The Top 10 Polls heading into Week 7.
New Canaan drops, but not far in most polls, everybody else moves up a notch. Masuk moves into the No. 2 spot in
NHR TOP 10 MEDIA
| Rank | Team (1st place) | Record | Pts | Prev. |
| 1. | Xavier (15) | 6-0 | 700 | 1 |
| 2. | Masuk (7) | 6-0 | 676 | 3 |
| 3. | Staples (2) | 6-0 | 634 | 4 |
| 4. | Berlin | 6-0 | 525 | 5 |
| 5. | West Haven | 6-0 | 506 | 7 |
| 6. | Darien | 6-0 | 455 | 8 |
| 7. | Ansonia | 6-0 | 361 | 9 |
| 8. | New Canaan | 5-1 | 287 | 2 |
| 9. | Naugatuck | 6-0 | 266 | 10 |
| 10. | NFA | 6-0 | 261 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Hyde (6-0), 198; Ridgefield (5-1), 194; Trumbull (5-1), 154; Bristol Eastern (6-0), 136; Hall (6-0), 133; Hand (5-1), 107; Glastonbury (5-1), 104; New London (5-1), 90; Windsor (5-1), 78; Southington (5-1), 70; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (6-0), 51; St. Joseph (4-2), 32; Pomperaug (5-1), 31; Montville (5-1), 23; Notre Dame-West Haven (3-3), 20; Cheshire (2-4), 12; Stamford (4-2), 9; Greenwich (4-2), 7.
The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, Sporting News CT; Jim Bransfield, Middletown Press; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, Norwalk Hour; Kevin Duffy, Danbury News-Times; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, New Britain Herald; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Dave Phillips, Shoreline Times; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; John Silver, Manchester Journal Inquirer; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.
CSWA TOP 10 MEDIA
| Rank | Team (1sr Place) | Record | Points | Prev. |
| 1. | Xavier (14) | 6-0 | 402 | 1 |
| 2. | Masuk (10) | 6-0 | 397 | 2 |
| 3. | Staples (4) | 6-0 | 373 | 4 |
| 4. | Berlin | 6-0 | 320 | 5 |
| 5. | West Haven | 6-0 | 289 | 7 |
| 6. | Darien | 6-0 | 270 | 8 |
| 7. | Ansonia | 6-0 | 206 | 9 |
| 8. | New Canaan | 5-1 | 153 | 3 |
| 9. | Norwich Free Academy | 6-0 | 148 | NR |
| 10. | Hyde Leadership | 6-0 | 143 | 10 |
Also Receiving Votes: Naugatuck 6-0 120; Ridgefield 5-1 68; Trumbull 5-1 63; Glastonbury 5-1 58; New London 5-1 50; Bristol Eastern 6-0 49; Windsor 5-1 49; Southington 5-1 47; Hall 6-0 40; Montville 5-1 32; Daniel Hand 5-1 29; Valley Regional/Old Lyme 6-0 20; St. Joseph 4-2 9; Lyman Hall 5-1 8; Greenwich 4-2 5; Wethersfield 6-0 5; Coginchaug 5-0 3; Stamford 4-2 3; North Haven 5-1 1
Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Ray Curren (Elm City Newspapers), Anthony Della Calce (New Britain Herald), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 104.7 FM), Mark Fijalkowski (CT Sports Network), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Larry Kelley (Patch.com), Bob Lazzari (Valley Times), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Eric Montgomery (Minuteman Newspapers), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Dave Phillips (Shoreline Times), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)
DAY OF NEW LONDON COACHES
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Prev. |
| 1. | Xavier (9) | 6-0 | 380 | 1 |
| 2. | Masuk (3) | 6-0 | 368 | 2 |
| 3. | Staples (1) | 6-0 | 338 | 3 |
| 4. | Berlin | 6-0 | 274 | 5 |
| 5. | West Haven | 6-0 | 262 | 6 |
| 6. | Darien | 6-0 | 238 | 9 |
| 7. | Ansonia | 6-0 | 212 | 8 |
| 8. | Norwich Free Academy | 5-1 | 202 | NR |
| 9. | Naugatuck | 6-0 | 185 | 10 |
| 10. | New Canaan | 6-0 | 126 | 4 |
Also receiving votes: Bristol Eastern (6-0), 115 points; Hyde-New Haven (6-0), 87; St. Joseph-Trumbull (4-2), 82; Wethersfield (6-0), 78; Hand-Madison (5-1), 64; Windsor (5-1), 54; Glastonbury (5-1), 49; Southington (5-1), 39; North Haven (5-1), 27; Tie, Hall-West Hartford (6-0) and Montville (5-1), 22; Tie, Ridgefield (5-1) and Trumbull (5-1), 20; New London (5-1), 18; Bridgeport Central (4-2), 11; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (6-0), 8; Tie, Pomperaug-Southbury (5-1) and Manchester (4-2), 7.
The following coaches voted: Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Dave Cadelina, Bridgeport Central; Chuck Drury, Pomperaug-Southbury; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Tanner Grove, Montville; Jude Kelly, St. Paul-Bristol; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Sean Marinan, Xavier-Middletown; Sal Morello, Middletown; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.
i cant believe NDWH isnt in the polls!
Why? They are 3 and 3 and got beat by WH.
Interesting… looks like Bristol Eastern is about to crack the top 10 (coach’s poll). They are definitely nothing like the dominant 2007 BE team. Just take a look at who they’ve played and their margin of victory. They’ve only been dominant against below-average teams. The same goes for Berlin. I can’t believe Berlin is ranked #4 in all 3 polls and they’ve played no one. Also interesting that BE and Berlin are playing each other in week 7. The only CCC teams that should be considered for the top 10 polls are Glastonbury and Southington. Of course, I wouldn’t expect anyone on this blog to know any of this, since you pay no attention to central/northern CT teams. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the season/post-season plays out…
@CCFan – I’ve got Southington-Glastonbury-Windsor bunched together, actually, somewhere in my Top 15. Berlin people are voting high by default as teams they voted higher get bumped and they just move Berlin ahead. (How some voters in the CSWA poll actually give Berlin first-place votes is beyond me).
I admit, I haven’t seen any CCC team outside of Bristol Eastern on TV and even then briefly. I try to cull opinions (And opinions I respect) on them.
NDWH IS in the polls. Just not in the top 10. They are “also receiving votes” in the NHR Media Poll…and that’s the most important one!
Anyway, New Canaan is now ranked right where IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RANKED BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED at #8. People all over the state hear “New Canaan” and think of all the winning and tradition and championshps, but, as a person who follows that league very closely, this is NOT the same New Canaan team of two years ago when Quinn was slinging the ball around to Ondash at warpspeed and was clearly yhe best team in Connecticut. Heck, I’m not sure this year’s team is as good as last year! Milano is a good qb, but not quite in Baty’s class (I mean ON the field, LOL) The run defense is suspect, and, as we saw last year, the Rams go through periods where the spread offense just doesn’t click for 3 or 4 possession in a row. A LOT of tnat has to do with losing their O.C. to one of the Fairfield schools after that ’08 undefeated season. New Canaan will lose 2 or 3 games this season. Probably 3 if they make the states.
I don’t want to start a war but I have seen most CCC top teams with the exception of Southington and Glastonbury and Hall.My early thought is that only Berlin has the chance to advance to the State Final.Bristol Eastern and Windsor are nice teams but would struggle for perfection in some of the more competitive leagues.
who the hell is NFA
SPB – I think you do a great job covering high school football, I only wish you had the time to cover all of it! All we really have up here is the Hartford Courant and, well, it’s the Hartford Courant… Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing how the top CCC teams do in the playoffs this year. Hopefully, a couple can compete with the other top teams in the state…
High School Football Fan – I actually agree with you, for the most part. However, you said it yourself, you haven’t seen Glastonbury or Southington play yet. Both seem to be getting better with every game…
LOL @ #7
Though neither will involve teams covered by this fine blog, two games between unbeatens are on this weekend’s slate: Bristol Eastern at Berlin, and Valley Regional at Coginchaug.
Jim Bransfield of the Middletown Press, who has seen Coginchaug play, wrote this morning: “If Coginchaug is as good as it looks to be, the time to start proving that begins Friday night”. No predictions here. It’s possible that they won’t so prove. But here’s hoping the Blue Devils do.
Listen as long as you know that you’re being homers you should continue your homering in peace. But…
Berlin won states last year and is as solid a program as there is in the state. Even if they lose this weekend (they won’t) they’ll still win states. Bethel was TRUCKED last year by Berlin. Was a joke. Was wondering it their coach would have to serve a suspension for breaking 50 in the championship game…
Valley Regional has the single most productive offensive player in the state. Kid is averaging like 180 yards rushing and 150 yards passing a game or some nonsense. Valley Regional might be the best team in the Pequot this year. Prediction: The winner of class S will come out of this conference AGAIN this year.
Coginchaug hasn’t beaten ANYONE yet. They are 5-0 against nobodies but they’ve absolutely trounced those nobodies. They’ve got some players. They’ve won like 19 of their last 20 games. Long road ahead with Valley, Hyde, North Branford, and Cromwell to finish up the year though.
If I was going to one game in the state this weekend it would be Valley vs Coginchaug. Winner of this game wins out on the year and is top ranked in class S going into the playoffs.
Bristol Eastern has had a great run but they’ll win out after its loss to Berlin and still end up in the playoffs.
@Amusing – Love the late night Valley – Coginchaug – Berlin talk.
Sprite- relax, NC loses one game by 1 point because they went for 2 and its “i told you so”…NC has a lot of talent that will be there…they will not lose again in the regular season.
Forget all this two point conversion talk. New Canaan will lose three of the next four games and you will not hear from them until 2015.
How is North Haven at 5-1 and just beat NDWH, not even getting votes?
amusing——apparently you havent seen montrell dobbs
by the way #2, thats called sarcasim
your right coach c,you gotta understand the nhr voting,ndwh can lose 5 games and still be ranked ask roto rooter
Ansonia should be ranked higher!!!
HOW BOUT DEM HOGS!!! RAY
I don’t think that Xavier will finish the year #1. The Masuk Panthers will.
Masuk will finish #1 if Xavier/West Haven/Staples all have a loss.
Amusing – I agree that Berlin will beat Bristol Eastern this weekend and that they may even win the class M state championship (New London may be better). However, that doesn’t make them the 4th best team in the state… I also agree that Bristol Eastern will win the remainder of their games after the Berlin loss, making them 9-1. They will definitely be in the playoffs, but they will not last long…
JEB – New Canaan had all of the momentum. If they had scored one point in the first half they would’ve won. With that said I think New Canaan will stay undefeated for the regular season because they showed that they can comeback from anything.
About 2015 NC has a junior qb, 2 starting junior wr two starting o line man and their d has 5 junior starters. Their a threat for this and next year. As long as Lou Marinelli is there they will always be a threat.
In running some numbers and looking at schedules of teams and opponets wins and losses still to come, It looks like Xavier, Staples, Hall, NFA, West Haven,Gbury, Ridgefield, and Southington all would make it if they finish with just one loss. Pomperaug would be on the outside looking in with one loss though its real close with Southington. Cheshire could beat Southington as well to open the door.
Trumbull’s schedule is tough so I can’t see them finishing with only 1 loss. Newtown still has Masuk and even though they always play them tough I don’t think they beat Masuk this year. With that loss they fall out. (if they ever won out they would leap Southington and and maybe Gbury, and Ridgefield and definetly pomperaug).
It gets interesting if some teams mentioned above fall to 2 losses (Ridgefield loses to trumbull, trumbull loses to staples, Southington to Cheshire, Newtown to Masuk, Hall to Conard and Windsor and NFA to Fitch and New London) then Greenwich if they win out (yikes NC,Joes,Staples) could leap all those 2 loss teams since they would earn a bunch of points from those above opponets.
others like Manchester, Central,Conard really have no shot unless there is a huge collection of 2 loss teams which I don’t anticipate there being. who would have thought games like Weston vs immaculate could have so much meaning each week to those teams needing every 10 points possible from there opponets. Even with 8 teams in each class it’s crazy.
On a closing note the class M and S divisions are sad. Berlin vs New London might be decent but NL has to get there first. The S is awful. After Ansonia and Montville not much there since Joes may not get in and Hyde I don’t know much about.Valley Regional, Coginchaug, SAcred heart, North Branford and a few others would be done by the 1st quarter against the Ansonia’s, Joes, and Montville teams.
I’m a New Canaan FAN, and I’m telling you right now (I hope I’m wrong, by the way) that this team will lose at least 1 out of the next 4 games. Wilton is not bad. You never which Central team is going to show up. Greenwich is impoving every week. And the Darien game is always close. One loss out of those 4 will probably keep the Rams home from the playoffs. I’m hoping we win them all and don’t have to face Masuk in the first round! Masuk is legit!
@Brian, I know you all think so poorly of Sacred Heart but they have a kid who can really throw the football and a reciever who can reallly play. This team’s defense cant stop at a stop sign but they put up points and quickly. Both kids can easily play at the next level. I would keep an eye on Sacred Heart. I dont think much of the Pequot League
Predictions:
LL: CCC
L: SCC
M: CCC
S: Pequot
Not an NVL, SWC, or FCIAC team among them. *Watches the heads of dozens of people explode*
I really just laughed out loud at that, thanks for the humor Pequot
Pequot,
Please state your teams above. I am thinking u might need some help figuring out who is in each of the conferences across the state.
Ansonia Fan,
Just so u know I have nothing against Sacred Heart or any of the other schools I mentioned above in class S. It’s just my opinion that those schools I mentioned can’t play for a half vs montville/Joes/Sonia and I would hate to see a class title game pit that mismatch.
Early Predictions Projected Winner/ Far Left
LL Xavier{SCC Staples {FCIAC} West Haven{SCC}
L Masuk {SWC} New Canaan{FCIAC} Darien {FCIAC} Hand {SCC}
M Berlin{CCC} New London {ECC}
S Montville{ECC}Ansonia{NVL} St Joes{FCIAC}
Hyde/Valley Regional/OldLyme{Pequot}
“I dont think much of the Pequot League”, says AnsoniaFan in post #28 above.
AnsoniaFan, it would appear, doesn’t think much of the league that produced the team that defeated Ansonia for the 2008 Class S championship.
AnsoniaFan, it would appear, doesn’t think much of the league that produced the team that, in winning the 2009 Class S championship, defeated the team that defeated Ansonia in a semi-final.
AnsoniaFan, it would appear, doesn’t think much of Ansonia.
My title predictions as of right know are:
LL Staples vs West Haven (I like Xavier D but not sure offense can score against another good D. Also might have to play the westies twice in less than a month)
L: Darien vs Masuk. Not sure about the Darien pick here but they play D. NC could still get here along with Hand but in Colder weather I like the “Defenses” to get it done.
M: Berlin vs New London. Hopefully NL gets there and is seeded high enough where this can become a final and not a semi.
S: Ansonia vs Montville. I would like to see Joes here but the schedule still is very tough and have to win out just to qualify. Even if they do they could get Ansonia in a semi not the final.
Berlin played Xavier to 7-7 tie for 1 half in preseason, beat masuk 21-0, beat southington 14-0, beat hand 21-14. They have 2 of the best running backs in the state, and one of the better LB/TE’s. This team is legit and has a chance to be the #1 team in the state if some others fall.
The Pequot isn’t even a league
The people up in Ansonia are all excited about playing Derby this week.That shows what a week league NVL is.If your big game is Derby thats pretty lame.Derby couldnt compete in D 2 in SCC .Ansonia wins this game by 40 pts easily.
How on earth is Berlin ranked above teams like Ansonia,West Haven?When WH beats Hand this week thats wins over ND,Cheshire,Hand so how do you not move them up.Who has Berlin played of upper level teams?
@ football fan Dont you understand Pre in pre season.Also I think you made up those scores.My son plays for Masuk and he doesnt remember scrimmaging you
Tony,
As an Ansonia alum, I can tell you we are excited about playing Derby because its a rivalry game. This excitement has to do with this game being an important one in those two towns. Both sides would be excited even if the teams were 0-6. I would never pour cold water on someone else’s rivalry game.
football fan – Pre-season means nothing. Teams are working out the kinks and trying different things. Why don’t we look at their record for the actual season?? Yes, they are 6-0 but the combined record of the 6 teams they’ve beaten is 9-27. All losing teams, with the exception of a mediocre at best 3-3 Bloomfield team. The score of that game against Bloomfield?? 12-6. #1 in the state??? Maybe in class M, but certainly not in the state.
I know MaxPreps is usually completely out of whack, but their current rankings look pretty accurate to me. Notice the placement of Berlin and my choices for the two top CCC teams – Glastonbury and Southington)…
1. Masuk
2. Xavier
3. West Haven
4. Darien
5. Hand
6. Southington
7. Staples
8. Glastonbury
9. Trumbull
10. Ansonia
11. Windsor
12. Ridgefield
13. New London
14. Notre Dame (West Haven)
15. Berlin
16. Montville
17. Bristol Eastern
18. Naugatuck
19. NFA
20. Hall (West Hartford)
@CCCFan Not bad. A little skewed, but not too bad. Probably as good as anybody’s votes out there.
could it be as lame as playing platt tech to break a losing streak?what is D-2 ANYWAY?THATS THE SCC SAYING HALF ITS LEAGUE CANT PLAY.
St. Joes gets in at #8 and plays Ansonia at #1 and continues they’re terror on the NVL by… Your thoughts Ray??
BCBE, lets not get ahead of ourselves whatever you name is, you beat us fair and square. You bit us once, and now you feel so great, we also have been beaten by watertown and stuff recent years. 55-0 shalacking was a game that sticks out in my mind. 14-12 caught a few breaks, you’re nothing to worry about. Keep the hopes up though I like your enthusiasm
Only our buddy from the Valley can take a negative and turn it into a positive.The SCC intentionally divided into 2 divisions to have weekly competition.It does most of the year keep the traditional powers away from the less competitive programs.The NVL has 2 nonsense called divisions that split some of its top programs and intermingles its powerhouses with the Cupcakes a good portion of the year.The NVL and other leagues need to realign their divisions,that is if the so called powerhouses would prefer more stiff competition or if they want to pad their proud history books with the cupcakes week after week and year after year.
Ray-
Perhaps “half the SCC teams can’t play” but definitely three quarters of the NVL teams shouldn’t even be on the field. People that live in glass houses really should not throw stones.
Talk aboaut cupcaake schedules. Who is in charge of making the FCIAC schedule. If its on a rotating schedule then do some homework and try to work around it so some of these powerhouse teams can play each other. No one wants to line up against an inferior team in any sport.
Isn’t the NVL all cupcakes?? Maybe Ansonia is a birthday cake at times.
Okay let me get this straight how many teams does the SCC have and through that crowd of teams who is good? Maybe two of them, then you have sheehan lyman hall, north haven, the vaunted east haven team who lost 36 straight. The FCIAC is so loaded too arent they. Give me a break
I’m an FCIAC guy, and even I admit that the FCIAC schedule is TERRIBLE! SOme teams have it easy (Staples, Darien) and others have it tough (Greenwich, Trumbull). There is NO REASON why teams like New Canaan, Greenwich, Staples, Central, Trumbull, Ridgefield, or Darien should EVER play teams like Bassick, Harding, Ludlowe, or Warde. At LEAST until they prove to the FCIAC COMMITTEE that they can put consistent winners on the field. Having said that, those good teams I mentioned above (Greenwich, Darien, Staples, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Central, Trumbull) should ALL BE PLAYING EACH OTHER EVERY YEAR until one or more of them slips back considerably. This would make for big game every week and great competition! Of course, the league would receive less state playoff bids becuase the teams would be kocking each other out, left and right. But at least they would be playing the best almost every week. But, no, they want their their cozy 9-1 records and their 49-6 scores. Sad.
@Slick Rick – I’d love to see that. Division I FCIAC, Division II FCIAC. …with two-year renewals. Champion is the one standing at the end. That’s what the SCC does.
Here’s the problem: What’s the dividing line? Large/Small and then adjust based on success? It Doesn’t divide evenly
SCC vs FCIAC
Xavier vs Staples
West Haven vs Ridgefield
Hand vs DArien
Wilbur-Cross vs NC
North Haven vs St.Joes
Cheshire vs Greenwich
NDWH vs Trumbull
Shelton vs Central
Amity vs Stamford
every one of these games could go either way. can’t line these up using the ECC,CCC,SWC,NVL and come out even.
3/4 of those teams would not make states! If you gave a team like Darien that schedule or St. Joe’s they would never make it to states even though they would beat 95% of the teams in their class.
Sean:
You would have to divide the FCIAC based on W’s and L’s since there are only two small schools Stjoes and Trinity. I think the SCC based the D1 D2 division on 4 years performance.
Trumbull,Greenwich,Staples,NC,DAnbury,Stamford,Westhill,Ridgefield,Norwalk,Central
Small: Darien,Harding,Bassick,Ludlowe,Warde,TC,Joes,Mcmahon,Norwalk
I would love to switch out darien for westhill but based on school size I can’t. Westhill is like the 3rd largest in the state.
You missed Wilton and have two Norwalks in there. You trying to kill Tucci?
LOL!!, small norwalk should be Wilton.
Class S state champions:
2000: Hyde
2001: Bloomfield
2002: Ansonia
2003: Ansonia
2004: Hyde
2005: Hyde
2006: Ansonia
2007: Ansonia
2008: Cromwell
2009: Hyde
Sooo….
I assume we all agree that some sort of numerical rating system makes more sense than asking a sampling of sportswriters and coaches to precisely rank 143 teams each week (without benefit of live feeds and highlight reels no less). So basically it comes down to how best to make those 10 games each team plays a representative enough sample such that a numerical rating has meaning.
To me, it’s pretty simple deductive logic. If we agree that the current numerical system based on wins and opponent wins makes the most sense, our task is to create identically challenging schedules for each team. While it would be great for fans to see a slate of competitive games each week, this would require separating the wheat from the chaff in each conference such that, by definition, an undefeated team on the chaff side could never qualify for the playoffs. Then we’d have to weight each conference such that, for example, an 8-2 FCIAC or SCC team playing a grueling schedule would be ranked numerically higher than 9-1 teams in other (allegedly) less challenging leagues. Would these weightings be done once each year? Adjusted each week? Regardless, we are now adding in the subjective human element we agreed was best to avoid, essentially creating our own BCS system. Good luck ever getting a consensus approval for that formula!
Which brings us back to inter-conference scheduling. All conferences want their best teams to make the playoffs. As well they should, and as well for the fans who want to see the best teams from each conference face off. Which brings us squarely back to the system in place now. Yes, some years the schedule breaks well for one team or other. This year it’s Darien. But maybe Darien truly is the real deal this year. We can’t lose sight that rating teams that play only 10 games with rosters that have vast turnover each year is fraught with difficulty. Therefore, rather than find the best solution, we have to resign ourselves to find the lesser of evils, which I believe is what we have now. Tweak, yes. Throw out, no.
@Jeff. The only objective way to do it, which is done in almost every other state in the country(including NJ and NY), is to do away with the conferences and just play schools the same size. If you win your distict of like-size schools, you advance in the state tournament. It wouldn’t be completely fair because the southwestern portion of the state tends to have the lion’s share of good L and LL teams, and they would still have a tougher time advancing.
But it wouldn’t allow the Masuks and Pomperaugs of the world to play the majority of their schedules against smaller schools.
Roto, yes, being a very small state presents major problems when trying to divide up teams into regions. With 34 teams in LL this year, three divisions would make sense of 11-12 teams. But despite there being nine counties, 14 of the LL teams would be in Fairfield County, with 11 already in the FCIAC. So much for trying to use geography to solve the problem.
Another difficulty with a small state is the vast difference in school sizes even in one class. For example, Greenwich is 59% bigger than Staples (1427 vs 898), making Staples closer in size, in comparison, to New Canaan (633; a 42% difference). With larger states, you can achieve tighter enrollment groupings which theoretically makes things fairer.
Which again brings me to the same conclusion– that despite obvious imperfections, the alternatives are flawed even more IMO. Enrollment reference: http://www.casciac.org/tournament_packets/fb1011.pdf
BRIAN,
Those SCC vs. FCIAC match-ups were right on. It would be hard to pick a winner in any game. Lets do it.
I would do it with at least 4 districts of 8-9 teams, and the winner and runner-up of each district would advance to the playoffs. (In New York, the regular season schedule is only 6 games). The dividing line for the districts would not necessarily be counties. One reason it won’t be adopted anytime soon in this state is that the playoffs in such a system start before Thanksgiving, which killed Thanksgiving football in New York (aside from a few Catholic schools). In New Jersey, some schools have kept their Thanksgiving game going, even if their season ended weeks beforehand.
Another for instance is Pomperaug at 731 boys. They are actually closer to the lowest class S school (Stamford Academy)who has 72 boys for a difference of 659,then they are the largest LL school (New Britain) at 1481 boys for a difference of 750 boys. If you ask me the old system was way better then the new one. To make it work we could have kept the same format but then have the winners all play each other for a extra game having the 2 highest ranking teams play each other for the top spot. This system you will still have alot of schools with 1 or 2 losses not playing,so where actually is it better?
The Fciac will always have trouble with realignment because as stated above all the Bpt schools must play each other…same goes for Stamford. I personally don’t like the SCC split into 2 divisions. SCC D2 should just be their own league with a different name. It isn’t fair to lump those other teams with the NDWHs, Chesire’s, Hand’s, Xavier’s of the world.
Ray Brown aka Daddywags…what have been Ansonia’s tough games this year?
@LUVSHSB. The system I describe is better because there is certainty that coming in first or second in your district (which may mean you have one or two or three losses) = going to the playoffs. Even if one district is loaded and the teams beat each other up, the second place team with three losses would go to the playoffs. The teams behind them in the standings would have no excuse because everyone in the district played the exact same schedule.
As it stands now, teams play wildly divergent schedules against all different levels of competition/size of schools to qualify for the same tournament.
@What!!!
Good call on the Ray brown AKA Daddywags thing. I suspected it a few days ago when he spelled the same word wrong on both blogs.
i think it was bassick or ludlowe or harding or maybe norwalk,wait wait maybe westhill
BUZZ DONT CONFUSE ANSONIA WITH CROSBY
That is funny. An FCIAC fan like Mr. What!!! and an SCC fan like Dave K stalking the NVL Blog.
You guys like what you see? Do you post? Who you like in the Watertown-Wolcott game?
Ray…those don’t seem like big wins…Now if you would have said Wilby, Seymour, Kennedy, Derby, Wolcott, Watertown, Crosby, Naugy, Woodland, Torrington, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Kennedy, and St. Paul…Could you imagine having to play 10 of these teams…Who would survive a schedule like that? Maybe Ansonia
@Breezy
No reason to post on the NVL blog no dog in the fight. Read it for laughs.
Same here. I love reading about those guys get fired up for the big Derby vs. Ansonia showdown. Who do you like in that game Breezy? Funny that you even know they are playing
@Breezy…what is even funnier is the fact that you actually know those 2 teams are playing
Agreed-the NVL blog is always good for a laugh even though I could care less about Watertown-Wolcott and most other games in that league. Ray Brown/Daddy Wags saves his best, most vitriolic work for that blog.
its easy to post when you back a conference and not a team,its hard to lose a debate when your rooting for 48—-teams,somebody has to be decent.
roto your ndwh team is shot-its gotta be tuff when you have nothing to look forward to but the big hamden showdown—take the rest of the year off and wait for mr.exciting palladinos year to start.
whattt-your right wilby and seymour are very weak,but i dont think i can remember a nvl team almost getting beat by a 12-year old qb.
Dave K, you are just scouting Derby for later in the year right? haha
Red Raiders a live underdog tonight? Some people believe that, not sure if I am one of them.
Solid point in #80 Ray. Many people on here do post with that frame of mind. They are winners every week no matter what happens.
If my point came across wrong, I honestly appreciate the effort Remmy and those guys put into that blog, and I respect the passion those guys have for their teams. I wouldn’t post there because I have nothing to add. As much as I love getting Ray fired up for his predictable rants here, Daddy Wags is much more vicious.
LOL…you are great Ray…I will give you a pass on the 8th grade quarterback comment as you know that Red Lion would beat Ansonia by 2 scores. Only Wilby and Seymour are terrible? What about the other 12 powerhouses I listed? Ansonia will not win Class S this year. No doubt about it
Who
would win thses match-ups
Bassick vs. Kennedy
Westhill vs. Wilby
Holy Cross vs. Trinity
Crosby vs. Brien McMahon
Ludlowe vs. ST. Pauls
Norwalk vs. Sacred Heart
Seymour vs. Harding
Woodlands vs. Danbury
Warde vs. Naugatuck
Derby vs. Wilton
All games are a toss-up if you ask me. Both conferences have their weak teams but the NVL has more weak teams and less teams to choose from.
I don’t give Derby much of a chance. Once the emotion wears off Ansonia will pile it on and Daddywags can have his fun with Old School and Joe the shot
dave k—-its nice to see you on the nvl blog,actually me and the shot are friends,we played on opposite teams in the great ansonia -derby games of the past,so we have something in common-that and beating shelton every year.
ansonia has 1 senior on its whole roster,theyre not supposed to win the s.but they will
davek-actually me and the shot are friends and both played in the greatest high school rivalry in ct .history,so we have some thing in common—that and beating shelton every year we played
Ray-You mean you played for either Darien or New Canaan?
Hey RAy, You played for either New Canaan or Darien?