Week 7 preview

Brrrr. I'm freezing right now. Of course you all know that it's getting chilly outside. I don't have to tell you that. After all, the weather is something for people to talk about who don't have anything of importance to say, or something like that.
But what you don't know is that the heat in my apartment has suddenly stopped working in the past two days. It's possible the landlord forgot to get oil for the house. Who knows? What matters is it's really cold in here.
It is making me dread those cold December football playoff games, which would be wonderfully exciting if I weren't concentrating more on getting the feeling back in my fingers and hoping my pen doesn't freeze.
You know what, those games aren't that far around the corner. We're coming down the home stretch here. Enjoy the games this weekend.
I'll be covering Plainville's game against Enfield on Saturday, and will be in the office taking phone calls Friday night. Ken Lipshez will be in Rocky Hill, Andrew Lovell following the Canes to Rockville, correspondent Gerry deSimas, Jr. in Manchester and Brian Straight watching Newington-Maloney. Show them love and share your blankets with them.
On to the picks.

Friday:
Southington at Manchester, 7 p.m.: The fairy tale should come crashing down for Manchester. A loss to Glastonbury last week. Now they must play Southington and New Britain in a row.
Southington needs to put this one away early and show the opponent they mean business. They can't keep letting teams hang around.
I expect Southington to win.
Maloney at Newington, 7 p.m.: Newington's too good. Maloney's just not what they were a couple years ago. The Indians keep rolling along at home.
Wethersfield at Conard, 6 p.m.: This is tough. I saw Conard a few weeks ago and they looked really good. But since then, they've been killed by two straight opponents and forced to forfeit two games for using an ineligible player, who is now no longer on the team.
I haven't heard who that player was, so I can't say whether it's a big loss on-field. But suffice it to say this is a team with some problems right now.
And Wethersfield had a good win over Windsor last week. I don't know what to think of the Eagles.
The difference maker is that Wethersfield has struggled on the road so far. So I like Conard to come away with a win at home.
New Britain at Rockville, 6:30 p.m.: I don't think this game will show much. Rockville seems to be down more than usual. New Britain's played well for the most part this year. I don't expect them to have a slipup this big.
New Britain wins.
SP/GT/LM at Rocky Hill, 6:30 p.m.: The Terriers know if they lose this one their win over Berlin last week won't mean anything. I'm shocked that Rocky Hill is getting no respect from anybody. People just aren't convinced yet.
I hope that changes this week.
I'll be honest. I haven't seen St. Paul yet this year. I've looked closely at their scores, talked to people who have seen them, and read as much as I could on their games. I just think Rocky Hill is a better team right now, and I think St. Paul gets its first loss of the season in this one.
Whoever wins this will have a serious leg up on a playoff spot. Whoever loses could be in trouble.
Saturday:
Farmington at Weaver, 12 p.m.: I wish I could say more good things about Farmington. I know the kids are working hard. I know they want to win. They are just overmatched each week right now.
Weaver should have no trouble.
Berlin at RHAM, 2 p.m.: I wouldn't want to be the Sachems. The Redcoats are going to be out for blood and to prove that they are still the best team in the conference.
RHAM simply can't match up with them up front. This one could get ugly on the scoreboard with Berlin running away early.
STATE PICK OF THE WEEK
Masuk at Bunnell, Friday, 7 p.m.: The top two teams currently in the Class L rankings face off in Stratford with a lot on the line. Masuk already has a loss, and might not be able to afford another. Meanwhile, I'm sure Bunnell wants desperately to hang onto the top spot as the only unbeaten in the division.
I just look at Bunnell's scores and notice that they never seem to be killing teams. It looks like they let even some mediocre to bad teams stay somewhat competitive.
Now scores, don't say everything. It's possible that could be the result of subs coming in with a blowout in hand in the second half.
But Masuk's scores impress me more, and I've heard one or two people in the know say they don't think Bunnell is nearly as good as the ranking they are getting in the polls.
I'm going to pick Masuk in what, on paper, is an upset. That should shake things up a bit.
Newington moves past the loser of this if the Indians beat Maloney.

So that's it for now. As always, stay warm.

World Series preview

I don't care what anybody says. This is the matchup I want.
Who wants the Red Sox again, other than Sox fans? We've seen them. Just last year we saw them. Four years ago we saw them end the curse. It's over. The likability of the Red Sox is forever gone, and I'm not one of those people who needs a villain to make a sport interesting (not that it doesn't help sometimes).
No. I want a hero. I want something I can get caught up in even if it's not my own team. I need these Rays.
I remember 1991, when I was ten years old and learning about a new group of contenders known as the Braves. It's hard to remember that in the 1980s the Braves were the laughing-stock of MLB. Dale Murphy was about the only thing that made the team relevant, an eternally overlooked player (seriously, look up his career numbers), and for good reason. His team was terrible.
And then they became the Braves. They made it to 14 straight postseasons. They won the World Series once and got there five times.
But back in 1991 we were getting our first glimpse of them, and I can remember rooting hard for Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and the wonder kid named Steve Avery. David Justice was a star on that team. Ron Gant breathed life back into his own middling career. It was special to see the team attempt to go from worst to first, and they nearly did it before the Twins took the Series.
So, now, 17 years later we have the Rays, another team attempting to do the same thing. No major American team has ever had the worst record in its sport one year and gone on to win its championship the next year. It's that hard to do.
And I'll be rooting for the Rays with almost everything I have.
On the other side we have the Phillies, a very talented group of players trying to end what its city feels is an overlooked history of woe. Theres some truth to that. The Phils have only one title in their 100-plus year history, which is fewer than even the Cubs. And the city hasn't won a title in any sport since 1983 (76ers).
Truth is, I just can't root for a Philadelphia team. Not if there's an alternative. Maybe it's just me, but my experience in Philly has always made me think of the fans in that city as simply miserable. They are mean on an equal-opportunity level: they boo their own team just as much as the opponents, and both loudly. They abuse fans of the visiting team. They are simply mean.
If New York fans are always criticized for their air of self-importance, they have never been as outright nasty as Philly fans can be.
I like some of these Philly players. There may not be a more important player to his team than Chase Utley. I truly enjoy watching Cole Hamels pitch. And Ryan Howard seems like a good guy and is a fun player.
But I just cannot root for this team. For me, they offer that villain.
So bring on the series.
For a good article about the series read this, by the ever-entertaining Jayson Stark.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3653757

OK, so here's my prediction and on-field thoughts.
As I said about the NLCS, the best pitcher in the series is on the Phillies. Hamels is just that good, if you haven't noticed by now. But guys like Kazmir and Shields aren't far behind for Tampa, and the Rays have far more pitching depth. Sonnanstine and Garza are legit threats to shut a team down as well, and despite the blowup in Game 5, the bullpen is very deep and very effective.
In fact, I love that the group bounced back to essentially win Game 7. I'm sure many people thought they would not recover after having their first major gaffe of the year come in a potential series-clinching game, and in overwhelming fashion. That says a ton about the makeup of the team and pitching staff in particular.
Offensively, there's a ton of young star power here. Longoria, Upton, Crawford, Pena for the Rays. Rollins, Utley, Howard, Burrell for the Phillies. Role players like Shane Victorino and Akinora Iwamura who absolutely are the glue that make championship teams.
I can't decide which offense I think is better.
But here's the kicker. Tampa's still got that goofy stadium. They had an exceptional home record this year, and with good cause. Even teams used to playing there don't adapt enough all the time. The roof can screw things up in countless ways. The noise can get bad. Even the lighting can have an effect on things, not to mention playing on an artificial surface, even field turf as opposed to old-fashioned Astroturf.
Along with the pitching staff, I expect this to give Tampa an edge. And here's the other thing. Philly needs to get wins when Hamels is on the mound. If Tampa can steal a game against him at the Trop, this series could be over quicker than expected.
So while I think certain parts of this series are pretty balanced, overall I don't think there's much question that Tampa's a stronger team top to bottom. If the Rays win the first two games, and can come out firing in Game 3 in Philly, this could be over in four.
Or, if Hamels can get his team a win early on, and the Phils can go back home even, they could force the series back to Tampa.
But I don't see that happening. I see Tampa fever sweeping the nation.
And I see the Rays winning this, their first World Series title, in five games.
What a story that would make.

Week 6 in review

Wow. That's all I can say after watching the game between Rocky Hill and Berlin this past Friday. I've been giddy about it basically since then. It was a very good matchup. Perhaps not perfectly played, but still very well played other than Berlin's many false start penalties. Each team had players step up and make spectacular plays. Each defense was stout. The coaching was great (which is to be expected from John Capodice and Dave Coyne, two of the most overlooked coaches in the state).
OK, the dirty non-secret is that I am a Rocky Hill alumnus, and therefore always have an emotional stake in their games. But I put that aside as much as I could to cover this game, and I have this to say. Berlin's a better team. The Redcoats are simply stronger up front, and more multidimensional than the Terriers. If these two played 10 times, Berlin would win at least seven of them, if not more.
But this was one of those two or three. This was the one where Rocky Hill got a little bit lucky, made the plays it had to and snuck out of Sage Park with a huge win and a very good shot at the school's second playoff appearance.
Berlin will bounce back from this. They should still make the playoffs (of course St. Paul will have something to say about that for both teams in the coming weeks, but after this I tend to think things are looking worse for the Falcons than these guys). This might end up the wakeup call that Berlin needed.
As for the controversial penalty call on Rocky Hill's winning touchdown, I believe the call was right. From my perspective in the press box, it looked as if the Berlin defender held back Rocky Hill receiver Mike Mancini, forcing Mancini to push him away before catching the ball. In a way, the slightly underthrown ball was the perfect thing for Rocky Hill. A perfect ball and the defender might have been in the right spot.
It's ironic for a team that completed just one other pass in the game and has struggled with the passing attack this season that arguably the biggest play of the year should come on a third-and-17 situation through the air.
Max DeLorenzo is impressive too. Some are saying he might not have the physical instincts it takes to be a dominant runner. I say he's still a sophomore. If he can make plays the way he did the other night, he's going to be special, real special.
I'm telling you. I could talk about this game for hours.
As for the rest of the weekend, how about Newington shutting out Bristol Central! Most people felt Newington would win this game. I don't think anybody saw a shutout for them against a team that does nothing but score. Newington is quickly showing itself to be a true title contender in a wide-open Class L.
New Britain put the Weaver loss a little further behind it with a blowout win over East Hartford. Actually, as the weeks go by, Weaver looks more and more like a playoff contender. That loss wasn't as bad as it once seemed. New Britain just has to keep this going and against better competition.
Same goes for Southington. I hope the Knights don't keep doing this one good game, one mediocre game thing for long. That's a recipe for disaster, but for now a win was a win against Simsbury.
And Wethersfield kept its playoff hopes alive with a solid home win against Windsor. The Eagles proved they are better than they were last year, at least. Conard's next, and the Chieftains are reeling, particularly after forfeiting two wins due to an ineligible player. But Conard still has a lot of talent.
I feel bad for Plainville. The loss to East Catholic, which wasn't even competitive, settled the debate of who's at the bottom of the Nutmeg. It's time for Plainville to focus on player development for next year. The team is very young with a new coaching staff, and will improve in time.
I went 6-1 this week, and correctly predicted that Glastonbury would pound Manchester. The Indians are pretenders. The Tomahawks are for real, and right now are the favorites over New Britain and Southington in the CCC North. November should be very interesting.
My overall record now sits at 35-8 and 5-1 in non-local picks. Those numbers aren't too bad at all.