Overtime

After all these years I thought I had heard everything that could possibly happen in high school sports. Usually there are tales of administrative incompetence or, most often, overbearing parents who double as publicists.

Rarely do you hear any stories in which the athletes are the subject of criticism, but the one I heard today surprised even me.

Though he doesn’t deserve it, I will leave the offending athlete’s name out, as well as his school and his sport.

But the coach of a team that played for a state championship last weekend got a call the day before the game from one of his seniors. The player explained that he was on his way to the airport to go with his friends to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee.

The coach thought the player was joking.

He wasn’t.

The player explained that this was the last opportunity to do something special with his friends before graduation, and after much deliberation decided it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

The coach, needless to say, was incredulous. Apparently winning a state title with his teammates wasn’t important enough. Apparently honoring a commitment made at the beginning of the season wasn’t important enough.

So the player headed down south to listen to Bruce Springsteen and Nine Inch Nails, while his team went on to win a state championship.

As a coach at the school who told me the story said, “How do you think he will be remembered when he comes back for his 30th reunion?”

If he dares attend, he will show a lot more guts than he displayed last weekend.

It is not customary to use my blog to plug the blogs of others, but in this case I think it is important to make an exception. Stamford’s Bobby Valentine, along with his long-time friend and current assistant coach, Frank Ramppen, in a major coup for The Advocate has agreed to keep his hometown in touch with his activities in Japan. His new blog went live today and can be accessed on the following link: http://blog.ctnews.com/valentine/

I’ve been asked several times in the last few days how I deal with criticism. In particular, criticism on the Forum section of the Advocate website, where readers can express their opinions on stories.

In the course of a week, I’ve been accused of favoring each of Stamford’s three schools in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference — Stamford High, Westhill and Trinity Catholic. So apparently my preferential treatment is well diversified.

This topic is an old one. Bob Kennedy, our former sports editor, used to keep track of each time we covered or shot a game involving the three schools so he could be well-armed for the inevitable complaining phone calls he would receive. Each time, discounting postseason play, when a team that has greater success is going to get more coverage, the numbers were virtually equal.

So how do I handle complaints? Honestly, I don’t think too much about it. While the Forum may be a way to get readers involved and draw traffic to our website, too often it is an invitation to the lowest common denominator, people who can hide behind the anonymity of fake names and e-mail addresses to spew vitriol, often, it seems, just to rouse someone of a like mind to join in.

If you are going to get involved in journalism, and especially if you are going to write columns where you are going to express an opinion, you better be thick-skinned. Some people are going to agree with you, some aren’t.

By implication, if you accuse a writer of favoritism, you are really accusing them of being unprofessional.

I am often asked at games which team I am rooting for. And my reply is always the same: “I am rooting for a good story.”

No one wants to be criticized, and I always welcome that of the constructive variety. The bottom line is in a multi-school city, perception sometimes supersedes fact. And no matter what, you will always have your armchair critics typing away at their keyboards, hiding in cyber-land to be heard, but not seen.

My road of covering games, which started at Boyle Stadium with the Stamford field hockey team hosting Greenwich on the opening day of the high school sports season back in September, ended this afternoon in West Haven, with the Darien softball team losing to Waterford in the Class L final.

There may have been better seasons, but none immediately come to mind. I cannot recall a year with more compelling storylines, great games and truly quality athletes. The FCIAC, and city of Stamford, is graduating a tremendously great class of kids, one of the best ever.

I have been toying in my mind with the angle I am going to use for a final column to wrap up the year — right now the ETA is next Sunday, subject to change — but I can tell you I am at no loss for ideas.

The high school sports year flies by faster and faster, it seems.

And while I am saddened to see this one coming to an end, I would be lying if I did not say I can hardly wait to my vacation that begins two weeks from today.

When I came up with the idea to have guest bloggers this spring, I was not sure what to expect. I was hoping they would offer insight into high school sports from a perspective I was unable to provide, but this was unchartered territory.

I was hoping the bloggers would hit doubles. Instead, they constantly homered with their honesty, wisdom and reliability. Readers told me throughout the season how much they enjoyed and looked forward to the view from the inside they received, especially coaches.

So I want to publicly thank Emily Powers of Stamford High School, Sammi Nemchek of Trinity Catholic and her father, Mike, and Westhill’s Bobby Horn for their excellent work. Because of them, what I thought was going to be a one-time project will hopefully become a regular feature.

I already have one athlete confirmed to blog about the summer sports season and I’m hoping to get at least one more. And I’m working on setting up a lineup for the fall.

So again, thanks to Emily, Sammi, Mike and Bobby. You have set a standard that I can only hope future bloggers will be able to equal. It will not be easy.

Climaxing a terrific at-bat in which he fouled off four straight two-strike pitches, Nick Cortese’s towering two-run homer over the right-field fence has just given the Crusaders a 3-0 lead in the third.

There is a very weak WiFi signal at Quigley Stadium so as long as it holds up I will attempt to file updates on Trinity Catholic’s CIAC Class S Tournament semifinal game with Stafford.

R.J. Calo doubled with two outs and Ryan Walsh followed with a single to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Brien McMahon continued its magical run toward its first state title since 1966 with a 7-6 win over South Windsor in the Class LL semifinals.

Darien was eliminated in the Class L semifinal by Branford, 10-5, in nine innings.

(This is the last in a series of entries by guest bloggers throughout the high school spring sports season. Mike Nemchek and his daughter Sammi, who just finished her fourth year as a starter on Trinity Catholic’s softball team, explore the topical nature of the parent-athlete dynamic.  Mike coached many of the city’s top players in youth leagues, including Sammi.)

By Mike Nemchek