New Canaan's Lexy Jones and Kyla Persky celebrate the team's third straight FCIAC title.
The New Canaan girls hockey team’s third straight league title earned it the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week award.
The Rams will receive T-shirts courtesy of BlueStreak Sports Training, Garden Catering, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health & Rehabilitation, Chelsea Piers, New Balance of New Canaan and the Stamford Advocate.
New Canaan finished with 398 votes to hold off the second-place Bridgeport Central boys basketball team (328 votes), as well as the St. Joseph girls hockey, Ridgefield boys basketball, Trinity Catholic boys basketball, Danbury girls basketball and Bassick boys basketball teams.
We will pick a new set of finalists for this week’s award, with the vote starting Sunday.
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And then there were three. With two schools having to drop out, our FCIAC Fan Showdown is now down to three schools: Westhill’s Purple Pack, Ridgefield’s Tigers Lair and St. Joseph’s Howell’s Hood Bomb Squad.
And here we present the third and final entry: Howell’s Hood Bomb Squad.
Here is how the contest will work:
Each fan base has shot a video of their fans at a basketball game (St. Joseph chose its recent home game with Ridgefield, Westhill its girls Senior Night game with Norwalk and Ridgefield a home game against Fairfield Warde. We asked that each video provide a good reflection of the size of the crowd and the cleverness of cheers. We are running each video on the blog and then three of our sponsors — Matt Cole from BlueStreak Sports Training, Leo Karl from Karl Chevrolet and Ron Rosenfeld from New Balance in New Canaan — will select the winner, which will be announced here on Friday.
The winning fans will get $500 for their athletic department from our sponsors: Garden Catering, BlueStreak Sports Training, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health & Rehabilitation, Varsityletterframes.com and New Balance of New Canaan. The second place team will get $200.
In addition, each school was asked to submit a photo of its best fan. The winner will get a framed school varsity letter from Varsityletterframes.com.
So take a look below at a boisterous Bomb Squad section and let us know what you think.
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The CIAC football committee held its most recent meeting in January, where the major topic of discussion was a review of the just-completed season.
Toward the end, the Score Management Policy, better known as the 50-point rule, which mandates that coaches of teams that defeat an opponent by 50 or more points be suspended for the following game, was brought up. During a discussion that lasted somewhere between 20 to 30 minutes, options such as the use of a running clock, which is the policy in a number of states, and abolishing it during the playoffs were discussed.
According to two sources in the room, neither of whom would comment publicly, the rule was on the verge of being completely overturned when New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli, who is one of its staunchest defenders, made a compelling argument that caused the committee to at least table any further discussion until April.
“I know a lot of people are not in favor of it,” Marinelli said of what is perhaps the CIAC’s most controversial directives, one that brought national attention when it was first enacted in 2006. “But it is a reminder that in our business you never want to demoralize kids from another program. There’s no need to score 50 points in a game. That’s seven touchdowns.”
The rule was tested in its first season, when Bridgeport Central defeated Bassick, 56-0. Hilltoppers coach Dave Cadelina appealed and his suspension was overturned. Since that time, including two games this past season, every petition has been overturned. The rule has been enforced once, against East Hartford in 2007, which reportedly did not appeal.
Because New Canaan has been one of the state’s premier programs, with eight state titles and six straight appearances in championship games, and Marinelli one of the most respected coaches, it would almost seem paradoxical that he would be one of the biggest backers of a rule that is almost universally mocked annually.
Marinelli said he always looks back to the 2000 season, when his team was defeated in the Class M final by Bloomfield, 55-6.
“We had a great group of kids and a great team, and to see them get beaten like that was a little hard for me to take,” Marinelli said. “It’s one reason I’m a little more sensitive to the rule than others. I’ve been on the other side of it.”
Marinelli admitted he has had his players fumble during games to help control scores. When presented with how it is possible to defeat a team by more than 50 points and not run up a score if reserves were used early enough and only basic running plays were called, or how it is possible to run up a score by much less than 50 points by throwing long passes at the end of contests where the outcomes have long been decided, Marinelli acknowledged the difference but said he still thought the policy was a needed safeguard.
“It reminds all of us, all coaches, that you may have a superior team but there is no need to win a game by 72-0 or something like that,” Marinelli said. “You can put your second-teamers in way before it gets close to 50. It is a way to control things before they get out of hand.”
The committee is scheduled to hold its next meeting in April and Marinelli said it is possible the subject could be revisited.
“We will see what happens,” he said. “I might be in the minority but I think it’s a good rule and it has worked to keep scores down.”
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Brandon Riggins of the Norwalk wrestling team and Olivia Hompe of the New Canaan girls hockey team are this week’s BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Players of the Week.
Riggins and Hompe will each receive T-shirts and plaques from BlueStreak Sports Training.
Riggins improved to 41-0 on the season by winning the State Open championship at 195 pounds. Riggins won his first match by technical fall, his second by pin, won by a 15-2 major decision in the semifinals and took a 17-9 major decision in the final against Kyle Foster of Somers.
Hompe continued to add to her lore when she broke the state scoring record as the Rams’ trounced Greenwich, 8-0, to win their third straight FCIAC title. Hompe scored New Canaan’s final six goals and also had an assist.
Nominations are open now until Tuesday at 10 a.m. for this week’s winners.
To nominate an athlete, click on this linkand email in the name of the person you are nominating.
Please include all of the player’s statistics for the week as well as the team results.
The award will be judged on games/matches/meets played Monday through Saturday of each week. Please wait until an athlete is done competing for the week to submit your nomination.
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St. Joseph’s Bomb Squad is going to be unable to deliver its Fan Showdown video until Thursday, which means we hope to have the winner decided by Friday.
In the meantime, Westhill’s Purple Pack and Ridgefield’s Tigers Lair have far and away been the most vocal groups in the forum of social media.
So in the interim, before our judges make their pick, we will give you a chance to have your say: based on the videos delivered, which fan group do you think is better: The Purple Pack or the Tigers Lair? As you can see, the videos are quite different:
To determine this week’s Overtime Team of the Week we ask a simple question: did you win an FCIAC title or playoff game?
Our newest group of finalists all did: the Danbury girls basketball, Ridgefield boys basketball, Trinity Catholic boys basketball, Bassick boys basketball, Bridgeport Central boys basketball, New Canaan girls hockey and St. Joseph boys hockey teams.
The winner will get T-shirts with our logo courtesy of BlueStreak Sports Training, Garden Catering, the Stamford Advocate, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health and Rehabilitation, Chelsea Piers and New Balance of New Canaan.
The Hatters won their first-ever league title by defeating Trumbull.
The Tigers avenged a first-round loss to Stamford last season.
The Crusaders cruised into the semifinals with a win over Danbury.
The Lions held off Westhill to reach the semifinal round.
The Hilltoppers pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season, shocking unbeaten St. Joseph.
The Rams rolled to their third straight league title by defeating Greenwich.
The Cadets reached the semifinals by edging Trinity Catholic.
The voting is open until noon on Wednesday. So vote below and check back to find out who is this week’s Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week.
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I had planned to top this week’s boys basketball notebook with some news about the FCIAC Tournament, which begins tomorrow. That was until I heard the dreaded ‘E’ word bandied about this week, by some boys coaches but also by many girls coaches.
Expansion.
It seems, at least on some level, there is discussion of expanding the boys and girls basketball tournaments to 12 teams. Lets hope, if this becomes a serious proposal, the smart heads that shot it down several years ago do so again, lest the FCIAC take a step toward a Little League approach to sports.
There is not one good reason to cheapen what is, after the football championship, the league’s showcase event. And unfortunately, if ever there was a year to make an argument to ballooning the playoffs to 12 teams, this is it.
Proponents will point out that by adding four more teams — in this case the two Fairfield schools, Trumbull and Wilton — you would be including three teams that missed the playoffs by one game and another by two.
The problem is, whatever line you use as a cutoff, there is always going to be a close team on the wrong side of that line. Norwalk and Staples would miss out though they had the same record as Wilton, so let’s go to 14 teams. Heck, why not let all 19 teams in and give everyone a participation trophy.
The playoffs are supposed to be a reward for excellence, not an inclusive field for mediocrity. No one is going to get excited about a day of 5-12, 6-11, 7-10 and 8-9 games. And given the way first-round byes, which the top four teams would be awarded, have affected teams at all levels, causing them to go stale, I’m not sure that’s a reward I would want.
And then there is my absolute favorite argument for expansion: It will give four more teams the chance to play to get ready for the state tournament. Again, that is not what the playoffs are designed for. Teams that missed the tournament set up scrimmages to get ready for states. Playing one extra game — especially at the expense of watering down a showcase event — is not worth it. One extra game is not going to make a team any more tournament ready.
Teams play an 18-game league schedule. Having eight of the 19 — nearly half — qualify is just the right number. Who cares what other leagues do — another specious argument. This is the FCIAC.
Not Little League.
(If you go to the bottom of this post, I have set up a poll to vote whether you are for or against expansion. Feel free to comment away).
The Starting 5
1. ST. JOSEPH (20-0): Time for the Cadets, perennial tournament underachievers, to step up and win that second conference title.
2. TRINITY CATHOLIC (15-5): The team that plays to the level of the opposition should have no reason getting up for any postseason games.
3. WESTHILL (14-6): I decided to base my rankings in order of what I think a team’s chances are based on talent alone. I think the Vikings have the third-best personnel, but they played their way into a tough draw, and of the three games, I think the second is the one where you are least likely to catch the Cadets sleeping.
4. RIDGEFIELD (15-5): The Tigers needed Wednesday’s win to prevent a free-fall into the playoffs. They have great team chemistry, but also the specter of last year’s first-round loss hanging over them. Right now I just wonder about Ridgefield’s karma.
5. BASSICK: (15-5): Will Demetrius Thomas carry the Lions through the tournament? Stranger things have happened.
Let the games begin
I’ve said pretty much all I had to in my analysis of the FCIAC Tournament in today’s edition of the Advocate. Click here to read it. If you buy the paper, I have a sidebar with the three players to watch, three biggest storylines and three X factors.
As for going all Dick Vitale in my picks — St. Joseph and Trinity Catholic in the final — I just have a gut instinct that in a year of craziness, the top two seeds will find their way to the final with the top one winning.
And then there were three. With two schools having to drop out, our FCIAC Fan Showdown is now down to three schools: Westhill’s Purple Pack, Ridgefield’s Tigers Lair and St. Joseph’s Howell’s Hood Bomb Squad.
And here we present the second entry: the Tigers Lair.
Here is how the contest will work:
Each fan base has shot a video of their fans at a basketball game (St. Joseph chose its recent home game with Ridgefield, Westhill its girls Senior Night game with Norwalk and Ridgefield a home game against Fairfield Warde. We asked that each video provide a good reflection of the size of the crowd and the cleverness of cheers. We are running each video on the blog. We will have a fan vote for fun, and then three of our sponsors — Matt Cole from BlueStreak Sports Training, Leo Karl from Karl Chevrolet and Ron Rosenfeld from New Balance in New Canaan — will select the winner next week (we hope to have the St. Joseph video on Monday).
The winning fans will get $500 for their athletic department from our sponsors: Garden Catering, BlueStreak Sports Training, Karl Chevrolet, Innovative Health & Rehabilitation, Varsityletterframes.com and New Balance of New Canaan. The second place team will get $200.
In addition, each school was asked to submit a photo of its best fan. The winner will get a framed school varsity letter from Varsityletterframes.com.
Ridgefield has its two fans at the end of the video, Ian Word and Mike Tarantino.
So take a look below at a typical raucous Lair section and let us know what you think.
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