Oneonta and the Soccer Hall of Fame is in everyone’s rear view mirror. The winners are still celebrating in their corners of New York State. The losers are wondering what might have been with a break or two. Hopefully in a few days (maybe weeks, for some) even the kids who came up short will realize what a unique experience it was to make the trip, to be among the chosen few out of 700 New York schools.

And I don’t think I’m saying anything controversial when I say Section 1 was the best overall section in the state. We had more teams in Oneonta (4) than anyone else and more in the finals (3) than anyone else. Only Section 11, which is Suffolk County, can make an argument, because it had two champions. The sections were 1-1 in head-to-heads, with North Salem beating Southold in the Class C quarterfinals and Comsewogue beating Harrison in the Class A finals.

Oneonta was hopping this weekend (relative to Oneonta), and not just because of the games. Apparently it was something called “Soggy weekend” at SUNY Oneonta. Don’t ask me what it means. I just got the info from a friend who used to go there. Every hotel was booked. Fellow reporter Matt Ng and I were lucky to get a room at a sketchy little inn outside of town. Within three minutes of arriving we found out that A) Our reservation for two rooms would not be honored, B) The price that was quoted would not be honored, and C) The wireless internet that was promised didn’t actually exist. Fun.

So, sorry for the lack of blogging over the weekend. We did game updates as best we could through Matt’s Blackberry. Thanks to Matt for typing all that in his tiny little buttons.

Temperatures were warm on the first day, making for a surprisingly pleasant Saturday in upstate New York. Rain would come down suddenly at times but only lasted a couple minutes. Sunday was worse, as the temperature dropped 20 degrees. Suddenly the wind was biting. Plenty of players wore winter hats, which was too bad because it covered their amusing haircuts. I swear, every soccer team shows its solidarity through haircuts. The set of “The Road Warrior” didn’t have this many mohawks.

After every game they brought the teams into the Hall of Fame for a ceremony where the players got to pose on a balcony before friends and family. It was a nice setup. It brought a sense of closure for everybody.