man of the year

If I had a chance to honor the greatest moment in local sports at the end of the year, I very well might have to go with what happened at Veterans Stadium in New Britain on Friday night.
In case you haven't heard about it, New Britain football coach Paul Morrell, one of the nicest, most respectful individuals you will ever meet, proposed to his girlfriend Michelle Mase at halftime. Thankfully for him, and those in attendance waiting with bated breath, she said yes.
As reported to me by Herald photographer Amy Reed, and in the Herald by correspondent Ryan Cote, the team called the wives and girlfriends of the coaching staff onto the field at halftime of the final home game of the year to "honor" them for their sacrifices and support during the season. That was the partially-true cover-up to keep the future Mrs. Morrell in the dark.
Once they were on the field, the New Britain band and Canettes, always willing to take center stage, formed a heart around the couple as Morrell, as pictured in Saturday's Herald, got down on one knee and popped the question.
I must say this is one of the best proposals I have ever heard of, and a truly special moment for all those involved. For Morrell to get to share that moment with his team as well is special.
I would like to note that in the world of football, there are few coaches who would be willing to do what Morrell did. Most would be overly absorbed with the game, worried about needing to address potential pitfalls at halftime, and perhaps already in the locker room yelling at their players.
But this is not Morrell's style. My sincere praise to the coach, who at the end of the day (or rather in the middle of the game), reaffirmed to players and fans that there are things far more important than football. This will be a moment those players recall for the rest of their lives, and hopefully it encourages them to treat their significant others with love, respect and remember that those are the most important things.
Congratulations to Michelle and Paul.
Oh, and just for good measure the 'Canes won the game against Manchester. But who will remember that by next year?

week 8 preview

I just wrote this and accidentally deleted it. Now I don't have as much time, so I'm going to give you the short, short version.
Me: 36-16 on the season now with my picks, and covering Maloney-Newington and Farmington-Northwest Catholic this week. First chance to see all those teams = exciting.

On to the picks.
Friday:
Glastonbury at Southington: Southington too well coached to slip up against much weaker opponent like Tomahawks.
Manchester at New Britain: New Britian may be complacent with Southington on the schedule next week. But Manchester not good enough to take advantage of it. Hurricanes by a bunch.
Enfield at Rocky Hill: Enfield, big win last week, excited and pumped up. Rocky Hill, looking deflated after Berlin crushes playoff hopes.
Enfield win last year may spark Rocky Hill or give the Raiders added confidence.
Enfield in an upset.
RHAM at Berlin: Upset? I don't think so. Berlin infinitely better than Sachems. Not a good matchup in any way, shape or form. Blowout.
Saturday:
Conard at Wethersfield: Eagles still have chance at playoffs but must win two of three against Conard, Weaver, Newington. Not easy.
Wethersfield was not ready for Hall last week, perhaps thinking they had it won. Hall is too good for that.
This week Eagles will be ready, but Conard will be just a bit better in the win.
Plainville at SP/GT/LM: Blue Devils playing for pride after stunning loss at Enfield. Falcons and Friends are going to be in for another long one, as Plainville will try to put this one away in the first three quarters rather than lose at the end for a third straight week.
Plainville win.
STATE PICK OF THE WEEK
Montville at NFA, Saturday, 1 p.m.: I question how good NFA actually is with a suspect schedule. A week after losing to Ledyard for first of season, 5-2 Montville invades turf field. New London still looming on Thanksgiving for NFA. Things don't look good for them.
Montville pulls off upset, but I don't really know why I think so. Puts New Britain temporarily in LL playoffs.

Whew. That was a sprint. I'm kind of upset, cause I had some really good things written before it disappeared. I guess that's what we get with technology.
Bundle up, folks, it's gonna get cold out there.

NBA forecast

Let me first say that I detest the NBA for what it has done to the game of basketball. The beauty of the college and high school game is in the movement on the court. It's five players constantly swinging, curling, cutting and passing in order to get around or through defensive players who try their best to stick like glue to a defender.
The NBA, on the other hand, is usually three guys standing off to the sides while a point guard and a big man pass the ball back and forth before one of them goes one-on-one against a defender who is so afraid of being blown by that he sags off. Besides, unless it's the playoffs he doesn't really care whether he wins or loses, and knows the game will come down to the final two minutes regardless.
The NBA has been bogged down by fancy dribbling, made possible by a lax enforcement of actual rules such as traveling (including double dribbling and carrying) and an inconsistent definition of what constitutes a foul on either the offense or defense. The 24-second clock makes setting up a team play less useful than letting one guy try and beat his man, which leads me to my other point.
One-on-one pickup basketball has led to NBA players being so good at certain skills, and so bad at others, that they don't need teammates to score. While NBA guys can't shoot very well, they can get to the rim like never before on their own. In short, I think part of what makes the NBA boring to watch is that the players are too talented. In the college game, those five guys NEED each other to score. And they work together to do it.
And yet I can't stop paying attention to the league, at least moderately. So with the season starting tonight, and no way to prove that last year I seriously had the Spurs over the Cavaliers in the Finals in my October prediction, I'm putting these in writing this time around.

Eastern Conference seeds (Division winners in bold)
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Cleveland
4. Chicago
5. Washington
6. New Jersey
7. New York
8. Miami

Playoffs
First round
Boston over Miami; Detroit over New York; Cleveland over New Jersey; Washington over Chicago
Second round
Boston over Washington; Cleveland over Detroit
East Finals
Boston over Cleveland.

West Conference seeds
1. Phoenix
2. San Antonio
3. Dallas
4. Houston
5. Denver
6. Utah
7. Sacramento
8. L.A. Lakers

Playoffs
First round
Phoenix over Lakers; San Antonio over Sacramento; Dallas over Utah; Houston over Denver
Second round
Phoenix over Houston; San Antonio over Dallas
West Finals
Phoenix over San Antonio

NBA FINALS
Phoenix over Boston

week 7 in review

As Maxwell Smart would say (for all you kids that's a TV reference), "missed it by that much". But a 5-1 week is still pretty good.
Things are looking a lot darker for the Rocky Hill Terriers and Wethersfield Eagles unfortunately. The Terriers have virtually no chance at a league title, and their only hope of a state tournament berth depends on somebody pulling off a huge upset of Northwest Catholic. And that's just for starters.
Meanwhile, the Eagles still have a shot at the playoffs, but lost a very winnable game at Hall with much tougher games against Conard, Weaver and Newington left on the slate. I think Wethersfield's magic run might have come to an end for the season.
Berlin put itself back into a tie for first in the Nutmeg with its win over Rocky Hill, which was one of the cleanest played games I've ever seen. There were just three penalties, and it was a really good game. Berlin was the better team, but not by a lot. All of this led to sustained drives and chances for teams to make big plays, as the Redcoats did just a couple times more.
Herald writer Ken Lipshez had a lot to say about the 64-38 Newington over Platt game he was at. But I couldn't begin to talk about it really, other than to say Newington's coaches sounded quite upset at the defensive play. With some tough games still remaining for them as well, that needs to change.
Can either Southington or New Britain play a tough game some time here? I'd like to talk about the teams but their wins over Simsbury and Manchester were so expected I really thought nothing about either. So much for the CCC realignment of four years ago making better schedules for the teams at the top. These two are so far better than the rest of the CCC North right now, it will be hard for either to adjust to the level of play should they reach the playoffs.

That brings me to 36-16 on the year, and 4-3 in state games.

a couple more baseball thoughts

Got a really good response from Tiffany regarding my last post. Look for it in the comments and don't be afraid to write as well.
I could have seen Papelbon getting the MVP award. He was key in the series, obviously. But I felt like the Sox won it equally with offense as well as pitching, and I still like Ellsbury as the spark that got them not only through that series but past Cleveland before.
Matt and I had a good debate over the virtues of the 2004 team versus 2007. I think for the most part we agree that while the 04 lineup was more balanced and consistent, this one had more dangerous hitters in it, and that includes what Drew can do when he gets hot (though those are my words, not Matt's). Remember, at times this season even Crisp and Lugo got hot, despite their overall inconsistency. And that 04 team only had Cabrera for about two months.
The real difference to me is that Lowell versus Millar is a no contest advantage to this team. That extra big bat in the middle is dynamic. Many times in 2004 the Sox relied too heavily on Ortiz and Manny for the big hits. That's an unspoken reason why Ortiz had so many chances to be the hero late in games.
But more importantly, the pitching on this team was better in my opinion, particularly in that the 04 team had no dominant guy like Beckett, but rather four very good options. Schilling and Pedro weren't quite dominant on that team.
Third point, and this is one I've been hearing a lot lately about how the NL needs to adopt the DH. I want to make this clear. The DH is not the reason the AL is superior now. The reason for that is that teams like Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Anaheim and Seattle started spending a lot of money to match the arms race started by New York and Boston. Thus the whole league got better. NL teams have realized they can sneak into the playoffs, and therefore win the World Series, without spending the money on as many big name players. But as soon as the NL's current crop of rookies (Tulowitizki, Hunter Pence, Ryan Braun, and a ton of others who I've already forgotten because their teams stopped playing a month ago) grows up, the other NL teams will have to do something to match that and the cycle will swing back, most likely with money clubs like the Mets, Cubs, Giants, Dodgers and Cardinals leading the way.
So, with that in mind, there is absolutely no reason for the NL to succumb to the foolish pressure and add a DH. The National League game, though not as offensively powerful, is more exciting, and for that matter IT'S BASEBALL. Every guy has to play both ways. You would never suggest putting in a designated foul shooter in basketball. So while watching Shaq take free throws is about as painful as watching Randy Johnson attempt to swing without hurting himself, it's part of the game, and we should not allow players incapable of performing certain aspects of the game to get a free pass.
On top of that, wasn't it exciting when Daisuke drove in two huge runs with a clutch single for the Sox? A team with a good hitting pitcher has a huge advantage over one without. Shouldn't we reward pitchers for being more complete athletes.
And just for added measure, David Ortiz showed that he can play first base. So put him there, and just make sure to get him days off once in a while.
I hate the DH, and if not for the MLBPA trying to sustain the careers of an increasingly large number of guys who can't be called athletes so much as mashers, I feel the DH would eventually be eliminated in both leagues. But that's not going to happen.
At the least we can keep it the way it is.

Series thoughts

I will regrettably say congratulations to the Red Sox and fans out there. There are some I am truly happy for.
As for the rest of you...
Ah, I won't go into it.
But in all seriousness, despite the sweep this was an interesting series. The Rockies were good, and never gave up despite the deficit. But in the end the better team won, and that's perhaps what was most interesting. Of the past ten World Series, in my opinion the better team won only half of them. We could debate that exact number for hours, but some serious underdogs have managed to win.
I'll get back to that in a bit, but first some of my other thoughts from the series.
1) The Rockies' mascot is my new favorite. I'm not sure why it is a triceratops with his crest bedazzled (remember bedazzler machines, kids?!), but during the ninth inning of Game 3 I stopped watching the game and could not stop giggling at the mascot in the stands behind the backstop. I think he was turning his head around and trying to psych out Papelbon. Either way, it was funny. Pure mascot greatness.
2) There was a funny moment during Game 4, which I'm sure many of you shared wherever you were. I was in a crowded place, and when the FOX cameras showed Eric Gagne warming up in the bullpen, a large number of Red Sox fans actually shouted "No!" instinctively. It was unrehearsed, and nearly simulataneous.
Why was Gagne even on the roster? The only situation anybody could imagine him coming in was about an eight-run Sox deficit or more. Couldn't Wakefield, who is the longest tenured team member, fill that role with just as much mediocrity and not have to be embarrassed by not being on the roster? Help me on this.
Still, it was classic.
3- and most significantly) Jacoby Ellsbury got robbed of his rightful MVP award. Not to take anything away from Mike Lowell and the wonderful series he had on both sides of the ball. But Ellsbury was the spark that got this team rolling at times.
He batted .438 and had four doubles. But more importantly, he sparked the rally in both games in Colorado. He led off the six-run inning in Game 3, and doubled twice in that frame. The Sox ended up needing all those runs. Then he leads off Game 4 with another double and scores the first run. Had the Rockies taken a lead at home, this series might be tied. Ellsbury was the most significant player, not to mention he allowed the Sox to take Coco Crisp out of the lineup when he was struggling terribly.
4) The streak is over at seven straight years with a different winner. Still pretty impressive, and it was a lot of fun while it lasted. The new streak is at three. Let's keep it going.
5) Back to those Red Sox. I would say this is the best, or at worst second-best team since the 1998 Yankees. The team went through some growing pains with Schilling and Wakefield struggling at times, Lugo hitting worse than me for several months, and then Daisuke wearing down and Gagne... well, doing his thing.
But in the postseason this team played like the juggernaut it was constructed to be, and looked like through mid-June. Lester arrived, Drew showed why teams have always been somewhat reluctant to let him go, and the rookies may be the two best all-around players on the team.
Since those 1998 Yanks, there are only a handful of teams that I would put in a league with this one, some that won the title and some that did not. The 2005 White Sox were legitimately dominant with their pitching (and a lineup that deserved more credit for its balance than it got), the 2004 Cardinals had the best of both worlds (the WS sweep was just their second THREE-game losing streak all season, the other coming after they had clinched the top spot in the NL playoffs) and the 2001 Mariners were awesome before slipping up in the postseason (116 regular-season wins!). Other than that... not sure any teams truly compare as a whole. I can think of flaws for just about every other significant playoff team in that stretch.
As for the 2004 Sox, it's not even close. This team is far superior in just about every aspect.
In fact, I'd only say that Mariners team was better, but they didn't get it done in the postseason.
Here's the scary part. These Sox are going to keep nearly all the significant parts and many of them can conceivably get better. That list of players potentially on the rise includes Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Lester, Matsuzaka and "Sir Not Appearing in this Film" Clay Buchholtz. That doesn't include Josh Beckett, Papelbon and Youkilis, who are all relatively young but can't really get better than they were this year.
True, Manny, Papi and Varitek are probably on the back end of their careers, but they should still be productive and scary for another three or four years at least. Lowell might not end up back in Boston, and he is a key piece, but my guess is he'll return and in a couple years when he's getting up there in age, the Sox will find somebody suitable to replace him.
As much as I hate to say it, this is the team to beat for the foreseeable future. Baseball gods help us all.