week 2 predictions

First off, I'll be covering both the Middletown at Plainville game tonight as well as the RHAM/Lyman at Rocky Hill game Friday night. So neither of those will be among my predictions this week.
I went 6-2 last week, with which I was pretty happy. Things start to get a lot harder here, though.
Let's go.
Thursday:
E.O. Smith at Newington: The Indians were very impressive against Hartford Public last week, and I watched them run every way they wanted against E.O. Smith last year. This should be no different. Newington wins.
Friday:
Glastonbury at Wethersfield: While I was impressed with the Eagles a week ago, I'm still not sure they will compete against all opponents. This game might be winnable if things go right, but my guess is Tomahawks win in a close one. (I really shouldn't be guessing how close games will be. It only gives me more to be wrong about.)
Bloomfield at Southington: Despite the difference in school size, this could be one of the best games all year. Bloomfield returns just about everybody from a great team last year, Southington lost a lot of key parts and will face its first big test of 2007. I have a hunch the Knights take this one, hopefully in some kind of thrilling way.
New Britain at Windsor: Can somebody stop B.J. Aponte? I don't think so in this one. 'Canes win again.
East Catholic at Farmington: The Eagles are gonna struggle in their first year in a while without Cheney Tech as a co-op. But I think they win this one over an improved Farmington team.
Saturday:
Berlin at St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills: Jude Kelly has nobody capable of slowing down the Berlin offense, which did not even look sharp in dismantling Cheney Tech last week. Meanwhile, the Falcons & Company lost to RHAM.
Berlin.
State game to watch:
Hillhouse at Xavier, Friday, 7 p.m.: These two have been familiar playoff faces in their respective divisions in recent years, Xavier winning LL in 2005 and Hillhouse M last year. But early results look like the Black Hole will not be cheering as much this year. I like the Academics of Hillhouse to win.

Players to watch:
Look for some local running backs to have a lot of success this week. Nate Pagan could easily run for over 200 against E.O. Smith. B.J. Aponte will have a hard time duplicating last week's performance but should do well again. And look for both of Rocky Hill's main backs, Dan Carducci and Fernando Sanchez, to have a big day in the double wing against RHAM.
If you're looking for some passing, I think Jim Connelly and Cameron Johnson have that special connection for Berlin, and are going to do big things this year.
Bloomfield at Southington is probably the best local game this week, so get out to Fontana Field Knights fans, and football fans.

NFL fading?

There has been some talk lately, particularly after the many scandals the NFL has faced lately including Pac-Man Jones, Michael Vick and the Patriots, of the potentially precarious situation the league faces. Some prominent reporters and writers have noted that while the NFL is clearly king of the American sports world right now, there is no reason to believe it will always be that way, as that crown has changed heads in cycles.
I've been thinking this for years, and if you look at some of the numbers, TV viewership at least is already declining, though not enough to fall below other sports.
Here's another reason I think the NFL will lose hold of the good thing it has: overexposure.
It is hard to avoid the NFL, regardless of what month it is, particularly on ESPN. Since earning the rights to Monday Night Football through parent companies ABC and Disney, Connecticut's crown jewel has made football an even bigger priority, with seemingly constant coverage.
Add to that the fact that the NFL itself is underestimating the beauty of one of its best advantages over other sports, the once-a-week format. That's how it used to be at least, with only the MNF broadcast to look for other than Sunday's schedule. Football fans waited all week to get their fix and eagerly sat glued to the couch for eight or more straight hours on the day of rest.
Now ...
Not only has the NFL added Sunday night games in the not-too-distant past, but has added occasional Thursday and Saturday games, not to mention the foolish twin Monday-night bill of week one, with the late game in San Francisco ending after 1 a.m. EST.
Add the NCAA to the mix and you can watch football almost every day of the week from late August to early January.
I predict that contrary to what the NFL believes, fans will lose interest in the sport the more accessible it is on a daily basis. Instead of getting more viewers, games on non-traditional days will drop off quickly, and (shock of shocks) Sundays will become less, shall we say, "sacred" to the pigskin fan.

turf, please

Looking back on what artificial turf used to be (Astro-turf) I didn't think I would ever say this, but right now I actually prefer watching games, soccer games at least, on the new field turf surfaces such as are in place at Wethersfield, Berlin and Rocky Hill. The turf allows players to trust the way the ball will roll and bounce, and speeds up the pace of the game. Quick through balls are made more easily and more accurately and you almost never see the ball come to a standstill.
The same unfortunately cannot be said for natural grass.

due credit

Updating an earlier post, I can say that the football/soccer field at Newington has been groomed, and was in good shape on Tuesday afternoon.

follow their lead

Watching NESN tonight a coworker and I noticed that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association announced it had signed a contract with the Lowell Spinners to play the state high school baseball championship games at the Spinners' beautiful park for the next 10 years. It begs the question, why have the CIAC and Rock Cats (as well as the city of New Britain) not worked out a similar deal?
New Britain Stadium is easily the best ballpark in the state, far better than antiquated Yale Field and Muzzy Field which have most recently been used for championship games. After a minor fiasco at Yale this year, involving the stadium ground crew's failure to get the tarp on quickly enough during a rain delay and thus forcing the postponement of several games, the CIAC is rumored to be near the end of using Yale Field for state championships.
New Britain and the Rock Cats should get all over this, offer the CIAC a reasonable price to use the field, and make money off of concessions and parking.
How great would it be for high school players to get a taste of such a beautiful field, and for parents, friends and fans to get to watch them there?

unsung heros

It's time to mention some of the people who I like to refer to as "the hardest workers in high school sports". I'm not talking about players, coaches, officials, athletic directors or fans.
No, I'm talking about soccer sideline runners.
At just about every high school game you will find a small number (typically either two or four) of sideline runners, whose job it is to follow alongside the play with a spare ball should the game ball go out of play. If that happens these diligent souls must quickly and accurately toss another ball to the player making the throw-in, often with that player in a hurry to catch the defense by surprise. The runner must then chase down the lost ball, which is not always easy, particularly at Berlin's Sage Park where it often rolls either under the stands or over a seven foot high fence along the entrance road.
These runners are very often youth soccer players in town, or younger family members of the players. I remember Brian Webster, who works for the Future Fitness training facility in Rocky Hill and once played for the Terriers, telling me about the first time he was approached by then legendary coach John McVicar to see if he would be a runner for that afternoon's game. Webster, at the time, was a junior high school student and was only too eager to be a part of the big kids' game. I assume it is the same for many of today's runners.
At yesterday's Newington-South Windsor girls game, the ball runners wore youth jerseys bearing the names "Kowalski" and "Johnson". For 80 minutes they ran the sidelines and got the ball to players faster than fans could even see it went out of bounds. They were, as always, not announced over the loudspeaker. When the game ended they received no applause.
This is it.