MATT KEITH'S SPORTS BLOG
THAT D-I BATTLE WAS A DOG, THIS TIME 10-6-08 8AM
Well folks Friday nights battle beetween the top two teams in Division I football the Raiders of Rutland High and the Hurricanes of Hartford failed to live up to its billing. In fact it wasn't even close. The Hurricanes took control from the get go and blew away the Raiders 25-7. In fact the Raiders lone score with under a minute to go in the game on a Mark Comstock touchdown. Could the canes fell victem of the playoff curse where they could meet the youthful Raiders again? Time will tell. With three weeks to go in the regular season the playoff picture is starting to take shape sort of. Barring a collapse by either of the above mention teams they will take the top two seeds in the playoffs. Then the quest for the remaining two playoff spots is a log jam beetween South Burlington, BFA, Essex, Brattleboro and Mount Anthony. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. For the Raiders and Hurricanes they will both be in the city of Rutland next weekend as Hartford travels to MSJ and Rutland comes home for their final three games against Brattleboro, Mount Anthony and MSJ.
On the college side of things although its been great to see the success of the Castleton men's hockey team go from upstart to contender how about the Spartans field hockey team under Coach Tammy Landon. They are currently 8-5 overall and 2-1 in the North Atlantic Conference. Castleton was the preason pick to win the NAC as well. Field Hockey returned to Castleton in 2003 after a long hiatus under coach Carrie Black. Landon took over the next year and the team has steadily improved to a contender finishing 12-7 last year and 7-1 in the NAC. Landon also earned coach of the year honors. With the team off to a good start look for big things from this program for the years to come.
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THE RAIDERS FINALLY HAD A HOME GAME IN FOOTBALL 9-13-2008 11pm
Hi Sports fans just a few quick thoughts after tonight's game at Alumni Field. First off the new turf field is gorgeous. Feels like a very plush carpet and despite the rainy conditions although it is was not bone dry it certainly was the muddy squishy mess that it would have been had the natural stuff been growing beetween the white lines. The only tough thing about the new field is that the football lines dominate the field so when soccer and lacrosse take place on the field it is tough to see those lines. But i am sure it will all work out as the Raider kids will have a first class field to play on for many years to come. In a classy move by the Rutland Raiders a pre game announcement over the public address system offered best wishes to Middlebury High School varsity football Peter Brakely who has taken the year off from coaching while battling cancer. The answer to the trivia question who scored the first touchdown on the new turf will be Leo Cohen. The Raider junior caught a pass in the end zone with 2.50 seconds left to go in the 1st quarter Oh by the way their was a football game in which the Raiders won 39 to 0 moving Rutland to 3-0 on the year. Next Friday night Southington, Connecticut comes to Rutland for a non league contest.
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SUMMERS END AND NEW SEASONS BEGIN 9-8-08 2PM
Hi Sports fans as I sit here writing this it is early September, the fair is
over and that can only mean one thing summer is over. Fall weather soon to be
followed by winter uggh. But all is not lost the kids are back in school and
the fall season is primetime for scholastic and college sports. Field Hockey,
Soccer, and Football you name it there are plenty of sports out there to keep
one entertained. Taking a quick look at last week's action how about MSJ
picking up their first win in a long while. It was a much needed win for a
Mounties program struggling with numbers and to get back on top in the tough
world of Division I football. But to take big steps you have to start with
small steps and hopefully this is a step in the right direction for the
inhabitants of St. Peter's Field. They will look to continue the streak this
Saturday at home against South Burlington. For their cross-town rivals the
Rutland Raiders they look to keep undefeated at 3-0 as they host the Middlebury
Tigers on Friday night in the Raiders first game on the new turf at Alumni
Field. The Tigers will be looking to get back on track after a trouncing by
defending state champion Hartford last week.
Looking quickly at the collegiate level for all the accolades given to
the Castleton Men??s Hockey teams for going from upstart to contender in a few
short years how about a round of applause for the Spartans Field Hockey team as
well. Coach Tammy Landon took over the program that had just been reinstated
a year earlier in 2003 in three short seasons Landon??s program has become
contenders in the North Atlantic Conference sporting a 12-7 overall record last
year as well as going 7-1 in the conference. In a preseason poll by the
leagues coaches the Spartans are picked to finish first this season. They have
five seniors returning that were named to the all conference team last year and
Coach Landon also reached New England Regional Coach of the year accolades.
The Spartans are currently 2-2 and will play home games on September 10th, 14th
and 17th against non conference foes Plymouth State, Husson and New England
College before hosting Lasell on the 20th for their first conference game of the
season.
In closing off the beat a little bit for one who is still holding onto
summer and doesn't want to see winter show up just yet. It is getting hot and
heavy in major league baseball as it comes down to the wire for postseason
berths. Looks like barring a collapse the Redsox will be in the postseason
whether as a wildcard or division winner remains to be seen? But they are
getting a lot of injured players back and perhaps they can put it together for
another postseason run to glory. As for their rivals the Yankees for the first
time in many years there will most likely not be any October baseball in Yankee
Stadium. However fear not fans of the pinstripes. They will be unloading a
lot of heavy contracts in the off-season and are sure to be players in the free
agent market. Although their young pitchers have struggled this year I think
they will come around and the Redsox/Yankees rivalry will continue with both
teams sporting competitive squads for years to come. After all regardless of
which team you root for how exciting would the rivalry be if one team was near
the top and the other was always a cellar dweller. I like it better when there
both in the playoff hunt.
See ya next week folks
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So why have athletics changed for the better?
1-17-08
By Eric Berry
NortheastSports.net
As a longtime coach I have always believed that coaches serve as mentors in a lot of different ways. They offer their players with advice that will help them on and off the court, or so the theory goes. In my youthful playing days we learned all about “tryouts” and “cuts”, though painful, we understood the repercussions for not playing well, not communicating with teammates in ways that were beneficial to the team. And last but not least we understood that we had to get better or deal with it if we were going to be on the team next time or receive a substantial amount of playing time. My point is I’m having a hard time understanding this “new” way in which athletics or physical education is being taught to kids.
We teach kids now that it doesn’t matter if they are the most talented because Little Billy should share his playing time. This may be the case even though Billy shows minimal effort in practice and doesn’t show up all the time. This is the case because some psychologist/psychiatrist decided a long time ago that we don’t need to keep score, and that everyone should have the same equal time or chance to succeed. That’s exactly how it works in real life too. I’m being facetious because I have started to coach my daughter’s youth basketball team and realize that things are not what they used to be. I do believe that some things have definitely changed for the better.
In the 70’s it was nothing for parents to be drinking some Schlitz in the parking lot and think nothing of it. Or to berate the officials(wonder where I got it from?) from the sidelines unmercifully. My little league team had three mothers(mine included may she rest in peace) who I know had voodoo dolls of good old umpire Harold Smith. He would walk along and shriek in pain for no apparent reason as snickers and jeers would come from the back row.
So things are better now in that regard(and maybe only that one) than they used to be for sure. When we started our league we were given some basic rules that opined that we should play everyone and a certain amount of minutes at the minimum everyone should play. I can remember thinking what my old Babe Ruth coach would have thought about that. With his big chew in(league rules allowed coaches to “chew” and some players followed that doctrine for good measure) and 12-pack belly he would have had a real knee slapper with that one. One can argue that most of my ultra competitive generation didn’t turn out so well because of yesteryear’s system. I on the other hand argue the opposite.
I wonder if what we are teaching our youth now is serving them well. I’m sure it happens in some leagues where people don’t keep the score(for the record they do in ours). We want you to win on the scoreboard but not play to win thank you very much! What? Meantime we send more mixed signals than Britney Spears did to Kevin Federline. The point is, if you teach kids to be winners they may turn out to be what you don’t want-losers! There is competition everywhere be it in the classroom, physical education class and of course in the job market. I believe we have lulled a gross amount of kids into thinking with almost a stoner type mentality, or Ritalin hangover thought process if you will, that it’s all right if they don’t have a job. You’ll get one Billy; it’s all about being treated fairly in this world. And if not there’s always welfare.
I know it’s a strange argument but one that can’t be totally ignored. Look around. Who are the successful businessmen and what is their chemical makeup? I guarantee they are ridiculously competitive whether they are a geek or a former jock. They realize in order to be successful they have to keep score in their workplace everyday. If someone has to get cut then they gotta go baby. After all, it ain’t intramurals, and neither are competitive youth sports.
Eric Berry owns and operates NortheastSports.net
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