A vandalism incident at New Canaan High School overnight that caused significant damage to the school was reportedly the work of five Darien football players who reportedly have been suspended from the team on the eve of its key football game with the Rams.
According to the New Canaan News, the New Canaan police have identified the players involved. A source familiar with the details, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the perpetrators are five significant members of the team who have had their lockers cleaned out.
People at New Canaan said the campus had graffiti on nearly every door leading into the school, which were painted in Darien’s team royal blue color. The damage included a number of expletives, obscene drawings and other derogatory remarks about New Canaan. The entranceway to the Rams’ football stadium also was spray-painted in several areas.
This incident comes just over 24 hours before Darien and New Canaan meet in their annual Turkey Bowl showdown. The Blue Wave, which won the FCIAC championship last Friday night, are 10-0 and looking to secure a home game in the CIAC Class L Tournament. New Canaan (8-1) needs a win tomorrow to qualify for the state playoffs.
Efforts to reach Darien football coach Rob Trifone and athletic director John Keleher have been unsuccessful.
New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli refused to comment.
New Canaan athletic director Jay Egan said, “This is a very unfortunate incident, but we are very satisfied with the way the Darien administration has handled this and we have always had a very positive relationship between the two programs and the two schools.
We will keep you updated as more information develops.
There was a fight two years ago but I don’t know that fault was assigned to one side over the other. And you can’t compare the two incidents. I also think it is unfair to condemn an entire community for the actions of a select few.
Hasn’t this happened before between the two schools? If I recall correctly, there had to be a large police presence at hockey games between the two towns as well as no night-time games due to brawls in the parking lots. I can recall several Darien students being arrested at these games, some for roaming the parking lots in groups looking to single out individuals from their rival towns and attacking them. To stay classy, you have to be classy in the first place.
mcmanus- thanks for being as classy as the rest of the Darien. Simply recognising and taking ownership of what happened is all that is called for now. Deflecting responsibility only begs history of repeating itself.
see this is non-sense. we wanted to beat darien to a pulp when they had everyone. now when we smack them around all we are going to have to hear is how they were not full strength and what could have been if they had everyone…it will be a bitter sweet butt-whooping.
Every school has their “punks” unfortunately these “punks” are on the football team. The vast majority of the Blue Wave student athletes are above this garbage, and strive for excellence on the field and in the classroom. We are ashamed to have these individuals associated with our school. We hope the Turkey Bowl can be about what it should be about–hard working kids on both teams representing the pride of their schools. These “punks” have brought shame to Darien. We can only apologize and hope that the embarrassment involved in this incident motivates our student athletes to always rise above, and prove yourselves on the field.
Hmmm, Coach Trifone, think maybe we should think about playing guys who are smart enough to stay out of trouble?
Dear Darien,
It’s illegal to do that… Oh I guess you figured that out by now…
You’re beat.
Love,
NC
Stay Classy Darien