While Stillwater native Scott Sicko won't be hauling in footballs anytime soon, his decision to step away from the game of football has caught the 6-foot-4 tight end a lot of national publicity.

Today, he was mentioned in Sports Illustrated's Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column, which you can find here.

Sicko's name has also popped up on Yahoo! and other nationally recognized football web sites for his decision to go back to school rather than try his hand at hooking on with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent.

Some people, like this blogger for the Sporting News, don't seem to agree with Sicko's decision.

After talking with him on Sunday evening, I feel confident Sicko is making the best choice for himself.

Could he have made it in the NFL?

His nine touchdowns during the 2009 season and large size (6'4" - 251) suggest he may have been able to stick with a club.

But that's not the point.

Just as we wouldn't criticize someone's choice to pursue a football career had they not been drafted, why would we scrutinize Sicko's decision to continue his education and begin preparing for his career and his life.

I had a chance to cover Glens Falls native Jimmer Fredette a couple of times during his high school career.

It's great that he is doing so well at BYU in his sophomore season.

Fredette and the Cougars will kick off NCAA Tournament coverage tomorrow when they take on ninth-seed Texas A&M at 12:30.

The story also mentions former Section II standout and current Penn State guard Talor Battle and the Albany City Rocks.

Here's the link

The Siena men's basketball team was picked 29th by Sports Illustrated in their preseason men's basketball poll.

It is the highest Sports Illustrated has ranked the Saints since the preseason poll in 1999-2000 listed Siena 26th.

Sports Illustrated picked the Top 20 and then gave 21 through 65 as they filled out their brackets, by picking the winners of each conference.

This is what they said about Siena...

Up-tempo Saints, paced by guard Kenny Hasbrouck, the league tournament MVP, prep for return to NCAAs with tune-ups against Tennessee, Pitt and Kansas.

Here is the two teams ahead and behind Siena.

27. Florida - Sophomore Nick Calathes, one of two players in the nation to average more than 15 points, five boards and six assists, headlines roster of 11 underclassmen.

28. UNLV - Star guard Wink Adams will be joined by Memphis transfer Tre'Von Willis, who averaged 15.2 points and led Runnin' Rebs in assists on summer tour Down Under.

29. Siena

30. Syracuse - Guards Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins return from injury to help relieve sophomore Jonny Flynn, who averaged 39.2 minutes in league play.

31. Temple - Oh Come Owl Ye Faithful: Dionte Christmas, two-time A-10 scoring champ, will help deliver second straight tournament bid to coach Fran Dunphy.

For the record, Sports Illustrated has North Carolina has the No. 1 team.

You can see the rest of the article here...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/ncaa/11/11/best.of.the.rest/index.html?eref=T1

In Joe Lunardi's Bracketology, Siena is a 12-seed in the West Region, playing 4-seed Georgetown.

We could see that matchup much earlier.

If the Saints and Hoyas both win in the first games at the Old Spice Clasic on Thanksgiving, they will meet in the second round.

Sports Illustrated just released their Top 20 men's college basketball teams on Monday for the upcoming season and while Siena was left off of the list and probably for good reason, the writers also published a breakdown of the Top 20.

There were a few questions, including

Who will be this year's Davidson?

If you remember Davidson rode junior guard Stephen Curry to a 29-7 record and a spot in the Elite Eight, where they lost to Kansas (eventual national champion) 59-57.

Here's what Sports Illustrated's writers had to say....

Seth Davis: Besides Davidson, you mean? I'm going with Siena. They return all five starters from the group that routed Vanderbilt in the first round last year. The Saints won't overwhelm anyone with their size (few mid-majors will), but they certainly will not face the athletic deficit that many mid-majors face when they go against the big boys.

Luke Winn: Davidson wasn't in my top 20 - I was a big Jason Richards fan, and still have my doubts about this whole Curry-at-the-point thing working out - so I'm going to pass on the Wildcats in favor of Siena. Ronald Moore, Kenny Hasbrouck and Edwin Ubiles make up as good of a backcourt as you're going to find at any mid-major, and they're all upperclassmen, too. The Saints aren't a mid-major powerhouse on the level with the better teams in the West Coast Conference - they did lose to Memphis by 44 on the road last season, after all - but they've already gained valuable NCAA tournament experience by beating Vanderbilt in the first round. It wouldn't be a huge shock to see Siena make the Sweet 16 as a 12-seed this time around.

Grant Wahl: The easy answer is either "nobody" (since last year's Davidson run wasn't the kind of thing you see every year) or "Davidson" (since that Curry kid is still around). But I'll play along here and spotlight Saint Mary's -- which could use one in that jazz-club-dark gym it plays in. Like Davidson, its star player even has a female-sounding handle! But to call Patty Mills a poor man's Steph Curry would be damning the Aussie with faint praise, considering he put up 20 against Team USA in the Olympics. And the Gaels have more talent down low than Davidson did last season. Forward Diamon Simpson is a menace at both ends of the floor, and I like to call wide-bodied center Omar Samhan the Moraga Mikan. With three heavyweights in Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and San Diego, the West Coast Conference should be must-see TV with its new Thursday night games on ESPN2.

Two out of three ain't bad...

You might remember that Davis has been on the Siena bandwagon since March. During the Selction Show on CBS, he first picked Siena to knock off Vandy when the pairings were announced.

You can read the whole discussion here...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/ncaa/11/10/roundtable/index.html?eref=T1

Less than a week before Siena tips off the season against Boise State on Monday, Nov. 17.