Just a reminder that nominations are now open for the BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Male and Female Players of the Week.
To nominate an athlete, click on the replica of the T-shirt the winners receive on the right-hand side of this blog, below the BlueStreak ad. Then email in the name of the person you are nominating. Please include all of the player’s statistics or times for the week, as well as the team results.
The award will be judged on games and meets held Monday through Saturday of each week. Please wait until an athlete is done competing for the week to submit your nomination.
Nominations will be accepted from noon on Wednesday until noon the following Tuesday. The winners will be announced each Tuesday.
Also, ANYONE is allowed to nominate an athlete, not just coaches and athletic directors.
So get the nominations ready and be on the lookout as next week we honor the first male and female athletes of the week for the fall season.
The biggest news from the FCIAC football world last night — more so than the weather that wreaked havoc on the first big day of the high school season — was Norwalk’s 19-7 win over Greenwich.
It was a seismic shake given the Bears last beat the Cardinals 33 years ago. It rippled out because of Greenwich’s strong tradition, and 13-0 mark in season openers under coach Rich Albonizio.
Almost every headline in today’s papers used the term “upset” or “stunned.”
But was the game an upset? The real answer is we really don’t know.
It was shocking based on history, but how about in the present? It is hard to talk in absolutes one game into the season, more so in high school sports, where the player turnover is greater and little is usually known about new starters.
If Norwalk ends up being a title contender and Greenwich struggles to a .500 finish, this is an outcome that would have produced less hysteria in, say, the seventh week. If the Cardinals miss out on a postseason playoff spot because of the loss and Norwalk struggles the rest of the way, last night was indeed an upset.
The truth is right now we just don’t know. We may get a better idea when Norwalk hosts Staples next week.
Unless, of course, the Wreckers are upset or stunned by Trinity Catholic this afternoon.
With the start of the high school fall season today, I am pleased to announce that the BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Player of the Week award is back.
BlueStreak Sports Training, as it did last winter and spring, is again sponsoring the award, which will go each week to one male and one female athlete, who will receive a plaque and T-shirt.
To nominate an athlete, click on the replica of the T-shirt the winners receive on the right-hand side of this blog, below the BlueStreak ad. Then email in the name of the person you are nominating. Please include all of the player’s statistics or times for the week, as well as the team results.
The award will be judged on games and meets held Monday through Saturday of each week. Please wait until an athlete is done competing for the week to submit your nomination.
Nominations will be accepted from noon on Wednesday until noon the following Tuesday. The winners will be announced each Tuesday.
Also, ANYONE is allowed to nominate an athlete, not just coaches and athletic directors.
So get the nominations ready and be on the lookout as next week we honor the first male and female athletes of the week for the fall season.
Notre Dame-West Haven is the No. 1 team in the opening CSWA poll of the season, which was just released. Notre Dame received 16 of the 31 first-place votes cast.
New Canaan is second, with two first-place votes, while Staples, which received three first-place votes, is third. Other teams receiving first-place votes include Cheshire (three), which is fourth, Masuk (five), which is fifth, and New London (two), which is eighth.
St. Joseph is is seventh place in the poll, Bridgeport Central is 10th, while Greenwich and Ridgefield are other FCIAC teams which received votes.
Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Don Boyle (Sporting News CT), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Johnny Burnham (Bristol Press), Ray Curren (Elm City Newspapers), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Mark Fijalkowski (CT Sports Network), Tim Gaffney (Litchfield County Sports), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Larry Kelley (Times Community Newspapers), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), Tim Parry (FCIAC Football Blog), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Dave Phillips (Shoreline Times), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Jesse Quinlan (Greenwich Time), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Patrick Tiscia (Litchfield County Sports), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)
The high school football season finally kicks off in the FCIAC on Wednesday night, when Stamford travels to Stamford.
All the talk, speculation based on scrimmages — which, by the way, is about as accurate as making predictions on NFL teams based on preseason games — is finally over.
So let’s kick off on the blog with a little poll: which team is going to win the FCIAC title? New Canaan or St. Joseph, defending state champions? Staples, the defending league champion and state runner-up? Bridgeport Central, which lost to Staples in the league final? Perennial power Greenwich? Maybe somebody else?
Here’s your chance to have your say. The poll is open until 6 p.m. on Wednesday, when the Black Knights and Tigers get things started.
It is a trite expression, but under coach Marce Petroccio, the Staples High School football program doesn’t rebuild, it just reloads. Last year the Wreckers went 11-1 and won the FCIAC championship before suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss to Cheshire in the state championship game.
The Wreckers will again have a stifling defense, and though just two starters return, they are optimistic the offense will remain a potent force.
Staples opens the season next week against Trinity Catholic with high hopes. I caught up with Petroccio today at practice, where he gave a preview of what we can expect from the Wreckers this fall.
Case Matheis left open the probability of making an early decision about his college future.
Today, Matheis made good on his promise.
Matheis, one of the nation’s best lacrosse players, who started his junior year at Darien High School last week, this afternoon gave a verbal commitment to attend Duke, one of the country’s top programs.
Matheis narrowed his choices down to Duke and the University of Virginia, and visited both schools for two days each over the past weekend.
“You hear people say about when they commit that they know once they get on campus that is where they belong,” Matheis said. “That’s what happened.”
Matheis is one the top high school players in the country and was one of the most coveted by colleges. Last year as a sophomore, he led the Blue Wave with 55 goals, 40 assists and 95 points. Memorably, he scored nine goals in Darien’s 17-5 rout of New Fairfield in the CIAC Class M championship game.
Matheis, an All-American, finished with 51 points when he became the first freshman to start for coach Jeff Brameier.
“The process with college begins earlier and earlier,” Matheis said about the timing of his decision. “I’m just really happy with the time frame and my choice.”
Thanks to the help of a lot of good people, it is gratifying to announce a new award for the blog this fall: the Overtime High School Football Team of the Week. The award is sponsored by BlueStreak Sports Training and Garden Catering, with the support of The Stamford Advocate.
The award is in addition to the BlueStreak-Overtime FCIAC Player of the Week award.
Each week, I will select three FCIAC teams as finalists. The winner will be selected by a combination of a vote and a three-person committee I have put together. The voting will be conducted on this blog starting every Sunday, and will continue until noon on Wednesday. All readers, players, coaches — anyone will be eligible to vote, which will count for 50 percent. The other 50 percent will come from the decision of a committee made up of Sean Patrick Bowley, the online sports producer for Hearst Connecticut Newspapers, Pat Pickens, the sports editor of the Fairfield Citizen-News, and Tim Parry, who runs the FCIAC Football Blog.
If the decision of the voters and the majority of the committee differs, the tie will be settled by The Advocate sports department.
The winning team will receive a trophy and, thanks to BlueStreak and Garden Catering, 60 T-shirts. The shirts will be gray, with the award logo at the top of this post in the primary color of the winning school, along with the team’s helmet underneath, on the front, and the sponsors on the back.
Many thanks go out to two people at The Advocate: Vinny Yade, who is overseeing the promotional campaign for the award and has been extremely supportive of the project, and Shelley Lowell, who has been handling all the design work, along with Sean, Pat and Tim, for taking the time to help out, and BlueStreak and Garden Catering, long-time supporters of high school athletics, as we try to provide another avenue to recognize the accomplishments of the area’s student-athletes.
