Week 1 picks

I smell football in the air, and I'm excited. Even though it's clearly not my favorite sport, there is something exciting about the one (or two) day a week format that makes looking closely at each and every game possible and exciting.
As some, hopefully, will remember, last year I made picks for all the local games each week (minus the ones I covered, of course) as well as one "featured" game from around the state. I tried hard to pick state matchups that I thought would have some playoff implications and/or be exciting.
New year. Same plan.
But, let me say a bit about each team right now, before I get to the picks.
Berlin: It's going to be tough for the Redcoats to match what they did last season, going 10-2 and losing a heartbreaker in the Class M championship. They lost more talent in one graduating class than some schools see in four years. But don't count them out... ever.
Farmington: With a new conference (unfamiliar opponents every week) and a very young team, just getting a couple wins could be tough for this squad. I'll be pulling for them, but it's clearly a building year.
New Britain: If you want the best chance for a state title in the area, this is your team. The 'Canes have been building to this ever since Jack Cochran said goodbye. This is their chance to put the Cochran era behind with a special season. Southington and Weaver should be the biggest threats to a potential perfect season.
Newington: I'm going to miss watching Nate Pagan, but I have to say I'm excited to see what Shane Leupold can do in the spotlight. Leupold's been very good, but overlooked at times in the past.
Other than that, I don't know what to expect from a team that will have to change a well-worn gameplan.
Plainville: Young might be putting it lightly. This team has a painfully small amount of experience, but the perfect man at the helm to deal with it. Rocky Gagliardi knows this season will be tough, but has an optimistic attitude and more importantly, as one person pointed out to me today, a way of making you want to run through a brick wall for him. He should have the Devils playing hard at least.
Rocky Hill: You know, there's less buzz around this team then there's been since August 2005. That year, completely unexpectedly, the Terriers went to the Class S semis. I'm not saying they will repeat the feat this year. I'm just saying, there's something about a good coaching staff and system when nobody's really watching that makes for a good year.
Southington: See above. It seems like people, myself included, doubt the Knights every year. Well, I'm saying it here. If the Knights go 10-0 or 9-1 again, I won't be in the least surprised. But, if they go 6-4, I wouldn't be stunned either. Still, this is a team with a proven system.
St. Paul and Friends: One last party with Lewis Mills before they go their own way. The waiting period is over for Jude Kelly. This is the year the Falcons have to show some big improvements or Kelly will be criticized by fans.
Then again, this is only high school sports, not the NFL. So I don't think he has to worry for his job.
Wethersfield: I did not see the Eagles' good year coming last year. This is a complete wild card team. I know firsthand of some of the talent they have. But I also know it's been a bumpy ride recently.
The best thing going for them... any team that can honestly say its strength is in the offensive line has a chance.

OK, here we go. I will be at Giants Stadium covering Southington on Friday and in West Hartford to see Newington-Hall on Saturday. So I can't comment specifically on those games, but, man, am I excited to see The Meadowlands up close. I hope the entire town of Southington shows up for what is truly a special opportunity.

FRIDAY:
Conard at New Britain (7 p.m.): First blowout of the season. First chance to see just how good the Blackshirts can be, and first chance to watch the O-line push somebody around. New Britain wins.
E.O. Smith at Farmington (7 p.m.): Like I said, I think it's going to be a long season for Farmington. Based on past history, this is one of those winnable games, I think, but I don't think they're going to win. E.O. in a low-scoring affair.
Ledyard at Berlin (7 p.m.): It's extremely rare that a team gets a chance to avenge a championship loss right away. The Berlin guys, the few who played last year, say they were ready for this since the bus ride back from Arute Field.
But this is a game I think they'll wish they could play a few weeks from now as they get acclimated now. Ledyard in another nailbiter.
Oxford at SP/GT/LM (7 p.m.): First on-campus night game in school history. And, to be honest, I didn't know Oxford existed until this afternoon, and still can't tell you where it is on a map. I'm saying the Falcons et. al. get a win in the opener, but mostly cause I can't see them losing to a team that sounds like it's from across the pond.
Stonington at Rocky Hill (7 p.m.): Like I said, I've got a funny feeling about the Terriers. I like their defense... a lot. Could this be the first step in another magic year?
I'll take the Terriers in a close one, similar to the last two years against St. Bernard/Norwich Tech.
SATURDAY
East Hartford at Wethersfield (Noon): One thing I didn't mention above. The Eagles' schedule looks pretty favorable. There's a real chance for six or seven wins if they take care of a couple tough games.
In recent years, East Hartford hasn't put forth one of those challenges. I bet they'll be better this year, but I still like Wethersfield to win.
Plainville at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy (Dillon Stadium, 6:30 p.m.): If Plainville wants to get a win this year, and I say that seriously, the Devils better get one right here. That would allow them to at least play the rest of the season without a potential 0-fer hanging over their heads.
I think they'll be able to do it, but SMSA is a complete wild-card team. I have no idea what to expect from the magnet school. C'mon Devils! Bring back a win.
STATE GAME OF THE WEEK
Xavier at Northwest Catholic (Friday, 7 p.m.): A few things leap out at me right away here. First off, a night game at NWC? Did the school get lights on what is one of the worst fields in the state? That would be good for them.
Secondly, on the surface this looks like a pretty balanced matchup of private Catholic schools. But then you remember that Xavier probably comes close to tripling the student population of NWC, and that's with only males. So, should the Indians pull off a win in this one, it would seem to me to be a pretty massive upset.
Both of these schools have a football tradition, and this game is clearly the result of the CIAC allowing an extra game on each team's schedule this year. I love it.
I'm going to take Northwest in an upset. But I could be very, very crazy.

Let's have some fun out there, and please, people, be sportsmanlike in the stands. The kids are behaving on the field (most of the time). I want to see the parents and student fan sections (and sports writers too) do the same.
See you at the games.

their loss

I'm sure by now many of you have heard about or read in The Herald the story of the Northwest Conference dissolving in the face of defections to the CCC. Six schools were approved by CCC athletic directors for entry into the behemoth conference starting next fall (Berlin, Middletown, East Catholic, Northwest Catholic, RHAM and Plainville). It is mostly a formality that the principals will finalize the deal soon.
That, along with Farmington's departure this year, will leave two teams in the Northwest Conference from the recent structure, Rocky Hill and St. Paul. Rocky Hill has applied for entry into the NCCC according to sources and St. Paul seems to be completely up in the air. There are very few options for the small Catholic school. Some conferences do not want private schools and it was rumored that East and Northwest might not get accepted into the CCC. Furthermore, St. Paul is now largely geographically isolated from most conferences in the state after its own application was denied.
My reaction to most of this is one of sadness and disappointment. Going back to when Farmington applied to the CCC and was quickly accepted, things unraveled quickly and in my opinion unnecessarily for the Northwest. It seemed that other schools immediately asked the question why Farmington would leave the conference and decided that there must be a reason, and they must act quickly so as not to get left behind themselves. But as far as I can see there was no reason why the Northwest could not have stayed together with eight teams, or more as it added the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy of Hartford, apparently starting this winter.
Perhaps I am wrong, but the actions of Berlin, Plainville, Middletown and the Catholic schools seemed to be totally reactionary. They panicked when Farmington left, and panicked more when they heard rumors that RHAM was unhappy with its admittedly absurd travel distances in the Northwest Conference. So they all immediately looked for ways out of what they perceived to be a collapsing conference. It shouldn't have ended this way.
The sadness for me is that as a writer and reporter I have thoroughly enjoyed the Northwest Conference, and honestly think it was far superior to the CCC, not perhaps in talent level at the top, but in a number of other ways.
Of course the CCC's larger schools could easily defeat the smaller NWC teams in many sports. But the CCC has more than its fair share of competitive imbalance across all sports. In fact, ever since the CCC's divisional realignment, other than football coaches you would have been hard pressed to find a coach in any sport who liked the competition in his or her division.
Meanwhile, the Northwest chugged along, consistently having spectacular balance and amazing races in football, basketball, softball, baseball, and volleyball. Every school in the conference brought something to the table, with only St. Paul struggling to be competitive in a majority of sports. Think about it.
Berlin- strong in just about everything, particularly football, baseball, wrestling and volleyball
Farmington- soccer and basketball power, with occasional championship level teams in other sports
Middletown- very strong in football and basketball, not to mention recent wrestling success
East Catholic- basketball hotbed, and very good in baseball and some "minor" sports
RHAM- strong in wrestling and baseball
Rocky Hill- softball, football, and soccer power, with strong teams at times in basketball
Northwest Catholic- football and basketball frontrunner with good teams in most sports
Plainville- baseball power, strong teams in softball and girls basketball as well
And don't forget St. Paul, which has been a softball power and getting better at basketball despite its noted struggles in some other sports. There wasn't a school here that didn't belong or add to the conference in multiple ways.
Furthermore, there is a different atmosphere around smaller conferences like the Northwest, Shoreline and NCCC as opposed to the giants like the SCC, CCC and FCIAC. In the big conferences, there is not nearly the camaraderie come tournament time that you see in the others. Nobody is prouder when a NWC school wins a state championship (after the team itself, of course) than the other schools in its conference. Coaches, minus the to-be-expected personality conflicts, root for each other. I just don't see that from any division in the CCC, where the lack of competitive balance leaves the league in a perpetual state of the haves vs. the have-nots.
I suppose the irony is that one rumored realignment for the CCC would be to put all seven of the former NWC schools in one division along with a couple others. Great. If that happens, imagine Farmington's consternation after leaving for legitimate reasons (they had no opponents in certain sports like field hockey as it is a much larger school than any in the NWC) or RHAM, who would be thrust back into long travels.
And what if the CCC does what many believe it should and sets up different conferences for different sports to fix competition problems? It will be nearly impossible for fans and schools to remember who they are up against from season to season.
For the time being, soak up the great rivalries in the Northwest for one last year. Maybe they won't know what they had until it's gone.

welcome back

Summer "vacation" is over and it's back to the blogging world with a lot of things to talk about in the sporting scene, locally and nationally. I'm going to pound out a couple today.
Just like last year, I'll be focusing the blog primarily on high school sports, but occasionally talking about other subjects (as you will soon see). I will be back with my weekly high school football picks to be posted some time on Thursday or Friday afternoon before the games for the week. I also will continue to readily welcome comments and feedback on the blog, so let me know what you think.
Man, it feels good to have some high school sports back. The summer can drag on at times and as much as I love baseball, it gets tiring having one main sport to cover for three months and very little else to keep an eye on.
And unfortunately the rain has already cancelled most of the first day of the season, with only a handful of volleyball games still going on.
As for local teams, I expect our girls soccer teams to be very strong again this year, with a LOT of star power at Farmington, Southington, Berlin and Wethersfield leading the way. The boys teams look to be down a bit, with nobody likely to be as strong as the top teams were last year, but you can never count Farmington out of title contention and a new tougher schedule should make them battle tested come tournament time. It should also make the NWC race really interesting for the first time in a while without them.
As for volleyball, I really like the teams Berlin and Southington will put on the court, and I see positives in Rocky Hill, Farmington and Newington, so the teams should generally be pretty strong.
I must plead early-season ignorance about field hockey, swimming and cross country teams right now, but I'm sure some stars will emerge.
So, in summation. It's great to be back. Please check the blog often. And let me know your thoughts and opinions on anything and everything I write about. The more the merrier.