Overtime

The furor over all but one of the Game 5 week games not counting toward the league standings has temporarily died down — though the controversy could soar again next week — but the bottom line right now is that the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference football schedule is a complete and utter mess.

It is embarrassing that the league has to resort to a point system where teams not only have to worry about the outcome of their games, but whether they can accrue enough bonus points depending on how their previous opponents fare. This is a system in theory similar to college football’s BCS over the past few years, and we have all seen what a joke that has turned out to be.

Right now St. Joseph has to worry about beating Wilton tomorrow and hope for wins from Brien McMahon and Danbury to build up bonus points. Is this really how we want the finalists for the league’s title game to be decided?

And if you thing the Week 5 furor was bad a month ago, imagine what will happen if the Cadets win tomorrow and then defeat Darien and reach the final because their loss to Stamford dis not count in the league standings.

I’ve been busy looking into this story for the last couple of weeks, talking to coaches and league officials. I plan on weighing in with my own opinion next week in the paper.

I spent 15 minutes talking with FCIAC executive secretary John Kuczo about this at the title game of the soccer tournaments. Kuczo is as frustrated as everyone, but like everyone feels hamstrung.

A 19-team league creates an impossible scenario. But the bigger problem is league bylaws which mandate that divisions have to be arranged by school size, and that certain teams outside of Thanksgiving Day rivals must meet during the regular season.

There can be no perfect system, but I still believe the current one came be improved. It is going to require the FCIAC to take the bold step of reworking its bylaws for football, which is different than all other sports. Right now you have 19 athletic directors whose agendas vary.

Not everyone is going to be happy, but right now the overwhelming priority should be to come up with the best system possible even if it does not meet 100 percent approval. And that means deciding your finalists based on wins and losses, not a convoluted point system that few understand and fewer like.

Many consider the FCIAC to be the best league in the state. It is hard to disagree. But greatness also comes from having the courage to be bold, and while the league has tried hard to come up with a system that works for the most, it is time to try harder. The current format does not come close to meeting the level of excellence that has characterized the FCIAC.

Right now I have my own proposal that will please some and not others. I don’t have any affiliations to individual schools or an agenda. But the players, coaches and fans deserve better. A lot better. The FCIAC championship game should be the showcase of the scholastic season. Its stature has been badly diminished in the past decade.

It is time to return to greatness, and that comes with sacrifice and leadership.

Do fans out there feel the same way? What are your thoughts?

Both the Stamford High School and Westhill field hockey teams advanced today in the CIAC Class L Tournament with a pair of wins in the qualifying round.

Though the Black Knights are seeded 13th and the Vikings 16th, with difficult draws, both teams have to be viewed as solid sleepers.

It might be difficult to consider a defending state champion an underdog, but Stamford is seeded lower because it finished the regular season by going 3-3-1 in its final seven games due to a pair of two-game suspensions to a couple of starters and a knee injury that slowed Madi McLaughlin, who last year set a city scoring record with 26 goals.

But McLaughlin had her burst back today. She and Dani Robustelli scored Stamford’s goals in a 2-0 win over Masuk. It took a hot goaltender and a couple of shots off the posts to deny her of several more goals. The Black Knights are a much more dynamic team with McLaughlin at 100 percent — she said she is currently at “98 percent.”

Stamford has a number of stellar senior starters — forward Katie Pape, center midfielder Laura Dembofsky, defenders Emily Powers and Carmen Petrafesa and goaltender Heather Wilson among them — and though it will have to play fourth-seeded Cheshire on Wednesday, it would not be a surprise if the team made a run at a second straight title.

The Vikings dominated Amity today, 4-0, on goals by Alli Oakes, Lauren Hallett, Courtney Van der Linden and Sarah Benjamin. The team finished the season at 7-7-1 but often played at a higher level than their record would indicate. Oakes is one of the state’s top scorers, while Brittany Longo is a leader at the middle of the field.

Westhill now must travel to play Glastonbury, the No. 1 seed, but it has proved all season it has the talent to play at an elite level.

For those who like to dream, Stamford and Westhill need two more wins apiece and then would face each other in the semifinals.

It should come as no surprise that on Halloween night the Stamford High School football team had one of its smallest crowds of the season. It should also come as no surprise that Emily Powers was one of the fans in the student section at Boyle Stadium for the Black Knights’ 41-21 win over Fairfield Ludlowe.

“There was a football game,” Powers explained matter-of-factly. “It was supposed to be a win. I like going to games.”

At a time of declining numbers in the stands, Powers is a throwback. It is hard to imagine anyone having greater school spirit than the perky Stamford senior.

Powers goes to every football game. She estimates that she missed just two to three boys basketball games last winter and made every baseball game. She attends a majority of the hockey games.

Stamford athletics is Powers’ own personal field of dreams. Her mantra could easily be, “If they play it, I will come.”

“I get into it,” Powers explained. “You are only in high school once. We all dress up and go to the football games.”

Powers is more than just a fan. She is also a starting fullback for the Black Knights’ field hockey team, arguably their most underrated player and an excellent defender.

I wrote a column about Powers two weeks ago. I had only interviewed her once previously, but after spending a half hour with her I came away thinking here is someone who represents all that is good about scholastic sports. She is extremely popular with her teammates and students at the school, very outgoing and is passionate about playing without seeking any personal acclaim.

I was also taken with how big a sports fan she is, and not just supporting her school. Powers said she will probably spend part of today watching college football. She is looking forward to the Georgia-Florida game. Tomorrow, after her team’s final practice before Monday’s opening round of the state tournament, Powers will sneak in some naps while sitting in front of her TV watching pro football, including her favorite team, the Giants.

“There’s always some game to watch and I love it,” she said.

Don’t be surprised if five years from now Powers is working in some capacity in the sports world. With her personality she would make an ideal publicist.

Right now Powers is focused on trying to help the Black Knights repeat as state champions. Her final game will come sometime in the next two weeks.

And when her career is over? Powers will probably shed a few tears and then be back in the bleachers supporting Stamford’s other teams.

Two deserving teams with different pedigrees were crowned champions tonight at the FCIAC boys and girls soccer finals at Norwalk High School.

Staples, with a starting lineup that featured just three seniors but made up for its youth with a high skill level, defeated Greenwich, 3-1, to win the boys title. It was a fitting outcome for a revered program celebrating its 50th anniversary as the Wreckers won their 25th crown. It was the team’s fourth title in the past 12 years but just the second outright in that span.

Staples perhaps best demonstrated its mettle in Monday’s semifinals, when it overcame a sluggish first half against Norwalk in which it could easily have been down two goals if not for a pair of outstanding saves by Adam Liu before erupting for three second-half goals in a three-minute span.

This Staples team played with the same skill level and class as its more seasoned predecessors. Dan Woog, who once played for the team, covered it for the Westport News and then was an assistant coach, has kept the program at the same high level as his venerable predecessors: Albie Loeffler and Jeff Lea.

In tonight’s opener, St. Joseph, which had never even played in an FCIAC final, won its first title with a 2-0 win over Darien. There is even a link between the two: Sarah Frassetto scored the Cadets’ first goal. Her father, Don, is a former starter for Staples.

It was a disappointing loss for a Blue Wave team that is enjoying the best season in its history and will be a definite threat when the state playoffs begin next week. Jon Bradley has done an outstanding job developing the team into a power.

While a lot of the conversation after the game was about Frassetto’s perfectly placed direct kick and Jessica Schloth’s brilliant individual move that led to her scoring the Cadets’ second goal, their unsung hero was Alyssa Gillespie, who seemed to have the ball attached to her foot the entire second half. It was her ability to control tempo with the lead that was the real key to St. Joseph’ first title.

One of the biggest mysteries of the scholastic sports season is which college will get the services of Tevin Baskin, Trinity Catholic’s outstanding basketball player. Baskin originally said he wanted to make a decision by November, before practice starts.

Yesterday, at the Crusaders’ football game with Stamford, Baskin said he now likely won’t make his choice until the spring.

“I need more time and don’t want to rush it,” Baskin said.

Providence and Massachusetts have been the rumored likely places for Baskin to land.

“That’s what a lot of people think, but not me,” Baskin said.

When I asked him if a gun was put to his head today and he had to make a choice where would he go, Baskin smiled.

“I’d take the bullet,” he said.

When the Trinity Catholic High School volleyball team traveled to Ridgefield on Wednesday, it was surprised to discover some extra supporters in the stands.

The members of the Stamford High School team.

In this era of selfish, crass behavior in scholastic sports, here is the type of story that should be making headlines.

Stamford and Trinity played each other on Monday, with the Black Knights capturing the city title in four sets. The Crusaders still needed one more win to qualify for the state tournament for the first time since 2005.

The Stamford players asked their coach, Mike Smeriglio, if they could go to Ridgefield to show their support for the Crusaders. Smeriglio, whose team had a bye on Wednesday, cut short practice and the Black Knights took a road trip that was not on their schedule.

Consider this was not a journey across town, but to one of the farthest outposts in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference. And to those cynics out there who might think the Black Knights had an ulterior motive, they did not stand to benefit from the outcome: they had already been eliminated from qualifying for the FCIAC Tournament.

Smeriglio and Trinity coach Craig Pucci have been close for a long time, dating back to when Pucci was the Crusaders’ assistant coach under Al Malizia. Pucci works at Smeriglio’s summer camp.

And the players on the two teams are close. As if often the case when Stamford teams face one another, games are contentious and friendships are put aside for a couple of hours. Afterward, there are hugs, smiles and a return to everyday life.

The Crusaders went out and defeated Ridgefield in five sets to return to postseason play.

But they were hardly the only winners on the night. At a time when only bad news makes the front pages and inspirational stories are relegated to small type, the Black Knights proved themselves to be worthy role models for others to emulate.

Stamford may be 9-8 in the standings, but in the game of life they are a perfect 1.000.

The Black Knights have done their open updating of the dictionary, proving contrary to popular belief, you cannot spell Class without S-H-S.

Ever since the Week 5 games controversy developed, I have spent countless hours on the phones with FCIAC football coaches and administrators. Beyond trying to find out who was at fault for the miscommunication, I think the one thing that has come out of all this is the recognition that the current playoff system stinks and a new one is in order.

As anyone who follows college football can tell you, a format based on points and strength of schedule is awful. The problem is having a 19 team league and the limitations due to Thanksgiving games.

I plan to write a column next week with my own proposal for a new system. It is hardly perfect, but perfection is unattainable in this case. I think it is more palatable than the current one and to anything else I have heard.

Before climbing out on the limb I was wondering if anyone out there has any ideas that are worth consideration. Remember there are a lot of constraints, but if you can think of something better than what we have now please send them along. I’ll post them and who knows, maybe you can offer me something better to propose for my column. If so you will get full credit.

In 26 years as a sportswriter, I can’t ever recall a story where I have received such contradictory information as the controversy over just one of the FCIAC’s games in Week 5 counting in the league standings. It resurfaced again on Friday with a phone call from a coach.

At this point, after talking to about half of the coaches, some said they knew about the situation, others said they didn’t. Some athletic directors told me they informed their coaches, and one of those coaches told me that was not the case. Some administrators told me they believe there are a few coaches who won games that are trying to raise the issue now hoping to gain the extra win in the league standings.

I’ve heard about 5-6 different explanations, and at this point all I can tell you with any degree of certainty is that the ADs, FCIAC board of directors and principals approved having the games in the fifth week not count in the league standings. I also think there were probably a few ADs who did not pass along this information to their coaches.

Perhaps the only good that can come out of all of this is to address the current scheduling situation, which is a mess because of having 19 schools and the Thanksgiving games are more important to the league than its championship, which philosophically I have a big problem with.

The current point system is awful, but I’m not sure where the improvement lies. It would be great if you could find a 20th school. Have 2 10-team divisions, with the winners playing in the final.

I’m trying to come up with a better idea than the current formula for a column. I have a few ideas.

If anyone out there has a good solution I’d love to hear it.

So would the FCIAC.