could Happen
2. Here With You
3. South Beach
4. Funkology (by Matt Marshak)
5. Can’t Tell You Why
6. Blues for the Houndstooth Pub (written for the show)
7. Let’s Get Close
8. Saturday Cool
Fasten your seat belts because it’s time to ride through the set via my cameras’ viewfinders. That’s right, I used two (but not simultaneously).
Brian addressing Matt before “Funkology”:
Brian made his way toward one of the premium seat tables during “Saturday Cool”:
The last note of the set:
Before I left, I had a brief chat with Brian and we posed for a pic:
It was another wildly enjoyable set! Thanks to Brian, Matt, John, C-Will, and Brian for a great show.
(By the way, I was wearing a souvenir shirt I bought last Sunday at the final round of The Barclays, a PGA Tour event held this year at Bethpage Black Golf Course.)
Riding the Long Island Expressway July 29, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Media, News, Personal, Photography, Travel, TV, Video, Weather.add a comment
I went to Hoboken last Saturday for my friends’ daughter’s first birthday party. On the drive with my parents to and from the Madison Bar and Grill, I took plenty of pictures. In fact, I shot more on the drive than at the party: 115 out of 224.
In this post, we’ll focus on pics taken on Interstate 495, the L.I.E. (Long Island Expressway).
Westbound, starting with Exit 37:
Exit 36:
Exit 33:
Exit 32:
Exit 31:
Exit 28:
Exit 27:
A tow truck got in the way for the next few exits. I resumed at Exit 20:
Exit 19:
Exit 18:
Exit 17W:
Exit 16:
Exit 15, the last westbound exit:
Eastbound starts immediately after the tolls with Exit 13:
Exit 14:
Exit 17:
Exit 19:
Exit 21:
Exit 22:
Exit 24:
Exit 25:
There was a bow below the rear view mirror in the way in the upper left. So, I rubber stamped it out in Adobe Photoshop 7.
Exit 26:
Exit 27:
Exit 29:
Exit 30:
Exit 31S:
Traffic advisory sign:
Exit 32:
Exit 33:
Exit 34:
Exit 35:
Exit 36:
Exit 37:
Exit 38:
Exit 39:
Exit 40W:
Exit 40E:
Exit 41S:
Exit 41N:
Exit 42:
Exit 43:
A closer look:
Before HOV lanes were added, the Exit 43 ramp was here:
The original ramp can be seen in a video from WLIG-TV (now WLNY) after Hurricane Gloria hit Long Island on September 27, 1985. This is a vidcap (h/t Mike Erickson):
Video:
The vidcap was taken at the 1:03 mark.
Exit 44S:
That was our exit. From there, it wasn’t long before we got home. I spent several hours the next day editing all 224 pictures. The party pics were easy to edit because I used the flash and didn’t have to fix the color or smudge out license plates.
Scenery pictures June 30, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Baseball, Personal, Photography, Sports, Travel, Weather.add a comment
Inspired by my travel pictures post, this post is made up entirely of pictures of scenery or past landmarks that are new to the site.
I originally planned on putting in pictures I shot in April and June of this year, but then went further back to 2005. Unless otherwise noted, the pictures were taken outside my house.
We’ll start with a few sunrise pictures.
February 24, 2005:
March 3, 2005:
March 14, 2005, overlooking the 1st hole fairway of Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead golf course in Palm Harbor, Florida:
July 3, 2005: Sunset outside Jones Beach Theater:
May 27, 2006: Memorial Day Weekend fireworks at North Hempstead Beach Park:
July 30, 2006: A series of sunset pics while on a boat ride south of Freeport:
August 18, 2006: Looking above Woodcleft Avenue in Freeport:
August 25, 2006: On the beach in Lake Worth, Florida:
Later that day, an approaching thunderstorm at The Cascades in Boynton Beach:
August 26, 2006: Storm clouds north of Boynton Beach:
August 28, 2006: Walking up Cascades Isle Boulevard:
September 6, 2006: Shea Stadium before the first game of a Mets-Braves doubleheader:
A plane for a since-defunct airline in its final approach to LaGuardia Airport:
September 8, 2006: Hicksville LIRR station:
September 11, 2006:
October 28, 2006: Back at Innisbrook, looking above Copperhead’s 2nd tee:
Part of Innisbrook’s Loch Ness pool:
November 3, 2006: Fall foliage at LIU Post:
Looking above the Duffy Avenue/Newbridge Road intersection in Hicksville, south of the LIRR station:
November 10, 2006: Sunset at Post:
August 17, 2007: The early stage of a thunderstorm:
September 12, 2007:
October 27, 2007:
March 8, 2008: Back above Copperhead:
April 7, 2012, at a surprise wedding in Freeport:
June 3, 2012:
June 9, 2012:
June 17, 2012, at a Father’s Day barbecue in Freeport:
June 22, 2012: Sunset:
June 27, 2012: Looking above the platform at the Wantagh LIRR station:
A bird in the Rockville Centre LIRR station parking lot:
And now more photographic loose ends have been tied up at MikeChimeri.com. I hope you liked what you saw.
Travel pictures June 13, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Personal, Photography, Travel.add a comment
This post contains pictures that I haven’t put in a post at this website before. Most go back to before it began in April 2008. The pics were taken during my travels: on interstate highways, parkways, state roads, county roads, city streets, from a cruise ship, and in a parking lot.
We’ll begin in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on May 16, 2005, leaving Penn State University the day after that year’s commencement ceremony. (My sister received her Bachelor’s degree in marketing.)
U.S. 322 west:
U.S. 220 north:
I-80 east:
Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania is not related to the actual Jersey Shore, nor anywhere near it.
I-95 approaching the inbound George Washington Bridge:
Our next stop is Connecticut on the Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway.
Northbound on March 28, 2004:
Southbound on December 10, 2010:
It’s off to Florida for the next set of pictures. We’ll start in South Florida.
April 7, 2004: I-75 south:
I-75’s southern terminus, and State Road 924 (Gratigny Parkway):
According to the Google Maps street view, this is how the above interchange looked seven years later:
Downtown Miami, viewed from a parking garage near American Airlines Arena:
April 9, 2004: State Road 869 (Sawgrass Expressway) approaching I-595:
I-595 east:
August 29, 2006: I-95 north, approaching Palm Beach International Airport:
The above pic was taken at 6:16 AM, just before sunrise.
I-95 south two days earlier, on August 27:
Then-State Road 782 (Linton Boulevard) west, approaching I-95:
Linton was re-designated as Palm Beach County Road 782, but as of today, either it’s an unsigned route or that designation was also removed.
We head northwest to the Tampa Bay Area for the next few pics.
October 27, 2006: State Road 60 west:
U.S. 19 north:
October 30, 2006: Pinellas County Road 611 south:
State Road 60 east:
That leaves us with New York. The first set of New York pics are from Manhattan, then the Bronx, and Westchester and Nassau counties.
April 27, 1999:
July 8, 2002: Embarking on a five-day cruise to and from the Canadian Maritimes:
November 7, 2003: State Route 9A (West Side Highway) south:
December 5, 1999: A view of two bridges from the southbound FDR Drive.
November 17, 2006:
Back to May 16, 2005: I-95 north at I-295‘s northern terminus:
March 28, 2004: Hutchinson River Parkway north:
May 10, 2001: State Routes 107 and 106 splitting up in Hicksville, the southern terminus of their 1.51 mile concurrency:
The last picture of this post was taken on August 22, 2004, on a boat, just below the Loop Parkway‘s eastern terminus at the Meadowbrook State Parkway:
And with that, this website’s photographic loose ends have been tied up.
For more travel pics, check these posts:
Spyro Gyra Smooth Cruise recap (July 2008)
Alumni Show interview: Ken Navarro! (September 2008)
South Florida trip recap (September-October 2008)
SJFS 2009 recap (May 2009)
Rippingtons Smooth Cruise recap (July 2009)
HotForWords at Borders in NYC! (August 2009)
David Benoit at Tarrytown recap (May 2010)
RnR Smooth Cruise recap (August 2010)
Guitars & Saxes 2010 Smooth Cruise recap (August 2010)
Rippingtons Smooth Cruise recap 2 (July 2011)
Shilts at Houndstooth Pub recap 2 (May 2012)
Shilts at Houndstooth Pub recap 2 May 14, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Hockey, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Sports, Travel, TV, Weather.add a comment
Previous Shilts recap: June 2011
Two nights ago, for the second Saturday in a row, I saw saxophonist Paul “Shilts” Weimar perform. Last week, Shilts was part of keyboardist Jay Rowe’s tenth annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars benefit concert. This time, he played solo at the Houndstooth Pub, a few blocks north of Penn Station. It was a busy night in that area. In addition to Shilts, there was the Bolder & Fresher Tour (Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller) show at the Town Hall six blocks north (and two east) of Houndstooth, and Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals was taking place at Madison Square Garden. The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals alternated wins and losses in the first six games and the winner would face the New Jersey Devils in the conference final beginning two nights later. Both floors of Houndstooth had TVs tuned to the NBC Sports Network where Rangers and Caps fans alike that could get into MSG watched.
Before we get to Shilts’ performance, I have a few pictures to share from my train ride in to Penn on the LIRR.
Forest Hills station:
BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway):
A view of Manhattan from Long Island City:
I thought one of those buildings was One World Trade Center, but that’s to the south, and I was in a north-facing seat.
Long Island City rail yard:
Not only was this a concert, but it was also a release party for Shilts’ upcoming album, All Grown Up. Copies were available, but sold out fast, just as tickets for the show did.
I got a premium seating ticket back in March and ended up right next to the stage!
Shilts was joined by Abdul Zuhri on guitar:
Ken Stacks Richardson on keyboards:
Thomas Gooding on bass:
And Eric Brown on drums:
SET LIST
SET 1
1. See What Happens
2. Lambeth Strut
3. Good Evans
4. Seeing Things Clearly
5. Sugar
6. Look What’s Happened
SET 2
(NOTE: I left between sets, but saw the set list printout from my seat. If I made any mistakes, let me know in the comment thread.)
7. All Grown Up
8. 2 Pesos For Bud
9. Soul Eyes
10. Eyes Down
11. Blues
12. Back On The Hudson
Neal Newman, audio engineer, assisted by his son Dale (not pictured):
Eric Brown’s “Sugar” drum solo:
I left between sets, but not before getting my copy of All Grown Up signed by Shilts and grabbing a picture with him:
Cheers to Shilts, Abdul, Ken, Thomas, and Eric for another great show.
I’ll conclude this recap on the topic of the Rangers.
Just as I approached 34th Street, I heard wild cheers coming from the top floor of Lucy’s Cantina Royale. The Rangers had held on to beat the Capitals 2-1 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils.
Here are the happy Rangers fans leaving Madison Square Garden to head home:
Game 1 of the EC Finals is tonight.
5/25, 11:17 PM UPDATE: Unfortunately for Rangers fans, like myself, the Rangers lost to the Devils in six games. They took a 2-1 series lead and then lost three straight. The Devils will face the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals.
SJFS 2012 recap May 7, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Film, Internet, Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Video.add a comment
Jay Rowe‘s tenth annual Smooth Jazz for Scholars began with:
1. Hit the Bricks
Featured musicians: Foran High School Jazz Band
Jay came out at the end of the song. Hidden from view was Dave Anderson on bass, seen here one song later:
Rounding out Jay’s band was his Special EFX bandmate Lionel Cordew on drums:
And Steve Scales (left) on percussion:
It was an overcast evening outside the Parsons Complex Auditorium in Milford, Connecticut. But inside, the sun was shining. This year’s show featured guitarists Rohn (“Ron”) Lawrence, Nick Colionne, and Chieli Minucci; and saxophonists Paul “Shilts” Weimar, Paul Taylor, and Nelson Rangell.
After we “Hit the Bricks,” Kevin McCabe and keyboardist Jay Rowe introduced the rest of the show:
Then back to the music:
2. Rosemary’s Tune (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: “Live at Daniel Street,” 2011
Featured musician: Rohn Lawrence (guitar)
Video:
3. Lambeth Strut (Shilts)
Originally heard on: “Going Underground,” 2010
Featured musicians: Shilts (tenor saxophone), Nick Colionne (guitar)
4. Seeing Things Clearly (Shilts)
Originally heard on: “Going Underground,” 2010
Featured musician: Shilts
At the 2010 SJFS, someone in the audience requested “Rainy Night in Georgia” for Nick Colionne. Unfortunately, that wasn’t on the set list that night, but on this night, the audience got their wish:
5. Rainy Night in Georgia (Nick Colionne; Brook Benton cover)
Originally heard on: “It’s My Turn,” 1994; “Keepin’ It Cool,” 2006
Featured musician: Nick Colionne (vocals/guitar)
6. Pleasure Seeker (Paul Taylor)
Originally heard on: “Pleasure Seeker,” 1997
Featured musicians: Paul Taylor (soprano sax), Chieli Minucci (guitar)
7. Uptown East (Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Slice of Life,” 1986
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci, Paul Taylor
8. Exotica (Paul Taylor)
Originally heard on: “On the Horn,” 1995
Featured musicians: Paul Taylor, Chieli Minucci
9. Mystical (Chieli Minucci & Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Sweet Surrender,” 2007
Featured musicians: Chieli Minucci, Shilts, Nelson Rangell (alto sax)
10. Good Evans (Shilts)
Originally heard on: “HeadBoppin,” 2006
Featured musician: Shilts
“Good Evans” began with solo piano from Jay:
With a little help from Steve Scales:
Then, Shilts and the rest of the band joined in:
11. Free as the Wind (Nelson Rangell; The Crusaders cover)
Originally heard on: “Soul to Souls,” 2006
Featured musician: Nelson Rangell
Nelson originally performed this song on tenor sax, but he went with soprano here:
Nelson also had a very involved solo:
Video:
12. The Warmth of the Sun (Jay Rowe; The Beach Boys cover)
Originally heard on: “Jay Walking,” 1997
Featured musicians: Foran High School Select Ensemble Chorus (Director: Theresa Voss), Nelson Rangell, Rohn Lawrence
In a move many didn’t see coming, at least not me…
Marion Meadows made a surprise appearance!
13. Suede (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: “Player’s Club,” 2004
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows, Rohn Lawrence
14. Funky Broadway (Wilson Pickett cover)
Featured musicians: Rohn Lawrence (vocals/guitar), Paul Taylor (alto sax), Shilts, Nelson Rangell
Paul switched to alto sax for the rest of the show:
15. The Night is Ours (Chieli Minucci & Special EFX)
Originally heard on: “Without You,” 2010
Featured musician: Chieli Minucci
Nelson Rangell introduced the next song this way:
This next tune that we’re gonna do for you is something that I wrote. And the title is not for the new movie that’s out, but it’ll do. This is called “A New Avenger.”
16. A New Avenger (Nelson Rangell)
Originally heard on: “Soul to Souls,” 2006
Featured musician: Nelson Rangell
“A New Avenger” featured solos by Lionel Cordew, Steve Scales, and Dave Anderson.
Lionel went first:
Steve was next:
And then, it was Dave’s turn:
Getting back to Nelson:
(NOTE: Pictures from the next two songs, and some from the finale, are screencaps, which I cropped, sharpened, and magnified in Adobe Photoshop 7.0.)
17. Sonora (Nelson Rangell; Hampton Hawes cover)
Originally heard on: “Destiny,” 1995 (alto sax); “My American Songbook, Vol. 1,” 2005 (whistling and piccolo)
Featured musicians: Nelson Rangell, Chieli Minucci
It wouldn’t be a Nelson Rangell show without whistling:
Dave Anderson switched acoustic bass for this song:
Nelson switched to piccolo (below) after Chieli’s solo (above):
After a quick applause, Nelson whistled solo for about a minute before the band rejoined him.
He took a bow as he got another round of applause:
Video:
18. Prime Time (Paul Taylor)
Originally heard on: “Prime Time,” 2011
Featured musicians: Paul Taylor, Shilts, Nelson Rangell
19. Some Funky (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “Feel the Heat,” 2011
Featured musicians: Nick Colionne, Rohn Lawrence
20 (Finale). Godfather J (Nick Colionne)
Originally heard on: “No Limits,” 2008
Featured musicians: Everyone (Nick – vocals)
“Godfather J” is a tribute to James Brown. Nick channeled the Godfather of Soul throughout the song.
Back on stage, Chieli played lying down for a while:
Kevin McCabe came out to drape Nick’s jacket on him:
Jay briefly left his keyboards to “play” Chieli’s guitar:
That’s it!
This was the wildest Smooth Jazz for Scholars I’ve ever attended! Who knows what next year’s show (or shows?) will bring? Here’s to ten more years, and many more after that!
Read the manual! May 1, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Commentary, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Radio, Technology, Video.1 comment so far
As I noted in my previous post, I was at WCWP’s first annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony Thursday night at LIU Post.
What I didn’t tell you was I brought my recently purchased JVC Everio GZ-HM320 HD camcorder to record the ceremony, which lasted about an hour, in addition to candid chatter before and afterward.
Unfortunately, I didn’t read the camcorder’s manual when I bought it in October. After a few successful, short test recordings in October and November, I didn’t use it until Thursday night. I was able to get two minutes of chatter and the first nine minutes of the ceremony, but then, the memory card stopped working. Everything recorded after LIU Post Provost Dr. Paul Forestell talked about when he first met WCWP station manager Dan Cox was corrupted and could not be viewed or recovered. At least I had the pictures I shot on my digital camera.
My first reaction the following day when I learned of the file corruption was to look for a better camcorder with internal memory of at least 32 GB (gigabytes). But tonight, it finally dawned on me that it wasn’t the camcorder that was the problem. It was the memory card: a Kingston Class 4 SDHC 32 GB card. Before I considered buying a SanDisk card of the same class and size, I looked at my camcorder’s manual.
In the middle of page 9, it said “operations are confirmed on … Panasonic, TOSHIBA, SanDisk [and] ATP” cards. For video, “Class 4 or higher compatible SDHC card (4 GB to 32 GB).” And then, the money quote: “Using cards other than those specified above may result in recording failure or data loss.” Bingo!
So, I went ahead and bought that SanDisk card to replace the Kingston. If I get uninterrupted video for more than ten minutes the next I record an event like the WCWP Hall of Fame ceremony, I’ll know I made the right decision. And I’ll save a ton of money.
The moral is simple: Read the manual!
5/3 UPDATE: The SanDisk card arrived this afternoon. Putting it in did the trick! My camcorder successfully recorded about an hour and a half of video while I went to and from Sunrise Mall (Westfield Sunrise) in East Massapequa. There was no corruption; all files (3.89 GB at a time) played and could be scrolled through in Windows Media Player.
I also tested my Tascam DR-03 audio recorder while I was out. It recorded the same length of time as the camcorder successfully with a SanDisk 16 GB microSDHC card.
2012 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony April 29, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Media, Music, Photography, Radio.add a comment
Later Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21, 2022, 2023
Thursday night, I was at the Tilles Center Atrium at LIU Post for the first ever WCWP Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The inaugural inductees were Art Beltrone, Hank Neimark, Dr. Herb Coston, and Prof. Virgil Jackson Lee. The latter two were inducted posthumously.
You can see the rest of my pictures from this fantastic night in my public Facebook photo album. Enjoy!
10/17 UPDATE: On Saturday, at Homecoming, the WCWP’s 2013 Hall of Fame class will be announced. That has inspired me to post pictures from the 2012 induction ceremony to this post rather than refer you to Facebook.
Desserts, coffee, milk, and tea were served:
Pete Bellotti, Mike Phillips, Jeff Kroll, Phil Lebowitz:
The view from where I placed my camcorder:
(Too bad I had an incompatible memory card.)
Pete Bellotti and Tracy Burgess:
The plaques:
Roger Luce was the host:
Dr. Paul Forestell, LIU Post Provost:
Noel Zahler, Dean of Post’s School of Visual and Performing Arts:
Dan Cox, the WCWP Station Manager, read a statement from a relative of the late Prof. Virgil Jackson Lee:
Twice during the ceremony, Tracy Burgess interviewed a WCWP alum. First up was Bernie Bernard:
Bernie got a round of applause:
Hank Neimark was introduced by two friends. First, Jay Elzweig…
And then Jon Korkes:
Bill Mozer introduced Art Beltrone:
Then, Roger concluded the ceremony:
I didn’t want to create photo confusion between the professional photographer and myself. So, after this one, the remaining pictures are candid shots:
It was quite a night at Tilles. Congratulations to the inaugural inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame.
Will Donato & Elan Trotman at Houndstooth recap March 12, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Basketball, Hockey, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Sports, Travel, TV, Video.add a comment
Saturday night, to coin a borrow a previously used term, was saxtacular! Saxophonists Will Donato and Elan Trotman performed at Houndstooth Pub, a few blocks north of Penn Station. It was the first time I’d seen Will in concert, but the second for Elan, who I saw last April with Brian Simpson.
But before taking the LIRR to Penn Station and walking those few blocks to Houndstooth, something noteworthy occurred in my neighborhood and another thing in my family. It was my mother Lisa’s birthday. My presents to her were two scratch-off lottery tickets, she won $2 with each, and a Chicago CD. As for the noteworthy neighborhood event, a curbside tree by my neighbor’s house was taken down by a crew from what I assume was the Town of Hempstead. They also removed a tree a block north and west away on Thursday.
Here are two before vidcaps. This one is from February 5, 1995:
And from November 11, 2011:
The next three are after pictures that I took before going to Wantagh’s LIRR station:
I suppose the next step is to redo the sidewalk.
With that business out of the way, on to the show at Houndstooth.
Backing Will and Elan up were Jay Rowe on keyboards:
Kenny Harris on bass:
And Chris Marshak, brother of guitarist Matt Marshak, on drums:
I was on hand for the first set. Elan went first. Here’s what he played:
Elan Trotman:
1. Lil’ Too Late
2. 100 Degrees
3. Heaven in Your Eyes
4. Last Dance
Jay’s second solo on “Heaven in Your Eyes”:
Elan made way for Will Donato:
Will Donato:
5. New Life
6. I’ll Be Around
7. Jaywalking
8. Always You
9. Funkability
Guitarist JJ Sansaverino joined the band for Will’s portion of the set, seen here during his “New Life” solo:
Will went into the audience multiple times:
“Jaywalking” began with a bass solo by Kenny Harris:
And he had a simple “it’s you” vocal on “Always You”:
That song also had a wild guitar solo by JJ:
Back into the audience during “Funkability”:
He even went behind the bar!:
After “Funkability,” the set was complete.
And what a wild set it was! Elan was exciting and Will was lively! I can only imagine how much wilder the second set must have been. Before I left, I got to meet Elan and Will in person for the first time. Elan told me he liked my Brian Simpson show recap and I thanked him for the compliment.
On the way back to Penn Station, I remembered that the championship game for the Big East Tournament was taking place that night at Madison Square Garden. Before walking into Penn, I took a picture of the tournament’s banner:
In the championship game, the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 50-44. About twelve hours later on the same basketball court, the Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers squared off. Unfortunately, the Sixers won. After the game, the court was taken apart and the hockey rink was set up as the Rangers faced the Islanders a few hours later. The Rangers won 4-3 on a Marion Gaborik goal with six seconds left in overtime.
Back on Saturday night, the 10:45 Babylon-bound train was a few minutes late, but I made it back to Wantagh on time.
Thanks to Will, Elan, Jay, Kenny, Chris, JJ, Steve Butler, and Ed Tankus for another great night at Houndstooth.
11:47 PM UPDATE: After posting this recap and linking to it on Facebook, Elan had this to say:
Nice job – yet again. Really nice work.
Thank you again, Elan. I’m very glad you liked it.
I also got this from Will:
Mike I really enjoyed your amazing blog. The photos really captured the night and I am honored to be reviewed with such passion and care!
Thank you, too, Will.
MikeChimeri.com 
The Barclays at Bethpage Black recap August 27, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Commentary, Golf, Internet, Media, News, Personal, Photography, Sports, Travel, TV, Weather.add a comment
For the first time in three years, Bethpage Black Golf Course in Farmingdale hosted a PGA Tour event. This time, it was The Barclays.
The weather this year was much better than it was at the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open Golf Championships, especially than the latter. It was rain-free.
Earlier in the year, my dad got final round tickets for me and him. Before we get to a recap of that, here are recaps of the first three rounds:
Round 1 recap
Round 2 recap
Round 3 recap
After Nick Watney’s third round struggles, I predicted that Sergio Garcia, the leader going into the final round would win. I was wrong.
Unlike at the two U.S. Opens the Black hosted, cell phones were allowed, but had to be on silent or vibrate. My phone was on vibrate as I provided live updates throughout the day on Facebook. Here’s how that went:
11:23 AM: “I’m headed to Jones Beach where a shuttle will take me and my dad (and other passengers) to Bethpage Black Golf Course at Bethpage State Park. We’ll be catching the final round of The Barclays. Golf Channel coverage runs from 12:00 to 1:30, followed by CBS from 2:00 until play concludes, which should be around 6:00.”
12:03 PM: “I’m on the bus headed to Bethpage Black. I saw some license plates in the parking lot from as far away as Michigan and Tennessee. Also, New Jersey, Connecticut, [Massachusetts,] and Maryland.”
12:21 PM: “Almost at Bethpage Black. I plan on following the second-to-last pairing: Kevin Stadler [son of Craig] and Brandt Snedeker [‘SNED-uh-kur’].”
1:32 PM: “I ended up following Phil Mickelson and John Senden for the first two holes, then stopped at a concession stand. We’ll catch up with Stadler and Snedeker at the 3rd.” Despite shooting a 76, the fans loved him, as I could tell from the wild cheers I heard at 17 later in his round.
I put my phone down until Stads and Sneds were halfway through.
3:32 PM: 9 holes down, 9 to go.
Then, I waited another five holes before writing another update.
4:46 PM: “Crossing Round Swamp Rd. 4 holes to go.”
After the pair’s second shots at 15, Dad and I jumped ahead to the last three holes. Then, the updates became more frequent…
5:02 PM: “Skipped to 16th fairway. CBS’s [course reporter] Peter Kostis is to my right.”
5:18 PM: “Up to 17th green. Live CBS feed is on video leaderboard.”
5:26 PM: “Now at 18th fairway. Again, a leaderboard with CBS’s feed is straight ahead. The green is to the left.”
By this time, the drunk fans that are wont to cheer too loud, yell catchphrases out of context (i.e. “GET IN THE HOLE!” on a tee shot at a par 4 or 5), paraphrase the “Olé” song using Nick Watney’s surname (as I heard on my DVR later), and heckle players they don’t like (Sergio Garcia) got to me:
5:34 PM: “It’s not fun when a reserved guy like me is next to enthusiastic and/or drunk fans.” Sober fans acquitted themselves well, as they always do.
5:36 PM: “Snedeker and Stadler are on the green. Sergio Garcia and leader Nick Watney are approaching.”
5:39 PM: “Last pairing in fairway. CBS’s [other course reporter] David Feherty walked by, got cheers.”
5:44 PM: “Watney’s on the green, Sergio’s in the bunker, to the delight of some fans. I feel sorry for him.” A “USA” chant broke out as if we were at the Ryder Cup, speaking of out of context. And there were two Spanish people standing next to us. I felt sorry for them, too. I finished the update by saying “[t]he crowd at the green is cheering.”
5:47 PM: “Sergio bogeyed. The stage is set for Watney.” He birdied!
5:49 PM: “Put it in the books.” That’s what Mets radio announcer Howie Rose says after a win. “Nick Watney has won The Barclays. Final score: -10.”
5:52 PM: “Feherty interviewed Watney for CBS [briefly interrupted by Nick embracing his wife], then off to sign the scorecard and back to 18 for the trophy presentation.”
5:53 PM: “Leaderboard reads ‘Congratulations Nick Watney, 2012 Champion’ with a headshot of him.”
5:58 PM: “CBS’s Ian Baker-Finch is [hosting] the presentation.”
5:59 PM: “The champion is back.”
6:06 PM: “After getting the trophy, Finchy [one of Ian’s nicknames] interviewed him. He ‘couldn’t be happier,’ ‘overjoyed.’ He thanked volunteers, fans, and wife. After the interview, he hoisted the trophy.” His cousin Heidi, of the soon-to-launch Time Warner Cable SportsNet in Los Angeles, was also there.
With The Barclays complete, it was time to go home.
6:07 PM: “Now, we’re walking to the shuttle bound for Jones Beach.”
6:24 PM: “The shuttle is departing…”
6:48 PM: “Walking to the car at Jones Beach. Next stop: home.”
7:19 PM: “I got home about ten minutes ago. Phew.”
I ate a hearty meal of pasta and watched some of my DVR of CBS’s coverage, but not before taking two pictures.
This is how I looked as I walked the course:
My ticket stub, pins, and two copies of both the spectator guide and final round pairings:
Here are the post-round links:
PGATour.com:
Round 4 recap
Nick Watney press conference
Daily Wrap-up
Results
PGA Tour Replay podcast
Newsday (subscription needed)
New York Daily News
Golf Channel:
Doug Ferguson: Watney wins Barclays; Garcia 4 back
Jason Sobel: Watney becoming more comfortable in spotlight
Barclays photo gallery
Rex Hoggard: Watney’s psychologist credited for Barclays win
The day after, I returned to Bethpage by bus and by foot, taking these pictures along the way:
Welcome sign at Farmingdale LIRR station:
This sign was up approaching Round Swamp Road while walking west on Bethpage Road:
The next three pictures were taken from Round Swamp Road:
This sign was at the main entrance on Quaker Meeting House Road:
After the above picture, I made my way back to Quake Meeting House Road. The inside of the park was closed until three days later.
This was the last relevant shot of the day before heading home:
The Barclays returns to Bethpage Black in 2016, part of a four-year rotation with other New York area courses. I hope the weather is as great as it was this year. Congratulations again to Nick Watney, your 2012 Barclays Champion. Best of luck in the final three FedExCup Playoff events.
NOTE: I decided to write entirely in the past tense rather than the present except for “yesterday” referring to when the final round was played. I did this despite “the day after” being today and “three days later” being Thursday, among other examples.
8/15/21 UPDATE: The PGA Tour will be replacing this tournament, renamed The Northern Trust, with the FedEx Cup Championship. That means this year’s tournament, the 55th, will be the last.