Overtime

I just got off the phone with New Canaan football coach Lou Marinelli and in his words “it is 99 percent certain” the FCIAC title game against Darien Thanksgiving morning will be played at Dunning Field.

There was some talk of moving the game to Boyle Stadium because of the huge crowd expected. Right now New Canaan is estimating it can accommodate a crowd of 4,000 and 3,500 tickets were sold the first two days they went on sale. Boyle could handle about twice as many fans.

Marinelli met with his players today and they agreed: they do not want to give up the home-field advantage, especially after playing on the road for six straight weeks before last weekend’s game against Wilton.

“I feel we owe it to our kids and the community to keep it in New Canaan and be selfish about it,” Marinelli said.

Marinelli said he was told last week by Jay Egan, the school’s athletic director, and administrators that the decision was his to make. Unless something has changed, Marinelli plans on walking into Egan’s office tomorrow morning and telling him to prepare for the biggest crowd in the history of Dunning Field.

“I talked to the kids and they agreed that whether we have 8,000 people or 4,000 people, we all thought it was important to keep the game at home for several reasons, including out of respect for a lot of the people in New Canaan who wouldn’t come to the game if it was in Stamford,” Marinelli said.

Expect New Canaan to take some criticism this week for not moving the game to get the largest crowd possible.

But you really can’t get on the Rams for wanting to maintain their home-field advantage. When Staples and Greenwich played for the FCIAC title last year under similar circumstances the game wasn’t moved. The same thing happened seven years ago when Greenwich and Danbury met on Thanksgiving for the championship.

Most schools under the circumstances would want to maintain their edge. You can’t blame New Canaan for doing so, though a lot of fans unable to get tickets no doubt will.

If anything should change tomorrow, the deadline for making a move, we will have the information for you.

Word has leaked out about the possibility that the FCIAC championship game between New Canaan and Darien may be moved to Boyle Stadium Thanksgiving morning. I learned about this yesterday morning and spoke both to New Canaan’s athletic director, Jay Egan, and coach, Lou Marinelli, and all I can tell you is as of right now no decision has been made.

Egan understandably has tried to keep the possibility out of the press for fear that there could be a lot of talk about moving the game and then nothing happens. He is trying to limit any confusion. But a lot of people have been inquiring about the situation so here is a thumbnail sketch.

Tickets went on sale Thursday at the two schools and 3,500 were sold in two days. Egan said the school can reasonably handle around 4,000 people. So the possibility was raised about moving the game to Boyle Stadium, which can hold about 6,000-7,000.

The decision is New Canaan’s call and right now the people involved are torn about what to do. The Rams don’t want to give up the home-field advantage. They also played six straight games on the road before hosting Wilton a week ago yesterday.

On the other hand, there is something to be said about getting the chance to play before what would be one of the biggest crowds for an FCIAC game in recent memory.

Two other variables: Egan is concerned about the problem of a huge traffic nightmare becoming exacerbated by people without tickets taking up parking spaces and then being unable to get into a sold-out game. And the playing surface at Boyle is the first-generation turf that is as hard as a rock.

Marinelli said yesterday he really was conflicted about what to do. He said he planned on talking to his players today to get their input.

What is the right answer? I don’t think there is one. New Canaan cannot be faulted for not wanting to sacrifice a home game. There is also the allure of the huge crowd and the New Canaan people wanting to make tickets available to everyone.

All I can tell you with any certainty is a decision will be made by early afternoon tomorrow. Stamford and Westhill will be playing their holiday game at Boyle the night before.

Check back and we will have updates as they become available.

The New Canaan-Darien sports rivalry is as intense and passionate as any in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference. No matter the sport, players and coaches from both sides have the date of their meetings circled on the calendar.

The schools’ annual Thanksgiving football game is the benchmark, drawing the biggest crowds of the year. With the teams’ contest this year for the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship, the buildup and anticipation is perhaps greater than at any time in their 80-year history.

And if today is any indication, the scene at New Canaan High School Thursday morning is going to be electric. Tickets went on sale today and, according to New Canaan athletic director Jay Egan, 1,500 have already been sold.

The presale will continue and Egan strongly suggested that fans buy their tickets as quickly as possible because there is a possibility sales will be cut off if demand is too strong. Egan said right now the anticipated limit is around 5,000 people.

Tickets can be purchased from the athletic departments at both schools. Prices are $7 during the presale and, if there are any remaining, $8 the day of the game.

Check back here for more news and stories as the countdown to the Turkey Bowl showdown has begun.

One of the more bizarre scenes of the fall sports season took place this afternoon at Wethersfield High School. The Stamford High field hockey team won its second straight state title after playing Simsbury to a 1-1 tie to produce co-champions.

It was strange enough to have a deadlock that denied both teams the kind of celebration associated with a championship.

Because the CIAC was not prepared for the outcome, it had just one plaque and set of medallions for the winning team. It was decided that Simsbury would take home the plaque and Stamford the medallions.

Though the Black Knights will eventually get a plaque, the players wanted to get a picture on the field with it. So Emily Powers, one of the team’s senior co-captains, went up to Simsbury coach Pamela Hammersmith and asked if she could borrow the plaque. Hammersmith would not relinquish it.

Powers is one of the friendliest and least imposing looking players on the team. Did Hammersmith think Powers was going to take the plaque and make a dash for the bus?

In the end, the Stamford players used the same resourcefulness it took to win their second straight state title. They posed with the runner-up plaque and made sure to cover up the part that said “runner-up.”

The Stamford High School field hockey team will hold its final practice of the season tomorrow afternoon. Then it will meet at Bobby Valentine’s for its final team dinner.

Then on Saturday morning the Black Knights will face Simsbury for the state title.

With a victory they would become the first team in school history to ever win consecutive CIAC championships.

“That would mean so much,” said forward Katie Pape. “To do something no one else has ever done.”

What has been most illuminating in recent days is the way the seniors on the team have said a win this year would be even more significant, though players usually remember their first championship.

“Winning it once was excellent,” said defender Emily Powers. “To go back to back….” To win it again would mean so much.”

Last year the Black Knights finished 17-4-0-1 and were a strong team from start to finish. This year they had the potential to be just as talented, but the road proved to be long and winding.

One of the team’s key players quit toward the end of the preseason. Madi McLaughlin, who set a city scoring record last year with 26 goals, injured her knee midway through the regular season and did not regain her form until the state tournament started. Two key players were suspended for the final two games of the regular season.

Stamford headed into the state tournament with a 9-6-2 mark after going 3-5-1 in its previous nine games.

It was a situation that would have sank most teams. But the players on the Black Knights have two important qualities: talent and character. Pape said the players practiced on their own for four days between the league and state playoffs, without coach Matt Forker, and that it allowed them to bond again.

“For some reason we work better at motivating ourselves more than anyone else,” said Pape, who is one of the team’s four captains, along with Powers, McLaughlin and Laura Dembofsky. “That’s when we started to click.”

The Black Knights have always had the tools to be in their current position. It just took them a little longer than expected to realize it.

“The confidence level is high this year like last year,” Powers said. “Last year going into the final our whole season had gone well and we thought there was no way we were going to lose. This year it has been a little bit more of a roller coaster ride, a lot bumpier.”

The Black Knights have smoothed that pavement with four straight wins in the tournament, the last three coming against the No. 1, 4 and 5 seeds. Simsbury is the second seed.

“Going into the tournament we didn’t realize how good we were,” Pape said. “We thought of ourselves as average girls. That’s why we are so confident now, because we have worked so hard. We’re so excited.”

There is also something about winning a title as a senior, the players agreed, that resonates deeper. For someone like Powers, who does not play any sports, this is the final game of her high school career.

“This is it,” she said. “To go out on top would mean so much. I think because it is the last time it would mean even more.”

And the chance to make Stamford High School sports history in the process.

Ten years ago I left The Advocate for a job at ESPN, which turned out to be the worst one I ever had in my life. I quit six months later without having another position and eventually returned to the paper.

Most people cannot understand why I would leave Dick Vitale, Keith Olbermann and the world of professional and big-time college sports for Stamford High, Westhill, Trinity Catholic and the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference.

I thought about the reason why again tonight as I was driving home from Hamden after watching the Stamford field hockey team defeat top-seeded Glastonbury, 2-1, in the semifinal round of the state tournament. Sometimes the best stories are not provided by the biggest stars playing at the highest levels, but by good people right in your own backyard.

And a big part of the allure of a community paper for me has always been the people. Hearing someone tell you they still have stories you wrote about them in their scrapbook has meant more than all the World Series and NCAA Tournament games I have been fortunate enough to cover.

The Stamford field hockey team is just a perfect example of this sentiment. I’m not a big field hockey fan — I don’t hate it and I’m not militant like many who don’t understand the rules and detest the constant whistles. There are just other sports I prefer. Yet I will gladly be getting up early Saturday morning to drive to Wethersfield to watch the Black Knights attempt to win their second straight state title.

A big reason is the players on the Stamford team and Matt Forker, their coach. They are impossible not to like. At a local paper you really get to know who you write about.

I remember Katie Pape when she was a little kid running around the Trinity gymnasium during her brother’s basketball games. Now she is one of the stars others look up to. Madi McLaughlin and Laura Dembofsky loathe losing more than any high school athletes I have met, and they are as gifted at making others laugh as they are scoring goals and dominating games. There isn’t a nicer person in Stamford than Emily Powers, a great defender and huge sports fan who I have no doubt can handle my old job at ESPN one day if she wants it. Heather Wilson is a thoughtful interview with a memorable smile. And a pretty clutch player in goal.

This is not to imply that the Stamford field hockey team is the only one who has roused such sentiments. There have been many others. It is just the latest example of why I am one of the fortunate few who get up in the morning and enjoy going to work.

Good kids and good coaches inspire journalists. It is a challenge to make your words live up to their deeds.

They can even make you look forward to getting up early on a Saturday morning and driving an hour to watch a field hockey game.

After a month of talking to league officials and coaches, and tossing together a few ideas of my own, I have solved the FCIAC’s problem with the football schedule…..to my own personal satisfaction.

Check out my column tomorrow for The Ruden Plan. It is really quite simple. The championship game has to regain priority over the Thanksgiving games. If you do that — and the championship game should ALWAYS take priority — you can overcome all the obstacles created by a 19-team league and a number of bylaws.

Unfortunately, as you will read, my idea will probably never see the light of day.

Let me know what you think.

A few thoughts from Friday’s games:

— Everyone should know by now that seedings in the state playoffs can be misleading and the word “upset” is overused. Teams with more losses playing in strong leagues are often more formidable than others with better records from weaker leagues.

So no one should be surprised by the Stamford High School field hockey team’s current run into the semifinals of the Class L Tournament after its 2-1 overtime win over Pomperaug. Half of their six losses can directly be attributed to one of the Black Knights’ key players, Madi McLaughlin, suffering a mideseason knee injury and the two-game suspensions handed to two starters at the end of the regular season.

Stamford, the 13th seed, is the defending state champion, and after some ups and downs it is now operating at top form, and while the rest of the road will be difficult, starting with a semifinal game against top-seeded Glastonbury, there is no reason the Black Knights cannot repeat.

It was especially fitting that center midfielder Laura Dembofsky scored the winning goal Friday. She is no stranger to the dramatic, having scored the clinching goal in last year’s championship game. She had been frustrated the past few weeks by her inability to finish plays. For the second straight year she came through in the clutch.

— The Staples boys soccer team played a near-perfect game in its 5-0 quarterfinal dismantling of E.O. Smith, The Wreckers are young, and after winning the FCIAC title it would not have been surprising if they suffered a letdown in the state playoffs.

But the team’s inexperience is actually an asset. The players don’t seem to realize how skilled they are and, more importantly, are totally impervious to pressure.

That is a pretty good combination as the Wreckers prepare to meet Glastonbury in the semifinals in what continues to be a special 50th year anniversary celebration for the program.

— The Westhill High School football team is a perfect candidate for a psychiatrist’s couch. The Vikings have a lot of talent, but they are also maddeningly inconsistent. They went from 0-2 and looking at a miserable season, to 4-2 and the prospects of their first winning record in over two decades, now to 4-5 following their third straight loss, 25-14 to Trumbull.

The Vikings played well enough to win in stretches and poorly enough to lose in others. Now the trick will be trying to salvage their year by at least splitting their two remaining games. It won’t be easy: they have to play Greenwich and Stamford.